USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 53
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Phillip W. Reeves after getting his education became an office boy in that part of the Baltimore & Ohio system formerly known as the Marietta & Cincinnati. For one year he remained in the general offices of the company at Chillicothe, and then began an apprenticeship in the railroad shops. After completing his apprenticeship he served as a journeyman mechanic for the company twelve years, followed by promotion to gang foreman, and after four years in that work he was made shop foreman. With a thorough knowledge of the business of the shops, a capable execu- tive and with a faculty for courteous but firm handling of men, he was finally promoted to the position of master mechanic at Chillicothe, an office for which he has exceptional qualifications.
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Mr. Reeves is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is independent in politics, and belongs to the Catholic Church. On January 4, 1884, he married Miss Nellie Foltz, by which union there were two children. Mrs. Reeves died in 1895. On September 21, 1898, he married Miss Julia Gallagher, and there are three daughters of this marriage, two of whom are in the local high school, the elder a member of the graduating class of 1917. One of Mr. Reeves' sons by his first marriage is a mechanic in the Baltimore & Ohio shops at Chillicothe.
WARREN McCOLLISTER has given his useful and energetic years to the business of farming. His home is in Union Township, and the farm and its improvements represent the value of his long continued industry and efficient management.
A native of Ross County, he was born near Yellowbud in Union Town- ship January 6, 1875, the only child of Irvin and Mary (Lutz) McCol- lister. His mother, who was born in Union Township, was the daughter of Samuel Lutz, Jr., and the granddaughter of Hon. Samuel Lutz, who was one of the very prominent early settlers and prominent men of Pickaway County.
Reared on a farm, Warren McCollister received such education as the rural schools could give him, and by previous training and experience was well qualified to become an independent farmer on reaching man- hood. For twenty years or more he has industriously tilled the soil and reaped its fruits, and all of his activities have been within the limits of his native township. In 1912 Mr. McCollister bought the farm he now owns and occupies. This is known as the Noble homestead, and is one of the well improved farms of the county. Besides general farming, he is also engaged in stock raising, and makes a specialty of Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs.
In 1893 Mr. McCollister married Rose Leist. She was born in Union Township, a daughter of Lemuel and Jennie (Day) Leist. Mr. and Mrs. McCollister have two children, Cary L. and Blanche. Cary married Hazel Parker, while Blanche is the wife of Bert Wood. As a voter Mr. McCollister cast his first ballot for William Mckinley twenty years ago, and has ever since been a steadfast supporter of the republican party. He has been as public spirited as he has been industrious in the management of his private affairs, and has served as a member of his township school board.
SEYMOUR LAYTON. The business of farming has engaged the atten- tion of Seymour Layton since he was a boy. In early years he managed the farm in the interests of his mother and his sisters and for the past twelve years has been one of the progressive agriculturists of Union Township.
He was born on a farm in Fayette County, Ohio, November 14, 1864. His father Tilton Layton came from Fayette County to Ross County, and bought a farm in the North Precinct of Union Township. He followed
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farming there until his death in 1880. The widowed mother, who still occupies the old homestead, is a daughter of John and Rebecca Tootle, and her maiden name was Eleanor Maria Tootle. She reared five children named Seymour, Ida, Flora, Rebecca and Lucretia.
As the only son of the family, the responsibilities of the homestead largely devolved upon the shoulders of Seymour Layton when his father died. He was at that time sixteen years of age, and such education as he acquired had been gained in the meantime by attendance at the local schools. He proved himself an able worker and did much to keep the family household together until his sisters were grown. He remained on the home farm until 1904, when he bought the place he now owns and occupies in North Union Township. It is a fertile and well improved farm, and he and his family reside in an attractive house situated on a knoll commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country.
In the year that he started out independently, 1904, Mr. Layton married Bessie Wilson. Mrs. Layton was born in Ross County, a daughter of Alex Wilson. To their marriage have been born two children, Marjorie and Thelma.
WILLIAM J. HAYNES. The founder of the Haynes family in Ross County, Ohio, came to Chillicothe in 1798, a blacksmith by trade and an enterprising man. His son, George Haynes, was also a blacksmith and assisted in the construction of the first bridge that spanned the Scioto River in Ross County. He married Isabel Nicholls and they reared a family of five sons and six daughters, the vigor of this stock being shown in their longevity.
