Springfield Township (part 69 of 69)

Mr. Bitner began farming on his own account in 1883, when he rented the Creighton farm south of Springfield. It was on that farm that he made his start in the dairy business in 1884. In April, 1885, he moved to the Snyder farm north of Springfield, and he lived there for fourteen years. In October, 1898, he bought the farm of Cornelius Miller, his father-in-law, and that has been his home for the past twentytwo years, though in the meantime by purchase the area of the farm has been increased to two hundred and twenty acres. The improvements on this farm constitute one of the notable country places of Clark County. Besides all the building ella to the use of stock and the irving industry there are six dwelling houses. ae ee been actively a with pe a DOM 7 ounty for nearly forty years. e was one of the promoters o Sat ies Nise paid 2 the first stock, in 1902, in the Springfield Pure Milk Company. From its organization and incorporation in 1903 he was general manager and a director. In 1919 this a "= es solidated with the Home Dairy and Ice Cream Company, an e e business was then incorporated as the Springfield Dairy Products : Bes with Mr. Bitner retained as general manager. He was one of the firs practical dairymen in the county to become an enthusiastic advocate of the highest standards of purity, and he has done much to extend the use of this wholesome food product. He was the pioneer in pasturizing the milk supply of Clark County. The corporation of which he is the active head now owns and operates seven plants in Clark County, and it is a business as closely identified with the vital welfare of the people as any other industry.

Mr. Bitner is also a director in the Lagonda National Bank, the Morris Plan Bank and the Springfield Coal and Ice Company. Heisa member of the Rockway Lutheran Church, and for the past twenty-five years has been superintendent of its Sunday school. In many other ways / he has co-operated with and has contributed to the success of movements for the promotion of general welfare.

December 28, 1880, Mr. Bitner married Elmira A. Miller, daughter of Cornelius and Henrietta (Kieffer) Miller, old residents of Clark County. Mr. and Mrs. Bitner have two daughters, Etta B. and Grace M., both graduates of Wittenberg College. Etta is the wife of Dr: J. F. Browne, a well-known Springfield dentist, and they have a daughter and son, Jean and William Bitner. Grace is the wife of Harry Clink, of Clark County, and they also have two children, Robert and Myra.

JoHN PFEIFER, who is vice president and factory manager of the Springfield Auto Lock Company, has the further distinction of being the inventor of the modern and valuable device for the manufacturing of which this company was organized. He has exceptional inventive talent, has taken out sixty patents on cash registers, five on changemakers, and various patents on grave vaults, dictaphones, morgue tables, automatic curtain-hangers, signal devices, and locks for automobiles.

Mr. Pfeifer was born at Springfield, Ohio, on the 9th of June, 1866, and is a son of the late Charles and Elizabeth (Berg) Pfeifer, who were born in Germany, whose marriage was solemnized in Pennsylvania, and who established their home at Springfield, Ohio, in the early '60s. Charles Pfeifer, a skilled blacksmith, here entered the employ of the Mast & Foos Company, in the large manufacturing plant of which he held a position as foreman for many years. He was fifty-one years of age at the time of his death, in 1895, and his widow passed away in 1920, at the age of seventy-three years.

In addition to receiving the discipline of the public schools of his native city, John Pfeifer took courses in bookkeeping and mechanical drawing, under the direction of private instructors. In 1881, at the age of fifteen years, he entered upon an apprenticeship in the tool-making department of the St. John Machine Company, at Springfield. Four years later he went to Cincinnati and entered the employ of the Eclipse Sewing Machine Company, but within a few months he transferred his services to the Dueber Watch Works at Newport, Kentucky. In 1887 he took a position with the Fay Watch Case Company, at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, where he won his first assignment as a foreman in the tool department when he was in his nineteenth year.

In 1900 Mr. Pfeifer returned to Springfield and became foreman of the tool room of the St. John Sewing Machine Company, but two and one-half years later he went to Dayton and entered the employ of the great National Cash Register Company, in the tool department of the plant of which he spent the next five years. He then re-entered the employ of the St. John Sewing Machine Company, and a year later he

'returned to Dayton with the National Cash Register Company, for which corporation he thereafter did important research and experimental work. On his return to his native city he organized a company for the manufacturing of the Champion Cash Register, which was invented and patented by him, but three years later he sold these interests to the Mast & Foos Company and joined this corporation in the capacity of superintendent of its cash-register department. Two years later the company its cash-register business to the Toledo Computing Scales Com-

* pany, and with the latter company Mr. Pfeifer continued his connection for the ensuing nine months. From Toledo he then returned to Springfield, and after here being in charge of the tool room of the Foos Gas Engine Company two years he became superintendent of the Standard Trimmer Company of this city. A year later he resumed his alliance with the Foos Gas Engine Company, as foreman of the tool room, and he was advanced to the office of general superintendent of the plant, a position which he retained five years. He then, in July, 1920, organized the Springfield Auto Lock Company, which is developing an important industrial enterprise in the manufacturing of automatic automobile locks and other devices likewise invented and patented by him. He is an active and valued member of the Springfield Engineers Club and is one of the progressive and representative business men of his native city. He and his wife are communicants of St. John's Lutheran Church.

In 1889 Mr. Pfeifer wedded Miss Lillian Bauer, who was born in the City of Cincinnati, a daughter of Frederick Bauer. They have one child, Hazel, who married Arthur Desher, of Springfield, and who now reside at Ford City, Pennsylvania, and have two children, Bettie and Helen.

Isaac Kay, M. D. During the earlier days of its history Clark County numbered among its honored, beloved and effective citizens Dr. Isaac Kay, who for many years ministered to the ills of his fellowmen as a physician, and won their veneration and respect because of his many enobling characteristics. He came of a long line of honorable ancestry of Quaker origin, and his wife came of the same sturdy stock. Their ancestors belonged to the original William Penn colony, having come to Penn's grant of land from Yorkshire, England.

Doctor Kay was born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1828, which continued to be his home until 1836 when he was brought by his parents to Preble County, Ohio. When but eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine, having decided to become a physician, and had for his preceptor Dr. William Gray, of Lewisburg. Subsequently he pursued further his medical studies in the old Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, and was graduated therefrom, after four years, in 1849, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Until 1853 he was engaged in the practice of his chosen profession at Lewisburg, but in May of that year came to Springfield and entered upon a long and successful practice. Not only did he attain to prominence in this calling, but he also achieved distinction as an author and public speaker on medical subjects. As a physician he stood without a superior in his day, but he was equally prominent in the civic, economical and moral development of his community. To his marriage with Clara M. Deckert, solemnized November 27, 1852, two sons were born, Charles S., a sketch of whom follows; and Clarence H. Doctor Kay's work is completed, but the results accomplished by him live on and will have their effect upon posterity for many years to come.

CHARLES S. Kay. The influence of an intellectual home and highminded parents has long been held to be of paramount importance in determining the life work of those who win a prominent place in the world, and the effects of such admirable surroundings can easily be seen in the work of Charles S. Kay, one of the most widely-known men of Clark County, a leading factor in the life of Springfield, and a purposeful statesman of unusual ability. He was born at Miamisburg, Montgomery County, Ohio, November 4, 1853, a son of Dr. Isaac and Clara M. (Deckert) Kay.

