Springfield Township (part 68 of 69)

. Rev. GEORGE W. Fraser. The older generation remember the late Rev. George Wilson Fraser as a gifted man, a learned educator and eloquent minister of the Lutheran denomination, whose life was a well-spent one and a fine example of Christian humility and moral uplift. Mr. Fraser was born at Lincoln, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1841, a son of William J. and Catherine Fraser, natives of Pennsylvania. Deciding upon a ministerial career, George Wilson Fraser early began to prepare for it, and studied at the Millersville Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1869. He enlisted from Millersville in the Union Army August 2, 1862, as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged May 3, 1863, at the expiration of his period of enlistment. Immediately thereafter he re-enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and received his second discharge January 31, 1866, with the rank of first lieutenant, which commission was bestowed upon him by Governor Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania. Following his last discharge he resumed his studies and completed his course. He was a student in the seminary of the Lutheran denomination at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was ordained a minister of the Lutheran Church in 1872. In the meanwhile he had taught school in Pennsylvania, and was principal of the schools of Lena, Illinois. It is interesting to note that the commanding officer of Company E and its organizer, Captain Bierly, was principal of the Millersville Normal School, of which Mr. Fraser had been a student. In December, 1876, Mr. Fraser married Fannie Breneisen, born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in October, 1852, a daughter of Israel and Amelia (Bruebaker) Breneisen, natives of Pennsylvania. Following his marriage Mr. Fraser took a charge at Loogootee, Illinois, and remained there for two years, when he went to Grand View, Indiana, on the Ohio River, for a time. He then returned to Pennsylvania and taught school for two years. It was then that he was sent on a mission to the Quapaw Indians of Indian Territory, and was very successful there. For a year he was stationed at Bloomington, Nebraska, and was then placed in charge of an academy at Wayne, Nebraska, where he had remained for one year. For two years thereafter he had charge of the church at Dongola, Illinois, and then for five years was at Shipman, and for four years was at Olny, both in Illinois. This last terminated his ministerial life, and he went to Springfield, Ohio, and lived retired for four years. He was, however, still too active a man to be satisfied to remain idle, and so went to Omaha, where he became file clerk in the general offices of the Union Pacific Railroad, and held that position until 1911, when he returned to Springfield, and here he died in December, 1912. His widow survives him and lives with their daughter in the fine residence they own at 227 Stanton Avenue.

Mr. and Mrs. Fraser had the following children: John Howard, who lives at Centralia, Illinois; Emma B., who lives with her mother; Willard G., who lives at Columbus, Ohio; Martin Luther, who is a scientific teacher at Cedarville College, Ohio; and Alice Ruth, who is Mrs. Wendell Dysinger, of Los Angeles, California. Mr. Fraser was a republican, but was not active in politics. Until his death he remained an earnest member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Fraser's work is completed, but its influence remains and lives on in the hearts and lives of those whom he helped, and the world is better and saner for his passage through it.

JOHN LincoLn Dickey. The career of John Lincoln Dickey, one of Springfield's well-known and highly esteemed citizens, has been one in which he has followed a number of vocations and out of which he has gained wide experience, much contentment and a fair share of worldly goods. He has been soldier, teacher, office man, traveling salesman and dairyman, in all of which occupations he has demonstrated versatile ability, and wherever he has resided has merited the respect of his fellowmen.

Mr. Dickey was born near Bloomingburg, Fayette County, Ohio, September 11, 1864, and is a son of Rev. John Parsons Alexander and Hannah Caroline (Peterson) Dickey, natives of Ross County, this state. Rev. John P. A. Dickey, who was a Presbyterian preacher, but who also ministered to congregations of other faiths during the early days when ministers were few in this region, was a son of Alexander Brown and Jane (Henry) Dickey, who were born in Hardy County, Virginia, now West Virginia. The great-grandparents of Mr. Dickey, Robert and Mary (Henry) Dickey, were born in Virginia, and Robert Dickey was a light horseman in Capt. Thomas Kirkpatrick's Company and Col. William Bratton's Regiment in South Carolina during the Revolutionary war, according to Book P, page 647, of South Carolina, in the custody of the Historical Commission at Columbia, South Carolina. He was also a member of the second South Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775 and 1776, as shown in the Journal of the General Assembly of South Caro- lina, September 17, 1776 to October 20, 1776, edited by A. S. Salley, Jr., page 161; and also the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Volume VII, page 107. He was born in Virginia, in 1745, and died in 1817 at South Salem, Ross County, Ohio, being buried on the James Dean farm, now owned by a Mr. Stimson. After coming to Ohio he assisted Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne in driving the Indians from the Miami Valley. The history of Fayette County, page 980, states in the biography of Rev. William Dickey: "His father, Robert Dickey, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and removed to Kentucky at its close." Perhaps the best-preserved history of the Dickey family is found in the Presbyterian Almanac of 1864, pages 112 to 132. In 1780 Robert Dickey married Mary Henry, who was born in 1750 and died in 1812. Alexander B. Dickey, the grandfather of John L. Dickey, was born in 1783 and died in 1851, being buried at South Salem, Ross County. Rev. John Parsons Alexander Dickey was born May 5, 1828, and in early life was a school teacher, subsequently adopting the profession of minister of the Presbyterian faith. A man of sterling character and the utmost probity, although rather careless in his habits of dress, he ministered to the spiritual needs of the people all over this country, of whatever religious faith. His wife, who owned the home at Bloomingburg, would have preferred a more settled existence, and for a mumber of years would not accompany her husband on his peregrinations, but eventually allowed herself to be convinced of the worth of his work and his need for her assistance. Mr. Dickey was a republican in his political views. He died February 5, 1899, his wife, whom he had married in 1852, passing away June 5, 1893. They were the parents of the following children: Jane, who is deceased; Martin Luther, of Bloomingburg; Edith Eliza and Hattie May, who died in 1882, at college; John Lincoln; and Nellie Josephine, who died April 11, 1910, as the widow of Charles Sturgeon, leaving four children. The Ra grandparents of Mr. Dickey, Col. Martin and Elizabeth (Coyner) Peterson, were born in Virginia, the Petersons being of Swiss descent and the Coyners being of Holland origin. Col. Martin Peterson was a wagonmaker and farmer at Austin, Ross County, this state, a colonel in the Ohio Militia and a soldier during the War of 1812. John Martin Peterson, the maternal great-great-grandfather of John Lincoln Dickey, was supposed to have had a Revolutionary record. With two sisters he was captured by the Indians, and was confined for several months, but, being put in charge of the ammunition of the band, managed to make his escape. His sisters, however, were taken to Upper Sandusky, where one of them married a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. ohn Lincoln Dickey attended the public schools of Bloomingburg and in 1882 entered Delaware (Ohio) College. In November, 1884, he was stricken with an attack of erysipelas and compelled to return to his home, but April 30, 1885, went to Xenia to take an examination for appointment to West Point. In the same year he went to Washington Court House, where he began the study of law with Hon. A. R. Creamer, but fter two weeks read in the list of appointments that he had the REN i ge of 7% higher than any of his competiexaminations with a percentage oO 2 Mg ; tors, and accordingly was appointed to West Point, June 14, 1885. He remained there nineteen months, leaving in January, 1887, when he returned to Washington Court House and again took up the study of law, this time with Robert C. Miller, prosecuting attorney, in the meantime teaching school. In 1889 he attended Ann Arbor Law School, Michigan, and in 1890 was appointed adjutant to the Ohio Military Academy at Portsmouth, Ohio, under Col. A. L. Bresler. He held the rank of captain of Company E, Sixth Ohio National Guard, at Washington Court House, which was later transferred to the Fourteenth Regiment, under Col. A. B. Coit. At this time Captain Dickey was teaching mathematics, etc., at Portsmouth, and as he could not keep up with his company, resigned in the fall of 1890. In 1891 he was appointed commandant of cadets at Griswold College, Kemper Hall, Davenport, Iowa, under Bishop Perry, and was holding this position June 9, 1892, when he was admitted to the Ohio bar.

On June 22, 1892, Mr. Dickey married Mary Katherine Evans, of Adams County, Ohio, daughter of Edward Patton and Amanda Jane (King) Evans. Her brother, Capt. N. W. Evans, was a member of the Constitutional Convention, and during the Civil war commanded a company of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Following his marriage at Portsmouth, Ohio, Mr. Dickey removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he served for a time as aide-de-camp on the staff of Horace E. Boies, going then to Columbus, Ohio, where he practiced law until October, 1896. He then accepted a position as traveling collector for the Deering Harvester Company, remaining therewith three and one-half years, after which he formed a connection with the Plano Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois, and engaged in the same kind of work until October 1; 1907. Resigning his position, he returned to Columbus, Ohio, where he was engaged in the life and accident insurance business until moving to © South Charleston, where he practiced law for two years. Mr. Dickey then decided to go to Denver, but when he had gotten as far as Springfield allowed himself to be persuaded to remain in this city as manager in charge of insurance, credits, collections and general correspondence for the Foos Gas Engine Company. After seven and one-half years he severed his connections with this firm and became a traveling salesman for the National Equipment Company, selling automatic sprinklers. He resides at No. 1515 North Belmont Avenue, where he has a comfortable home, and maintains an office at No. 703 Fairbanks Building. He is the owner of a thirty-Jersey dairy, one of the leading establishments of its kind in this section of the state, and one that will stand comparison with the best in Clark County. Mr. Dickey is a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. He is not a politician and takes only a good citizen's interest in public matters. Fraternally he is affiliated with St. Andrew's Lodge No. 619, F. and A. M., of Springfield, and Antioch Shrine, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Dayton.

