Clinton County, Ohio - Biographical sketches (2 of 2 so headed), 1882 (part 9 of 17)

MATTHEW LEEKA, farmer, P. 0. New 'Vienna, born in Clinton County, Ohio, December 25, 1837, is a son. of Philip and Elizabeth (Hodson) Leek a, he a native of Virginia, and she of North Carolina. The paternal grandparents were Christian and Elizabeth Leeka, he a native of Germany, and she of Pennsylvania. He came to America during the Revolutionary war as a soldier under the King of England, but the war soon came to its close and he was never brought into any active service, and after peace with the United States was declared, he remained in this country, married and settled in the western part of Virginia; thence, about the year 1805, he removed into Tennessee; thence in the fall of 1815, removed to Ohio and settled in Clinton County. Here he opened out right in the woods, this country being then mostly an unbroken forest, with here and there a settler just commencing to open out to make a home and a farm. Here Mr. Leeka labored for several years in his pioneer work, and died aged about, sixty years. His wife survived him till the summer of 1861, aged ninety-six years. They were parents of seven children ; two now survive - -Philip and John - the latter being now a resident of Iowa. Mr. Leeka was a tailor by trade, and after settling in this county, still followed his trade more or less during most of his life. He was quite celebrated in that day for his power over many diseases, being often called upon to use his power in relieving pain and suffering of the afflicted. -Philip Leeka grew to manhood under the sturdy influences of pioneer life, was married in this county and has spent nearly all his life as a farmer and weaver in Clinton County. They have had ten children ; nine now survive - Jonathan, Sarah, Hannah (who married Joseph A. Hansell and resides in Iowa), Jesse (who resides in Indiana), Henry, Mary (now Widow Ingold), Matthew, John Wesley (who resides in Kansas), and Martha E. Mrs. Leeka died about 1841. Mr. Leeka has been a hard-working, industrious man; has never held or sought office, is a man whose character and integrity is undoubted, and is one of Clinton County's substantial and worthy citizens. The subject of this sketch was raised to farm labor, which occupation he followed till, in the summer of 1877, he entered upon the grocery trade in New Vienna ; this business he sold out in the spring of 1880. He was united in marriage, December 24, 1867, to Miss Lucinda, daughter of Elisha and Rhoda Buttier, natives of Virginia, but became settlers of Ohio; thence about 1836, they removed to Hancock County, Ind., where he died about 1843. They had five children ; two now survive - Elisha and Lucinda. Mrs. Buttier married for her second husband Samuel Nixon; they removed to Wayne County, Ind., where she died in the fall of 1857. Mr. Buttier was twice married, and by his first wife there is one son now living - George W. Mrs. Leeka was born in Hancock County, Ind., March 20, 1836. Mr. Leeka and wife have one child - Atilla K., born March 17, 1871. Mr. Leeka, wife and daughter are worthy members of the M. E. Church.

DR. ALFRED H. LINDLEY, physician and druggist, New Vienna, born in Morgan County, Ind., July 26, 1843 ; is a son of David and Mary (Hadley) Lindley, natives of Greensboro, N. C. The paternal grandparents, Aaron and Phebe Lindley, were also natives of North Carolina. The great grandparents were Thomas and Ann Lindley, he a native of England and she of Scotland, who became settlers of North Carolina prior to the Revolutionary war, and lived and died in that State. Aaron Lindley, with his family, emigrated from North Carolina to Indiana, in 1832, and located in Morgan County, where he resided till his death, in 1857. He was the father of thirteen children, who all grew to maturity, three now survive - Ruth, who married Robert McCracken ; Phebe, married Abner Sanborn ; and John. David Lindley was born in North Carolina in 1796, and there grew to manhood and married. In the fall of 1830, he came to Clinton County, Ohio, and taught school that following winter; thence, in the spring of 1831, he removed to Indiana to Morgan County, where he remained till the fall of 1865, when he removed to Harding County, Iowa, where he died in January, 1878 ; his wife still survives and resides on the home place in Iowa. They had thirteen children, seven now survive - Milton, Matilda (who married Caleb Baldwin), Elwood, Cyrus, Addison, Naomi (married Ira Edwards) and Alfred H. Mr. Lindley in early life followed the profession of teacher for several, years ; thence devoted the balance of his life to farming. He was a devoted member of the Society of Friends, and whose life was marked by the strictest integrity, and as a neighbor and citizen was held in high esteem by all who knew him. He gave all his children a good education, all of whom have been teachers.' His son, Cyrus, is a graduate of Harvard University, and served two years as Superintendent of the Freedmen's Schools through the South, under the direction of a committee at Philadelphia. The subject of this sketch was brought up to farm labor ; at thirteen years of age he entered the drug store of Sidney H. Johnson, where he gave his attention to learning the drug business and attending school till sixteen years of age ; thence attended the Bloomingdale Academy two years, thence taught school two winters. In the spring of 1861, he commenced the study of medicine at Danville, Ind., under Dr. A. Furnas. In 1864 and 1865, he attended the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, graduating in the spring of the latter, and at once commenced the practice of his profession in Hardin County, Iowa. In the fall of 1869, he entered the Bellevue Hospital at Philadelphia as Assistant Surgeon, which position he held three years ; thence engaged in practice at Charlotte, N. C. In the fall of 1877, he returned to Philadelphia, and in the fall of 1878, he removed to Clinton Couuty, Ohio, and in the spring of 1879, the present firm of Hussey & Lindley was established which has continued to the present time, and is doing a very prosperous business, having extended their business by establishing branch stores in Centerville and Leesburg. The Doctor has devoted himself closely to the study of medicine and diseases ; has possessed many advantages in his practice in the hospital and elsewhere ; and, as a result of his acquirements he has established " Dr. Lindley's Fit Cure and Nerve Tonic," a preparation which he has used in his practice for several years with great success, and which he is now offering to the public with entire confidence in its power and efficacy to prevent and cure the terrible disease of " Falling Fits." The Doctor was united in marriage, May 21, 1867, with Miss Miriam, a daughter of Josiah and Mary Newby, natives of Clinton County, Ohio, by whom he has one daughter - Lillian Steele, born January 7, 1876.

JOHN H. LOWMAN, farmer, P. 0. New Antioch, was born in Morgan County, Ya., May 15, 1836, and with his sister, Eliza, emigrated to Ohio and located in Seneca County in 1853; thence, in the spring of 1854, moved to Indiana; thence, in the fall of the same year returned to Seneca County, Ohio ; thence, the same fall, came to Clinton County, where he has since resided. He was married, February 18, 1858, to Rebecca Ann Swingley, who was born in Clinton, County, Ohio, February 9, 1840, daughter of Peter and Mary Swingley, natives of Virginia, whose ancestral history is given in sketch of Henry Swingley. By this union they have two children - Anna Bell, born October 10, 1863, and Rosa Florence, born June 28, 1872. Mr. Lowrnan has made farming his business through life ; he bought and located upon the place where he now lives in the spring of 1864, where he has since resided. He had, however, rented and lived on the place four years previous to purchasing it, so that he has resided here since 1860, a period of twenty-two years. This place consists of 234 acres of good land, with good improvements. The original home place consisting of eighty-four acres he purchased of John Baschore, to which he has since added by purchase, till his farm now consists of the above amount, 234 acres. Mr. Lowrnan started in life with $36 and a limited education, and by his industry and economy has acquired a good competency ; has been assisted by a good and frugal wife, who was early left an orphan. Her father died in January, 1842, when she was but two years old, and her mother died in August, 1849, when she was nine years of age ; thence she was raised by John Baschore, living with them twelve years, till her marriage, and still lives in sight of her adopted home, and the schoolhouse and scenes of her childhood. This is a brief sketch of Mr.

and. Mrs. Lowman's lives, struggles and successes of which their children and descendants may well feel proud, and from whose example they may safely pattern.

JOHN McFADDEN, farmer, P. 0. New Antioch, was born in Mason County, Ky., September 23, 1808; is a son of John and Sophia (Kelley) McFadden, natives of Ireland, who emigrated to America about the year 1800, and settled at Marietta, Ohio; thence removed to Mason County, Ky., and while residing there he started on a trip down the river for New Orleans with two boat loads of meat, lard, hemp and tobacco for the market, and was taken six with yellow fever and died at Natchez, Miss. About 1811, the widow and her family removed to Brown County, Ohio; thence, in 1821, they removed to Clinton County, and located near Centerville, on the place where Edmund West now lives, and there they resided till her death, in 1830. They had three sons and three daughters, two now survive - Hugh and John. The latter, our subject, who was thirteen years of age when the family located near Centerville ; there grew to manhood, being raised under the care of his mother and his older brother Hugh; was married May 1, 1834, to Elizabeth Newcomb, born in Pennsylvania, October 26, 1810, a daughter of William and Anna Newcomb, he a native of Pennsylvania and she of New Jersey. By this union they have had ten children, nine now survive - Jehu, born March 20, 1835 ; Mary Ann, August 10, 1836, wife of John J. Grove; Harrison W., November 13, 1839; Rebecca J., November 28, 1841, wife of Eli Fisher; William N., June 9, 1844; John C., August 18, 1846; Sophia, August 3, 1848, wife of Eli Hodson; Thomas M., October 6, 1851, and Hannah E., March 22, 1855, wife of Thomas Hodson. Charles (deceased) was born December 3, 1837. He enlisted in the defense of his country in the war of the rebellion in September, 1861, in Company B, Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; was wounded in the battle of Lookout Mountain, just as they had won the victory. He was carried back to Tullahoma, Tenn., where he died in the hospital from the effects of his wounds December 27, 1863. His remains were brought home by his father, and now rest in the cemetery near Centerville. Mr. McFadden located on the place where he now lives in May, 1834, when it was all in the woods but about four acres, and here he has resided since, a period of almost half a century. Now he has a good farm, of which 190 acres are in cultivation, with good buildings and improvements, which has been accomplished by his own hands and the help of his family. His wife died June 9, 1880. Mr. McFadden is now one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Greene Township. He has served as School Director thirty-one years, and as Township Trustee fourteen years. He is a worthy member of the Christian Church, to which he has belonged over forty years. In morals and integrity, as a neighbor and a citizen, he is greatly esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

