USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 39
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Mr. and Mrs. Grabill became the parents of five children: Nellie, Vol. II-20
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now at the head of her father's household; Bessie, a graduate of Bain- bridge School, who is the wife of H. R. Gray, of Columbus, Ohio; Hester Lowe, also a graduate of Bainbridge High School and Greenfield Busi- ness College, and was employed as bookkeeper for Worley Brothers Mill, of Bainbridge, Ohio, died November 26, 1915, at the age of nineteen years; and Margaret and Franklin J., at home. The Grabill home was sad- dened December 27, 1915, by the death of the devoted wife and mother, a woman of gentle character and great patience, who sought to rear her children to the noblest in man and womanhood, a lifelong member of and active worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and her hus- band's wise advisor and help in matters of business. Mr. Grabill is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bainbridge, as also are his children. He is a republican in his political views. He takes an earnest and unselfish interest in public affairs and at all times fulfills the obligations of a good citizen.
E. J. TULLEYS, M. D. A physician and surgeon whose work at South Salem during the past seventeen years has brought him a splendid repu- tation and a large following in the profession, Doctor Tulleys is a native of Ross County and in his professional career has measured up to the high attainments of the family ever since it became identified with this section of Ohio.
Doctor Tulleys was born in Bainbridge, Ross County, October 19. 1874. He is a son of William and Alice (Cork) Tulleys. William Tul- leys was born in Bainbridge, a son of Isaac Tulleys, and thus the family has been identified with the county through several generations. Doctor Tulleys' mother, Alice Cork, was also born in Bainbridge, a daughter of Harrison Cork. Both William Tulleys and wife were born and reared in Bainbridge, and he followed his trade as carpenter there for a number of years, but in 1906 moved to South Salem, where he still has his home and where he is still active as a carpenter. He and his wife had two children, and the daughter Elizabeth died at the age of six years.
The only son and surviving child of his parents, Doctor Tulleys grew up in Bainbridge, where he attended the common schools. At the age of nineteen, having an ambition to fit himself for a professional career, he entered the University of Chicago, where he pursued a preliminary course, and from there became a student in the Hahnemann Medical College at Chicago, where he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1899. Following this thorough preparation he returned to South Salem, and has since enjoyed a very large practice in that community.
On August 12, 1915, Doctor Tulleys married Miss Bess M. Halloway, daughter of Jerome C. and Josie (Bailey) Halloway. They have one daughter, Alace Josephine, born October 7, 1916. Doctor Tulleys is an active member of the Methodist Church at South Salem, and is serving as a trustee and steward. He is also affiliated with Greenfield Lodge, No. 717, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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E. E. TRUITT is now living a quiet retired life in South Salem. His . has been the kind of career which deserves the comforts and pleasures of the world, since he gave his share of service as a young man to the country during the War of the Rebellion and put in many earnest and productive years as a farmer in Ross County.
A native of this county, he was born in Concord Township June 25, 1840, and has already passed the three-quarter century mark on life's journey. His parents were Gilley and Angeline (Bowen) Truitt. Gilley Truitt was a native of the State of Georgia and when a boy came with his father, Rev. Elijah Truitt, to Ohio, the family locating in Concord Township in the very early days. Later they moved to Union Township, where Gilley Truitt grew to manhood. Elijah Truitt spent his last years in Ross County. Angeline Bowen was born on the Scioto River in Scioto County, Ohio, but came to Ross County when a young woman with her parents. After Gilley Truitt and wife were married they settled on a farm in Concord Township, and spent their years quietly engaged in farming and in the performance of those duties which good neighborli- ness enjoined. Their children were six in number, all of whom grew up, but E. E. Truitt is the only survivor of the family. By a previous marriage his father had six other children, but none of them are now living. The father was a democratic voter until the war, and afterwards became an equally stanch republican and supported the party the rest of his life. He was a very ardent worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The early youth of E. E. Truitt was spent in Ross County, where he attended the district schools and labored on the home farm. He had reached his majority when on August 1, 1861, he left home and enlisted in Company A of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His service continued for three years, three months and nine days, until his honorable discharge on November 9, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. His captain was Mr. Miller and his colonel T. R. Stanley. All his service was in the Army of the Cumberland, at first under the command of General Rosecrans and later under General Thomas. Mr. Truitt received a wound in the great battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro, and was kept in the hospital for a month, recuperating. Later he fought at Chick- amauga, was in the Atlanta campaign, and did not leave the army until the rebellion was practically crushed.