Mrs. Dickey died February 28, 1909, leaving two children: John Evans of Los Angeles, California, and Jane King, who resides with her father and stepmother. On April 12, 1910, Mr. Dickey married Helen Gertrude Breedlove, of Urbana, Ohio.

JOSEPH J. MEENACH is one of the few survivors of the Civil war, and for over a half a century has enjoyed a place of honor and esteem in Clark County. A man of industry, he depended on his own efforts to

Mr. Meenach was born in Clark County, in Pleasant Township, August 3, 1844, son of James and Harriett (Wolf) Meenach. His father was born in Springfield Township of Clark County in 1811, and his mother in Harmony Township in 1819. His grandfather, William Meenach, came from Pennsylvania and was one of the pioneers of Clark County, locating here considerably more than a century ago. James Meenach grew up in Clark County, had such educational Opportunities as were. afforded in his time, and after his marriage he settled on a farm in Pleasant Township. Subsequently he lived in Springfield Township, where he died. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Of his four children two are living, Joseph and Sarah, the latter the wife of William Butler, of Kansas.

Joseph J. Meenach was reared in Springfield Township, attended the common schools there, and when a boy of eighteen, in 1862, he enlisted in Company A, of the Ninty-fourth Ohio Infantry. He was in the service until the end of the war, largely in the armies of Sherman and Thomas, participated in several battles but was never wounded. He marched with the troops of General Sherman in the Grand Review at Washington after the war. On leaving the army Mr. Meenach returned to Clark County and to the tasks of farming.

December 27, 1877, he married Louise Butler, a native of Clark County. Mr. Meenach made slow and steady progress toward prosperity by operating rented farms, and altogether he paid out $13,000 in rent. Finally he bought the farm of ninety acres where he now lives, and has occupied this place since 1896. He is an honored member of Mitchell Post No. 45 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a republican in

$ Mr. Meenach has four children: Harriett, wife of Frank Pierson, of Springfield and she has five children, William, Lawrence, Esther, Robert and Walter; Ollie, wife of George Engle, of Pleasant Township, they have one child, Rodger; J. W., who operates the home farm, married Maud Ward, but they have no children; and Lottie B., wife of Paul Booghier, of Springfield, and they are the parents of one child, Helen Louise.

NATHAN E. DEATON is one of the well-known and highly respected residents of Springfield, who, after a very active life, is now enjoying comparative leisure which he is devoting to his music, in which art he is very proficient, playing with equal facility the piano, auto-harp or any other stringed instrument. He was born in Bethel Township, Clark County, May 27, 1842, a son of Andrew J. and Catherine (Brandenburg) Deaton, he was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, along the Roanoke River, and she on Jackson Creek, Bethel Township, Clark County, Ohio. The paternal grandfather, George Deaton, died in Virginia, and his widow, whose maiden name had been Ream, with nine children, traveled overland with a four-horse wagon to what is now Pike Township, Clark County, Ohio. The maternal grandfather was Henry Brandenburg, a native of Germany, married Lucretia Slusser, and they were among the very early settlers of the Jackson Creek Distriet in Bethel

After their marriage Andrew J. Deaton and his wife commenced life in a log cabin. In 1844 he rode to Cincinnati, Ohio, and bought 175 acres of virgin forest land in Pike Township, four miles north of New Carlisle. Cutting down the trees, he cleared a small space and built a log cabin and otherwise improved the place and in 1853 sold it and moved on the National Road, in Bethel Township, where he bought a farm, and there he lived until his death, which occurred in 1889, when he was seventy-three years old, as he was born May 11, 1816. She died in 1892, aged seventy-three years, as she was born May 6, 1819. Their children were as follows: Nathan E., who was the eldest; A. H., who lives in Bethel Township; Grover, who lives at Muncie, Indiana; and Albert, who lives at Dayton, Ohio.

On March 22, 1864, Nathan E. Deaton married Catherine Confer, born near Yellow Springs, Ohio, a daughter of Francis and Magdalena (Wolf) Confer, natives of Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Deaton lived with his wife's mother near Donnelsville and began teaching school. His peaceful activities were interrupted by the outbreak of war, and he enlisted in April, 1864, in Company E., One Hundred and Fiftythird Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he did guard duty on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad near Cumberland, Maryland, until he was discharged in September, 1864. On July 4, 1864, he was in the Battle of Imboden and August 2, 1864, in the Battle of Oldtown, Maryland. His command was in several battles and minor engagements. After the termination of his 100 day enlistment, and discharge, Mr. Deaton returned home, and continued to reside on the farm for about eighteen months, and then moved to a house his father had built for him on one of his farms. There he spent eight years, and then became a resident of Donnelsville, first living in a house his wife owned, but soon erecting a house on his wife's portion of her mother's estate, which comprised fifty-five acres. To this Mr. Deaton added fourteen acres by purchase, and he conducted this farm until 1897, when he placed his son in charge of it and bought a residence at Donnelsville, and here Mrs. Deaton died May 13, 1911, aged sixty-seven, as she was born May 23, 1844. Following her demise Mr. Deaton spent two more summers and one winter at Donnelsville, then sold his property and came to Springfield, where he made his home with his son until his second marriage, which occurred June 19, 1917, when he married Mrs. Mary A. (Limson) Blessing, born in Madison County, Ohio, a daughter of Jesse and Mary A. (Slaughter) Limson, natives of Madison County, Ohio, and widow of John M. Blessing, born in Fayette County, Ohio. Mr. Blessing died January 7, 1911, leaving no issue. Mr. Deaton had the following children born of his marriage: Florence, who died at the age of five years; Lizzie Verena; who died at the age of fifteen years; Oliver, who lives at Springfield; Edwin, who is superintendent of the Clark County Infirmary, married Blanche Snyder; Floyd G., who lives at Toledo, Ohio; and E. P., who lives at Springfield, married Birdie Swaney, -and they have one son, Wilbur S.

Harrison, Wittenberg College, and has studied a great deal by himself, especially along musical lines, completing his musical education by attend- Professor Large's classes. His musical talent is a source of great enjoyment to him and his friends, and he is often called upon to delight others both in public and private. In politics a republican, he has been very active, and has served on the School Board of Bethel Township, was mayor of Donnelsville, and always interested in public affairs. He belongs to Mitchell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Springfield.

John Ezra Myers was born in Pike Township, Clark County, October 25, 1853, a son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Frantz) Myers, also natives of Pike Township. The grandparents on both sides of the family were among the very early settlers of Pike Township, where they obtained land from the Government, and it is still owned by their heirs. Lewis Myers bought the homestead, and he and his wife continued to live upon it until their deaths, he passing away in 1873 and she in 1893. Their family consisted of the following children: Simon, who died in infancy ; William, who lives at Springfield; Aaron, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri; Doctor Myers, whose name heads this review; Mary, who married Henry Dresher and lives on the homestead; Noah, who is his brother's partner; Sarah, who is the widow of I. B. Trout and lives at Chicago, Illinois; and Clara, who is Mrs. Lewis Pieffer and lives at Chicago.

Doo: Myers attended the district schools, the Lebanon Normal School and the Cincinnati, Ohio, Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For seven years thereafter he was engaged in a general practice at Donnelsville, Ohio, and then came to Springfield, where he was later joined by his brother, and since 1912 they have occupied their present offices.

In June, 1881, Doctor Myers married Laura Strock, born in Pennsylvania, and they had one daughter, Marie, who married W. B. Bauer, of Springfield, and their children are Bettie, Jeannette and Walter B. Mrs. Myers died in 1893, and Doctor Myers married Kate S. Dibert in Januarv, 1896. She was born in Clark County, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Dibert. At the time of her marriage to Dr. Myers, Mrs. Myers was the widow of Austin Evans, and they had one daughter, Pearl Evans, who married Frank C. Harwood, and died, leaving one son, Manton Harwood, of Springfield, and he married Cathryn Chapman.

For two terms Doctor Myers was president of the Clark County Medical Society, and he belongs to the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. For eight years he was a member of the Springfield Hospital Board. He is a physician and surgeon exceptionally endowed with those gifts which go to make up the ideal medical man. He has great energy and capacity for hard work, and delights in solving the problems which are constantly confronting his profession. There is one trait about which few know anything, he is very chaitable of his valuable time among the poor, whom he serves without thought of remuneration.

THEODORE THoMas Drake. Evidences abound in Clark County of the skill and capability of Theodore Thomas Drake, whose memory will be perpetuated in concrete and steel composing the numerous bridges which he has erected and is erecting in all parts of the county. Mr. Drake has been engaged in bridge construction as a contractor ever since coming to Springfield, a number of years ago, and has worked his way to a prominent position in business circles.

Born June 21, 1871, in Madison County, Ohio, Mr. Drake is a son of Sanford and Mary (Rainbow) Drake, natives of Jefferson County, Ohio. Sanford Drake, who was a contractor in the huilding of covered bridges, located at South Charleston, Ohio, in 1873, and there spent an active and successful career, dying in 1894. His widow survived him a number of years, passing away December 26, 1916. They were the parents of the following children: Lewis W., who died in 1893; John W., a resident of Jefferson County, Ohio; Samuel C., who died May 1, 1922, aged forty-three years; William Allen, a resident of Jefferson County, Ohio; Mary Elizabeth, who is the wife of Todd Buffenbarger, of South Charleston, Ohio; George, a locomotive engineer, who was killed in 1895 in a railroad accident at Spokane, Washington; Hiram, whose present whereabouts are unknown; Cassius M., of South Charleston, Ohio; and Theodore Thomas.