WILLIAM N. McFADDEN, farmer, P. O. New Antioch, was born in Clinton County, Ohio, June 9, 1844; is a son of John and Elizabeth McFadden, whose history, and that of the ancestors, is given in sketch of John McFadden. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood brought up to farm labor; was married April 11, 1867, to Amy Fisher, a daughter of John and Hannah Fisher, whose ancestral history is given in sketch of John Fisher. By this union they have had six children, five now survive - Levi, born June 6, 1868; Alba, born July 20, 1870 ; Ida, born, October 26, 1872, and died March 5, 1873 ; Flora, born January 19, 1875 ; Jennie, born June 25, 1877, and Thomas W., born September 17, 1880. Mr. McFadden, after his marriage, located on the place where he now lives and has since resided. This place was purchased of a Mr. Brown, of Kentucky. It consisted originally of eighty-eight acres, to which he and his brother have since added more by purchase. Mr. McFadden has always made farming his occupation. He and wife are members of the Christian Church of Centerville. During the war of the rebellion, January 29, 1864, he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served one year, in the Cumberland army in Tennesee and Georgia, and was discharged January 25, 1865. Mr. McFadden is a man of integrity and high moral character, and a worthy neighbor and citizen.

County, on the farm where his father still resides, November 13, 1839 ; is a son of John and Elizabeth McFadden, whose history is given in a sketch of John McFadden. Our subject was married, January 27, 1870, to Mary Catharine Fisher, who was born in Clinton County, Union Township, December 5, 1853, a daughter of William and Margaret Fisher, whose ancestral history is given in a sketch, of George Fisher. William and Margaret Fisher are now residents of Dayton, Ohio, where they are engaged in keeping boarding-house. They have had seven children, six now living - Mary Catharine ; Samuel E.; Isabel, wife of Cyrus Bartlett, and resides in Indianapolis, Ind.; Emma Jane, wile of Daniel Hier, of Dayton ; Eva C., wife of Smiley Duke ; and Lizzie, wife of Evans Egbert, of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. McFadden and wife after their marriage, located on the place where they now reside. This farm consists of ninety-one acres, upon which he has erected all new buildings, and has a pleasant home and residence. During the war of the rebellion, Mr. McFadden enlisted, September 17, 1861, in Company B, Fortieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served more than three years, receiving his discharge November 29, 1864. He was first in Eastern Kentucky and Virginia ; thence in the Cumberland army, and was with Gen. Garfield in the battles of Sandy River, Ky., and at Chickamauga and others. He also had two brothers in the army, of whose service, see sketch of his father. This patriotic family whose father was one of the early settlers of Clinton County, are as neighbors and citizens highly esteemed, and are worthy of record in their country's history, to be read and known by the future generations. Mr. McFadden and wife are members of the Christian Church at Centerville, to which they have belonged for many years. He is also a member of Stickney Lodge, No. 298, I. 0. 0. F., of New Antioch ; also of the New Vienna Encampment, No. 81. His wife is a member of the Rebecca Lodge.

JOHN M. McKIBBEN, farmer, P. O. Farmers Station, born on the farm where he still resides June 6, 1844, is a son of James and Lucinda McKibben,'he a native of this county, and she of Virginia. The grandparents, Joseph and Hester McKibben, came to Ohio and settled in Clinton County, on the place now owned by William Stockwell, about 1802, being one of the pioneers of this county, and here opened out right in the woods, and lived and died within one mile of his first location. They had seven sons and five daughters ; all grew to maturity, seven now living - John, Jane, Josiah, Hester, Nancy, Washington and Louisa. James was born September 22, 1806. Was married March 24, 1835, to Lucinda Turner, who was born in Bedford County, Va., November 16, 1807, a daughter of Meador and Piety Turner, natives of Virginia, where Mrs. Turner died about 1808. Subsequently Mr. Turner married for his second wife Catharine Wilson. In 1830, they removed to Ohio and settled in Preble County ; thence, in the fall of 1844, they removed to Clinton County, where he died July 7, 1853; his wife died August 5, 1872. Mr. Turner, by his first wife, had seven children, three now survive - Lucinda, Sarah, wife of C. Beason, and resides in Clark County, Ohio ; and Albert, who resides in Page County, Iowa. Mr. McKibben and wife had four children, one only now survives, John M., our subject. Mr. McKibben followed farming through life. When he started out in life, he was given by his father a horse, saddle and bridle, and from thence fought his own way through life. He was a man of energy, industrious and economical, and a good manager, and before his death he owned 255 acres of land with good improvements, the result of his own and his family's labors. He died May 27, 1879, esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances ; an active member of the Baptist Church thirty years, and Trustee in the same twelve years. The subject of this sketch, the only surviving child of his father, was married December 31, 1873, to Eva Turner, who was born in Illinois, August 3, 1854, a daughter of James and Margaret Turner, he a native of Virginia, and she of Highland County, Ohio. They had seven children, six now living - Charles, Eva, Flora, Ollie, Jennie and Willie. Mr. Turner served three years in the war of the rebellion ; enlisted in August, 1862, in Company D, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of the war. Mr. McKibben and wife have had two Children - James Cleo, born March 4, 1877, and died November 12, 1878; and Flo

E., born July 16, 1881. Mr. McKibben located on the old home farm of his father, where he still resides, and is one of our county's much respected and reliable farmers: has a good farm and a pleasant home and farmer's residence.

ELIJAH H. MATTHEWS, farmer, P. 0. New Vienna, born in Highland County, Ohio, October 20, 1826; is a son of John and Mary Matthews, he a native of North Carolina, and she of Tennessee. The grandparents were John and Rebecca Matthews, natives of North Carolina, but of Scotch descent. They emigrated from North Carolina to Ohio and settled near New Market, Highland County, in 1807 ; and in 1808 located about four miles north of Hillsboro, on Clear Creek, and there remained till their death. John, the father of our subject, was born in March, 1774 ; was married in Highland County and located on his father's farm, where he remained through life. They had ten children, seven sons and three daughters, eight now survive - John, Albert G., Christopher, Elijah, Joel, Susan (now Widow Brown), Mary (wife of J. Chapman), and Eliza Jane (wife of Wright Hicks, and residing in Kansas). Mr. Matthews was a prominent man of Highland County ; was County Commissioner two terms and Associate Judge of that County twenty-one years, being elected three consecutive terms of seven years each, besides holding minor offices. He died in August, 1848, aged seventy-four years ; his wife survived him till April, 1864, aged seventy-four years. The subject of this sketch, who grew to manhood on the old home farm in Highland County, was married, January 25, 1849, to Ellen Elliott, who was born in Clinton County, November 28, 1832, a daughter of William and Susan Elliott, who became early settlers of Clinton County, were married, lived and died here. They had four children - Thomas G., who resides in Mercer County, Ohio ; William ; Ellen ; and Eliza Jane, wife of Valentine Cox, and residing in Van Wert County, Ohio. By this union, Mr. Matthews and wife have had ten children, nine now survive - John W., born December 27, 1850 ; Susan, May 29, 1853, wife of Levi West; Mary Elizabeth, June 20, 1857, wife of David Matthews; Sarah E., October 7, 1859, wife of Lafayette West; Kate G., February 10, 1862, wife of Abraham Frazier; Raohel Ann, April 13, 1864; Ollie M., June 10, 1869; Clara E., December 25, 1870 ; and Oscar L., born December 28, 1874. Mr. Matthews resided in Highland County till in 1850, when he removed to Clinton County, and located four miles east of Wilmington, and has since been a resident of this county. He purchased the farm where he now lives in 1871, and moved on to it in December, 1875, where he has since resided. Mr. Matthews when young, engaged as clerk in a store in Buford, Highland County, and subsequently he and bis brother Christopher carried on a general store in the same village seven years. Thence he came to Clinton County and ran a peddler's wagon two years ; thence, as a farmer, has spent the balance of his life. He now owns two good farms, embracing 280 acres of land with good improvements, and is one of the prominent farmers of Greene Township ; has held many of the offices of his township ; was Mayor of New Vienna two years, a Justice of the Peace ten years, and is now Township Trustee; was also, in 1880, Assessor of the Third Division of Clinton County, embracing the Townships of Greene, Wayne and Richland. Mr. Matthews is a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity, a man of undoubted integrity, and a highly esteemed and respected citizen.

