USA > Ohio > Preble County > A Biographical history of Preble County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 41
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After his graduation Judge Quinn spent a year in the office of the firm of Bates & Scarborough, of Cincinnati, in order to bet- ter familiarize himself with the details of office work. A short time before the inau- guration of the civil war he returned to his father's farm and did not resume practice until after the close of hostilities. During the rebellion he served for four months in the One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, enlisting under the emer- gency call for one-hundred-day men. He took part in the battle of Fulk's Mill, near Cumberland, Maryland, but his regiment was mostly engaged in guard duty.
In April, 1867, Mr. Quinn removed to Eaton, where he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, which he has con- tinued up to the present timo. In February, 1875, he was admitted to practice in the circuit court of the United States at Cin- cinnati. He has been very successful as a
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lawyer and, with little liking for the crim- inal branch of jurisprudence, he has do- voted his attention almost exclusively to civil law. Along these lines he has been engaged either as attorney or referee in many of the most complex cases of the county. In the fall of 1881 he was elected the probate judge of Preble county, taking possession of the office February 9, 1882, and in the autumn of 1884 he was again elected, serving for six years in all. His knowledge of the law is comprehensive and exact, and he has gained prestige in a profession where ad- vancement depends entirely upon individual merit.
Judge Quinn has been twice married, his first wife being Miss Josephine Palmer, of Cincinnati, whom he wedded on the 10th of January, 1861. They became the parents of two children. Edmund F., who is a graduate of Princeton College and a lawyer by profession, is now serving as auditing clerk in the United States signal service in the war department at Washington. He was born December 13, 1867. Carrie B., the younger child, was born April 30, 1872, was a graduate of the Eaton high school and died March 30, 1892. The mother of these children died of consumption March 15, 1888. Judge Quinn was again married June 3, 1891, when Miss Emma F. Baird, of Butler county, Ohio, became his wife. She is a daughter of Arthur Baird, a repre- sentative of one of the first families of the county. She was educated in the public schools and in a select school, and with her husband shares the warm regard of many friends in Preble county.
The Judge has been a life-long Repub- lican and a close student of the issues of the day, yet has never sought office. He served by appointment for a short term as the mayor
of Eaton, and, with the exception of his ser- vice as probate judge, this is the only elective office he ever held. He and his first wife and children were all members of the Dis- ciples church, in which he and his son still have their religious home. His present wife is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church. The Judge is a Royal Arch Mason, his identification with the fraternity covering a period of forty-six years. He served for five years as the worshipful mastor of Bolivar Lodge, No. 82, F. & A. M., was for seven years its secretary and was a charter member of Mulhorn Post, G. A. R. He has been a life-long student, particularly along the lines of literature and general history. He owns one of the finest and most complete historical libraries, be- sides a valuable selection of miscellaneous publications and reference books and a large professional library. A man of scholarly attainments, his intellectual activity has given him preeminence among the leaders in thought and action in the county of his na- tivity. Judge Quinn is popular with a large circle of friends and acquaintances who honor and esteem him for his many virtues and his genuine worth. Of large brain and kindly heart, he is interesting and instructive in conversation, courteous and genial in de- portment and kindly in manner.
LURTON D. FELTON.