Theodore Thomas Drake received his education in the graded and high schools of South Charleston, where as a youth he learned the trade of carpenter. After working at his trade for fifteen years at South Charleston he joined the National Cash Register Company at Dayton, Ohio, where he was foreman of construction for ten years, and then came to Springfield and established himself in business as a contractor in the erection of steel and concrete bridges. He has done much county work, as well as work of a private character, and is accounted one of the most skilled and capable men in his line in the state. Since October 1, 1920, Mr. Drake has occupied a house of the semi-bungalow type, at No. 1801 South Fountain Avenue, which was designed and built by himself, and is composed of natural cut stone. It is modern in every particular and is one of the show places of his part of the city.

On October 15, 1915, Mr. Drake was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Griffin, who was born at Ironton, Ohio, October 13, 1882, a daughter of John and Ellen (Rhoades) Grifán. John Griffin was born in Ireland, and as a young man immigrated to the United States, where he met and married Miss Rhoades, a native of this country. Later they moved to Ironton, Ohio, where Mr. Griffin was employed in the nail factory, and that community is still their home. Mr. and Mrs. Drake have no children. Mrs. Drake, a woman of superior attainments, is an artist "in oils and water colors, and their beautiful home contains numerous specimens of her talent in this direction. Their religious connection is with the Third Lutheran Church, to the work of which they contribute generously. Mr. Drake is a stanch republican in politics, and during his residence at South Charleston served two terms as a member of the City Council. Since coming to Springfield business duties have occupied his attention to the exclusion of other matters, but he takes a good citizen's interest in civic matters, and is always ready to give his support to movements that his judgment tells him are worthy of his coóperation. As a fraternalist he belongs to Springfield Lodge No. 51, B. P. O. E., South Charleston Lodge No. 166, 1. O. O. F., in which he has been through the chairs, and Moncreiffe Lodge, K. of P., in all of which he is very popular.

JAMES MONROE SHEAFF, whose home is on St. Paris Pike, has lived nearly four score years in Clark County. His active life time, taken up with useful service as a farmer and dairyman, resulted in the accumulation of a generous amount of land and improved farms. He is now retired from business, and his record has been such as to afford him a pleasing retrospect over his past life and experiences.

Mr. Sheaff was born at Albany, New York, September 4, 1839, son of Leonard and Mary (Champney) Sheaff. His parents, also natives of New York State, came in 1844 to Clark County, and in Springfield Township bought 113 acres of land. For this they paid $33 an acre, and on it they spent the rest of their years, developing one of the model farms of the township. The father died there at the age of eighty and the mother at eighty-two. Their children were: Mrs. Mary Quick; Myra, wife of Charles Everett; Miss Caroline; James Monroe and George W., twins. James Monroe is the only one living. His brother George died in July, 1921.

Mr. Sheaff grew up on the homestead in Springfield Township, attended the Snow Hill District School, and during the Civil war served as a member of the Home Guards until impaired health compelled him to leave the service. In 1870 Mr. Sheaff married Mary E. Miller, who was born in Springfield Township, daughter of Isaac and Betsie Miller, natives of Pennsylvania, and early settlers of Springfield Township.

After his marriage Mr. Sheaff lived with his parents four years, then worked the Snyder farm in German Township four years, and from there came to St. Paris Pike and bought land at $300 an acre, erected a fine residence, and for many years did an extensive business as a farmer and dairyman. For three years he sold his milk at retail over a route in the City of Springfield. His business was known as the Snow Hill Dairy. Mr. Sheaff is still owner of several farms, operated by tenants, and he has a 100-acre farm at New Carlisle in Pike County, where his son lives. He formerly owned eighty acres in the suburban district of Springfield, and sold that to a corporation for $500 an acre. The property is known as Hills and Dales, and was subdivided for city lots, though Mr. Sheaff still owns sixteen acres of the tract. Mr. Sheaff has lived retired since 1918. He is a democrat, has taken an intelligent interest in local affairs and for nine years was road supervisor. Mrs. Sheaff is a member of the First Lutheran Church. They have been married for over half a century and they have three grandchildren. Their daughter, Nettie B., now deceased, was the wife of John Linn, and left one daughter, Marv Janette. The son, Clark, living on the farm at New Carlisle, married Edna Breneman, and their two children are James Monroe and

JOHN SUDLER ELLIOTT was a pioneer insurance man of Springfield, and founded and conducted for forty years a properous business that is still continued under the old name. He was widely known in insurance circles, and he was generous of his time and means in connection with many movements for the advancement of Springfield as a city and community.

ae was born at Sudlersville, Queen Anne County, Maryland, December 9, 1854, his birthplace being a village named in honor of his maternal grandfather. His parents were John and Ann (Sudler) Elliott, natives of the same county. Both families were established in Maryland in pioneer times.

The late John S. Elliott was reared and educated in Sudlersville, and at the age of seventeen came to Ohio. For several years he lived with a relative, Matthew Morris, at Bellbrook, near Dayton. He worked on his relative's farm and also attended the old Wiltz Business College in Dayton. Soon after completing a course in that school he engaged in the insurance business on his own account at Xenia, where he represented the Farmers Insurance Company of Dayton. Mr. Elliott came to Springfield in 1875, and for a short time was employed in the insurance office of D. R. Hosterman. He then established his own business, and on July 1, 1877, organized the J. S. Elliott Company, insurance, and personally conducted that widely known. insurance agency forty years, being president and general manager of the company until his death, which occurred on November 30, 1917. The business under the old name is still continued by his widow, Mrs. Nora E. Elliott and his son, John Oliver Elliott. In civic affairs Mr. Elliott served as a member of the City Board of Safety under Mayor W. R. Burnett, was president of the Board of Public Affairs under Mayor John M. Good, and for a number of years was on the Democratic Executive County Central Committee. He was one of the first trustees of the Mitchell-Thomas Hospital. He was a charter member of the Lagonda Club and at one time was president of the Ohio State Association of Fire Underwriters. Other organizations of which he was an esteemed member were Anthony Lodge No. 445, F. and A. M.; Springfield Chapter No. 48, R. A. M.; Springfield Council No. 17, R. and S. M.; Palestine Commandery No. SO, Ken bes Dayton Consistory of the Scottish Rite; Springfield Lodge No. 23, B. P. O. E., and the United Commercial Travelers.

In September, 1877, Mr. Elliott married Mary W. Boyer, of Dayton. She died in December, 1884, leaving a son and daughter. John Oliver, the son, now president and general manager of the J. S. Elliott Company, married Ruby Brenner, of Springfield, and they have a son, John. The daughter is Mrs. Lida B. Limbocker, now of Detroit, and she is the mother of four children, named Virginia, Eleanor, Jane and Henry.

In January, 1886, J. S. Elliott married Nora E. Wood. Mrs. Elliott is a native of Springfield, daughter of Samuel R. and Margaret (McIntire) Wood. Her father was born in Virginia and was a child when his parents moved to Clark County, Ohio. Her mother was born in Clark County, and is a member of the old McIntire family of this section. Samuel R. Wood died in 1898. Her mother is now eighty-four years of age. Mrs. Elliott became the mother of three children and also has several grandchildren. Her daughter, Margaret, is the widow of

John Snyder, of the old Snyder family of Springfield. Mr. Snyder died December 24, 1918, and is survived by five ca Kehren Willen Rachel, John and Margaret. Mrs. Elliott's older son, Benjamin F., died 'July 30, 1913, at the age of twenty-three. Her other son, Alan G., is a young business man in Kansas City, Missouri.

LEONARD SCHAEFER. While instances are numerous regarding men who have been attracted to America by the opportunities offered to those possessing ambition and determination, and have, through the possession of these qualities, risen to places of prominence in the communities in which they have centered their activities, it is doubtful if a better example of this class of self-made man could be found than the late Leonard Schaefer, early citizen and manufacturer of Springfield. Arriving in this country without means, and in ill health, he worked with his hands and traveled the familiar but difficult roads which chance opportunities open to the aspirant from foreign shores. While his numerous business interests called for his utmost attention, he was not indifferent to the duties of citizenship, as his connection with affairs of a public nature show.

Mr. Schaefer was born in Germany, February 5, 1823, and having learned the locksmithing trade in his youth, had held prior to coming to America a foremanship in a large lock factory at Stuttgart. He was an active sympathizer, if not in fact a participant, in the German revolution of 1848-1849, and on this account he found it expedient that he leave Germany at the earliest moment, and, without a passport, fled to America early in 1849. On board ship he contracted small-pox and when the ship docked at New York he with others was sent to a hospital where he was held for six weeks. His ultimate destination in this country was Cincinnati, to which point he proceeded as soon as released from the hospital, but upon his arrival at Cincinnati he found cholera in epidemic form in that city and accordingly came on to Springfield. Here he found employment in a brick yard, but not for long, as he soon went to work at his trade and later opened a small locksmith shop on what is now East Main Street. His business prospered and in 1850 he opened a machine shop in the same community on East Main Street, between Spring and Foster streets, where for forty years he carried on a successful business enterprise, manufacturing locks, safes, fences, etc. He made a number of safes and fences for the early banks at Springfield, and for merchants of the city, and erected practically all of the early iron fences of the community. It was Mr. Schaefer who made the iron fence around the State House at Columbus, which old wrought-iron fence is still in use. The first Springfield city directory, published in 1852, carried the following business advertisement: "L. Schaefer, lock and whitesmith, bell-hanger, gunsmith, screw cutter and maker and repairer of brass, iron or steel work, all attended to promptly for city or country."

