USA > Ohio > Clark County > Springfield > 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 61
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In early life Mr. Foos was a Whig in his political views and later became an active Republican and zealous supporter of the policies of this party. During the Civil War Mr. Foos on many occasions demonstrated his loyalty and true patriot- ism, contributing both time and money and giving generously to those benevolent agencies which took care of the families
He traces his ancestry in the direct paternal line back to Abraham Yeazell. and then, indirectly, through the Brown and Ball families, to William Ball, of Berks, or Berkshire, England, the name of whose wife is not known, but who died in the year 1480. in the reign of Henry VII., the first of the Tudors. The line from this William Ball to Abraham Yeazell is as follows:
Robert Ball, son of William, of Berk- ham, died in 1543. The name of his wife is not known. He was father of William
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Ball (wife unknown), who died in 1550.
John Ball, son of the second William, died in 1599. He was twice married, first to Alice Haynes, by whom he had four children, and secondly to Agnes Hollo- way, of which union also there were four children.
.John Ball, son of John and Agnes ( Holloway) Ball, died in 1628. He mar- ried Elizabeth Webb, who hore him ten children. among them William, better known as Colonel William Ball, who died in 1680. Colonel William Ball married Hannah Atheral, of which union there were three children, the one to continue this line of descent being William, or Captain William Ball, who married Margaret Downman and died in 1699.
The next progenitor in the Ball line was William, who died in 1740 and who by wife Mary, had, besides other children, William, who died in 1809. It is in this generation that we find the Ball family intermarrying with the Browns, and the line to the subject of this sketch is now continued through the latter family. It is thus traced:
The brothers and sisters of the Will- iam Ball last mentioned were: Samuel, Joseph (died 1821), Mary (died 1816, married Thomas Brown) and Ann (mar- ried John Gibson).
Thomas and Mary (Ball) Brown had a large family, consisting of ten children, and including Sarah (born 1758; died 1828), who married William Curl. The family of William and Sarah (Brown) ('nrl was also large and included Mary, who married Abraham Yeazell, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
country from Germany and settled at an early date in Moorefield Township, Clark County, Ohio. By his wife Mary, above mentioned, he had thirteen children- Mary Ann, Sarah, George, William, Caro- line, David, Jeremiah, Adam, Jacob, Elizabeth, Abraham, Sidney, James and Isaac.
George Yeazell, of the above-mentioned family, married Elizabeth Jones, and their children were George, Mary Ann, Jeremiah, John W., Eliza, Caroline M., Isaac, Angeline and Frances M.
George Yeazell, son of George and Elizabeth (Jones) Yeazell, and father of .J. Milton Yeazell, married Mary Ann Wilkinson, and their family was as fol- lows: Joseph Milton, James W., Retta, Anne Belle, Mary, Ellen, Thomas, Eliza- beth, Angie and Mabel Estella. James W., the second child, married Amanda Neer, and he and his wife are the parents of four children, all sons-George, Clay- ton, Fred and Lawrence, all of whom are living. Retta is the wife of John Conley, and has three children -- Blanche, Harry and Robert. Anne Belle married Nathan Baumgartner, and has two children, Agnes and Wilmette, of whom Agnes be- came the wife of Dr. Deman and resides in Mechanicsburg, and Wilmette married M. C. Houston.
Mary, fifth child of George and Nancy Ann Yeazell, married Samuel Prugh, who is now deceased. She has one child- Earl. Ellen Yeazell married Jacob Banın- gartner and has two children-Alice, who is the wife of Forest Taverner and Nathan, all living. Thomas Yeazell, of the above- mentioned family, and seventh in order of birth. was killed on the railroad.
Abraham Yeazell (or Yeazel, as the name was sometimes spelled) came to this Elizabeth died at the age of two years.
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Angie, the ninth child, married Newton has served the town as trustee, being Jones and is now deceased. Her chil- elected on the Republican ticket, and held dren are Walter and Thomas, both of whom are living. Mabel Estella, the tenth child, married Artlmr Taverner; she has no children. that office for six years. A member of the G. A. R., he has served as commander of N. M. MeConkey Post No. 391, was ad- jutant for ten years and was a member of General Townsend's staff, with the rank of major, for two terms. He is a promi- nent member of the Catawba Methodist Episcopal Church, which he has served ten years as trustee, having also been school director a number of times.
