USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 26
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The maiden name of the wife of William B. Hanley was Mary Ann Gallagher, born in Leeland, Enniskillen, Ireland. She survived her hus- band, dying at the age of seventy-eight years. They were the parents of several children, as follows: Anna, wife of W. B. Thorpe, of Auburn, New York; William B .; Mary, who married John Boulger, and spent her last years in New York City; Martin James, in the employ of the Erie Railroad Company, resides in New York City; Joseph M., the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; George, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Frank, who died when twenty years old; and John. William B., the oldest son, served four years in the Union army during the Civil war, first in the cavalry, and later in the infantry, and is now a real estate dealer in Tacoma, Washington. John entered the Union army as drummer when but a mere boy, and was with Sherman in his famous march to the sea, later continuing with his command through the Carolinas to Washington, where he took part in the Grand Review. He now lives in Dayton, Ohio.
Having completed the course of study in the public schools of Chilli- cothe, Joseph M. Hanley began the study of medicine in the office of Doctors Waddle & Cearce. He later attended lectures in Cincinnati, at
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the Ohio Medical College, and in the spring of 1877 was graduated from the Columbus Medical College. The ensuing two years Doctor Hanley was connected with the Hospital for the Insane at Athens, Ohio, being assistant physician the first year, and assistant superintendent of the institution the last year. Returning to Chillicothe in 1879, Doctor Hanley has been in practice here since, being one of the longest estab- lished and best known physicians in this part of the state.
Doctor Hanley married, June 25, 1878, Mary I. Bier, a native of Chillicothe, being a daughter of Joseph Bier, and a granddaughter of Andre Boehr, as the name was originally spelled, a pioneer of Ross County. Andre Boehr was born, in October, 1800, in Illhausen, Alsace, which then formed a part of France, and was there brought up and educated. Embarking on board a sailing vessel in 1833, he came to the United States, landing in New Orleans after an ocean voyage of forty-four days. From there he came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Portsmouth, Ohio, thence to Chillicothe. Locating in Union Town- ship, Ross County, he bought a tract of land on Bier Run, and began life in this country as a farmer. A few years later he opened his house, which was situated on what is now the Frankfort Pike, to the public, and was there a resident until his death, in 1870. The place in which he located became known as Biers Run, and the postoffice there estab- lished bore that name until discontinued on account of the establishment of the rural delivery service. Andre Boehr married Madeline Peterman, who was born in the same part of Alsace that he was, and who came to this country in the same vessel that he did. She was born in 1808, and died in 1876. Of the ten children born of their union, six grew to years of maturity, as follows: Joseph, Mary, John, Elizabeth, Annie, and Lena.
Joseph Bier, Mrs. Hanley's father, was born April 3, 1835, on the home farm in Union Township, Ross County, and as a boy and youth assisted in its management. Entering the employ of John Keezer at the age of eighteen years, he served an apprenticeship of three years at the blacksmith's trade, and the following five years operated a smithy of his own at Biers Run. About 1858 he located in Chillicothe, and from that time until 1870 was engaged in the grocery business on South Paint Street. He then opened a shoe store on North Paint Street, and at the end of ten years sold out at an advantage, and having invested his money in land lying on the Scioto River, a mile and a half north of Chillicothe, he was there successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1897. Leaving his son in charge of the estate in that year, he has since lived in Chillicothe, retired from active business cares. He mar- ried, in 1856, Mary Zind, who was born near Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1858, a daughter of Stephen and Frederline Zind, natives of Germany, and to them four children were born, as follows: Mary Isabell, wife of Doctor Hanley ; Thomas, a resident of Columbus; Catherine, wife of Neal Barmann, of Savannah, Missouri; and Edward, engaged in farming in Ross County. Mr. and Mrs. Bier are members of Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church. The union of Doctor and Mrs. Hanley has been brightened by the birth of five children, namely: Joseph C., who died
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at the age of five years; Mary, Joseph Carroll, William Lawrence and Editha. Mary married Harry Gunning, and they have three children, Helen, Harry Joseph, and John Carroll. William L. married Anna Rearley.
