USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. II > Part 34
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Charles William Smith continued his studies in the public schools until he had reached his seventeenth year, and from that on until he was twenty he farmed. Taking up the carpenter's trade he continued that vocation for four years, and from that on for twenty years he was in the business for himself. He is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Mt. Victory, is a member of the Odd Fellows and also of the Elks lodge at Kenton. He votes with the Democratic party.
Mr. Smith married on the 26th of November, 1881, Flora M. Harvey, who was born in Mt. Victory August 23, 1865, a daughter of Newton and Elizabeth (Smith) Harvey. Newton Harvey was born in Union county, Ohio, in 1842, was both a shoemaker and farmer, and he died on the 7th of September, 1900. Mrs. Harvey was a daughter of Hiram and Jane (Wilkes) Smith. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, including Mrs. Smith, are: Loal and Otie, the former a farmer in Hardin county, and the latter the wife of M. Madory, also of this county. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Claude who died in infancy. Everett, born June 14, 1885, and Clarence, born October 4, 1890. Everett Smith married Goldie Dawson, and their two children are Waldo and Dawson. Mrs. Charles W. Smith is a member of the Rebekah lodge at Mt. Victory, and of the Pythian Sisters at the same place.
PHIL M. CROW .- A man of high talent, versatile genius, and full of vim and energy, Phil M. Crow, of Kenton, Ohio, is widely known as a
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sound and able attorney and counsellor at law, having the confidence of the courts, of his associates at the bar, and of an extensive clientage. He is also prominent and active in fraternal, political and financial circles, and in fact, in any project or organization that bears the ear- mark of advancement and progress for his fellow-men. A son of Ezram B. and Isabella (Hudson) Crow, he was born, May 27, 1866, in that part of Ridgeway, Ohio, which lies in Logan county, his parents being esteemed and honored citizens. He was married May 10, 1893, to Miss Linna A. Fogle.
Having acquired a thorough knowledge of the common branches of learning, in his native village, he began his professional career by teaeh- ing in the rural schools for several terms, and while thus employed, commeneed, in 1882, to read law. Afterward, Mr. Crow entered the law office of Johnson and Crane, with whom he continued as a student about two years. Becoming proficient in his studies, he was admitted, March 7, 1889, to the bar of the supreme court of Ohio, and on April 12, 1889, was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the District of Columbia.
On June 4, 1889, having completed the full course of three years at the Georgetown University School of Law, Mr. Crow was graduated with the degree of Master of Laws. Beginning the practice of his profes- sion in Kenton, he formed a partnership with Fred M. Childs, and continued as junior member of the firm of Childs and Crow, from May 2, 1890, until the retirement of Mr. Childs from active practice. He was subsequently in partnership with William W. Durbin, as senior member of the firm of Crow and Durbin, from January 16, 1892 until May 19, 1902, since which date he has practiced alone, being now one of the foremost lawyers of Hardin county.
Mr. Crow was appointed city solicitor of Kenton, July 7, 1891, was elected to that office in 1892, and re-elected in 1894, has also served the city as a member of the board of sinking fund trustees and tax com- missioners. Continuously during the past fifteen years, Mr. Crow has been one of the trustees of the Kenton Public Library. Ile is of a very sympathetic temperament, and is deeply interested in the suppression of cruelty to animals.
He organized the Commercial Bank, of Kenton, and the Alger Savings Bank, Alger, being a director in both, as well as their counsel.
Politically, he is an ardent and active Democrat, and was a dele- gate from the Eighth Congressional District of Ohio, to the convention at Chicago, which nominated William J. Bryan for president, in 1896. Fraternally Mr. Crow is a member of all the Masonic bodies in Kenton. is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, is a past exalted ruler of Kenton Lodge of Elks, and belongs to the Loyal Legion, Ohio Commandery.
JOHN ANSTINE .- Widely known throughout a large part of the state as an expert road builder, John Anstine is numbered among the respected and influential citizens of Kenton, which has been his home for many years. A son of John Anstine, Sr. he was born, January 13, 1874,
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at Roundhead, Hardin county, Ohio, of German ancestry. His grand- father, Henry Anstine, born, it is thought, in Germany, lived for awhile in Pennsylvania, later becoming a pioneer settler of Champaign county, Ohio. He subsequently purchased a flour mill on the Huntsville pike, three miles from Bellefontaine, and there spent his last years, the mill being now owned and operated by his son Charles.