On returning to his native county, Mr. Truitt took up farming, and on July 6, 1865, he married Eliza Dora Morton, daughter of John and Eliza Morton. Mrs. Truitt was born and reared in Buckskin Township. After their marriage they located on a rented farm in Concord Township, remained there a year and then spent a year in the West, and on return- ing to Ross County settled in Buckskin Township. They also lived in Paint Township, but most of their active years were spent in Buckskin Township. For the past six years Mr. Truitt has had his home in South Salem, having moved to that village in April, 1910. After many years of happy companionship, his beloved wife was taken from him by death on March 27, 1912.
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Into their household were born eight children, and all of these are still living, namely : John M. and Cora, both living in Salt Lake City, Utah; Ella, at home in South Salem; Perlie V., also at home; Nora, wife of O. B. Bailis, of Buckskin Township; William, who lives in Buckskin Township; Elbert Joseph, of Dayton, Kentucky; and Grace, wife of John Rogers of Concord Township.
Mr. Truitt is especially well known and esteemed among his old army comrades, and is a popular member of J. C. Irwin Post, No. 669, at South Salem. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church at South Salem, and politically has always been identified with the republican party.
FINLEY LAVERY. One of the fine homes and families of Buckskin Township for many years has been the Laverys. Many still living recall with esteem the late Finley Lavery, whose death was one of the tragic events of the county. Mr. Lavery was struck and killed by a fast mail train at Lyndon Station on July 11, 1874.
He was at that time fifty-seven years of age and in the prime of his usefulness and activity. He was born in Northumberland County, Penn- sylvania, October 24, 1817, and had come to Ross County with his par- ents. He grew up in Buckskin Township, received a good education in the public schools, and after his marriage he located on the farm which he managed successfully until his death. He was a democrat in politics.
On February 10, 1853, Finley Lavery married Miss Mary Murray, who was born January 24, 1827, and died July 28, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Lavery had eight children, and four of them are still living. The daughter Anna is the wife of William Arnott, of Greenfield Township. The son John, who was educated in the district schools, is now a sub- stantial farmer in Ross County. The old homestead is occupied by the two unmarried daughters, Martha and Fannie Lavery. They were born and reared in Ross County, and besides the advantages of the district schools, they both attended the old South Salem Academy. They are active in the Presbyterian Church at South Salem and are liberal sup- porters of the Missionary Society and the Sunday school.
WILLIAM DUGGLEBY, of South Salem, is one of the honored old soldiers of Ross County, and a man whose distinctive citizenship has been mani- fest in all the varied relations of a long life.
He was born at East Monroe, in Highland County, Ohio, January 23, 1845, a son of Byron and Mahala (Haggart) Duggleby. His father was a native of England, coming to the United States at the age of eighteen. The mother was a native of Ross County. After their mar- riage they lived in Highland County, then returned to Ross County and spent the rest of their days and died in South Salem. There were two children and William is the only one still living.
As a youth he worked on the farm, received a district school educa- tion, and at Greenfield learned the shoemaker's trade.
His military service began on September 29, 1861, when he enlisted in Company E of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was
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with that company one year and was then transferred to Company A of the same regiment under Capt. T. E. Taylor and Col. T. L. Stanley. He was first in the Army of the Ohio, then in 1862 became a part of the Eleventh Army Corps, was with the Army of the Cumberland and took part in many notable battles and campaigns. He was in two battles at Nashville, Tennessee, and in the second was shot in the eye. After recuperating, he went back to his company and regiment and remained until several months after the close of the war. He was finally mustered out at Augusta, Georgia, on October 9, 1865, and was discharged at Columbus, Ohio, October 22, 1865.
