A Biographical history of Preble County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 68

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 622

USA > Ohio > Preble County > A Biographical history of Preble County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 68

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at one time it comprised two hundred acres, but of this he has donated some to the Cin- cinnati Northern Railroad and sold some to Ingomar Station, so that it is now one hun- dred and ninety-five acres in extent. In 1888, in partnership with H. S. Glander, he built a warehouse in Ingomar. This they rented for three years, but since that time Mr. Unger has occupied it and is successfully engaged in the grain business there in con- nection with his son-in-law, H. G. Durkle. He rents the tobacco warehouse, which was built the year following the erection of the other one. He has been largely interested in the cultivation of tobacco, wheat and corn, and he formerly raised and sold some hogs, although he did not make a specialty of rais- ing stock. For thirty years or more he has manufactured sorghum molasses. An active business man, he has through his well di- rected efforts gained a very comfortable con1- petence and is now a retired farmer.

On the 22d of November, 1862, occurred the marriage of Mr. Unger and Miss Anna Hattie Glander, a daughter of John Harmon Glander. She was born in Tetinghausen, in the dukedom of Brunswick, Germany, De- cember 13, 1837, and with her parents came to America in 1855, the family locating in Lanier township, Preble county. Four chil- dren have been born of their union: Mada; Henry H., who is operating the home farm and married Altha Shafer, by whom he has one child, Wanda Estella; Anna Rebecca, the wife of H. G. Durkle, a grain merchant and station agent at Ingomar, by whom she has three children-Grace E., Ethel and John Howard; and Ella, the wife of John H. Ehler, a merchant at West Alexandria, by whom she had one son, Luther Lawronce. Mr. Unger is an active member of the Lu- theran church and for many years has served

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therein as elder. His wife and children aro also members of the same church. In poli- tics he is rather liberal in his views, but usually votes with the Democracy. His son, Honry H., is now land appraiser of Lanier township, to which office he was elected in November, 1899, for a ten-years term. Mr. Unger is a good man, a representative cit- izen, a prosperous farmer and a Christian gontleman. His success has resulted entirely from his unfaltering purpose, his marked energy and his sound business judgment, and to-day he is recognized among the most sub- stantial residents of Preble county.

THOMAS FENTON.

Thomas Fenton follows agricultural pur- suits in Israel township and has attained a fair degree of success, acquiring a comforta- ble competence through his unflagging in- dustry and unfaltering perseverance. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, February 2, 1843, and is a grandson of Stacy Fenton, a Baptist minister, whose birth occurred in New Jersey. Becoming a preacher, he car- ried the "glad tidings of great joy" to many congregations in New Jersey and Ohio and died in Butler county, of the latter state, when about sixty-five years of age. On coming to the west he entered a half-section of land, which remained in the possession of the fam- ily until 1878, and forty acros of the tract is still owned by John Fenton, a brother of our subject. Stacy Fenton, Jr., the father of our subject, was born in Maryland, in June, 1808, and accompanied his parents on their various removals through the days of his boyhood and youth.

In Ross township, Butler county, about 1833, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary

Simpson, who was born in Maine, in 1816, and when a little maiden of six years was brought to the west by her parents, the fam- ily locating near Mount Carmel, Indiana. Eight children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, four sons and four daughters; but one daughter died in infancy. The others are: Mary, the wife of Henry Walling, a farmer of Edgar county, Illinois, by whom she has three children; Thomas, of this re- view; John, a capitalist of Oxford, Butler county, Ohio, who has one son, Harry A., now a prominent lawyer of Indianapolis; Jamos, who owns four hundred acres of land in Edgar county, Illinois, where he re- sides with his wife and two sons; Amanda, the wife of Henry Hall; Cordelia, the wife of George Anthony, of Cicero, Indiana, by whom she has one son ; and Ella, the wife of John Shafor. The father of the above named children was called to his final rest in 1890, and the mother passed away in Illi- nois, November 10, 1895, while visiting her children in that state. Their remains were interred side by side in Scipio cemetery. They began their domestic life in limited circumstances, but their united efforts enabled them to acquire a comfortable com- petence and to assist their children in getting a start in life. In every relation they were true to the trusts reposed in them and were recognized as people of the highest respect- ability who well merited the regard which was uniformly given them.

