Clinton County, Ohio - Biographical sketches (2 of 2 so headed), 1915 (part 12 of 26)

Jacob Rhonemus was the son of Jacob and Sophia (Cluster) Rhonemus. the former a native of Virginia and the latter a native of Germany. The elder Jacob Rhonemus came to this county in the yéar 1808, as the driver of a six-horse team in the wagon train brought overland in that year by William Beggs. Liking the appearance of things in this part of the state, he decided to remain and never returned to Virginia. Though Clinton county had' not been organized at: that time. Jacob Rhonemus was discerning enough to see the immense possibilities the future held for this region and he secured: a small tract of land, eighty-five acres, in the forest, cleared the same. erected a small log cabin, married one of the pioneer girls of the neighborhood and made his home in the Cuba neighborhood the rest of his life, becoming one of the best-known citizens of that community. Jacob Rhonemus served his country as a soldier in the War of 1812 and received land warrants in payment of his services during that struggle. He married Sophia Cluster, daughter of a pioneer family in Washington township, who proved a faithful and devoted helpmeet in his efforts to create a home in the then wilderness.

Jacob Rhonemus, son of this pioneer couple, was reared on the farm near the village of Cuba, receiving his education in the subscription schools of that neighborhood, and grew up with the expectation of becoming a farmer. He married Mary Thornhill, daughter of Barnett and Ruth (Jones) Thornhill, pioneers of Washington township, who came to this county about the year 1820, and in 1849 bought a farm of one hundred and fifty acres in the deep woods of Jefferson township, where he made a home, cleared the farm and spent the rest of his life. During the Civil War Jacob Rhonemus, Jr., served the Union as a soldier in the Highty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and though this regiment saw much bitter service, having participated in some of the hardestfought battles of the war, he never was wounded and never was made a prisoner. In his religious belief, Jacob Rhonemus was a Universalist and took much interest in the affairs of the congregation of that church, being one of the leaders therein. He and his wife were the parents of ten children.

Frank Rhonemus, one of the ten children above mentioned, received his education in the district schools of Jefferson township and remained on the home farm until his marriage in 1891, in which year he bought a farm of seventy-five acres in Clark township and ever since has made his home there. He has done well in his farming operations and is regarded as one of the substantial citizens of that neighborhood. He is public-spirited and progressive and is a man of influence in his community, having served on the township board of education very acceptably to all for the past twentytwo years.

On March 14, 1891, Frank Rhonemus was united in marriage to Catherine Anna Lippolt, daughter of Jacob Lippolt, of Clark township, this county, and to this union six children have been born, namely: Mary, who is a well-known teacher in the public schools of Clinton county; John, a farmer, of this county; Theo and Leo, twins, who also are farming, and George BF. and Ruth, who are students in the high school at Lynchburg.

Mr. and Mrs. Rhonemus are members of the Lutheran church and are warmly interested in the various beneficences of the congregation to which they are attached. They also take a deep interest in community affairs, being concerned in all measures designed to advance the common good and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.

Fred Welden Linton

Not so many years ago it was rare indeed to find a young man who had received the advantages of a college education, who found the farm sufficiently attractive to inake agriculture his life's vocation. The custom, however, for young men reared on the farm to return to the farm after their graduation from college is becoming more thoroughly established. In Fred Welden Linton, an enterprising young farmer of Union township, Clinton county, is a splendid example of the young man who has found the farm sufficiently attractive to take up agriculture as a life calling. He is descended from Nathan Linton, one of the earliest pioneer settlers of Clinton county, 'who was his great-great-grandfather.

Fred Welden Linton was born on July 18, 1889, in Adams township, Clinton county, Ohio, the son of Walter and Gertrude (Hadley) Linton, the former of whom was a native of Union township, born on July 19, 1866, and at present a resident of Norwalk,

Walter Linton is the son of Joshua and Olive (Hadley) Linton. Joshua Linton was the son of Seth and Sarah Ann (Moore) Linton, the former of whom was the son of Nathan and Rachel (Smith) Linton. Nathan was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Harvey) Linton and Samuel was the son of Benjamin and Jane (Cowgal) Linton. Benjamin was the son of John and Mary (Relf) Linton. John Linton was the son of Sir Roger Linton, of Yorkshire, England.

Sir Roger Linton had six sons: John, Jacob, Samuel, Benjamin, Roger and James. John was born at Yorkshire, England, and sent by his father to Oxford College, where he was educated for the ministry. Sent with a company of soldiers to attend one of the Quaker meetings to ascertain if anything was said against the Church of England, John Linton was so impressed by the simplicity, earnestness and faith of the worshippers that he became a convert, after which he was expelled from his father's house. He learned the carpenter's trade in London and was there married to Mary Relf, in 1691. After preaching for a number of years, he and his wife came to America, landing at Philadelphia on November 8, 1692. Before leaving England, he had been an associate of William Penn. John and Mary (Relf) Linton had four childrez: Mary, Joseph, Benjamin and John. Benjamin, the third child, was: born in Philadelphia, October 6, 1703. He was a weaver by trade and an able and iearned astronomer. By his first marriage to Elizabeth White, March 25, 1727, there were two children, John and Mary. The mother of these children was born on September 9, 1705, and died on January 25, 732. He next married Jane Cowgal, who was born on July 3, 1708. By this marriage there were eight children: Lucia, Benjamin, Joshua, Sarah, Samuel, Jane, Daniel and Hezekiah. Samuel was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1741. He was a farmer and weaver and was married on May 10, 1775, to Elizabeth Harvey, who was born on March 8, 1748. They had six children: Samuel, Nathan, David, Jane and Elizabeth (twins), and James. WHarly in 1802, Samuel Linton and his family started from their Pennsylvania home towards the "far West." They floated down the Ohio river to Cincinnati and came by wagon to Waynesville, in Warren county, where he followed his trade of weaver. In 1804 he bought five hundred acres of land on Todd's fork, three miles northwest of Wilmington. He was a member of the Society of Friends.

Nathan Linton, the second son of Samuel, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. January 17, 1778. He was surveyor at the time Clinton county was organized and held this office for twenty years. He surveyed Clinton and Fayette counties' townships and laid out the village of Wilmington. He died on February 11, 1858, honored and respected by all worthy people. Benjamin Butterworth, a member of Congress, was a son of his daughter, Elizabeth. Another grandson, Nathan, was a member of the Ohio Legislature. Nation and his wife, Rachel Smith, had twelve children: Elizabeth, Abi, Samuel, Seth, David. James, Mary, Nathan, Benjamin, Cyrus, Ruth and Jane.

Seth, the fourth child born to Nathan and Rachel Linton and the great-grandfather of Fred Welden Linton, was born on October 10, 1812, in Union township. His mother was born on January 18, 1790, and died on April 4, 1859. She was the daughter of Seth Smith, born on May 19, 1761, and who died on April-1, 18387, and Elizabeth Littler, who was born on April 9, 1769, and who died on July 7, 1842. The father of the latter was Samuel Littler, who emigrated from England to America with William Penn. Seth Linton was married on September 26, 1836, to Sarah Ann Moore, of Lytle's creek meeting. She was born in Clinton county, December 7, 1819, the daughter of Joshua Moore, who was born on October 10, 1791, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and who died on February 7, 1874, and Nancy Stratton, who was born on November 16, 1797, and died on December 19, 1881. By this marriage there were six children: Nathan M., born on March 18, 1838, a lawyer and former member of the Ohio Legislature; Nancy L..

January 3, 1840, who married Thomas McMillan, a farmer; Rachel, October 8, 1841, who married E. Snowden; Joshua, April 2, 1843, who married Olive Hadley; Oliver, August 5, 1845, who married Sarah Hiatt; and Amanda, November 11, 1848, who married Jacob Lewis, a farmer.

Joshua Linton, the grandfather of Fred W., who was born in Clinton county, obtained little education. He grew up on the farm and was married in September, 1864, to Olive Hadley, the daughter of Joshua and Ruth (Edwards) Hadley, the former of whom was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, and who came to Ohio with his parents when he was twelve years old. His parents were William and Sarah (Clark) Hadley. William Hadley laid out the town of Clarksville, in what is now Vernon township, Clinton county, and named it for his wife's maiden name. He was a devout Quaker and died of heart failure while going to the monthly meeting of the Friends church. Ruth Edwards was the daughter of Archibald and Nancy Edwards, who were early settlers in Union township, having come here from North Carolina. In 1914 Joshua and Olive Linton celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. After his marriage, he had lived on his grandfather's farm near Clarksville in Clinton county for five years and afterwards obtained land in Union township, northwest of Wilmington, and lived there until 1892, when he retired and moved to Wilmington, where he and his wife still live on West Locust street. He still owns a farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres in Union township. He and his wife are lifelong members of the Friends church.

The parents of Gertrude (Hadley) Linton and the maternal grandparents of Fred W. Linton were Micajah and Ellen (Cowgill) Hadley, the latter of whom was a native of Highland county, Ohio, and is still living. The former, who was a farmer in Adams township, where he owned two hundred and fifty acres of land, died in May, 1898. He as the son of Eli and Abigail (Green) Hadley, the former of whom was born on September 27, 1804, and died on November 29, 1854, and the latter of whom died on April 30, 1837, at the age of twenty-eight. She was the daughter of Reuben and Rhoda Green. Eli Hadley was the son of John and Lydia (Harvey) Hadley, the former of whom was born on September 23, 1770, in Chatham county, North Carolina, the son of Joshua and Ruth Hadley. Lydia Harvey was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Harvey, of Orange county, North Carolina, who came to Ohio in 1806, and settled near Todd's fork. They were married in Crane's creek monthly meeting, North Carolina, in 1794.