It is usual for the youth of this land to take some time, after reaching their majority, to find their true vocation in life, and such was the case with Mr. Kay. It is to be presumed that his boyhood was passed in a normal manner, attending the public schools, having. his share of boyhood fights, and possibly playing "hookey," but in the end he acquired a sound, practical education and laid the foundation of character long noted for its strength and reliability. He developed a predeliction for literature and early in life became a contributor to the newspapers of Springfield and Cincinnati. Later on he engaged in commercial lines, and for twenty years was treasurer for the Superior Drill Company. Since terminating that connection Mr. Kay has largely devoted his energies to literary pursuits, and his "column" in the Springfield Daily Sun is eagerly looked for by hundreds and is quoted from extensively. One of the originators of the Citizens National Bank of Springfield, he has continued as one of its directors ever since. In addition to this connection he is financially interested in several other of Springfield's commercial institutions and civic organizations. In religious belief he is a Baptist. For some years he has maintained membership with the Commercial and Lagonda clubs, and has served as president of the latter. He is a Knight-Templar member of the Free and Accepted Masons.

In 1893 Mr. Kay wedded Miss Belle C. Gunn, a daughter of Capt. John C. Gunn, of Lexington, Kentucky, and the four children born to this union were named: Clarence M., Edith W., Claribel and Robert. While the business career of Mr. Kay necessitated his being much in public life, he has never aspired' to prominence and his honors in this respect have come entirely unsolicited, and were accorded him by the republicans. As a public speaker his services are much in demand, and his addresses, covering a wide range of subjects, demonstrates his versatility. In 1916 Mr. Kay was elected to the Ohio State Assembly from ° Clark County, and he has since held the office by re-election. He has introduced bills of a constructive nature now on the statute books, and stands high among the legislators of Ohio. The legislative: handbook issued by state authority in 1920, had the following to say of him: resentative of Clark County in the Eighty-second and Eighty-third General Assemblies of Ohio, was in every respect well equipped for the duties of legislator. Although an effective speaker Mr. Kay exerted his influence in legislation more by his personal work and his writings than by oratory."

CHARLES F. McGiLvray has been a resident of Springfield since 1884 and has been continuously identified with the Robbins & Myers Foundry, of which corporation he is now the president.

(Bullard) McGilvray. His grandfather, Jacob McGilvray, was a schoolmate of Horace Greeley, the great-grandfather, whose personal name was probably Abel, having come to America from Scotland, family tradition being to the effect that he changed the original spelling of the name (McGillory) to the present form. Thurston McGilvray was born at Petersboro, New Hampshire, and his wife at Dublin, that state. In 1850 he made the overland journey to California, where the gold excitement was then at its height, and there his death occurred in 1857. His widow continued to reside in New Hampshire until her death, many years later, they having been the parents of three sons, of whom Charles F. of this review is the youngest.

Charles F. McGilvray began working on a New Hampshire farm when he was a lad of eleven years, and he attended the neighboring schools during the winter terms until he was fifteen years old. He then went to Boston, where he was variously employed until he was eighteen, when he entered upon an apprenticeship in an iron foundry, his wages being 75 cents a day the first year, $1.00 the second year, and $1.25 the third year. Workmen then applied themselves from twelve to fourteen hours a day, and no trade unions existed to dictate terms. After working a few years as a journeyman at his trade Mr. McGilvray became superintendent of the foundry department of the New York State Reformatory at Elmira, where he remained until 1884, when he came to Springfield, Ohio, to assume the position of superintendent and general manager of the Robbins & Myers Foundry, with which he has continued his executive connection during the long intervening years. About three years after coming to Springfield he acquired an interest in the business, and he became president of the corporation upon the death of the former incumbent, Mr. Myers. From a general foundry the plant expanded its functions to include the manufacturing of electric fans, and eventually the manufacturing of electric motors became the primary function. Under the effective direction of Mr. McGilvray the industry has expanded into one of broad scope and importance When he came here the foundry based its operations on a capital of about $25,000, and the force of employes numbered only thirty-five. Now the corporation employs thousands of men, with a branch plant at Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and has assets of more than $13,000,000. |

Mr. McGilvray is a staunch republican but is essentially a business man rather than a politician. In 1913 he was elected mayor of Springfield, and in 1917 he was re-elected. He served two years of his second term and then resigned, owing to the exactions of his private business affairs. His administration, careful and businesslike, met with distinct popular approval. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. McGilvray has received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is vice president of the Mad River National Bank at Springfield, is a valued member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the local Rotary Club, and is a member also of the Lagonda and Country clubs, and the Dayton Bicycle Club and the Mystic Shrine Club, both of Dayton, this state.

In the past few years Mr. McGilvray has given but minor attention to business affairs, and his success stands in salutary evidence of what may be achieved by an American youth who is ready to fight the battle of life for himself, to meet and overcome obstacles and to press forward with confidence and assurance toward the goal of independence and worthy material prosperity.

Perry M. STEWART, president of the Miami Deposit Bank at Yellow Springs, Greene County, is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Clark County, and other personal sketches in this volume give ample data concerning this sterling family which, in successive generations, has been one of prominence and influence in connection with the civic and industrial development and advancement of Clark County.

Mr. Stewart was born on the old homestead farm of his father in Greene Township, this county, and the date of his nativity was July 6, 1866. He remained on the home farm until he had attained to his legal majority, and the education which he gained in the local schools was supplemented by his attending Antioch College, at Yellow Springs. After two years of service as clerk in a general store at Selma, Clark County, Mr. Stewart was for two years a deputy in the office of the county auditor. He then received appointment as deputy county treasurer, in which position he served four years, 1897-1901, under James M. Todd. The record which he made in this connection was such as to meet popular approval, as shown in the fact that in 1900 he was elected county treasurer. At the expiration of his four years' term in this important fiscal office he became associated with Robert Elder in purchasing the stock and business of the Miami Deposit Bank at Yellow Springs. The institution was at the time in the hands of a receiver, and its deposits were about $30,000. In assuming control of this financial institution Messrs. Stewart and Elder incorporated the same with a capital stock of $10,000 and opened it as a private bank. Four years later, in 1909, it was incorporated as a state bank, with a capital of $25,000, its deposits having by this time been increased to $125,000. In 1920, with increasing business of substantial order, it was found expedient to raise the capital stock to $50,000, which is the present base of operations. The bank now has a surplus fund of $40,000 and deposits aggregate fully $300,000, each successive year showing an expansion in the business, which is conducted along progressive but duly careful and conservative lines. In 1916 the bank building was remodeled and a modern equipment installed in the banking offices, which has the best type of vaults, including one with safety-deposit boxes. The stock of the bank is held locally, and as its president Mr. Stewart has given a signally able and effective administration. He and Mr. Elder have recently organized and established a bank at South Charleston, Clark County. ' Mr. Stewart is generically a republican in political allegiance, but has now retired from active participation in political affairs. In the Masonic fraternity he is past master of Yellow Springs Lodge, A. F. and A. M., which he has represented in the grand lodge of the state, and in the Scottish Rite of the time-honored fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree. He and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church in their home city, and here he served several years as a trustee of Antioch College.