William J. Haynes, a prominent representative of this old pioneer family, a substantial business man of Richmond Dale, was born April 12, 1865, in Pike County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Rosanna (Cissna) Haynes, a grandson of George Haynes and a great-grandson of the founder of the Haynes family in this part of Ohio.
John Haynes was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1843 and is now deceased. For many years he was a substantial farmer in Pike County. He was married to Rose Ann Cissna, who was born at Piketon, Ohio, and they had seven children born to them : Isabella, William J., C. E., Jenetta, Cornelius, O. C. Dell and John, Jr.
William J. Haynes was reared on the home farm in Pike County, attended the district schools and later the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, when he came to Richmond Dale to embark in a general mercantile business with William A. Maxwell, purchasing a half interest. This partnership was continued for eighteen months, when Mr. Haynes sold his interest and carried on business alone for two years, then pur- chased the business of Stultz & Seigler and organized the new firm of Stultz & Haynes, later buying his partner's interest. Mr. Haynes con- tinued alone until 1901, when Roscoe Dixon became a partner and one year later Mr. Haynes sold his interest to Mr. Dixon and embarked in another line of merchandising, this being dealing wholesale in fence posts,
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and in 1906 he added electrical supplies. He does an extensive business, entirely wholesale. He also looks after his valuable real estate.
In 1885 Mr. Haynes was married to Miss Jennie M. Davis, of Rich- mond Dale, and they had four children : J. Scott, W. Ward, Clarence P., and Clifford C., the last named being deceased. The mother of these children died July 23, 1896, On February 22, 1899, Mr. Haynes was married to Miss Ella M. Drummond, of Ross County, and they have two children : Herman H. and Mabel L. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Haynes is a leading factor in republican political circles. He has been a delegate to county, state and national conventions, and from 1897 to 1912 was postmaster of Richmond Dale. He takes much interest in educational matters and was largely responsible for the legislation that brought about the centralization of the schools of Jefferson Township. For five years he served as township treasurer. He is a member of and is past president of the R. O. O. L.
CHARLES H. FREE. In the person of Charles H. Free, Paint Township has a citizen who has contributed to the development of Ross County a well cultivated farm that has been brought to its present state under his own hands, and which is now yielding him an income that makes him one of the substantial men of the community. The township has likewise profited by his able discharge of the duties of several offices to which he has been elected by his fellow-citizens who have placed their confidence in his fidelity and integrity and who have had no reason to regret their action in so doing.
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Mr. Free has passed his entire life in Paint Township, where he was born October 27, 1872, a son of Nathaniel and Charity (Parker) Free. His great-grandfather was a Hessian soldier who came to the United States during the Revolutionary war, to fight for the English, but who subsequently became convinced of the justice of the cause of the col- onists and afterwards remained in this country. The grandfather of Charles H. Free was George Free, who came from Pennsylvania to Ross County among its earliest settlers, located on a farm, developed a well cultivated and productive property, and was known as a farmer in com- fortable circumstances and a citizen who merited the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Nathaniel Free was born near Rapid Forge, at the mouth of Cleft Run, and was only two years old when his mother died, but was well reared and received a good education for his day and local- ity. He was brought up on Cleft Run, and after his marriage settled on a farm in the vicinity of his boyhood home. In 1866, with his wife and children, he moved to Paint Township and purchased the farm on which his son, William A. Free, now lives, and on which he passed the remainder of his life. Mr. Free was an energetic and industrious agri- culturist, practical in his ideas and ready to try new methods. He started his career with practically nothing, and so well were his efforts directed and so ably his affairs conducted, that at the time of his death he was the owner of about 1,100 acres of good land. Quiet and unassuming in
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manner, he did not seek public office, his ambitions being realized in the making of a home and the securing of a good education for his children. Mr. Free married Charity Parker, also of the Cleft Run community, and they became the parents of eleven children, of whom nine are living at this writing, as follows: Frank, who is a resident of the State of Missis- sippi; William A., who has a farm of 213 acres in Paint Township, on the Greenfield turnpike; John M., a resident of the State of Washington ; Alice, the wife of Jess Mossberger, of Harpers Station, Ohio; Lizzie, the wife of George Crutcher, of Paxton Township; Ed; Carrie, who is now Mrs. Lydon Smith, of Paint Township; George, who died young; Charles H., of this review; Robert, who died at the age of three years; and Sam, of Paint Township.