Mr. Schaefer was both a successful business man and eitizen who took an interest in the civic affairs of his day. He was a member of the Old Union Volunteer Fire Company, was. an active member of St. John's Lutheran Church, and was a democrat in politics. Before he left Germany he had become engaged to marry Rosina Esslinger, who was born in Germany in 1823, the daughter of John Gottlieb Esslinger, a soldier against Bonaparte in 1814, a portrait of whom, in uniform, is now in pos- session of his grandson, Henry L. Schaefer, of Springfield. When Leonard Schaefer fled from Germany it was with the understanding between the engaged couple that the bride-to-be would join her intended husband at Cincinnati. The plans, however, were necessarily changed, owing to the circumstances noted above, and so the wedding took place at Springfield, in 1849. To their marriage one son was born, Henry L., of whom an account follows.

Mrs. Schaefer died in 1869, and in that year Mr. Schaefer, accompanied by his son, returned to Europe for a visit to his old home, and there, in the following year, he married Bertha Kurz, and to that union there were born children, of whom three survive: C. Albert, of whom there will be further mention; Leonard, P., and Paul, all of Springfield. Leonard Schaefer, Sr., died at Springfield, May 5, 1895, honored by all who knew him.

Henry L. Schaefer, one of the best-known citizens of Springfield, engaged in the undertaking business at 226 West Main Street, was born in this city, July 31, 1850, a son of the late Leonard and Rosina (Esslinger) Schaefer. He was reared in this city, where he attended the public schools, and while in Germany with his father in 1869 and 1870 attended two terms in the Government Technical College at Stuttgart, taking a course in mechanical drawing. Upon his return from Germany he went to work in his father's machine shop and continued there until 1875, in which year he secured a position in the tool department of the Champion Bar and Knife Company, at Springfield, where he remained until 1893. By that time he had become foreman of several different departments, but resigned and going to Chicago entered a school of embalming. After passing a satisfactory examination he returned to Springfield and engaged in the undertaking business on his own account, and has since continued, the business now being in the firm name of Henry L. Schaefer & Son. Mr. Schaefer is, and has been for years, very prominent in public affairs, and his efforts have contributed to the growth of the city and its institutions. He served as county coroner two terms, from 1895 to 1898, his first commission as coroner having been signed by Hon. William McKinley, then governor of the State of Ohio, and his second signed by Governor Asa Bushnell. He became a member of the Springfield Board of Education from the Sixth Ward during the '80s, and in 1904, when the first school board was elected at large instead of by wards, he was again selected for that position, going into office January 1, 1905, and continuing therein until January 1, 1920. He refused to stand for re-election. For his services, and in honor of the man and citizen, the new junior high school was named the Henry L. Schaefer School. He was for a number of years president of the Board of Directors of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Schaefer is also prominent as a fraternalist. He was secretary and treasurer of the local committee which succeeded in establishing the Knights of Pythias Home at Springfield and was a member of the committee which located the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Home in this city. Mr. Schaefer belongs to Clark Lodge No. 101, F. and A. M.; Springfield Chapter No. 48, R. A. M.; Springfield Council No. 17, R. and S. M.; Palestine Commandery No. 33, K. T., all of Springfield; Antioch Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Dayton, and Dayton Consistory, oncreiffe Lodge No. 33, K. P., holding the rank of major in the Uniformed Rank of Pythians; Goethe Lodge No. 384, I. O. O. F.; Mad River Encampment No. 16, in which he has passed all the chairs; Canton Occidental, Patriarchs Militant, in which he is senior past captain; Champion Council No. 2, Jr. O. U. A. M.; and Violet Council No. 29, Daughters of America. Mr. Schaefer is also a member of the Clark County Historical Society. He is a director in the Clark County Building and Savings Company and in the Springfield Light, Heat and Power Company.

On July 30, 1872, Mr. Schaefer was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Orthmann, who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, March ZOO E, daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Orthmann, the former of whom was engaged in practice at Hillsboro, Ohio, when he died in 1858. The widow and daughter then went to Germany, where Mrs. Schaefer was educated. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer: Katherine, who married Henry S. Carpenter, of Dayton, now living in retirement at Jacksonville, Florida; Bertha C., whose first husband was William S. Wead, deceased, and who married May 29, 1922, Edward P. Poling; and Theodore Frederick. Theodore Frederick Schaefer was born at Springfield, January 7, 1882, and following his graduation from high school spent two years at Wittenberg College, although while there he found time to assist his father in the conduct of his undertaking business. On May 7, 1918, he volunteered and enlisted in the United States Navy and was rated a first-class engineman. He was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois, and was with what was known as the "black gang" until relieved from duty December 20, 1918. On January 1, 1919, he became junior member of the firm of Henry L. Schaefer & Son. Mr. Schaefer is a member of Clark Lodge No. 101, F. and A. M.; Springfield Chapter No. 48, R. A. M.; Springfield Council No. 17. R. and S. M.; Oriental Consistory, thirty-second degree, and Medina Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., the two latter of Chicago. He also holds membership in the Eastern Star; Ingomar Lodge No. 610, K. P.; Goethe Lodge No. 384, I. O. O. F.: and Springfield Lodge, F. O. E. He is likewise a member of the Kiwanis Club of Springfield and the Phi Gamma Delta College fraternity. On November 1, 1905, Mr. Schaefer married Miss Louise Botkin, who was born at Springfield, the daughter of Lafayette Botkin. Mr. and Mrs. Henry L.' Schaefer celebrated their golden wedding July 30, 1922, in St. John's Evangelical Church. The occasion was celebrated by many friends of this honored couple as well as relatives and children.

Carl Albert Schaefer, president of the Reeser Plant Companv, and purchasing agent for the Thomas Manufacturing Company of Springfield, was born at Springfield, July 19, 1870. a son of the late Leonard and Bertha (Kurz) Schaefer. He was educated in the public schools and as a lad took employment as a messenger boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company. Later he became a clerk in a hardware store for several years, and from this position advanced to that of bookkeeper, which he held at several different establishments. On January 1, 1891, he entered the offices of the Thomas Manufacturing Company at

Springfield, as a bookkeeper, and through integrity, industry and fidelity won promotion to his present post as purchasing agent. Since 1910 he has been president of the Reeser Plant Company, leading florists of Springfield. Mr. Schaefer is president of the council of St. John's Lutheran Evangelical Church, belongs to the Masonic Order, and holds membership in the Kiwanis Club of Springfield and the Van Dyke Clan, a social fishing club.

Mr. Schaefer married Miss Della L. Betzold, the daughter of J. J. Betzold, of Springfield, and to them there have been born three children: Bertha Marie, a junior in Wittenberg College; Carl Albert, Jr., a freshman in the engineering department of the Ohio State University, and Catherine Lucille, who is attending high school.

WiirLiam Myers. Among the substantial retired residents of Springfield, Ohio, for many years well-known in business circles, is William Myers, formerly a justice of the peace, and a representative of one of the old pioneer families of Pike Township, Clark County. Mr. Myers owns a large body of land in Pike Township, together with valuable realty at Springfield.

William Myers was born in Pike Township, Clark County, Ohio, near Dialton, February 24, 1849, a son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Frantz) Myers, the former of whom was born in German Township, Clark County, May 4, 1821, and the latter near Hampton, Clark County, Ohio, November 7, 1825. His paternal grandparents were George and Magdaline (Cosler) Myers, who came to Clark County from what is now West Virginia and settled in German Township. His maternal grandparents were Jacob and Sarah (Ebersole) Frantz, who were natives of Switzerland. They settled in Pike Township, Clark County, about 1818. All this section was almost a wilderness at that time and people who traveled had to go on horseback and follow trails through the forests.

After Lewis Myers and Elizabeth Frantz were married they settled in Pike Township, and in 1856 Mr. Myers bought the old Frantz homestead. To the original 160 acres he added twenty more acres for a site for a sawmill, which he built and operated. He was a man of great industry and much enterprise, and during a part of his life did business as a farmer, sold timber, burned brick and profitably followed other lines of industrious activity. His death occurred May 28, 1873. The mother of Mr. Myers survived him for twenty years, dying April 2, 1893. They were good, kind, virtuous people, respected by all who knew them, and faithful members of the Dunkard Church. They had the following children: Simon, who died when two years old; William; Aaron, who lives at Kansas City, Missouri; J. E., who is a physician at Springfield; Mary Ann, who is the wife of Henry Dresher, of Pike Township, Clark County; Noah, who is a physician at Springfield; Sarah E., who is the widow of Isaiah B. Trout, of Chicago, Illinois; and Clara Idella, who is the wife of Lewis Peiffer, of Chicago.