Walter Linton, the father of Fred W., grew up in Union township, and after his marriage lived on his mother-in-law's farm until 1899, when he purchased seventy-five acres in Union township on the Waynesville pike. There he built a fine home, which is now occupied by the subject of this sketch. In 1913 the father moved to Norwalk, Ohio, where he is engaged in selling silos. He and his family are members of the Friends church. His wife died in 1912, and in January, 1915, he married Madora Kelly. He is an extensive breeder of Holstein cattle and for fourteen years was in the dairy business. He and his first wife had two children: Fred Welden, and one daughter, Eleanor, born on August 11, 1894, who is now a student at Cincinnati University. Walter Linton is an ardent Republican.

Fred Welden Linton received his education in the public schools of Adams and Union townships. Early in life he attended Wilmington College and was graduated from that institution in 1909. Subsequently, he worked one year in the West on the Sante Fe railroad as a civil engineer, but in 1910 came back to his father's farm and for two years rented a farm near Cuba, Ohio. In 1914 he purchased his father's farm of seventy-five acres in Union township and here he now lives.

On June 28, 1913, Fred W. Linton was married to Louise Truitt, who was born in Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, the daughter of J. F. and Sue Truitt, the former of whom is a farmer of this township.

Mr. Linton is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Central Christian church of Wilmington. Very few young men of the present generation in Clinton county are more enterprising, more capable or more popular than Fred W. Linton. -Few young men have the inspiration of a more worthy and eminent ancestry than he. It may be truly said that he is fulfilling the natural obligations of the young man who is well born, and faithfully discharging all of the duties of life.

Frank B. Pond

Frank B. Pond is an enterprising and successful young farmer of Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, who was born on March 21, 1877; at New Antioch, in Green township, Clinton county. He is the son of William A. and Alice (Tener) Pond, the former of whom was born on March 20, 1852, and the latter of whom was born at Locust Grove, in Adams county, Ohio.

William A. Pond is the son of William and Mary (Lieurance) Pond, the former of whom was born on June 2, 1812, in Green township and who died on January 10, 1902, and the latter of whom was born on March 21, 1815, and died on August 25, 1906. Mrs. William A. Pond is the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Weaver) Tener, both of whom are deceased. He was'a harness-maker of Adams county, and his wife was a native of Highland county.

William Pond, the grandfather of Frank B. Pond, was the son of Griffen Pond, who with his brothers, Henry, John and Jonathan, came to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1802, from Wilkes county, North Carolina.

Frank B. Pond grew up at New Antioch, Ohio, and there attended the public schools. When a young man he assisted his father on the farm and in buying live stock. When he was twenty-one years of age he came to Wilmington and worked here for J. P. Cole in his restaurant. In 1903 Mr. Pond purchased Mr. Cole's restaurant and the following year was married. In that same year he sold out the restaurant and removed to Hillsboro, Ohio, where he was engaged in the restaurant business until 1908, when the restaurant burned. From Hillsboro, Mr. Pond removed to Faukuier county, Virginia, where he managed a farm for his wife's uncle, James Boling. He managed this farm until Mr. Boling's death in 1912, and afterwards Mrs. Boling purchased one hundred and twenty-five acres out of the Wade farm in the eastern part of Union township, Clinton county. Mr. Pond has since.managed this farm for Mrs. Boling in partnership with her son, Earl W. Boling. Mr. and Mrs. Pond live on the farm. He specializes in Shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses, also Duroc-Jersey hogs. He likewise raises a great many colts and mules.

On June 22, 1902, Frank B. Pond was married to Cleo Ansell, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, in March, 1880, the daughter of James Crooks and Esther (Wilson) Ansell. James C. Ansell lives in Zanesville, Ohio, where he is a retired farmer. He is a native of Perry county, Ohio, and the son of Peter and Lucy Ansell. During the Civil War he was a member of the Seventy-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the war, making the memorable march with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea. He was wounded in the, shoulder during the Georgia campaign. Mrs. Esther (Wilson) Ansell was the daughter of Ezra and Elizabeth (Burges) Wilson, both of whom were natives of Allegheny county, Maryland. The former was born on May 26, 1812, and died on May 17, 1891. The latter was born on July 4, 1811, and died on April 16, 1891. They were married on May 1, 1828, and were early settlers in Perry county, Ohio, where they lived until their death. Mrs. Pond's mother was one of ten children born to her parents. Lewis, the eldest child in the family died of typhoid fever, Alfred died when a. child, as did also Martha. Lavina married Peter Stoneberner and is now deceased. William is a resident of Crooksyille, Ohio, where he is a butcher.. Levi, who is deceased, was a farmer. Elizabeth, who was born on Decem- ber 12, 1846, married James H. Boling, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, June 6, 1847, and who died January 10, 1912. James H. Boling was a Civil War veteran in Company A, Thirty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He taught school for twenty-five years in Perry county, Ohio, and for ten and one-half years was superintendent of the Perry county children's home. He died on his farm in Virginia. His widow owns and lives on the farm which Mr. Pond now manages in Union township. Naomi, the eighth child, married John O. Skinner, they are both deceased. Esther is Mrs. Pond's mother. An infant died at birth.

Trank B. Pond is a Republican. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the encampment.

Cyrus E. Custis

Respect is due to the brave sons of the North who left their homes and the peaceful pursuits of civic life to give their services and their lives, if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American union, and no man is more entitled to share in this respect than the venerable Cyrus E. Custis, a distinguished veteran of the Civil War and one, who, since the close of that war, has been prominent in the religious and political life of Clinton county. He proved his love and loyalty to the government on the long and tiresome marches in all kinds of situations. Exposed to summer's withering sun and winter's freezing cold, on the lonely picket line, a target for the unseen foe, on the tented field and amid the flames and smoke of battle, where the rattle of musketry mingled with the concussion of bursting shells and the diapason of the cannon's roar, made up the sublime but awful course of death. Enlisted as a private, he was promoted to first duty sergeant on October 1, following his enlistment; to orderly, April 3, 1863; and on August 19, 1864, was promoted to second lieutenant. On January 20, 1865, he was commissioned first lieutenant, and was assigned to the command of Company C.

It was on August 6, 1862, that Cyrus E. Custis, who was then just a little past the age of twenty-two, enlisted in the Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. in Spencer's Company, afterwards called Company G. His regiment was assembled at Camp Denison on August 138, and ordered to Covington, Kentucky, in the following September. His first real service was a march to Crittendon, about twenty-five miles away. It required two days to go and about one day to return. His regiment guarded supply trains and railroads during the greater part of the time until 1864. On May 2, of that year, the regiment entered the Sherman campaign and there saw its first great battle. He took part in the following engagements: Resaca, May 15, 1864; Pumpkin Vine Creek, May 27, 64; and was in command of the company in all the battles of his regiment till the capture of Atlanta, where they camped till November 14, when they began the march to the sea. Arrived at Savannah, December 10, where they remained till January 18, 65. Then entered the Carolinas and was in battles of Averysboro, March 16, '65, in which he picked up the flag after the color bearer was shot down, and at Bentonville, Mareh 18, arriving in Goldsboro about March 21st. Then marched to Raleigh, North Carolina, and at surrender of Joseph Johnston, was sent to Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia, and passed on grand review at Washington, D. ©., May 25, 1865, and was in command of his company. Cyrus B®. Custis was mustered from the Union army with honor and distinction on June 9, 1865, at Washington, D. C., and received his discharge June 17, 1865, at Camp Denison.

Born on August 8, 1840, in Richland township, Clinton county, Ohio, on the farm which his grandfather, Samuel Reed,.had settled in 1808, Cyrus E. Custis is the son of William H. and Mary (Reed). His father was born in Scioto county, Ohio, December 15, 1818, and his mother in Richland township, Clinton county, April 12, 1813. She was the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Paris) Reed. They were married on December 19, 1837.

On the maternal side, Mr. Custis' grandfather, Samuel Reed, was born on September 1; 1778, and died on April 5, 1854. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Sarah Paris, was born on August 25, 1782, and died on October 3, 1863. Samuel and Sarah Reed settled in Richland township in 1805. They came from Kentucky, in which state they were married, and it is probable that they were born in that state. Upon settling in this township, Samuel Reed bought one thousand acres of land, which he afterwards lost through an imperfect title and had to pay for the same land the second time. He and his wife were members of the Christian church and were of that class which gives tone and solidity to the community at large. Samuel and Sarah Reed had nine children: Hlizabeth, born February 16, 1799; Absalom, November 25, 1800; Abner, January 10, 1803; Josephus, July 15, 1804, and died on September 10, 1840; Cyrus, June 9, 1806, and died on April 6, 1839; John, October 28, 1808; William, November 27, 1816, and died on January 15, 1863; Mary, April 12, 1813, and died on September 17, 1896; and Samuel P., September 3, 1815, and died on November 25, 1860,

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Custis were Robison and Mary (Savage) Custis, natives of Virginia, who settled in Union township, Clinton county, in either 1821 or 1822. He purchased one hundred acres of partly cleared land, which became his permanent home. Before this he had lived temporarily in Scioto county, Ohio, having come to Scioto county from Virginia as early as 1810. After living in Union township for some time, he moved to Wilson township, where he owned a farm. Robison Custis was born on April 19, 1770, and died on November 28, 1848. His birthplace was near Norfolk, Virginia. His wife, Mary Savage, to whom he was married on August 7, 1793, was born on January 24, 1779, and died on November 22, 1848. Robison Custis was the son of John and Elizabeth Custis, an old Virginia family. The children of Robison and Mary Custis were twelve in number: Thomas, born on March 9, 1795; Littleton, November 13, 1796, and died on August 9, 1809; Robison, January 9, 1799;.Abel W., May 13, 1801; Betsy, September 13, 1803; Ann, January 2, 1805; Elizabeth Ann, September 11, 1809; Mary Ann, September 25, 1811; William H., December 15, 1813; John W., May 6, 1815; Charles E., May 20, 1820; and Vienna, June 21 1822.