Thomas Fenton pursued his education in the common schools, which he attended at intervals until seventeen years of age, but his entire attendance probably did not amount to more than three years. Reading, experience and observation, supplemented by an observing eye and retentive memory, howover, have made him a well informed

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man. At the age of twenty he left home to secure work as a farm hand by the month in Franklin county, Indiana, receiving thir- teen dollars per month in compensation for his services. During the war he was paid thirty dollars per month. He worked for five years as a farm hand and then engaged in farming on his own account for one year prior to his marriage, which important event in his life occurred on the 20th of December, 1869, Miss Catherine Abrams becoming his wife. She is a native of Franklin county, Indiana, born on the Ist of August, 1844, and a daughter of Griffin Abrams, now de- ceased. Her father was a farmer, who also operated a sawmill. In his family were three sons and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton began their domestic life upon the William Lovett farm in Franklin county, Indiana, which property our subject rented for eleven years. His industry and econ- omy during that time enabled him to ac- quire some capital, and in 1882 he purchased eighty acres of land in Israel township, Pre- ble county, for which he paid seventy dol- lars per acre. Upon the place is a good res- idence and large barn, and Mr. Fenton erected othor necessary and substantial outbuildings, so that he has ample shelter for grain, stock and farm implements. His property is well improved and is now one of the most desirable farms of the neighbor- hood, its well tillod fields yielding to him a good return for the care and labor he be- stows upon them. As do most of the peo- ple of this section of the country, he makes a specialty of the cultivation of corn and wheat, realizing from four to eight hundred bush- els of wheat and from eighteen hundred to two thousand bushels of corn annually. He is also engaged in the raising of hogs, of the Poland China breed, and sells about fifty 32

head annually. Ho works four horses in the operation of his farm, has from ten to twelve head of cattle and a flock of fine Shropshire sheep. The latest improved ma- chinery is used in the cultivation of his farm. He has his own feed mill, a fine or- chard of apples and other fruit and in fact all modern accessories and conveniences are found upon his place.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Fenton has been blessed with two children, but Ora died at the age of twenty-four years. She was a good student and a few weeks later would have graduated in the Richmond Business Col- lege. Otho, now a youth of seventeen years, is attending school at College Corner. Mr. Fenton is a Democrat in his political views, but has never sought or desired office, pre- ferring to devote his energies to his business cares, in which he has met with creditable success. He and his wife attend the Presby- terian church of College Corner and their lives are in harmony with their professions. Mr. Fenton certainly deserves great credit for what he has achieved. With limited ed- ucational privileges and no other advantages to aid him in his business career, he started out in the humble capacity of a farm hand and has steadily worked his way upward, un- deterred by the obstacles and difficulties in his path. His resolution has enabled him to ovorcome these, and to-day he is accounted one of the well-to-do and representative farmers of his community.

JEROME W. WOOLERY.

Among the progressive and enterprising farmers of Harrison township none are bet- ter known or more highly respected than the gentleman whose name introduces this re- view. His home is on section 28, where he

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owns and operates forty acres of well im- proved and highly cultivated land.

Mr. Woolery was born on the 20th of July, 1841, in Westminster, Carroll county, Maryland, of which county his parents, Christopher John and Matilda ( Beaver) Woolery, were also natives. His great- grandparents on both sides are supposed to have been born in Germany and camo to the new world prior to the Revolutionary war, locating in Maryland. His grandfathers, Jacob Stofel Woolery and John Beaver, were both soldiers of the war of 1812, and the lat- ter was a prominent man and large stock- dealer of Carroll county, driving his stock in those early days to Baltimore, Maryland, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. The mother of our subject died when he was about seven- teen years of age, but the fathor, who was born in 1818, lived to the ripe old age of seventy-two years. He was a farmer by oc- cupation and a Democrat in politics prior to the civil war, when he became a stanch Re- publican. During that conflict he served as a detective and provost marshal. Religiously he was a member of the Methodist Protestant church, served as a class-leader, and took a very active part in church work.

