USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 38
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Jeremiah Morrow was born in Warren County, Ohio, December 16, 1809, and being studiously inclined was given excellent educational advantages. Graduated from the Miami University, he was ordained as a minister of the Associate Reformed Church, and having assumed charge of the church of that denomination at Chillicothe, remained as its pastor until his death, July 26, 1843, while yet in the prime of life. He married, December 16, 1835, Sarah Johnson, who was born November
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23, 1812, in Chillicothe, a daughter of Henry Johnson, a pioneer of this city. She subsequently removed to Oxford, Ohio. Her death occurred April 9, 1893. She reared three children, namely : Jennie J., who mar- ried John L. Jones; Mary Elizabeth; and Jeremiah. One daughter, Sarah Ellen, died in infancy.
Jeremiah Morrow, the youngest child of his parents, and the only son, was born in Chillicothe, October 18, 1843, but a short time before the death of his father. Acquiring his rudimentary education in the public schools of Oxford, he was graduated from the Miami University with the class of 1861. At the outbreak of the Civil war, with several other of his college mates, he enlisted for three months in Company -. Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued with his regiment until receiving his honorable discharge, at the expiration of his term of enlistment. Subsequently enlisting in the United States navy, he served as assistant surgeon steward on Admiral Porter's flag ship, being on the vessel during several engagements. Honorably discharged at the expiration of his term of service, he returned to Oxford. Subsequently going to West Virginia, he was engaged in exploring the oil fields of that vicinity for a time, and then went to Vinton County, Ohio, where he was assistant manager of the Cincinnati Furnace until 1872. Since that year he has been actively engaged in developing, 'and operating, coal mines for himself and other promoters in Jackson County, at the present writing, in 1915, being a resident of Wellston. The maiden name of his wife was Louesa Treat Ford. She was born near New Haven, Connecticut, a daughter of Stephen T. Ford, and to them six children have been born, namely: Jeremiah, Henry, William Treat, Mary Louesa, Jennie Julia, Frank C., and Charles H.
Jeremiah Henry Morrow attended first the public schools of Jackson County, later continuing his studies at normal schools. Accept- ing a position as clerk in the Ohio Coal Exchange Company, at Columbus, he retained it for two years, and during the ensuing two years was engaged in developing the coal mines and mineral fields of Jackson and Vinton counties. In 1894 Mr. Morrow came to Chillicothe to accept the position of private secretary to the late William Trimble MeClin- tock, with whose estate he is now connected.
Mr. Morrow married, June 6, 1899, Nannie May Duddleson, who was born in Vinton County, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Jean (Apple- man) Duddleson, and into the household thus established two children have made their advent, Wayne and Inez. Politically, Mr. Morrow is affiliated with the republican party, and religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Morrow are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
DOUGLAS R. GRIFFIN. While his activities have at times led him into other fields of endeavor, the stable occupation of farming has enlisted the early as well as later interest of Douglas R. Griffin, whose entire life has been passed in Liberty Township. Through the exercise of inherent ability and good management he has been successful in the accumulation of 500 acres of land, and Kenmore Farm, near Vigo,
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boasts of as fertile soil and as modern improvements as are to be found in the county.
Douglas R. Griffin is a descendant of an old and patriotic Virginia family. His paternal grandparents were Samuel and Mary (Wesson) Griffin, whose ancestors fought in the Continental service during the War of the Revolution and subsequently received land grants in the military district of Ohio. Later, in the great war between the states, members of the same family, descendants of the Revolutionary heroes, espoused the cause of the Confederacy, which their state had promised to support. Some of them gave their lives to the "Lost Cause," while others lost their money and lands and were reduced from affluence to poverty. Among the latter was William Wesson, a cousin of Mary Wesson, who devoted a great fortune to the equipment of Confederate troops. Among the brothers of Samuel Griffin, all men of influence, were Sabot, who was a captain of volunteers in the Confederate army ; and John, also a Confederate officer, who, after the war, was made county judge of Brunswick County, Virginia.
