USA > Ohio > Champaign County > A centennial biographical history of Champaign county, Ohio > Part 37
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his educational discipline in the public schools and so applying himself as to become eligible for pedagogic honors, as is evident when we revert to the fact that he was for nearly twenty years a successful teacher in this county, gaining marked prestige in this profession. His marriage occurred in 1873, and he continued to teach for nine years thereafter, then locating on his present finely improved farmstead in Union town- ship, the same now comprising four hundred and fourteen acres and being one of the best properties of the sort in this section of the state. Here he has a fine modern residence and other excellent buildings, while his progressive methods and marked business discrim- ination have enabled him to attain exceptional success in his farming enterprise. He is one of the substantial and influential men of this locality and is held in the highest esteem as a man and a citizen. In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, though he has no political ambition in the matter of desiring official preferment. He has been a member of the board of trustees of the Champaign County Children's Home for thirteen years, and is a director of the Farmers' Bank. at Mechanicsburg. Fraternally he is identified with both the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On the 24th of December, 1873, Mr. Hull was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Ropp, who was born in Virginia May 2, 1850, the daughter of John W. and Almira V. ( Penhorn) Ropp, who came to Clark county, Ohio, when she was a child of four years and settled in Champaign county in 1882. Mr. Ropp and his wife there spent the remainder of their lives, the former passing away in 1894 and his wife in 1890. They were the parents of three children, namely: George E., Sarah J. and Camelia. Mr. and Mrs. Hull have one son, Esten C., who was born September 6, 1876, and is now a traveling salesman for the celebrated concern of W. H. Baker & Company, manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate, of New York City. He attended the Willis Com
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mercial College, at Springfield!, Ohio, and the Literary College situated at Ada. Hardin county, finishing his education in 1894, then came home and has been a commercial salesman since, being at the head of this class in the state.
TULLEY MCKINNEY.
The genial postmaster of Mechanicsburg has many claims upon the kindly consideration of his fellow townsmen, not the least of which is his contribution towards the development of the town as a builder and contractor, his praiseworthy career as a Republican politician, and his long and meritorious service as a soldier in the Civil war.
In his ancestral relations Mr. Mckinney is closely allied with the momentous events of Revolutionary times, and with the struggle for English supremacy along the Canadian border in 1812. He was born on the paternal farm in Clark county, Ohio. November 3, 1838, a son of Francis and Margaret ( Lennox ) Mckinney, natives of Jefferson county, Virginia. The family was first represented in America by the paternal grandfather, Tulley McKinney, who emigrated from Ireland about 1765, and settled in West Virginia. The woes of the colonists so dramatically hastened to a climax by the Boston Tea Party found a ready response in the heart of the Irish emigrant, and he not only completed a service .of two years in the Colonial army, but afterward re-enlisted for five years. During the seven years among the tents and armament and cease- less strife of the Revolution he stacked his musket upon many a blood- soaked battlefield, and because of his courage and heroism in the face of danger richly earned the right to the peaceful agricultural life afterward spent in Jefferson county, West Virginia. On the maternal side Mr. Mckinney is related to another family long identified with the Old
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Dominion state, for his grandfather, Nathaniel Lennox, with his broth- ers, Robert and Thomas, settled there after coming from Scotland, about 1785. Of the sons of Nathaniel Lennox, John Lennox served in the war of 1812. The parents of Mr. Mckinney removed from Virginia to Ohio in 1836, and settled in Clark county, where they engaged in farm- ing, and where the father died in 1864, and the mother a year later, just as peace was settling over the country after the Civil war. There were seven children in the family, five of whom are living, but one being a resident of Champaign county, Ohio.