Born in Pennsylvania, John Anstine, Sr., was very young when he was brought by his parents to Ohio, and but eight years of age when his mother died. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and as a young man located in Hardin county. Marrying a few years later, he took charge of the farm of his father-in-law, at Roundhead, and subsequently bought the estate, and there continued as a tiller of the soil until his death, October 13, 1880, at the age of thirty-seven years, ere reaching manhood's prime.
John Anstine, Sr., married, in 1872, at Roundhead, Hardin county, Maggie Pfeiffer, who was born in Pleasant township, Hardin county, October 7, 1846, a daughter of John Pfeiffer. Her grandfather, Michael Pfeiffer, spent the greater part of his life in Germany, coming from there when well advanced in years to Ohio, and spending the remainder of his life with his children, dying at the home of a daughter, in Pleasant township. He reared four sons and two daughters.
John Pfeiffer was born and reared in Germany. Emigrating to America at the age of nineteen years, he spent six years in Pennsylvania, and then went back to the Fatherland to visit his relatives and friends. Returning to this country in 1833, he came directly to Ohio, locating in Pleasant township, Hardin county. This section of the country was then in its primeval wildness, game of all kinds being very plentiful, and Kenton was a hamlet of log cabins. Purchasing a tract of timber two miles east of Kenton, he built a hewed log house and there resided until 1851. Coming then to Kenton he bought a flour mill on West Franklin street, and operated it successfully until 1865, when he traded it for a farm at Roundhead. Eight years later, he gave up farming and subse- quently lived retired from active pursuits in Kenton. He came to this country a poor boy, but he was industrious and persevering, possessed good judgment, and in course of time acquired a competency that enabled him to spend the closing years of his life in ease and comfort, his death occurring when he was sixty-seven years of age. The maiden name of
the wife of John Pfeiffer was Eva Elsasser. She was born in Hesse Castle, Germany, and preceded her parents to America. She survived him, passing away at the venerable age of eighty-one years. She reared six children. John Anstine, Sr .. , and his wife reared two children, namely : John and Willis. Mrs. Anstine, a widow for many years, now resides in Kenton. She is a most estimable woman, and a con- scientious member of the Lutheran church.
Educated in the district schools, John Anstine was reared to habits of industry, honesty and thrift. Beginning young to assist on the farm, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until twenty-four years of age. In the meantime he had performed his full share of the work required to keep the public highways of the neighborhood in good condition,
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and had carefully studied the question of good roads and their benefit to a community. Leaving the farm in 1897, Mr. Anstine engaged in the work of road building, and in the construction of substantal high- ways has gained a wide reputation, having been thus employed in a majority of the counties of the state. In 1907 Mr. Anstine became the junior member of the firm of D. R. MeArthur & Company, thus becoming a member of one of the oldest road building companies in the state, Mr. McArthur having been thus employed for thirty-five years, and being well known throughout the state as an expert macadam road builder.
Mr. Anstine married, in 1897, Mary Louise McArthur, who was born in McDonald township, Hardin county, a daughter of D. R. and Elizabeth (Clark) McArthur. Mr. and Mrs. Anstine have two children., namely : Daniel McArthur and Margaret Elizabeth. Politically Mr. Anstine is a Republican, and fraternally he is a member of Pythian Lodge, No. 101, K. of P .; and of Kenton Lodge, No. 157, B. P. O. E.
ISAAC ROBERT DRAPER .- Among the enterprising men who have been identified from early youth with the development and promotion of the agricultural prosperity of Hardin county is Isaac Robert Draper, now living retired from active business cares in Kenton. A son of Robert Draper, he was born, February 20, 1852, in Pleasant township, Hardin county. His grandfather, Isaac Draper, Jr., was born in Virginia, where his father, Isaac Draper, Sr. was a life-long resident. The great-great-grandfather of Mr. Draper was also, as far as known, a life-long resident of the old Dominion State. He was an expert cabinet maker, and one of the beautiful pieces of artistic furniture which he manufactured, a combination bookcase and secretary, made upward of one hundred and fifty years ago, has been handed down from generation to generation, and is now in the possession of Isaac Robert Draper, who prizes it highly.