Samuel Griffin and his wife came from Virginia early in their mar- ried life, in the year 1832, and, settling in Ross County, passed the rest of their lives there. Their son, Abdallah, the father of Douglas R. Griffin, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, accompanied his par- ents to Ross County, and upon reaching manhood was united in marriage with Miss Emza Ratcliff, daughter of Simon and Rachel (Dixon) Ratcliff, both natives of Chatham County, North Carolina. These par- ents came to Ross County as early as 1804, and Simon Ratcliff became a man of prominence and the owner of 600 acres of land. He was one of the county commissioners when the Chillicothe courthouse was built, and was remunerated, according to the scale of public expenditures of those days, with a salary of $35 per year. Abdallah Griffin and his wife continued to reside on their farm home during the remainder of their active lives, Mr. Griffin being quite extensively engaged in farming until his death in 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Griffin were the parents of four children, of whom two died in infancy, the survivors being: Douglas R., of this review; and Dolly, of North Carolina, who is the wife of Samuel Bowser and the mother of three children.
Douglas R. Griffin was born October 24, 1856, in Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio, was reared on his father's farm, and was given good educational advantages, attending the public schools of Liberty Town- ship and a commercial college at Dayton, Ohio. After beginning business life he was at different times engaged in the mercantile business and in operating a grist mill and lumber mill, but his principal occupation has always been farming, and, as stated, he is now the owner of Kenmore Farm, which contains 500 acres of as valuable land as can be found in Ross County. On this is located the colonial residence of the family, which was erected by his grandfather, Simon Ratcliff. For some years Mr. Griffin was engaged in breeding stock, but has given up this branch of agricultural work, and now superintends general farming operations on his property. His family is now at Chillicothe, where better educa-
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tional facilities are attainable. Mr. Griffin is a democrat, but has not sought favors at the hands of his party, and his only interest in politics is that taken by every good citizen.
On February 5, 1900, Mr. Griffin was married to Mrs. Allie F. Cain, nee Dobbins, whose parents were Mr. and Mrs. William I. Dobbins, formerly of Macksburg, Ohio, but later of Londonderry, at which place they resided at the time of her marriage. Her father was a soldier of the Union during the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Griffin there have been born two sons: Phil Douglas, born March 3, 1902, a sopho- more at the Chillicothe High School; and Champ Clark, born June 6, 1910.
JOSEPH ROY STITT. Secretary and treasurer of the Jardine Plumb- ing Company, Joseph Roy Stitt is one of the youngest business men of Chillicothe, but his business experience is much longer and more varied than his years would indicate, since he began when a very young boy to pay his own way and make his advancement in business affairs.
Born September 27, 1883, in Madison County, Ohio, he is the youngest child of James H. and Mattie E. (Green) Stitt. Both parents were born in North Carolina, and in 1883 the father brought his family to Ross County and located on Water Street in Chillicothe, where he was engaged in the bakery business for ten years. Later he turned his attention to market gardening, and followed that occupation steadily for a number of years, until he retired from active pursuits in 1911. He then removed to Green County, Ohio, where he still resides. There were four children in the family.
Joseph Roy Stitt received his education in the Chillicothe public schools and in the Chillicothe Business College. When fourteen years of age he began work as a retail clerk in a notion store. He remained there a year, and was still a boy in years when he was taken into the Jardine Plumbing Company as bookkeeper. He has continued steadily with that firm, which is the principal one in its line in Chillicothe, and when the business was incorporated in 1913 he was made one of the executive officials. The president is James H. Harps, the vice president is Graham Jardine, while Mr. Stitt has much of the detail management as secretary and treasurer.
Mr. Stitt is a member of the Catholic Church and of the Catholic orders of Knights of St. George and St. Ignace. He is independent in politics. On September 16, 1909, in Chillicothe, he married Miss Anna C. Bohn. They are the parents of two sons, Lawrence C., born September 2, 1911, and John Francis, born February 27, 1916.
THOMAS I. MURPHY. The City of Chillicothe lost one of its most stable and prosperous citizens in the death of Thomas I. Murphy in 1907, at the age of fifty-two.
Mr. Murphy was long identified with business affairs at Chillicothe, and was a native of that city. His parents, Patrick and Catherine (King) Murphy, were early settlers here. They had three sons. The
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son Frank was long actively associated with his brother Thomas in the wholesale liquor business at Chillicothe, and both were also stockholders in the Central National Bank. The other son, John, died in young manhood.