Lurton D. Felton operates a good farm . on section 30, Gasper township, and makes a specialty of the breeding of Poland China hogs. He is one of the leading stock men in this section and his capably-managed business interests are bringing to him an excellent financial return. He was born November 30, 1849, on his father's farm
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one mile north of his present home. His father, Edward Felton, was a native of North Carolina, born April 22, 1816, and at the age of fourteen he arrived in Ohio. He was of English lineage, for the grandfather of our subject emigrated from the "merrie isle" to North Carolina, where he died at an early age, leaving but one child, Edward. His widow was again married, her second husband being Josiah Elliott, by whom she had several children. She died in the '70s, at an advanced age. Edward Felton, hav- ing arrived at years of maturity, chose as a companion and helpmate on life's journey Miss Talitha C. Wright, who was born in Proble county, June 19, 1821, a daughter of Samuel Wright, who was a native of Ire- land. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Fel- ton occurred in 1839, and their union was blessed with six sons and eight daughters. They lost an infant daughter, and John, who died at the age of eighteen years, but the others reached years of maturity. These are: William H., a farmer of Nebraska, who has been twice married and has four- teen children; Millie J., the wife of Edward Maddocks; Susan, the widow of Joseph Skinner, of Illinois, by whom she had one son; Sally, the wife of T. A. White, resides in Anderson, Indiana, having four children, two sons and two daughters: Leah E., the wife of John A. Conger, of Iowa, and the mother of two children; Lurton D., the sev- enth in order of birth; Samuel, a tile manu- facturer of Illinois, who is married and has five children; Nancy, the wife of Roland Wiley, of Kansas, by whom she has four children ; Rachel, who married Wesley Skin- ner, of Illinois, and has four children; Ed- ward, who is living in Nebraska; Caroline, the wife of Isaac Swafford, of Butler coun- ty, Ohio, by whom she has two children ;
and Alonzo, who is in Iowa. The father of these children died May 26, 1883, and the mother passed away on the 22d of January, 1899.
Lurton D. Felton, whose name intro- duces this record, obtained his education in the common schools and worked upon the farm through the summer months, assist- ing in the fields from the time crops were planted until the harvests were garnered in the autumn. He was married January 9, 1872, when twenty-two years of age, to Miss Mary C. Moore, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, but at the time of her mar- riage resided in Gasper township. Her parents were William and Lavina Moore. Her father was born in Butler county, Octo- ber 5, 1817, and was a son of Alexander and Mary (Orbison) Moore, the former born in North Carolina, October 3, 1799, and the latter on the 16th of October, 1791. About 1803 the grandfather of Mrs. Felton re- moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterward went to Butler county, becoming one of its honored pioneer settlers. William Moore obtained a common-school education and also studied surveying. He removed to the vi- cinity of Logansport, Indiana, where he fol- lowed his chosen vocation, being employed as a surveyor in dividing up the reserve into farms when it came into the market. He was married October 1, 1840, to Nancy Co- hee, who was born in Hamilton, Ohio, and died April 2, 1846, survived by one of her two children: Rebecca, the wife of G. H. Pierson, of Kansas City, Kansas. Mr. Moore was again married in 1848, his sec- ond union being with Lavina Bowman, of Butler county. She was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1827, a daughter of David and Catherine Bowman. By the second marriage of Mr. Moore there were
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four children : Silas, an engineer and elec- trician, who has charge of the lighthouse at Tacoma, on Puget Sound; Mary Cather- ine, the wife of our subject; Nancy Jane, who became the wife of Irving Flory and died April 1, 1875; and Martha Ellen, who married James Wilson, and after his death became the wife of Thomas Taylor, with whom she now resides near West Elkton. Mr. Moore, the father of these children, en- gaged in the operation of a saw-mill in In- diana and shipped lumber to Chicago. He followed that pursuit from 1848 until 1862, and in the autumn of 1863 he located on his present farm in Gasper township, Preble county, where he owns one hundred and two acres. He also operated a saw-mill here for several years, but it was burned down in 1866. He carried on general farm- ing for several years, but for a few years past has rented his farm.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Felton are : Frank D., a railroad man, who resides in Newton, Kansas, with his wife and one daughter; Grace A., the wife of Elmer Vanshiver, by whom she has two sons; Murriel, at home; Roland W., who died at the age of sixteen months ; and Guy M., who assists his father in the operation of the home farm. Mr. Felton rents one hundred and ten acres of land and is very success- fully engaged in the raising of blooded Poland China swine. He has some very fine stock, all of which could be registered. He is regarded as one of the leading raisers of hogs in this locality and his sales bring to him an excellent financial return.
Mr. Felton was reared in the Method- ist faith and his wife is a member of that church. They are well known people, hav- ing a wide acquaintance in the county, and the sterling qualities of character which they
display in the relation with their fellow men have gained for them the confidence and good will of many with whom they have been brought in contact.