Brought up in Virginia, Isaac Draper, Jr., followed the emigrant's trail westward in early life, becoming a pioneer settler of Coshocton county, Ohio, where he resided several years. Coming with his family to Hardin county in 1834, he bought timbered land on the Scioto river, about a mile from Kenton. He improved quite a tract of the wild land, and carried on farming. He spent the closing years of his life in Kenton, dying at a venerable age. His first wife, whose maiden name was Workman, died soon after their removal to Hardin county, leaving four children, Sarah, Nancy, Robert and Perry. He married for his second wife Susan Teeters, and they had one child, a daughter named Susan, and a resident of Florida.
Born in Coshocton county, Ohio, Robert Draper was a lad of seven years when he came with his family to Hardin county. This section of the country was then in its virgin wildness, its dense growth of timber being inhabited by the dusky savages and the wild beasts of the forest, while the wild turkeys were more plentiful than the barnyard fowls now are. At night all of the domestic animals had to be kept in an enclosure. For many years there were no railways and no
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convenient markets, the people living chiefly on the products of their land and the fruits of the chase. After his marrigae Robert Draper settled on a tract of land which had been purchased by his father in Pleasant township. There, in the midst of the giant trees, he reared the humble log cabin in which his older children were born. Energetic and industrious, he cleared and improved a fine homestead of one hundred and twenty-eight acres, after a few years replacing the original log cabin with a substantial frame residence, and erecting good farm buildings. There he carried on general farming until his death, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Osborn, was born in Richland county, Ohio, and as a child was brought by her parents, Isaac and Margaret Osborn, to Pleasant township, where they were early settlers. She died at the age of fifty-seven years, after becoming the mother of eight children, namely: Isaac Robert, Emma, MeClellan, Willis E., Alice, Cynthia, Elva and Clara. McClel- lan, Alice and Cynthia died in young man and womanhood, before their mother's death.
Brought up on the home farm, Isaac R. Draper was educated in the district schools, and while yet young obtained a practical knowledge of agriculture under his father's wise instructions. Marrying at the age of twenty-two years, he gained his first experience of domestic life in a log house on his father's farm, a part of which he rented. A few years later, having succeeded in his undertakings, he bought sixty acres of timbered land in Blanchard township, and having erected a log house and barn began clearing the land. Eighteen months later Mr. Draper sold at an advance and bought an eighty acre tract in the same township, thirty acres of which was cleared. . He lived there a year and a half, and then purchased sixty acres of the parental homestead. Erecting a substantial set of frame buildings, he was there prosperously engaged in his independent calling until 1887, when he removed to Kenton, where he has since resided, leasing his farm.
Mr. Draper married, in 1874, Sarah Belle Carothers, who was born in Pleasant township, Hardin county, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel Henderson Carothers. Her grandfather, James Carothers, Jr., was born in Scotland, near Glasgow, in 1770, and as a young child was brought to America by his parents, James, Sr., and Mary (Maloy) Carothers. James Carothers, Sr., settled with his family on a farm in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and there spent his remaining years, attaining the venerable age of ninety-four years. He was a
man of magnificent physique, broad and well proportioned, standing six feet four inches in height. Enlisting in the Revolutionary army, he served as a soldier five and one-half years, a part of the time as one of Washington's body guard. He was subsequently a guardsman on the frontier for seven years, during which time he battled with and killed several Indians, never losing an opportunity to make way with a redskin, having vowed vengeance on the savages for their brutal mas- sacre of a brother and his family. James Carothers, Jr., was a child when he came to America and eighteen years of age when the family settled in Huntingdon county. He succeeded to the occupation in
y CeMiller
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which he was reared, although prior to his marriage he was for awhile engaged in boating on the Susquehanna river. He subsequently located on a farm near Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county, and there spent the remainder of his years. He served during the war of 1812 as a soldier. The maiden name of his wife was Polly Fitzsimmons. She was born, in 1782, in Dublin, Ireland, and was brought to America by her parents, Patrick and Nancy Fitzsimmons, about the close of the Revolutionary war. Samuel Henderson Carothers was born, February 8, 1819, on the home farm in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and there began life for himself as a teamster, receiving at first eleven dollars a month for hauling produce between Shirleysburg and Baltimore and other points, driving a six-horse team. When he had saved eighty-eight dollars he bought a pair of horses and a wagon, paying for the whole outfit, including the harnesses, fifty dollars. With this outfit, accom- panied by his wife, he started for the western frontier, making an overland journey to Ohio, arriving in Greene county with sixteen dollars and fifty cents in his pockets. Resuming his former occupation, he began teaming to Cincinnati, taking produce to that city and bringing back coal. Prudent and economical, he accumulated some money, and in 1846 purchased eighty acres of land in Pleasant township, Hardin
county. He continued teaming, however, four years longer, and then turned his attention to the care of his farm, in his operations being quite successful. He married first, June 22, 1840, Nancy E. Gilmore, who was born in Cumberland county, Maryland, January 25, 1819. She died October 12, 1861, leaving four children. Mr. Carothers mar- ried on June 24, 1862, Ann E. Woods, who was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1829, a daughter of Roland and Elizabeth (Mus- ser) Reece, and of this union there were two children.