The late Thomas I. Murphy during his lifetime in Chillicothe was a representative citizen of the community. He was educated in the local schools, was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, a democrat in politics and a member of the Order of Elks.
On October 15, 1902, he married Eugenia M. Marzluff. Mrs. Murphy was born in Chillicothe, and is a granddaughter of a member of the prominent Barman family, elsewhere referred to in these pages. Mrs. Murphy was the only child of Ferdinand and Mary (Barman) Marzluff, who were represented among the early settlers of Ross County. Mrs. Murphy has one son, Francis F., now twelve years of age and a student in St. Mary's School and with a bright and promising future under the guidance of his mother. . Mrs. Murphy has one of Chillicothe's prettiest homes, located at 28 East Fifth Street, and considerable other real estate.
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CHARLES E. GOSSETT, whose varied activities as a farmer and business man have made him well known in Ross County, belongs to a very old and prominent family connection in Highland County. Mr. Gossett is now giving his active superintendence to his fine farm of 120 acres, situated in Paxton Township, on the Cincinnati Pike, 31/2 miles west of Bainbridge. His daily mail service comes over route No. 2 out of Bain- bridge. Accustomed from youth up to the business of farming, Mr. Gossett has found prosperity in that line, and his home place, known as Cool Springs Farm, is without question one of the best in point of improvement and fertility in Paxton Township.
Mr. Gossett was born not far from his present home, but in Highland County, Ohio, on November 29, 1857. His parents were Cary W. and Nancy (Rains) Gossett. The founder of the family in Ohio was Amoriah Gossett, his great-grandfather. Amoriah came into Highland County when it was a total wilderness, and was one of the very first to found a home in that section. He came to Ohio from Kentucky. Amoriah mar- ried Miss Lydia Evans. Theirs was the first marriage celebrated in Hillsboro, Highland County, and their son Ambrose, the grandfather of Charles E. Gossett, was the first white child born at Newmarket, Highland County, where the parents settled after their marriage. Amo- riah was a potter, a trade he followed in Newmarket for many years, but finally retired to Rainsboro in Highland County, and from there moved to Indiana, where he and his wife, Lydia, died.
Ambrose Gossett also learned the trade of potter, and made that the medium of a very useful service to his community during all the active years of his life. His home was at Rainsboro, in Highland County, and he married Miss Sophia Chaney.
The oldest son of Ambrose, Cary W. Gossett, was born in Highland County, and became a farmer. After his marriage to Nancy Rains he
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located on a farm, but in 1864 took his family west to Iowa. From that state he enlisted for service in the Union army, and he died while in the South and his body now rests in the National Cemetery at Chatta- nooga, Tennessee.
Nancy Rains, wife of Cary W. Gossett, was born in Highland County, Ohio. Her grandfather, John Rains, in the early days acquired the land on which he platted the Village of Rainsboro, which community has ever since honored his name and activities. Mr. Charles Gossett now has the original plat of the Village of Rainsboro, laid out by his maternal grandfather. Cary W. Gossett and wife had three children: Charles E., Ida., who died at the age of twenty years, and Marian, who died at the age of fifteen.
Charles E. Gossett was about seven or eight years of age when his father died. In 1866 his widowed mother returned with her family to Highland County, and occupied the farm they had left only a few years before. It was on that farm that Charles E. Gossett grew to man- hood. He received his education in the Village of Rainsboro. At the age of twenty years he left home and started to earn his own way in the world, first being employed at monthly wages.
On March 30, 1882, Mr. Gossett married Martha Jane Candill, a daughter of Mark and Annie (Musgrave) Candill. Mrs. Gossett was born in old Virginia, and when four years of age was brought by her parents to Highland County, Ohio. Her parents located on a farm close to Carmel, and her mother is now living at Dayton. Her father died in Xenia, Ohio, in 1916.
After his marriage Mr. Gossett engaged in farming on the Barrett land, close to Rainsboro for three years. He was a tenant there, and on leaving the farm came to Ross County and continued his career as a tenant in Paint Township. While there he formed a partnership for the threshing and sawmill business, and since the dissolution of that partnership, Mr. Gossett has continued the business alone. At times he has run three separate outfits, and his service in this connection is widely known over Ross and adjoining counties. He was actively engaged in this line of business altogether for thirty-seven years, continuing it until 1915. For five years Mr. and Mrs. Gossett lived in Paint Town- ship, and they then returned to Paxton Township, and on April 13, 1908, bought the Cool Springs Farm, where they still reside.