William Myers gave his father assistance on the farm in his earlier years, but later prepared himself for the profession of teaching, attending normal schools at New Carlisle and at Lebanon, Ohio, from the latter of which he was graduated in 1875. He was not more than eighteen years old when he commenced to teach school, and he continued to teach

Mr. Myers married, July 21, 1880, Miss Matilda Ream, born in Pike Township, April 8, 1858, a daughter of Jeremiah and Madeline (Fansler) Ream, the father a native of Pike Township and the mother of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, from which her parents came first to Massillon, Ohio, and then to Springfield. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Myers were Samuel and Elizabeth (Basinger) Ream, natives of Virginia, who settled early in Pike Township. For a few years after his marriage Mr. Myers taught school at North Hampton, Ohio, and also conducted a general store, then removed to Springfield, and here was in the sawmill and lumber business for many years, and was additionally interested in buying timber and conducting a threshing machine. It was about this time that he built a comfortable residence on West High Street, Springfield, which some years later he traded for a farm of ninety-four acres adjoining the old homestead in Pike Township, on which still stands the old log cabin his grandfather built. In 1906 Mr. Myers had his fine modern residence erected at No. 1112 North Fountain Avenue, Springfield, which has been his home ever since, and he owns 227 acres of land.

Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers: Glenna, born May 2, 1881, who is the wife of Rev. Ernest Fremont Tittle, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Evanston, Illinois; and Nellie Lucile, born May 4, 1886, who is principal of the Ridgewood Private School at Springfield. Mr. Myers is a member and a trustee of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics a democrat, he served twentyfive years as clerk of Pike Township, for two terms was a justice of the peace and was a member of the Election Board that first operated under the Australian ballot system. He was the first chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias at Northampton, Ohio.

Emory F. Davis, M. D. In extent of practice Doctor Davis is one of the busiest physicians and surgeons at Springfield, where he has performed his professional work and has been active in the affairs of citizenship for over twenty years.

Doctor Davis was born at Centerville in Montgomery County, Ohio, June 27, 1870, son of Edward H. and Martha Jane (Fallis) Davis. His father was a native of Salem, New Jersey, and his mother of Richmond, Virginia. Edward H. Davis was a stock raiser and farmer in New Jersey, and at the beginning of the Civil war he became a captain in the Ninth New Jersey Infantry. He was wounded by gun shot in the right knee at the battle of Roanoke, Virginia, while serving under General Burnside. He was also taken prisoner, and for some time endured the evil conditions of Andersonville Prison. Later he was exchanged and put in charge of the exchange train. Subsequently he moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, and there re-enlisted in the One Hundred Thirtyfirst Ohio Infantry. He was the first lieutenant of Company I in that regiment. Edward H. Davis was in the Ford Theatre the night that President Lincoln was shot. Eight of his brothers were soldiers in the Confederate Army. After the war he owned and operated a farm at Centerville, but he died at Springfield in August, 1911. His widow survived him until July 22, 1920. They had two children, Doctor Davis and Nellie, wife of John E. Warner, of Detroit, Michigan.

Emory F. Davis grew up at Centerville, attended grammar and high school there, and graduated in medicine from the University of Ohio April 9, 1897. Prior to locating at Springfield Doctor Davis practiced two years at Celina and one year at Lancaster, and in 1900 moved to Springfield. Since 1914 he has maintained a fine suite of offices in the Fairbanks Building.

In October, 1898, Doctor Davis married Miss Fannie N. Hutsler, a native of Jamestown, Greene County, Ohio, daughter of John W. and Ruth (Evans) Hutsler, natives of Virginia. Her mother was a first cousin of "Fighting Bob Evans," one of America's foremost naval heroes. Mrs. Davis' parents were early settlers in Greene County, and her mother, who was born in 1831, is now living at Springfield, past ninety. Doctor and Mrs. Davis have a modern home at 103 North Western Avenue. Their only child is Lawrence H., born in September, 1899. He married Elizabeth Carr, and they live with Doctor Davis. Lawrence Davis is a partner in the Crescent Casket Company, manufacturers of high grade children's caskets.

Doctor Davis and family are members of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. He was for several years a member of the Clark County Blind Committee, is a republican, a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Belongs to the Clark County, Ohio, State and American Medical associations, and is physician to the Ohio State Knights of Pythias Home.

Homer C. Corry, one of the younger members of the Clark County bar, and junior member of the well known legal firm of Martin Corry, with offices at 203 Bushnell Building, Springfield, is a native of Clark County, and a son of Robert F. and Ethel (Stewart) Corry.

Robert F. Corry was born in Greene County, Ohio, in 1857, and died in 1917. He was a son of James Corry, also a native of Greene County, whose parents were pioneers of that locality, they having come from Pennsylvania to the Buckeye State during early days. Ethel Corry was born in Greene Township, Clark County, in 1859, and is now residing at Springfield. She is a daughter of Thomas E. Stewart, who was born in the same township, a son of John Templeton Stewart, who came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1805, and settled in Greene Township, where he became a prosperous farmer and large land owner.

Homer C. Corry was born on the farm in Green Township, July 9, 1887, and attended the graded and high schools of Springfield. He graduated from the Clifton High School of Green Township in 1904, and then entered Antioch College from which he received his Bachelor of Arts deeree as a member of the class of 1910. During 1910 he taught in the Enon High School, Clark County, during 1911 and 1912 was a teacher in the Yellow Springs High School, and during 1913 and 1914 was an instructor in the Ironton (Ohio) High School. During this period Mr. Corry studied in the law department of Chicago University, and was graduated from the law department of the Ohio State University in 1915, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Admitted to the bar in 1915, he entered practice at Springfield in the offices of Chase Stewart. From 1916 to 1918 he taught law in the Law School of the Ohio State

University, and in the latter year enlisted for service in the United States Army as a private and during the World war was stationed at Camp Sherman. He was promoted to sergeant and later received his commis- "sion as first lieutenant and was assigned to duty in the judge advocate general's department, serving at Camp Logan, Texas, and at Washington, D. C. He was mustered out and honorably discharged July 5, 1919. Returning to the practice of law at Springfield, Mr. Corry became associated with Paul C. Martin and in September, 1921, became a member of the firm of Martin Corry. He is a member of the Clark County, the Ohio State and the American Bar Associations, and holds membership in the Phi Delta Phi and the Order of the Coif, and Harry S. Kis- + sell Lodge No. 674, Free and Accepted Masons. He is president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. On January 1, 1920, Mr. Corry was united in marriage with Miss Helene Jobe, daughter of Charles L. and Margaret Jobe, of Xenia, Ohio. Mrs. Corry died at Springfield, December 4, 1920.

OLIVER T. CLARKE. The wearisome sameness that frequently attends the continuous following of a single line of effort has never been a feature of the career of Oliver T. Clarke, of Springfield, draughtsman for the Hobart Manufacturing Company. His has been a life in which he has followed several lines of industry and in which each step has been a forward one. Mr. Clarke is a native of St. Mary's Parish, Louisiana, and was born October 25, 1885, a son of Hiram F. and Nelly (Thomson) Clarke, natives of Springfield.

The paternal grandparents of Mr. Clarke, Oliver and Elizabeth (Strong) Clarke, were born in Southampton, Massachusetts, and shortly after their marriage moved to Decatur, Georgia. They resided there for some years, and Mr. Clarke conducted a store in partnership with a Mr. Willard. Later they came to Springfield. Hiram F. Clarke attended the public schools of Springfield, and as a young man went to Cincinnati, where he learned the hardware business with the firm of Henry Hammet & Son. Returning to Springfield, he embarked in the hardware business on his own account and, later, in partnership with his brother Lewis S. Clarke, conducted a sugar plantation in St. Mary's Parish, Louisiana. Returning to Springfield in 1887, he connected himselí with the Springfield Seed Company, subsequently identifying himself with the wholesale paper business. He then became one of the organizers of the Star Paper and Box Company, on West Pleasant Street, and some time later this was changed to the Clarke Paper Box Company, of which he was the head until his retirement. He died June 21, 1914, greatly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. Mrs. Clarke, who survives him, resides at 525 North Wittenberg Street, Springfield. She is a daughter of James I. and Lavinia G. (Snyder) Thomson, natives of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The former for some years was bookkeeper for the firm of Counts & Comeback, early dry goods merchants of Springfield. Mr. and Mrs. Clarke had two children: Oliver T., and ames, who died in infancy. A i Oliver T. Clarke attended the graded and high schools of Springfield, withdrawing from the latter in 1902, and at that time started to learn the vocation of machinist at the plant of the Owen Machine Tool Company, where he spent three years. After mastering his trade he worked thereat at various places, including the George Rogers Tool Works and the Foos Gas Engine Company, but left the latter in August, 1908, and became identified with the firm of Staley & Bowman, patent attorneys, as a draughtsman, an occupation in which he had become proficient by attendance at the Young Men's Christian Association night classes and by a course with the International Correspondence School. Leaving the latter in the fall of 1911, he became identified with the American Seeding Machine Company as draughtsman, continuing until April of the following year. On April 13, 1912, he started to work as a tool designer for the Robbins & Myers Company and remained with that firm until September 17, 1921. On November 14 of the same year he became connected with the Hobart Manufacturing Company of Troy, Ohio, who manufacture coffee grinders, meat grinders, food mixers, etc. He still maintains his connection with this concern and is now engaged in doing the company's experimental drafting. Mr. Clarke is a member of Christ Episcopal Church at Springfield, and is fraternally affiliated with St. Andrews Lodge No. 619, F. and A. M., and Springfield Chapter No. 48, R. A. M.

On June 28, 1916, Mr. Clarke married Miss Blanche Gardner, who was born November 22, 1882, at Springfield, Ohio, daughter of Frank and Kathryn (Garrett) Gardner, the former born at Fredericktown, Maryland, and the latter in Springfield. Mrs. Clarke, who graduated in 1905 from Wittenberg College, traveled in Europe and the United States, followed the educator's profession for several years, and taught at the high schools of Celina and Springfield prior to her marriage. She and her husband are the parents of three children: Oliver T., Jr., born June 22, 1919; Nelly Kathryn, born November 18, 1920; and Frances, born May 13, 1922. Mrs. Clarke is a member of the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church and of the Springfield Woman's Club.

