USA > Ohio > Champaign County > A centennial biographical history of Champaign county, Ohio > Part 34
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Colonel Thomas Moore, one of the most influential of the sons
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of William Moore, was born in Washington county, Kentucky, and ac- companied his parents on the memorable journey to Champaign county in 1799. The rank of colonel was won during his association with the county militia, a service covering several years. A tanner by preferred occupation, he was also extensively engaged in general farming, and his all-around enterprise and ability brought him in contact with many efforts toward the general upbuilding of the locality. He lived to be sixty-nine years of age, while his wife, who was formerly Reliance Bates, died at the age of forty-seven years. Mrs. Moore was a native of Ohio, and when a child came to Madison county, where she was reared, and edu- cated in the public schools. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Moore were born the following children : William Henry : Washington: Jesse S., who is a merchant in Mechanicsburg: Mary Temperance; John: Thomas; and Emaline. Of these. Henry, Mary Temperance, John, Thomas and Emaline are deceased. Mr. Moore was a member of the Methodist church, with which denomination most of the other members of his fam- ily were connected.
The third generation of the Moore family in Champaign county is represented by the children of Colonel Moore, one of the best known of whom is William B. Moore, named for his grand-sire. He was born in Logan county, Ohio, January 23, 1825, and when a year old was brought to this county, which has since been his home. For many years he engaged in the management of a tannery with marked success, but of late years has been interested in farming. His marriage with Hettie Dye has resulted in the birth of five children, viz: Harry, 11. Clay, Thomas, Mabel and Minnie. Mr. Moore is a Republican in national politics, and he enjoys an enviable reputation in the community of which he is a progressive and honored citizen.
The precedent established by Colonel Moore has been maintained by yet another son, Jesse S. Moore, a native of Champaign county, and
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born in 1832. Mr. Moore was reared on the paternal homestead. edu- cated in the early subscription schools, and has been a resident of Me- chanicsburg since 1856. During that year he entered upon an active business career as a clerk in a dry-goods store. . After learning all about the diy goods trade from the bottom up he started an independent enter- prise along the same line in 1874. and has since been successful in cater- ing to a large and appreciative patronage. In his young manhood Mr. Moore married Mary M. Rutan, and of this union there are two chil- dren. Percy T. and Frank D. In the city which has witnessed his great- est success in life Mr. Moore is esteemed for his sterling worth and unquestioned devotion to the public well-being.
Three of the sons of Colonel Thomas Moore were soldiers of the Civil war. Washington, whose occupation was that of a groceryman, rose to the rank of first lieutenant of his company. He first married Jennie Dye and several years after her death was married to Annie Climer, by which union there were two sons, Roy and Hugh. Henry and Thomas Moore also served as soldiers during the great civil conflict and the former reached the rank of captain of his company.
WASHINGTON LOUDENBACK.
On a well improved farm in section II, Mad River township, Champaign county, the subject of this review has maintained his home during the entire course of a long and active life, being a son of one of the first settlers in this section of the state and standing as one of the honored and representative citizens of the county.
Mr. Loudenback was born on his present homestead on the 11th of November, 1826, being the son of Reuben and Mary ( Wiante ) Loud- enback, both of whom were born in the Old Dominion state of Vir-
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ginia, the father having been of German descent, as the name implies. He came to Champaign county when a young man and took up a tract of wild land in Mad River township, establishing his home in the midst of the towering forest and setting to himself the arduous task of re- claiming the land for cultivation. Here he passed the remainder of his life, respected by all who knew him and doing his part in forwarding the development of this now opulent and attractive section of the Buck- eye state. His wife came to Champaign county when a young woman, and here occurred her marriage to Mr. Loudenback, whom she survived by many years, attaining the age of three score years and ten, while her husband passed away at the age of forty-three years. They became the parents of tour sons and five daughters, all of whom attained years of maturity and were married, with the exception of one daughter, the subject of this review having been the fifth in order of birth and one of the number who survive at the present time. He was reared in his na- tive township, growing up under the sturdy discipline implied in clear- ing away the forest and cultivating the fields thus produced, while he bore also his share of the hardships and privations necessarily involved. the family home in the days of his youth being one of the pioneer log cabins of the primitive type common to the locality and period, while such educational privileges as were his were afforded in the little log school house, with its puncheon floor, slab benches and wide, yawning fireplace. True friendship, honesty and integrity and no small amount of good cheer were typical in the early days, and the discipline was such as to engender strong mental and physical vigor, integrity, kindliness and a high regard for the dignity of honest toil and endeavor, so that, as the shadows of life begin to lengthen, and while surrounded by the conveniences and comforts typical of the twentieth century, Mr. Louden- back finds pleasure in reverting to the scenes and incidents of the early days.