Jerome W. Woolery is the second in order of birth in a family of ten children, seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. He was reared and educated in his native county and remained at home until March, 1861. He then went to New Jersey, where he operated a truck farm be- longing to his uncle, Nimrod Woolery, who was the judge of the orphans' court of Phil- adelphia, Pennsylvania, and while in 'New Jersey, October 15, 1861, he enlisted for the government in Company K, Ninth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry Sharpshooters, as a private. He was in the service for three

ycars and three months, and participated in twenty-nine battles. He received three slight wounds and was ill for a short time, but was with his company in every campaign with one exception, and in that no fighting was done. He was honorably discharged at Trenton, New Jersey, in 1864, and returned to Carroll county, Maryland, where he turned his attontion to farming.

On the IIth of September, 1865, Mr. Woolery was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Orendorff, who also was born in West- minster, Maryland, March 29, 1846, a daugh- ter of David and Rebecca (Reese) Oren- dorff. She was the fourth child in their family of twelve children, eight of whom reached years of maturity. To Mr. and Mrs. Woolery were born the following children : Tabitha E., now the wife of Charles A. Bur- ris, of Montgomery county, Ohio; Mary E. F., the wife of William Haines, of the same county ; Elias Edwin, who married Anna M. Parks and lived in Harrison township, Preble county ; Ada M., the wife of Stephen Welbaum, of Preble county ; Dora R., Hat- tie L., and Benjamin H., all at home; and Jerome W. and Laura B., who each died at the age of one year, six months and five days.

Mr. Woolery continued his residence in his native state until 1880, when he removed to Taylorsburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, but later spont a year in Miami county, after which he returned to Montgomery county, this time locating near Phillipsburg. He next came to West Baltimore, Preble county, where he made his home about eight years, and at the end of that time purchased the farm on section 28, Harrison township, which has since been his home. Through- out his active business life he has followed general farming.

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In political sentiment he is a Republican and has efficiently served as a school director in his district. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Lewis- burg, of which he has been a trustee many years, and also belongs to Parmalee Horn Post, No. 622, G. A. R., of Lewisburg, of which he has been the chaplain eight years ; Libanus Lodge, No. 80, F. & A. M .; Ithaca Lodge, No. 677, I. O. O. F .; and the Daugh- ters of Rebekah, to which Mrs. Woolery also bolongs.

ROBERT J. BROWN.

Robert J. Brown makes his home on the farm where his birth occurred, near Morn- ing Sun, and is a representative of one of the old families of the community. He pursued his elementary education in the village and afterward enjoyed superior advantages in the Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, at which institution he was graduated in 1862. Throughout the period of his youth he re- mained at home, and on the 13th of May, 1864, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he voluntered for four months' service in Com- pany A, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Ohio Infantry, in which he held the rank of cor- poral. He took part in the skirmish at Cum- berland, Maryland, but was mostly engaged on guard duty. He is now engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits on the old home farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty- three acres. The property has always been in possession of the family since the original parchment deed was conveyed by the govern- ment to the purchaser. It bears date De- cember 30, 1811, and is signed by James Madison, then the President of the United States, and by James Monroe, secretary of state. Mr. Brown and his family have

moved but once and that was when they left the old house in which the parents began their domestic life after their marriage. They took up their abode in their new res- idence in 1891, which is situated on the farm. The old home is now occupied by tenants and is kept in good condition. Mr. Brown fol- lows mixed farming, as did his father, who at one time was the owner of eight good farms, four in Indiana, two -in Iowa and two in Ohio. These he sold, however, some years prior to his death.

On the 20th of October, 1875, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Vinolia A. Shaw, a daughter of Robert and Marietta (Robertson) Shaw. The father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1830, and in September, 1862, during the civil war, enlisted, becom- ing a private in the ranks of the Thirtieth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. He died August 9, 1862, of typhoid fever, which he contracted in the rifle pits before Vicksburg, and his remains were interred there. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Shaw was again married, becoming the wife of Nathan Sloan, who died in 1882, since which time she has resided with her daughter, Mrs. Brown. Our subject and his wife lost one daughter, Helen, who died at the age of five months. Their only living child is Ethel E., who is now a student in Monmouth College, of Monmouth, Illinois. Mr. Brown is a Republican in his political affiliations and he and his family are members of the United Presbyterian church.

ELIJAH FIELD.

