USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 47
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Doctor and Mrs. Morgan had one son, Rea White Morgan. He was educated at Clarksburg, took advanced studies in the State University of Ohio for two years, and then spent three years as a teacher in the vicinity of Clarksburg. Following the example of his father, he began to prepare for a medical career, spending one year attending lectures at Indianapolis and later the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, where he graduated. With this preparation he located at Clarksburg, and his ability won him a large patronage. He continued in active practice until his last illness. He died March 18, 1913. He married Frances A. Willis, daughter of John W. and Jane (Templin) Willis. She and her only daughter, Jeanette, survive. Doctor Morgan, Jr., had served as a member of the school board, and was affiliated with Clarksburg Lodge, No. 721, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Williamsport Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of his congenial spirit and whole heartedness he was exceedingly popular with all with whom he came in contact.
WILLIAM E. METTLER. Representing one of the families that early settled the Hocking and Scioto valleys, William E. Mettler has spent his active career as a farmer and stock raiser in Springfield Township of Ross County. In that locality he has the reputation of doing every. thing well that he undertakes, has lived an honorable and upright career. and is a man whose word counts for something.
Born in Springfield Township February 25, 1863, he is a son of Peter Mettler and a grandson of Francis Mettler, both of whom were natives of New Jersey. Grandfather Mettler in 1838 started with his family and a wagon and team over the western trails for Ohio. At that time
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the greater part of the southern part of the state was heavily timbered, and the more fertile bottom lands, not having been drained, were fertile sources of malaria and other diseases. In consequence of this condition, Francis Mettler settled on the hills of Hocking County, in the vicinity of Rockhouse. He devoted his remaining years to clearing and culti- vating the soil, and died there at the age of seventy-five. He married a Miss Mashon and they became the parents of a large family of fifteen children.
Peter Mettler, who was quite young when brought to Ohio, reached manhood in Hocking County, and having been reared on a farm, adopted farming as his regular career. He began his independent work in that line in the south part of Pickaway County, and after renting for a few years, bought land in sections 17 and 18 of Springfield Township in Ross County, thus establishing the family within the limits of this county. His land included a tract of table land commanding an exten- sive and entrancing view of the Scioto and Paint Creek valleys and over a wide stretch of surrounding country. He also bought another piece of 119 acres on the Columbus Pike. He was a very thrifty and pro- gressive citizen and enjoyed prosperity in keeping with his energy and character. His death occurred there in 1905. His wife, Elizabeth Lay- cock, who was born in Springfield Township, a daughter of William Laycock, died in 1872, being survived by four children : Alice, William, Clarence and Laura.
William E. Mettler grew up on the fine rural estate of his father. His education came from the rural schools, and having assisted in the work of the home farm, he was well qualified for his chosen work when he reached manhood. He rented land from his father for some years, but then took up commercial lines in Chillicothe and was in business there for ten years. Since then he has lived on the home farm, and now owns and occupies a fine place in Springfield Township, devoted to general farming and stock raising.
In June, 1902, Mr. Mettler married Mary M. Hammel, who was born in Chillicothe, daughter of Daniel and Cornelia (Bowman) Hammel. Mr. and Mrs. Mettler have a daughter, named Elizabeth Lenna. Fra- ternally, Mr. Mettler is affiliated with Chillicothe Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
ADAM FALTER, who is one of the present county commissioners of Ross County, has been a sturdy representative of the agricultural indus- . try of Green Township for many years. A native of Germany, he came to this country when a youth, had to adapt himself to American ways and customs and the language, started without influential friends or capital, and has raised himself by sheer force of energy, good judgment and experience to an influential place in this large and populous county of Ohio.
He was born in the Village of Woldmichelbach in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, April 25, 1856. His parents were George Adam and Eva Elizabeth Gartner Falter. Both were lifelong residents of Hesse Darm-
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stadt, while his father was a farmer. Their seven children were Eva Elizabeth, George, Elizabeth, Margaret, Adam, Gretchen and John. The daughter Margaret married J. A. Breming and settled in Chillicothe. Gretchen married Leonard Baugard, and they now live in Fostoria, Ohio. George settled in Ross County as a farmer for several years and then moved to Franklin County, where he died. The children Eva Eliazbeth, Elizabeth and John all remained in Hesse Darmstadt.