In the district schools of his native township, Charles H. Free received his educational training, following which he supplemented this with a course at Valparaiso University. He was reared on Paint Creek, and when he was ready to enter upon an independent career he adopted farming for his life work, being fitted for this vocation by predilection, inheritance and training. Throughout his life he has done general farm- ing and stockraising, and has succeeded well in whatever venture he has undertaken.
Mr. Free married Miss Bessie West, and they have had two children : Charles H., Jr., who attended the public schools and spent two years at Ada (Ohio) University ; and Emma M. Mr. and Mrs. Free are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Free is fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Greenfield, and the Knights of Pythias at Bainbridge. Politically he is a democrat. He stands high in the public esteem and belief in his integrity and good judgment have been variously made manifest. He has been township treasurer, justice of the peace and member of the school board, and takes a lively and intelligent interest in politics. His home farm consists of 200 acres.
FRED H. SEELING is proprietor of the Longview Fruit Farm in Hunt- ington Township. This farm, comprising 365 acres, is situated in the northwestern part of the township, and one of its conspicuous features is the Alum Cliffs, one of the highest points along the Cincinnati Pike.
Mr. Seeling is a native of Ross County, and in order to attain his present enviable position in business and industrial affairs, has exempli- fied a great deal of practical enterprise and energy. In fact, since an early age he has depended upon his own resources to put himself ahead in the game of life. He was born in Huntington Township December 23, 1864, a son of Charles and Theresa (Meister) Seeling. His father was born in a part of Holland that is now included in the German Empire. When fifteen years of age his widowed mother brought him and three older sons, Joseph, Fred and Gus, to the United States. The little family made the voyage on a sailing vessel and spent thirteen weeks on the ocean. They landed in Baltimore, and there Charles Seeling lived for a number of years. His first wife died there, and at
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Baltimore he married Theresa Meister, who was a native. of Bavaria, Germany, and had come to America with her two brothers and five sisters. This party also landed at Baltimore and all the family settled there and married.
About 1854 or 1855 Charles and Theresa Seeling move to Ross County, Ohio. They bought a farm in Huntington Township and thereafter lived in comfortable circumstances and were noted as among the pro- gressive farming people of that section. Charles Seeling died in 1883 and his wife in 1907. Of their seven children, all grew up and six are still living: Anna, wife of A. Reub, of Huntington Township; William, who died in Huntington Township; Charles, of Huntington Township; Lewis, a farmer in Wabaunsee County, Kansas; Fred H .; Elizabeth, wife of Tony Fisher, an electrician at Denver, Colorado; and Sarah, wife of Joseph Sieber, of Columbus.
Fred H. Seeling grew up in his native township, attended the dis- trict schools there, but he was not reared to a life of all play and no work. When only about eight or nine years of age he began herding cattle on the commons or public highways and employed a good part of his time at that until he was fifteen. Thereafter he took part in the management of the home farm, and gradually began laying the founda- tion for his own individual prosperity.
On March 13, 1897, Mr. Seeling married Clara Long, a daughter of Allan and Catherine Long. The Long family is referred to on other pages of this publication. For two years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Seeling lived on the home farm, and he then bought the 365 acres which comprise his present estate. This was originally known as the Kilburn farm. He has made many improvements, including the plant- ing of a fine apple orchard. For fourteen years he bred and raised Jersey cattle on his farm, but his attention as a stock raiser is now devoted to the Aberdeen Angus cattle and the Duroc hogs.
Mr. and Mrs. Seeling are the parents of two daughters: Catherine and Elizabeth, both of whom are at school and they have received the best of advantages in the local schools. Mr. Seeling is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 52, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and belong to both the local and the county Grange. He and his family attend St. Peter's Church at Chillicothe, and politically he is a democrat.