At the age of thirty-four years Mr. Stewart wedded Miss Irene B. Black, of Ross County, and they have three children: Mildred, Russell and Mary. The elder daughter is a student in Antioch College.

RICHARD STANLEY Lucas. Undoubtedly, while some men achieve success along certain lines and in certain professions, there are also individuals who are born to them, their natural leanings and marked talents pointing unmistakably to the career in which they subsequently reach distinction. With some the call of the pulpit must be obeyed; to others the science of medicine appeals; the business field or the political rostrum engage many, while there are still others who early see in their visions of the future their achieving in the law as the summit of their ambition. To respond to this call, to bend every energy in this direction, to broaden and deepen every possible highway of knowledge and to enter finally upon this chosen career and find its reward worth while, has been the happy experience of Richard Stanley Lucas, one of the leading younger members of the Clark County bar, engaged in practice at Springfield.

Mr. Lucas was born at Springfield, September 9, 1894, and is a son of Rushville R. and Mary Elizabeth (McComb) Lucas, the former a native of Bloomville, Seneca County, Ohio, and the latter of Newark, this state. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Lucas was Richard J. Lucas, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, and the maternal grandparents were William and Mary (Mitchell) McComb, natives of Ireland. Rushville R. Lucas came to Springfield in young manhood and here married Miss McComb and for many years was foreman in the woodworking department of the Metallic Casket Company. He died November 11, 1914, Mrs. Lucas having passed away January 26, 1914. They were the parents of the following children: William E., city engineer of Springfield; Lester, of Ocala, Florida; Charles Mitchell, an employe of the Big Four Railroad, Springfield; Robert R., a sanitation engineer and contractor of Springfield; Richard Stanley; and Helen Elizabeth, of ntario, Canada. ] = Richard Stanley Lucas attended the public schools of Springfield and after preparing himself in the Woodward High School and the Springfield High School, entered the law department of the University of Cincinnati, where he took honors and was graduated in 1917. He was admitted to the bar of Kentucky, December 16, 1915, when only twenty-one years of age, and to the Ohio bar in June, 1917, and commenced the practice of law with the firm of Jelke, Clark & Forchheimer, at Cincinnati, in December, 1917. His career was interrupted by the

World war, and January 5, 1918, he came to Springfield and enlisted in the Aviation Service, following which he was at the Ohio State University Ground School for three months. He was next sent to Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, where he spent six months and next was transferred to Camp Grant and recommended for a Second Lieutenant's commission. He remained at that camp until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged December 4, 1918. He at once returned to Springfield, where he took an office with T. J. McCormick, in the firm of McCormick, Lucas, Nevins & Carpenter, third floor of the M. & M. Building. During his comparatively short career in his profession he has made rapid progress and has gained a place high in the estimation of his associates.

Mr. Lucas is unmarried. He belongs to the Christ Episcopal Church of Springfield, and in politics is a republican. He belongs to Kissell Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of Springfield; the Masonic Consistory, and the Antioch Shrine, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Dayton; Springfield Lodge No. 51, B. P. O. E.; Springfield Lodge F. O. E., and the college fraternities of Phi Kappa Kappa and Phi Alpha Delta. He belongs also to the Columbus (Ohio) Athletic Club, and his professional connections include membership in the Clark County Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association.

Hon. Jonn M. Goop. That deep love of Nature, as the handiwork of God, which invests the flowers, the plants and the trees with a kind of personality that is companionable, is not given to every man to experience, but where this gift is bestowed the world finds one in whom yet lingers the faith and gentleness of childhood combined with the strength, patience and courage of maturity. During the long life of the late Hon. John M. Good, of Springfield, he passed through many of the hard experiences that seem, in some way, a necessary part of development, but throughout his career he maintained his love of Nature, and it was this quality, perhaps, that made him known as a florist all over the land. He is best remembered to the people, however, as one of the city's most upright and public-spirited citizens, and as one of the best mayors Springfield ever had.

John M. Good was born at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, December 2, 1853, a son of Samuel and Caroline (Fisher) Good. The father was born at Johnstown, August 13, 1826, and died at Springfield, January 25, 1892; and the mother was born at Ligonier, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1829, and died at Springfield, October 8, 1916. Samuel Good was a son of John and Sarah (Singer) Good, natives of Pennsylvania. Mathias Fisher, the maternal great-uncle of John M. Good, was captured by the Indians at Fort Tecumseh, near Springfield, while serving on one of Clark's expeditions into this section of Ohio, but escaped from his captors at Fort Niagara and made his way back to his Pennsylvania home.

John M. Good went with his parents to Harrison County, Virginia (now West Virginia), when he was a lad of about six years of age, and was reared at Cherry Camp, the home of the family. He received a common school education and learned the machinist's trade, and was working in the shops of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway at Huntington, West Virginia, when a strike came on. Becoming disgusted with con- ditions, he left Huntington and quit his trade, coming to Springfield in 1877 and securing employment with C. A. Reese, a florist. Later, with C. L. Reese he entered the florist business, under the firm name of Good & Reese, which in 1903 was incorporated as the Good-Reese Company, Mr. Good at that time becoming president of the concern, a position which he held until the time of his death. The history of the florist industry of Springfield is one of the most interesting points in the development F ex city, and John M. Good's name and achievements will not soon be forgotten.

As a business man Mr. Good was a success in every sense of the term, but it was as a worth-while, progressive and patriotic citizen that he is remembered by the community at large, for he had a part in every civic and welfare movement that was inaugurated during his time. He was an enthusiastic worker in the Young Men's Christian Association, the Red Cross and kindred organizations, and took leading parts not only in the different drives for funds, but gave freely from his own pocket, and during the World war contributed unstintingly of his time and means to all war activities. But his part in temperance matters gained him greater prominence, probably, than any other thing. He was an uncompromising "dry" man, and labored in season and out for the cause of prohibition, local and national. He was a prime mover in organizing the Lincoln-Lee Legion, which organization fought so hard and effectively for the constitutional amendment providing for prohibition. On December 10, 1913, when over 1,000 members of that Legion were on parade at Washington, D. C., Mr. Good's young son, John M., Jr., carried an American flag in the parade, contrary to regulations which then and now prohibit the carrying of banners and flags in parades in our National capital. But an exception was made in the case of young Good, a mere lad, and he proudly and triumphantly bore his flag to the White House and to the capitol building, the only instance of the rule regarding flags having been suspended before or since.