Adam Falter grew up in his native land, attended the schools steadily until he was fourteen years of age, and learned farming by practical experience under his father. At the age of sixteen he set out for America. Sailing from Bremen, he landed in New York City sixteen days later, and came thence to Ross County. For a time he worked on a farm for his brother George, near Hopetown. For several years he continued working by the month, until he had saved enough to buy a team and implements, and with that modest equipment farmed as a renter until his marriage. After his marriage, Mr. Falter located on the farm he now owns and occupies and has been continuously a resident there for over thirty years. His fine farm is in the Scioto Valley and in Green Township. The passing years have marked many additions in the way of improvement and other valuable features to his farm, and it has well repaid his industry as a general farmer and stock raiser.
In 1882 Mr. Falter married Bertha Elizabeth Erdman, who was born in New York City. Her father, Zachariah Erdman, was born in Prussia, where he was reared and educated and where he served an apprenticeship at the tailor's trade. Coming to America in youth, he was married in New York City, followed his trade there several years, then moved to Cincinnati, and in 1868 came to Chillicothe, where he was in business as a merchant tailor until he was about eighty years of age. After more than sixty years of continuous work as a tailor he retired with a competency, and his death occurred in his eighty-sixth year. Zachariah Erdman married Mary Lippert, who was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and who died at the age of fifty-four, having reared nine children, named Bertha Elizabeth, Catherine, Charles, John, Fred, Frank, Gustav, Edward and William.
The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Falter are: Luella, Emma, Elsie and Herman. The son Herman was graduated from the Chillicothe High School with the class of 1916. Luella is now a teacher in the Chilli- cothe public schools. Emma married Jefferson Willis and they have a daughter, named Mary Bertha. Elsie is the wife of John Chester.
Mr. and Mrs. Falter are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. While a progressive farmer, Mr. Falter has not neglected public affairs and has filled a number of places of trust and responsibility in his home township and county. He served as road supervisor, was a member of the Green Township School Board twenty years, was trustee ten years, and is now serving his second term on the board of county commissioners.
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OLIVER A. CORY. The best purpose that can be served by such a publication as this is to give some record to those families who have been longest and most closely identified with the development and progress of Ross County. One such family, a resident of this section of Ohio almost 120 years, is represented by Oliver A. Cory, who resides in Con- cord Township on land that was originally secured by his grandfather soon after the Corys came to Northwest Territory. His home is also interesting from an osteological standpoint, since it stands on a site at one time an Indian mound, and in the process of excavation many old Indian relics were taken from the mound.
The Corys have not only helped to clear and develop the land of Ross County, but have impressed themselves in many ways upon the county's institutions and civic affairs. Mr. Cory's great-grandfather, Elnathan Cory, was born in New York State, moved from there to New Jersey and thence to Kentucky, where he spent his last days and died in 1791. Thus it is apparent that the Corys were identified with the first movement of civilization beyond the barrier of mountains which so long hemmed in the colonial settlers along the Atlantic coast.
Elder Nathan Cory, grandfather of Oliver A., was born in New Jersey in 1766. From New Jersey he moved to Virginia and thence crossed the mountains into what was a Virginia province and was sub- sequently organized as the State of Kentucky. In 1797 Elder Nathan Cory crossed the Ohio River and penetrated the Northwest Territory, locating in what is now Concord Township of Ross County. The follow- ing year he bought a tract of land three-quarters of a mile northeast of the present site of Frankfort. One of the remarkable things about the early pioneers was their courage in undertaking the heavy task of settling in a new country with practically no capital or resources except those contained in their own resolute will and physical manhood. When Nathan Cory arrived in Ross County his only possessions were $1 in cash and a pony that stood thirteen hands high. With the dollar he bought a peck of salt. As there were no mills in Ross County, he used a mortar and pestle to reduce his corn to meal. The nearest mill was sixty-five miles away, near Maysville, Kentucky. Occasionally four or five of his neighbors combined for the purpose of protection and com- panionship and each carried a bushel of corn in a sack over one shoulder and a rifle over the other, and then walked the entire distance to the mill in Kentucky, and after getting their corn ground would return to their families with the meal. This is only one item out of many that might be mentioned to show the primitive conditions that surrounded the Corys and other early families in Ross County. Nathan Cory built a log house on his land, and in the course of time had improved a good farm, upon which he resided until his death, on September 3, 1843. Another fact that should be mentioned concerning his early residence in Ross County is that he assisted in raising the first two-story log house built in Chillicothe. Nathan Cory was a minister of the Baptist Church. and was one of the leaders in establishing that denomination in this part of Ohio. In 1802 he was one of a company of twelve persons
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who organized a Baptist society in his house. Later he assisted in erect- ing a log building to be used as a place of worship. This log church stood about one-quarter of a mile east of Frankfort, in what is now known as the Baptist Graveyard. The society worshiped in that primi- tive chapel for seventeen years. They next built a church at the south- east corner of High and Second streets, in Frankfort. That was the home of the congregation until 1864, when the society moved to Roxabell and built the church edifice which is still used.
