USA > Ohio > Darke County > A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 35
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On the 14th of December. 1850 Mr. Minnich was married, by Squire Peter V.
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Banta, to Miss Theressa St. Clair, and to at six per cent per annum, and the goods were purchased on a year's credit without interest. The firm have had as high as forty thousand dollars on their books at one time, and the unpaid accounts due the house at them were born the following children : Joseph, born September 19, 1851. is now a resident of West Sonora and is engaged in 1 grain dealing. He has a wife, and a daugh -. ter, who is married. John W., born Octo- | this time are over thirty thousand dollars. ber 31. 1856, is a traveling salesman, repre- During the intervening years the firm of Minnich & Hamiel have taken large con- tracts for the building of pikes, constructing twelve miles of pike which forms an im- portant part of the system in the county. senting a Cincinnati house. Bertha is the wife of H. C. Minnich, a resident of Hills- boro, Ohio, and unto them were born two children. Mrs. Theressa Minnich was called to her final rest in 1860, at the age of thirty- nine and a half years, and Mr. Minnich was again married, February 9, 1862, his second union being with Evelina Law, the cere- mony being performed by Peter V. Banta. the same worthy justice of the peace who first married him. Her father, Thomas Law, was born in Allegheny county, Penn- sylvania, November 17, 1815, and died in 1858, at the age of forty-three years. His wife, Mrs. Catherine Law, passed away Oc- tober 27. 1870, at the age of fifty-four years and five months. By the second marriage there is one daughter, Bertha, born October 26, 1870.
When Mr. Minnich located in Castine, more than a half century ago, he engaged in the manufacture of hard-wood lumber, own- ing and operating a steam sawmill. About ten years later he exchanged that for the general merchantile store, and the firm of Minnich & Hamiel has always held the first place in the business interests of the village. their annual sales amounting to from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Minnich purchased his first bill of goods in Dayton, its value being three hundred dollars. He offered to pay cash if they would discount five per cent on the bill, but the wholesale merchant declined this, telling him to bring his money home and loan it. This he did,
Mr. Minnich has one of the largest and most pleasant homes in the village sur- rounded by spacious grounds and well kept gardens. All that he has he has acquired through his own efforts and his well directed labors have brought to him very desirable success. For thirty years he has been a Knight Templar Mason and, with a thor- ough understanding and appreciation of the benevolent principles of the order he has loyally exemplified its teachings. In poli- tics he is a Republican and for forty years has filled the office of postmaster in Castine, accepting the office in 1860 and filling it continuously since, with the exception of the period of President Cleveland's admin- istration. He has served as township trus- tee and also as township clerk. His life has been well spent and his useful. active and honorable career has gained him rank among the leading representative and esteemed citizens of his community.
WILLIAM H. REPPETO.
Among the public-spirited and progres- sive citizens of Greenville probably none have done more to advance the welfare and prosperity of the town than the gentleman who is now serving as the president of the city council. He has also been a prominent
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factor in business circles, and is a man whose worth and ability have gained him success, honor and public confidence.
Mr. Reppeto was born near the city of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, in Decem- ber, 1845, and is a son of Dabner and Char- lotte (McEowen) Reppeto, in whose family were two children. but the daughter, Mar- tha, died in infancy. His grandfather, Alex- ander McEowen, was one of the pioneers of Darke county and fought under General Wayne when he was making his raid through this county. The father of our subject was a native of Virginia, but during his youth came to Ohio, where he grew to manhood and married. He and his wife be- gan their domestic life in Butler county, where he followed his trade, that of cooper, for a number of years, but at the time of his death, in 1861, was living in Davenport. Iowa. His wife had died in Miami county, Ohio, in 1848.