The youth of Tulley Mckinney was uneventfully passed on the farm in Ohio and his common-school education was supplemented by an apprenticeship to a carpenter. April 23. 1861, he enlisted for three months in Company E, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after his honorable discharge August 11, 1862, re-enlisted with the call for thirty thousand volunteers, in Company A, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. During a service which extended to June 5, 1865, he saw much of the terrible and grewsome side of warfare, and among other important engagements participated in the battles of Perryville, Stone River. Phillipi, Chickamauga and Carrick's Ford, engaging also in the Atlanta campaign and Sherman's march to the sea. Thence the regi- ment marched through the Carolinas, and witnessed the surrender of General Joe Johnston, and after taking part in the grand review in Wash- ington was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio. Since the war Mr. McKin- ney has been a member of the Stephen Baxter Post, No. 88, Grand Army of the Republic.
Upon returning to his home in Ohio, Mr. Mckinney was married the same year to Sarah Alcinda Wilkinson, and the latter part of 1865 removed to Illinois, where he remained until locating in Mechanicsburg in the spring of 1870. To himself and wife have been born five children, Forest O., Charles J., Effie M., Dollie and Bertha .\. From the first of
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contracting, and many of the important public and private buildings are due to his skill and ingenuity. As a stanch Republican he has co- operated with his colleagues in furthering the best and most intelligent interests of his party, his faithfulness and ability receiving substantial recognition by his appointment as postmaster, June 17, 1898. His ad- ministration has been well received throughout, and in the discharge of his responsibilities, Mr. Mckinney is credited with singular fairness and tact. He is not associated with any church, although his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. He is one of the citizens of Mechanicsburg indebted solely to their own energy and well directed efforts for their success in life, and his career is worthy of emu- lation, and of the high regard accorded him by the community at large.
DUNCAN B. MCDONALD.
In the early pioneer days of the Buckeye state the McDonald family became identified with its history, and the colonial epoch of our national history stands as the period in which the family had its foundation on American soil, while records extant show that the subject of this re- view is in line of direct descent from one of the valiant patriots who did yeoman service as a soldier in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution. Industry, energy, honesty and fidelity have been among the marked characteristics of the family, as may be inferred from the fact that it is of stanch Scottish extraction, and the elemental strength of character in our subjeet shows that these sterling qualities are pre- dominant in his nature. He rendered efficient service to his country in the war of the Rebellion, has ever been true to the duties of citizen- ship and has long been numbered among the prominent and representa-
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tive business men of the beautiful little city of Urbana, where he has practically passed his entire life.
Mr. McDonald was born in Urbana. Champaign county, on the 7th of April, 1844, the fourth in order of birth of the six children of Duncan and Hester ( Heylin) McDonald. The former was born in Ross county. Chio, in the year 1804, and thence removed to Urbana in 1820, this city thereafter continuing to be his home until the time of his death, in 1891, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. He was for several years engaged in the dry-goods business here, but during the latter part of his life was retired from active business pursuits .. His parents, Archibald and Margaret ( McDonald) McDonald, were both born in Scotland, and though of the same name were not related. The family of the latter came to America prior to Mr. McDonald's emigration, in colonial days, and here the marriage of the grandparents of our sub- ject was solemnized, Mr. McDonald having been a soldier in the war of the Revolution. In that early epoch when Ohio was on the very frontier of civilization he emigrated to this section of the Union and located in what is now Ross county, where he developed a farm from the sylvan wilds and there engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life. His son Duncan, the youngest of the children and the fa- ther of the immediate subject of this review, was reared on the old homestead farm, and as a youth came thence to Urbana and secured a clerkship in the mercantile establishment of Marcus Heylin, who was one of the pioneer merchants of the town. Mr. McDonald eventually married Hester, the daughter of his employer, and a few years later became associated with his brothers, William and Colin, in the general mercantile business, the enterprise subsequently involving the handling of dry goods alone and the business becoming one of the most im- portant in the place. Mr. McDonald was a Republican in politics and a stanch advocate of its principles and policies, while both he and his
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wife were devoted members of the Presbyterian church, the death of Mrs. McDonald occurring in the year 1887. They were the parents of three sons and three daughters, namely : Henry D., deceased: Sarah McArthuer Deuel, of Urbana; Mary J. H. Stansbury, also of this city ; Duncan B., the subject of this review ; Captain I. H., of Philadelphia, Ohio; and Miss Ellen E., of Urbana.