Joseph Milton Yeazell, whose nativity has been already given, has resided in Clark County all his life, unless we ex- cept the period of his service in the Civil War. He enlisted at Columbus, Ohio, September 16, 1864, in the Sixteenth Ohio Light Artillery, and was stationed for a while at New Orleans. On the close of the war he returned to Clark County, and settled on his father's farm, and was for some years engaged in agricultural pur- suits. In 1874 he entered into mercantile business at Catawba Station, Champaign County, Ohio. He continued thus ocen- pied, however, but for a short time.
On February 15, 1875, he married, and in the same year bought a farm of 345 acres in Pleasant Township. Here he went into the business of raising grain and live stock, giving special attention to the breeding of sheep. It was also his practice to buy trainloads of sheep in Montana, ship them to his farm and here fatten them for the Buffalo market, sell- ing them there at a good profit. Though now retired from active pursuits, he fre- qnently contributes valuable articles to agricultural papers, among them the American Agriculturist, the Ohio Farmer, the Pittsburg Stockman, the Breeders' Gazette and the Chicago Drorers Journal. He is regarded as an authority of stock matters, especially on sheep, and has re- ceived many offers to become a salesman at the Buffalo and Chicago sheep markets, Nathaniel Hatfield, the grandfather. but prefers to remain on his farm. He was one of the pioneer farmers of what
Mr. Yeazell has had the misfortune to lose his wife, who passed to the higher life May 19, 1900, after a happy married life of twenty-five years. She was just two years his senior. She had borne him four children, whose record, in brief, is as follows: Leon Howard married Josephine Campbell, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Campbell, and they reside in Springfield, this county. Florence is the wife of Herbert Loveless, of this township, and has one child-Phelma. Gwendoline, who is now deceased, was the wife of Van C. Tullis, of Champaign County, Ohio. Wendell, born in 1885, died in Los An- geles, Cal., in April, 1906, at the early age of twenty-one years.
HON. JAMES HATFIELD, who ca- pably represented Clark County in the Ohio State Legislature, is a veteran of the Civil War and a prominent farmer of Green Township. He was born in Spring- field Township, April 12, 1844, is a sou of James and Margaret ( Kitchen) Hat- field, and a grandson of Nathaniel and Nancy (Judy) Hatfield.
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is now Clark County, coming with his panied the regiment to Clarksburg, West family as early as the year 1808. He lo- Virginia, where he remained for about cated about one and a half miles north- four months. His term of enlistment hav- east of Pitchin, in Springfield Township, where he became owner of several hun- dred acres of land. His death resulted from milk sickness while he was in the prime of his life. James Hatfield, father of our subject, was born in 1803, and was five years of age when brought to this country by his parents. He followed farming until his death, which occurred at the age of fifty-two years. He was joined in marriage with Margaret Kitch- en, who was born in Pennsylvania and was a small girl when her parents moved to Clark County, Ohio. They were par- ents of fourteen children, eleven of whom grew to maturity, and of these the present survivors are James, the subject of this sketch, and two sisters.
ing expired, he re-enlisted as a member of Company D, Eighth Ohio Volunteer Cav- alry. He was with his regiment in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and was' in numerous engagements under General Sheridan. At Beverly, Virginia, he was taken captive, but an overwhelming de- sire for freedom resulted in his escape fifteen minutes later. He participated in many engagements and served in the army until the war closed, performing his duty with a bravery and courage meriting the commendation he received. He re- turned to his home in Clark County in 1865, but after a short stay went west to Logan County, Illinois, where for a time he engaged in teaching school. There he purchased 150 acres of land, now valued at more than one hundred dollars per acre, and in 1866 returned to Clark County, Ohio, to be married. He was married on April 12th of that year and immediately thereafter returned to Logan County with his bride. He farmed there until 1867, when, having sold his property, he re- turned to Clark County, where he rented and farmed for several years. In 1872 he purchased the 125 acres which now consists of his home property and set about converting it into an up-to-date farm. He has always farmed along the
James Hatfield, Jr., was six years of age when his mother died, and he was left an orphan at eleven years. Upon the death of his father he was bound out to a brother-in-law, to remain with him un- til eighteen years of age. He performed such labor as he could on the farm in pay- ment for board and clothing, attending school during four months of the winter, but at the age of fifteen he began to work out by the month for himself. At sixteen he went to Hillsdale, Michigan, and at- tended Hillsdale College two years. Then returning to Clark County, he engaged in line of the most modern and approved teaching, being thus employed in the Lib- methods, and the success attained by him bespeaks his business sagacity and man- agerial ability. He has always taken an active and intelligent interest in all that relates to the welfare of his home com- munity, and frequently has been called erty School for a time. In the spring of 1862, he enlisted for three months' serv- ice in Company B, Eighty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Howard D. Johns, and after being sta- tioned at Camp Chase for a time, accom- upon to fill offices of public trust. He is
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a Republican, having cast his first presi- 1841, and is a son of Levi and Margaret dential ballot for Lincoln in 1864. In (Lyon) Buchwalter. Green Township he served as treasurer for some years. He next became the can- didate of his party for state representa- tive, and after his election to that office served this district with an intelligence and faithfulness that brought him a host of new friends and followers. He is a man of marked ability, and in the dis- charge of his official duties brought into play the same energy, sagacity and good judgment which have always character- ized his private dealings.