The tenth child in this family was William H. Custis, the father of Cyrus E. He was educated in the subscription schools of Union and Wilson townships, Clinton county, and while still a young man, worked on the farm with his father. Here he began farming for himself and in 1852 opened a general store in connection with his farm, which he conducted for six or eight years. He then sold out and devoted his entire time to the farm. About 1866, at the close of the Civil War, he retired but continued to live on his farm until his death. He owned one hundred and ninety-four acres of excellent land. By his marriage to Mary Reed, December 19, 1837, there were born five children: Samuel Robertson, born October 18, 1838, and died on July 3, 1900; Cyrus E., the subject of this sketch; Sarah Mary, May 20, 1842, who married J. H. Channell; Elizabeth A., July 15, 1844, who married John Small; and Josephus John, November 10, 1846, who died on December 28, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Custis were charter members of the Richland Methodist Protestant church and he was a member of the building committee which erected the church. Until the formation of the Republican party, he was a Whig in politics, but later identified himself with the party of Lincoln and Grant.

Cyrus E. Custis obtained a better education than most of the boys of his day and generation. Not only was ve graduated from the common schools of Richland township, but in 1862 he was a student for one term at the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio. It was shortly after his return from school that he enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War.

After the war Mr. Custis and his brother, J. J., who was six years his junfor, rented their father's farm and during the winters of 1866 and 1867 he returned to school at Lebanon and was able to complete a commercial course. In March, 1867, he entered into partnership with J. H. Channell in the generai mercantile business. They were together two years. In 1869 he returned to the home farm and one year later he and his brother purthased a farm of two hundred 'acres in 'Richland township, which Cyrus E. now owns. Mr. Custis was married in 1870 and after his marriage moved to the farm where he has lived ever since, on April 14, of that year. In 1887 he purchased his brother's interest in the farm and now owns the entire two hundred acres. He has remodeled his house and erected all of the other buildings on the place. Mr. Custis is an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and Delaine sheep. He is known throughout Clinton county as one of its most prosperous and well-to-do farmers.

On April 7, 1870, Cyrus E. Custis was married to Lutitia Douglas, who was born on January 10, 1844, and who is the daughter of Absalom and Mary (Coulter) Douglas. To this union have been born two children: Albert Reed, who married Catherine Devanney, and Mary Douglas, who graduated from Wilmington College in 1908.

Albert Reed Custis was born in Richland township, Clinton county, Ohio. He obtained the rudiments of an education in the common schools of Richland township and later was a student in Wilmington College, having been a resident student at that institution during 1890, 1891 and 1892. For some time after he left college, he was engaged in the stone-crushing business, which he continued for about three years, during which time he did considerable contract work at Wilmington. Later, he was in the coal and feed business in Wilmington, but he is now engaged in the grain business in partnership with William A. Ewing and owns an elevator at Melvin, Ohio. They buy all kinds of grain and sell feed, coal, cement, fencing, fence posts and many other supplies necessary on the farm.

Albert Reed Custis also farms in connection with his grain business, doing general farming and stock raising. He owns forty-five acres of land in Richland township.

Mrs. Albert R. Custis, before her marriage, was Catherine Devanney and is the daughter of William Devanney. They have no children. Politically, Albert R. Custis is a Republican. He is a member of the Methodist church and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. and Mrs. Albert R. Custis live at Wilmington.

Returning to the father, Cyrus E. Custis, it may be said with exact truth that he is an intelligent, pleasant, strong, healthy and unpretentious man and one who has been a natural leader in almost every phase of public life in this county. He has been repeatedly called upon to serve his fellow citizens, because in the first publie positions which he filled, he acquitted himself with credit and demonstrated his ability for larger Service. Since he was eighteen years old, he has been a member of the Methodist Protestant church at Richland and during that time has served in all of the offices of the church. Four different times he has been elected to the general conference as a delegate. in 1896 he was a delegate to Kansas City, four years later he was a delegate at Atlantic City; in 1904 he was a delegate to the conference at Washington, D. C.. and in 1912 to the conference at Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1896 he has been a trustee of Kansas City University. Altogether he served two terms and nine months additional as commissioner of Clinton county. He has also Served several terms as trustee of Richland township. Mr. Custis has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1867 and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

John C. Cashman

Farming, to which the major part of the life of John C. Cashman has been devoted, is the oldest pursuit known to mankind, It is also the one in which he will always be the most independent. Although a comparatively young man, he has made a notable success not only of farming, but of the lumber business, as well as the construction of macadam roads. He is well known to the people of this county, where he has spent

John: C.,Cashman was born. on January 23, 1871, at: Rockville, Missouri, and is the son of Joseph and Sarah Louisa. (Vandervort) Cashman, the former of whom was born on October 1, 1831, near Antioch, in' Greene township, Clinton county, Ohio, and who died on November 21, 1918, and the latter of whom was born near Antioch, in Green township, January 20, 1844, and who is still living.

Mr. Cashman's paternal grandparents were John and Catherine Cashman, who settled in Clinton county, Ohio, after having come here from Virginia in an early day. He was. engaged in hauling goods to and from Cincinnati before the railroads were built. During this period he lived at New Antioch. - Late in life he made a considerable amount of money and owned several farms at the time of his death. He was:a man of strictly temperate habits and who, beginning as a poor boy, became well-to-do for his day and generation. He and his wife were members of the Christian church. He was buried at New Antioch.

The maternal grandparents of Mr. Cashman were John and Martha E. -(Riley)» Vandervort, the former of whom was born on June 2, 1818, in Warren county, Ohio, and who was the son of Jonah and Elizabeth Vandervort, a full sketch of whose family is given in the biography of Nicholas W. Vandervort, deceased, which appears elsewhere in this history. John Vandervort was reared on a farm: and received a good common-school education and taught school several years before and after his marriage. On October 20, 1842, he was married to Martha E. Riley, who was born on Novenber 29, 1824, the daughter of Richard and Sarah Riley. They had eight children: Sarah E., who is Mr. Cashman's mother; Mary E., Amanda, who married Alpheus King; Ella, who married Samuel H. Trovillo; Preston, Charles, Emmerson and John, Jr. After his marriage John Vandervort moved to a farm three miles southeast of Harveysburg, where he lived several years, and then removed to a farm one and one-half miles northeast of New Antioch, where he lived fifteen years. He then located near Cuba, Ohio, where he died on December 17, 1865. At the time of his death he was worth more than fifteen thousand dollars. His widow and family later moved to Chester township, where she died. 4

Joseph Cashman, father of John C., was a farmer all his life. Immigrating to Missouri, he owned a prairie farm in that state, but on account of the ague returned to Clinton county, and purchased a farm in Washington township near Cuba, where he lived until within six years of his death. He then removed to Martinsville, Ohio, and there died. A man of strictly temperate habits, he never swore, used tobacco, nor intoxicating liquors in any form. He was a Christian gentleman and one who is well remembered by the people of this county for his clean mind and his honorable, upright habits. He owned two hundred acres of land at the time of his death. At the age of seventeen years he joined the Christian church and continued an active worker in this church all his life. Before the organization of the Republican party he was a Whig, but after its organization he identified himself with the party of Lincoln and Fremont.

Five children were born to Joseph and Sarah Louisa (Vandervort) Cashman, of whom: John C. was the fourth. The others were: Elmer, who lives on a farm in Vernon township; Etta, who married James West, deceased, and who lives on her father's home farm: Minnie. who married Martin I. Shiveley, a resident of South Chillicothe. Ohio; and Lulu, who died on Augusf 3, 1878. at the age of four years.

John C. Cashman was four years of age when the family removed from Missouri to Clinton county, Ohio. He attended the public schools of Cuba, Ohio, and also the normal school at New Vienna, after which he taught school for nine years in Clinton county, in Vernon and Adams townships. He then took up farming and after renting his father's farm purchased one hundred and twenty-eight acres of land and two years later sold the farm for a profit. Upon removing to Breathitt county, Kentucky, he engaged in the manufacture of lumber and there purchased a large tract of timber land, and with the use of a portable saw-mill turned out five million feet of lumber, which he sold. After three years in Kentucky, in 1910, Mr. Cashman returned to Wilmington. Previously he had built a home in this city, in the spring of 1907. Upon returning from Kentucky he purchased one hundred and seventy-two acres of land in Washington township. The Cashman family now live in town, however. Mr. Cashman manages his farm and is engaged in building macadam roads under coutract. He built the first macadam road ever constructed in Clinton county. '

On May 7, 1896, John C. Cashman was married to Corinna Blanch Smithson, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in Clark township, the daughter of William and Martha Smithson, both of whom are living. The father is a building contractor and lives on Library avenue, in Wilmington. Mr. and Mrs. Cashman have had five children: Claude Merland, born on April 19, 1897; Donald William, April 30, 1904; Robert Joseph, September 27, 1906; Neal Elmer, June 14, 1911; and Martha Louise, December 28, 1912.