Mr. Duggleby has lived in Ross County since the close of the war and has made his years as useful in the quiet vocations of peace as they were in the stirring struggles of war. He was formerly a member of Prescott Post, No. 10, Grand Army of the Republic, and now belongs to J. C. Irwin Post, No. 669, Grand Army of the Republic. On July 4, 1866, he married Miss Amanda McCoy. Their three children now living are: Veda, wife of Judson Free, of Buckskin Township; John W., a business man in South Dakota; and Sylvester, who lives in Virginia. Politically, Mr. Duggleby is a stanch republican.
WESLEY N. DRUMMOND. Since early pioneer times the Drummond family has taken a notable part in the improvement and development of Ross County. Wesley N. Drummond, a grandson of the original settlers, has shown all the best family characteristics in this regard. He has taken an intelligent and purposeful part in the events which have made up the history of Springfield Township during the past half century, and is also an honored veteran of the great war of the rebellion. He is impartial, honest, earnest and has the faculty of getting things done in behalf of the township as well as in his private affairs.
His home is on the Chillicothe Road, and his daily mail comes over rural route No. 2 from that city. There Mr. Drummond is proprietor of a good homestead of 117 acres, only four miles from the county seat.
He was born in Liberty Township of this county 21/2 miles west of Londonderry on July 19, 1842. His parents were William K. and Ruth (Cox) Drummond. William K. Drummond was born on the old Drum- mond farm now owned by Charles Hess in Liberty Township. His birth occurred there in 1818, and his father, Benjamin Drummond, a native of Philadelphia, was the pioneer who acquired 400 acres of land in Ross County and founded the family there. Benjamin Drummond was a stone cutter by trade. The youngest child of his parents, William K. Drummond remained at home and finally bought the old homestead from the heirs, and in time built it up to about 471 acres. He lived out his life there, was an active church worker and a loyal republican in politics. He and his wife became the parents of seven children: Benjamin K., deceased; Wesley N .; William, who died at the age of fourteen; Martha, wife of Sylvester Graves of Beatrice, Nebraska; Mary, widow of Joseph Randalls of Chillicothe; David, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Miley, of Chillicothe.
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During his early youth Wesley N. Drummond lived on the home farm, attended the district schools, and was still little more than a boy when the war broke out, in 1861. In 1864, after reaching his majority, he enlisted in Company D of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in service until the close of hostilities. He then spent a year in the West and soon after returned to Ross County to take a steady and active part in agricultural affairs.
Soon after the war Mr. Drummond married Emma Vail, daughter of John Vail. After their marriage they located on the farm where Mr. Drummond now lives, and he has been identified with its management and operation ever since. He put up a number of substantial buildings, and the farm as it is represents his energy and wisely planned efforts continued through many years.
On the old homestead Mrs. Drummond passed to her final reward on December 29, 1907. Seven children were born to their marriage, and they are briefly mentioned as follows: Floyd E., deceased; Violet, wife of William Erskine; Emma, wife of Charles Eibest; James of Chilli- cothe; Nellie, widow of Vincent Graves, and living at home with her father; Laura, also at home; and John, who manages the home farm.
Mr. Drummond as an honored old soldier is an active member of the A. L. Brown Post No. 162 of the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been a republican ever since casting his first vote, and one of the loyal citizens of his county. He has served as school director and has always been willing to give his time and energy to the welfare of the locality where he has spent his best years.
WILLIAM F. BAILEY. As increasing years separate the present from the years of the Civil war, greater and greater respect is paid to the honored survivors of that struggle. One of the old soldiers of Ross County whose life has otherwise been one filled with activity and worthy accomplishment is William F. Bailey, now living retired at his home in South Salem. He is also serving as justice of the peace of Buckskin Township.