Mr. and Mrs. Gossett are the parents of three children: Harry, who is in the express and draying business at Bainbridge; Elsie, wife of W. R. Richter, of Roxabell, Ross County, and Fred E., still at home. In politics, Mr. Gossett is a republican, and for a number of years served as a director of the schools.
ALFRED MARION IMMELL. To mention the Immell name is to recall one of the earliest families to locate in Ross County. Israel Immell, grandfather of Alfred M. Immell of Green Township, was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio when it was still a part of the Northwest Territory, locating in what is now Ross County and becoming one of
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alfred In Samuell
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the first permanent settlers of that section. He was a fine type of the pioneer, and his qualities of industry, thrift, sobriety, and intelligence have descended to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Israel Immell had five children, Susan and Nancy, David, Israel and Elias.
Of this family Elias Immell was the one who established the name in Green Township. He was born in Ross County in the very early days, was reared amid pioneer scenes, and after a number of years in Liberty Township moved in 1843 to Green Township and bought a farm on Columbus Pike. There he engaged in general farming and stockraising, but died at the age of forty years, when still in his early prime. He married Elizabeth Dunn, who was born in Delaware County, Ohio, and was brought to Ross County by her parents. She survived her husband many years, and by good management kept her children together and maintained the old farm, which she occupied until her death at the age of eighty-three. Her seven children, all of whom were young when their father died, were Mary, Alfred M., Sarah Jane, Milton, Emily, Clara and Effie.
As one of the older children, Alfred Marion Immell who was born on a farm five miles south of Chillicothe in Liberty Township May 8, 1840, had to share serious responsibilities when a mere child. He worked industriously for his mother in looking after the farm, and at the same time made the best of his opportunities to secure an education in the rural schools, which he attended when the pressing duties of the farm were discharged.
However, he did not neglect the call of patriotism in the critical time of the Civil war, which was fought when he was a young man. In 1863 he enlisted in the United States Navy, and served on the ship Avenger until March, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge. In April of the same year he re-enlisted, this time in the Fifth Ohio Cavalry, and was sent to Columbus Barracks. The war was then about over, and he was discharged on May 8, 1865, without leaving Ohio for the front.
After the war Mr. Immell operated the home farm on shares until his marriage, and then rented land for several years, paying cash rent. He has a long and creditable record as a farmer and stock raiser, and eventually bought out the old homestead, and has accumulated a splen- did farm property. The old homestead is pleasantly located on the Columbus Pike, and comprises eighty acres of the fertile improved land of the Scioto bottom. The improvements on the Immell homestead rank with the very best in that section of Ross County. During his many years of active business management Mr. Immell has built up a large estate. Other purchases bring the total up to 516 acres, including the old homestead.
In 1873 Mr. Immell married Miss Margaret Goodman, who was born on the farm where she now resides, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Goodman, a prominent Green Township family referred to on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Immell have reared six children: Chauncey. Woodford E., Alfred D., George G., Charles H. and Elizabeth Allen.
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Chauncey married Elizabeth Gateman, and their five children are George D., Walter C., Margaret E., Mildred L. and Helen. Alfred D. married Mabel Perry. Charles H. married Gertrude Carmean. Mr. and Mrs. Immell are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. While building up his splendid estate, Mr. Immell has not neglected his civic duties, and has served as a member of the board of trustees of Green Township and two terms as a county infirmary director. Politically he is a republican.
WOODFORD E. IMMELL, who has been equally successful as a farmer and stock raiser and as a public official, is a son of Alfred and Margaret (Goodman) Immell, and represents the old established family of that name, reference to whom is made on other pages.
He was born in Green Township of Ross County December 6, 1875. Educated in the rural schools and in the Kingston High School, he graduated from the Chillicothe Business College in the class of 1896, and also attended the Ohio State University. Reared on a farm, he took that up as his permanent vocation in life, and began his independent career on rented land. In 1910 he acquired a home of his own by the purchase of 144 acres in the southeast quarter of section 6, Green Town- ship, where he has since employed his energies with excellent results as a general farmer and stock raiser.
