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 4
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He married in 1905 Miss Geneva Titsworth, a daughter of a former druggist of Mount Victory, Richard Titsworth, but he is now living retired. IIer mother is Ernestine (Johnson) Titsworth. Mr. Lydiek has membership with both the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows fraternities, and he has served in all the offices of the latter order at Dunkirk.
DR. BRAYTON ALBERT MARTIN has the distinction of being one of the oldest practicing physicians of Hardin county, and he is well known within its borders and is prominently identified with the life and interests of Mt. Victory. Ile was born in Windham county, Connecticut, February 5, 1836, a son of IIosea and a grandson of John Martin, both of whom were born in the old historic homestead of the Martins in Windham county. The latter's father came to this country from Ireland, and he established his home in Connecticut. John Martin served his
country as a soldier in the war of 1812. Hosea Martin, born in 1796, lived to the age of sixty-eight years. He was both a farmer and sehool teacher, performing his first professional work for six dollars a month, and he continued teaching for four years. At the age of forty he was made the general manager of a company engaged in the grist milling business, and afterward returning to farming he continued that voea- tion until his death. He was a Democrat in his political views, and he held many of the minor offices of his county. Hosea Martin married Beulah Slater, who was born in 1800 and died at the age of ninety-three. She was a daughter of Silas and Mary Ann (Burgess) Slater, a grand- daughter of Silas Slater, who lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and four years, and a great-granddaughter of Silas Slater, who was the founder of cotton spinning in America. HIe manufactured his own machinery, and Slaterville, Rhode Island, took its name from this factory. The children born to Hosea and Beulah Martin are: William, a machinist, who died in Windham county, Conneetieut; John, Silas and
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Henry, all of whom were farmers in Windham county, Connecticut, and all are now deceased; Hazel B., a musician in New London, Connecticut ; Brayton A .; Emily, the widow of W. Solsbury and who is living at Waupank, Connecticut ; Mary Rood, deceased, who lived in Windham county, Connecticut; Susan, the wife of Jerry Boswell, of Sterling, that state; and Sylvia, the wife of Jerry Anderson, of Dennisville, Connecticut,
After leaving the public schools Brayton A. Martin attended for one year the academy at Danielsonville, Windham county, Connecticut, and then coming west he located in Union county, Ohio, where he studied medicine for three years, and after two years at the Starling Medical College, Columbus, he graduated in medicine in 1869, and at once en- gaged in the practice of his profession at Byhalia in Union county. After twenty years there he went to Brooklyn, Illinois, four years later to Timewell, Illinois, thence after twelve years to Missouri, four years afterward returned to Timewell, and then two years later came to Mt. Vietory. He has practiced here to the present time, one of the loved family physicians of IIardin county. Dr. Martin served Washington township, Union county, as a treasurer for one term, and while practicing at Byhalia he was appointed the postmaster under Cleveland's adminis- tration. He is a member of the Hardin County State and American Medical Societies.
The Doctor married first Elizabeth Martin, and she died at the age of twenty-five years, leaving a daughter, Mary Luella, who died at the age of six years. Ile was then married to Margaret Haines, who bore him a daughter, Lula, wife of Clyde McCall, a Hardin county farmer, and this second wife died at the age of thirty years. His third mar- riage was to Anna Keller, who was born in 1867, a daughter of Henry Harrison Sells, a farmer in MeDonough county, Illinois. Dr. Martin is a member of the Masonic order, affiliating with both the Blue Lodge and the Royal Arch. In polities he is a supporter of the principles of the Democratic party.
ROBERT C. GREENE, deceased, who lived many years in Taylor town- ship, Union county, Ohio, was a native of Vermont. His mother, Mrs. Sallie Greene, lived to the remarkable age of ninety-eight years, and dur- ing the last forty-three years of her life was totally blind.