J. Frep ANDERSON. For over ninety years the Anderson family has been identified with the substantial interests of agriculture and farm husbandry in this section of Ohio, and while J. Fred Anderson was born on a farm, he chose the legal profession for a career. His father died when he was seven years old. His work since becoming a member of the Springfield bar has proved him one of the keenest minds and ablest members of the local profession.

His grandfather, David Anderson, was a native of Scotland, and as a young man came to the United States about 1827. He soon afterward located near Selma in Clark County. He married Juliana Stewart, whose people were among the first and also among the best settlers of that locality. David Anderson was a skilled cabinet maker, and he worked at that occupation in connection with farming. He was a devout Presbyterian of the old school, very strict in his ideas of religious duty, was upright in his daily conduct, and his community held him in high esteem. He was a radical anti-slavery man and his home became a station on the underground railroad and there he assisted many fugitive slaves toward freedom. One of his sons, Oliver Hazard Perry Stewart Anderson, served as a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil war. David

Anderson and his wife had thirteen children, several dying in inf Not one of these children is still living in Clark A ; as The eldest was John Stewart Anderson, who was born on the home near Selma, October 12, 1836. He became a farmer, and was regarded as one of the most successful stock men in this part of the state. He was one of the first to import full blooded Percheron horses. He served a hundred days' enlistment in the Civil war, was a republican in politics, and was devoted to his home and family. His farm was in Greene County, just over the line from Clark County, and he died there February 22, 1888. He married, January 23, 1861, Elizabeth Tindall, who survives him. Of their seven children four are living: Mrs. Robert E. Corry, residing at Yellow Springs, Ohio, mother of six children; Mrs. Harvey S. Collins, living near Xenia, Ohio, has four children; Miss Cora A., a teacher in the Springfield High School; and J. Fred.

J. Fred Anderson was born at the homestead near Clifton in Greene County, February 14, 1881. He attended local schools there, later Cedarville College in Greene County, from which institution he was graduated in 1901 with the degree of Ph. B., and in 1907 received from the Law Department of the Ohio State University the degree of LL.B. He was admitted to the bar June 18, 1907, at once began practice in Springfield, and in October, 1907, formed a partnership with his old schoolmate and roommate at Ohio State University, E. F. McKee, and the firm of Anderson & McKee, maintaining offices in the Bushnell Building, represents not only a congenial personal association, but a combination of legal abilities and experience that gives it special prestige in the local bar.

On September 20, 1911, he married Christle Reichard, daughter of Dr. George W. Reichard, of Springfield. Mrs. Anderson died October 17, 1912, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth Reichard Anderson. Mr. Anderson married, August 19, 1922, Leona Braun, daughter of the late Leo Braun, well known as a jeweler in Springfield for sixty years.

Erza F. McKee is junior member of the Springfield law firm of Anderson McKee and is one of the very prominent young lawyers of the city. In 1921 he was honored by election as president of the Clark County Bar Association.

He was born at St. Mary's, Ohio, May 16, 1884, son of Charles P. and Matilda J. (Smith) McKee. He was one of their six children, grew up on his father's farm, and did a share of the farm work while attending district schools. He spent four years in St. Mary's High School, graduating in 1900. In the fall of 1903 he entered the Law Department of the Ohio State University, and took special courses in other university departments at the same time. He graduated in law in June, 1907, but had been admitted to the bar in 1906, after which for several months he worked in the law offices of Crum, Raymond Hedges, of Columbus, Ohio, getting special instruction. After graduating he came to Springfield and in October, 1907, joined his old classmate in the firm Anderson 8 McKee.

office, and since then has been acting special advisory counsel for the city. During the World war he was Government appeal agent for the local board for the City of Springfield. Mr. McKee was president of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce in 1921, is a Council degree Mason, an independent democrat, and a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Oscar N. BARTHOLOMEW, now deceased, was for many years One of the leading contractors and builders of Springfield, but for some time prior to his demise was living in retirement. He was born in Tompkins County, New York, September 18, 1835, and died at Springfield, Ohio, February 5, 1918. His parents, Josiah and Chairy Ann (Eaton) Bartholomew, were natives of New York. ¡

Growing up in his native state, Oscar N. Bartholomew was educated in an academy at Elmira, New York. For two years he served in the Union Army, as a member of the Seventy-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, and among other important engagements, participated in that of the Wilderness. In 1872 he came to Springfield and went into a contracting business, and became an acknowledged authority on the design and construction of heavy buildings, a number of which were erected by him at Springfield, among which was the church building of the First Congregationalists, which was later destroyed by fire. He was noted for his fidelity to the spirit as well as the letter of his contracts, and no one ever stood any higher in public esteem than he.

On June 24, 1859, Mr. Bartholomew married Harriet M. Malory, born near the Mohawk River in New York State, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Turner) Malory. Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew had the pleasure of celebrating their Golden Wedding in 1909. Two children were born to them, namely: Ella R. and Charles J. but the latter died

November 22, 1917. After coming to Springfield Mr. Bartholomew affiliated with the First Congregational Church and later with the First Lutheran Church of this city, to which his widow also belonged, and she continued one of its active supporters until her death January 18, 1922. He was a zealous Mason, and very active in the work of Mitchell Post, Grand Army of the Republic. On each Memorial Day he rode at the head of the procession of the veterans, wearing his uniform, and mounted on a white charger, and his imposing figure is sadly missed on these days since his demise. He was an upright man of unflinching honesty, and never asked more of anyone than he was willing to give, but expected others to live up to the principles he believed so necessary for the maintenance of good government and proper business relations. His long life of useful endeavor and helpful effort along practical lines teaches a lesson, and his example may well be emulated by the rising generation.

FRANK A. HARTLEY, M. D., a specialist in eye, ear, nose and throat diseases and a member of the Springfield City Hospital staff, has been engaged in practice in this city since 1909, but his entire professional experience covers a period of a quarter of a century.

at Bernly, Lancashire, England, and his mother in Licking County, Ohio. James Hartley came to the United States about 1855. He had been superintendent of construction for railroad work both in England and France, and in the United States continued similar work. While in the South he contracted malaria, and while the disease was not fatal it caused him to leave railroad construction and buy a farm in Union County, Ohio, where he lived until his death in 1879. His widow survived until 1914, and also died in Union County.

Frank A. Hartley grew up on the home farm, was educated in the common schools, in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, attended the Marysville High School, and in 1898 graduated from the Starling Med- * ical College at Columbus. For seven years he performed the routine of a general practitioner. During 1907-08 Doctor Hartley took special work with the Wilsi Polyclinic at Philadelphia, and in 1909 attended the University of Vienna. On returning to this country he located in Springfield, and has since specialized in eye, ear, nose and throat diseases. His offices are in the Fairbanks Building. Doctor Hartley has been on the staff of the Springfield City Hospital since 1913. He is a member of the Clark County and the Ohio State Medical Societies and the Academy of Ophthalmology and Laryngology.

June 26, 1902, Doctor Hartley married Della M. Cisco, a native of Champaign County, Ohio, and daughter of Joseph and Charlotte (Barnes) Cisco, natives of the same county. Doctor and Mrs. Hartley are members of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church. He is on the Official Board of the church, is a republican in politics, and is affiliated with Kissell Lodge No. 674, F. and A. M. :

MALCOLM EARL SPENCER. To interpret the law properly in all its complexities and unerringly to apply its provisions to establish human rights and defeat injustice demands such a comprehensive knowledge not only of books but of life itself that he who reaches a high plane in this profession must command more than negative consideration in the minds of his fellow men. It is told both in history and romance that there is a form of law that is upheld among savages, but when interpreted it resolves itself into the axiom that might makes right, and in modern, civilized life it becomes the task of the exponent of the law to overcome this only too prevalent idea. Hence, on a solid educational foundation must be erected a thorough knowledge of what law means to the presentday man and how it can be applied to circumvent evil, protect the helpless and bring happiness and safety to the deserving. Among the younger members of the Clark County bar one who has made rapid advancement in his calling because possessing a thorough understanding of its responsibilities and opportunities is Malcolm Earl Spencer, of Springfield.

Mr. Spencer was born at Columbus, Ohio, January 29, 1893, and is a son of George W. and Amelia (Strait) Spencer, the former born at Columbus and the latter at Straitsville, Perry County, Ohio. His father, who was educated in the public schools of Columbus, became construction superintendent for the Bell Telephone Company at Westerville, Ohio, and later at Columbus, Ohio, a most hazardous position, and one which he filled in various other parts of the country until meeting his death in the line of duty October 18, 1904. Mrs. Spencer survived him only

Malcolm Earl Spencer was only eleven years of age at the time of his father's death, and until that time had attended the public schools of Columbus. When he was left an orphan he was taken to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Home at Springfield, where he remained until reaching the age of sixteen years. He then entered Wittenberg Academy and worked his way through that institution, from which he was graduated in 1914. During this time he had applied all his spare time to the study of law with Donald Kirkpatrick, a well-known lawyer of Springfield, and upon his graduation and subsequent admission to the Ohio bar became associated with Mr. Kirkpatrick, under the firm style of Kirkpatrick & Spencer. This concern is now justly accounted one of the strong and reliable legal combinations of the city and has been identified with a number of prominent cases.