On December 20, 1903, Mr. Immell married Ida Fry, who was born in Pike County, Ohio, daughter of John Fry. Mr. and Mrs. Immell have five children : Willard F., Ruth G., Robert H., Richard Marion and Mary Margaret.
The first presidential vote Mr. Immell cast was for Bryan in 1896. In 1902 he was elected assessor of Green Township, serving three years. In 1914, under the new rules, he passed the Civil Service examination and was appointed assessor, and was confirmed in that office by election in 1915. He has also served three years as road superintendent and has been a member of the school board four years.
JEREMIAH M. THOMPSON, a citizen of Jefferson Township, Ross County, Ohio, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, June 11, 1849. His parents were James M, and Jane (Salyards) Thompson.
Jeremiah M. Thompson attended the district schools in boyhood when opportunity offered. He was married to Miss Alice A. Sisson, who was born in Gallia County, Ohio, June 30, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have had four children : Myelle G., who resides at home; James V., who looks after the home farm ; John S., who died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, served during the Spanish-American war as a member of the ambulance corps; and George, who is a resident of Dayton, Ohio, took the civil service examination and received an appointment to a Government position in the Bureau of Accounting.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Free Will Baptist Church.
JOSIAH GRABILL. Since assuming the ownership of a farm of 118 acres in Paxton Township, three miles southwest of Bainbridge, Josiah
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Grabill has secured excellent financial results and has evidenced a broad knowledge of agricultural science. Many years of practical experience contribute to his agricultural equipment, and his entire life has been spent in the free and independent atmosphere of the country. Mr. Grabill was born on a farm in Marshall Township, Highland County, Ohio, September 13, 1861, and is a son of Philip and Sarah (Elliott) Grabill.
Peter Grabill, the paternal grandfather of Josiah, was born in Penn- sylvania, and was a young man when, about the year 1800, he came to Ohio and settled on a tract of Government land. Among the pioneers of that locality he developed a good farm and established a comfortable home for his family, and there passed the remaining years of his long and useful life. Philip Grabill was born on this homestead, in Marshall Township, in 1832, and was there reared and educated. He was married to Sarah Elliott, who was also born in that township, in 1833, a daughter of William Elliott, an early settler of Highland County. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Grabill settled on a farm and there Mr. Grabill continued in the cultivation of the soil until his death, in 1908, at the age of seventy-six years. He was an industrious and energetic farmer and a citizen who contributed in various ways to the upbuilding of the community, so living his life that he gained and retained the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. Mrs. Grabill still survives him, at the age of eighty-three years, making her home on the old homestead. They were the parents of the following children: E. L., who lives in Marshall Township; Dorothy, who is deceased; Josiah, of this notice; Mrs. Sally Adams, of Otway, Ohio; Hamer, who lives with his mother; Nettie, who died as the wife of William Strobel; Mrs. Rosie Schultz, of New Vienna, Ohio; Lizzie, a resident of Otway, Ohio; Thurber, of near Hillsboro, Highland County; and three who died in infancy.
Josiah Grabill received his education in the public and district schools of Highland County, and remained at home, assisting his father, until he was twenty-five years of age. On November 24, 1887, he was united in marriage with Miss Iva B. Crum, who was born August 13, 1870, in Brush Creek Township, Highland County, and there educated in the district school, a daughter of J. H. and Phoebe (Lowe) Crum. After their marriage they settled at New Vienna, Ohio, where Mr. Grabill worked by the day on a farm for fifteen months, then returning to Marshall Township and living on the old homestead for about a year. In 1890 Mr. Grabill came to Paxton Township, Ross County, where he entered the employ of M. W. Ferneau, for whom he worked three years, then buying his present property in Paxton Township, a tract of 118 acres lying three miles southwest of Bainbridge. Mr. Grabill has been successful in the development of a valuable farm, and has shown himself an industrious and level-headed landsman, honorable in all of his deal- ings and thoroughly versed in every department of his chosen vocation. His farming operations are careful, diligent and systematic, and have been rewarded by favorable results.
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