As a young man Doctor Hanley joined a military company organized in Chillicothe soon after the close of the Civil war, the Sill Guards, which was one of the five companies organized under the state laws. among the others having been the Cleveland Grays, of Cleveland, and the Lightly Grays, of Cincinnati. He was made corporal of the com- pany, with which he was associated for five years. The doctor was later made assistant surgeon of the Sixth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, commanded by Col. John Entrekin, and was with his regiment in Cincinnati at the time of the courthouse riots. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs, and for two years served as a member of the Chillicothe Board of Education, but on account of his professional duties was forced to decline a re-election. He served as a member of the local board of health from 1901 until 1904, and has now served in the same office since 1912.
The doctor is a member of the Ross County Academy of Medicine, and of the Ohio State Medical Society. Fraternally, Doctor Hanley is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; of Flaget Council, Knights of Columbus; of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 1071, Ancient Order of Hibernians; and is a demitted member of Chillicothe Aerie, Order of Eagles. The doctor was one of the organizers, and the first grand knight, of Flaget Council, which he has represented as state delegate from its formation until the present time. He was its delegate to the national convention held in St. Louis in 1908; to the convention that met in Detroit in 1911; and is alternate delegate to the convention in Seattle in 1915. Doctor Hanley and his family are members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.
THOMAS J. ORR, JR. Since its establishment in Ross County prior to the War of 1812, the Orr family has unfailingly sustained the most intelligent and practical interests of community and county, and has been equally prominent in manipulating the implements of the agricul- turist and in discharging the duties of citizenship. Its men have demon- strated the worth of industry and integrity and its women have reared their children to be fair, honest and considerate in their dealings with their fellow-men. It was in such an atmosphere of encouragement that Thomas Orr, Jr., was reared by his parents, Zebulon and Mary Priscilla (Purdum) Orr, in the home in Springfield Township, Ross County, where he was born August 1, 1855.
The great-grandfather of Mr. Orr was James Orr, who came to Ross County among its earliest settlers, and who here died and was buried at Schooley's Station, in Liberty Township, in 1802. His son, Thomas Orr, was born in the East, was a boy when he went with the family to South Carolina, and thence to Virginia and finally came to Ohio. As soon as he reached manhood, Thomas Orr entered land from the United
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States Government in Liberty Township, but did not live there long, soon changing his place of residence to Springfield Township, where he located properties in 1812 and 1820, the patents for these tracts still being in the possession of Thomas Orr, Jr. In all he owned 320 acres, or a half section, and was considered a fairly well-to-do man for his day and locality. He was an ardent supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a regular attendant, and died in the faith.
Zebulon Orr, father of Thomas Orr, was one of a large family of children, and was born in Springfield Township, April 22, 1830. Feeling that he could better his condition if alone, he left home in young man- hood, but returned to his home in Springfield Township and secured a tract of 136 acres. On this property he resided for about eight years, and for seven years following made his home where Mrs. Ellen Allen now resides, but this he also sold to.purchase the present home farm of 200 acres, lying on Chillicothe Rural Route No. 2, on Londonderry Pike and in Liberty Township, five and one-half miles east of the City of Chillicothe. Here he has since made his home and carried on his farming operations, although he is now practically retired from the labor of the farm and is enjoying the reward of rest and comfort that is his due for his years of steady and unremitting toil. Mary Purdum was born also in Springfield Township, in 1832. She has been the mother of seven children, as follows: Thomas, Jr .; John N., who is a resident of Cali- fornia; Mary E., who lives with her parents; Sarah E., who has followed the vocation of an educator throughout her life and is now assistant principal of the Butte (Montana) High School; Laura E., also a teacher, now in charge of a school in Ross County; Lillian E., who is the widow of John E. Heizer, of Norwood, Ohio; and James H., a resident of Liberty Township. The father of these children is a rather quiet man, caring nothing for public honors, but rather preferring to devote him- self to his farm and his family. He is held in the highest esteem in the community, where there are many to testify to his generosity, his kind- ness and his many sterling qualities of mind and heart.