In 1900 Mr. Good was elected mayor of Springfield, gave a good business administration and gained the confidence of the people, but would not accept a renomination, not caring for public office. He was a member of »Clark Lodge No. 101, ande M.; Palestine Commandery No. 33, K. T.; Dayton Consistory, S. R., thirty-second degree, and Antioch Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He belonged to the First Lutheran Church and to the Young Men's Christian Association. He died at his home in Springfield, universally mourned, February 16, 1921, being survived by his widow and two children. | À E

On December 5, 1901, Mr. Good was united in marriage with Miss Jessie Minnick, who was born at Springfield, daughter of George a Jennie (Hamilton) Minnick, who came to Springfield from bat E ginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Good there were born two children: Helen

L A. STALEY., Commercial law is so great a leg o of the large cities of the United States have been obliged a divide it into special departments. One of the most important of these yright and trademark law, which in these days of abundant proportions. To attain a success in this legal domain requires untiring patience, keen business judgment and a broad knowledge of mechanics, commercialism and the practical affairs of life. It is, in fact, doubtful whether any branch of the law which has been specialized demands so wide a range of practical knowledge as this. To have acquired eminence in it, as has Paul A. Staley, senior member of the firm of Staley & Bowman, patent attorneys of Springfield, is therefore high tribute to precise and thorough practical wisdom, coupled with good judgment in its application.

Mr. Staley was born at Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio, May 1, 1859, a son of Stephen and Emma (Rathbun) Staley, the father of Holland and the mother of English descent. Stephen Staley was educated in the public schools and before marriage he and his wife taught school. Later he learned the miller's trade, and for a number of years was engaged in that business and was also identified with other manufacturing interests in Champaign County. Four children were born to Mr. Staley and his worthy wife, as follows: William C.; Paul A., of this review ; Elizabeth, who married M. A. Saxteder; and Florence, who married Joseph E. Wing.

Paul A. Staley was educated in the public schools of Mechanicsburg and after leaving school went to work in the machine shops of that place. Having inherited splendid mechanical and business ability, his progress was rapid and he soon mastered what the machine shops offered him and became a mechanical engineer. Coming to Springfield in 1878, he became identified with the Whitely Manufacturing Company as mechanical draughtsman, later becoming interested in the subject of patents. In 1880 Mr. Staley went to Chicago, in which city he read law and was also engaged in preparing mechanical plans and specifications. He was admitted to the bar at Chicago in 1883, and in 1884 returned to Springfield and opened a law office in this city, soon after which he was directing his full energies along the line of patent law. In that work he has progressed from year to year until he is now one of the best known and most successful patent attorneys in Ohio, with a patronage extending to all parts of the United States. i

Aside from the law, Mr. Staley has been and still is*identified with the general business interests of Springfield. He was president of the Home Telephone Company, vice president of the Springfield Metallic Casket Company; vice president of the H. V. Bretney Company, vice president of the Igou Manufacturing Company ; and served as receiver for the Superior Mill and Manufacturing Company and the Trump Manufacturing Company; and at present is acting in a like capacity for the Anderson & Heyer Company. He was one of the original directors and vice president of the American Trust and Savings Company up to the time of its affiliation with the First National Bank. Likewise, he has found time to interest himself in civic and community affairs, being at present vice president of the Board of Park Commissioners, of which board he has also served as president; he is president of the Community Council, an association of all charitable and welfare institutions, and active in the formation of the welfare association known as the Federation of Community Service for Clark County. He was for several years president of the Lagonda Club, and is a member of the Chamber

In 1889 Mr. Staley married Jamesonia Dickson, of Leavenworth, Kansas, who died in 1899, leaving two daughters, Ruth and Kate, both graduates of Wells College, who are now engaged in advanced woman educational work. In 1906 Mr. Staley married Isabel Baker, of Wausau, Wisconsin, and to them there have been born four children: Mary, Louise, Paul A., Jr., and John C.

NATHANIEL F. Peters. There is no doubt but that many of the most useful citizens have been produced in the rural regions, and that farm work prepares a man for almost any walk of life. The farmer is of necessity somewhat independent, and early learns to use his wits to provide himself with many of the necessities of life. He not only knows how to till the soil and raise stock, but is also a fair machinist and handy man, and on going from the farm into the city can turn his hand to many different kinds of work. Nathaniel F. Peters, of Springfield, is one of the farm-born-and-bred men of Clark County, who, after a successful career as a farmer, is now profitably engaged with the Kelly Auto Truck Company.

Nathaniel F. Peters was born in Franklin County, Virginia, October 2, 1844, a son of Samuel and Hannah (Flora) Peters, both of whom were born, reared, married and died in Virginia. Nathaniel F. Peters was reared in his native county and was brought up on his father's homestead, where he was early taught to perform the work of the farm. The outbreak of war between the North and the South fired his young blood and, ardently espousing the Southern cause, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, became a member of Longstreet's Corps, Pickett's Division, General Lee's command, and for three years was color bearer for his company. During his service he received three gunshot wounds. His period of service was terminated by the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, and following that event he returned home and resumed farming. However, conditions were so changed by the war that he sought new surroundings, and in 1867 came to Springfield, where he spent one year, and then went to Delaware County, Indiana, and there continued to farm and work in sawmills for two years. Returning to Virginia he became an agent for a company selling washing compounds, and traveled about selling this product for two years. Following his marriage in 1869 he was engaged in farming in Franklin County, Virginia, for four years, but was not contented there for he felt that conditions were too hard during the Reconstruction period, and, having liked Clark County during the year he had lived in it, he returned to Ohio and for a year was engaged in farming in Clark County. Then, for a time, he was employed in a sawmill in the country regions, and later in one at Springfield. For some years he was a watchman for the Big Four Railroad Company, and now holds the same position with the Kelly Auto Truck Company. ae

On January 5, 1869, Mr. Peters was married in Franklin County, Virginia, to Julia A. Childress, who was born at Blackwater, Franklin County, Virginia. They became the parents of the following children: Mary, who is Mrs. Lewis Overhultzer, of North Manchester, Indiana;

Theodore, who lives at Springfield, Ohio; Daisy, who is Mrs. John Socker, of Springfield; Myrtle, who is Mrs. William Myers, of Live Oak, Florida; and Harry, who lives at Springfield. Mr. Peters is a democrat, but while always giving the candidates and principles of his party a faithful support, he has not been active in politics. Asa soldier Mr. Peters did what he considered his duty, offering his strength and life in defense of the cause he loved, but when it lost, he just as bravely returned to civil life and has since performed its obligations with equal courage. While his business interests have taken him away from the place of his, nativity he has never lost his love for the Old Dominion, nor his pride in her history, and he is proud to be numbered as one of her sons.

Always dependable, the Kelly Auto Truck Company place implicit trust in him, and feel that they have in him one of the most faithful of their employes, and they appreciate him and his work. Among his associates Mr. Peters is held in high regard, and he has many warm, personal friends in the city and throughout the.county.

CLEMENT L. Jones, M. D., has practiced medicine in Springfield since 1910, and is one of the busy professional men of the city. He served for a few months as a captain in the Medical Corps during the great war, but without exception has devoted his time and talents fully to his private practice in internal medicine in Springfield.

Doctor Jones was born at Winchester, Indiana, April 29, 1876, son of Levi M. and Mary (Williams) Jones. His parents were born in Champaign County, Ohio, and both are now past fourscore years and living at Jamestown.