Mr. and Mrs. Draper have one son, namely : Clyde Draper. He was educated in Kenton, and was for three years a telegraph operator in California, but is now a shoe dealer in Kenton. Socially Mr. Draper belongs to Amicitia Lodge No. 79, I. O. O. F., and Mrs. Draper is a members of the Rebekahs of Kenton. Religiously both are valned mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.
J. C. MILLER, the pioneer shoe dealer of Kenton, Ohio, has been identified with this place since 1858, and since 1876 has had his son as partner, their business being conducted under the firm name of J. C. Miller and Son.
The Millers are of English descent and several generations of the family were born on Long Island, New York. J. C. Miller was born there July 27, 1830, a son of Enoch and Amy (Conklin) Miller, both natives of Long Island. Mrs. Miller also traced her ancestry to Eng- land. In their family were seven sons and one daughter, and of this number six are now living, J. C. being the second in order of birth. The father died in New York state at the age of seventy years; the mother at thirty-five.
At the age of fifteen years J. C. Miller, having finished his studies in the common schools, went into his father's shop and entered upon
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an apprenticeship to the shoemaker's trade. This term of apprentice- ship lasted until he was twenty-one, and he continued to work for his father seven years longer. Then, in 1858 he came west to Kenton, Ohio, and established himself in business here, at first supplying his his trade with the work of his own hands. And here he has continued for more than half a century, he having celebrated in 1908 the fiftieth anniversary of his business in Kenton.
In 1852, on Long Island, he married Miss Caroline Raynor, who was born there in 1832, daughter of Norton Raynor. She died at Ken- ton, May 16, 1909. To them were born two children, a son and daughter. The former, Henry J., born on Long Island, April 14, 1855, was three years old at the time the family came to Ohio; the daughter, Emma W., was born in Kenton, November 9, 1862. She was married October 14, 1885, to Ralph W. Rarey, a farmer of Hardin county, and they have three children, Frank, Amy and John.
Henry J. Miller received his education in the Kenton high school, and, following in the footsteps of his forefathers, he settled down to the trade of shoemaker, which he learned in his father's shop. In April, 1876, on reaching his majority, he became his father's partner and has since been in business with him. He married, October 13, 1880. Miss Emma C. Norton. A native of Ohio state and a sister of W. A. Norton. They have two sons, William Norton and Raynor, the former born July 28. 1881, the latter, September 13, 1894. William Norton Miller married. November 20, 1907, Miss Marie Andrews.
Both J. C. and Henry J. Miller are stockholders in the Kenton Savings Bank and in the Kenton Telephone Company, Henry J. being a director in the latter organization. J. C. Miller is the only one of the original stockholders of the Savings Bank now living. Religiously he is a Presbyterian. He joined the church in 1850, and for over fifty years has been one of its elders. His son is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
ALVIN L. ZUCK .- An industrious and well-to-do agriculturist of Har- din county, Alvin L. Zuek, of Buek township, owns and occupies a farm which in regard to its appointments and equipments compares most favorably with any in the locality, manifesting in its neat and orderly appearance the thrift, care and good management of the proprietor. A son of Joseph Zuck, he was born, March 17, 1846, in Caledonia, Marion county, Ohio. John Zuek, his paternal grandfather, was, it is thought, born in Pennsylvania, of Dutch ancestry. Coming in pioneer days to Ohio, he lived for awhile on a farm in Ross county. Removing from there to Marion county, he bought raw prairie land in Marion township, and there devoted his time to clearing and improving a comfortable home- stead, residing there until his death, January 1, 1861, at the venerable age of four score and ten years. He was buried in a cemetery which was laid out on his farm and given by him to the county. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Van Guntine, survived him, passing away at the age of eighty years or more. They reared nine children, including : Abraham, Daniel, John, David, Joseph, Nancy, Fanny and Tena.