WILLIAM W. MOORE, farmer, P. O. New Antioch, born in Clinton County March 24, 1833, is a son of William and Susan (Childs) Moore, natives of Virginia. The grandfather, John Moore, was a native of Virginia, but emigrated to Kentucky, and settled in Bourbon County about 1787, being one of the early settlers of that county, where he remained till his death. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, of great firmness of character, a very industrious, hard-working man, and who acquired a large amount of property, which gave his children a good start in life. He was a man of high moral and Christian character, and a Deacon in the church. William, the father, was but a child, less than two years of age, when his father Bettled in Kentucky, and there he grew to manhood. About 1815, he removed to Ohio, and settled in Clinton County, on the place where his son, Samuel J. Moore, now lives. He married Susan Childs, of Highland County, by whom he had eleven children, seven now survive - John, James, Margery (who married James Patton), William W., Sarah (wife of Elijah Heyworth), Thomas C. and Samuel J. Mr. Moore, when he settled here opened out right in the woods, not a stick amiss, and here he spent his entire life; he did a great amount of hard work, and became owner of 942 acres of land, being one of the largest land-holders of Clinton County. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on his father's farm ; was married April 3, 1856, to Lydia, daughter of Elijah and Lucinda Yan Pelt. By this union they have had eight children, four now living - Cassius M., boru August 18, 1859 ; America, born June 2, 1866; Jesse, born October 17, 1869; and Elwood Austin, born May 12, 1871. Mr. Moore has devoted his life to farming, and raising and dealing in stock ; he is giving great attention to improved and fancy stock. He now has six sheep which were imported from England in July, 1881, for which he paid $585. Mr. Moore is one who realizes the advantage and profits of fine improved stock. And it is to be hoped that the farmers of Clinton County may be led to take a greater interest in the improving of their stock. Mr. Moore now owns 244 acres of good land, and the attention he is giving to improved stock, places him among the leading and substantial farmers of the county. He is also giving attention to the raising of deer, and inteuds to make this an important branch of the business, expecting it will be both pleasant and remunerative.

W. D. MOORE, minister, New Vienna, was born in Winchester Township, Adams Co., Ohio, August 11, 1824. He was the eldest of a family of fifteen children, nine sons and six daughters. His father, Joseph Moore, was the sixth child and fifth son of Hon. Aaron Moore, a pioneer of Ohio, who came from Washington County, Penn., as early as 1793, and settled in Adams County, Ohio, about three miles west of the county seat, on the waters of Eagle Creek. He remained on this farm till 1814, when he sold it and purchased a tract of about thirteen hundred acres of land about four miles north of Winchester, Adams Co., Ohio. Here he remained till his death in 1834. On this land, W. D. Moore was born and partly raised. His mother, Sarah Moore, was a daughter of Ralph and Susannah Peterson, who came from West Virginia early in the Nineteenth Century, and settled on the waters of East Fork (of Ohio) Brush Creek, about ten miles north of West Union, the county seat of Adams County, Ohio. Sarah Moore, wife of Joseph Moore, and mother of W. D. Moore, died March 27, 1830, when W. D. Moore, her eldest son, was less than six years old. Before she died, she taught her son to spell, and had impressed him with high moral and religious sentiment. Between the ages of seven and fourteen, he went to school about twenty months, and learned to read and write, and gained some knowledge of arithmetic. Here his school-going stopped on account of the misfortunes and ill health of his father. But though thus cut off from the advantages of schools, and for several years devoted to hard labor for the maintenance of his father's large family, yet he devoted all his leisure hours in reading such books as the meagre libraries of generous neighbors afforded. And thus before he was grown, he had acquired a moderate knowledge of both ancient and modern history, both general and biographical, especially the history of the United States, and the biographies of her great men. He read few works of fiction. This course of reading laid the foundation of all his after success and usefulness. It should not be overlooked that he had, at an early age, made himself familiar with the Bible, to which, more than to anything else, he owes the direction of his life. He made a religious profession when but little past fourteen years of age. This early acceptance of the lordship of Jesus the Christ, did much to save him from the temptations of early years. Naturally sensitive, he often felt most keenly the jeers of young people among whom he moved. His inability to dress in fine and fashionable clothes was often the occasion of much apparent merriment by a class of young people who judged from external appearances. Greatly energized by such conduct, he attempted to repair the fortune of his family, and succeeded in helping them much. At twenty-one, he married Miss Sarah Ann Wick, whose father and mother had immigrated from West Virginia and settled in Highland County, Ohio, in 1817. About fifteen months after his marriage, overwork and extreme exposure to the inclement weather which never stopped him in his busi- ness, his health gave way to such a degree that he was unable to continue at hard work. This made it necessary to engage in other business. At this time, the school law of Ohio allowed certificates to be granted for reading, writing and arithmetic, and through the intercessions of the School Board of a district in Scott Township, Adam3 Oo., Ohio, he obtained such certificate and commenced his first school December 2, 1846, at $11 per month ; $28 of the $33 which he was to receive was all the public funds the district had on hand, the other $5 were raised by a pro rata tax, part of which has never been paid. During this year, Mr. Moore completed the study of arithmetic, and commenced English grammar and geography, and in 1848 received a certificate for those branches, as well as those he had studied before. In 1848-49, he studied algebra and natural philosophy, and had them added to his certificate. Then he commenced the study of geometry, Latin and Greek. These and other studies,' such as anatomy and physiology, geology, botany, chemistry, rhetoric, logic, etc., have kept him employed ever since. As early as 1851, he had made, so much progress in his church work that the church of which he was a member induced him to undertake the work of evangelizing in which he continued for a while, but at last, he settled for a time at llusselville, Brown Co., Ohio, and preached and taught school. Since then, he has, at times, evangelized, but for the most part he has been at work for some church or churches as pastor and teaching school. Mr. Moore has held sixteen public discussions on various topics, as Capital Punishment, Man's Future Destiny, Human Depravity, Baptism, Subject, Action and Design, Human Creeds, Spiritism, Materialism, etc. He has resided above eight years in New Vienna, Clinton Co., Ohio. He has raised and educated eight daughters, of whom six have been, and some of them are still, teachers. The chief thing to be noted in this sketch, is the fact that a man can, if he wills it, make himself a scholar without the advantages of schools. Mr. Moore has arisen unaided, to be one of the most thoroughly educated and popular preachers of this vicinity, and is highly esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, a purely self-made made.

ISAIAH M. MORTON, farmer, P. 0. New Antioch, born on the place where he now lives, May 17, 1832 ; is a son of Joab and Jane Morton, natives of Kentucky, but who removed to Ohio about 1820 and located on the place where our subject now lives, there being at that time about eight acres partly cleared, the balance of the place being all heavily timbered, and here they continued their labors till their death, opening out and clearing up the farm and doing a great amount of pioneer work. He died August- 18, 1846; his wife died August 8, 1869. They had seven children, five now living - Richard, John, Lucinda (wife of William McKenzie), Isaiah M. and Betsey (wife of Eli Carson). Mr. Morton was a soldier in the war of 1812 ; he was a member of the New-Light Church at Antioch, which faith he maintained till his death. Isaiah, the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood on the farm where he still resides. Was married, in November, 1854, to Jane Lieurance, born in Clinton County May 4, 1833, a daughter of Henry and Sallie Lieurance, he a native of North Carolina and she of Ohio. They had ten children, six now survive - John, -David, Jane, James, Parker and Harvey. Mr. Morton and wife have had ten children, eight now survive - Sarah Emily, born July 7, 1855; Henry, April 17, 1857; James, December 20, 1859; Durias, November 25, 1862; Lucinda, October 20, 1864; Louisa Jane, January 22, 1867 ; Cora, September 16, 1869, and Benjamin, born February 5, 1872. Mr. Morton settled upon the old home farm of his father, where he has spent his entire life from his infancy, a period of half a century. The place has now been in possession of the father and himself sixty years. It now embraces 111 acres of land with good improvements, and is a pleasant home and residence.

ASA NORDYKE, farmer, P. O. New Vienna. In the history of the Nordyke family, one of the pioneer families of Clinton County, we trace them to one Stephen Henry Nordyke, who was born in Holland and lived and died there. His death occurred in this wise : He had taken a contract of improving the harbor or landing placo of vessels, by blasting and clearing away the rocks under the waters, and while engaged in this work, by one of these blastB he was killed. Of his children, three sons, Abraham,

Isaac and Jacob, emigrated to America in an early day, prior to the Revolution, while young, single men, and it is believed that Jacob died unmarried, and that all of the Nordyke families have descended from these two brothers, Abraham and Isaac Nordyke. They settled, it is believed, near Philadelphia, as two of these brothers built a vessel at that place, and it was named the " Two Brothers." Abraham and Isaac married, and became settlers of Virginia, and the latter subsequently became an early settler near Cincinnati, where the town of Pulton now stands, and some of his descendants are known to still be residents of Clermont County, and some of Indiana. Abraham became father of six sons and two daughters. Of these, Micajah was the fifth child and fourth sou, who was born in Stafford County, Va., March 8, 1871, and when about four years of age removed with his father's family to Georgia, where they remained a few years, and while residing there had many dangers from the Indians. Aden, the eldest son, was shot through the arm and badly wounded, but recovered, married, and raised a large family of children, and subsequently became a settler of Indiana, where he died. Micajah also, when but a young child, ran a narrow risk from the Indians, who came to his father's house with murderous intent, but were observed while at a distance, and Micajah was taken by his father out at the back door and away into the woods, where they secreted themselves, and remained there all night, though it was quite cold and frosty, and the next day returned to the house. They subsequently removed to North Carolina, and thence to Tennessee, and in the spring of 1806 Micajah removed to Ohio, and settled in Clinton County, one of the true pioneers. Here he soon after purchased 300 acres of land of the Ruford survey, lying north of New Vienna, embracing a portion of the ground upon which the town is now built. This land was all in the woods, and the log cabin life and early scenes of the pioneer life of Mr. Nordyke are related in the history of Greene Township. Suffice it to say