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Our subject remained on the homestead farm after attaining his majority, and in this township, on the 25th of September, 1851. was solenmized his marriage to Miss Sarah Taylor, who was born in Mad River township, being the daughter of Benjamin Taylor, one of its honored pioneers and the eldest in a family of three children, of whom two are living at the present time. Mr. and Mrs. Loudenback are the parents of six children, namely : Mary J., Sarah C., Asa T .. Mildred, Jennie and Simeon, none of whom are married except Jennie and Simeon. Simeon is engaged in the real estate business in Chicago. Mr. Londenback has made the best of improvements on his farm, which comprises one hundred and eighty-three acres, and no man is more highly esteemed than he in the township where he has thus passed his entire lite, attaining success through strenuous and well directed effort and contributing by influence and tangible aid to those legitimate under- taking's through which the general good is conserved. In politics he has ever given a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, but has never been an aspirant for political office.
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MARION GUTHRIDGE.
For a number of years an active factor in the industrial interests in Minge. Marion Guthridge, through his diligence, perseverance and business ability, has acquired a handsome competence and has also con- tributed to the general prosperity through the conduct of an enterprise which has furnished employment to many. A native son of Wayne township. Champaign county, Ohio, his birth here occurred on the 20th of September. 1848. Ilis mother. Polly Ainsworth Guthridge, is a na- tive of Champaign county, Ohio, where she is still living at the age of seventy-four years, and a daughter of William and Fanny ( Kimble )
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Guthridge, William being born in Virginia, while his mother was born in Vermont.
Marion Guthridge has spent his entire life in the county of his nativity, and in its district schools received his early educational train- ing, while later he became a student in the high school of Cable. When the Civil was was inaugurated he was but a lad of fifteen years, but nobly offered his services in defense of the starry banner, becoming a member of Company F. One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer lu- fantry, enlisting on the 2d of May. 1864. He served through his term of enlistment as a private and at its close he received an honorable dis- charge at Columbus, Ohio, on the Ist of September, 1864. Return- ing thence to his mother's home at Cable, he remained with her for a time and in the spring of 1865 removed to Mingo, where for the follow- ing three years he found employment in a sawmill. On the expiration of that period. in 1868, he purchased the property and has since con- ducted the mill, which is now the largest of its kind in the county, and in addition to this valuable property he is also the owner of a farm in Wayne township, which he rents.
In the year 1873 Mr. Guthridge was united in marriage to Agnes Hunter, a daughter of Thomas Hunter, and to this union were born three children .- Edgar, who married Edith Callahan and is the efficient station agent at Rittman. Wayne county, Ohio: Thomas, who died in infancy ; and Walter, of Basler, Wyoming, where he is working as an operator on the Union Pacific Railroad. The mother was called to the home beyond on the 6th of March. 1883, and on the 27th of May, 1885, Mr. Guthridge was united in marriage to Ella Z. Robinson, a daughter of the Rev. J. M. Robinson, a member of the Cincinnati conference for twenty-eight years, and now deceased. Mrs. Guthridge is the second child and the second daughter in order of birth in her parents' family, and she was born at Mount Repose, Clermont county, Ohio. Mr. Guth-
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ridge is a stanch suporter of Republican principles, and for eleven years has served his township as its treasurer. Ile is a member of John Briney Post, G. A. R .. of North Lewisburg, and is also identified with the Ma- sonic fraternity, holding membership in the blue lodge and chapter in North Lewisburg, and in the commandery at Urbana. He is also a member of the Junior Order of United AAmerican Mechanics. Both he and his wife are worthy and active members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, in which he has served as a recording secretary for ten years and for a long period has been the superintendent of the Sunday- school.