On June 24, 1914, Mr. Spencer was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Furlong, who was born in Cincinnati and, having been left an orphan at a tender age, was reared at the Ohio State Independent Order of Odd Fellows Home at Springfield. To this union there have come three children: Malcolm Earl, Jr., who died in infancy; Gerald Elden, born May 18, 1920, and Phyllis Adele, born June 19, 1921. Mr. Spencer and his family belong to the Northminster Presbyterian Church, in the work of which he has taken an active part, and has taught in the Sunday school. A republican in politics, he has taken little more than a good citizen's part in public affairs, but has endeavored at all times to discharge his duties, and is serving as prosecuting attorney's assistant. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. Encampment and the Rebekahs.

CLARENCE ANDREW CHASE. One of the best-known hotel executives of the country is Clarence Andrew Chase, who for the last five years has been manager of the Hotel Bancroft, Springfield's leading and most popular hostelry. Mr. Chase's youthful inclinations were along the lines of a musical career, but circumstances developed that directed him toward his present vocation, one in which he has attained an unqualified success.

Mr. Chase was born at Portland, Maine, May 3, 1872, a son of Andrew J. and Hattie (Lowney) Chase. His father was a native of Sagadahoc County, Maine, and a member of the old Chase family of New England, from which was descended the Hon. Salmon P. Chase, the Ohio statesman. Andrew J. Chase was for many years agent for the Travelers Insurance Company for the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. He was a very prominent public man, a fine speaker and a man of prepossessing appearance, and his services were much sought after in the promotion of welfare work, both local and state-wide. He was an able assistant to Neal Dow in the temperance movement which made the State of Maine "dry," and his death, which occurred in 1898, removed from his community an able, reliable and greatlyrespected citizen. His widow, who is now residing at Dorchester, Massachusetts, is a daughter of William Lowney, the noted candy manufacturer, who originated and manufactured "Philadelphia caramels," and a sister of Walter Lowney, who manufactured the brand of chocolates which bear his name. : musically inclined, and of some talent, he was the leader of his own orchestra when he was but eighteen years of age, at which time he became a student of violin at the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston. About that time business reverses overtook his father and it became necessary for young Chase to go to work. Accordingly, in answer to an advertisement, he secured the position of cashier in the buffet of the old and famous Tremont Hotel at Boston. As soon as his father learned of his employment he arranged to have him transferred to the cate: where he also served as cashier, and it was while with the old Tremont that he laid the foundation for his later success in the hotel business. He served his apprenticeship in all the different departments of the Tremont, and at the age of twenty-two years was holding the position of chief clerk of that historic hostelry. The Tremont was then under the management of R. A. Stranahan, whose sons, Robert and Frank, are now proprietors of the Champion Spark Plug Company, of Toledo, Ohio, manufacturers of the automobile spark plug of that name. The old Tremont closed its doors four years after Mr. Chase joined its organization, and for a time thereafter he was identified with the Prebble House, of Portland. Subsequently he joined Mr. Stranahan in the management of the old Stuart House, at the corner of Forty-first Street and Broadway, New York City. Later he entered the commissary department of the Pennsylvania Railway Company, and still later of the New York, New Haven Hartford Railway Company. He was commissary agent for this line, in charge of all dining cars and restaurants, but resigned from this position to become chief clerk of the Imperial Hotel, New York City. In 1910 he left the Imperial to join the organization of the Hotel LaSalle, Chicago, where he was chief clerk for four years, leaving that hotel to go to Spokane, Washington, to assist in the equipment and become manager of the Hotel Davenport, then being made ready for opening. This hotel, with only 335 rooms, was built and equipped at a cost of $2,235,000, and is today considered the finest establishment in the United States. In 1917 Mr. Chase returned to the Imperial, at New York City, temporarily, and in July of that year came to Springfield, at the invitation of its New York owners, to take charge cf the Hotel Bancroft, which at that time, through mismanagement, was on the eve of closing its doors. Under the supervision of Mr. Chase the Bancroft has been improved in every respect, and has won the reputation of being the best managed hotel not only in Springfield but in the entire state, with improvements being carried forward all the time.

Mr. Chase is chairman of the board of governors for the State of Ohio of "the Greeters of America," a hotel managers" organization, and is district vice president of the Ohio State Hotel Association. He was made a Mason in Continental Lodge No. 76, Waterbury, Connecticut, and advanced to the Rose Croix degree by Cascade Chapter, Spokane, Washington.

Mr. see married Mary Edith Perry, daughter of Charles S. Perry, one of the men who made possible the manufacture of watches by machinery, and for years connected with the Elgin Watch Company, of

Mr. Yake was born in Pennsylvania, March 29, 1864, and is a son of Lewis and Martha (Dellinger) Yake, the former a native of Germany and the latter of the State of Pennsylvania. Lewis Yake was a child at the time of the family immigration to the United States, was reared and educated in Pennsylvania and there his marriage occurred. He continued his activities as a farmer in the old Keystone State until the late '60s, when he came with his family to Ohio and established his residence in Champaign County, where he farmed for a few years on rented land and then came over into Clark County and purchased a farm near Moorefield. He made this one of the well ordered farms of Moorefield Township, and on the same he continued to reside until his death, in 1916, his widow having passed to eternal rest in 1921 and both having been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Yake was well fortified in his political views and was a loyal supporter of the cause of the republican party. He had no desire for public office but gave effective service as a member of the school board of his district. Of the ten children the eldest of the eight surviving is Hiram, a farmer near Harmony, this county; David is engaged in farming in Hancock County; Milton, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; John resides at Springfield, and Edward at Youngstown; Erbie is the wife of Frank Coe; Lewis is a resident of New Moorefield, Clark County; and Anna is the wife of George Fetz.

On the old home farm near the postoffice village of New Moorefield Milton Yake passed the period of his boyhood and youth, and in the meanwhile profited by the advantages of the local schools. After attaining to his legal majority he was for seven years employed by the month at farm work, and with the passing years he so directed his energies as to win substantial financial advancement and prove a successful agriculturist and stockgrower. He now owns 104 acres of land in Moorefield Township, including the three acres on which is situated the family home, at Villa. Mr. Yake is a stockholder in the Merchants & Mechanics Building & Loan Association at Springfield, and in addition to looking after the affairs of his farm, in the northeast quarter of Section 21. Moorefield Township, he has proved exceptionally successful as a dealer in livestock, his judgment of values in this line being virtually authoritative. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he is affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.

September 28, 1895, marked the marriage of Mr. Yake to Miss Ella McConneha, who was born near New Moorefield, this county, in 1867. They have no children.

SPALDING WESLEY BisHor, a retired citizen of Springfield, living at 622 Linden Avenue, was in service nearly a third of a century in the city police department, and is honored and respected as one of the oldest - minions of law and order in the city.

Mr. Bishop was born in Springfield Township, in November, 1849, and represents one of the earliest families established in Clark County. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Elwell) Bishop, and he and his father were born in the same house. Elizabeth Elwell was born in

Greene County, Ohio, daughter of Israel Elwell, a native of that county. John Bishop was a son of Edward and Tabitha (Winchester) Bishop, the latter a native of Clark County. Edward Bishop was born in New Jersey, son of Moses Bishop, who died in that state. The widow of Moses Bishop married aMr. Tremble. This Mr. Tremble was a western pioneer, coming by raft on the Ohio River in 1808, along with Benham and Hunter. They were three months on the way, largely due to the fact that they stopped off at different points to survey the country for a prospective location. In that year Tremble entered a tract of land in Clark County. In 1813, after accompanying Captain Benham with troops to Fort Recovery during the War of 1812, he returned and took possession of this land. In 1814 it became the property of Edward Bishop, and remained in the Bishop family until 1912, for practically a century. John Bishop and Elizabeth Elwell were married in 1848, and then settled on the old homestead, remaining there until 1875, when they moved to Hardin County, Ohio, where John Bishop died. His widow passed away in Springfield in 1914. Of their children Spalding Wesley is the oldest; James is deceased ; Melissa lives at Yellow Springs, widow of George Pearson; Anna is the widow of Elwood Cusic, and lives in Chicago; Edward is at Seattle, Washington; Katie is the widow of Jefferson Mahoney, of Chicago.

Spalding Wesley Bishop remained at the old home, acquiring a district school education, and in September, 1873, married Mary Burns. She was born at Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Tifney) Burns, natives of the same state. After his marriage Mr. Bishop rented a farm in Springfield Township two years and then moved to Harmony, Ohio, and farmed and operated a ditching machine for seven years. On leaving the county he came to Springfield, and for three years was employed in a wholesale fruit house. At the conclusion of that employment he went on the police force, under Mayor O. S. Kelly, and his thirty-two years' service with the police department ended in 1919, in which year he was retired. Mr. Bishop was reared a Methodist, is a democrat in politics, and is affiliated with Lodge No. 146, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

He and his wife had six children: John, Harry and Florence, all of whom died in early childhood; Hanford, of Detroit, Michigan, who married Gertrude Smith and has two children; Vivian and Constance; Fannie, who died when twenty-three years of age; and Clarence, who lives with his father and married Beula Dennis.

WirLiam McKay Runyan, M. D, is a native of Clark County and is one of the active and progressive young physicians and surgeons of Springfield.