Micajah was married in Jefferson County, Tenn., April 4, 1798, to Charity Ellis, whowas born at Martinsburg, Va., October 4, 1779, a daughter of Nehemiah and Sarah Ellis, who also became early settlers of Clinton County, Ohio, and died here, and their remains now rest in the Friends' burying-ground near New Vienna, on the piece of ground which Micajah gave the society as a permanent burial-place. Abraham and Mary Nordyke also became residents of Ohio soon after their son Micajah, and here they died, and were buried in the Friends' burying-ground. Micajah and Charity married, and had families; eight now survive - Sarah, now Widow Thomas; Isaac; Mary, married to Jonathan Hockett and resides in Indiana; Henry, Samuel, David, Asa and Lewis; the deceased, Phebe, who married Amos Lewis; Ellis, Jesse, and Hannah, married Stephen Peebles. Mrs. Nordyke died June 5, 1854 ; Mr. Nordyke died July 6, 1857. Henry Nordyke was born in Clinton County, May 16, 1809 ; married Phebe Rich, born in Clinton County, Ohio, November 26, 1813, daughter of Thomas and Ann Rich, also early settlers of this county. By this union, they have had seven children, four now survive - Thomas R., Aaron B., Edith H. (married James II. Terrell), and Callie E. Asa Nordyke was born in Clinton County October 25, 1817. Was married in 1842, to Mary James, a daughter of David and Mary James. By her he had one child - Ellen C. (deceased) ; his wife died July 29, 1844. On September 26, 1850, he married for his second wife Almeaia Bailey, born in Virginia June 12, 1822, .'a daughter of David and Silvia Bailey, who settled in Clinton County in 1827. By this union they have three children - Mary F., Michal E. and Edgar M. Henry and Asa Nordyke still reside on portions of the old home-place of their father's, having been born and raised and spent their entire lives here. They are worthy members of the Society of Friends, to which their ancestors for several generations also belonged. They are among the substantial farmers of this community, men of high moral, Christian character, constituting them among the most upright and reliable citizens of the county.

CYRUS NORDYKE, livery, New Vienna, was born in Clinton County, Ohio, August 3, 1826 ; is a son of Benajah and Ann (Johnson) Nordyke, he a native of

Tennessee and she of Virginia. The paternal grandfather, Israel Nordyke, came from Tennessee to Ohio, and settled in Clinton County, one among the pioneers, and lived and died near New Vienna. Benajah was a young single man when he arrived here in the wilderness of Ohio ; was married here and became the father of ten children ; five now survive - Eliza (married to G. W. Mathews), Cyrus, Rebecca (married to Judge John Mathews), Elijah and Margaret (married to G. W. Mowry). Mr. Nordyke was a farmer during all the early part of his life, and performed much pioneer work, as when they located here there were but three cabins between here and Wilmington ; then they had to go many miles to the Little Miami River on horseback to get their milling done ; then they would go ten to fifteen miles to assist their neighbors at their log rollings, and often as far to borrow a hoe or some implement with which to do a little work. Those were the times of hard work and hard fare; but all were sociable, honest and happy. Mr. Nordyke in his later years moved to New Vienna and engaged several years in the mercantile trade. Mr. Nordyke was born January 10, 1795, and died in New Vienna June 13, 1867. His wife is still living, now in her eightythird year. She was born in Virginia September 12, 1799. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood, brought up to farm labor till sixteen years of age, after which for several years he followed a variety of business, such as would pay him best. On April 18, 1848, he was married to Jane Beals, a daughter of Jesse Beals ; by her he had six children, four now survive - James A., born September 29, 1849 ; Lycurgus F., born October 9, 1853 ; Charles B., born January 12, 1857, and Harry D., born December 1, 1860. Mrs. Nordyke died November 11, 1861, in her thirtieth year. On November 12, 1862, Mr. Nordyke married for his second wife Sallie Dixon, born March 1, 1842, a daughter of Clark A. Dixon, whose family history is given in this work. In the spring of 1854, Mr. Nordyke entered upon the livery business in New Vienna, and was the pioneer in that line of business in this place and is still engaged in that business, and now is running two livery stables in this town, having now carried on the business for a period of twenty-eight years. When he commenced, he was employed to run an engine in a woolen mill at $12 per month ; he bought a horse and spring wagon and began his livery business. This was the " day of small beginnings," but it supplied the demand of that day. Now he keeps from twelve to fifteen horses and about twenty vehicles, and these are generally well employed. Mr. Nordyke is now widely known as a livery man of New Vienna, and has his business well established by experience, ability and a thorough acquaintance with the people, and is one of the prominent business men of New Vienna.

THOMAS R. NORDYKE, farmer, P. 0. New Vienna, born in Clinton County, Ohio, November 20, 1839, is a son of Henry and Phebe Nordyke, whose history and that of the ancestors, is fully given in this work. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood brought up on the farm of his father. Was married October 31, 1861, to Elizabeth A. Gifford, a daughter of Andrew and Sarah Gifford, he a native of North Carolina and she of New Jersey, but who became early settlers of Ohio. By this union they had two children - Mary I., born December 29, 1862 ; and Clayton B., February 17, 1864. Mrs. Nordyke died in October, 1868. On February 22, 1869, he married for his second wife Mary Ann Mory. who was born in Clinton County, August 22, 1847, a daughter of Dr. D. B. Mory, of Wilmington. By this union they have four childreu - William M., born December 25, 1870 ; Herbert H., February 12, 1873; Inez M., December 3, 1876; and Alice, born July 27, 1880." Mr. Nordyke has spent all his life in Clinton County but two years, 1862 and 1863, during which he resided in Indiana. The place where he now resides he purchased of William Noble - in the fall of 1864, which joins his father's farm just north of New Vienna, and here he has now resided eighteen years. Mr. Nordyke is a member of the Society of Friends, and, like his father and grandfather, sustains a high moral and Christian character, and is a worthy and respected citizen.

GEORGE A. PENDELL, farmer, P. O. New Vienna, born in Adams County, Ohio, January 10, 1852, is a son of Isaac and Rebecca (Boyd) Pendell, natives of Adams County. The grandparents were John and Margaret Pendell, he a native of

New York State, and she of Ohio. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and lived and died in Adams County. Isaac married aud settled in Adams County, where he still lives, and is one among the leading farmers of that county. They have twelve children - David, Jonathan, Margaret, Nathan, Nancy, George, Hannah, Isaac, Thomas J., John, William B. and Robert D. (twins). The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in Adams County, and at nineteen years of age came to Clinton County ; was married September 23, 1875, to Caroline Johnson, born January 26, 1852, a daughter of Thomas and Catharine (Achor) Johnson, he a native of Kentucky, and she of Clinton County, Ohio. The grandparents were Scarlet and Nancy Johnson, natives of Virginia, but became early settlers of Kentucky; thence of Ohio about 1812, living for awhile in Clermont County ; thence in Highland, and finally in Clinton County, where they died. Scarlet Johnson served in the war of 1812. Thomas Johnson was but seven years of age when they came to Ohio, and here grew to manhood and married, and to them were born three children, one only now living - Caroline. Mr. Johnson was a chair-maker by trade, which business he followed many years, until the time of his purchasing the farm where our subject now lives, which was about 1848, thence he gave his attention to farming and remained here till his death, August 23, 1878, in his seventy-third year ; his wife still survives, aged sixty-nine years. Mr. Pendell and wife have two children - -Elmer Elsworth, born July 3, 1877, and Lennie May, born April 23, 1880. Mr. Pendell and wife settled on the old home place of her father, where they still reside.

JESSE W. POND, stock dealer, New Antioch. The subject of this sketch, one of the prominent, active business men of Clinton County, is the son of William and Mary Pond. The grandparents were Griffin and Mary Ann Pond, and Griffin was a son of John and Sarah Pond, who lived and died in North Carolina. He served seven years in the war of the Revolution. Griffin, the grandfather, was born in North Carolina ; had one brother who died young, aud four sisters who grew to maturity, and, it is believed, removed to Indiana, where they died - three of them unmarried ; the other married Absalom Holman. Griffin was the eldest of his father's family ; was married in North Carolina, and in the fall of 1823 emigrated, with his family, to Ohio, and settled in the east part of Washington Township, Clinton County. He landed here with $7 in money, which he at once laid out in a small black cow and calf. At the same time he bought two dressed hogs, for which he was to pay 1£ cents per pound, to be paid for in trade. They lived in a small cabin till the spring of 1824. In the mean time he effected an arrangement with one Edward Bond, who owned 1,200 acres of land, to deed him fifty acres of land in consideration of his clearing other fifty acres for the said Edward Bond. This he did, fulfilling his contract to the letter. And at above date (1824), erected a cabin on his fifty acres for his new home, and moved into the same, where he resided till his death. Before his death, he and his family had the farm well cleared up, and a good hewed-log house added to his first cabin, and everything around him quite pleasant and comfortable - greatly in contrast to what it was when they first located in the vast woods. His wife died, and he subsequently married, for his second wife, Sa'llie Ruse, by whom he had one son - Sampson., Mr. Pond died in June, 1866, in his ninety-eighth year. By his first wife he had twelve children, five now survive - Mary, born 1807, wife of Henry M. Green; Griffin, born in 1810 ; William, born in North Carolina June 2, 1812; David, born in 1814; George W., born in 1816, and Sarah, born in 1818, wife of Harley Clevenger. Mr. Pond was a man well educated and of general information for that early day. He taught school considerably in his early manhood, and to the time of his death, even in his advanced years, was of more than common intelligence, and sprightly and active to the last. William, the father of our subject, was in his twelfth year when, with his father's family, he came to this county, and here was reared in the log cabin, and grew to manhood fully inured to the pioneer work and life of those days; was married, February 21, 1833, to Mary Lieurance, born in North Carolina March 18, 1815, a daughter of John aud Rebecca Lieurance, also natives of North Carolina, but who became settlers of Clinton County about 1816, and subsequently removed to near Peru, Ind., where he died at sixty-six years of age, and she at seventy-five years. They had five daughters and three sons ; two now survive - Mary and Elizabeth, the latter now Widow Kizer. Mr. Lieurance. was an early settler here, and cleared up a great amount of land ; resided here about forty-four years, raised his family, and all but one were married prior to his removal to Indiana. Mr. Pond and wife have had twelve children - eight now survive - John J., Jesse W., Mary Jane (wife of Thomas Bloom), Rachel Ann (now Widow Lieurance), Sarah M. (m irried John R. Anson, and has three children - Cora Elva, Elza 0., Milton W.), William A., Martha E. (wife of R. E. Hunt), and Lina (wife of Nova Y. Murphy). Mr. Pond a id wife started in life with nothing, working by the day at 25 cents, laboring through many years, clearing up their land from the woods ; making and selling sugar for 3 cents a pound ; butter, 3 cents a pound; sold eggs 1J to 3 cents per dozen, and chickens for 37 cents a dozen. Now, Mr. Pood owns nearly 300 acres