GRANT V. FROMME.
Connected with a profession which has important bearing upon the stable prosperity and progress of the community and stands as a conservator of human rights and liberties, Grant V. Fromme has already obtained a creditable position at the bar of Champaign county, although he is yet a young man. He was born in the town of Saint Paris. June 3, 1866, and is a son of John Frederick Fromme, a native of Germany. who on. leaving the fatherland when about twenty-six years of age crossed the Atlantic to the new world and located first in Dayton, Ohio. Soon afterward. however, he came to Champaign county, and took up his abode in Saint Paris, where for many years he was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, but is now living retired in the en- joyment of a rest which he has richly earned and deserves, his home being still in Saint Paris. He was married there many years ago to Franceska Carlo, a daughter of Dr. Moretz Carlo, and a native of Champaign county. She died in 1896, at the age of fifty-nine years. By their marriage there were born six children, five sons and one daughter.
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Grant V. Fromme was reared in Saint Paris and there attended the public schools, graduating in the high school in the year 1883. He afterward spent one year in the Ohio Normal University at Ada but in the meantime had engaged in teaching for three years. From Ada he went to Cincinnati, where he became a student in the law school and was graduated in 1889, being admitted to the bar in the same year. In the fall of 1889 he located at Van Wert, Ohio, and became a law partner of Horace G. Richie, practicing law there for three years. He then returned to Champaign county, and has since been a member of the Urbana bar, being connected with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of this district. In 1898 Mr. Fromme married Miss Nora McMorran, of Champaign, and they have one child, Eloise. In politics our subject is a Republican and is prominent in the councils of his party in this locality. He is a pleasant, genial gentleman and in manner is unassuming, is thoroughly honest and his business methods will bear the closest inspection. Ile is admired by his fellow men, and for these and other excellent traits of character well deserves mention among the representative citizens of Champaign county.
JOSEPH W. DAVIS.
Is general history is but composite biography it naturally follows that the deepest human interest in study and investigation must lie along these lines where thought has engendered achievement, not less for the general than the individual good. In any locality where progress has left its consecutive tracing's there must ever be a dominant interest in reverting to the lives which have been an integral part of such ad- vancement,-whether on the lofty plane of "massive deeds and great,"
JeNavie
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or on the more obscure levels where honest purpose and consecutive en- deavor play their part not less nobly and effectively. The Buckeye state is peculiarly rich in historic lore, and it can not but, be a matter of gratification to find in these latter days of electrical progress that to the favored commonwealth remains a numerous progeny of those who stood as founders and builders of the state's prosperity. In the case at hand we are permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who is a native son of the city of Mechanicsburg, Champaign county, where he has ably upheld the high reputation maintained by his honored father, both as a citizen and a business man, while it was his to render yeoman service as one of Ohio's loyal sons who went forth in defense of the Union when its integrity was menaced by armed rebellion. "Peace hath its victories no less renowned than war," said Sumner, and this fact has been proven often and again, as the march of progress has con- tinued with ever accelerating speed. But the crucial period and the one which evokes the most exalted patriotism is that when a nation's honor is in jeopardy, its integrity threatened and the great ethic prin- ciples of right involved. Then is sterling manhood roused to definite protest and decisive action, and above all the tumult and horror of in- ternecine conflict never can greater honor be paid than to him who aids in holding high the standard which represents the deeper principles, hurling oppression back and keeping the boon of liberty. The military career of the subject of this review is one which will ever redound to his honor as a loyal and devoted son of the republic, and as one whose courage was that of his convictions, and yet one who was content to fight for principle and for his country's righteous cause rather than for mere glory in arms or relative precedence. That he is eminently en- titled to consideration in a publication of this nature is self-evident, and as one who has played well his part in connection with the public, civic, industrial and military affairs of Champaign county we are gratified to here offer a resumé of his career. thus perpetuating a most worthy record.