Duncan B. McDonald was reared and educated in Urbana. and here began his business career by entering upon a clerkship in his fa- ther's store. In May, 1864, when a few weeks less than twenty years of age, Mr. McDonald gave manifestation of his loyalty by enlisting as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and was with his regiment in active service until the ex- piration of his term, in the fall of the same year, when he received an honorable discharge. He retains a lively interest in his old comrades in arms and is a charter member of W. A. Brand Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, in Urbana. Mr. McDonald was married in 1866, and shortly afterward located on a farm in Urbana township, this county, where he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits for the ensuing decade, at the expiration of which he returned to Urbana and engaged in the grocery business, having for the past twenty years been asso- ciated with J. B. Houtz, under the firm name of Houtz & McDonald. The firm have a fine establishment. with all modern accessories and con- veniences, .carry a large and select stock of staple and fancy groceries, table delicacies, etc., and cater to a representative and discriminating patronage, theirs being one of the leading mercantile enterprises in the city. In politics Mr. McDonald renders an unswerving allegiance to the Republican party, taking an active interest in its cause, while he has ever been known as one of the public spirited citizens and popular busi- ness men of his native city, where his friends are in number as his ac-
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quaintances. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church and take an active part m its work.
On the 2nd of January, 1866, Mr. McDonald was united in mar- iage to Miss Laura Lamme, who was born in Clark county, the daugh- ter of W. A. Lamme, and they have one son, Herbert H., who is now a resident of Montgomery, Alabama.
SIMON KENTON.
One of the most picturesque figures on the pages of American history is Simon Kenton, the explorer and Indian fighter and pioneer, who made his way into the "dark and bloody ground" of Kentucky and also led the way into the wildernesses of Ohio, planting the seeds of civilization which in later years have borne rich fruit.
Simon Kenton was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, April 3. 1755. and died in Logan county, Ohio, in 1836, near the place where he once narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Indians. At the age of sixteen he became entangled in a love affair which brought him in con- tact with a rival with whom he had an affray, and supposing that he had slain his antagonist, fled to the wilds of Kentucky, west of the Alle- ghanies. He assumed the name of Simon Butler, became an associate of Daniel Boone and took an active part with Boone and others in border life on the frontier. The life was well adapted to develop an adven- turer's true character, and young Kenton showed remarkable courage, sagacity and endurance. These virtues recommended him to the notice of Governor Dunmore, by whom he was employed as a spy.
In 1782, learning that his adversary, whom he supposed he had left dead, was still alive, he returned to his native place and by his rep-
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resentation of the country west of the mountains, induced his father to remove with him to Kentucky. . As a scout and spy he had traversed nearly every part of Ohio before he settled in it. He had many thrill- ing experiences with the Indians in his adventures, being several times captured and as many times experiencing narrow escapes from death. He settled in Urbana in 1802. was identified with the interests and perils of the people of Champaign county, and no wrong treatment, of which he thought himself the victim, swerved for an instant his loyal mind. He was as generous and kind hearted as he was brave, and was thor- oughly honest.
THOMAS RAWLINGS.
As a representative of one of the prominent and honored pioneer families of Champaign county, where he has passed his entire life and where he is recognized as one of the successful and progressive farmers of this favored section, it is certainly consistent that a record of the career andI antecedents of Mr. Rawlings be given in this work.
He was born at the old homestead. in section 18, Urbana town- ship, on the 28th day of August, 1836. Ilis father. James Rawlings, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, on the 28th of May. 1803, and came thence to Champaign county when he was about twenty years of age and became one of the early settlers of Urbana township, where he took up a tract of government land. founding the home where he lived to an honored old age the life of a prosperous farmer, settling his children, six in number, on farms around hini so that the smoke of their chimneys could be seen from the old homestead and he could mount his house and pay them all a morning call, returning to his home in time for dinner. Here he died October 21, 1886, in the fullness of
MRS. THOMAS RAWLINGS.
THOMAS RAWLINGS.