Mr. Hatfield was joined in marriage with Harriett J. Stewart, a daughter of Perry and Rhoda Ann (Wheeler) Stew- art, and they reared three children, name- ly: Charles Stewart, who was born in Logan County, Illinois, May 27, 1867; Jessie R., who married Alonzo Stretcher and has two children-Edwin and Robert; and Julia M., who married Clarence An- derson, lives in Green Township and has one daughter-Harriet Helen. Mr. Hat- field is a member of James A. Elder Post, G. A. R., and has attended most of the re- unions of that body. He also attended the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. He and his wife are faithful members of the High Street Christian Church, at Spring- field.
Edward L. Buchwalter was reared on a farm, attended the local public schools and later the Ohio University, and had not decided upon his future career, when his thoughts were turned to his country, endangered by civil war, and he became a soldier. As a member and officer succes- sively of the One Hundred and Four- teenth Ohio Regiment and the Fifty-third United States Volunteer Infantry, serv- ing in like manner as private, sergeant, lieutenant and captain, he brought honor to his command by his careful perform- ance of duty and his gallantry in action. He served under General Sherman in 1862 and under General Grant in 1863, being present at the surrender of Vicks- burg. In 1864 he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was honorably dis- charged at the close of the war, after a hard service covering three years and seven months. Mr. Buchwalter was twice wounded and was once left on the battle- field with the dead, but fortunately re- covered sufficiently to be able to crawl back and reach the new position taken by his regiment.
After the close of his army life, Mr. Buchwalter was engaged in farming and stock-raising in Ross County until 1873. He then came to Springfield and for the following ten years was connected with the manufacturing firm of James Leffel & Company, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of machinery and gained much business experience. He was active in the organization of the Superior Drill Company, at Springfield, Ohio, in the fall
EDWARD L. BUCHWALTER, presi- dent of the Citizens' National Bank, at Springfield, and president of the Amer- ican Seeding Machine Company, has been identified with the leading interests of this city for more than thirty years. He was born in Ross County, Ohio, June 1, of 1883, and became the president of the
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ROSS MITCHELL
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company which purchased the business of Thomas, Ludlow & Rodgers. With his business associates he pushed the manu- facture of the Superior Drill until it be- came known all over the country. At the organization of the American Seeding Machine Company in March, 1903, by the consolidation of the Superior Drill Com- pany, the Hoosier Drill Company and several other manufacturing companies, Mr. Buchwalter was elected president and continues to hold that important of- fice. In December, 1898, the organization of the Citizens' National Bank was com- pleted and Mr. Buchwalter was selected its president and has continued in that po- sition ever since.
Mr. Buchwalter was married Septem- ber 1st, 1868, to Clementine Berry, a lady of education and accomplishments and of much social prominence. Mrs. Buch- walter takes much interest in club work and educational progress, and at this writing is president of the Ohio State Federation. She was first vice president of the Women's Board of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Buchwalter have a beautiful residence at No. 805 East High Street, Springfield, besides several rural ones, Mr. Buchwalter owning the old family home in Ross County and another in the vicinity of this city.
Politically, Mr. Buchwalter is a. Repub- lican. For thirty years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Warder Public Library of this city, and is also a member of the Springfield Board of Trade. He belongs to Mitchell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and to the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion.