In the fall of 1837 Robert C. Greene and his wife moved to Ohio. and in the spring of 1838 they located in Taylor township, Union county, on Mill Creek, near James Hamilton. In 1840 they located in the western part of the same township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Before he came to Ohio Mr. Greene married Ruth Draper, who died January 16, 1859, and he afterward married Mrs. Mary Fink, who died February 28, 1865, at the age of sixty-three years. Mr. Greene died July 28, 1864. at the age of sixty-nine years. Ile was well known in the community, where he had a large circle of friends, and was deeply mourned by his family. He had children as follows: Elizabeth, Ira, Ruth (deceased), John C., Gideon, Robert B., Henry E. (deceased), Sarah and Nancy A. Elizabeth married Isaae Sanaft. Ira married
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Elizabeth Shirk, and after her death he married Phebe Heath, who also died, and he married a third time in Indiana, to whom it is not known. John C. married Amanda King. Gideon died young. Robert B. married Eliza Johnson, who died, and he married for his second wife Mary Roberts; he now resides in Kansas. Sarah married Thomas Yearsley, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Nancy A. married T. Lewis Temple, and resides in Kansas.
ARCINIE WARREN TITSWORTH .- During a number of years past Dr. Archie Warren Titsworth has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Mt. Victory, and in this time has become one of the skilled physicians of Hardin county. He was born in this city on the 8th of July, 1871, a son of Richard Leurick Titsworth, one of six children; the others are Nellie, deceased; Geneva, the wife of Frank Lydiek, who is also repre- sented in this work ; Helen, at home with her parents; Horace, a druggist in Mt. Victory; and Richard, a telegraph operator in LaRue, this state.
After he had attained his eighteenth year Dr. Titsworth entered a school of pharmacy, also clerking in the meantime, and graduating and returning home in 1889 he became associated with D. M. Odaffer, a druggist at Marion, Ohio. After five years as a druggist there he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati in 1894, and graduating therefrom in 1896 he began the practice of his chosen profession in his home town of Mt. Victory. He is progressive and thorough in all matters pertaining to his calling, and he is identified prominently with the Ilardin County, the Ohio State and the American Medical Associa- tions, and during two years he filled the office of vice president of the last named society. He is the present health officer of his township and the coroner of Hardin county.
Dr. Titsworth married Miss Carrie Bell Boyd, a daughter of James Milton and Mary (Griffith) Boyd. Mr. Boyd is a real estate operator, capitalist and manufacturer of Mt. Victory. Mr. Boyd was born December 19, 1853, in Union county, Pennsylvania, and he was but two years old when his parents, James William Boyd and Elizabeth Witcroft, settled in Ilardin county, Ohio. He married Mary Griffith, a daughter of J. and Mary (Clyburn) Griffith, natives of Highland county. Mrs. Boyd died in 1901, at the age of fifty-one years. A son, Boyd Blair Titsworth, was born to Dr. and Mrs. Titsworth on the 10th of January, 1906. The Doctor is an active worker in the local ranks of the Repub- fican party, and he is also prominently associated with the Maccabees fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks and during the past ten years with the Knights of Pythias, Mt. Victory Lodge No. 734.
CHARLES B. FINK is numbered among the essentially representative business men of his native city of Kenton and is successfully conducting the flourishing enterprise with which his father was identified for many years before his death. He is a son of the late Benedict Fink to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that a reiteration of the data is not demanded in the present connection. The establish-
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ment of which Mr. Fink is the proprietor is one of the leading retail houses of the thriving city of Kenton, and in the same is carried a large and select stock of dry goods, notions, carpets, rugs, draperies and also musical instruments.
Charles Benedict Fink was born in Kenton on the 17th of March, 1865, and is the only son and younger child of Benedict and Martha (Moy) Fink. He was reared to manhood in Kenton, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline and this city has ever been his home and represented the scene of his successful endeavors as a business man. Upon attaining to his legal majority, in 1886, he was admitted to partnership by his honored father, with whom he continued to be associated until the death of the latter in 1905, since which time he has individually conducted a large and prosperous busi- ness which is based on a long maintained reputation for fair and honor- able dealings and to which is accorded a thoroughly representative patronage. Mr. Fink himself has thus been identified with the local business interests for nearly a quarter of a century and, like his father, he has never lacked the unqualified confidence and esteem of the people of his native city and county. He is a member of the directorate of the Kenton Savings Bank and also of that of the Home Savings and Loan Company of Kenton. As will be noted by reference to the memoir of his father, Mr. Fink is a scion of one of the old and honored pioneer families of this section of the state, with whose initial development his grandfather, Benedict Fink, was prominently identified, having been one of the early farmers of Pleasant township, where he reclaimed a consider- able tract of land from the virgin forest.