Thomas Orr received his education in the public schools, and has always been a farmer. Like his father, he has found his greatest satis- faction among his fields and in the family circle, but he has been called upon to serve as a member of the school board and as a trustee of Liberty township. In his political affiliations he is a republican. With the other members of the family, he attends the Concord Methodist Epis- copal Church, and is serving as a member of the official board. Mr. Orr has shown that he is a good farmer, with a knowledge of every depart- ment of his calling; he is a business man who is maintaining the family name for integrity; this is a combination which makes for a fine and helpful citizenship, and one particularly worthy of emulation.
O. J. SMITH. Three generations of the Smith family have contributed to the agricultural development of Ross County, the first represented by Michael Smith, the second by Abel Smith and the third by O. J. Smith. All have been men of sterling integrity of character who have helped
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their communities grow as well as to develop along civic, educational, moral and social lines.
O. J. Smith, of the third generation, who is living on his farm of thirty-five and one-half acres in Liberty Township, and also the owner of 170 acres in Springfield Township, was born near the village of Londonderry, Ross County, March 29, 1868, a son of Abel and Hannah A. (Jones) Smith. His father was also born in Liberty Township, a son of Michael Smith, who emigrated to Ross County as a single man and took up land from the United States Government near Londonderry. With the thrift that was his inheritance from his German ancestors, he became a well-to-do man farmer, and at the same time was known as a good and honorable citizen. A good constitution, an active, well-balanced mind and an upright character seem to have been the endowment of Abel Smith. His parents gave their son such advantages of education as their isolated and unsettled condition would permit, and as soon as he was old enough he lent his aid in the submission of the woods and the soil. When the Civil war came on he enlisted in a regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry and served bravely for eighteen months, when he became disabled and received his honorable discharge. Not long after his return from the war he was married and at that time settled near Londonderry, but after four years went to Missouri, where a like period was passed. Returning in 1874, Mr. Smith rented a farm here for a number of years, and then purchased the farm in Liberty Township on which he now lives. In politics a republican, he did not desire public office, but preferred to give his entire attention to his own affairs. His religious connection was with the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years he served as class leader at Concord. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of five children: Forney, a resident of Londonderry ; O. J., of this review; Ammy L., who is the wife of William Miller, of Liberty Township; Flora B., the wife of Hezekiah Collins, also of that township; and Bertha, who died at the age of seventeen years.
O. J. Smith received a district school education and grew up on the home farm, where he remained until his marriage. This event took place December 19, 1894, on which date he was united with Miss Ida Orr, who was born in Springfield Township, Ross County, daughter of Presley and Martha (Bradbury) Orr. Mr. Orr, a native of Springfield Town- ship, died in May, 1912, while Mrs. Orr still survives and makes her home at Chillicothe. There were three children in the Orr family : Edward B., of Springfield Township; Bertha, the wife of Jacob Cald- well, of Jefferson Township; and Ida. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Smith settled in Londonderry Village, where Mr. Smith was for two years engaged in the grocery business, after which he removed to Jones Crossing and there established himself in a similar enterprise. This latter he conducted for a period of fifteen or sixteen years, and then, after a short period spent at Chillicothe, he returned to the vocation of his youth, that of farming. In February, 1913, he went back to the home place in Liberty Township, where he has remained ever since. He has a well developed and highly profitable farm, the operation of
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which he carries on in a scientific manner. He has well appointed and commodious buildings, appointments and improvements of the best which eloquently evidences his knowledge and good judgment in that direction. A republican in politics, he has not been tempted from his agricultural labors to seek public preferment, although always ready to assist any good cause. He is a member of the official board of the Methodist Epis- copal Church at Concord and Mrs. Smith also belongs to that congre- gation.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one son: Robert Orr, a graduate of the Chillicothe High School, a teacher in the public schools for one year in Liberty Township, and now engaged in farming. He married Miss Marguerite Jones, and they have one son,-Robert Orr Smith, Jr.