William H. Reppeto received the greater part of his education in the schools of Daven- port, Iowa. Although only fifteen years of age he joined the "boys in blue" at the opening of the civil war, enlisting in 1861 in Company C, Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as a musician, under Colonel Will- iam P. Benton. After being mustered into the United States service he was ordered with his regiment to Missouri and Arkan- sas, and took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Wilson's Creek and Duvall's Bluff, Arkansas. He served faithfully until Feb- ruary, 1863, when he was taken ill and sent to the hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained some months and was then sent to Belleville, Illinois. On recovering his health he re-enlisted in Company B. Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, tak-
ing part in the siege of Mobile, the capture of that stronghold and Fort Blakely. He was mustered out October 11, 1865.
After the war Mr. Reppeto came to Greenville, Ohio, where he attended school for a time, and then learned the cabinet- maker's trade, which he has made his life work. having followed that occupation in several different states. On the IIth of August, 1890, he married his second wife, Miss Amanda E. Cline, a daughter of F. M. Cline, and to them have been born two children, Virgil and Ester. The latter died at three years of age.
Socially Mr. Reppeto is a member of Flora Lodge, No. 526, I. O. O. F., at Flora, and has been D. D. G. M. of that order. Po- litically he is a pronounced Democrat. He has been a member of the city council of Greenville and has been the president of that body for the last year. He takes an active and influential part in public affairs, and was one of the first to agitate and rec- omniend the construction of sewers and the propriety of paving the streets of Green- ville. This was met by the most stubborn opposition on the part of many of the citi- zens, and they went so far as to get out an injunction against the enterprise, but he car- red his point, and the city now has great reason to be proud of its streets.
WILLIAM EWRY.
As the name indicates, the Ewry family is of German lineage and probably not many generations have been residents of this coun- try, for the grandfather, John Ewry, could fluently speak the German tongue. During the greater part of this century representa- tives of the name have been identified with the agricultural interests of Ohio. Will- iam Ewry was born near the site of the city
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of Dayton, in Montgomery county, Septem- ber 14, 1826, the second in a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, whose parents were David and Alice (Tyron) Ewry. Only two of the children are now living, the brother of our subject being Bazil, who is married and resides in Versailles, Ohio. The father was born in Maryland about 1803 and died in 1866. Throughout his life he followed farming and also possessed considerable mechanical ingenuity. During his early boyhood he came with his parents to Ohio, a settlement being made in Montgomery county in the midst of the heavy forest. The beautiful city of Dayton, now containing about one hundred thousand inhabitants, was then a mere hamlet. The family experienced the usual hardships and trials of pioneer life and David Ewry continued his residence in Montgomery county until 1838, when he came to Darke county, entering one hundred and sixty acres of land in York township. The land office was located in Cincinnati and thither he went to establish his claim to the property. The old parchment deed con- taining a description of the farm and signed by President Van Buren is now in the pos- session of our subject. The father met with a fair degree of success in his farming op- erations.
Only in memory can one picture the pio- neer home in which he lived-a cabin built of round logs, the dimensions of the house being 16x20 feet. There was a mud-and- stick chimney, a clapboard roof and the second floor, or loft, was so small that noth- ing but a bed could be placed therein. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made upon the farm, and a road had to be cut through the brush and timber from the York farm to their home. The town of
Ansonia was not known and Greenville was a mere hamlet, while the leading trading post was at Beamsville. Wolves frequently made the night hideous with their howling, bear was sometimes killed and stately deer stalked through the forests. The traveler of to-day can scarcely realize that such was the condition of the country only about a half century ago and that many who are still living in the community have seen this section of the state when it was in its prim- itive condition, unchanged by works of civ- ilization.
David Ewry voted with the Whig party until the organization of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks. He held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and aided in the erection of the house of worship which stood on his farm. Of kindly and helpful spirit, his sterling qual- ities were well worthy of emulation. His remains now rest in the Beamsville cem- etery, where a substantial monument has been erected sacred to his memory. His wife, who was born in Greene county, Ohio. died when her son, William, was six years of age.