! of laud, with fine improvements, has a good competency, and every comfort and convenience, quite in contrast to their early life. This may show to the rising generations what may be accomplished by industry, economy and earnest labor. The subject of our sketch, being the second child of his father, was brought up to hard pioneer labor, receiving a fair common school education, and, possessing an active business mind, soon started out into active life, and for several years has carried on a large and extensive trade in stock. He is now a partner with John W. Lawhead, in whose biographical sketch is given something of the magnitude and extent of their business. He has also served as a Justice of the Peace, is a man of sound judgment and firm principles, and, as a neighbor and citizen, is one of Clinton County's most worthy men.

JOHN C. ROUTII, of the firm of Routh & Livzey, dealers in grain, lumber and agricultural implements, New Vienna, was born in Clinton County, near Martinsville, July 2, 1834. He is a son of Isaac and Elizabeth Routh, the father being a native of Highland County, Ohio, and the mother of Hamilton County, Ohio. The grandparents were John and Jane Routh, natives of North Carolina. The great grandparents were Joseph and Mary Routh, he a native of North Carolina and she of Scotland. He lived and died in North Carolina, but his wife subsequently came to Indiana and died in Wayne County of that State. The grandparents came to Ohio and settled near Martinsville, Clinton County, about 1809, and there remained till his death in 1835, when he died with cholera. They had five sons and eight daughters; seven now survive - Isaac, Joseph, Daniel, Jesse, Sarah (wife of Wesley Smithson), Charlotte (wife of John Brown), and Irena (wife of John Deacon). Mrs. Routh subsequently married for her second husband John Dingy, with whom she lived till her death, about 1855. Mr. Routh was one of the pioneers, and bore his full share of the burdens of those early days, and was one of the leading business men. He held many of the offices of his township ; was Township Clerk many years, and a Justice of the Peace twenty-one successive years ; was a devoted member of the Baptist Church from his young manhood, and was Deacon of the same for many years, holding that office to the time of his death. Isaac Routh, the father of our subject, was boru May 9, 1810 ; grew to manhood near Martinsville. Was married, April 22, 1829, to Elizabeth Cherry, who was boru October 16, 1807, a daughter of John and Rebecca Cherry, natives of Pennsylvania. By this union they have had ten children, six now living - Silas, Rebecca (wife of Selby Johnson), John, Nancy (wife of Isaac R. Allison), Sarah (wife of William W. Ingold) and Ileury M. Mr. Routh located near Martinsville, engaged in farming. He resided on three different farms in Clinton County nineteen years ; thence located on a farm in Highland County, where he resided thirtythree years, when, in August, 1881, he sold his farm, and, in November of same year, moved to the town of Now Vienna, where he now resides, retired /rom all active labor. Mr. Routh, like his father, is an earnest and worthy member of the Raptist Church, and has been Deacon of the same for over a quarter of a century. Mr. Routh and wife have now journeyed together in life for fifty-three years, a period reached by but few. The subject of this sketch was married, February 28, 1873, to Miss Jennie Sewell, who was born August 24, 1855, a daughter of George and Sarah Ann Sewell, natives of Clinton County. By this union they have had two ohildren, both deceased.

Mr. Routh was raised to farm labor, and continued at that business till in January, 1870, when he entered into partnership with William B. Livzey, of New Vienna, and are dealers in grain, lumber and agricultural implements, which business they have now carried on twelve years, and have a large and increasing trade, and are one of the most active and useful business firms of Now Vienna.

WILLIAM J. SEWELL, teacher, New Antioch, born in Vernon Township, Clinton County, October 1, 1849 ; is a son of John and Abigail (Fordyce) Sewell, also natives of this county. The grandparents were Ezra and Sarah Sewell, who were early settlers of Clinton County, Ohio, and whose history will be further given by A. R. Sewell, historian of Vernon Township. John Sewell grew to manhood, brought up to farm labor, married and settled and has always resided in Vernon Township. He is the father of four sons and four daughters - Sarah J., wife of James Humphreys, and resident in Illinois; William J., Ezra M., Susan M., Jacob, Alice, Silas G. and Luella. Mr. Sewell is well known as one of the prominent farmers of Vernon Township, and is highly esteemed and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, where he has lived so many years. He has served as Township Trustee for several years. The subject of this sketch was brought up to farm labor, receiving a good common-school education ; thence he attended the college at Wilmington, where he graduated in June, 1880. In 1871, he commenced teaching, and has since spent most of his time in teaching and in college. He has taught eighteen terms of school, and all within this county. In one district, adjoining his home, he taught ten terms, which is indicative of his success as a teacher. In September, 1881, he took charge of the school at New Antioch, where he is now employed. On August 18, 1881, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Mills, who was born in Clinton County, Wilson Township, July 1, 1858, a daughter of Jonathan and Rhoda Mills - he a native of Wayne County, Ind., and she of Clinton County, Ohio.

ZEPHANIAH SPEARS, retired farmer, P. 0. New Vienna, born in Westmoreland County, Penn., August 12, 1807, is a son of Robinson and Elizabeth fBryan) Spears, natives of Pennsylvania. The grandparents were John and Mary Spears. He emigrated to America when but a boy and settled in Pennsylvania, where he married his wife, who was of German descent. He lived and died in Pennsylvania, but his his widow subsequently came to Ohio with her son Robinson, and died in Brown County. Robinson Spears grew to manhood brought up to farm labor in his native State, and married there. In June, 1817, he with his family removed to Ohio, and first settled in Ross County ; thence, in 1821, he removed to Brown County; thence, in 1827, removed to Guernsey County, Ohio, where he died in 1850. His wife survived him till the fall of 1873, aged ninety-two years. Mr. Spears was one of the pioneer farmers of Ohio. When he settled in Brown County, he purchased 300 acres of land, nearly all of which was in the woods, and there he labored six years, clearing up a large portion of his land ; but, as the country was level and quite wet in that day, he desired a more hilly and drier country ; hence he sold out and removed to Guernsey County, Ohio, as above stated. He was the father of eleven children, all of whom but one grew to maturity, married and settled in life. Five now survive - Zephaniah; Elizabeth, now Widow Oliver; Ellen, now Widow Stewart; Jane Ann, now wife of John Willis, and Prudence, wife of William Willis. Zephaniah, the subject of this sketch, was the third child of his parents, and was about ten years of age when his father came to Ohio, and here grew to manhood. At nineteen years of age, he went to learn the blacksmith trade, which he followed ten years ; thence he entered upon farming, purchasing the farm where he now lives, then known as the " Morgantown farm," in 1836, having carried on blacksmithing upon the place eight years previous to his purchase. Hence he has been a continued resident upon this farm fifty-four years - more than half a century. On September 20, 1829, he was united in marriage with Lovina Mathews, a daughter of Joel and Phebe Mathews, natives of North Carolina. By this union they had nine children; six now survive - Mary Jane, wife of M. L. Turner; Washington ; Margaret, wife of William Boatright; Thompson, James A. and Jefferson D. When Mr. Spears settled upon this farm, there was but little im- provement, he having cleared up right from the woods the greater portion of his now fine cultivated farm, erected his present fine brick dwelling, and all the other buildings upon the place, which now constitute a beautiful home and farmer's residence. Mr. Spears started in life without a dollar of capital, and, by his own industry and economy, became owner of 450 acres of land, and one of the most substantial farmers of the county. His first purchase of land was 250 acres at $12 per acre; his second purchase was 200 acres at $44 per acre. Now it is all worth $100 per acre. Mr. Spears has served as Trustee and also Treasurer of his township several years ; has been a worthy member of the Christian Church for forty years. His long life and residence here have been marked with such integrity and high moral and Christian character that he has won the confidence and respect of a very large circle of friends and acquaintances, and his life will ever stand forth to the rising generations as a bright and shining example of industry and financial success, coupled with a high standard of moral and Christian excellence. Mrs. Spears died March 14, 1875, in her sixtyfourth year. She bore her full share of the toils and labors of their early life, and was a true helpmeet and companion, and a devoted wife and Christian mother. Washington Spears, the second surviving child of Zephaniah and Lovina Spears, now has the home place of his father, with whom he now lives, retired from all active labor. Washington was married, December 1, 1859, to Lydia Roush, daughter of George and Rachel Roush, of Highland County. By this union they have three children - Ivey, Ollie and Ellsworth. Mr. Spears, like his father, is possessed of a high moral and Christian character, and is highly respected by all who know him.