Mr. and Mrs. Cashman and family are members of the Central Christian church of Wilmington, and Mr. Cashman is an elder in this church. He became a member of the Christian church at the age of eighteen at the old Macedonia church in Washington township, and served as superintendent of the Sunday school. Throughout his entire life Mr. Cashman has been identified with the Republican party.

Friend P. Spence

One of the most successful farmers of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, is Friend P. Spence, a native of Perins Mills, Clermont county, Ohio, born on September 27, 1840, the son of Edmund and Mercena (Perin) Spence, natives of Pennsylvania and Boston, Massachusetts, respectively.

The paternal grandfather of Mr. Spence was Shackleford Spence, a native of Ireland, and of Scotch-Irish descent. After coming to America, he settled in Pennsylvania, but died later at the home of his son, Edmund, at Batavia, in Clermont county. Mr. Spence's maternal grandparents were born in England and settled in Boston, Massachusetts. Rela- 'tives of this family came to America in the first settlement of Boston. Mercena Perin, who maried Edmund Spence, came to Michigan with her brothers and later immigrated to the state of Ohio.

The late Edmund Spence, the father of Friend P., was never able to attend school, and at the age of seventeen began working for Samuel Perin, a cousin of Mercena Perin. He served as recorder of Clermont county for six years. Subsequently, he entered the dry goods business at Batavia and later was engaged in the same business at Cincinnati. Later in life he returned to Perins Mills, in Clermont county, Ohio, and became one of its best known citizens, holding various township offices, including that of assessor and trustee. He was an active Democrat throughout his life.

Friend P. Spence was educated at Perins Mills, and at the age of sixteen years began farming. On December 19, 1873, he moved to a farm at the edge of Martinsville of one hundred and eighty acres, where he now lives. Mr. Spence owns, besides this farm, two hundred and seventy acres elsewhere, During the Civil War, he was a member of the famous organization known as the "squirrel hunters." At Martinsville he has a magnificent home and is surrounded with all of the comforts of life.

On March 6, 1878, Mr. Spence was married to Hannah M. Turner, the daughter of Daniel Turner, whose parents, Michael and Elizabeth (Beltz) Turner, came with four children from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, to Clermont county, Ohio, in 1808. Michael Turner was a native of Germany. Hight children were born after the removal of this family to Ohio, but Daniel was the last member of the family born in the Keystone State. The trip to Ohio was made in a flat-boat. Daniel Turner accumulated, during his life, eight hundred and fifty acres of land on the East fork in Clermont county and one hundred and sixty acres in the southern part of Clinton county. He also owned two hundred and thirty-three acres in Highland county, a total of twenty-two hundred and forty-three acres. Most of his money was made in raising and selling hogs. He was also engaged in the pork-packing business in Cincinnati and, although he could only write his own name, he was a man of very astute business ability. Daniel Turner, who married Susan Malott, had thirteen children, twelve of whom grew to maturity. He was for many years a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a director in the Cincinnati & Eastern railroad. In this connection he was instrumental in the construction down the valley of the East fork.

Mr. and Mrs. Spence were the parents of six children: Leota M., who married Melvin Townsend; Alfred B., who lives at home; Edmund S., who lives in California ; Daniel T., living in Martinsville; Isaac, deceased; and Susan, who married John Trenary, of Blanchester, Ohio, and they have one child, John. Mr. Spence is an independent voter, and has served as school director. Mrs. Spence died on November 16, 1882.

Earl Wire Benlehr

Earl Wire Benlehr, an enterprising young farmer of Union township, was born on April 18, 1891, in Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, and is the son of George H. and Hannah (Bowermaster) Benlehr, the former of whom was born on October 16, 1846, in Union township, Clinton county, and the latter of whom was born on March 8, 1846, in Greene county, Ohio.

George H. Benlehr is a well-known quarryman of Clinton county and a veteran of the Civil War. His parents were Frederick and Lavina Jane (Haws) Benlehr, the former of whom was born near Berlin, Germany, in 1810, and who died on December 25, 1890, and the latter of whom was born on April 23, 1824, in Union township, and who died on April 10, 1849. George H. Benlehr's paternal grandparents were natives of Germany, his grandfather having died in Germany and his grandmother having died en route to America. Mr. Benlehr's maternal grandparents were John and Sarah (Gibson) Haws (sometimes spelled "Hawes'"). After the death of John Haws, his widow married George, Hartman, who died in 1852. She died in 1867. Frederick Benlehr, the grandfather of Earl Wire, was the founder of the Benlehr family in Clinton county. In 1835 he purchased a farm in Union township and later operated a butcher shop in Wilmington, living on the farm, however, in the meantime. Frederick and Lavina Jane Benlehr had three children, of whom Earl Wire's father was the youngest. The others were: Louisa, born on February 8, 1840, who is the wife of William E. Parker, of Independence, Iowa, who was former superintendent of the Lee county schools; and Sarah, November 5, 1841, who is the wife of Jacob Schlotter, a florist at Keokuk, Iowa.

George H. Benlehr was educated in the public schools of Union township. His mother died when he was three years old and after her death, his father married Elizabeth Lynn and they had three children. George H. lived with his Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah Haws and before that with his Grandmother Haws while she lived.

When he was only seventeen years old, George H. Benlehr enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, July 15, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge. For many years after the war he lived on the farm, but in 1913 moved to Wilmington. Nearly twenty years ago he bought the Babb quarry at Todds fork and has been engaged in crushing stone for building purposes ever since. His wife, who was Hannah Bowermaster before her marriage, was the daughter of R. A. and Ann (Venard) Bowermaster, the former of whom was a native of Cookstown, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Clinton county, Ohio. R. A. Bowermaster came with his parents to Clinton county, Ohio, and later moved to Bowersville, Greene county, Ohio, where he was a carpenter by trade.

Earl Wire Benlehr is one of nine children born to his parents, all of whom are living: Cleo Lavina, born on May 5, 1868, who married Ed Bean, a resident of High- land county; Cora, September 4, 1871, who married Seymour Murphy, deceased, and she now lives with her father; Charles E., February 6, 1874, who is a missionary in India for the Christian church; Sarah L., December 21, 1876, who is the wife of Thomas Pond, of Muncie, Indiana; Catherine, June 26, 1879, who became the wife of John Fleming, of Mercer county; Grace E., May 24, 1882, who married Ralph Duffy, of Urbana, Ohio; George A., December 18, 1884, who is a railroad engineer at Lancaster, Ohio; Fred A., July 4, 1887, who is a quarryman and lives at home with his parents; and Earl W., who is the subject of this sketch. ~

Earl Wire Benlehr attended the public schools of Union township and received practically all of his education at the old "Dutch" school, in district No. 11. However, he attended the public schools in Wilmington, Ohio, and helped his father on the farm in the meantime until 1907, when he rented a farm in Union township, for two years. After that he moved to Huntington, Indiana, where for one year he was a fireman on the Chicago & Erie railroad. In 1910 he returned to Clinton county and after his marriage, began renting his father's farm of seventy-five acres on the Xenia pike in Union township. Mr. Benlehr still farms that land in addition to seventy-five acres adjoining.

On December 14, 1911, Earl Wire Benlehr was married to Myrta Mae Sprague, who was born in Union township, Clinton county, Ohio, February 14, 1890, and who is the daughter of George Bruce and Cornelia Catherine (Pidgeon) Sprague, both of whom are living, the former of whom is a prominent farmer and lives on the Port William pike in Union township. Mr. and Mrs. Benlehr have one child, Dorothy Hannah, born on May 10, 1913.

Karl W. Benlehr is a Democrat. He and his wife are members of the Christian church in Wilmington. He is a capable young farmer and business man and popular in the community where he lives.

Eli Haines

Of the many respected citizens and successful farmers now living retired in Wilmington, Ohio, Eli Haines, who owns a farm of one hundred and twenty-three acres in Clinton county, should be mentioned. He is descended from one of the very earliest settlers of this county, his sreat-grandfather, Jacob Haines, who was a native of Pennsylvania, having come to Ohio in 1803 and to Clinton county in the spring of 1804.

Eli Haines was born on August 9, 1857, in Caesars Creek township, Greene county, Ohio, the son of Samuel and Mary (Bales) Haines, the former of whom was born in 1818, near New Burlington, Ohio, and died in October, 1908, and the latter of whom was born in Greene county, Ohio, in 1820, and died in 1906.

Mr. Haines's paternal grandparents were Zimri and Elizabeth (Compton) Haines, the former of whom came from New Jersey with his parents. He was married near New Burlington, Ohio, and, having learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Philadelphia, followed this trade to some extent in early life. After coming to Ohio, he became a farmer, buying his land very cheaply. During the early years of his life, he owned about twelve hundred acres of land. He and his wife were members of the Friends church. He died at the age of eighty-seven, and she at a very advanced age.

Jacob Haines, who may be regarded as the founder of the Haines family in Ohio, was born in Pennsylyania, February 19, 1778, and when a& young man moved with his parents to Guilford county, North Carolina. In 1800 he was married to Mary Leonard and three years later came to Ohio, remaining at Waynesville for a short time, after which he came to Union township, Clinton county, in the spring of 1804. His family consisted of his wife and one child, Zimri, who spent most of his life in this county. Jacob Haines passed away on June 17, 1854.

Samuel Haines grew up in Greene county, Ohio, and after inheriting a part of his father's home farm, added to it until he owned five hundred acres. He was a prominent man in local politics in Greene county and held several township offices. He was a Republican and a member of the Friends church, both he and his wife being elders in the church. They had eleven children, two of whom died in infancy and four of whom died in later life, namely: Amos, who died when a young man and who was a prominent church worker; Sarah, who married H. C. Faulkner and died in May, 1913; Zimri, who died of typhoid fever at. the age of thirty-three; Elisha, who also died of typhoid fever after his marriage. The living children are: Eunice, who married Ed Bales, of Greene county, Ohio; Eli, the subject of this sketch; Hannah, who is the widow of Professor Calvin, and lives in Spring Valley, Ohio, and Alfred, who is a farmer of Greene county.

