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 42
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CHESTER F. SOUTHARD, proprietor of a livery and transfer business at Kenton, Ohio, eame here when a boy and has sinee been identified with the town, oeeupying a representative place among the business men.
Mr. Southard is a native of Union county, Ohio. He was born September 22, 1865, a son of Robert W. and Malinda (Davis) Southard, both natives of that county. During the Civil war his father was three years and six months in the Union army. a member of General Garfield's regiment, Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and also of the Knights of Pythias. After the war he engaged in the livery business at West Mansfield, in Union county, where he remained until 1882, when he came to Kenton. ITere, in 1883, he opened a livery business, which he conducted from that time until his death. which occurred in 1899, at the age of sixty-one years. His widow is still living and makes her home with their only child, Chester F ..
Chester F. Southard was sixteen years old when he came with his
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parents to Kenton. He attended the Kenton High School and after- ward took a course in commercial law and bookkeeping at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he graduated in 1887. That same year he became inter- ested in the livery business with his father, continued with him until his death, and has since condneted the business alone, meeting with snecess in this enterprise and from time to time making investments in other lines, including real estate.
In many ways Mr. Southard had been identified with the best in- terests of Kenton. He served as councilman from the Second ward and three years he was mayor of the city, elected on the Republican ticket. Ile is a Mason of the Knight Templar degree and a member of the Elks Lodge, No. 157.
On January 20, 1892, Mr. Southard married Miss Maude Guthrie, daughter of John and Minnie (Houseman) Guthrie, of Dunkirk, Hardin county, Ohio, and they have two daughters. Helen and Ruth. They lost a son, who died in infancy.
GEORGE S. BINCKLEY,-One of the highly respected and public- spirited citizens of Kenton, Ohio, is G. S. Binckley, now serving as city clerk. Mr. Binckley is a native of Perry county, Ohio, and son of George W. Binckley, who was a farmer in that county, of which he was himself a native. George W. Binckley was a prominent man in his community, and served twenty-one years as a justice of the peace, also served as county auditor, and took a leading part in public affairs. He spent his declining years in Lancaster, Ohio, where he died at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a life-long Democrat and an honored member of the Masonie order, being a Knight Templar. He was a son of Jacob Binckley, who came from Hagerstown, Maryland, and was of German descent. The latter died in Perry county at the age of forty- three years. George W. Binckley married Adeline Mills, a native of Virginia, of English descent, and she lived to the age of eighty-one vears. They became the parents of six daughters and four sons, of whom four daughters and three sons survive. G. S. is the third son and sixth child.
The boyhood days of Mr. Binckley were spent in Perry county and he received a common school training. He received a good education and made the most of his opportunities for the pursuit of knowledge. He taught school about two years, and then located at Kendallville, Indiana, where for several years he worked as a clerk in a general store.
In 1871 Mr. Binekley married Caddie E. Johnson, daughter of L. H. and Eunice J. (Stephens) Johnson, who was born in New York state, and after his marriage he located in New Lexington, Perry county, Ohio, where he was deputy county auditor. In 1873 he removed to Kenton, where he remained a short time and then located in Indiana. where he lived several years, being employed as traveling salesman. In 1878 Mr. Binckley returned to Kenton, and was employed as book- keeper for the hardware firm of Cantwell & Company, with whom he remained three years. At the end of that time he engaged in the drug business with his brother, Dr. J. W. Binckley, this partnership continu-
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ing six years and then Mr. Binckley sold his interest and became associated with the First National Bank as cashier. He is an enter- prising, wide-awake business man, possessed of good judgment and high principle, having the entire confidence of all who know him. In 1898 Mr. Binckley was a candidate for probate judge on the Democratic ticket. In 1889 he went into partnership with Thomas J. Cantwell (deceased) in the hardware business, and this continned eleven years. Mr. Binekley was again engaged in the drug business for a time and also worked again as traveling salesman. He was elected to his present office January 1, 1908, and he fulfills the duties of the post with the same careful consideration and attention he has always accorded his private affairs. He is an ardent Democrat, and has performed valuable service in the interests of the party. He is public-spirited and intelligent in understanding the needs of the city, and is interested in every movement for the welfare and progress of the community. Mr. Binckley is well known, and has a large circle of friends. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of Lodge No. 157, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
GEORGE PFEIFFER, a well known farmer of Goshen township, Hardin county, Ohio, is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this county. His grandfather, Michael Pfeiffer, was born in IIesse-Cassel, Germany, in 1783, and emigrated to this country in 1832. In 1835 he bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Goshen township, for which he paid one dollar and fifty cents an acre, and here he spent the rest of his life and died, his death occurring June 5, 1869, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife, Kenitor ( Elf) Pfeiffer, died in Germany, May 3, 1837. Their children were Adam, Henry, John A., Peter, Michael, John G., Elizabeth and Barbara. One son, Michael, was a soldier in the Civil war. The son John A. was the father of George. He was born in Germany in 1808, and died in Hardin county in 1876; and his wife, Sophia Pfeiffer, was born in 1811, and died in 1856. Their children in order of birth are as follows: Elizabeth, deceased; John, deceased ; Peter, deceased ; George, Louis and Adam. John A. Pfeiffer had five hundred acres of land in Goshen township, four hundred of which were improved during his life time.