Charles B. Fink and his wife are identified with the social activities of their home city, where their circle of friends is limited only by that of their acquaintances, and their attractive home is the center of gracious and generous hospitality. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Mr. Fink has attained to the Thirty-second degree of the Ancient and Accep- ted Scottish Rite. Ilis York Rite affiliations are with the organizations in Kenton. He is also identified with Alladin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in the city of Columbus, Ohio; with Kenton Lodge No. 157, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and also with the Knights of Pythias.
On the 24th of October, 1888, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Fink to Miss Sallie Strong, who was born and reared in Hardin county and who is a daughter of Colonel L. and Mary (Milliman) Strong. The former, now deceased, was an influential and honored citizen of this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Fink have one son, Frederick Strong Fink.
DR. FRANK HUMPHREYS is numbered among the successful medical practitioners of Hardin county, practicing at Mt. Victory, and he also represents one of the county's pioneer families. He was born in Logan county, Ohio, near East Liberty, September 30, 1856, a son of Shepherd Green Humphreys and a grandson of Jacob Humphreys. His paternal great-grandfather came to this country from Wales and located in
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Virginia. Jacob Ilumphreys died in 1862 at Somerset, Kentucky, of typhoid fever, being then sixty-one years of age. He was born in Virginia, and during the early years of his life he farmed and drove a mercantile wagon between East Liberty and Cincinnati. At the age of sixty years he enlisted for the Civil war, and served until his death as a first lieutenant, while previously he had served as captain of a party in Logan county, Ohio, called the "Wide Awakes." Ile attained a high place in the ranks of the Masonic fraternity, being a charter member of the order at East Liberty. His wife, nee Margaret Green, died in 1825.
Shepherd Green Humphreys, born October 13, 1829, is a son of Jacob and Margaret (Green) Humphreys. After leaving the school room he followed farming on his father's farm and also conducted a saw mill until his marriage. During several years he operated by water power a carding machine. In 1858 he came to Mt. Victory, peddling stoves throughout the county for some time afterward and during the Civil war he bought horses for the government. Ile also enlisted for service for one hundred days, joining the One Hundred and Thirty- fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was sent to Harper's Ferry and finally mustered out of the ranks. Following his return home he resumed his business operations and later embarked in general mercantile pursuits at Mt. Victory, while in 1893 he retired from an active business life and he died on the 13th of April, 1909, aged seventy-nine years and six months. Ile was a man of the highest integrity of character, and was one of the honored, early residents of Hardin county. He served his church at Mt. Victory, the Methodists, for many years as a trustee. His political affiliations were with the Republican party, and he filled the offices of overseer, trustee, township treasurer and corporation treasurer, acting in the interests of his city. On the 7th of April, 1852, Shepherd G. Humphreys was joined in marriage with Martha Elizabeth Titsworth, who was born in Union county, Ohio, in 1831, and died on the 3d of December, 1893, a daughter of Lemuel and Mary Titsworth, who moved from Union to Logan county, Ohio. There were a daughter and two sons in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Humphreys, and Mary, the daughter, is the wife of A. L. Sullivan, living in Lincoln, Nebraska. Shepherd M. Humphreys is a telegraph operator at Maysville, Kentucky.
Dr. Frank Humphreys, the second born child, after leaving the pub- lie schools at the age of seventeen entered Xenia College, where he studied for two years, and from 1877 for three years he was principal of the Augusta schools. While filling that position he began the study of medicine with Dr. R. L. Sweeney in Marion, with whom he remained for six years, and following his gradnation from the Ohio Medical College on the 1st of March, 1882, he located at Mt. Victory and began the active practice of his chosen profession. After a time, however, he received the state appointment as physician to the Dayton Hospital, which he filled for two years, and returning to Mt. Victory he practiced here for two years, going then to Hamilton county and conducting a sanitarium at Madisonville until 1895, was then in practice two years in Cincinnati, and again returning to Mt. Victory he has since remained in continuous practice here.