Eli Haines attended the public schools of Paintersville, Ohio, and lived at home on the farm until he was married. He purchased one hundred and twenty-three acres of the home farm and still owns that tract of land. In October, 1908, he purchased twenty-seven acres of land at the edge of Wilmington, Ohio, where he built a modern house and now has a comfortable home.

On September 20, 1882, Eli Haines was married to Louisa E. Faulkner, who was born in Greene county, Ohio, one mile from her husband's birthplace, the daughter of Allen and Elizabeth A. Faulkner, both of whom are still living, he being ninety years of age and she eighty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Haines have had four children, one of whom is deceased, Homer, who was born in 1888, and died on February 13, 1901. The living children are: Lizzie Mary, born on June 23, 1884, who married J. R. Middleton and lives on a farm in Caesars Creek township, Greene county; Bernice, July 2, 1893, who is a school teacher; and Sylvester, August 28, 1904. ,

Mr. and Mrs. Haines and family are members of the Friends church and he was an elder in the church. He is identified with the Republican party.

William Hunt

Among the successful farmers of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, is William Hunt, who was born on the farm where he now lives on March 8, 1870, the son of William S. and Phoebe (Haworth) Hunt, natives of Virginia and Clinton county, Ohio, respectively, the former of whom was born in 1816, the son of Thomas and Susan (Greene) 'Hunt, natives of North Carolina, who moved to Virginia and in 1818 to a farm north of Martinsville, where they remained until their death. The paternal great-grandfather was Robert Hunt.

Mr. Hunt's maternal grandparents were Hzekiel and Hlizabeth (West) Haworth, natives of Tennessee and Virginia respectively. Ezekiel Haworth was the son of Mahlon and Phoebe (Frazier) Haworth, both natives of Tennessee who, before 1800, located on "Todds fork near Wilmington, entering land from the government, where they died. Mahlon Haworth was the son of George and Elizabeth (Dillon) Haworth, who lived in Tennessee a part of their life but later immigrated to Clinton county. Ezekiel Haworth, the maternal grandfather, lived with his parents until his marriage, and then removed to Clark township. He and his wife both died in this township. On both sides of Mr. Hunt's family, he is descended from Quaker stock. Some of his ancestors came over to America with William Penn.

Mr. Hunt was educated in the common schools and in the New Vienna high school. He taught school for ten years in Clark township, including six years at Martinsville. Since leaving the school room he has been engaged in farming with the exception of six months spent in the railway service. Mr. Hunt has a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Clark township, where he carries on general farming and stock raising. He has made quite a success in breeding a big-boned type of Poland China hogs, all registered, pure-bred stock.

On July 29, 1896, William Hunt was married to Alvaretta Long, who was reared in Clinton county but who was a resident of Greenfield, Indiana, at the time of her marriage, a daughter of Henry and Rachel (Moore) Long, of Green township and Washington township respectively, the former of whom served in the War of the Rebellion for four years.

Mr. Hunt is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, and Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is a member of the board of trustees of Wilmington College, president of the Martinsville Creamery Company, and one of its organizers. He is a well-known Republican in this county and served as township trustee, and for the past twelve years a member of the Clinton County Republican Central Committee. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are members of the Friends church.

Col. Owen West

Among those men of sterling attributes of character, who have impressed their personality upon the community life of Clinton county and who have borne their full share in the agricultural, industrial, commercial and financial development of this great county, few men have had a larger part than Col. Owen West, of Lynchburg. He has exerted a strong influence for good on the entire county and is a man of upright principles, one who has always desired the advancement of the community along moral, educational and material lines. He is the inventor and manufacturer of the West tile ditching machine and in years past has invented useful fences and gates. In addition to all of his other activities, he has been an extensive contractor and builder and was one of the organizers and is still president of the Lynchburg Exchange Bank.

Col. Owen West was born on March 4, 1835, in Clark township, the son of James and Elizabeth West. In the veins of this family flows the warm and ardent blood of artistic temperament which gave to the world the celebrated artist, Benjamin West, who gained an international fame in his day and generation.

Before the year 1716, John W. West, who had married Sarah Pearson, came from England and settled in Pitts county, Pennsylvania. They had seven children: Joseph, Mary, William, Sarah, Samuel, Rachel and Benjamin. Benjamin, the youngest child of this family, was an artist heretofore referred to, whose work was well known on two continents. Joseph, the eldest, married Jane Owen, the daughter of. John Owen, and they had nine children: Isaac, Tacy, Owen, John, Sarah, Joseph, Hannah, George and Benjamin, About 1750, Owen West, the third child of this family, and the nephew of the celebrated Benjamin West, was born. He married Blizabeth Martin and moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia and later from Virginia to Clinton county, Ohio. He and his wife had thirteen children: Nancy, Jane, William, Mary, Susan, Owen, Thomas, James, Payton, Elizabeth, Amelia, Rebecca and John. Of this family, James, the eighth child, whose wife was Elizabeth West, was the father of Col. Owen West. The grandfather, Owen West, came to Ohio from Virginia and located in the valley of the East fork of Little Miami river, where he purchased nineteen hundred acres of government land, all in Clinton county and nearly all in Clark township, where he and his wife died. James West, their son, was a farmer during his life and remained on the old estate, adding to his inheritance until he owned one thousand acres of the original nineteen hundred. He and his wife died on the old home estate. For nine years he was a justice of the peace in this county.

hood on his father's farm and educated in the Martinsville schools and at Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. For twelve consecutive years, with the exception of two years in which he was engaged in-the mercantile business at Morrisville, he was engaged in teaching. During the War of the Rebellion he assisted in the ofganizition of the Cincinnati Home Guards, and in 1863 he was chosen their major-general. In the early part of 1864, he was given the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred amd Forty-ninth Regimental Battalion of. Ohio National Guards. He had commanded them for one year while at Fort Federal Hill and Baltimore, Maryland, and in the battle of Monocacy, in September, 1864, he and his regiment were honorably discharged for valuable services rendered to their country.

At the close of his military services, Colonel West returned home and resumed farming and lumbering. For some time he owned and operated two saw-mills, each with a capacity of five thousand feet a day. In 1914, after five years' labor, he placed on the market the West tile ditching machine of his own invention. He manufactures this machine at his factory on his farm just out of Lynchburg. The company is incorporated as the West Tile Ditching Machine Company. Some years ago he also invented a fence and a gate which were successes in their day. He operates three hundred acres. of land which he has reclaimed by dikes and which includes considerable bottom land. Colonel West has also been a contractor and builder and there are many buildings standing now in Lynchburg and vicinity which he erected. He has also operated a brick and tile plant on his farm and is the present president of the Lynchburg Exchange Bank.

On September 20, 1855, Colonel West was married to Elizabeth A. Roberts, the daughter of James and Hannah EK. Roberts, a native of Washington township, who was born on December 28, 1835. Nine children were born to this union: Margaret, James W., Anna M., Owen A., Hannah E., Amos F., Charles H., Laura B. (deceased), and Mary I. (deceased). Margaret married Rev. McLean Simington; Owen A. is a physician at Sabina, Ohio; Laura E. and Mary I. are deceased. Mrs. West passed away on February 1, 1879. :

Colonel West is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a stalwart adherent of the principles of the Republican party and supports its candidates.

Colonel West married, secondly, September 19, 1882, Frances Alta Kelly, daughter of Rollin and Sarah Kelly, who are natives of Highland county, Ohio. To this second marriage the following children were born: Martha, who lives at home; George, who operates the home farm; Sylvia, a teacher at Lynchburg, Highland county, Ohio; Frances, deceased; Manetta,:deceased, and Benjamin, who lives at home.

George P. Worrell

George P. Worrell, the proprietor of one hundred and eleven acres of good farming land in Clark township, and a brother of James G. Worrell, of this township, was born on August 10, 1868, in Mason county, West Virginia, the son of Granville and Louisa (Hubbard) Worrell, both natives of the eastern part of West Virginia.

The paternal grandfather of George P. Worrell was James Worrell, who spent all his life in Virginia. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Worrell was Samuel Hubbard, who lived and died in Mercer county, West Virginia.

Granville Worrell was educated in the early subscription schools of Carroll county, West Virginia, and, after his marriage there, moved to Gallia county, Ohio, during the Civil War, living there until 1870, when he returned to West Virginia and settled on ihe Kanawha river. He died in Nicholas county, West Virginia, as did also his wife. During the Civil War, he was drafted in the Confederate army but later deserted and, upon immigrating to Ohio, joined an Ohio regiment of the Union army and served until the close of the war. He was a drummer in his regiment and during his entire service was not wounded nor taken prisoner... He and his wife had twelve children 'They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

George P. Worrell. was educated in the schools of West Virginia and began life on his own responsibility by working by the month in Clinton county, Ohio. On March 4, 1904, he purchased one hundred and eleven acres of land in Clark township, where he now : lives. :

George P. Worreil was married on December 9, 1896, to Magnolia Emma Emery, of Highland county, Ohio, the daughter of John Emery, a farmer of Highland county. John Emery was born near New Market, Highland county, March 27, 1819, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Anderson) Emery, early settlers of Highland county. They came to Highland county, likely, from Pennsylvania. The former was a farmer and was educated in the early schools of Highland county. John Emery became a farmer also and owned fifty acres of land. He was married on March 25, 1852, to Barbara Emery, the daughter of William and Phoebe Emery, of New Market. William Emery, who was, for some time, a resident of near New Market, later moved to Missouri, where he and his wife died. John Emery died in 1910, on the farm. His wife had died previously, in 1897. They had eleven children. During the Civil War he served for one hundred days in the Union army. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

To Mr. and Mrs. George P. Worrell have been born three children, Chester Emery, Lura Evelyn and Raymond Harold. The Worrell family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Orland Townsend

Orland Townsend, a well-known farmer of Clark township, was born on January 18, 1860, at Martinsville, Ohio, the son of Josiah M. and Esther J. (West) Townsend, both natives of Clinton county. Josiah M. Townsend was born in 1882, and received a limited education in the schools of this county and Hamilton county, Ohio.