Here, in 1843, amid pioneer scenes, George Pfeiffer was born, and here he was reared and educated and has always lived. He well remem- bers when wild game was plentiful in this section of the country and when his father sent him to "drive the deer out of the wheat field." HIe recalls that at one time he chased seven deer from his father's field. There were also plenty of wolves, bears and wild turkeys. Since 1874 he has owned and occupied his fine farm of two hundred aeres. Its commodious and comfortable dwelling, its well constructed out-buildings and its scientifically cultivated fields are all the result of his well- directed efforts.
On April 7, 1870, Mr. Pfeiffer married Miss Mary Hile, daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth Hile; they have seven children, and at this writing their grandchildren number three. The children in order of
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birth are: Ida (Mrs. J. G. Bloom) ; Nettie; Dora (Mrs. E. J. Carey) ; Jessie ; Charles; Edna ( Mrs. Carr) ; and Elsie. Mrs. Pfeiffer was born in Goshen township, February 12, 1848, one of a family of seven children, as follows : Margaret, Elizabeth (deceased), Daniel (deceased), Mary, Minnie (deceased), George, and John deceased. Their father emigrated to this country from Germany about 1837 and made settle- ment in Hardin county, Ohio, where he entered one hundred acres of land and bought one hundred and sixty acres more. At the time of his death in 1884 he was the owner of three hundred and eighteen acres. His wife's death occurred in 1875. Mr. Pfeiffer is one of the leading Democrats of this part of Hardin county. He and his family are members of St. John's Evangelical church of Kenton.
EDDIE G. THOMPSON, of Goshen township, Hardin county, Ohio, is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of Hardin county. David Thompson, his great-grandfather, was a Virginian who came west to Ohio in 1832 and settled in Hardin county. In 1834 he purchased a farm of Champness Terry in Goshen township, which has since been in the family, having passed to his son David and later to his grandson, also named David. The first David Thompson married Nancy Anderson, and the children of their union were Ann, Martha, James, John, Jacob and David. Their third born died in infancy, unnamed.
The youngest of the children above named, David, was the grand- father of the subject of this sketch. He was twice married. In 1852 he wedded Margaret Shriner, who bore him nine children: Eleanor, Frank, Anna M., Albert, Henry W., Louis M., Nora, David and James. In 1872 he married Mrs. Mary A. Bates, and three children were born to them: Mary A., George II. and David D., of whom only the last named is living. The father was a soldier in the Civil war, serving as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, of which his brother John also was a member. David Thompson had a large tract of land lying in Hardin and Wyandot counties, and at his death left to each of his children eighty acres.
Frank Thompson, the second born of David's children was the father of Eddie G. He was born in Wyandot county, Ohio, January 1, 1856, and died December 8, 1895. He married Miss Harriet James, who was born in Noble county, Ohio, in 1855, and they became the parents of three children : Flora E., Eddie G. and Omer J.
Eddie G. Thompson was born November 9, 1880, in the township in which he now lives, and where he is regarded as one of the practical farmers of his section of the country. He owns and operates eighty acres of choice land, and he is a Republican in politics.