Clement L. Jones is the son of a physician, and he early made choice of the same vocation as his permanent career. He acquired his higher education in Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, and graduated in medicine from Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore in 1903. After some further training and experience in the Mount Carmel Hospital at Columbus, where he was pathologist to the hospital, he located at Springfield in 1910, and for a number of years has had his offices in the Fairbanks Building. Doctor Jones is a member of the Clark County, Ohio State and American Medical Associations. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a Mason and Shriner. He belongs to the First Lutheran Church, and is a republican in politics.

Doctor Jones was commissioned Captain in the Medical Corps and entered that service September 1, 1918. He was ordered overseas, but the order was revoked while he was at Hoboken, where he was when the Armistice was signed. He received his honorable discharge from the service February 20, 1919.

JOSEPH Hitt Rinewart, M. D. In the six years he has been located at Springfield Doctor Rinehart has not only covered a wide range of service as a physician and surgeon in private practice, but has also done a great deal of hospital and other public work and for nearly a year was in the army service, part of the time in France during the World war. Doctor Rinehart was born at Ballard, Washington, March 21, 1891, son of Joseph Hill and Jeannie Frances (McKellar) Rinehart. His father, a native of Cineinnati, Ohio, ran away from home at the time of the Civil war, served as a drummer boy and finally enlisted as a private in the ranks with an Ohio regiment of infantry. After the war he studied medicine and joined the regular army in the medical department. He was attached to the medical staff of the regular army and was in service during General Custer's expedition against the Indians in the Northwest. At the time of the Custer massacre he was with the troops under General Reno. He was also in the regular army service at the time the Union Pacific Railroad was built. By his first marriage he had five children, all now deceased except one daughter, Mary Frances, wife of Thomas F. Stack, of Chicago. For his second wife he married Jeannie Frances McKellar, a native of Tiverton, Ontario, Canada. They were married at Billings, Montana, and soon afterward Joseph H. Rinehart, Sr., removed to Ballard, Washington. He engaged in practice there and also served as mayor two terms, and for two terms was a member of the State Legislature of Washington. He finally returned to Billings, Montana, and died there December 31, 1908, at the age of sixty-two. His widow still lives at Billings. Of her children Joseph H. Rinehart is the oldest. Frances Marguerite is the wife of J. M. Cornwell, of Lodge Rest, Montana; Alma Marguerite is Mrs. Bert Raridon, of Hardin, Montana; Lewis McKinley lives at Denver, Colorado; and Elwell Otis is a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah. =

Dr. Joseph Hill Rinehart spent most of his boyhood at Billings, Montana, where he attended public schools. He came East for his higher education, attending the Culver Military Academy and the Culver Naval School in Indiana. He graduated there in 1910, and then entered the Medical Department of Ohio University, graduáting M. D. in 1915, After graduating Doctor Rinehart was connected with the Springfield City Hospital four months, and then began private practice at Catawba in Clark County. Since July, 1916, he has been in practice at Springfield, with home and office at 1170 Lagonda Avenue.

October 19, 1912, Doctor Rinehart married, at Covington, Kentucky, Miss Ella Mabel Quigley, a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and daughter of Harry C. and Hannah (Todd) Quigley, the former a native of Zanesville, and the latter of England. Doctor and Mrs. Rinehart have one son, Joseph Hill, Jr., born May 16, 1918.

Doctor Rinehart and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. He has for several years been secretary of the Pension Examining Board, and is now associate surgeon on the staff of the Springfield City Hospital. He is a republican, a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason, and is a member of the Clark County, Ohio State and American Medical Associations. He was the second post commander of the George Cultier Post of the American Legion from May, 1920, to 1921.

Doctor Rinehart was commissioned in the Medical Reserve Corps in June, 1918, and soon afterward entered the Medical Officers ee Camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. For fifteen days he commande the Thirty-second Battalion, and on going overseas to France he served two weeks on an operating team and was then assigned regimental surgeon of the Three Hundred Sixteenth Engineers, Ninety-first Division, where he was with troops from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. He was in the Argonne Campaign for a time but later was transferred to Belgium and was in the battle of Lyscheldt and remained there until the armistice. Then for several months he was with a camp in France, went from there to St. Nazaire, and landed in the United States at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, in March. He was transferred to Camp Dix, was discharged April 18, and reached home the following day.

JoserH Wess, M. D. Soon after finishing his medical education Doctor Webb was commissioned an officer in the Medical Corps and gave two years to the service of his country during the World war. After his release from army duty he took up private practice in Springfield, and is one of the prominent young physicians and surgeons of the city.

Doctor Webb was born in Mad River Township of Clark County, August 4, 1888, son of George L. and Grace (Minnich) Webb. His father was born at Peoria, Illinois, son of Joseph and Lucy Webb, natives of the same state. He became a mechanical engineer and the duties of this profession called him to numerous localities as a place of residence. He died at Donnelsville, Ohio, in 1894. His widow, now Mrs. Lee Miller, living in Springfield Township, is a daughter of Dewitt Clinton and Elizabeth (Higgins) Minnich, the former a native of Clark County and the latter born near Eaton, Ohio.

Joseph Webb attended district school, the Oliver Branch High School, was graduated from Wittenberg College in Springfield in 1910, and soon afterward entered Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore for his medical training. He was graduated there in 1914, spent one year in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and for two years continued the advanced work of his profession in Leland Stanford University Medical Department at San Francisco.

In May, 1917, Doctor Webb was commissioned as First Lieutenant of the Medical Reserve Corps, was assigned to duty at Camp Kearny in California for eleven months, and was then sent to France. He had a varied routine of duty at various posts in Northern France. He was honorably discharged April 26, 1919, at Chillicothe, Ohio, and soon afterward took up practice at Springfield. His offices are at 237 Bushnell Annex and his residence at 2221 Elmwood Avenue.

February 21, 1920, Doctor Webb married Miss Sue McFarlane, a native of Baltimore. She is a member of the Oakland Presbtyerian Church. Doctor Webb is an independent republican. He is affiliated with St. Andrew's Lodge No. 619, F. and A. M., belongs to the Scottish Rite Consistory and Shrine at Dayton, and is a member of the Ohio State and Clark County Medical Societies.