After removing to Hamilton county at the age of thirteen years, Josiah M. Townsend drove a milk wagon. Previously he had worked on a farm in Clinton county at a dollar a week. About 1850, Josiah M. Townsend engaged in 'the dairy business in Hamilton county, and was engaged in this business intermittently until thirty-seven years of age, at which time he purchased the farm in Clark township, upon a part of which his son, Orland, now lives. He purchased four hundred acres. comprising the old West homestead. He was a general farmer and stockman, and lived on this farm until his death. He and his family were members of the Friends chureh. Josiah M. Townsend was honored by the people of Clinton county by an election to the office of county ¢commissioner, a position which he filled creditably for three years. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Josiah M. Townsend and wife were the parents of nine children, two of whom died in infancy.

Orland Townsend received his education in the public schools of Clinton county, and aside for a year spent in working at the carpenter's trade, he has been engaged in farming all his life. He owns one hundrd and ninety acres of the old home place.

In October, 1882, Orland Townsend was married to Mary Leaf, the daughter of John 'T. Leaf, and to this union have been born two sons, Horace and Lloyd. Horace married Mary Hazard, and they live at Ashtabula, Ohio. and Lloyd married Ada Noftsger, the daughter of G. B. Noftsger, of whom a biography is presented elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Townsend are the parents of one son, William Eugene. Orland Townsend and wife are members of the Friends church. in whose welfare they are actively interested.

zeorge Alfred Townsend, a brother of Orland Townsend, is also a native of Clark township, born on the home farm, July 15, 1873. The paternal grandparents of George and Orland Townsend were Josiah arid Abigal (Holloway) Townsend, natives of Cape May county, New Jersey, and Virginia, respectively. They Were married on November 14, 1818. 'The maternal 'grandparents of George A. and Orland Townsend entered the homestead where the two brothers now live. The maternal grandfather was Peyton West, a surveyor by occupation. |

George and Orland Townsend were two of nine children born to their parents, of whom Orland was the eldest, and George was the seventh in the order of their birth. The other children were Clinton, Josiah, Cammie M., Sarah E., Herbert H., Melville W. and May.

George Townsend received his education in the common schools of Clinton county, and the Normal School at Lebanon, where he spent two years, and also at a business college in Cincinnati. For fourteen years he was engaged in the livestock business at Lynchburg, but in August, 1908, he removed to the farm where he now lives, and which is a part of the old home place. He is the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of Jand and is engaged in general farming and stock raising.

In 1897, Mr. Townsend was married to Jessie Thompson, of Highland county, Ohio, and to this union two children have been born, Vivian, who died at the age of nine months, and Harry T. In 1908, Mr. Townsend was married, secondly, to Hattie M. Thompson, a sister of his former wife, and to this marriage there have been born three children, Floyd E., Dana G. and Harold E. Mrs. Townsend is an adherent of the Methodist Episcopal church, while Mr. Townsend's family are members of the Friends church.

George Townsend is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, at Lynchburg. He has served as treasurer of Dodson township, as councilman of Lynchburg, and as a justice of the peace in Highland county, Ohio.

J. Frank West

Clinton county has been fortunate in the character of her farmers and much of the material prosperity of the county can be attributed to the fact that the farmers have kept abreast of the times. The farmers are an index to the civilization of any community and if they are progressive and up-to-date, it follows that the standard of living in the community will be high. The business men of the towns are drawing the men from the country and everywhere it is noticed that men rising to prominence in the various activities of life were born and reared on the farm. Clinton county has long been known as one of the best farming counties of the state and its excellent farmers have been one of the big factors in the material advancement of the county. Among the excellent farmers of Clinton county is J. Frank West, the scion of an old and distinguished family of this county.

J. Frank West was born on August 1, 1852, in Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, the son of James M. and Amy (Chaney) West, the former a native of Clark township and the latter a native of Highland county, having been born near Dunns chapel.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. West were James and Elizabeth (Leggett) West. the former of whom was a native of eastern Virginia, who came to Ohio very early in life. His maternal grandparents were Joseph and Sarah (Richner) Chaney; the former of whom was a native of Maryland, born near Hagerstown in 1777. who came to Highland county, Ohio, early in life, and died there on April 18, 1862, andi the latter was a native of Pennsylvania, born near Philadelphia in March, 1785, and died on October 31, 1859, in Highland county, Ohio.

Among the celebrated men whom the West family of America has given to this country and to the world is the celebrated artist, Benjamin West. Reverting to the earlier ancestry, it may be said that about 1716 John W. West. who had married Sarah Pearson, came from England and settled in Pitts county, Pennsylyania. They had seven children, Joseph, Mary, William, Sarah, Samuel, Rachel and Benjamin. Benjamin, the youngest child in this family, was the first great American artist and his work came to be known not only in America, but in the fashionable salons of Europe. Joseph, the eldest child in this family, married Jane Owen, the daughter of John Owen, and they had nine children, Isaac, Facy, Owen, John, Sarah, Joseph, Hannah, George and Benjamin. Owen West, the third child of the above family, was born about 1750, He married Elizabeth Martin and they moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and later from Virginia to Clinton county, Ohio. He and his wife had. thirteen children, Nancy, Jane, William, Mary, Susan, Owen, Thomas, James, Payton, Elizabeth, Emily, Rebecca and John. James, the eighth child in this family, married Elizabeth Leggett and they were the paternal grandparents of J. Frank West.

James M. West, the father of J. Frank, was educated in an old log cabin school house, the frame of which is now a part of the garage on the farm of J. Frank West. He became a farmer on land adjoining that now owned by his son and owned altogether about eight hundred acres. His family were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. To James M. and Amy West were born nine children, among whom were five sons.

Educated in the public schools of Clinton county, J. Frank West engaged in farming in Clark township upon attaining his majority. He owns two hundred acres of land and, for the past twenty-six years, has lived where he now resides. With the exception of the house, Mr. West has erected all of the buildings now standing on his farm.

On October 4, 1888, J. Frank West was married to Elva Leaf, who was born on March 6, 1859, a native of Clinton county, and the daughter of John T. and Belinda (Dumford) Leaf. They have been the parents of three children: Carl J., who is an instructor in mathematics in Ohio State University; Grace B., who is now a post-graduate student in Ohio State University; and Howard R., who is a student in the Cincinnati Academy of Vine Arts.

Mr. and Mrs. West and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Not only are they prominent in the church, but they are prominent in the social life of this township and are highly-respected citizens.

Bernard Y. Collett

The Collett family in America is of French Huguenot origin and is perhaps derived from one of three brothers of that faith, who, about 1660, fled from France on account of religious persecution. One fled to the mountains with a number of other people of his faith; one fled to England, from which either he or his descendants eventually immigrated to America. A third, with his wife, embarked on a ship to America and, during the voyage, the mother gave birth to a son and a little later died and was buried at sea. The child lived and was named Stephen and eventually located in Maryland near where Baltimore now stands. He married Elizabeth Armstrong, who was born on August 18, 1725. and they had eight children. Five of these children are unaccounted for. Practically the whole family, however, moved to Jefferson county, Virginia, about the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. Daniel, the third child in the family of Stephen and Elizabeth Collett, who was born on February 2, 1752, was a soldier in the Continental army and a prominent judge in Virginia. About 1780 he married Mary Haines, who was born on October 10, 1753, and they had eight sons and a daughter, who, with his brother, John, and his sister, Sarah, are the ancestors of all of the Colletts in Clinton and Warren counties. Among these sons was Jonathan, who hauled the stone and also a part of the lumber and timber used in the construction of the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry.

Bernard Y. Collett, one of the widely-known and highly-respected farmers of Chester township, is the grandson of Jonathan Collett, the great-grandson of Daniel and Mary (Haines) Collett and the great-great-grandson of Stephen and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Collett. Bernard Y. Collett was born on August 7, 1853, near Harveysburg, in Warren county. His parents were Benjamin and Sarah (Yeo) Collett, the former of whom was born in Chester township, August 26, 1829. She was the daughter of Joshua and Allie (Duffey) Yeo. They were married on Octcber 3, 1850.

Jonathan Collett, heretofore referred to as the son of Daniel and Mary (Haines) Collett, was married on April 80, 1828, to Sarah McKay, a representative of the famous - McKay family of this county, who was born on November 11, 1799, in Warren county, and whose parents, who had come originally from Virginia to Warren county, settled in Clinton county as early as 1814. Jonathan and Sarah (McKay) Collett had ten children, namely: Ann, born on March 14, 1824, who married William McCune; Moses, June 7, 1825; Benjamin, December 18, 1826; Francis, May 17, 1829; Martha, February 1, 1831; Aaron, October 19, 1832; George, December 21, 1834; William, June 30, 1838; Robert, December 27, 1840; and Azel Waters, September 17, 1842. The family were all members of the Baptist church. It was with the money obtained from work on the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry that Jonathan Collett was able to buy a large tract of land.