JOHN STACKHOUSE, farmer, P. O. New Vienna, born in Warren County, Ohio, May 9, 1816, is a son of Joshua and Charity (Townsend) Stackhouse, natives .of Bucks County, Penn. The grandparents were John and Anna Stackhouse, who, it is believed, were natives of Pennsylvania, and his father, Thomas Stackhouse, was a native of England. John Stackhouse, the grandfather, lived and died in Bucks County, Penn. Of his children, Joshua, John and Elisha became residents of Clinton County, Ohio. Elisha never married and died of consumption. Joshua and John married and raised families and died in this county. Joshua was the father of eight, children. Three now survive - John, Joshua and Elisha. Mr. Stackhouse was raised in the Quaker faith and became an excellent scholar, and was considered one of the best penmen of his day and was employed to do a great deal of writing for his neighbors; was often asked to accept offices of public trust, but always refused them, aud spent his life in the honorable occupation of farming, and was a very intelligent and useful member of society. Mr. Stackhouse emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1815, and located in Warren County, remaining there but a few months, when he removed into Clinton County and located four miles west of Wilmington. In the spring of 1829, he removed to a farm which he purchased, two and a half miles east of Wilmington, where he died on December 24, of the same year, of that fell destroyer, consumption, aged forty-five years. His wife survived till 1853, aged sixty years. Our subject was the eldest of the surviving children, and grew to manhood in this county; was married August 4, 1839, to Lucy Burton, who was born in Highland County, February 22, 1821, daughter of Peyton and Martha Burton. He was born in Ohio, or came from Tennessee when a small child, and became one of the early settlers of Highland County, where he died September 11, 1880, aged nearly eighty-two years. His wife died September 10, 1877, aged seventy-three years. They had seventeen children. Ten now survive - Elizabeth, Lucy, Martha, Margaret, James, Mary, David, Lydia, Joseph and Daniel. John and Lucy Stackhouse have had seven children. Five now survive - Mary Jane (now Widow Clevenger), Albert T., Jesse H., Joshua T. and Martha E., wife of F. E. Williams. The three sons all enlisted in the war of the rebellion, in the one hundred days' service, in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in May, 1864, and saw very active service in Maryland and Virginia; were in the fight at Frederick City and sev eral others, but passed through their term of service without a wound ; were discharged and returned safely home. Mr. Stackhouse has made farming his business through life. His first tract of land he purchased was all in the woods. He commenced in a log cabin. He paid $4 per acre for his land. On this he labored till he cleared 107 acres, and he added more laud by purchase. In 1874, he sold his farm for $75 per acre, bringing him nearly $11,000. He then moved to New Vienna, intending to live retired from active labor, but Dot feeling contented in town, he purchased seventy-six acres, where he now lives, erected a gook brick house, and here has since resided, having a very pleasant home, one mile east of New Vienna. Mr. Stackhouse started in life without capital, and by his own industry and economy has acquired a good competency and has given his children a good start in life. He has never held nor sought office, but always refused the many solicitations of his friends to accept office. He and wife are worthy members of the Christian Church, to which they have belonged thirty years.

HENRY SWINGLEY, farmer, New Vienna, born in Berkeley County, Va., March 6, 1816, is a son of Michael and Nancy Swingley, natives of Virginia, where they resided till her death, which occurred about 1822. In 1825, Mr. Swingley with his children, emigrated to Ohio, and located in Clinton County, where he resided till his death, October 16, 1854, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. They had five children - George and Hannah, who prior to the war were living in Virginia and Maryland, since which nothing has been heard of them; Elizabeth, married George Hooten, and the last knowu of her was residing in Iowa ; Peter (deceased), and Henry, our subject , who was about nine years of age when the family came to Ohio, and here he grew to manhood ; was married April 28, 1842, to Elizabeth Gillespie, who was born in Clinton County June 19, 1816, a daughter of Thomas and Hannah Gillespie, who emigrated from Kentucky to Ohio, and settled on the farm now owned by our subject about 1810, being one of the pioneers of the county, and here lived and died. They had seven children, two now survive - Catharine and Elizabeth. Mr. Swingley and wife have had six children, five now survive - Michael, born April 27, 1843; Susannah, born October 16,1845; Thomas, born November 11, 1847 ; John, born June 15, 1851 ; Hannah E., born November 11, 1854, deceased; aud Kate, born October 13, 1857, wife of Thomas C. Bond. Mr. Swingley located after his marriage near where he now lives; he started in life without means, and here has labored through life, and by his own industry and economy has become possessed of much wealth ; is now owner of 1,100 acres of good laud, and the greater portion of it is iu good cultivation, constituting him the largest land-owner in Greene Township. Mr. Swingley first purchased a piece of land right iu the woods for $2.37 per acre, and performed a great amount of pioneer labor, and from time to time purchased more land, till he now owns as stated above. Mr. Swingley has never held or sought office, but has devoted his life to business, and as a successful farmer, obtaining wealth by his own industry, business tact and good management, has shown a skill, and success having few parallels in the history of our pioneers.

JAMES PI. TERRELL, farmer and breeder of thoroughbred stock, born in Highland County, Ohio, March 29, 1846; is a son of Israel and Sidney (Huff) Terrell. The paternal grandparents came from Bedford County, Va.; the maternal grandparents came from North Carolina and Tennessee. The ancestors of our subject for several generations have been farmers and consistent members of the Society of Friends. When our subject was two years of age, his parents moved to Clinton County and settled on an improved farm in the southern part of Wayne 'Township. Mr. Terrell's education was obtained in the public schools and Earlhain College, Indiana. Failing to complete his collegiate course on account of illhealth, he entered upon travel through the Eastern and New England States. Before he became of age, he served three years as , Deputy Treasurer of Clinton County. On December 13, 1871, Mr. Terrell married Miss Edith Nordyke, of New Vienna, who has borne him five children - Tessie, Eva, Bertha, Mary Jane and Gurney. For several years, he gave vigilant attention to the improvement of his farm and live stock ; but his health again failing, he spent one winter in England and Ireland, visiting most of the places of note and examining the fine herds of cattle, sheep and swine throughout those countries. His knowledge and sagacity in the breeding of thoroughbred live stock have placed him at the front of the breeders of Clinton County. For two years he was one of the directors of the Short-Horned Breeders' Association of Ohio. He has been largely identified with the educational interests of his township and county, and has been one of the Trustees of Wilmington College for several years. Mr. Terrell is a member of the New Vienna Lodge, No. 160, of F. & A. M., also of the Hillsboro Chapter, No. 40, R. A. M., and Highland Commandery, No. 31, K. T.

ISAAC THORNBURG (deceased) was born in Guilford County, N. C., August 19, 1792 ; was a son of Joseph and Rachel Thornburg, he a native of Guilford County and she of Randolph County, N. C. The grandparents were Joseph and Nancy Thornburg, who were among the early settlers of that State, their parents being of German birth, emigrating in an early day to Ireland ; thence to America, and settled in Petinsylvania. Joseph and Nancy Thornburg lived and died in North Carolina. Joseph and Rachel Thornburg emigrated from North Carolina to Ohio and settled near Lexington, Highland County ; thence removed to Indiana, where they died. Isaac, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of seven children, and at the time of his father's removal to Ohio was attending school to acquire his education ; hence, he remained in North Carolina till through his studies. Mr. Thornburg visited Ohio two or three times in an early day, and returned to North Carolina to settle up some business matters. He became a permanent settler at Lexington in 1826. He first engaged in teaching school to gain his start in life, as when he landed in Ohio he had but 50 cents left. Subsequently, he entered upon the mercantile trade at Lexington, and thence at New Vienna, being one of the first merchants of the latter town, and was one of the leading men of that day. He was Postmaster of New Vienna for several years, also a Justice of the Peace, and held most of the important offices of his township. In 1844, he was elected Probate Judge of the Court of Clinton County, which office he filled with credit till 1850. He purchased 180 acres of land just west of New Vienna, where his widow still resides. He also dealt quite extensively in town lots in New Vienna, and we may be justified in saying that in the growth and prosperity, and in the general public interests of this community, he was one of the leading, active men of those days. He was an active member of the Society of Friends, and as a man of high moral character and integrity was, perhaps, surpassed by few, if any, in this community. On November 3, 1853, he was married to Elizabeth Hiatt, who was born in Guilford County, N. C., February 3, 1817, a daughter of Christopher and Sarah Hiatt, natives of North Carolina, whose ancestors came from England. They remained in North Carolina till their death. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters, three daughters now survive - Elizabeth, Mary A. and Letitia, who married William W. Patterson; the last two reside in North Carolina. Mr. Thornburg and wife had two children - Christopher H., born September 24, 1854, and Sarah Jane Letitia, born June 14, 1859. Mr. Thornbury died July 6, 1866, aged seventy-four years.

JOHN TRENARY, farmer, P. O. New Vienna, born in Clinton County, Ohio, December 15, 1818 ; is a son of Thomas and Susannah Trenary, natives of Virginia. Thomas came to Ohio and to Clinton County when about sixteen years of age, which was about 1811, being one of the early settlers of Clinton County ; here he was married and resided till his death in 1855. This country was then nearly all in the woods, with here and there a cabin, where persons like himself had settled to make a home and a farm, and here they endured the many hardships of those pioneer days. They had nine children, five now survive - John, Richard, William, Samuel and Hannah, the latter now the wife of Drummond Smithson. Mrs. Trenary still survives, and resides with our subject, now at the advanced age of eighty-four years. The subject of this sketch has spent his entire life in this county from his birth. Was married June 2S, 1840, to Isabel Coshatt, who was born in Highland County, Ohio, September 14, 1818, a daughter of Joseph and Nancy Coshott. He was a native of North Carolina, but came to Ohio when young, and here married and became the father of nine children, of whom eight are supposed to be living, and settled in various States from Ohio to California, of whom but little is now known. Mr. Coshatt and wife finally removed to Iowa, and died in that State. Mr. Trenary and wife have had seven children, four now living - Thomas B., born November 7, 1841 ; Martha Ann, May 3,1843 ; Nancy Jane, February 18, 1846 ; and John A., October 5, 1861. Mr. Trenary has followed farming through life. He located on the place where he now lives in the winter of 1854-55, which is the old homestead place of his father, and where he died, and here Mr. Trenary has since resided.