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years, secure in the esteem of all who had known him. In politics he was a Whig, until the organization of the Republican party, when he identified himself with the latter, and ever remained a stanch supporter of its principles. His father was Thomas Rawlings, of Loudoun county, Virginia, whose father, Pressley Rawlings, came to this country from England when a young man, accompanied by his brother Moses. They located in Virginia and served in the Revolutionary war, fighting in the interests of the colonies. Moses was never heard of after the war. Pressley removed to Kentucky, being among the earliest settlers of the Blue Grass state. There he purchased a tract of timber land and cleared a farm, upon which he spent the remainder of his days. His son Thomas was the oldest of seven children. Upon attaining manhood he mar- lied Miss Mary Tribbe, of Kentucky. She inherited a tract of land and four slaves : her inheritance joined that of her husband. They became the parents of nine children, of whom James was the fifth.
Jaines Rawlings, father of our subject, married Susannah Irby McRoberts, in 1829. She was born September 16, 1810, while her par- ents were on their way from Kentucky to Ohio. Her father. William MeRoberts, was born in Kentucky, his father having been a native of Ireland, whence he emigrated to America and became a pioneer of Kentucky. William McRoberts married Martha Irby Winn, daughter of John and Myrtilla Winn. John Winn was born December 31, 1759. in Virginia, and came to Fleming county, Kentucky, in 1796, in an ox cart with one negro boy and his cattle. He was well educated and taught in the neighborhood. When he left Kentucky he freed his negroes and became responsible for their good behavior. Removing to Ohio, he entered land on Pretty Prairie in Champaign county, some of which is still held by his descendants. He died at his home in Springfield, Ohio, September 14. 1838. Ile was married to Myrtilla Minor on Friday. December 14. 1787, by Rev. Thomas Grimes. She
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died August 1, 1822. Martha Irby Winn was born July 11, 1790, and died December 19, 1848. The above were the maternal grandparents of our subject, Thomas Rawlings.
James and Susannah ( Irby) Rawlings were the parents of six children, viz: William J. W., Mary M., Jane E., Thomas, James H. and Douglas W. William married Miss Elletta Jumper in 1863 and founded a home on Pretty Prairie, where he lived a useful and pros- perous lite. in his home, community and church, until March 29. 1898. when he died, leaving a fair inheritance to his children, six in number, who with their mother still survive him. His home, like those of his brothers and sisters, has always been in the neighborhood of his birth place, and he bent the whole energy of his strong character to the prosecution of the vocation to which he was born, and it was only a matter of course that he attained early in life to the front rank of Champaign county's foremost farmers. While yet a young man he united with the historic Buck Creek church, which he served as an ekder for many years. In politics he was a Republican and he took broad and liberal views of citizenship, his influence being known and felt throughout the county.
Mary M. married T. M. Todd and their residence is also near the old homestead, where they have reared five children, four sons and "ne daughter: two, a son and daughter, died in early youth. She and her husband and her children are connected with Buck Creek church. Jane E. married John P. Knight and they now occupy the old home which was the father's. Here they have reared a family of four sons, one of whom remains with them on the old farm, and the other three are out in the world filling responsible positions. James H. married Miss Laura Townley, of Wyandotte county, Ohio, daughter of Rey. Gilbert Townley, a Methodist minister of the Cincinnati Conference, and Elizabeth ( Hedges) Townley, daughter of Seton Hedges. Mr.
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Townley was a native of New York. His death occurred in Novem- ber. 1854, leaving a wife and three daughters. James H. was a soklier in the war of the Rebellion and served with honor in Company G. One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio National Guard. They were the par- ents of eight children, two of whom died in infancy. They settled on a fine farm not far from the old homestead. Mrs. Rawlings died August 7. 1892. James, in later years, removed to Urbana, where he now resides.