Elder Nathan Cory married for his first wife Sarah Wright. The names of their large family of children are as follows: David, Joseph, John, James, Abraham, Anna, Stephen, Noah, Mary, Israel, Daniel. Solomon.
Of this large family, Noah Cory, father of Oliver A. Cory, was born in Concord Township September 25, 1802. He was reared amid the pioneer scenes which have been briefly suggested in the previous para- graph. He was a very influential and useful worker in the Baptist denomination. Elder Nathan Cory was ordained an itinerant preacher, and in that capacity traveled over many counties, both in Ohio and Indiana. He was a typical circuit rider, going about from community to community and from house to house on horseback, and he organized many Baptist churches. It should be noted that he was a member of the convention meeting at Zanesville, which organized the Ohio State Baptist Association. In attending that convention he walked the entire distance to Zanesville and back home. While carrying on his labors as a pioneer preacher he also bought land. Noah Cory, after his marriage, began housekeeping in a log cabin. His family occupied that home for several years, but in 1839 he built a substantial brick house near the site of the old log house. This brick dwelling is on the west side of the Westfall Road. That was the home of Noah Cory until his death, which closed a long and fruitful career, at the age of eighty-six years.
Noah Cory married Lucretia Shoots. She was born in Concord Township, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shoots, came from Vir- ginia to Ross County in 1797, at the same time as the Corys. After a few years of residence in Ross County, Joseph Shoots moved to Pickaway County, settling about 11/2 miles from Adelphi, in Salt Creek Township. There he and his wife passed away at a good old age. The children of Noah Cory and wife were as follows: Sally Ann, born November 17. 1824; IIannah Jane, born October 8, 1826; Solomon T., born July 6, 1828: Joseph B., born June 9, 1830; Anjaline, born August 12, 1832; John Nathan, born February 18, 1834; Mary Ellen, born June 2, 1836; Elisabeth, born December 13, 1837; Nancy Louisa, born February 8, 1840: Julian Lucretia, born October 29, 1841; William Noah, born June 10, 1844; Landy Shoots, born May 14, 1846; Oliver A., born July 23, 1848. Thirteen children in all, of whom Sally Ann, the first born, and Oliver A., the last born, are living at this writing, aged ninety-four and sixty-eight years, respectively ; also three other sisters and one brother.
Noah Cory was a very successful farmer. The first tax he ever paid was for the sum of 341/4 cents. Gradually he improved his condi-
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tion, and in time had title to 389 acres of land, including his father, Nathan's, old homestead, which is now owned and occupied by Oliver A. Cory.
The youngest of his parents' large family, Oliver A. Cory, was born in Concord Township July 23, 1848. He attended the district schools as a boy and largely through his own efforts acquired a better education than most young men of the time had as the foundation for real life. He became a student in the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and there gave special attention to civil engineering, completing the full course.