On April 2, 1902, Mr. Thompson married Miss Birtie Hamilton, who was born in Goshen township, Hardin county, September 12, 1886, a daughter of James and Annie Hamilton, and they have three children : Mabel M., James F. and Ray.
BENTON K. JONES, M. D., of Kenton, Ohio, was born in Washington township, in the county in which he lives, March 2, 1858, and on his
BR Jones M. &
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paternal side is of Welsh deseent. His grandfather, John Jones, a native of New Jersey, came to Ohio in the early history of this state and settled in Knox county, where he made his home until 1850. when he moved to Hardin county. Here he spent the closing years of his life, and died at about the age of seventy. The Doctor's great-grandmother Jones was before her marriage a Miss Wolf, she being a cousin of General Wolf, of historie fame. John Morgan Jones. the Doctor's father, was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1832, and in 1850 came with his father's family to Hardin county. Here he met and married Miss Elizabeth M. Gillen, who was born in New Jersey in 1836 and who had come with her parents from that state to Hardin county, Ohio, the same year the Jones family took up their residence in this county. Her father returned to New Jersey to look after their household goods that had been shipped, and was never again heard of. After their marriage, which oceurred in 1855, John Morgan Jones and wife settled on a farm in Washington township where he was engaged in farming until the close of the war, when he moved to Blanchard township to a farm in the southwest corner of the township, where he lived until 1880, when he bought and moved to the Herrick farm in the northeast corner of the township where he lived until within five years of the time of his death. when he retired and moved to Kenton. He died at the age of seventy- five. For a number of years he was a justice of the peace. Religiously he was a Methodist, a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years. His widow is still living. To them were born nine children, two daughters and seven sons, the number including three pairs of twins, namely: Sarah Caroline, who died at the age of seventeen years; Benton K., the subject of this sketch; E. E. and Ella J., twins; Christopher and Charles F., twins; U. O. and A. M., twins; and John M. The last named is now a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Benton K. Jones was reared on his father's farm and received his early training in the district school. When he was seventeen he attended for a time the Kenton school and afterward entered Ada University. now the Ohio Northern University, where he pursued his studies, and still later he went to Cincinnati and took a course in medicine, graduating there in 1888. In the meantime he clerked in a dry goods store in Springfield, Ohio, and taught country school, thus paving his way to professional life. After his gradnation, he entered upon the practice of medicine at Kenton, and has since continued here. With the passing years he has kept pace with the progress made in the science of medicine. In 1894 he took a post graduate course in special surgery, in Chicago. and in 1899 a post graduate course in the New York Post Graduate School. While in Cincinnati he took special work on the subject of the eye and ear. Like all up-to-date physicians and surgeons Dr. Jones has identified himself with various medical organizations. Ile has membership in the N. W. State Medical, the Ohio State Medical, the O. C., E. M. A. and the N. E. Medical Associations. In 1897 he was president of the State Medical Association, and two terms he was coroner of Hardin county.
In 1883 Dr. Jones married Miss Alice M. Fredrick, daughter of
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William and Sarah Fredrick of Hardin county. They have two sons and two daughters: William Clay, Paul Frederick, Maude and Marie E. Following in the footsteps of his father, William Clay chose the profes- sion of medicine, and is engaged in practice with his father. He is a graduate of the Kenton High School, the Ohio State University and the P. H. G. M. D., and is a member of the E. M. A.
The senior Dr. Jones is a Knight Templar Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.
GEORGE STOLL .- The native born citizens of Pleasant township, HIardin county, have no more worthy representative than George Stoll, who holds a noteworthy position among the practical, progressive and business-like farmers who are so ably condneting the extensive agricul- tural interests of this section of the state. He was born on the farm he now owns and occupies February 21, 1836, in the log house erected by his father, Coonrod Stoll, coming from thrifty German ancestry.