Joun L. ZIMMERMAN has long been one of the honored and representative members of the bar of Clark County, and May 1, 1922, stands as the fortieth anniversary of his establishing himself in the practice of his profession in the City of Springfield.

son o raham and Elizabeth (Shimp) Zimmerman. His paternal grandfather, Captain Joseph Zimmerman, came from Lancaster County Pennsylvania, and established his home in Mahoning County, Ohio, in 1803, he having been one of the first three settlers in the county. In 1812 he there organized a company for service in the War of 1812-15 and as captain of the same he was in active service in the command of Gen. William Henry Harrison, the old muster roll which he retained being now in the possession of his grandson, the subject of this review who values the same as a family and historic heirloom. The an family lineage traces back to Germany, from which country its members were driven out through religious persecution and found refuge in Switzerland. From that fair little republic the first representatives came to America about 17 50, and it is a matter of record that numerous memas oe family were aligned as patriot soldiers in the War of the

Abraham Zimmerman was born in what is now Mahoning County Ohio, in 1825, was there reared to manhood and there passed his entire life on the old home farm which was taken up by his father in the early pioneer days, when that section was a forest wilderness. This property, now one of valuable order, was granted to Capt. Joseph Zimmerman by the Government of the United States, has continuously remained. in the possession of the family, and is now owned by John L. Zimmerman, of this review. Abraham Zimmerman, a man of strong character and vigorous mentality, was long one of the influential men of his native county, was called upon to serve in various offices of local trust, including those of township trustee and justice of the peace, and he was familiarly known as 'Squire Zimmerman. He,was one of the venerable pioneer citizens and native sons of Mahoning County at the time of his death, in 1918, his wife having preceded him to eternal rest and both having been devoted communicants of the Lutheran Church. Of the four children one died in infancy; Rev. J. C. Zimmerman became a distinguished clergyman of the Lutheran Church and eventually was chosen secretary of the Board of Church Extension of the General Synod of that denomination in the United States; Catherine became the wife of Dr. Emor W. Sinon, who served as pastor of the Lutheran Church at Akron, Ohio, and both are now deceased. 7

John L. Zimmerman found the period of his childhood and eariy youth compassed by the benignant environment and influences of the old home farm, and his preliminary education was obtained in the schools of his native county. In 1874-5 he was a student in Mount Union College, and in the following winter he was teacher in the Germantown " district, Beaver Township, Mahoning County. In 1879 he was graduated in Wittenberg College, at Springfield, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving college Mr. Zimmerman read law in the office and under the preceptorship of Judge J. K. Mower, and in 1881 he was admitted to the bar of his native state. On the Ist of May, 1882, he engaged in the practice of law at Springfield, and here he has continued his professional activities during the long intervening years, which have

Mr. Zimmerman has shown lively interest in all things touching the civic and material welfare of his home city, has been president of the board of trustees of the Springfield Public Library, has been for twentyfive years treasurer of his alma mater, Wittenberg College, besides which he has given effective service as president of its board of directors. In the World war period he was president of the district exemption board and was active in support of all patriotic movements in his home city and county. Though influential in the councils and campaign work of the democratic party for many years, Mr. Zimmerman has never held political office. He has been a zealous communicant of the First Lutheran Church of Springfield since 1876, and his wife likewise has been active and influential in church work. He became a member of the committee which brought about the movement to unite the various Lutheran bodies in the United States, and is now a member of the executive committee of the United Lutheran Church of America. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. - He is vice president of the D. Q. Fox Company, wholesale grocers, and also of th E. W. Ross Company, a representative manufacturing concern of his home city. Mr. Zimmerman has built four business blocks in Springfield and has otherwise contributed to the material upbuilding of the city. As a memorial to his deceased brother and sister Mr. Zimmerman erected the fine Zimmerman Memorial Library building of Wittenberg College, and he thus paid also a splendid tribute to the institution of which he is a graduate.

In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Zimmerman to Miss Helen E. Ballard, of Springfield, and they have two sons. Charles Ballard Zimmerman, the elder son, was graduated in Wittenberg College, and thereafter was for two years a student in the law department of Harvard University. In the World war he served as a major advocate with the Fourth and Eighty-second Divisions, and was in France fifteen months, within which he took part in the St. Mihiel and Argonne offensive movements, he being now a law partner of his father. John Luther, Jr., the younger son, was graduated in Wittenberg College in 1916 and in the law school of Harvard University in 1920, he being now associated with his father and brother in the practice of law. He was chief quartermaster in the naval aviation service in the World war period and was stationed at Seattle, Washington.

Mrs. Lavinia Witson. Among the old pioneer families of Clark County perhaps none did more in the way of substantial agricultural development than that of Crabill, which was founded here more than one hundred years ago. A well-known and highly esteemed descendant of this fine old family is Mrs. Lavinia Wilson, who has a wide social acquaintance at Springfield, which city has been her home for a number of years.

The first of the Crabill family to settle in Clark County was David Crabill, who was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Wilson. He was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1782, grew to manhood there and married Barbara Baer, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1788. In 1808 they came to Clark County to carve out a home in the wilderness, and eventually David Crabill bought a tract of land in Moorefield Township. It was wild land but he was a man of industry and in the course of time cleared and greatly improved it. With other settlers of that period and locality the Crabills found themselves involved in the War of 1812, and when David marched off to serve as first sergeant in the army of General Wayne his wife was left with little children in the lonely cabin, in constant fear of wild animals and marauding Indians. David Crabill survived the dangers he encountered and returned safely, and as he was thrifty as well as industrious, was able to leave a fair estate at the time of his death in 1836. His military services were not forgotten by the Government, and after his death his widow received a large grant of land. Her death occurred many years later. They were the parents of twelve children, all of whom are deceased: Sarah, who was the wife of George Kiser; Maria, who was the wife of Adam Yearger; John, who died in boyhood; Thomas V., who married Sydney Yeazill; David, who married Eliza Hedges; James and Joseph, both of whom died young; Mary, who married Joshua Crown; Susan, who was the wife of Rev. Levi E. Weir; Pierson S.; William H.; and Eliza, who was the wife of Oscar Jones.

Thomas V. Crabill, second son of David, was born on the home farm in Moorefield Township, Clark County, November 2, 1810, and gave his father assistance until his own marriage on January 31, 1833, to Sydney Yeazill, who was born in Clark County, February 6, 1815, a daughter of Abraham and Mary Yeazill, also pioneers. Soon after marriage Mr. Crabill rented one of his father's farms and later bought it, and there he and his wife spent their lives, honored and esteemed by all who knew them. Their children were as follows: William, who married Sarah Wise; David, who married Nancy Rock; Nancy Jane, who died at the age of sixteen years; Ann Eliza, who married Joseph Winger; James, who married Clara Nicklen; Susan, who died in childhood; Louisa, who married Jacob Tuttle; Lavinia, who lives at Springfield; John, who married Barbara Zimmerman; Elizabeth, who married Alonzo Leffel; Thomas, who married Rebecca Ostot; Emma and Pearson, both of whom died in infancy ; Milton, whose first wife was Mary Leffel and whose second was Elizabeth Hiltz; and Joseph, who married first, Minnie Smith, and second, Flora Lawrence.

Lavinia Crabill was born on the old family homestead in Moorefield Township, Clark County, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas Voss and Se (Yeazill) Crabill. She attended the district schools in girlhood, and, according to the custom in old-time substantial households, had practical training under a careful and competent mother, in domestic tasks as well as the social usages of the time, for the Crabills were always hospitable and the large family in the old home had many friends. Her first marriage was to Thomas Walsh, who was born also in Moorefield Township, Clark County, April 15, 1837, and died in 1884. Her second marriage took place in 1886, to Michael Wilson, who was born in Harmony Township, Clark County, Ohio, March 16, 1837, and died at Springfield, November 14, 1909.

the wholesale grocery business. He was a man of sterling character. Mrs. Wilson still occupies her comfortable residence on West High Street and takes a deep interest in all that pertains to the general welfare. She has long been a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church. Her father died in September, 1884, but her mother survived until 1907.