CHARLES HESS. Comparatively a newcomer in Ross County, Charles Hess has none the less identified himself with farming activities of Liberty Township so progressively and successfully that he is well accounted one of the foremost residents of that locality.
His farm comprises 242 acres, a part of the old Drummond home- stead. It is situated on Rural Route No. 3 near Gillespieville. Mr. IIess was a practical farmer in West Virginia, where his family had lived for generations, but finally sold out his interests in that state and came to join his fortunes with Ross County, where he has lived for the past fifteen years.
He was born December 27, 1854, in Upshur County, West Virginia, near the county seat of Buckhannon. His parents were Abraham and Elizabeth (Lewis) Hess. His father was born in Monongahela County close to Morgantown, West Virginia, and grew to manhood near the line dividing the states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. At the age of twenty-three he went with his father, Peter Hess, to Upshur County, which was then largely a wilderness. Grandfather Peter IIess acquired 2,140 acres of land in that new district, and while busied with its devel- opment he died there. It was on a part of that large estate that Abraham Hess spent his years as a farmer. Elizabeth Lewis, his wife, was born and reared near Buckhannon in Upshur County, and her people were early residents there. Abraham Hess and wife had eight children : Mary, widow of Alexander Humphrey and living at Buckhannon, West Vir- ginia; Susan, who died in Missouri, the wife of Leonard Mills; Ellen, who died in Upshur County, West Virginia, the wife of Ezra Woodson; Jeremiah, who died in Upshur County; John A., now deceased, was clerk of the Circuit Court in Upshur County and had he lived to serve out his last term would have been in the office continuously twenty-four years; Charles; Abraham, who died in infancy; and W. V., who is a farmer near Buckhannon, West Virginia. The father of these children was a man of excellent ability, had a fine and even temperament, was judicious and highly respected in his community, though his quiet, unassuming disposition caused him to avoid any conspicuous place in affairs.
Mr. Charles Hess received his early education in the common schools
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near his father's home. He was reared on his father's farm and at the age of twenty-four, on August 17, 1878, he married Jennie Goodwin, a daughter of Elijah and Annie (Cutright) Goodwin.
After his marriage Mr. Hess and wife settled on a part of the old homestead, and eventually acquired a good farm of 168 acres. He lived there until he sold out to remove to Ross County. He arrived in Liberty Township November 3, 1902, and has since occupied his fine farm in that locality.
The eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Hess are: Iva, who is the wife of George Meeker of Harrison Township, Ross County; Alva, who lives in Liberty Township and married Eva Smith; Dela, who owns a farm in Liberty Township and married Ida Vest; Everett, who lives at home and married Rhoda Colmer; Orva, at home; Eva, wife of Tiffin Ault of Chillicothe; Ova and Virgil, both at home.
Mr. Hess is an active member of the Friends Church at Gillespieville and is one of the trustees of the society. He has always been active in church work and became a church member back in West Virginia. Politically he is a democrat. He is now serving as a member of the school board in his home township.
S. W. ARGANBRIGHT. A resident of Ross County for the past fifteen years, S. W. Arganbright has found the opportunity which an ambitious man craves in the fine farming community of Liberty Township. He owns and has developed one of the excellent farmsteads of that locality. His place of seventy acres is located a half mile west of Gillespieville on rural route No. 3. Mr. Arganbright is a man of progressive ideas, works his land systematically and profitably, and he and his wife are well thought of members of society in that community.
He represents a very old and honored name of Southern Ohio, and was born in Harrison township of Vinton County February 26, 1875. His parents were Madison and Margaret (Dixon) Arganbright. His father was also born in Harrison Township of Vinton County. The grandfather was George Arganbright, while the great-grandfather was Philip Arganbright. As a young married man Philip Arganbright came to Harrison Township in Vinton County about the year 1800. He was a pioneer there, and land being plentiful and cheap he took up and bought about 1,300 acres. He was busy with its improvement when he died, practically a young man. After his death his land was divided among his eight children, and George, on reaching his majority, took his share and after his marriage settled on his farm of fifty-eight acres and lived there until his death at the age of eighty-six years. George Argan- bright and wife had nine children. Of these the eldest was Madison Arganbright, who lived in Vinton County, Ohio, but is now in Iowa. He and his wife had four children, one of whom died in infancy. The other four are Janie L., wife of S. M. Cozad of Columbus, Ohio; Flora, wife of Henry Robertson of Ottumwa, Iowa; Jacob M. of Keokuk County, Iowa, and S. W. Arganbright.