Coonrod Stoll was born, reared and married in Germany. Emi- grating to this country in 1833, he came to Ohio in search of cheap land. Locating in Pleasant township, Hardin county, he bought eighty acres of timber land, paying the government price of two dollars and fifty cents an acre for the tract, subsequently working by the day to get the money to pay for it. By means of untiring industry and thrift he succeeded in paying off all of his indebtedness within a comparatively few years, and in course of time had a well improved and productive property. The log house which he built and in which his six older children were born was replaced by a frame building, and good barns and outbuildings were erected. Here he was prosperously employed as a tiller of the soil until his death, in May, 1865. His wife, whose maiden name was Amelia Rader, was born in Germany, and died in Pleasant township, Hardin county, in 1887. Eight children were born of their union, as follows: George; Elizabeth, deceased; Casper; Mary, deceased ; Millie, deceased; Eliza ; Margaret; and John.
Reared and educated in Pleasant township, George Stoll spent eight years of his earlier life in California, but was not well enough pleased with his prospects of a prosperous future to remain on the Pacific coast. Returning to the scenes of his childhod, he turned his attention to farming, and in due course of time succeeded to the ownership of the parental acres. Devoting his attention to its care, Mr. Stoll has made substantial and essential improvements, the place now comparing favorably in its appointments with any in the vicnity. He is a man of keen foresight and enterprise, and has, evidently, a thorough under- standing of the best methods of so conducting his business as to secure the most profitable results. He has made judicious investments and owns in addition to the old homestead two hundred and forty acres of land in Washington township, Hardin county.
Mr. Stoll married, in October, 1869, Amelia Reise, who was born, June 26, 1837, in Kohessen, Germany, and came to this country in 1867. Mr. and Mrs. Stoll are the parents of five children, namely: Amelia, who married G. B. Heilman, has seven children, Samuel, Bryan, Rush,
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Calvin, Arlo, Freda and John; Julia, the wife of G. E. Carruthers, has two children, Emma and Alice; Philip married Emma Flinn, and they have two children, William E. and John C .; Mary, deceased; and Wil- liam, who married Electa Haines, by whom he has one child, Kenneth. John W. Flinn. the father of Mrs. Philip Stoll, enlisted in defense of his country in 1861. becoming a private in the Eighty-second Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, and at the end of his term of enlistments re-enlisted, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he was associated until the close of the war, taking an active part in many important engagements. He married Catherine Foults. Mr. Stoll and his family are faithful and valued members of Saint John's Evangelical church at Kenton.
HENRY W. SCOTT, one of the snecessful farmers of Hardin county, Ohio, was born in Warren county, this state, May 25, 1855, a son of Richard and Margaret (Lynn) Scott. When he was five years old his parents moved to Putnam county and settled on a farm, and there Henry W. was reared and received a district-school education. From the time he was seventeen until he was married he worked as a farm hand. Then he rented land for two or three years, after which the father and father-in-law gave to the young couple an eighty-aere tract of timber land. Moving to this place, he directed his energies toward the work of clearing and improving it, and later traded it for one hun- dred and twenty acres of other land. In the spring of 1892 he moved to Hardin county, where in time he acquired no less than four hundred acres. As his sons have married he has divided with them and assisted them in establishing homes of their own; and he retains two hundred acres, on which he is engaged in general farming and raising hogs and cattle.
Mr. Seott married in 1875 Miss Mary E. Beam, who was born in Putnam county, Ohio, in April, 1857. a daughter of Amos and Mary (Burkhart) Beam, natives of Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Scott seven children have been born, namely: Amos, Samuel, Earl. Pearl, Otto, Cloyd and Carrie. Samuel married Miss Mand Witham, Earl married Miss Nora Sheller, Pearl is the wife of Finley Huston, and Otto married Miss Effie Shiveley. The other children are at home.
Mr. Scott and his family are members of the Radical United Breth- ren church, in which he has served as class leader and trustee. While he has never taken an active part in politics he has always voted con- scientiously, supporting the man rather than the party. but has strongly favored the Prohibitionists.
BERNARD DOWD, is widely known as a prosperous agriculturist of Pleasant township and is numbered among the citizens of good repute and high standing in Hardin county, where the larger part of his life has been passed. He was born in 1866, in Champaign county, Ohio, a son of the late Thomas Dowd.
Coming with his family from Champaign county. Ohio, to Hardin county in 1866. Thomas Dowd purchased fifty-two acres of wild land.