At the age of nineteen Mr. Cory began teaching in the district east of Frankfort, and later taught in the Kauffman and in the Taylor dis- tricts, 11/2 miles from Washington Court House. Since 1871 his efforts have been employed systematically and profitably to farming. After two years on his father's farm as a tenant, he and his brother William bought a tract of land which their grandfather had acquired in 1798. Mr. Oliver Cory now has the deed signed by Thomas Jefferson, convey- ing this land to General Massie, from whom his grandfather bought the land. In the last forty-five years Mr. Cory has not only improved his land in point of fertility and productiveness, but has erected a fine set of frame buildings, has planted fruit and shade trees, and has one of the most beautiful places in Concord Township. He may well be classed as a diversified farmer. For many years he had a large apiary, and was unusually successful in the handling of bees.
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On March 16, 1871, he married Ruey Ella Jones. She was born near Staunton, in Fayette County, Ohio, a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Cory) Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Cory have two children, Obert A. and Mary V. The daughter is now the wife of Walter N. McCoy, and they have a son, Paul. Obert A. Cory has always been an invalid.
Mr. and Mrs. Cory are active members of the First Baptist Church at Roxabell, this being the church which was originally organized in his grandfather's house more than a century ago and which had the several changes already noted until, more than half a century ago, it was moved to. Roxabell.
WILLIAM M. WOODROW. A man of excellent business judgment and intelligence, William M. Woodrow is actively identified with the advance- ment of the industrial interests of Chillicothe, his home city, and as the owner of a large Ross County farm is doing much towards the develop- ment of that branch of agriculture relating to the breeding of fine horses and the raising of swine. He was born September 9, 1872, in Chillicothe, which was also the birthplace of his father, Henry W. Woodrow.
Rev. Thomas Woodrow, Mr. Woodrow's grandfather, was born and bred in Paisley, Scotland, where his father was engaged in the manu- facture of the famous Paisley shawls. Scholarly in his tastes and ambi- tions, he acquired a liberal education in his native land, being graduated from the University of Scotland. In 1835 he came to the United States, and two years later settled in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1849 he removed to
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Columbus, from there going to Nicholasville, Kentucky. At the outbreak of the Civil war he returned to Columbus and was there an honored and respected resident until his death, April 27, 1877.
Rev. Thomas Woodrow was twice married. His first wife died in early life, leaving five children, namely: Thomas, John, William, Marion, and Jessie, who married Thomas Wilson, and whose son, Wood- row Wilson, became President of the United States. Rev. Mr. Woodrow married for his second wife Mrs. Harriet L. (Scott) Renick, widow of Ashahel Renick, daughter of John Caile and Ann (Love) Scott, and granddaughter of Gustavus Scott, of whom mention is made on another page of this volume, in connection with the sketch of Gustavus Scott Franklin, M. D. Four children were born of that marriage, as follows : Edward, Henry W., Charles, and Mary.
Born in Chillicothe, March 8, 1847, Henry W. Woodrow received a good common school education in his native city, after which he attended the old Nicholasville Academy, later being instructed in the classical languages by his father, who was a student in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. After settling in Columbus, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1869, when he came to Chillicothe, and for two years was clerk in the store of his half-brother, later having charge of a hat store. In the meantime he studied law, and on October 1, 1878, was admitted to the bar. He met with success in his profession and was quite active in public affairs, serving as a member of the Chillicothe Board of Elec- tions and as president of the city council. He was also for several years president of the Valley Agricultural Society.
Henry W. Woodrow married, December 30, 1869, Elizabeth Carlisle Miner, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, a daughter of William L. Miner. Her grandfather, Isaac Miner, who was of Scotch descent, was a pioneer of Madison County, Ohio, later becoming one of the earlier settlers of Franklin County. He there bought 2,000 acres of land from the Gov- ernment, and a part of it is now included within the limits of the City of Columbus. He resided on his farm until his death, being engaged in agricultural pursuits. William L. Miner was born on the homestead in Franklin County, and having inherited a portion of the parental estate, superintended its management during the remainder of his life. He married Sarah Dougherty, who was born in Franklin County, where her parents, William and Eliza Dougherty, were pioneers. Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Woodrow were the parents of two children, Harriet L. and William M.