HENRY P. SMITH.
This gentleman has the distinction of having won the proud American title of a self-made man. Several of the leading en- terprises and business interests of Lewis- burg bear the impress of his individuality and owe not a little of their success to his ability and capable powers of management. His great determination and energy have enabled him to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily upward to prosperity. He is known among his fellow townsmen for his reli- ability in all trade transactions and justly merits their confidence and regard.
Mr. Smith was born in the kingdom of Prussia, Germany, January 18, 1850, but was only two years old when brought to this country by his father, Frederick Smith; also a native of Prussia and a cooper by trade. The family located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where our subject was reared and edu- cated. At the age of fourteen he commenced learning the cigarmaker's trade, which he followed in that city for five years, and then worked at the same in all of the principal cities of the west, including Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis, returning to Cincin- nati in 1871, by way of Iowa, Milwaukee and Chicago. In 1872 he again went to St. Louis, where he spent a year, and on his return to Cincinnati was employed as a traveling salesman for a cigar house one year. In 1874 he accepted a position as salesman for a leaf tobacco house, with which he was connected twelve years.
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On the Ist of August, 1886, Mr. Smith came to Lewisburg and embarked in the leaf- tobacco business on his own account, buy- ing and shipping that product extensively. In 1893 he formed a partnership with L. F. Parmerlee, which connection still con- tinues. With others, he assisted in organ- izing the People's Banking Company in 1892, and has since filled the office of vice- president. He is still interested in the to- bacco trade, and is carrying on an extensive business along that line. He furnishes em- ployment to forty people, and in 1899 paid out nine thousand dollars for labor alone. That year he handled two thousand cases of tobacco, the second largest amount han- died by any firm in the county, and now has sixty thousand dollars' worth of tobacco on hands in his warehouse. His plant is heat- ed by steam and in every respect is a first- class establishment of its kind. Mr. Smith is one of the directors of the Miami Leaf Tobacco Association, with headquarters in Dayton.
On the 23d of September, 1874, in Lew- isburg, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. Ruff, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and came to Lewisburg with her parents when young. By this union has been born one daughter, Pearl C., at home.
Mr. Smith has taken all of the degrees in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; has filled all the chairs in the local lodge and encampment, and has represented the lodges of Preble and Darke counties in the grand lodge of the state. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and has taken an active and prominent part in public affairs, serv- ing as a member of the city council two terms and mayor of the village in 1899, but he resigned the latter office before his term
expired. His time is wholly taken up with his extensive business interests. He is en- ergetic, prompt and notably reliable in all transactions, and has the entire confidence and respect of his fellow citizens.
NELSON I. SNYDER.
Practical industry wisely and vigorously applied never fails of success; it carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The great- est results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of the or- dinary qualities of common sense and per- severance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind, and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and self-improvement.
It is along such lines that Mr. Snyder has won success. He began life amid un- favoring circumstances on an Ohio farm, his birth having occurred in Warren county, four miles east of Morrow, March 13, 1861. He is a son of Philip A. and Barbara E. Snyder, early settlers of Warren county. At the age of five years Nelson Snyder lost his hearing by an attack of spotted fever, and in 1870 he entered the Ohio school for the deaf. While pursuing his education he worked for the Chronicle office at the school, from 1874 to 1879, and was then graduated. On the completion of his education he joined his parents in Blanchester, to which place they had removed from Warren county, but in the following autumn he went to South Charleston, Ohio, securing a situation in the Republican office, where he was employed until the summer of 1880. Returning then
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to Blanchester, he obtained a position as a compositor in the Press office, serving in this capacity until the spring of 1881, when the plant was sold, and with the change in ownership the name of the paper became the Star.