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When Mr. Arganbright was five days old his mother died and after that he was reared in the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Arganbright, in Harrison Township of Vinton County. While living with them he acquired the advantages of the common schools, and stayed at home and took his share of responsibilities in looking after the farm until he was twenty-five years of age.
On March 13, 1900, Mr. Arganbright married Hattie M. Ratcliff, a daughter of John W. and Ella S. Ratcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Arganbright are the parents of six children: Thelma V., Edwin H., Raymond R., Mary Margaret, James M. and Ernest J. The two older children are now in high school, and the next two are in the public schools.
After his marriage Mr. Arganbright located on his pleasant home in Liberty Township, and has since been recognized as one of the substantial citizens of that locality. He is an active member of Gillespieville Camp No. 6555 of the Modern Woodmen of America, and for the past seven years has served as clerk of the camp. In politics he is a democrat and for six years held the office of township assessor.
WALTER J. ERSKINE. The family of which Walter J. Erskine is a member is one of the well known and prominent ones of Liberty Town- ship, and the farm on which he now resides is a property that has been developed into a fertile and productive country estate from its natural woods by those bearing the same name. Also Mr. Erskine was born in the same house which is now his home, and in it he has spent his entire life. Those holding the name of Erskine have established excellent agricultural records, and have been no less prominent in their citizen- ship, having been the incumbents of a number of high official positions within the gift of their fellow-citizens.
Walter J. Erskine was born in the old Erskine home, on rural route No. 2 out of Chillicothe, Londonderry Pike, Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio, January 5, 1869, and is a son of Samuel B. and Sarah (Bunn) Erskine. His father was born on a farm which is now within the city limits and a part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was given a good education, although the family was in moderate circumstances. As a youth he adopted the profession of school teaching, and it was as an educator that he came to Ross County, Ohio, in young manhood, prac- tically without means, but possessed of an abundance of energy and ambition. For the first two or three years of his residence in Ross County, he taught in the early schools, and during the summer months worked as a farmer and at other honorable employment. Thus he was able to accumulate enough capital to purchase 160 acres of wood land in Liberty Township, a tract not yet touched by the hand of man. With his primitive equipment and lack of means, he had a hard struggle to develop a paying property, but this was finally accomplished and he rapidly thereafter advanced to success. It was he who built the present residence and other buildings, although these have been some- what improved with the passing of the years and several have been enlarged in order to accommodate the growing equipment, stock and
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produce. Mr. Erskine continued to engage in operations on this prop- erty during the remainder of his life, and here passed away, as did also his wife. They left many to mourn their loss, as both had made a distinct impression upon their community and had engaged in many good works. Mr. Erskine was a democrat, and, as a good and capable citizen, of known integrity, was frequently called upon for public service. He was called to represent Ross County in the Ohio Legisla- ture, this being the same year that Larry O'Neil was elected congress- man. After capably representing Ross County for four years, he was made a justice of the peace, and for many years dispensed justice among his neighbors in a manner that did much to preserve the community peace and to therefore aid its progress. Although reared in a Presby- terian family, he adopted the faith of the Friends Church, and con- tinued a Quaker until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Erskine were the parents of eleven children, of whom eight are still living, as follows: William R., who is engaged in farming in Liberty Township; Estacia, of Chilli- cothe; Mary, wife of James Williams, of Liberty Township; George W., a minister with a charge in Kentucky; Belle, the wife of William Gal- breath; Hattie, the wife of Michael Barrett, of Crestline, Ohio; Alice, the wife of S. K. Clark; and Walter J.
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