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Dr. Humphreys married in 1897 Viola Stoms, born November 19. 1867. a daughter of Edmond and Susan L. (Trotter) Stoms. The father died in Hamilton county. Ohio, but the mother survives and is a resident of Mt. Washington. Edmond Stoms was a son of William and Eliza (Mears) Stoms. the former the founder of the large seed honse of Hale and Stoms at Cincinnati. The Rev. Francis McCormick, great- grandfather of Mrs. Humphreys, was an old Virginian who freed his slaves and came to Ohio, becoming one of the early circuit riders of Hamilton county. Dr. Humphreys is a member. a trustee and the treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has been a member of the Masonic order since the age of twenty-one. affiliating with Kenton Latham Lodge No. 154. He is also associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Mt. Victory, with the Mt. Victory Knights of the Maccabees, and with the County, State and American Medical Societies. He has one of the largest medical practices in Mt. Victory. and he owns one of the largest farms in Hale township.
JOHN MORRISON was for many years identified with the agricultural life of Hardin county, but in later years he has put aside an active business life and is now living retired at his pleasant home in Mt. Victory. He was born in Delaware county, Ohio, on the 2d of Novem- ber. 1846, a son of Gryan Morrison and a grandson on the paternal side of Robert Morrison, who was born in Virginia and was a life-long agricul- turist. Hle died in the year 1812. Mr. Morrison, the father, was born in Virginia in 1811, but when he was but two years old the family came to Harrison county, Ohio, and later to Union county, where he farmed until his death in 1864. Before his marriage he had also been engaged in mercantile pursuits in Delaware county. He affiliated with the Democratic party. and held the public offices of his township. Mr. Morrison married Margrette Beckley, who was born in 1821 and died at the age of sixty-six years. She was a daughter of Samuel Beckley, a farmer and distiller at Bellpoint. Delaware county. and of Susan ( Hultz) Berkley. The children of this union are: Joseph, a farmer in Union county : Susan Ellen, the wife of J. Smart. of West Mansfield : Joseph- ine wife of H. Fredericks, a farmer in Union county; and John.
After leaving the school room at the age of eighteen John Morrison lived with his mother on the home farm until he had attained the age of twenty-three, and he then married and located on a farm near New Dover. After two years there he went to a farm near Bellefontaine. where he remained for another two years, returning to the old home- stead and two years later he went to the old Benton farm near Marys- ville and lived there for three years, when he returned once more to the Morrison homestead, and after two years there and on other farms near East Liberty he came to Hardin county, near Ridgeway. Here he successfully followed agricultural pursuits until after the death of his wife, and has since lived retired. He has been a member of the Disciples church at Ridgeway for many years, and has served his re- ligions home as a deacon. He is also affiliated with the Democratic party and with the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Ridgeway.
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In 1870, Morrison was married to Drusilla Ely, who was born in Logan county, Ohio, November 2, 1845. a daughter of Joseph Ely, a Logan county farmer for many years but a native son of Maryland, and of Anna Piercy Lemen, his wife. The mother died in 1849, and for his second wife Mr. Ely married Phoebe Henry, to whom nine child- ren were born but only the following three are living: William Ely, living in West Mansfield ; Cary Ely, of the same place ; and Elma Jane, the wife of A. Arheghast, living in Zanesfield, this state. Mrs. Morri- son was the youngest of the nine children born of her father's first marriage, but only two daughters are now living, Rebecca, wife of H. Marknard, of Seattle, Washington, and Hulda, the wife of Samuel Simpson. of West Mansfield. Three children blessed the marriage union of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, namely: J. Hartley Morrison engaged in the hay business at Mt. Victory, and he married Bessie Walos and has two children, Clara and Helen; Nona Margaret, the wife of George Walos, a farmer in Logan county, and their three children are Mabel, Ruth and Harold Morrison; and Vesta, the wife of Frank Dille, a far- mer in Hale township. and their four children are Clair, Dwight, Leonora and Wilburt. Mrs. Morrison was a member of the Baptist church and later of the Disciple church, and she died on the 6th of November, 1907, after an illness of eighteen months. Her life was beautiful in its purity, goodness and Christian virtues, and her memory will long remain with those who knew her best.
OLIVER ELLSWORTH PERRY .- A citizen of prominence and influence is actively identified with the financial interests of Ridgeway as cashier of the Ridgeway Banking Company, with which he has been officially associated during the past seven years. A son of Henry Perry, he was born. February 27, 1861, in Delaware county, coming from thrifty Welsh ancestry.