WILLIAM JAMES STUART. The late William James Stuart was for many years one of the substantial business men of Springfield, Ohio, and when he died this city lost one of its most representative citizens. During the Civil war he did valient service as a Union soldier, and was equally loyal to his country during the years of peace which followed.

of Thompson and Rebecca (Holliday) Stuart, farming people who both died in Fairfield County, Ohio. Mr. Stuart attended the public schools and academy at Bremen, Ohio, and also the college at Pleasantville, Ohio.

When the war between the two sections of our country broke out William James Stuart was still residing with his parents and notwithstanding his youth made many attempts to enlist but was just as many times refused.

- Finally, however, he was accepted and became a member of Company B, Seventeenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry with which he served until the close of the war and participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. His regiment was a part of the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and his company was commanded by Capt. James T. Weakly and later by Captain Stinchcomb. Following his honorable discharge at Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Stuart returned to Ohio and for a time was engaged in farming and later, with some of his army comrades, opened a general merchandise store in Bremen, Ohio.

On May 2, 1870, Mr. Stuart came to Springfield, Ohio, and on May 3, 1870 he was married to Miss Dora Frances Hatcher, born at Saltillo, Ohio, April 19, 1851, a daughter of Isaac M. and Mary Matilda (Moore) Hatcher, natives of Muskingum County, Ohio. For a number of years Mr. Stuart was employed as a clerk in the carpet department of a large dry goods store conducted by Miller and Jones.

He later went into partnership with Andrew C. Black in handling fine carpets. The building in which this latter business was conducted burned down and Mr. Stuart then bought and established a carpet cleaning and rug factory which he conducted until he was stricken with paralysis and had to retire.

He planned and built on a lot at 16 East Ward Street a fine modern residence, where his widow still maintains her home, where he died December 28, 1914.

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart: Ollia Wilbur, born March 3, 1871, and died September 23, 1878; Vesta Pearl, wife of W. C. Douglas of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Edna Rebecca, wife of William N. Kissinger of Lockhart, Florida.

For many years Mr. Stuart was a valued member of the Central Methodist Episcopal of Springfield and served on its official board and as a member of various church societies.

tant of Mitchell Post, at Springfield, and Mrs. Stuart is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, auxiliary of Mitchell Post G. A. R. and also of the New Century Club. She was educated in the public schools of Bremen, Ohio, and in the Young Woman's Methodist Seminary of Springfield, Ohio, now the Y. W. C. A. Building.

As a Mason, Mr. Stuart maintained membership with the Springfield Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and lived up to the highest ideals of this order, as he did to those of his church, and was a noble and sincere Christian, and the influence of his blameless life remains and will continue to be felt in the lives of his former associates for a long time to come.

WILLIAM Henry Rayner, president of Mast, Foos & Company, is one of the most representative of the solid business men of Clark County, but his skill and experience have been gained in other localities and occupations as well as in the present invironments. His life is a record of sustained effort, intelligently directed, and he has fairly earned his present high position in his company and community. Mr. Rayner is a native son of Ohio, having been born at Piqua, July 24, 1854, a son of William and Catherine (Barrett) Rayner, and grandson of John and Elizabeth (Wainwright) Rayner, the former of whom was born at Sheffield, England, August 14, 1817.

John Rayner, with his wife and six small children, sailed from Liverpool, England, on the vessel "Edgar of London," June 30, 1830, with 109 passengers on board, and landed at New York City, August 14, 1830, after a stormy and dangerous voyage of six weeks. They settled temporarily at Cleveland, Ohio, but during the winter of 1831 John Rayner with his son and two others, started out on a wagon trip to Xenia and Old Town, Ohio, where there was an English colony, but decided later to settle permanently at Piqua, Ohio, which he did in the following spring. A man of high character John Rayner was a man of strong religious convictions, and for years was a local preacher of the Methodist denomination. By trade he was a carpenter, and contracted' for and built many of the older residences and business houses of Piqua, some of which are still standing and in good repair, a monument to his skill and honesty.

William Rayner, son of John Rayner, and father of President Rayner, as a young man worked with his father in the carpenter trade, and also built several houses on his own account. He took up the trade of a pattern maker, at which he worked for several "years. Following his preliminary school training in England and the United States, he

'had the further advantage of a two-year course at Granville College, which he completed in 1842. He, too, was a local preacher of the Methodist faith. In middle life he acquired land and became a farmer, his property being located on the Stillwater turnpike, about one and one-half miles northwest of Piqua, and on it he died. Catherine Barrett was his second wife and mother of President Rayner. She was a daughter of William and Mariah (Turpen) Barrett, and was born at Lebanon, Ohio, August 11, 1831. William Barrett was one of the first settlers of Darke County, Ohio.

above referred to, and here he was reared as any normal, healthy farmer's son, and was sent to the Beach Grove School, held in the original red brick school house of that district. When he was fifteen years old he entered the Piqua High School, from which he was graduated in May, 1873. A youth of high ambitions, he decided to seek his fortune in the West, and went to Omaha, Nebraska. Upon his arrival there he found the situation somewhat disastrous for the effects of the panic of that year were clearly felt, and many were out of employment. Therefore, not finding the opportunity he sought, he drifted back to Sigourney, Iowa, where for a brief period he worked as a carpenter, but was soon offered a position in a hardware store. Accepting it he held it until the spring of 1875, at which time he was joined by his elder brother, James, and the young men went on a cattle ranch in South Park, Colorado. Here for a year William H. Rayner was engaged in developing his natural skill and gaining experience of life from the viewpoint of a cowboy. Later he assisted in driving a large herd of mountain cattle from South Park to Las Animas, Colorado, for rail shipment to the Eastern markets. The route lay along the Arkansas River from Canyon City to the termination of the railroad at Las Animas, which was beyond old Fort Bent, which at that time was standing in good repair.

In 1876 Mr. Rayner entered the field in which he was to achieve his signal successes, when he became an employe of Morse & Van Court, hardware merchants of Neponsett, Illinois. Returning to Ohio at the close of 1876 Mr. Rayner spent some time in the employ of Croy & Hatfield, hardware merchants of Piqua, Ohio, and went from them to Columbus, Indiana, where he was manager of a store owned by his uncle, Marshall Taylor. On March 1, 1878, Mr. Rayner entered the employ of Mast, Foos & Company, as a traveling salesman, and was soon made the Western agent for the company at its branch house at Omaha, Nebraska. About 1889 he joined the Churchill Pump Company of Omaha, which organization included the following officials: E. V. Lewis president; William H. Rayner, vice president; and A. S. Cost, secretary. This became a prosperous concern, and carried on a large wholesale business, but was finally sold to another company. On May 1, 1891, Mr. Rayner returned to Mast, Foos & Company, at Springfield, Ohio, and moved his family to this city, he in the meanwhile having married. Becoming financially interested in this company he was made a member of its board of directors, and later its president. He is also president of the Duplex Mill £ Manufacturing Company of Springfield, a company he helped to organize some years ago. He belongs to several Masonic bodies, and has passed through all of the chairs of the Knights of Pythias. Early uniting with the Methodist Episcopal Church, he belongs to the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a member of its official board for the past thirty years. For twelve years he was on the board of the Young Mer's Christian Association. Mr. Rayner has also been a member of the board of trustees of the Clark County Historical Society for some years and is now serving as its secretary. His interest in natural history objects has been sustained throughout his life, and his collections of archeological, geological and curio articles are valuable and are on exhibition at the rooms of the society. He also takes great interest in the preservation of local historical items, correctly claiming that the commonplace of today may be the history of tomorrow. Mr. Rayner was an early member of the Country Club, of the Lagonda Club, and came into the Commercial Club, now the Chamber of Commerce, from the old Board of Trade.