Having completed the course of study in the Chillicothe schools, William M. Woodrow attended the Ohio State University for two years, and in 1894 was graduated from the Michigan Military Academy, at Orchard Lake, Michigan. He then began the study of law, but a pro- fessional life not appealing to his tastes and inclinations, he embarked in the ice business, with which he has since been associated, at the present writing, in 1915, being secretary of the Chillicothe Ice Company, manu- facturers and distributors of ice. Mr. Woodrow is much interested in agriculture, on his large far , advantageously located in Concord and
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Deerfield townships, being extensively engaged in the breeding of Nor- man Percheron horses and the Duroc-Jersey swine.
Mr. Woodrow married, in 1900, Miss Nettie Duncan Campbell, who was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of Duncan Campbell. Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow have one child, Marion Elizabeth Woodrow. Fraternally, Mr. Woodrow is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
MRS. MARTHA LANE JONES is one of the few survivors of the early members of the teaching profession in Ross County. All honor is due to those who formed and trained minds of the youth of this county forty or fifty years ago, and she has many interesting recollections of school conditions and educational affairs in general in Ross County up to the time the first free public school system was established.
Born in Concord Township October 27, 1840, Martha Lane is a daughter of Pleasant Lane, who was born in Ross County, where Mrs. Jones' grandfather came as a pioneer, buying a tract of timbered land in Concord Township and developing a farm from the wilderness. The father of Mrs. Jones grew up on that farm, and made farming the basis of his career in this county. He spent all his life in Concord Township, where he and his wife died may years ago. The maiden name of the mother of Mrs. Jones was Nancy Parish, who was born in Concord Town- ship, a daughter of Samuel Parish, likewise a pioneer there. Mrs. Jones was one of the five children: Sarah, John, Martha, Catherine and Robert.
As a girl Mrs. Jones made the best of her opportunities and man- aged to acquire a good education in the local schools. When only sixteen years of age she taught her first term in Concord Township, and she remained active in that profession until her marriage.
At the age of twenty-two she married James Harvey Jones. The late Mr. Jones was born in Vermont, where he was reared and educated and had the usual influences and environment of the New England hoy. When a young man he came west, and he also for several years taught school in Ross County. He finally bought a farm in Concord Town- ship and was engaged in its management, raising field crops and stock until his death.
Mrs. Jones died August 27, 1916, at Clarksburg. She was the mother of three children. One son, James Morton, died in infancy. The living children are Nancy Ellen and William D.
William D. Jones graduated from the Frankfort High School and took up the career of medicine. IIe studied with Doctor Barnett, and then attended lectures in the Starling Medical College at Columbus, now the medical department of the Ohio State University. Graduating M. D. in 1892, he forthwith began practice in Franklin, where he remained five years, and since 1897 has been one of the leading physi- cians of Clarksburg. In 1898 Doctor Jones married Cora Wilkins. She was born in Concord Township, a daughter of Owen and Susan Wil- kins. Doctor and Mrs. Jones have two daughters, Ruth and Hazel. In
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the line of his profession Doctor Jones is a member of the Ross County and the Ohio State medical societies. He is also affiliated with Frank- fort Lodge, No. 721, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; with Frankfort Lodge of the Masons, and with Chillicothe Chapter, Royal Arch Masons.
JOHN F. MORGAN. A well-known and highly esteemed citizen of Chillicothe, John F. Morgan holds a position of importance and respon- sibility, being superintendent of Grand View Cemetery, one of the many beautiful suburban cemeteries of the state. A son of Adonijah Morgan, he was born in Pickaway County and came to Ross County when six years of age, of substantial pioneer stock.
His grandfather, White Morgan, a Kentuckian by birth, was one of the earlier settlers of Pickaway County, Ohio. Coming from there to Ross County in 1829, he purchased a tract of wild land in Concord Township and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life. He married Maria McDonald, whose father, John McDonald, acquired fame as author of "McDonald's Notes," the first history of Ross County ever published, and which was for many years much quoted.
Born in 1823, in Pickaway County, Adonijah Morgan was educated in the pioneer schools, and as a boy was well drilled in the different branches of agriculture. He followed farming throughout his life, dying at the age of seventy-three years on the farm adjoining the McDonald homestead. He married Rhoda Mobray, a daughter of Fletcher and Hester (Rowe) Mobray. She died at the early age of thirty-nine years, leaving four children, namely : John F., Banner W., Anna and Marion.
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