SAMUEL S. STEEL. For upwards of a century the Steel family has been honorably identified with Ross County, and the name is well entitled to the high respect it has always commanded in this community. Mr. Samuel S. Steel, who has rendered valuable service to the county in the office of county commissioner, has spent his active career as a farmer and is especially well known in Scioto Township.
The farm where he now resides was his birthplace. He was born August 27, 1859. He comes of a very old Scotch family. Tracing the ancestry back in direct line we come to Alexander Steel, who was born in Scotland in 1690. On June 16, 1710, at Biggar in Lanarkshire he married Isabelle Simpson. Their son John Steel was born April 4, 1717,
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and married Elizabeth Milligan. They remained lifelong residents of Scotland.
In the next generation was James Steel, Sr., grandfather of Samuel S. Steel. James, Sr., was born February 23, 1769, and on January 18, 1805, married Jane Gladstone, a cousin of the father of Hon. William Ewart Gladstone. Both James and his wife were natives of the village of Biggar. In 1816 James Steel set out for America, accompanied by his family, and located near Winchester, Virginia. From there the family came to Ohio in 1819, traveling with wagons and teams, and their first place of settlement was near Slate Mills in Ross County. He followed farming the rest of his life in this county. While living in Virginia he had witnessed the institution of slavery at its worst, and was therefore not content to reman in a state which countenanced the keeping of slaves.
James Steel, Jr., father of Samuel S., was born at Biggar in Lanark- shire, Scotland, July 20, 1807. He came to America at the age of nine years and was twelve years of age when he came to Ohio. He grew up in Ross County, and in 1842 bought a farm on the north fork of Paint Creek. Thereafter he was successfully engaged in farming until declin- ing years obliged him to give up active labor. He died in his ninety-first year, and his last days were made happy and comfortable by the care and devotion of his children. During his early life in Ohio he was an ardent abolitionist and his home became one of the stations on the underground railway through which many slaves went to freedom. He became identified with the republican party on its organization in 1856, and thereafter voted for and supported every presidential candidate until his death. In 1896, though feeble in health but strong in intellect, he was carried to the polls and there deposited his last presidential vote for William Mckinley. He was also ardently devoted to the prohibition principles. In his last years his mind was much stronger than his body. He took a keen interest in public affairs to the last, and some members of the family would read from the daily papers to him, and he never lost his interest in outside events.
On October 3, 1837, James Steel married Jane Sommerville. Her father, John Sommerville, was born in Etrick, Scotland, emigrated to America in 1808, located on a farm near Bourneville in Ross County. Thus the Sommerville family is one of Ross County's families that have been identified with this section of Ohio for more than a century. John Sommerville married Elizabeth Smith, who was born near Greenfield in Highland County, Ohio. John Sommerville was squire of Twin Township for some years, and both his influence and his character made him much appreciated by his neighbors, who respected his learning and sound judgment, and many of them went to him for legal advice and help in the legal complications in which they became involved.
Mr. and Mrs. James Steel reared ten children, namely: John Som- merville, James Gladstone, William, Alexander, Elizabeth Jane, Mary Isabel, Emma Ann, Margaret, Samuel Smith and Alice Carey. Both parents were active members of the Presbyterian Church, in which faith they had been reared from childhood.
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Samuel S. Steel grew up on his father's home in Ross County, at- tended the rural schools and the Chillicothe High School, and remained with his parents until the close of their lives, taking an active part in the management of the farm, and devoting himself in every way to the welfare of his aged father and mother. He finally succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead and there he has continued his productive labors to the present time.
In 1893 Mr. Steel married Miss Mayme Camp. She was born in Bement, Illinois, a daughter of William and Mary Ellen (Peters) Camp. Mr. and Mrs. Steel have four children named Dorothy, Russell, Harold and Mary Eleanor. In religious matters Mr. and Mrs. Steel are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Chillicothe. Besides his success as a farmer Mr. Steel has never neglected the duty of a good citizen to his community. His first presidential vote was cast for James A. Garfield, and since then he has been as loyal as his father to republican principles. For twenty years he had his place on the township school board, and in 1914 was honored by the people of the county at large in election to the position of county commissioner.