Elijah Field, who carries on farming in Somers township, was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, June 3, 1852. His fa- ther, Charles R. Field, was born August 17,

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1822, on the farm where the grandfather of our subject was reared from the time he was eight years of age. The father bore the name of Elijah Field and was born Decem- ber 19, 1793, while the grandfather, Benja- min Field, was born June 21, 1771. He was the son of Elijah and Mary Field, the former born June 24, 1739. His death occurred in New Jersey, April 28, 1828. This record is obtained from an old family Bible which was published over one hundred years ago and is printed in the old style of literature, with the long s. It was purchased about 1817, but belongs to the first editon that was dedicated fully and sacredly to King James 1, of Eng- land. Benjamin Field, the grandfather of our subject, died November 15, 1826. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Robbins, was born April 6, 1774, and their first child was Elijah Field. This worthy couple reared but three of their seven chil- dren, two daughters and one son. Benja- min Field had but one son and one daughter and the latter never married. Elijah Field was maried November 7, 1821, to Miss Lydia Hendrickson, and they had two children : Charles R., who was born August 17, 1822; and Harriet Ann, who was born November 2, 1829.

Charles R. Field, the father of our sub- ject, married Mary Ann Miller, of Mon- mouth county, New Jersey, who was born September 22, 1825. Their marriage oc- curred December 4, 1845. Her parents were Thomas and Tabitha ( Britton) Miller, and they had ten children, eight sons and two daughters, nine of whom reached mature years and are still living, with the exception of Mary Emma, who died at the age of twenty-five. The members of the family who still survive are Anna M., the wife of John Chamberlain; George R .; Edward B .;

Elijah; Thomas; Charles B .; Abraham M., who is operating the old home farm of two hundred acres ; and William H. All of these children reside in New Jersey near the old homestead and have small families aver- aging two children each. The mother sur- vived the father some years and died in 1895, at the age of seventy. The grand- father and his wife died when eighty years. of age, the former on his eightieth birthday. All were buried in New Jersey in what is. known as the East Branch Quaker church- yard, the grandfather having been a mem- ber of that church.

Elijah Field, of whom we write, ob- tained a good common school education and was reared amid the refining influences of a good home. He spent his youth upon the farm, remaining with his parents until twenty-eight years of age, when he was mar- ried on the 6th of November, 1878, to Miss. Mary Chamberlin, of Warren county, Ohio, a daughter of Stephen J. and Nancy T. (Anderson) Chamberlin. Her father was a native of New Jersey, a farmer by occu- pation, who died near Franklin, Ohio, in 188I, at the age of sixty-nine years, leaving a widow and six children. Mrs. Chamber- lin still resides on the home farm in Warren county.

Mr. Field resided near Franklin, Ohio, for three years, and in 1881 came to Preble county, taking up his abode upon their pres- ent farm in Somers township in March, 1882. This farm comprises one hundred and thirty- four acres of choice land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation and yields a good return for the enterpris- ing efforts of the owner, who is a progres- sive agriculturist. In addition to his general farming he engages in the breeding of blood- ed stock, much of which is registered, in-

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cluding Hereford cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. He is the only man in the county raising Hereford cattle. He has on hand from ten to twenty-five head of registered hogs and has sold specimens as high as one hundred dollars per head. He made one sale of seven for seven hundred dollars. He breeds six or eight sows, with two males. He has raised about sixty head of hogs annually, which bring him from ten to twenty-five dollars per head. His methods of farming and stock-raising are progressive and enter- prising and in his business dealings he is honorable, enjoying the warm rogard of those with whom he is brought in contact.

Mr. and Mrs. Field have two children : Stephen J., a youth of seventeen years; and Mary A., a maiden of thirteen, who was named for her grandmother. Theirs is one of the most atractive and convenient homes in the locality, having been thoroughly re- modeled inside and out. Porches have been built, steam-heating apparatus has boen put in, and everything is modern and con- venient.

Mr. Field was reared in the faith of the Whig party, was afterward a Republican and is now independent in politics. He neither seeks nor desires office, preferring to give his attention to his business. His wife is a member of the Baptist church. He belongs to the Wayne County Farmers' Club. The first and preliminary meeting for this association was held at his home in January, 1893, and tho club was organized at the home of Josiah Flory on the 15th of February following, the members being Mar- tin Sayler, F. Lantis, Josiah Flory, Richard Francis, R. C. Pugh, Elijah Field, Samuel Young, W. E. Murphy, W. K. Swan, Clay- ton Pugh, who has since resignod; and since the organization J. E. Anderson and G. W.