RODNEY T. TRIMBLE, M. D., physician, New Vienna. The history of the Trimble family of Ohio is known for a period of time reaching back prior to the Revolution, and is traced to the colonial days of Virginia under Spotwood and Dunmore. Capt. James Trimble came as a pioneer to Kentucky in 1783 ; thence to Ohio, in 1804; was a native of Augusta County, Va., born near Staunton, in 1756. At the age of ten or twelve years, his father, John Trimble, was killed by a band of Shawnee Indians, and his only son, James, and half-sister, Mrs. Edmonson, a young married lady, made prisoners. The Indians were pursued over the Laurel Mountains more than one hundred miles, and the captives recovered by Capt. Moffett's company of twelve men, and the Indians defeated, with the loss of several of the marauders. At the age of eighteen, young Trimble was with the Yirgitiians under Gen. Lewis at the celebrated battle of the Point, the most sanguinary in the annals of Indian warfare. Cornstalk, the famous chief of his tribe, and 1,200 warriors, were defeated and driven back to their home on the Scioto, pursued by Gov. Dunmore's regulars, and a treaty of peace made at Fort Charlotte, near the present site of Circleville. Young Trimble being with this expedition, was thus familiar with the Northwest Territory thirty years before Ohio became a State. At the opening of the Revolution, he was a young and ardent patriot, and participated in the seven-years conflict, having under Washington the important command of a company of rangers and picket guards against the Northwest Indians. At the close of the war, he married Jane Allen, of Augusta County, Va., whose father, James Allen, and two brothers, John and Hugh, were active and energetic defenders of the civil, religious and political liberty as pronounced by the patriotic citizens of Virginia. Lieut. John Allen, in Washington's command, was killed in 1754, at Braddock's defeat. His brother Hugh, a Lieutenant under Col. Charles Lewis, fell at the battle of the Point, October, 1774. Thus, from the ancestors on both sides was Capt. Trimble imbued with a spirit of energy and patriotism which was in the war of 1812 fully illustrated in the character and conduct of his sons old enough to participate in that struggle. In 1783, Capt. Trimble, with his wife and two children removed to Woodford County, Ky., theu the dark and bloody ground of Indian conflicts with the pioneers Logan and Boone for the supremacy of that charming and lovely country, now the Blue Grass Region of Fayette, Woodford and Jessamine Counties. The Indians had laid siege to Bryant's Station (now Lexington), and were retreating when the company of Virginia emigrants of 300 men, women and children, under the guidance and protection of Captains Trimble, Allen and Moffett, were approaching their future homes, fighting their way from the Cumberland. In the following year, we find these colonists wtth Boone, Logan and Steele at the sanguinary battle of the Blue Licks, where a brother of Daniel Boone was killed or captured. This was the last raid of the Indians, and Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers and treaty at Greenville restored peace to the borders until the war of 1812. Kentucky was now rapidly advancing in wealth, population and social refinement, under the auspices of her distinguished statesmen, when Capt. Trimble's scruples and convictions as to the policy aud benefits of slavery induced him to seek a new home for his growing family in the wilds of the Northwest Territory. With this view, in company with his eldest son, Allen, he crossed the Ohio River, and explored the highlands and the rich valleys of Paint and Scioto as early as 1801. He selected large tracts of land in Highland, Ross, Adams and Scioto Counties, returned to Kentucky, and sold his prop erty preparatory to removal. In 1804, with his son James H. and " Tom," a colored lad of same age, he started on horseback for Ohio with a selection of fruit trees for an orchard, which was, perhaps, the first planted in Highland County. They spent the slimmer and fall in clearing up the forest, erecting a large hewed-log double cabin, planting a crop of corn. Leaving the premises in charge of his nearest neighbor and friend, Judge Joseph Swearingen, they returned to Kentucky. The fatigue and exposure brought on an attack of malarial fever, and the hardy and energetic pioneer was thus prematurely cut off, at the age of fifty-five years, from the accomplishment of his hopes. The home thus prepared for his family was on Clear Creek, three miles east of Hillsboro. Allen Trimble, being the eldest son, became administrator of the estate, and, with characteristic energy and devotion to the wishes of his father, took the responsibility of conducting the disconsolate widow and a portion of the family to their new home in the wilds of Ohio. Three brothers, William A., James A. and Cary H., were left at school and college in Kentucky, and a young sister, Mary Lewis, at Mrs. Beck's Seminary at Lexington. Margaret C., the eldest sister, and the younger brothers, Cyrus W. and John H., accompanied and shared with their devoted mother the toils, hardships and exposures incident to a life in the forests. That heroic and accomplished woman possessed all social, moral and religious virtues which fitted her as a guide, counselor and guardian for the trust, and a long and eventfnl life attested her rare worth and refinement. Allen Trimble married Margaret McDowell, of Kentucky, daughter of Gen. McDowell, of North Carolina, and soon took an active part in the organization of Highland County, for further account of whom see history of the Governors of Ohio. William A. Trimble, a student at Transylvania University at Lexington, went to Paris, Ky., and became a law student with his relative Judge Robert Trimble. His brothers James and Cary followed the family to Ohio in 1807, and William in 1808, bringing his young sister Margaret with him. The family were then united in this rustic home on Clear Creek, in 1808. In the summer of 1810, William decided to visit the law school at Litchfield, Conn., to complete his studies, and took with him over the mountains his brothers Cary and John to a select school near Philadelphia, at the Falls of the Schuylkill. The outfit was a one-horse gig, and they had a tedious journey of two weeks. William graduated in 1811, and returned to Ohio to enter upon his profession, when he was appointed Major of Col. McArthur's regimeut of volunteers, and marched with that ill-fated army under Hull to the surrender at Detroit, in the war of 1812. He then received the appointment of Major of the Twenty-sixth Regiment of the United States, and procured the appointment of his brother Cary A. as Lieutenant of the srme regiment. They served with great credit, and William distinguished himself for his gallanty at Fort Erie, Buffalo, and at the "sortie" under Gen. Brown, was severely wounded, and promoted Lieutenant Colonel of the Nineteenth Regiment August 17, 1814. He was retained in the service with same rank in the United States Infantry, and served with Gen. Jackson in his Seminole and Pensacola campaign, in 1817. He resigned his commission in 1818, and was elected to the United States Senate, serving until December, 1821, when he died at Washington City from the effects of his old wound, aged thirty-six. He was a soldier, citizen and scholar of rare and excellent worth, and his early and premature death was a publio loss and a social calamity. His favorite brother, Capt. Cary A. Trimble, died at Hillsboro the same year, aged twenty-six. Cyrus W. Trimble, the fifth son, was educated at Dickenson College, Penn.; studied medicine, and took his diploma from the Pennsylvania Medical College of Philadelphia in 1819. He practiced one year in Cincinnati. In 1822, he removed to Chillicothe, where he won a very successful practice and early fame as a surgeon. He was soon a victim of the malaria of that locality, and died at the age of twenty-four years. John A. Trimble, the youngest son of the family, is the only survivor. He engaged early in life in mercantile pursuits with his brothers Allen, James and Cary. Upon the death of the latter, in 1821, he took his position in the store ; served as Postmaster at Hillsboro eighteen years. Fie was an active, enterprising and successful produce and shipping merchant to New Orleans for many years. He married early in life Laviuia V., daughter of Dr. William Boys, of Staunton, Ya. Of a family of eight children, two only survive, a son and a daughter. Jane St. Clair, Cyrus Boys, Mary, Ella, Rosa Augusta and John Alexander died young. The eldest son, Cyrus Boys, was a bright and brilliant youth, highly educated at the Hillsboro Academy under Prof. Sands, and a graduate of Center College, Ky. After leaving college, he studied law with his relative, Judge Boys, of Hillsboro, and

assistant to his father as Clerk of Highland County. He was admitted to the bar at an early age, and formed a partnership with R. A. Harrison, of London, Ohio, and was entering upon his profession when he was cut down by typhoid fever. The promise of a brilliant career, sustained by learning and a high-toned moral and manly deportment, was thus withered in the bloom and buoyancy of early manhood - a social calamity and a public loss. The next brother, John Alexander, lost his health while a student at Hillsboro. He visited Virginia for his recovery, and was among relatives and friends there at the opening of the war. He espoused the cause of Virginia, and Gen. Imboden offered him a position on his staff as a cavalry officer. He served the lost cause to the close, and was known as the " active, vigilant and intelligent soldier boy of the brigade." He only survived to get home and be at rest with those he loved. Rodney Telfair and Alice M. are the surviving ones. The former the fourth son and the subject of this sketch, was born at Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio, October 13, 1846. He received his early education at the high school of Hillsboro, and, at an early age, entered upon the study of medicine with Dr. W. W. Shepherd, of Hillsboro. In the fall of 1866, he attended lectures at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati. In fall of 1867, he entered the Medical Department of University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia ; also while there, took a course in the Philadelphia School of Anatomy. He graduated from the University March 13, 1868. Thence, he entered upon the practice of his profession at Hillsboro. In July, 1871, he located at New Vienna, Clinton County, where, with earnest work and devoted zeal in the profession, and amid strong competition with old and established physicians, he was secured a large and steadily increasing practice. He is an earnest and active worker in the cause of medical science, a free, fearless and eloquent debater and defender of " the faith," a fluent speaker and popular lecturer on all questions touching the general weal of the public. In June, 1881, he became a member of the Ohio State Medical Society. If health and longevity be exended to the Doctor, he will doubtless ascend high up the hill of fame and usefulness.