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Joseph Ware Davis, who is successfully engaged in the furniture and undertaking business in Mechanicsburg, is a native of this town, where he was born on the 30th of October. 1842, being a son of John Al. and Affalandert ( Pearce ) Davis, the former of whom was one of the honored and prominent business men of Mechanicsburg in the carly days, having been engaged in the same line of enterprise as is our subject and having continued operations in this direction for a period of nearly twenty years, ever commanding the confidence and esteem of the community and being known as a man of unbending integrity of purpose. He was significantly the artificer of his own fortunes, since he was thrown upon his own resources when a mere boy, but this un- fortunate contingency, involved in the death of his parents, was not sufficiently potent to greatly handicap the career of the ambitious and self-reliant youth, who bent circumstance to his will and advanced to a position of independence through his own efforts. John M. Davis was born in the city of Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and he was left an orphan at the age of three years, a circumstance which naturally clouded his youth to a considerable degree, in that it threw him upon immature and unsatisfactory resources. However. he availed himself of such advantages as presented, and in preparing for the active responsibilities of life he learned the carpenter's trade, in the city of Philadelphia, becoming a skilled artisan in the line and thus being adequately equipped for the battle of life. As a young man he came to Ohio and located in the city of Urbana, Champaign county. where he made his home for some time and where he nearly lost his life in the memorable cyclone of 1832, his few worldly possessions being also practically destroyed at the time. He took up his residence in Me- chanicsburg in 1835, and here success came to him as the result of his energetic and honorable efforts, for, as a furniture dealer and under- taker, he secured a large supporting patronage and attained a fair com-
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petence. He was a director of the underground railroad and was one of the first six to vote the abolition ticket in Mechanicsburg. He was conscientious in feeding and assisting the slave in his road to liberty, believing it was not in accordance with God's will. His death, in 1884. at the age of seventy-eight years, terminated a career of signal useful- ness and honor. He held membership in the Methodist Protestant church, while his devoted wife, a woman of gentle and noble attributes of character, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She survived him by more than a decade, entering into eternal rest in 1896. at the venerable age of eighty-seven years, secure in the love and filial solicitude of her children, whom she had reared to years of useful- ness and honor.
Joseph Ware Davis, the subject of this sketch, secured his early educational discipline in the public schools of Mechanicsburg and here he learned the cabinetmaker's trade in his youth, having just com- pleted his trade at the time when the dark cloud of civil war cast its gruesome pall over the national horizon. He was among the first to tender his services in defense of the Union, for three years' service, since on the 9th of August, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for a term of three years, and in 1863 lie veteranized, re-enlisting in the same company and being promoted to the office of commissary sergeant of his regiment, while at the time of receiving his honorable discharge. on the 18th of July, 1865, he held the office of lieutenant, being mustered out with this rank. During the first year of his service he was with his command in Virginia, and at Harper's Ferry he was taken prisoner by the Con- federate forces, but was eventually exchanged, after which he accom- panied his regiment to the southwest, being assigned to Logan's division and McPherson's corps, with which he participated in the movements and engagements of the Army of the Tennessee, taking an active part
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in the siege of Vicksburg. He was an eye witness to the meeting of Generals Grant and Pemberton between the Confederate and Union lines, which resulted in the surrender of the army that had so ably de- fended the city for forty days, and on the following day, July 4, 1863, le marched with Logan's division into the city. Later he was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and the memorable march to the sea, making the long and weary march through the Carolinas. His active. service terminated with the surrender of General Joseph Johnston, at Raleigh, North Carolina, and after the great victory crowned the Union arms he proceeded with his command to the city of Washington, where he took part in the grand review of the victorious armies. From the federal capital the regiment proceeded to Louisville, Kentucky, where Mr. Davis received his honorable discharge, his record having been that of a valiant and faithful soldier. He retains the most lively concern in all that touches the welfare of his old comrades in arms, whose ranks are being so rapidly decimated by the one invincible foe of mankind, and he is ever ready to recall the kindlier associations of that crucial epoch with which he was so closely identified as a soldier of the Re- public. He is prominently identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of Stephen Baxter Post, No. 8, in his home city, and his popularity in the same has been shown in his having served as commander of the post for three terms.