Hanger have become members. Mr. Field was its first president, filling that position in 1893, 1894 and 1895. He is one of the wide-awake, progressive, active and ener- getic agriculturists of his community and his name is closely associated with advancement along agricultural and stock-raising lines. He is held in high esteem for his sterling worth, his reliable business methods and his fidelity to the duties of citizenship and in this volume he well deserves mention.

JAMES SCOTT BROWN.

James Scott Brown is a worthy represent- ative of the agricultural interests of Israel township. He was born near Morning Sun, November 23, 1830, and is a son of James Brown and a grandson of Nathan Brown, both natives of South Carolina. He is the second child and son in a family of twelve children, of whom four sons and four daugh- ters reached years of maturity.

Mr. Brown of this review remained at home upon the farm and received an ordi- nary district-school education. He has al- ways followed the pursuit to which he was reared. He was married October 11, 1859, to Julia A. Robertson, a native of Spring Hill, Docatur county, Indiana, born in July, 1841. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Robertson, were married in South Carolina, and removed to Iowa in 1846. Our subject and his wife located on their present farm of one hundred and fifty-eight acres, which had been purchasol by his father in 1852, They located here in 1859, and here they have reared their nine children, namely : William M., a physician now in the mining regions of Idaho, whither he wont from Omaha, Nebraska, began his practice in the latter state and six years later went to the

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northwest. He was educated at Oxford, Ohio, in Monmouth, Illinois, and Cincinnati. He married Emma Sherman, who was born on the Hudson, in New York, and they have two daughters. J. Clayton Robertson, the second son, resides on the old home prop- erty. He wedded Mary Edna Gilmer and they have one son and one daughter. Ber- tha E. is the wife of C. C. McCreary, and they have one living daughter. N. Stanley is a commercial traveler residing in Omaha, Nebraska. J. Arthur Scott went to the west in 1898 for his health, leaving the Xenia, Ohio, Theological Seminary, where he was then pursuing a course of study. Ina M., Edith Etta and Lois Julia are at home, and Oliver Elliott died at the age of six years.

During the civil war Mr. Brown mani- fested his loyalty to the government by en- listing, in 1864, in response to the call for one-hundred-day men. He joined Com- pany A, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Ohio Infantry, of which he was a lieutenant before the call. He went to the front as a sergeant, for on joining the United States service all of the officers resigned and their regiment was reorganized. Upon his return Mr. Brown resumed farming and is regarded as one of the enterprising agriculturists of the community. Wheat and corn are his leading crops. He rotates his crops, planting his corn on clover sod and then raises one or two crops of wheat, after which he "seeds it down." He harvests from six to fifteen hun- dred bushels of wheat annually and has about thirty or forty acres planted with corn, which averages fifty bushels to the acre. He follows progressive methods of farming and his enterprising efforts have secured to him a comfortable competence.

In his political views Mr. Brown is a Re- publican and gives an earnest and active

support to the party. He and his family are members of the United Presbyterian church, and he belongs to that class of enterprising citizens who withhold their support from no measure or movement which they believe will prove of public benefit. His life has been quietly passed, yet his history lacks not that interest which is ever found in the record of the man who is true to his duty, to him- self, his neighbor and his country.

NATHAN L. RAMSEY.

The excellent farm which is owned by Nathan L. Ramsey is pleasantly located on section 14, Israel township, not far from the village of Morning Sun. This is the old Ramsey homestead, a place endeared to him through the associations of his boyhood as well as his later years. He was born on this farm sixty-nine years ago, his natal day being April 30, 1830. His father, George Ramsey, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, January 21, 1801, and in 1806 he was brought to Preble county by his parents, William and Martha (Ochletree) Ramsey. The grandfather was born in Ireland, in 1749, and in early life crossed the broad At- lantic to the new world, taking up his abode in Virginia, whence he emigrated to Ken- tucky and in 1806 to Ohio, settling on sec- tion 14, Israel township, Preble county. He was twice married, his second wife being Martha Ochletree, who was born in Vir- ginia in 1769. He died upon the old home- stead here in 1837, in his ninety-first year, and she passed away in 1850. They had seven children, but only one is now living, the venerable David Ramsey, of Fair Haven, now in his eighty-ninth year. He was the youngest of the family and has attained a greater age than any of the others, although

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A Biographical history of Preble County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 68

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 622

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 622