Douglas W. married Miss Alice Townley, sister of Laura, and to. them were born two sons and two daughters, the eldest of whom. Charles, died in early youth. Douglas W. also served his country in the war of the Rebellion, first as a member of the Eighty-sixth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry and afterward in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Na- tional Guard. At the close of the war he settled on a farm near his father, just across the line in Clark county. Here he lived for years, built a beautiful home and followed the vocation of the rest of the family .. He was known as a successful and progressive farmer, but having been always interested in politics he in mature life turned his attention that way and served for six years as county commissioner of Clark county. He was the eldest representative of the county and at the close of his first term was nominated and elected state senator from the district com- posed of the counties of Champaign, Clark and Madison. While serving as senator he came into prominence as the author of the "Rawlings bill." which created such consternation among the manufacturers of the state. After his retirement he lived a quiet life at his beautiful home on Pretty Prairie. He died March 14, 1894, at the age of fifty-one years, leav- ing a widow, two daughters and a son. Douglas, Jr., to mourn the loss of a devoted husband and loving father. These brothers, children of James Rawlings, Sr., were all Republicans in politics, but were some- what divided theologically. The eldest two. William and Thomas, were.
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Presbyterians, serving as officers in the old Buck Creek church for years. The youngest two. James and Douglas, were Methodists, and also served in official capacities in that denomination.
Thomas Rawlings was born and reared on the old homestead, now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. John P. Knight, and received his educational training in the district schools, making good use of such ad- vantages as were available in those days. He left the home farm in 1865 and located on his present farm near that of his brother William. He improved and added to the original area and is now living at ease. where he has spent the energies of his active and successful career, as a progressive and up-to-date farmer. His political affiliations are Repub- jican and he has since youth been an influential member of the Buck Creek church, of which he has been treasurer and trustee for the past twenty years. His wife is also a devoted member of the same historic old church. On the 16th of March, 1864. Mr. Rawlings was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Emily Humes, the daughter of Samuel and Mary 1. (McNeill) Humes. She was born in Union township. Champaign county, January 27. 1835. Her parents were natives of Virginia, whence they came as pioneers to Champaign county, where they passed the re- mainder of their days. They had ten children, five of whom are living at the present time, four of them in the same community where the pio- freer parents settled. Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings have no children, but there are many now in homes of their own who embrace every opportunity to visit the farm which was home to them in their youth and to whom the large-hearted owners were far more than friends and employers.
LYMAN ELLSWORTH BAKER, M. D.
One of the most promising and popular of the exponents of homeo- pathic science in Mechanicsburg is Lyman Ellsworth Baker, a native of Richwood. Union county, Ohio, and born February 14. 1870. His
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parents, Lyman G. and Mary ( Manson) Baker, are also natives of the Buckeye state, and are now living in Marysville, Ohio, where the father is retired from his former activity as a farmer and stock-raiser.
As the youngest but one in a family of five children, Dr. Baker was reared on the paternal homestead, and his arduous duties around the. farm were varied by attendance at the district schools, especially during the greater leisure of the winter months. This preliminary training was supplemented by a course at the Richwood high school, from which he was graduated in 1891, after which he engaged in educational work for a year. A commendable ambition reached beyond the well tilled acres comprising the home possession, and a careful survey of capabili- ties and inclinations resulted in a systematic course of study under the direction of Dr. J. S. Lunger, of Prospect, Ohio, and later entrance at the Cleveland (Ohio) Homeopathic Medical College, from which he graduated in the class of 1895. Immediately thereafter he located in Mechanicsburg as a possibly desirable field for professional activity, and the correctness of his surmise has been repeatedly and happily demon- strated without dimunition during the succeeding years.
The marriage of Dr. Baker and Ada O. Taylor, of Marysville, Ohio, occurred in 1896, and of this union there are two children, Fonta- belle and Robert E. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Methodist Protestant church, and are variously connected with the social interests in which the town abounds. The Doctor is a member of the Ohio State Ilomeopathic Medical Society, and the school which he represents has no more conscientious, painstaking and thoroughly adaptive disciple. As a diagnostician and prescriber he has successfully combatted with many intricate and apparently hopeless complications, and has thus met with a deserved appreciation while ministering to the physical woes of the community. By those who recognize his high professional ideals and realize the additional benefit of a pleasing and tactful personality,
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