He was born at Catawba, Clark County, December 9, 1895, son of Percy E. and Mabel Anna (Keesecker) Runyan, his father a native of Catawba and his mother of Springfield. His paternal grandparents were Milton and Mary (McClellan) Runyan, the former having been identified with some of the pioneer milling operations of Clark County. The maternal grandparents were Aaron and Elizabeth (Ensley) Keesecker, Aaron Keesecker having been a pioneer school teacher of Clark County. Percy Runyan for many years was active in educational affairs of Clark

County, but since 1920 has lived retired. He and his wife had the following children: Helen, Mrs. Howard Ream of Springfield; Doctor William M.; Philip, of Cleveland, Ohio; Marjory, wife of Clayton Jenkinson, of Springfield; and Mary Elizabeth, who lives with her father and mother at Springfield.

William McKay Runyan was educated in the grammar and high schools and attended Wittenberg College and also the Willis Business College at Springfield. He prepared for his profession in the University of Cincinnati, where he graduated M.D. in 1920. He had one year of additional training and experience in the Jewish Hospital at Cincinnati, and then returned to Springfield and succeeded in building up a fine practice. His offices and home are at 2104 East Main Street. Doctor Runyan is a member of the Clark County, Ohio State and American Medical Associations.

June 16, 1920, he married Miss Mabel Kolb, who was born in Medina County, Ohio, daughter of John V. and Alvaretta (Fisher) Kolb. They have one daughter, Margaret Louise, born July 8, 1922. Doctor and Mrs. Runyan are members of the United Brethren Church. He is a republican, and is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and fraternal order of Eagles at Springfield.

CHARLES ELIHU BALLARD. The profession of law at Springfield is ably represented by Charles Elihu Ballard, who has had a successful and busy professional career, in which he has attained a high place in his calling. During the twenty-three years that he has practiced at Springfield he has not only established a high personal reputation for ability and character, but has also served acceptably in positions of trust and responsibility.

Mr. Ballard was born in August, 1865, on a farm in Clinton County, Ohio, and is a son of Abram and Mary J. (Oren) Ballard. David Ballard, the great-great-grandfather of Charles E. Ballard, was born in Virginia, and in 1800 came to the present site of Wilmington, Ohio. A Quaker in religious faith, he served as preacher at Quaker meeting, and was probably the first of that denomination in that part of the country. His son, John Ballard, the great-grandfather of Charles E. Ballard, accompanied his father to Wilmington, in which locality he entered Government land and engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life. Joseph Ballard, the grandfather of Charles, was born at Wilmington, in 1812, and married Susanna Stillings, who had been brought from Virginia to Clinton County by her parents about 1825, the family traveling overland in true pioneer fashion.

Abram Ballard was born in Clinton County, Ohio, where he was given a country school education, and on attaining his majority followed in the footsteps of his forefathers and adopted the vocation of farming which he followed throughout his life. He was a man of industry and probity, and in his death, which occurred in 1913, his community lost a reliable and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Ballard married Miss Mary J. Oren, who died in 1892, a daughter of Elihu and Jane (Newcomb) Oren the former born in Tennessee, whence he came with his father, John Oren, to Clinton County, Ohio, in 1810. Elihu Oren was a farmer and schoolteacher, and during the Civil war and prior thereto was an ardent

_ Union man and abolitionist. His home served as a station on the Underground Railway, and he assisted many slaves to the securing of their freedom by helping to send them to a safe refuge in Canada. He married in Clark County in 1830, and immediately thereafter moved to

Charles Elihu Ballard attended the public schools of his home locality, following which he pursued a course at Wilmington College. He then took up his professional studies at the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Law, and immediately thereafter commenced his professional labors at South Charleston. After five years he decided that Springfield offered a wider field for the demonstration of his abilities, and he accordingly opened an office at this city, which has since been the scene of his success. He has always practiced independently and has carried on a general law business. For four years, 1913, 1914, 1915 and 1916, he served ably as prosecuting attorney, establishing an excellent record for industry and close attention to the duties of his office. In 1890 he served as census enumerator. Mr. Ballard is a republican in politics. As a fraternalist he holds membership in Springfield Lodge No. 146, I. O. O. F., and Springfield Lodge No. 51, B. P. O. E.

In March, 1915, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Parker, of Springfield, Ohio, daughter of William J. and Libby (Stewart) Parker, and to this union there has come one son, Charles Jesse, born March 1, 1916.

BENJAMIN W. KEIFFER, of Mad River Township, represents one of the old families of Clark County and has devoted his active years largely in the management of farming interests in the community where he was born. His father, Benjamin F. Keifer, a brother of General J. Warren Keifer, was one of Clark County's most substantial farmers, and developed a fine place in Mad River Township, still occupied by his children. He was born April 22, 1821, and died December 5, 1907. It was in the early sixties that he bought eighty acres included within the present Benjamin Keifer homestead. The old house on that land is still standing. In subsequent years he added to the place until he had a body of four hundred acres, and in the management of the farm and in the performance ot his various community duties he found ample expressions for the energies and purpose that composed his character.

Benjamin F. Keifer married Amelia Henkle, of Clark County. She died in 1873, and six of their children reached mature years. The eldest, Silas H., lived at the old homestead and died at the age of sixty-nine. Mary C. is still living on the home farm. F. Erwin has never married, and is also identified with the homestead. The fourth child is Benjamin W. Keifer. Sarah A. is the widow of William M. Drake. A. Ione, the youngest, is with her brother and sister at home.

five, Ethel Crist, of Mad River Township. She died seven years later, leaving two children: Wilbur H., now living with his Uncle Erwin; and Ruth A., at home. The second wife of Mr. Keifer was Margaret Wolf, who died in 1914, and her son, J. Elmer, is now attending school.

At the time of his marriage Mr. Keifer moved to the old Shellabarger farm, which had been acquired by his father, and he has lived there ever since, superintending the cultivation of the 135 acres. He has served as a member of the local school board and is active in the republican party. He is a member of the Yellow Springs Methodist Episcopal Church, the church in which his parents worshiped. He is also a member of the Farm Bureau.

WirLiam Henry Birner. In business activities that in the highest degree constitute a public service, and in a personal career that represents a singular combination of adversity and persistent will to overcome misfortune, the life story of William Henry Bitner is one of the most interesting that can be told of any citizen of Clark County. Mr. Bitner is general manager of the Springfield Dairy Products Company. He helped organize this corporation, and its growth and success has been due to his efforts more than to those of any other individual.

Mr. Bitner was born August 18, 1855, in Adams County, Pennsylvania, representing the third generation of the Bitner family in this country. His grandfather, Henry Bitner, came from Germany and settled in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The old Bitner family Bible brought from Germany was printed 150 years ago and is still carefully preserved in the home of William H. Bitner. The father of the Springfield business man was Henry Bitner, who was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and for a number of years operated a grist mill, later a hotel at Mummasburg, Pennsylvania, and from that town he moved to Biglerville, Adams County, where he was in the butcher business until 1862. In that year he enlisted in the Union Army and served about twelve months, until severely wounded. After his army service he was in the nursery business at Biglerville, then rented his land and became a merchant. He lived in Adams County until his death. Henry Bitner married Nancy Glass, a native of Franklin County. The old Glass homestead owned by her grandparents is still in the family. She also died in Adams County. The children of Henry Bitner and Nancy Glass were Jennie, Elizabeth, William H., George, Enna and Alice.

William H. Bitner was about eight years old when the great battle of Gettysburg was fought. He shared in the excitement and turmoil incident to the invasion of Southern Pennsylvania by Lee's army. The family at that time lived in a small town named Heidelberg. This was ten miles from Gettysburg, scene of the three days" battle in July, 1863. However, some of the events of that campaign came under the eyes of the boy and made impressions that can never be effaced from his memory. He relates that on the day before the battle the Confederate troops came to the quiet little town of Heidelberg and camped there, tearing down the residents" fences to feed their fires, and a large detachment settled on a vacant lot immediately next to the Bitner home. At first they demanded all the food in the house, and then gave the family three minutes to vacate the premises. His father had fortunately driven his horses to Lancaster, and thus saved them. He was preparing to leave the home to the invaders when the order to vacate was suddenly countermanded and they were not further disturbed. The great battle of Gettysburg came to an end on Friday, although smoke of gun powder still hung over the field on Sunday, when William H. Bitner, accompanied by two others, went to view the scene. It was a terrible sight, horses and men lying so close together that the horrified visitors could scarcely put foot on the ground. The great Lutheran College had been thrown open as a hospital, and every poor mangled body in which there still remained a spark of life had been gathered up and crowded in this building in the hope of easing their sufferings. This was no sight proper for a child of eight years, and probably William Bitner was one of the few ever an eye-witness of such an appalling scene on American soil. He walked ten miles to the scene of the battle and then tramped over the grounds, rettirning to his home after covering a distance of twenty-five miles, and all that time had not a morsel to eat.

Mr. Bitner since he was nine years of age has been self-supporting, starting out at that time to work on farms in the neighborhood at monthly wages. It is literally true that from that age he has been a producer and doer of things. At the age of fourteen his arm was badly torn by a circular saw, and until he was seventeen he worked on a farm and then for two years was employed in an iron ore mine at Pinegrove, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Not long afterward a cave-in occurred in the mine, and he was taken out for dead. After this experience he resumed farm work, and in August, 1875, a young man of twenty years, he came to Clark County, Ohio. During the next several years he continued as a farm laborer, and then came the third accident, when he was run over by a heavily laden wagon. Still later, while operating his threshing machine and saw mill, he fell from a log and broke his leg. These injuries interfered with but did not balk his steadfast ambition to succeed, and he went back with renewed energies after each misfortuñe.