Of that old and historic community of Ross County Mr. Bailey is a native. He was born two miles east of Salem May 7, 1849, a son of Martin and Nancy (Fagin) Bailey. Martin Bailey's father was Richard Bailey, who was born in England, came to the United States, but found it very difficult to accommodate himself to American customs and ways and never entirely laid aside British habits. He lived in Buckskin Town- ship, and there acquired what is now known as the Simon Clouser farm. He lived and cultivated that for many years. He was also a man of aristocratic habits and tastes. Martin Bailey was born in 1809, in Hagerstown, Maryland. In Ross County he married Nancy Fagin, who was born in this county in 1814, and was of Irish descent. Of their nine children the four now living are: Catherine, widow of Jackson Nichols, is spending her last days in the Odd Fellows-Rebekah Home in Springfield, Ohio; William F. is the second; Nancy J., a resident of South Salem, is the widow of J. C. Holloway, who was a soldier in the
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Civil war and was wounded at Gettysburg; John R. lives in Portland, Oregon.
William F. Bailey spent his boyhood days in Illinois chiefly, the family having gone to that state in 1855. At the age of eight years he was bound out to a teamster living in Decatur, Illinois, and remained with him, working hard and securing little opportunity to attend school until he was fourteen.
In 1862, at the age of fourteen, he returned to Ross County, worked on a farm for a time and also began learning the saddlery trade. He then went to a farm in Fayette County, and from there, on September 2, 1864, enlisted in Company H of the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He remained with his command until the close of the war, and saw at least one of the great battles of that conflict, the battle of Nashville. He was mustered out and given his honorable dis- charge on June 20, 1865. After being discharged he returned from Columbus to Ross County, and therewith began his practical career as a farmer, which continued for practically half a century.
On October 28, 1868, Mr. Bailey married Miss Centrilla L. Kerr. Her father was John H. Kerr and he and William H. Bailey were soldiers together in the Civil war. Mrs. Bailey was born in Buckskin Township January 5, 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey lived on their farm until 1913, when they sold it, then lived on a rented place for a time, and since June, 1916, have occupied their present home in South Salem. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are the parents of four children: Austin K. of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Edgar C., who graduated from the South Salem Academy and now lives in Trinidad, Colorado; Stella, wife of Charles A. Parrett, of Buckskin Township; and Lena K., who formerly taught school but is now the wife of Eldon Miller of Concord Township.
The family are active members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bailey is a member and is now commander of J. C. Irwin Post, No. 669, of the Grand Army of the Republic. The members of this post hold their regular meetings at Mr. Bailey's home in South Salem. Politically, he is a republican, but is usually for the best man in local politics. For twelve years he served as constable and for three years three months was a United States deputy marshal of the Southern District of Ohio. He served in that capacity under Vivian J. Fagin and W. L. Lewis, both of Cincinnati. Mr. Bailey has also served as mayor, an office he still holds in South Salem, and as justice of the peace is called upon to preside over the minor judicial cases arising in this township.
HENRY HICKLE was at the time of this writing, in the spring of 1916, one of the very oldest surviving natives of Ross County. He recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday. This nonagenarian has been a witness of almost every important incident of progress in the remarkable cen- tury just passed. The first short line of railroad track was constructed in America about the time he was born. The Erie Canal had been open for traffic about a year before. Thus the barriers which had hitherto restricted population to the narrow fringe of Atlantic colonies were just
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being broken down. His family had already established themselves in Ross County twelve or thirteen years before his birth, and his is one of the few names that have been continuously identified with this section of Southern Ohio more than a century. His long years have had their toil and service and he has lived to a green old age, honored and respected by children, grandchildren, and by hosts of friends.
He was born in Colerain Township of Ross County, February 26, 1826. His father, Henry Hickle, was born in Rockingham County, Vir- ginia, and the grandfather was a native of Germany and settled in Virginia on coming to this country. Late in life the grandfather came to Ross County and spent his last days in Colerain Township. Henry Hickle, Sr., grew up and married in Virginia, and started for Ohio in 1813, while the War of 1812 was still in progress. He was accompanied by his wife and four children, and also by his parents. The trip was made with a wagon drawn by four horses and carrying all the simple household goods. The members of the party camped by the wayside at night. For a large part of the distance the road led through an unbroken wilderness, and most of Southern Ohio was then Government land and subject to entry by settlers at a very small price per acre. A hundred acres in Colerain Township constituted the first tract of land owned by the Hickle family. There after a few days of industrious work a log cabin rose among the trees, and later it was replaced by a two-story hewed log house with a stone chimney in the middle and a fireplace in the two lower rooms. With the assistance of his children, the father cleared up this land and later bought other tracts, so that at the time of his death his estate comprised 300 acres. He died on the old home farm in 1841. The maiden name of his wife was Rebecca Reed, and she died in 1826, soon after the birth of her youngest son, Henry. She left nine children : Aaron, Jeremiah, Mary, Christopher, Melinda, John, Jacob, Samuel and Henry. The father married a second time and reared children by that union.