On October 18, 1881, Mr. Rayner was married to Hester M. Turk, who was born at Quindora, Kansas, September 30, 1860, but at the time of her marriage was a resident of Piqua, Ohio. Their eldest son, William Pearce Rayner, was born at Omaha, Nebraska, July 30, 1882, where the first ten years of their married life were passed. The second son, Anthony Edwin, was also born at Omaha, July 25, 1884; and the third son, Eugene Turk, was also born in that same city, September

FRANCIS MARION HAGAN is now rounding out the last year in a half century's active membership in the Springfield bar. He has been one of the most capable counsellors of the county, and a great and important volume of legal business has been entrusted to his care. He has also served on the bench of the Common Pleas Court, and his long career as a lawyer has been marked throughout by a fine sense of public obligation and public spirit.

Judge Hagan's people were among the early settlers of Mad River Township and it was in the log cabin home of his parents near Enon that he was born June 10, 1844. His paternal grandfather Denny Hagan was born in the north of Ireland, and his grandmother was also a native of Ireland. His maternal grandfather Peter Furay, was a native of Philadelphia, of south of Ireland extraction. Peter Furay married Mary Ann Arcronche Baubee Duplissy, a native of Canada of French-Irish extraction. Both Peter Furay and his wife lived to be ninety-one years of age. Judge Hagan's parents were Hugh and Ann Hagan. His father was born in Pennsylvania, and devoted his active lifetime to farming in Clark County. Though he lived in a time of simple manners and in an isolated environment, he kept himself well posted in politics, matters of history and in the Bible. Ann Hagan, his wife, was a native of Ross County, Ohio, and was distinguished for her fine domestic virtues.

Growing up in a community where the schools presented a narrow curriculum, Judge Hagan had to get for himself the opportunities for a thorough education. He attended the common schools, became a teacher, for a time conducted a select school, and with his earnings entered Antioch College at Yellow Springs. He was prevented from graduating by ill health. With a frail constitution in early boyhood and manhood he was unable to enter the military service at the time of the Civil war. However, he was among the home guards called out at the time of the Morgan invasion of the state. Through means acquired as a teacher and farm worker he studied law, completing his studies in the offices of Spence & Arthur at Springfield. He was admitted to the bar in 1873, and in the early years while struggling for recognition he rented quarters on Main Street, with an office in the front room, and had his own living quarters in the rear. Mr. Hagan was satisfied to permit his abilities and character to win appreciation on their own merits and in time he found himself engaged in a growing and prosperous general practice in the local courts and in subsequent years in the State and Federal courts of Ohio. His first important public service was rendered as City Solicitor of Springfield during 1873-74 and 1875-76. He was a very young lawyer at the time, but proved himself equal to every emergency in the office and handled many complicated legal questions at a time when the city government was engaged in two of its most important constructive labors, the building and installing of a waterworks system and a sewer system.

Judge Hagan has been a liberal democrat, and in general has been in accord with the democratic party policy. This has been the minority party in Clark County, the republican majority normally running to several thousand votes. Judge Hagan was twice defeated as candidate for City Solicitor by majorities ranging from twenty-five to thirty votes, and was once elected by 1,200 votes and for his second term by 2,000 votes. He was once defeated for Common Pleas Judge by 160 votes. President Cleveland during his first term appointed Mr. Hagan postmaster of Springfield, and he filled that office during 1885-88. In 1890 Governor Campbell appointed him Common Pleas Judge of Clark County for an unexpired term of three months. The Clark County Bar Association at the end of this brief service by unanimous vote made "record of their high appreciation of the marked ability and absolute impartiality and uniform courtesy with which Judge Hagan has discharged the duties of his office." Many years later Governor James M. Cox appointed him to the Common Pleas bench to serve during the years 1913-14.

Among the many other honors and responsibilities Judge Hagan has enjoyed in his home city, should be mentioned his work as president of the Board of Trade of Springfield in 1890, when the board was engaged in a large program of public activity. He was trustee of the Mitchell- Thomas Hospital from 1899 to 1905, for ten years was a trustee of the Associated Charities of the City of Springfield, has been a trustee of the Clark County Historical Association since its organization, served one year as trustee of the Sinking Fund of Springfield, for one year was president of the Clark County Bar Association, and was president of the general committee of the Springfield Centennial Celebration. While he was on the bench as Common Pleas Judge he presided at the trial of Dr. Arthur Smith, accused of putting his wife to death by poisoning. This case was probably the most famous and attracted the most attention of any case ever tried in Clark County. There were two trials, each lasting thirty days, involving a host of expert witnesses, and the jury disagreed in each trial.

Judge Hagan has been a York Rite Mason for a quarter of a century, has been a trustee and president of the Masonic Temple of Springfield for many years, and for sixteen years since its organization has been trustee and president of the Springfield Masonic Temple Company. For a number of years he was a member of the Springfield Country Club and of the Lagonda Club, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a charter member of the Men's Literary Club, organized thirty years ago. He was active in the Second Presbyterian Church until its consolidation with the First Presbyterian Church under the new title of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. He served as an elder in both churches.

In 1882, at Springfield, Judge Hagan married Miss Justina Fingland Bevitt. Her father was at one time a well-known physician of St. Charles, Missouri. Mrs. Hagan was a teacher for some years, and has long been prominent in the social and religious life of Springfield. Their three children are, Francis Marion, Jr., Hugh and Margaret, who is now by marriage Mrs. Margaret Howard MacGregor.

BENJAMIN F. PRINCE, editor of this history of Springfield and Clark County, is president of the Clark County Historical Society, and for many years has been a recognized authority on local history.

Doctor Prince was born at Westville, Champaign County, Ohio, December 12, 1840, son of William and Sarah (Nauman) Prince. Much the greater part of his life's associations and work have identified him with Springfield's great institution of higher education, Wittenberg College. He graduated A. B. there in 1865, received his Master of Arts degree in 1868, and in 1891 Wittenberg awarded him the Doctor of Philosophy Degree. While Doctor Prince was a student of theology for a time, his life work has been education, and he has held a chair in the faculty of Wittenberg College since 1866. Doctor Prince was editor of the book "Centennial of Springfield," published in 1901, and has contributed many articles on historical topics. He is a member of the American Historical Association, the American Economics Association, and is a director of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. Doctor Prince is a republican, is a member of the Lutheran Church, and belongs to the Men's Literary and Lutheran Clubs at Springfield.