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Born in 1811 in Ross county, Ohio, Joseph Zuck was there brought up and educated, going as a young man to Marion county. Although brought up on a farm, he began life as merchant, having a general store in Caledonia. Selling out in 1848, he turned his attention to agricul- tural pursuits, buying his father's homestead property. A few acres had been cleared and a log cabin and a log stable had been erected. He set to work with a will to clear the remainder of the land, in the course of a few years having a well cultivated and productive farm. About the time of the Civil war, he erected a frame house, and later put up a substantial frame barn. In 1876 he sold that property and a year later bought land on Taylor Creek pike, Buck township, Hardin county, and was here prosperously employed in tilling the soil until his death, January 9, 1889. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Ann Kniesley. She was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Abraham Kniesley, who came from there to Ohio in early days, locating first in Marion county, from there moving to Richfield, Crawford county, where he improved a farm, on which he spent his remaining years. Four children were born of their union, namely: Alfred, who died when eighteen months old; Amanda and Melinda, twins; and Alvin L.
Growing to manhood in Marion township, Alvin L. Zuck was early initiated into the various duties and labors that fall upon a farmer's son, his help when out of school being needed by his father. After the death of both of his parents he succeeded to the ownership of the home farm, on which he toiled so faithfully, and continued its management until 1893. Selling the old homestead in that year to the Toledo and and Ohio Central Railroad Company he bought a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on the Bellefontaine pike, but continued to reside on the place which he had sold. In 1894 Mr. Zuek bought the farm which he now owns and occupies. It is located on Bellefontaine pike, in Buck township, and contains two hundred and five acres of choice land, and has improvements of value, including a substantial and convenient set of farm buildings. Here he is carrying on his chosen calling with well deserved success.
Mr. Zuek married, January 28, 1871, Isabelle Hill. She was born in Scott township, Marion county, Ohio, January 17, 1844. Her father, Samuel Hill, was born in Knox county, Ohio, where his father settled as a pioneer on coming from Ireland, his native land, to this country. Samuel Hill, who was of Scotch ancestry on his father's side of the house, was reared on the home farm in Knox county, and when ready to begin life for himself bought land in Scott township, and on the farm that he improved resided until his death. Ile married Ann Jane Mitchell, who was born in Belfast, Ireland, and came with her parents in a sail- ing vessed to Ohio, where, in Crawford county, they subsequently spent their remaining years. Mr. and Mrs. Zuck have one child, Addie L., who was born December 31, 1872, in Marion county. She married Paul K. Sieg, and they have two children, Mary Isabelle and Edwin Lewis. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Zuck are in sympathy with the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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H. N. BRADLEY .- One of the prominent early families of Hardin county were the Bradleys, William and Anna (Baker) ) Bradley, who established their home within its borders in the spring of 1857, making their journey hither with team and wagon and they settled on a farm in Lynn Valley, Lynn township. Their first purchase of land there was ninety-seven aeres, mostly covered with timber, the only improvements consisting of a log house, an orchard of two aeres and twenty acres of cleared ground. There these Hardin county pioneers lived and labored until their death, the husband dying on New Year's day, 1862, and the wife in the year of 1895.
HI. N. Bradley, their son, was born in Madison county, Ohio, in 1850, seven years before the family emigrated to Hardin county, and he afterward lived on the homestead here until twenty years of age. Following this he was absent for a short time, and then returning to the old home place he bought the interests of the other heirs and beeame its sole owner. In time he succeeded in clearing the land of its timber, erected good buildings, including a home, and continued its eultiva- tion until in the fall of 1904 he moved to Kenton and to the residenee he had purchased on North Detroit street, where he yet resides, although he still continues to oversee the work of his farm. He has added eighty acres to the original homestead, making an estate of one hundred and seventy-seven acres, all of which is under cultivation with the exception of about eighteen aeres of timber land. The farm contains two good residences and two orchards, and is one of the valuable estates of the township. In addition to his home place in Kenton Mr. Bradley also owns residence property on West Columbus street. He has served one term as a township trustee.
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