In the winter of 1882 Mr. Snyder, hav- ing saved some capital from his earnings, purchased a small grocery, placing a younger brother in charge, while he continued to work at the case in the Star office. The grocery business, however, did not prove a profitable investment and he lost all that he had saved. He continued to work in the Star office until the spring of 1888, when he voluntarily severed his connection with the paper and went to Cincinnati to secure wider fields. Upon his arrival in that city he secured a position in the first printing office in which he made application-the American Israelite-whose editor was the late venerable Rabbi Isaac Wise. Mr. Sny- der worked on that paper until the follow- ing November, when he received a letter from Blanchester containing the proposition tc sell the Star office. This he accepted and returning to his old home he immediately took charge of the paper, with his brother, Warren K., as a partner. The lease ex- pired the following November, and a clause in the article of agreement between the pro- prietor of the Star outfit and Mr. Snyder and his brother, giving to our subject the first privilege of purchase, was not taken advantage of. The brothers had made this a profitable investment, but the owner asked an exorbitant sum for the plant and they refused to purchase at that price. The out- fit was then sold to A. C. Bell, and Mr. Snyder remained in his employ, continuing in the Star office until the great conflagration had visited Blanchester, in the fall of 1895,
sweeping away almost the entire business portion of the town, including the Star office, which was totally destroyed.
On the 2d of September, 1891, Mr. Snyder went to West Alexandria, Preble county, and the next day, accompanied by Miss Hallie N. Holland, made his way to Cincinnati, where, at the Palace Hotel, they were married by the late Rev. Benjamin Talbot. The lady is a daughter of Mrs. Julia A. Holland, who for a period of six- teen years was the postmistress of West Alexandria, succeeding her father, Mahlon Karn, in that position. She was removed in 1884, by President Cleveland. Her hus- band, John Q. Holland, had been killed in the civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder began their domestic life in Blanchester, and there, on the 23d of February, 1894, a daughter (Carolyn) was born to them.
In the fall of 1897 our subject removed with his little family to West Alexandria and in connection with M. W. Griswold de- termined to establish a new paper. On the 3d of March, 1898, the Twin Valley Echo made its first appearance and was accorded a flattering reception. Their most sanguine expectations for the success of this undertak- ing has been more than fully realized. The journal is a six-column, eight-page weekly, and is a credit to the city, where it ranks with the best papers in this section of the state, both in workmanship and in the dissemina- tion of news. It is neat in appearance and is an extremely enterprising journal, well con- ducted and worthy of a very liberal patron- age. Mr. Snyder indeed deserves great credit for his success in life. Not only was he forced to start out for himself empty- handed, but was handicapped by an affliction. The elemental strength of his character, however, was early manifest, and he has
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steadily progressed until he is now num- bered among the substantial residents of his adopted city.
WILLIAM H. H. B. MINOR.
Dr. William Henry Harrison Brice Minor was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 5th day of October, 1812, the fourth child and second son of Eli W. and Dorcas A. Minor, who were natives of Greene coun- ty, Pennsylvania, and emigrated to this state in the year 1810. Dr. Minor held his an- cestry in great esteem and delighted to study the genealogy of his family, which he could trace back nearly three hundred years. His family were of English origin, and the an- cestor of the Minor family in the United States, Thomas Miner (e, not o), was born in England in the year 1608, whence he emigrated to this country in the year 1634. He had eight sons, and the youngest, Ste- phen Minor (who changed the spelling of the name from Miner to Minor), was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. It was to him that the Minor manor in Virginia was granted by the English crown. He settled near Winchester, Vir- ginia, a portion of which town was built on the manor. Stephen Minor was married to Athelia Updike, and his fifth son was Judge John Minor, born at Winchester, January 5, 1747. John Minor married Cassandra Will- iams, February, 1776. Miss Williams was a sister to General Otho Williams, who com- manded General Greene's rear guards in his famous retreat in the Carolinas in the Revo- lutionary war, and her brother, Eli Williams, was one of the commissioners who laid out the national road from Baltimore to Cumber- land and in connection with Ellicott fur- nished supplies for General Anthony
Wayne's army in the Indian war on the Maumee. Judge John Minor, the grand- father, was an officer in the Revolutionary army and also for many years an associate judge of Greene county, Pennsylvania. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-nine.