ROSS MITCHELL, one of Spring- field's highly regarded citizens, now liv- ing retired in a beautifully situated home, located at No. 302 East High Street, was long a prominent factor in the great busi- ness concerns which have made the name of Springfield known in almost every quarter of the globe. Mr. Mitchell was horn November 14, 1824, in Landisburg, Perry County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of James Blaine and Cynthia (Gowdy) Mitchell. The Mitchell family is of Scotch-Irish extraction. It probably was established in Cumberland County, Penn- sylvania, in the days of the great-grand- father, where the grandfather of Ross Mitchell is on record as a man of sub- stance and local prominence.
James Blaine Mitchell, father of Ross, was born at Carlisle, in Cumberland County, and removed from there to Day- ton, Ohio, May 7, 1836. His first work was on the Third Street Canal in Dayton, after which he operated the Patterson saw-mills for almost two years. He was a carpenter and builder and also under- stood practical mill work, and on Feb- ruary 7th, 1838, he rented the Woodbury Mills, then known as the Schartle Mills, located on Mad River, which he operated until February 7th, 1840, when he re- moved to Medway. After a residence of nine years at the latter point, he removed to Hertzler's Mills, where both he and his wife died. They had eight children, of whom Ross was the eldest and is now the only surviving member of the family. The children all died young but three, Ross, James and Margaret-James and Margaret died in Paris, Illinois.
Mr. Mitchell has spent almost his whole life in the State of Ohio, being eleven years
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of age when the family settled at Dayton. Springfield Metallic Casket Company, the During his father's lifetime he assisted Mast Manufacturing Company. the Philip Wiseman Hardware Company. the Gas Light and Coke Company, the Kansas Kanapolis Land Company, the Royal Salt Company, of Kanapolis; the First Na- tional Bank, of Springfield; the Fire- man's Insurance Company, of Dayton. and the Citizens' Street Railway Com- pany, of which last mentioned company he was president. him in the saw-mills, and later filled the double position of mill operator and clerk in a general store adjacent to and owned by the proprietor of the mills. When the latter (Mr. Hertzler) disposed of his interests there and removed to Springfield, Mr. Mitchell accompanied him and probably through his good offices obtained clerical work in the strange town. In November, 1854, he became as- Mr. Mitchell, in 1882-3, erected the five- story Mitchell Block on the corner of High and Limestone Streets, Springfield, which is one of the most substantial and imposing business blocks of the city. He owns somewhere approaching 2,600 acres of fine land in Clark County, 2,100 acres in Champaign County, Ohio, and a large aereage in Central Kansas. A monument to Mr. Mitchell's philanthropy and public spirit is found in the great charity known as the Mitchell and Thomas Hos- pital, which was a gift to the city of Springfield, made by Mr. Mitchell in as- sociation with the late J. H. Thomas. sistant bookkeeper for the firm of Ward- er, Brokaw & Childs, and in the following year, chief bookkeeper for the firm. In 1865 he was admitted to partnership, when the firm became Warder, Mitchell & Company, Mr. Childs retiring. The busi- ness of this firm was the manufacture of farm implements, especially reapers and mowers. In 1866 additional capital and influence came into the business with the admission of General A. S. Bushnell as a partner. In 1881 Mr. Mitchell withdrew, disposing of his interests, and, as his health, especially his eyesight, was poor. he took a season of restful travel.
Mr. Mitchell, however, was not ready to permanently retire from business, where he had met with so much success, and in which field he had become so influential and so largely concerned. For some years he dealt extensively in real estate and subsequently became interested with the firm of Welsh & Dodson in the manu- facture of linseed oil, but this enterprise was absorbed by the National Linseed Oil Company. Mr. Mitchell has been con- nected either as a stockholder or director, often as both, with the following impor- tant business organizations :
Mr. Mitchell was married, first, in 1851. to Catherine Ann Miller, who died Sep- tember 12, 1878. She was born in Danphin County, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1827, and was a daughter of Caspar and Susan (Wirtz) Miller. To this mar- riage were born five children, the sur- vivors being: Effie J., who married Prof. E. L. Shuey; Fannie, who married Rev. G. P. Raup, and Anna Mary, who became the wife of Rev. S. E. Greenawalt. In 1881 Mr. Mitchell married for his second wife Sarah A. Keller, who was born in Maryland, September 16, 1845, and who is a daughter of the late Rev. Ezra and The Caroline (Rontzahn) Keller, the former
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of whom was the founder and first presi- dent of Wittenberg College.