Mr. Ewry, of this review, was a lad of twelve summers when he became a citizen of Darke county, and for sixty-two years he has witnessed the wonderful progress and development of this section of the state. He was trained to habits of industry upon the home farm, giving his father the benefit of his services until he was eighteen years of age, when he started out to make his own way in the world. He began work in a brick yard for six dollars per month, and his father was to receive half of his salary. Going to Montgomery county he was there employed to cut wood for twenty-five cents per cord. The following year he secured
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work as a farm hand at nine dollars per month, and was thus employed for six months. At the end of that time he liad drawn only ninety-five cents of his salary, so that he was the possessor of a capital of fifty-three dollars. It was such an indus- trious and economical spirit that enabled him to gain a good start in life and steadily work his way upward to a position of af- fluence. He has been employed at different times and at various kinds of labor in Mont- gomery, Shelby and Greene counties, hav- ing been absent from Darke county for twenty-three years.
In Dayton, Montgomery county, Mr. Ewry was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Prugh, the wedding taking place May 25, 1851. She was born in that county October 12, 1831, a daughter of Peter and Charlotte (Mitchell) Prugh. They have six children, three sons and three daughters, five yet living : Anna C. is the widow of W. D. Anderson and resides with her parents in the Anderson cottage in Ansonia; Mar- garet Viola is the wife of D. J. Lyons, a prosperous resident of York township; Charles S. is married and is engaged in the hardware business in Portland, Indiana ; David S., who graduated in the United Brethren College in Dayton, Ohio, is now a . minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, living in Brown county, this state ; and Will- iam Franklin, a prosperous young farmer of York township, is serving as justice of the peace. For forty-nine years the parents have traveled life's journey together, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years have passed by. They have reared a number of children, of which they have every reason to be proud, and have provided them with educational privileges, thus fitting them for life's practical duties. When Mr.
and Mrs. Ewry began their domestic life their possessions were very limited, their cash capital being a five-dollar bill, and in addition they had a span of horses and a wagon and a few farm implements. The first real estate which Mr. Ewry ever owned was a house and lot in Beavertown, Mont- goniery county.
About 1867 he returned to Darke coun- ty to the old home farm, becoming its owner by purchasing the interests of the other heirs. He has here erected an elegant brick residence, substantial barns and outbuild- ings, and now has a splendidly improved farm. He has paid off all indebtedness, has seventy-five acres of his land under cultiva- tion and is to-day one of the substantial and progressive farmers of his community. His life illustrates what may be accomplished through determined purpose, unfaltering energy and lionorable business methods. He makes a specialty of the cultivation of tobacco, corn, wheat and oats, and the crops bring to him annually a good income. In politics he is a Republican and has served as township trustee for two different terms. Through the passing years he lias been an eye witness of the upbuilding and improve- ment of the county, having located here when few of its roads were builded. Now there are over one thousand miles of pike road and the county is crossed and recrossed by a network of steel tracks. He has been the friend of progress and is regarded as a public spirited citizen who well deserves representation in this volume.
WILLIAM P. McGRIFF.
Through many decades the name of Mc- Griff has figured in connection with the agri- cultural annals of Darke county, and of this
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honorable calling William P. McGriff is a representative. He was born in Twin town- ship, August 3, 1850, and his father is Price McGriff, who is a native of Preble county and is now living retired in Darke county. The grandfather, Patrick McGriff, was also born in Preble county, and thus it will be seen that the family has long been connected with Ohio in its history. Mr. McGriff, of this review, was reared upon the old homestead, where he remained until he was eighteen years of age. He received a meager education, pursuing his studies through the winter season in the district schools of the neighborhood until about six- teen or seventeen years of age. During the summer months he worked in the fields, aiding in the cultivation of the crops.