WILLIAM V. UTTER, farmer, P. 0. New Antioch, born in Hamilton County, Ohio, January 3, 1815, is a son of Robert and Susan (Van Winkle) Utter, natives of New Jersey. The grandparents, Benjamin and Rachel Utter, were also natives of New Jersey, their ancestors being from Holland. Benjamin Utter died in New Jersey, and his wife subsequently married James W'atkins, who in 1800 emigrated to Ohio and settled near Cincinnati, where they died at a ripe old age. The maternal grandparents were William and Mary Van Winkle; his father also came from Holland. William and Mary Van Winkle were married in New Jersey, where they resided a few years; thence they started for the West, but his wife, whose health was very delicate, died on the way in Pennsylvania. Afterward he and family came to Ohio and also settled near Cincinnati, and was married three times while living in Ohio, being very unfortunate in the death of his wives. He spent the balance of his life in Hamilton and Highland Counties, and died in the latter at a very old age. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution while a young man residing in New Jersey. Robert Utter was but a child when they come to Ohio in 1800, and at that time there was but one brick house in Cincinnati. Mr. Watkins engaged in the manufacture of augers and nails; was said to be the first manufacturer of cut nails" west of the Alleghany Mountains. Here Robert grew to manhood, brought up to his father's trade, and when a boy would pack the nails to town on horseback, in saddle bags, and sell them at 25 cents a pound, they being then all made by hand. Our subject now has in his possession some of the nails which were made about 1804. Robert then engaged in faiming in Hamilton County. After a few years he moved to Kentucky, thence to Jefferson County, Ind. Finally in his old age he sold out and retired from active labor and he and wife lived the balance of their lives with their children. They died in Clinton County at the residence of our subject. Mrs. Utter died December 26, 1864, aged seventy-six years; Mr. Utter died November 16, 1866. aged seventy-two years. They had three children, two now living - William V. and Araminta, wife of Dr. S. A. Butterfield, of Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. Utter was a soldier in the war of 1812, and wa3 under Hull at his surrender at Detroit. Mr. Utter was a member and active worker in the Christian Church for many years. William, our subject, was raised to farm labor ; was married, August 6, 1840, to Alvira Rogers, who was born in Kentucky, September 16, 1816, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Rogers, he a native of Virginia, and she of Kentucky. They removed to Ohio, but finally returned to Kentucky, where they died. Mr. Utter and wife have had ten children, seven now survive - Araminta and Sophronia (twins), born March 14, 1842, the latter deceased; David Newton, March 21, 1844 ; Robert B., March 18, 1849 ; Samuel R., January 20, 1851 ; Mary Evaline, December 27, 1853; William Seymour, September 2, 1856, and James W., December 28, 1859. Mr. Utter first located in Jefferson County, Ind. In September. 1853, he removed to Clinton Couniy, Ohio, and located where he now lives and has since resided. He commenced life poor, but by his own industry, assisted by a frugal wife, has obtained a good competency. He now owns 280 acres of good land, 200 of which

I are in cultivation, with good buildings and improvements, and is one of the prominent and substantial farmers of Greene Township, and sustains an unblemished character for honor and integrity. He and wife are worthy members of the Christian Church to which they have belonged since 1840.

NICHOLAS W. VANDERVORT, farmer, P. O. New Antioch, born near New Antioch, this county, May 31, 1835, is a son of Nicholas and Nancy Vandervort (see sketches of Paul II. Vandervort and Jonah S. Vandervort). The subject of whom we now write was brought up to farm labor, receiving a good common school education, with some advantages of the High School at New Vienna. At eighteen years of age,

I he commenced teaching school. In the fall of 1855, he went to Illinois, near Bloomington, where he taught till the summer of 1857 ; then returned to Ohio. In 1858, he attended a select school in New Vienna, to qualify himself in some of the higher branches. Thence, he continued his work of teaching till 1878, having, during this time, been employed in the schools of Wilmington, Sabina and New Antioch, embracing the long period of twenty-five years, during which time he was devoted to the arduous yet important work of teaching. Since above date (1878), Mr. Vandervort has given his attention to farming. On December 31, 1863, he was united in marriage with Miss Rate Winpiglar, an accomplished lady, who was also a teacher for many years. She was born at Martinsville, Clinton Co., Ohio, August 13, 1845, a daughter of Isaac and Myra (Hanly) Winpiglar, he a native of Virginia, and she of Clermont County, Ohio. He became an early settler in Ohio, married and located at Martinsville, where he died in 1848. He was the father of five children - two now survive - Helen, wife of G. W. Robinett, and Rate. Mrs. Winpiglar subsequently married, for her second husband, John Hyatt, by whom she had three children - Louis H., Barnett B. and Clara E., now Widow Hodgson. Mr. Hyatt died in October, 1876. Mrs. Hyatt still survives, now aged 6ixty-three years. Mr. Vandervort has served the county long and faithfully in its educational interests, having been a leading and prominent teacher in her schools for so many years ; has also been a member of the Board of Examiners several years. He is a member and earnest worker in the Christian Church at New Antioch, to which he has belonged for many years, and is one of Clinton County's most esteemed and useful citizens.

PAUL H. VANDERVORT, retired farmer, P. O. New Antioch, born near Starbuck Town, Clinton County, Ohio, January 1, 1815; is a son of Jonah and Jane Vandervort. The grandparents, Nicholas and Martha Vandervort, natives of New York State, became residents of Virginia; thence they emigrated from Virginia about 1800, the objective point being on Green River, Ky., and on their way down the Ohio River, arriving at Columbia, near Cincinnati, they anchored their flat boat for the night, during which a large limb from a tree overhanging the boat broke and fell, injuring the boat so badly that it was unfit to proceed farther with safety. Alter some investigation of the surrounding country, they became so well pleased with it that they concluded to settle there, and, it is believed, the grandparents of our subject died there. The maternal grandparents were John and Mary Tibbs, natives of Ireland. The latter, when a girl, was kidnaped and taken on board a vessel and brought to America, and here grew to womanhood, was married and they became residents of Virginia ; thence emigrated to Columbia, Ohio, where she died. He subsequently moved to Starbuck Town, in Clinton County, where he died. Jonah and Jane Vandervort resided at Columbia till 1809, when they removed to Clinton County and located on Todd's Fork, where they lived six years ; thence removed to near New Antioch, where they resided the balance of their lives. Here they were among the earliest settlers, and in the organizing and establishing of the Christian Church at Antioch they were leading, active members financially, and, with their moral and Christian influence, became the great strength of the church. He was a very upright, industrious man, of sound judgment, and was one of the first jurymen of Clinton County, a man highly esteemed and respected and deserves to be handed down on the pages of history to posterity as one of the honored pioneers of Clinton County. They had six sons and five daughters, of whom Paul H., our subject, is the only surviving one. Mr. Vandervort died in January, 1842 ; his wife died in 1845. The subject of this sketch was two months old when his parents moved to near New Antioch, where he was raised and grew to manhood and spent his entire life till, in August, 1879, he retired from the farm and located in New Antioch. Mr. Vandervort has now lived sixty-seven years right here in sight of New Antioch. In his younger years, he experienced his full share of pioneer work, and has witnessed the great changes that have taken place around him, in the transformation of the vast forests into fine cultivated fields, and the rude log cabins replaced by good frame and brick houses, and instead of the hardships and scarcity of those early days, comfort and plenty now cheer the hearts of her citizens. Mr. Vandervort has been one of the prominent and useful citizens of this community; has been Commissioner of the county twelve years ; was one of the managers of Clinton County Agricultural Society thirteen years, and President of the same for several years, and has held many other minor offices. He has been a leading member and active supporter of the Christian Church. At che death of his father, he was elected to fill his place as a Deacon in the church, which office he filled twenty-five years ; then he was made an Elder, which office he has since held. As a neighbor, a citizen and a Christian, Mr. Vandervort is held in high esteem and respect throughout the community. He has been twice married; first, October 19, 1836, to Matilda McKenzie, daughter of John and Isabel McKenzie, natives of Kentucky, who became residents of Ohio, and died in Clinton County, and were inte'rred in the cemetery at New Antioch. By this union they had four children - Mary Emily, wife of E. W. Marble; Alpheus, who served three years in the war of the rebellion, enlisting in Company B, Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in December, 1861, and engaged in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and others, and was under Gen. Garfield in his celebrated conquest on the Big Sandy and through Eastern Kentucky ; Samantha, wife of Dr. W. W. Canny, of Camden, Preble Co., Ohio ; and John W. Mrs. Vandervort died June 20, 1876. On August 26, 1879, Mr. Vandevort married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Ann Mitchell, a daughter of James and Mary Fleming, natives of Pennsylvania, but who settled in Clinton County in July, 1828; he died in 1836; his widow still survives and resides near Wilmington, aged eighty years. Few men have lived a long and active life with a greater degree of integrity, moral and Christian character than Mr. Vandervort, who was never sued in law, neither has he ever sued any man, and is truly an example of one who " lives at peace with all men " as far as is possible.