As a public man of broad scope, Mr. Mitchell always has taken an interest in civic affairs, and served two years as a member of the City Council, from the Eighth Ward. Both he and wife are members of the Second Lutheran Church, in which he is an elder.
LAFAYETTE R. LUTZ, township trustee and owner of fifty acres of land in Pike Township, Clark County, Ohio, is numbered with the representative men of this section. He was born on the old home farm, in German Township, Clark County, Ohio, April 29, 1862, and is a son of John and Eliza (Morris) Lutz, and a grandson of Michael and Mary (Bowman) Lutz.
Michael Lutz and wife were both of Ger- man descent and at a very early period came from Virginia to Ohio with their little family, and settled in the woods of German Township, Clark County, where they passed the remainder of their lives, both passing away at an advanced age. They were the parents of five children : Sarah (Mrs. A. Neese), deceased; Mary (Mrs. R. Zirkle), deceased; Amanda (Mrs. D. Zirkle) ; John; Isaac, deceased, and Mrs. C. Patterson.
John Lutz was born in Virginia and when a boy of four years came to Ohio with his parents, who settled on a tract of timberland in German Township. There he was reared and he assisted his father in clearing up 208 acres of land. He followed farming throughont his act- ive career, remaining on the home place, which he subsequently inherited, until late in life. He married Eliza Morris, who
was born and reared near Tremont, Ger- man Township, where her parents had lo- cated at an early period. She died in 1888 and is survived by her husband, who lives with their son, Lafayette R. John Lutz and wife were the parents of eleven children, five of whom died young. Those living are as follows: Frances, wife of Frank Ziegler; Lafayette; Alice, wife of Martin Baker; Charles; Clara, wife of William Blumbershine; and Sidney.
Lafayette R. Lutz grew to man's estate in his native section and received his edu- cational training in the district schools of the township. He has always followed farming, and following his marriage he rented the Samuel Freeze farm in Ger- man Township for seven years, then bought his present farm of fifty acres from Aaron Rust. The land consists of two tracts, forty acres upon which he lives, and ten acres lying just south of the residence property. Here he has en- gaged in general farming ever since, and he also deals extensively in tile for ditch- ing.
On October 25, 1885, Mr. Lutz was mar- ried to Mary E. Rust, who is a daughter of David and Phoebe (Cost) Rust. Mrs. Rust died when Mrs. Lutz was but seven years old, but Mr. Rust survives. He was born in 1834 near Mr. Lutz' present farm. Mrs. Lutz is the eldest of three children, and the only daughter. She has two brothers: Albert and Williamn. Mr. and Mrs. Lutz became the parents of three children: Orris, who died aged two years; Blanche, and Robert.
In polities Mr. Lutz is a Democrat and has served in the office of township trus- tee continuously since 1899. He is a mem- ber of the Reformed Church at Dialton,
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in which he is both deacon and treasurer. more. In the spring of 1890 he returned He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias order of Northampton for the past eighteen years.
JOHN H. REYNOLDS, M. D., physi- cian and surgeon at Lawrenceville, is a prominent citizen of German Township and is well known all over Clark County. He was born August 8, 1848, in Green Township, Clark County, Ohio, and is a son of Henry and Julia Ann ( MeKinney) Reynolds.
Henry Reynolds, father of Dr. Rey- nolds, was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, in 1816, and in 1827 accompanied his parents to Clark County, Ohio, where he was reared. He married Julia Ann McKinney and they continued to reside in Green Township until 1850, when they re- moved to a farm in Springfield Township. On that farm Dr. Reynolds grew to man- hood, and obtained his education in the country schools. Profiting by the advan- tages afforded, he became an acceptable teacher, teaching six years in Springfield and Harmony Townships and one term in Delaware County, Indiana. In 1872 he began the study of medicine, with Dr. H. F. Wildasin, at Plattsburg. Clark Coun- ty, and after two years with him, Dr. Rey- nolds entered the Eclectic Medical Insti- tute, at Cincinnati, where he was gradu- ated in 1876.
After receiving his diploma, Dr. Rey- nolds soon entered into practice at Law- renceville, where he remained for five years. In 1881 he removed to Springfield. where he practiced for four years, going from there to West Jefferson, Madison County. where he remained four years
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