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and in an open space soon erected a log house, which he occupied several years. Working with a well-directed purpose, he subsequently cleared and improved a productive farm, on which he erected substantial build- ings, and was there employed in his chosen occupation until his death, in 1884. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Tully, survived him more than a score of years, passing away in 1907. Nine children blessed their union, namely : Maggie; Daniel; Nellie; Mary; Bernard; Anna, deceased ; Michael; Jane and Theresa.
Brought by his parents to Hardin county in infancy, Bernard Dowd was here brought up and educated. As a boy he attended the district school, and on the home farm became thoroughly acquainted with the various branches of agriculture. Beginning life for himself, he chose for his life work the occupation to which he had been reared, and in 1899 bought the farm on which he now resides. It contains eighty acres of rich productive land, on which he has valuable improvements, his comfortable residence being tastefully furnished, while his ample barns are well stocked and conveniently arranged. In addition to his home estate Mr. Dowd owns thirty-six acres of choice land in another part of Pleasant township. In his operations he has invariably met with success, his earnest and judicious labors being well rewarded.
Mr. Dowd married, in 1900, Ida C. Bookmyer, who was born at Clyde, Ohio, in 1872, a daughter of John and Harriet Bookmyer, and into their happy household four children have been born, namely ; Lawrence, Henrietta, Mary G, and Irma C. Mr. and Mrs. Dowd are genial, agreeable people, enjoying to the utmost the esteem and con- fidence of their many friends and neighbors, and are worthy members of the Roman Catholic church.
H. J. SCULLIN, a successful hardware and agricultural implement dealer of Roundhead, Ohio, was born near Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, November 6, 1847, a son of Henry and Mary (Smells) Seullin. Henry Seullin was born in Ireland, was a soldier in the queen's army, and was sent to Canada. He came across the line from Canada into the United States at Detroit. He was afterwards married at Akron, Ohio. He finally settled in Zanesville, Ohio, where he died in 1852. He worked in a soap and candle factory. Mr. Scullin was the father of three children, viz: Elizabeth, wife of Hiram Stocker; Margaret, wife of Milton Martin, of Akron, Ohio; and Henry J.
After the death of Henry Seullin his widow married again, and H. J. Seullin remained on the home farm, working through the summer and attending school winters, until the age of sixteen years. On Febru- ary 24, 1864, he enlisted in Company A, Fifty-first Ohio, and served under Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta, then served under General Thomas at Franklin and Nashville. He went to Victoria, Texas, and was mustered out October 3, 1865, being discharged at Columbus, Ohio, November 30, 1865. Returning to his native county, he returned with his stepfather to Auglaize county and worked four years on a farm. He then went to the eastern part of the state and was for a time engaged in mining business.
AUSTIN S. McKITRICK
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On August 10, 1870, Mr. Seullin married Mary I. Stewart, and returned to Auglaize county, where he rented a farm. Later he pur- chased eighteen acres, which he sold and purchased forty acres, which in turn he sold and then bought one hundred acres, which he sold, and then located in Roundhead, on April 10, 1901, buying the corner where he is now located. He engaged in the hardware and implement business, and has built up a good trade. He carries a good stock of goods, and in his business dealings displays good business principles and excellent judgment. He has won the respect and confidence of his fellows, and is well liked. Politically Mr. Scullin is a Repubican and served two terms as trustee ; he is also serving his second term as township treasurer. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Roundhead and one of its trustees. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic.
Eight children were born to Mr. Seullin and his wife, of whom all survive, namely : Ella, wife of Charles Stokes, of Lima; Maggie, wife of Benjamin Miley, of Wapakoneta, Ohio; Tillie, wife of William Miley, of Roundhead; Henry, unmarried; Howard, who married Blanch Murphy, of Bell Center, Ohio; George, who married Ferne Hobensack, and lives in New Hamsphire, Ohio; Carl, unmarried; and Logan, who married Nellie Smith and lives at Lima, Ohio.
AUSTIN S. McKITRICK, M. D .- A physician and surgeon of skill and ability, Austin S. MeKitrick, M. D., of Kenton, is widely recognized as one of the leading members of the medical fraternity of Hardin county. A son of Harvey Smith MeKitrick, he was born, October 8, 1863, at Plain City, Union county, Ohio, coming on the paternal side from Scotch ancestry, and on the maternal side from substantial New England stock.
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