He remained at home until his marriage, which occurred on February 18, 1875, the lady of his choice being Melzoni Braddock, who was born in Preble county, and is a daughter of James and Margaret (Shields) Braddoek. Her father was born in Mont- gomery county in 1833 and her mother in Virginia in 1836. They were married abuttt 1852 and had six children, all of whom are yet living, with one exception, Jane, who became the wife of Charles Barnus and died soon after her marriage, leaving one child. The children of Mr. and Mrs. McGriff are Clayton, Flora, Dewitt and Gorman. The family reside in a pleasant home upon a farm of one hundred and twenty aeres, which Mr. McGriff purchased in 1888, the purchase price being sixty-five dollars per acre. On the farm is a large barn and other substantial improvements. The owner is engaged in raising corn and hogs and also has eight head of horses. He raises about two thou- sand bushels of corn annually and feeds much of this to his stock, selling about one
hundred head of hogs each year. He is an enterprising farmer, whose diligence results largely in the acquirement of a confortable competence. In politics he is a Democrat and for two terms has served as justice of the peace, discharging his duties in a prompt, faithful and impartial manner.
GENERAL C. M. ANDERSON.
Conspicuous among those who have conferred honor upon the legal profession of Ohio is Hon. Charles M. Anderson, of Greenville, who is conceded to be one of the most successful, eloquent and powerful ad- vocates of the Darke county bar. His splen- did command of the English language has made him an orator. Exactness and thor- oughness characterize all his attainments, and added to these is a broad and compre- hensive knowledge of the principles of juris- prudence in all its departments. Prominent in professional and political circles, he is and has been connected with the public af- fairs which have borne marked influence upon the progress of the state and nation. A man of scholarly attainments, accurate in his judgment of men and events, he is undoubt- edly not without that ambition which is so powerful and useful in public affairs, yet he regards the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. He is one who subordinates per- sonal ambition to public good and seeks rather the benefit of others than the ag- grandizement of self.
He was born in Juniata county, Penn- sylvania, January 5, 1845, and is a son of James and Ruth ( McCahan ) Anderson, the former born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, in April. 1792. the latter in January, 1800. Ilis paternal grandparents were Irish
C.M. andersen
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and lived about twenty miles from Dublin, where all of their children except James were born. They emigrated to the new world in 1791. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Patrick McCahan, also a native of the Emerald Isle, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Green, was a relative of General Greene, one of the brilliant commanders of the American forces in the war of the Revolution. The parents of our subject were married in November. 1820, and lived on a farin throughout their lives.
Charles M .. Anderson was a lad of ten ycars when, in April, 1855. he came with his parents to Ohio. Upon a farm he spent the days of his boyhood and youth and later he engaged in teaching school. During the war he served as a private soldier in Com- pany B, Seventy-first Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, and was honorably discharged January 6, 1866, the day after attaining his majority. For some months subsequent to his return from the army he attended the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, and also engaged in teaching. Having determined to make the practice of law his life work, he took up that study under the direction of judge D. L. Meeker, of Greenville, and was "admitted to the bar on the 21st of May, 1868. At once he engaged in practice, open- ing an office in Greenville, where he has since risen to a position as a leader of the bar. His success has been enviable, grati- fying and creditable. He is noted for the wide research and provident care with which he prepares his cases. In no instance has his reading ever been confined to the limita- tions of the questions at issue ; it has gone beyond and compassed every contingency and provided not alone for the expected, but for the unexpected. His logical grasp 17
of facts and principles and of the law ap- plicable to them has been another potent ele- ment in his success.
Mr. Anderson has always been a close and discriminating student of political ques- tions, supporting his position by an intelli- gent understanding of the issues of the day, and yet for many years he refused all pro- motion in that line. In 1878, however, he made an effort to secure the nomination for congress. The convention met in Sidney, Ohio, and continued in constant session for three days and three nights, and Mr. An- derson was defeated for the nomination by only one-fourth of a vote. Again on the 7th of August, 1884, he was a candidate for nomination for congress in the Dayton dis- trict, which resulted in his securing the nom- ination on the first ballot. He was elected in the following October, and while in con- gress served upon the military committee and the committee of expenditures of the war department. He was also appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives one of the board of visitors at West Point, and served with the board ten days under that appointment.