Mr. Henry Hinkle grew up among typical pioneer scenes. When he was a boy all cooking was done by open fires, and no stoves had yet been introduced. His father raised flax and kept sheep, and he still has the old spinning wheel and the flax hackle which his mother and sister used in the domestic processes of cloth manufacture. All grain was cut with a sickle, and it was years before the most primitive thresh- ing machinery was introduced, the straw being spread on the barn floor and tramped out by horses or beaten out with a flail. It was one of the early duties of Henry Hickle to ride the horse in its monotonous circle as it tramped out the wheat. He was nearly a grown man before the first railroad came to Ross County, and before the first canal was con- structed the surplus grain was taken to market on flatboats down the Scioto River. Mr. Hickle recalls the custom of the harvesting season, when three or more men, with a leader, went from field to field with sickles to cut the grain.
Though there were no public schools, Mr. Hickle made the best of his advantages secured in the subscription schools then maintained, and
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he grew up industrious, thrifty and able to make his own way from an early age. To the vocation in which he was reared, farming, he applied the best years of his life, and won thereby an honorable com- petence sufficient for his needs and the comforts of his family.
In 1854 Mr. Hickle married for his first wife Sarah Reedy. She was born in Green Township of Ross County, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Davis) Reedy, who were early settlers in that locality. Mrs. Hickle died in 1860. For his second wife he married another Sarah Reedy, who was a cousin of his first wife and a daughter of John Reedy. By his first union there was one daughter, Altha, who married Chauncey Faust, and is now living in New Mexico; they have two children, May and Miner. By the second marriage there were five children : Mary B., Ursinus, Julia, Arthur and Floyd. The daughter Mary married Robert Overly, living in Columbus, and her four children are Ralph, Earl, Myrtle and Minnie. Julia married Frank Gildersleeve and lives in Denver, Colorado, and they have a daughter, Hazel. Arthur married Nellie Housworth.
After nearly fifty years of married companionship, Mrs. Hickle passed away January 2, 1913. She, as well as Mr. Hickle, was an active member of the German Reformed Church, which he has served as a deacon and elder for many years.
IRA STEPHENS, who is now living retired in Deerfield Township, has spent his active life in the midst of honorable activities and with the credit which is due to an old soldier of the flag who fought on many battlefields in the South for the preservation of the Union.
Though most of his life has been spent in Ross County, where he began farming soon after the war, he was born in a log cabin home in Deer Creek Township of Pickaway County, Ohio. His father, David Stephens, was a native of Ohio. His grandfather, Joseph Stephens, was born, reared and married in Pennsylvania and from there moved to Ohio in the very early days. He located in Deerfield Township, where he resided until after the death of his wife, when he removed to Michigan and spent his last days in that state. There were a number of children in the grandparents' family.
David Stephens was born and reared on a farm in Deerfield Town- ship, Ross County, and was surrounded with pioneer environment. For a short time after his marriage he lived in Deer Creek Township of Pickaway County, but then returned to Deerfield Township of Ross County, and there died at the age of sixty-eight years. The maiden name of his wife was Nancy Ator. Jacob Ator, her father, was one of the early settlers in Pickaway County, improving a farm in Deer Creek Township and also for some years keeping a hotel in Clarksburg. Jacob Ator spent his last days on his farm in Deer Creek Township of Picka- way County, and he and his wife are buried in the Baptist Churchyard in Deerfield Township. Mrs. David Stephens died at the age of thirty- six years, being survived by seven children, Ira, John, Aaron, Joseph, Elizabeth, Mary J. and Lorinda.
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