His grandfather, Robert Perry, was born and brought up in Wales, as a youth following the sea. In early manhood he emigrated to America, being accompanied on his ocean voyage by a sister. Settling as a pioneer in the wilds of Ohio, he was much pleased with the future possibilities of his new home, and made ready to return to Wales to bring back with him the remainder of the family, but on reaching Baltimore, the port from which he was to sail, he was accidently brought face to face with his mother, who had followed him on a later vessel, arriving in this country in 1803. He located in Delaware county, this state, and having by dint of true pioneer labor cleared a homestead from the forest. was subsequently engaged in tilling the soil until his death. The maiden name of his wife was Margaret Hoskins.
Henry Perry was born in Delaware county, Ohio, March 4, 1819, and grew to manhood on the parental homestead, in the improvement of which he assisted. Becoming a farmer from choice, he met with good success in his vocation, spending his last years on his finely improved farm in Logan county, his death occurring in July, 1889. He learned the trade of a brick maker and burner when young, and followed it to some extent in connection with farming. He was one of the sub-
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stantial men of his community, and a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He married Martha Lavender, who was born in Pennsylvania, November 28, 1821. Her parents. Thomas and Eliza- beth (Streeter) Lavender came from England to Pennsylvania in 1818. her mother died in Chambersburg. Pennsylvania, in 1823, in early wom- anhood, while her father came to Delaware county, Ohio, improved a farm on the Seioto river where he died after attaining the venerable age of eighty-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Perry reared four children, as follows: Ella, wife of G. W. Stevens, of Delaware county. Ohio; Margaret, living with her widowed mother; Oliver Ellsworth ; and A. T. who died in Marion, Ohio, in 1906.
Leaving school at the age of sixteen years, Oliver E. Perry assisted his father on the farm for five years, after which he taught school two terms, the latter one in Kansas. Returning from that state to Ohio he bought land in Logan county, and was there profitably employed in agricultural pursuits from 1887 until 1903. Coming in that year to Ridgeway, Mr. Perry accepted his position as cashier of the Ridgeway Banking Company, and has since performed the duties devolving upon him in this eapaeity in a most efficient manner. his financial ability being recognized and appreciated. Politically a Democrat. Mr. Perry is active in party affairs, and at the present time is serving as town treasurer.
On December 28, 1893, Mr. Perry married Louisa E. Gantt. who was born August 25, 1875, a daughter of D. II. and Margaret ( Kennedy ) Gantt, residents of Hardin county. Eight children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Perry, namely: Alice, Dorothy, Robert, John, Edward, Francis and Martha and Merret, twins.
JUDGE JOHN RAMBO SELDERS .- Prominent among the most highly respected and valued citizens of Ridgeway is Judge John Rambo Selders. ex-judge of the probate court, and now, in 1910, serving as mayor of this city. He was born October 16, 1838. in Logan county, Ohio, coming on the paternal side from French ancestry, being a son of IIugh Selders. His grandfather. John Selders, a native of France, came as a boy to this country, and was brought up in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He married Mary A. Latimer, and was subsequently one of the early settlers of Muskingum county, Ohio, locating at New Concord, where he cleared and improved a farm, on which both he and his wife spent their remaining days. He was a member of the Covenanters church.
Hugh Selders was born in New Concord, Ohio, in 1800, and obtained his education in the pioneer schools of his day. He remained beneath the parental roof tree until twenty-two years of age, and then began his life as an independent farmer in Logan county. Continuing as an agriculturist until 1866, he and his wife, both of whom were well ad- vanced in years, went to live with a son, remaining with him the rest of their lives. He was a strong abolitionist, active in the work of freeing the slaves, being in hearty sympathy with such grand men as Garrison and Phillips, and was a member of the United Presbyterian church. The maiden name of his wife was Nancy Rambo. She was born in Muskingum
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county, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas Rambo, a soldier in the war of 1812, and who married Elizabeth Campbell.
The only survivor of a family of nine children, John Rambo Selders received his elementary education in the public schools, after which he took a special course at Geneva college. He learned the ear- penter's trade, and afterwards taught school for thirteen years in Ridgeway and vicinity, which has been his home since 1858. On June 5. 1861, he enlisted in Company F. Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, which was assigned to MeClellan's Division of the army, and took part in the engagements throughout the Shenandoah valley. He was twice taken prisoner, but each time had the good fortune to escape. The regiment to which he belonged had two distinguished commanders, men who afterwards became presidents of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes and William MeKinley. In 1865, at close of the war, Mr. Sel- ders received his honorable discharge and was mustered out at Cleveland.
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