His son, Eli, the father of our subject, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1784, and married Dorcas A. Brice, in January, 1802, and brought his family to Ohio, in 1810. . After having lived some eight years in Warren county he re- moved to Preble county and settled in the vicinity of Eaton. He possessed great en- ergy and physical strength, and being also endowed with a happy, jovial nature, he participated with equal pleasure in both the labors and the sports of pioneer life. He was an intimate friend of the late Hon. Thomas Corwin, the two having served together as "wagon boys" in the war of 1812, carrying provisions to General Harrison's army.
After living for some five or six years in Preble county, he removed to Cincinnati and resided there until the year 1830, when he returned to Greene county, Pennsylvania, to the neighborhood where he was born and raised. Mr. Minor died in the year 1849, a very generally respected man. His wife was a sister of Dr. John Brice, who erected the third pioneer cabin in Newark, Ohio, and her nephew, Benjamin Brice, is on the retired list as the paymaster-general of the United States army.
In boyhood William Minor was of slen- der form and rather delicate constitution, although energetic, active and vivacious, and was an adept in all innocent sports and amusements. Reared as he was under the restricted circumstances and disadvantages of a frontier life, at a time when schools and means of education were both expensive
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and difficult of access, his school days were- necessarily few and limited, and his literary attainments were not of a very high order. Being naturally a close observer and pos- sessed of keen perception and ambitious to excel, he made the best use of the limited opportunities that happened in his way. He, however, succeeded in gathering a broad stock of useful information, which served as the basis of a well informed and useful life. Very soon after the return of the family to Pennsylvania young William was apprenticed to the blacksmithing trade, and on the completion of his apprenticeship he returned to Preble county, Ohio, and es- tablished himself in business in Eaton, first in partnership with Joseph Wasson, who was the first blacksmith that located in Eaton, and later in his own shop. Ambitious to excel in all he undertook, he very soon ac- quired the reputation of being one of the best artificers in his craft in the country. Consequently his labors to meet all the re- quirements of his customers overtaxed his strength, and he was compelled, on account of ill health, to relinquish the business of blacksmithing in the year 1835. He then turned his attention to medicine, and after studying for three years under the precep- torship of his brother-in-law, Dr. Jessy Paramour, he commenced practicing as a physician in Eaton, in the year 1838. In his new profession, as in all else that he undertook, his aim was to attain the highest degree of excellence. Having a compre- hensive intellect, retentive memory, ready perception and untiring industry, he very soon stood in the front rank among his con- temporaries. He continued in the practice of medicine in this place about twelve years, a part of which time he was in partnership with Dr. Paramour, a part of the time with
Dr. Crume and the remainder of the time alone. Dr. Minor was a second time brought to face the fact that his health would not permit him to endure the hardships and ex- posures incident to a country practice, and in the year 1851 he relinquished the practice of his profession. He later engaged in mer- cantile business-first in the dry-goods trade and then in groceries and drugs. In the year of 1871 he retired from all active business pursuits and devoted his time to the care of his property, which industry and integrity and business sagacity had enabled him to accumulate.
On July 11, 1839, he married Miss La- vina C. Hollady, a daughter of James Hol- lady, of Preble county, and a granddaugh- ter, on her mother's side, of William Bruce, the original proprietor of the site on which Eaton now stands. A son and three daugh- ters were the fruits of this union. Only the two younger daughters are now living- the older, Mrs. Mary E. Farr, and the younger, Mrs. Nettie F. Lovette.
Dr. Minor may be truly said to have been a self-made man. Reared in compara- tive poverty and obscurity, under the most limited educational facilities, and without influential friends in early life to advance his interests, by his own unaided, but in- domitable energy and perseverance, he at- tained an unusual competency for his ad- vanced age, and an influential standing in the community in which he lived. His hab- its from youth to old age were the very best. Dr. Minor was a gentleman of superior judgment, great caution and remarkable thoroughness in all that he did. Modest and unassuming, he was positive in his con- victions and he conscientiously carried them out, impelled by that highest motive, he "felt that it was right to do so." Integrity,
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