WILLIAM MARTIN HICKLE has given many years of an industrious and honorable career to the business of farming in Concord Township, where he is one of the most esteemed residents. This is a family name that has been identified with Ross County since the very early years of the last century.
Mr. Hickle was born in Concord Township March 23, 1838. His ancestry goes back to George Hickle, who was born in Germany, and on coming to America settled in Virginia. After some years in Frederick County of that state he came to Ohio and located in Colerain Township of Ross County. He spent the rest of his days there.
Devault Hickle, a son of the pioneer emigrant, and father of William M. Hickle, was born at Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1796. He was twenty years of age when he came with his family to Ohio in 1816. As was the custom at that time in the absence of railroads or other means of transportation, the family made.the trip entirely with wagons and teams. George Hickle secured land in Colerain Township, and while clearing and improving also followed his trade of shoemaker. There was no machinery for the making of boots and shoes at that time, and they were made entirely by honest cobbling, and the shoemakers often went from house to house in a pioneer community, making footwear for family use. From Colerain Township George Hickle moved to Deer- field Township in 1830, and there was actively engaged in farming until his death in 1856. His wife was Mary Weaver. She died at the age of seventy-six years, having reared six children named Jacob, Betsy, Chris- topher, DeVault, Martin and Catherine.
De Vault Hickle, father of William M., was born in Colerain Town- ship of Ross County March 30, 1820. Reared on a farm, he made farm- ing his active vocation, and in company with his brother Martin carried on farming operations for many years. DeVault Hickle died in 1892.
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The mother of his children was Lucinda Goldsberry. She was born in Concord Township of Ross County, daughter of Jeremiah Goldsberry, a pioneer of that county. Mrs. De Vault Hickle died in 1893. She reared ten children, eight daughters and two sons. One of the sons, John W., who was born October 11, 1857, has been a farmer all his life and now owns and occupies a well improved place adjacent to Roxabell. He married Mrs. Minnie (Hen) Keller, daughter of William and Maria Hen, and widow of Joseph Keller. By her first marriage she has a daughter named Catherine.
William Martin Hickle received his educational training in the schools of Ross County. He remained at home to assist in the labors of the farm, and after the death of his parents he continued to farm with his uncle Martin until the latter's death. He and his Brother John then succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead, and has been actively and successfully engaged in diversified farming.
On March 20, 1902, Mr. Hickle married Ernie May Mossbarger. Mrs. Hickle was born in Jackson County, Ohio, April 16, 1878, a daughter of John Franklin Mossbarger, who was born in Madison Township of Jackson County, Ohio, December 6, 1849, a son of Samuel and Eleanor (Cherrington) Mossbarger. Samuel Mossbarger was a son of John and Mary Mossbarger, very early pioneers of Jackson County. John Moss- barger owned a farm in Madison Township and both he and his wife spent their last days there. Mrs. Hickle's grandfather, Samuel, moved from Jackson County to Ross County, leased land about two miles from Salem, and lived there until his death. His wife was a member of the well-known Cherrington family of Jackson County, and she also spent her last years in Ross County. John F. Mossbarger, father of Mrs. Hickle, was reared and married in Jackson County, lived on a farm in Madison Township there until 1879, then leased a farm in Deerfield Township of Ross County with his brother Virgil, but after five years they went back to Jackson County and bought his father's old place. He occupied that thirteen years, and then returning to Ross County rented land a few years, after which he bought a place in Concord Township, and selling that at the end of five years had another place in Buckskin Township for four years, and on disposing of that bought his present home in Concord Township. On March 23, 1871, John F. Mossbarger married Lucy Williams, who was born in Madison Township of Jackson County, a daughter of Joseph Williams, Jr., and grand- daughter of Joseph Williams, Sr. The latter was born in Wales and came to America in 1816, living a short time in Pennsylvania and then moving to Jackson County, Ohio, where he spent the rest of his days. Joseph Williams, Jr., married Isabelle Phillips. Mrs. Hickle was one of seven children named Eddie, Ella, Joseph, Ernie, Stella, Myrtie and Everett.
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