Jonathan Collett's father, Daniel Collett, was a devout Episcopalian, who entered the Revolutionary army under Captain Wright, of Martinsburg, Virginia, and served at Valley Forge, White Plains and at the defeat of General Gates. He also served when the Virginia volunteers were encamped in Pennsylvania, and also fought at the battle of Monmouth. He resided in Virginia for forty years and for many years was a justice of the peace, being appointed as they were in that day in Virginia for life or during good behavior. He held his court monthly and it is said that there was more dignity attending the justices' courts in those days than is to be seen today in the higher courts of Ohio. On one occasion the judge of the court of Jefferson assessed a fine upon each of the justices of that county for neglect to provide suitable steps to the jail at Charleston. Mr. Collett paid his fine and then took the contract for erecting the stone steps which now grace the front of that historic edifice.

Of the ten children born to Jonathan and Sarah (McKay) Collett, Renjamin Collett, the father of Bernard Y., was the third. He was educated in the coiiimon schools of Chester township and began his life as a farmer in Warren county, but after a few years returned to Chester township, where he remained the rest of his life on a farm

Alley, who died small; Bernard Y., the subject of this sketch; Mary, who died at the age of nine years; and Anna M. The father of these children died on October 12, 1892, and the mother in 1907. They were members of the Baptist church. He was a Republican in politics. During the Civil War, he served as captain of the home militia and was later promoted to colonel. At one time, he was paymaster of the local militia.

Bernard Y. Collett, the second child born to his parents, received his education in the schools of Chester township and at Harveysburg. He has been a farmer practically all of his life. He and his sister have a farm of three hundred and thirty acres which is highly improved.

On December 23, 1874, Bernard Y. Collett was married to Emma Shidaker, who was born on October 16, 1856, and died on November 27, 19038, leaving one child, Edith, who married Shirley Scott, of Milford, Ohio.

In 1914 the Collett families in Clinton county celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the coming of the family to this section. One hundred and one members of the family were present at this reunion. During the last forty-nine years, the Collett and McKay families have held a family picnic every year without .exception, and in all of this period Bernard Y. Collett has been a regular attendant. The forty-ninth annual reunion was held on Saturday, August 14, 1915.

George M. Denny

George M. Denny, of Chester township, is an unpretentious, unassuming man, who has had a large success in agriculture and who is well known throughout Clinton county. Mr, Denny was born on February 11, 1871, in Chester township, on the farm where he lives.

The parents of George M. Denny were John P. and Martha (Collett) Denny, the former of whom was born on July 4, 1823, near Lebanon, in Warren county, and the latter was born on February 1, 1831, the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (McKay) Collett. On his mother's side, therefore, Mr. Denny is connected with two of the very oldest families in Clinton county. His grandfather on his paternal side, John Denny, married Hannah Leap. He was born on December 22, 1782, in New Jersey, and died on September 3, 1853, and his wife was born on October 13, 1792, in New Jersey, and died on March 28, 1870. They came to Ohio after their marriage and located in Warren county. After moving to this county and settling in Chester township, they lived on a farm all of their lives. Eleven children were born to John and Hannah Denny: Thomas, born on January 12, 1818; Martha, September 18, 1814; Peter, January 10, 1816; Faithful, August 26, 1818; Hannah, February 7, 1821; John P., July 4, 1823; Sarah, August 21, 1825; Elizabeth, October 17, 1827; Joseph, November 23, 1829; Samuel, Mareh 31, 1832; and Abigal, September 26, 1835.

John P. Denny was a farmer in Chester township, where he spent all of his life and where he owned four hundred and twenty-eight acres of land. He owned the farm upon which his son, George M., now lives and he erected all of the buildings which now stand on this farm. George M. Denny was one of two children born to his parents, the other being Anna C., who is unmarried.

George M. Denny was educated in the common schools of Chester township and has spent his entire life on the farm. He is one of the most extensive farmers of the township, he and his sister owning five hundred and forty-three acres of land at the present time.

On October 24, 1894, George M. Denny was married to Mary Antram, the daughter of Ansalem:' and Louisa (Dakin) Antram. To this marriage two children have been born: John A., born on October 23, 1896; and Ruth McKay, August 7, 1913.

Mr. and Mrs. George M. Denny are members of the Jonas Run Baptist church and Mr. Denny, like his father before him, votes the Republican ticket. In this section of Clinton county, few families have occupied a position of greater prominence during the past half century than the Dennys.

Elmer Carter

Elmer Carter, a farmer of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, was born on October 31, 1869, in Adams county, Ohio, a son of William Jasper and Mary Elizabeth (Storer) Carter, both of whom were natives of Adams county.

William Jasper Carter was born on January 31, 1845, in Adams county, Ohio, and was married on October 21, 1868, to Mary Elizabeth Storer, who was born on Mareh 7, 1847, in Adams county, and was a daughter of George and Miriam (Ramsey) Storer. William Jasper Carter's father was Leander Carter, who was born on September 18, 1818, in the Old Dominion state, and who married Elizabeth Beaty. Leander Carter and wife came to Ohio immediately after their marriage and located in Adams county, Ohio, where they lived the remainder of their lives. There they owned eighty-seven icres of land and were farmers by occupation, They were the parents of nine children, Susannah V., Sarah E., William Jasper, Margaret Jane, Francis M., Martha Ann, Mary R., Laura, Emma'. Of these chidren, Mary R., is deceased. ~The grandfather's family were members of the Methodist church, and he voted the Republican ticket.

and began life as a farmer in that county. There he remained until 1897, at which time he removed to Clark township, Clinton county. Thirteen years later he purchased the farm where he now lives near Martinsville. To William Jasper and Elizabeth (Storer) Carter were born five children, Elmer, Rosa, Lillie, Zora and Edgar. Of these children Lillie and Edgar are deceased. The family are all members of the Methodist church, while William J. Carter votes the Republican ticket.

Educated in the common schools of Adams county, Ohio, Elmer Carter began farming on his own account in that county, and followed that oecupation for eight years. He came to Clinton county, Ohio, February, 1897, with his parents, and has since lived in Clark township. He lived one mile west of Martinsville, and for twelve years lived on the David Hunt farm. About 1910 he purchased sixty-three acres of land where he how lives, and which is devoted to general farming and stock raising: Mr. Carter is an extensive feeder of hogs, and has made a considerable success of this line of farming.

On January 9, 1890, Elmer Carter was married to Anna Kennedy, who was born on November 7, 1865, a native of Adams county, Ohio, and a daughter of James' Kennedy, a native of Ireland and an early settler in Adams county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of two children, Ray, who is farming in North Dakota, and Ruby, who is at home. The family are members of the Methodist church, in. which they take an active interest.

C. D. Kester, a retired farmer of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, and formerly a well-known merchant of Farmers Station, was born on December 20. 1841, in Clinton county. He is the son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Carey) Kester, who were natives of Grayson county, Virginia. Daniel Kester was born on May 30, 1811, and his wife in May, 1814. The former accompanied his parents to Clinton county in 1814. The latter was reared at Careytown, Highland county.

Of Daniel Kester, it may be said that he spent only three months in school. Eager for knowledge, he studied by the light of splinters by the fireside and became a wellinformed -man. He learned: the carpenter's. trade, and followed it for many. years. Subsequently he purchased land and engaged in farming. In the last years of his life, however, he ws occupied with his trade. He owned three hundred and eighty-five acres of land at the time of his death, all of which he had bought and paid for himself. When he sterted life on his own responsibility at the age of twenty years, he was given an ax and a pair of "jeans" by his master. Daniel and Elizabeth (Carey) Kester had eleven children, Miles, Anna, John, Carey D., Hannah, Rachel, Tamer E., Mary, Sarah, Jessie and Daniel S. The family were members of the Friends church, and all have remained faithful to the church of their fathers. Elizabeth (Carey) Kester was the daughter of Samuel and Anna (McPherson) Carey natives of Grayson county, Virginia, who immigrated first to Highland county, Ohio, and later to Martinsville, Clinton county. They died in Clark township at the home of a daughter. Samuel Carey was a black- 'smith by trade, and owned one hundred acres of land in Highland county at the time of his death.

C. D. Kester was reared to manhood on his father's farm, and engaged in farming during most of his active career. In December, 1864, he enlisted in Company F, Hightyeighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, being discharged on July' 3, 1865. In January, 1878, he was employed as manager of the Farmers Station Joint Stock Company, and held this position for five years.. During the same period he was the agent for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at Farmers Station and also the postmaster. For many years he dealt: extensively in live stock and in 1881 shipped two thousand head of hogs. He abandoned the stock business about 1890, and removed to Warren county where he followed farming. Subsequently. how- ever, he returned to Wuyne township, Clinton county, where he farmed for eleven years, until November 15, 1897, when he removed to Farmers Station and retired. In 1913 he erected new buildings at Farmers Station on the property which he owns and where he now resides.

On September 8, 1866, C. D. Kester was married to Nancy Betterton, a daughter of William and Delilah Betterton, a native of Clark township, where she was born on August 16, 1846. William Betterton was a native of Virginia, born on May 12, 1811, He was educated in the Old Dominion state, and immigrated first to Illinois where he was married and where his first wife died. They had one child who died later in life. Afterwards, William Betterton came to Clinton county and was here married to Delilah King, a native of Clark township, born on May 25, 1823, and the daughter of William and Nancy King, natives of Grayson county, Virginia. They were early settlers in Clark township and farmers by occupation. They were also members of the Christian church. Although William Betterton and wife were Universalists, they attended other churches. They had two children: John M., who died on April 22, 1913, and Mrs. C. D. Kester.

Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Kester, two, Etta and Milton 13% are living, and Ada M. and Eva EH. are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kester are members of the Society of Friends. Mr. Kester is a Republican. For many years he was prominently identified with the State Grange, and served this organization as master of Eureka grange.

Henry Debolt Jones

Henry Debolt Jones, who, for many years, was a well-known business man of Cincinnati, Ohio, and later a successful farmer of Clark township, Clinton county, Ohio, was born at Newtown, in Hamilton county, Ohio, May 19, 1844, a son of James and Eliza (Debolt) Jones, both of whom were natives of Newtown, Hamilton county. James Jones was a farmer in Hamilton county, and his parents were pioneers of Hamilton county.

The paternal grandfather of Henry Debolt Jones was Henry Debolt, Sr., and he built the Debolt Exchange in the city of Cincinnati. He owned hundreds of acres of land in Hamilton and Clermont counties, having been one of the best-known pioneer citizens of southern Ohio.

Henry Debolt Jones received his elementary education in the public schools of Hamilton county, Ohio, and supplemented this by a course at the St. Xavier school at Cincinnati, a Catholic institution. He learned bookkeeping at the " Favorite" store in Cincinnati, and followed this oecypation practically all the time he lived in that city, with the exception of three or four years when he was engaged in the commission business on his own responsibility. Cincinnati was his home until 1902, when he removed to the farm, where his widow now lives. Here he remained until his death, on February 19, 1908.

On October 17, 1885, Henry Debolt Jones was married to Minnie M. Turner, a native of Clark township, who was born on the farm where she now lives on January 7, 1861. She is a daughter of William and Nancy Jane (McCann) Turner, both of whom were born at Perintown, Clermont county, Ohio.

Mrs. Jones' paternal grandparents were Daniel and Susan Turner, while her maternal grandparents were William and Elizabeth (Carter) McCann, of Lynchburg, Virginia, who located in Perintown, Clermont county, Ohio, in an early day. They died in Clark township, Clinton county.

William and Nancy, Jane Turner were educated. in the schools of Clermont county. The former was a farmer during his life, who came to Clinton county some time prior to his marriage in 1859. He was the owner of one hundred and eighty-five acres of land and during his life erected a magnificent brick house and also built large and commodious barns, and otherwise improved his farm. He was a member of the Grange, in the welfare of which organization he was deeply interested. He and his wife were the parents of three children, Minnie M., Daniel and an infant son. They also reared Daniel H. Turner, who was a son of Mr. Turner's brother, Henry.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. Jones were the parents of one daughter, Mabel Turner, who is living at home with her mother. She is the wife of Robert T. Conlin, a native of Canada, and they have one son, Robert Henry. Mrs. Jones is an earnest and devoted member of the Society of Friends, and takes an active interest in the affairs of that denomination:

The late Henry Debolt Jones was a well-known citizen, not only in Clark township, but of Cincinnati, Ohio, where, for some time, he was a prominent figure in the.business life of the city.

Mrs. Jones now owns the home place, known as the "Fox" Turner farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres, also fifty acres in another tract, all in Clark township.

Charles W. Skimming

Conspicuous among the farmers of Clinton county, Ohio, and numbered among its: leading citizens is Charles W. Skimming, of Union township, who is a public-spirited citizen, well known in Clinton county for his activities in public affairs, and at present one of the commissioners of the county. Previously he served two terms as trustee of union township. He belongs to an old and distinguished family of Clinton county, and by marriage is connected with another very old family of this county, and one which has filled many important positions of trust and responsibility.

Charles W. Skimming was born on August 14, 1866, in Union township, a son of Robert Skimming, who was born in Allegheny county, Maryland, June 3, 1830, and who married Mary E. Babb, December 6, 1858. She was born on June 6, 1830, in Clinton county, Ohio, the daughter of Henry and Matilda (Woodruff) Babb.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Skimming were Anthony and Mary (McDow) Skimming, both of whom were natives of bonnie Scotland, the former was born in Edinburgh, and died on April 22, 1855. The latter was likewise born in Edinburgh, and their marriage occurred in Scotland. Anthony Skimming and wife came to America in 1818, settling in Allegheny county, Maryland, and here they remained until the autumn: of 1886, when they immigrated to Clinton county, Ohio, and settled at Wilmington.

The second generation of the family in Clinton county represented by Robert Skimming, the father of Charles W., gained considerable prominence in public life. Robert Skimming was only six years of age when he accompanied his parents to Clinton county. and received his education in the public schools of this county. He attended Wilmington Academy also, and taught school for six years. In 1860 he embarked in the mercantile business at Burtonville, in Union township, in which he remained for fifteen years. He owned a farm in Union and Washington townships, comprising one hundred and seventy-one acres. About 1875 he retired from the mercantile business and returned to his farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. Four children were born to Robert and Mary E. (Babb) Skimming: Emma, born on November 26, 1854; Samuel H., February 25, 1858; Charles W., the immediate subject of this sketch; and Wilbert, January 10, 1872.

Not only did Robert Skimming serve for fifteen years as a director of the Clinton county infirmary, having been first elected in 1873, but he likewise served two terms as comniissioner of Clinton county, having been elected on the Republican ticket. As a member of the Baptist church, he was loyal and devout in the faith of that denomina- tion, and for several years was numbered among its most active workers in this county. He was a deacon in the church at the time of his death.

Charles W. Skimming, like so many of the native born citizens of Clinton county, attended Wilmington College after leaving the common schools, completing his education in that excellent institution. He was a student at this famous old college for two years. While still a young man he began farming in Union township, and except for a period of four years, has spent all his life in this township. These four years were spent in Chester township. Mr. Skimming is the owner of one hundred and seventy-five acres of land on which he lives in Union township.

On January 29, 1891, Charles W. Skimming was married to Martha M. McKay, who was born on November 25, 1870, a daughter of Robert F. and Mary F. (Mickerson) McKay. The history of the McKay family is contained especially in the sketch of Weldon McKay, presented elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Skimming are the parents of two children, Robert M. and Mary Helen. The former was born on May 15, 1895, and is now a student at Ohio State University, at Columbus, Ohio. The latter was born on April 14, 1902.

Mr. and Mrs. Skimming are earnest and loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Skimming is identified with the Masonic lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Eber Watts Haines

Among the well-known young farmers of Chester township, Clinton county, Ohio, is Eber Watts Haines, who is the owner of one hundred and four and one-quarter acres of land, and who, several years ago, was engaged in conducting a general store at Lumberton, Ohio. Since 1909, however, he has devoted his attention exclusively to farming. He is a scion of a very old family in this county, and one whose ancestry had very much to do with clearing the forests and draining the swamps. Eber Watts Haines was born on February 28, 1872, in Caesars Creek township, Greene county, Ohio. His parents were Eber and Mary (Mendenhall) Haines, the former of whom was born on January 20, 1825, in Caesars Creek township, Greene county, and the latter was a daughter of Thaddeus and Priscilla (Sturgeon) Mendenhall.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Haines were Zimri and Elizabeth (Compton ) Haines, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter a native of North Carolina, who came with her parents when four years old to New Burlington, Ohio. Zimri Haines emigrated first from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, and there learned the cabinetmaker's trade. Later he immigrated to Greene county, Ohio, where he lived the re mainder of his life. He was the father of nine children, Samuel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Maria, Elwood, Eber and Clayton, Aseph and Phoebe. He yoted the Whig ticket and was a member of the Society of Iriends.

Eber Haines received a good education in the common schools of Greene county, and followed farming in Caesars Creek township, in that county, until 1882, when he removed to Chester township, Clinton county. When about forty-five years of age, he began preaching in the local Friends church, and continued a minister in that faith until his death, December 19, 1911. He lived to perform the marriage ceremony for many of his grandchildren. The following children were born to Eber and Mary (Mendenhall) Haines: Lydia Ellen, who died while young; Margaret, the wife of John Turner; Zimri D., who married Alice McKay; Thaddeus A., who married Eliza Mary Hiatt; Priscilla, the wife of Jacob B. McKay; Daniel W. and Wilomena, twins, the former of whom married Estella McKay, and the latter died early in life; Mary, the wife of William Hiatt, died at the age of twenty-eight years; and Eber W., the immediate subject of this sketch.

the common schools, and finished his education in that excellent institution. His career as a farmer was begun in Chester township, where he now lives, and where he owns one hundred and.four and one-quarter acres of land. In.1906 he purchased the. general store at Lumberton and conducted this business for two years, but in 1909 returned to the farm where he has since lived..

In 1906, Eber W. Haines married Mary Morris, the daughter of Allen and Louisa (Doan) Morris, the former of whom was a farmer of Clinton county. Mrs. Haines was one of four. children born to her parents. The others are: Elias H., who married Amelia Stille; John, who married Mary Nye; and Lee, who married Luetta. Farris, in 1912. Mrs. Haines' paternal grandfather was John Morris. Mr. and Mrs. Eber W. Haines are the parents of one son, Eber Allen, born on January 18, 1910. The family are all members of the Friends church, Mrs. Haines, however, retaining her membership in the Methodist church.

In 1905, about a year before his marriage, Mr. Haines spent the winter at Wauchula, Florida, with his parents and elder sister.. His mother died there unexpectedly, December 27, 1905. Three years later his father spent the winter on Marco Island.