In January, 1884, Mr. Anderson was commissioned judge advocate general of Ohio, by Governor Hoadley, which position he held during the term of that chief execu- tive. During the time of the great riot in Cincinnati, by virtue of his office of briga- dier general, Mr. Anderson was on duty most of the time, being second in command of the Ohio troops. He received special com- plimentary notice from the governor for his splendid service on that occasion. In 1890 he was appointed by Governor James E. Camp- bell one of Ohio's commissioners at the World's Fair, and was chairman of the com- mittee on entertainment at the Ohio building,
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having charge of that service throughout the continuance of the Fair. In 1894 he was cho- sen by a joint resolution of the two branches of congress as one of the board of managers for the National Home for Disabled Volun- teer Soldiers, which office he filled for six years, with such credit as to secure a reap- pointment by congress, by a unanimous vote of both its branches, in April, 1900.
His investments have always been in real estate. In this way he has not only ad- vanced his individual prosperity, but has done more to improve and upbuild the city than any other one man, having erected, up to this time, more business houses than any other resident of Greenville. He with- holds his support from no movement or measure which he believes will prove of public benefit, but heartily co-operates in all that he believes will secure advancement along material, social, intellectual or moral lines.
Of many fraternal organizations Mr. Anderson is a valued representative. He was a charter member of the Improved Or- der of Red Men, also the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and the Masonic order, in which he has taken all the degrees of the York ai:d the Scottish rites, with the exception of the thirty-third. He also takes an active part in the Grand Army post at Greenville. He is an officer and the largest stockholder in the Greenville Law Library. He has a fine private library of over two thousand volumes, containing many rare and choice works, including the celebrated writings of the most noted authors. With the contents of the library Mr. Anderson is widely fa- miliar. He possesses a very retentive memory and is particularly well versed in history. He has traveled extensively in European countries and is a man of partic-
ularly fine descriptive powers and a most entertaining talker, as well as an instructive lecturer. His acquaintance is very extended, embracing many men of prominence in all parts of the country, and wherever known he is highly esteemed for his social qualities, his intellectual activity, his professional qualifications and his upright character.
On the 7th of June, 1870, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Anderson and Miss Ella Hart, the only daughter of Moses Hart, a builder and contractor of this city. Their marriage has been blessed with two sons. The elder, William H., is a graduate of the ' West Point Military Academy, and Robert T., the younger, is now a student at law. Mr. Anderson and his family are widely and favorably known in this county. His life has been a success. His entire career is illustrative of the fact that certain ac- tions are followed by certain results. As a lawyer he has few peers in this section of the state; as a soldier he displayed bravery and true patriotism; as a public official his actions have been above reproach or criti- cism; and as a citizen he is an illustration of our highest type of American manhood.
GEORGE EMRICK.
George Emrick is an octogenarian, and through the long years he has ever lived so to conunand the respect and confidence of his fellow men. He has put aside business cares and is now enjoying a well merited rest, while from those who know him he receives the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on life's journey. His home is on sec- tion 34, Butler township, Darke county, and he is numbered among the native sons of
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Montgomery county, Ohio, his birth having occurred in Germantown, on the 25th of November, 1818, and he is a son of Conrad Emrick, who was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1786. At an early period. in the development of Ohio he came to this state, establishing his home here in 1810. The journey was made in the usual emi- grant style, the destination being reached after five weeks of travel. The parents of our subject were in limited circumstances and never owned a farm, but had a little home in Germantown, where the father en- gaged in blacksmithing. He married Eliza- beth Fie, of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. and they became tlie parents of ten children, two of whom were born in Pennsylvania, while eight were natives of Ohio. The fa- ther died in Germantown, in 1828, at the age of forty-two years and was survived by his widow for twenty-two years, her death occurring in 1842, when she had at- tained the age of sixty-two.
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