After the close of the war Mr. Davis returned to his native city, and here he turned his attention to contracting and building, in which line he gained prestige and success. His interest in public affairs has long been of vital order and he has figured as one of the uncompro- mising supporters of the principles and policies of the Republican party, in whose councils and cause he has played an active part. Ile served for nine years as a member of the city council of Mechanicsburg, was for three years incumbent of the office of treasurer of Goshen township,
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and for eight years he rendered efficient service as a member of the local board of education. A further mark of the confidence and esteem leposed in him by the people of his native county was that shown in 1888. when he was elected to the office of treasurer of Champaign county, giving an able and discriminating administration of the fiscal affairs and being chosen his own successor at the expiration of his first term of two years, so that he was consecutively in tenure of the office for a period of four years, during which he resided in the city of Ur- bana, the official center of the county. Upon retiring from office a resumption of his former vocation seemed inexpedient, and Mr. Davis therefore turned his attention to the line of enterprise in which his father had been so prominently engaged, and he has built up an ex- cellent business, having a large and comprehensive stock of furniture and having the best modern equipment as a funeral director. His correct business methods and his personal popularity have conserved the suc- cess of his enterprise and he is numbered among the progressive and representative business men of his native city. He and his wife are both zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in whose work they take an active part, and iraternally our subject is identified with Mechanicsburg Lodge, No. 113, F. & A. M., of which he was worship- ful master for a period of three years. He has ever shown a marked appreciation of the duties of citizenship, and his public spirit instigates an intelligent and helpful co-operation in all measures for the general good of the community in which he has passed practically his entire life.
On the 17th of September, 1868, Mr. Davis was united in mar- riage to Miss Mollie Jones, who was likewise born in Mechanicsburg. being a daughter of Robert and Nancy Jones, one of the pioneers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Davis became the parents of three children. of whom two are living, namely: Hallie G .. who is the wife of Ilarry Ridge. of Cincinnati: and David Thomas, who is associated with his
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father in business. The great loss and bereavement which came to Mr. and Mrs. Davis in the death of their elder son, John Robert, constitutes the only great shadow which has fallen upon their long and ideal mar- ried life. A young man of noble character and one who had made for himself a place of value in connection with the active duties of life, while he held the most unequivocal estecm of a wide circle of friends, he was cut down in his gracious youth, leaving that void in the hearts of his lived ones that can not be filled, though there must ever be a measure of consolation and compensation in knowing how truly and worthily he had lived his life.
John Robert Davis was born in Mechanicsburg on the 17th of April, 1873, and he was summoned into eternal rest on the 5th of April, 1902, at Phoenix, Arizona, whither he had gone in the hope of recuperat- ing his health. His life was spent almost in its entirety in his native place, though his education was finished in Urbana while his father was there living as incumbent of the office of county treasurer. There he entered the Swedenborgian College, but later became a student in the Urbana high school, where he was graduated as a member of the class of ISSS. From his early years he had manifested a desire to identify himself with the banking business, and as preparatory to duties in this line he was matriculated in the Eastman Business College, in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was graduated in 1892. Soon afterward a vacancy occurred in the office corps of the Farmers' Bank, in his home city, and he was chosen to fill the office, which he prac- tically held until his death. The cashier of the bank gave the follow- ing tribute to the young man at the time of his death: "Rob came to work at the bank in March, 1894, and up to the time he began to fail in health, in the summer of 1901. he was absent from the bank very few working days. Rob was an ideal bank man. Not once did he pre- sume upon his position : not once, even in the smallest way. did he
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