USA > Ohio > Miami County > Troy > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 52
USA > Ohio > Miami County > Piqua > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 52
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Thomas L. Purdy was reared at Coving- ton, Ohio, and obtained his education in her schools. Ile entered into business as a traveling salesman for a commercial house of Piqua, but after his marriage he resided for seven years on his father-in- law's farm in Newberry Township, Miami
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County, after which he returned to Cov- ington and entered the Weaver & Kendell drug store as a clerk. Subsequently, in association with L. A. Dollinger, he bought the store and continued to operate it until 1888, when he sold, having been connected with that place either as elerk or pro- prietor, for a period of ten years. He then accepted a position as traveling sales- man, with the Columbus Pharmical Com- pany, of Columbus, and later was con- nected, in the same capacity, with other concerns. Just prior to the accident which resulted in his death he had accepted a position as mail weigher in the railway mail service and was on his way to enter upon his duties at Napoleon, Ohio. He was struck by a locomotive at Lima and was hurried to a hospital, but no surgical skill was able to save his life.
On June 1, 1871. Mr. Purdy was mar- ried to Katherine Darner, who is a daugh- ter of John L. and Mary ( Mutz) Darner. Jolm L. Darner was born near Frederick, Maryland, a son of Jacob Darner, and in boyhood accompanied his parents to Montgomery County, Ohio, and was reared on a farm six miles south of Dayton. In that county he was married. in 1848, to Mary Mutz, and they came immediately to Miami County, where he purchased a farm of 160 aeres in Newberry Township, three and one-half miles north of Covington. On this farm Mrs. Purdy was reared. She was the eldest of five children, the others being: Mrs. Lucy Bartmess, who died in 1896; Mrs. Laura Reisner, whose his- band, James W. Reisner, is connected with the Government service, in the U. S. Pon- sion office, at Washington, D. C .: Mrs. Addie M. Darst, who lives on the old home fann: and Jessie, who is the wife of Dr.
William Arthur Minton, of Bradford. The father of this family died in 1884 and the mother in August, 1907.
To Mr. and Mrs. Purdy were born four children, namely: Grace, who is the wife of James W. Brandon of Piqua ; Lucy E .; Ethel, who is in partnership with Miss Gertrude Whitmer in the conduet of a millinery store at Covington ; and John L., who is a resident of Dayton. He married Nellie Coppock, of Pleasant Hill, and they have one son. Thomas Henry. John L. Purdy is employed in the office of the Bar- ney & Smith Car Company of Dayton.
The late Thomas L. Purdy was a man of Christian life and for many years had been a member of the Presbyterian Church. Ile was identified with the Knights of Pythias. During his many years of travel as a representative of busi- ness houses, he had formed many acquaint- ances and in ahnost every section had made personal friends.
B. W. JONES, D.D.S., the leading den- tal surgeon of Troy, has been a valued resident of this city for the past nineteen years. He was born in 1869, near West Unity, Fulton County, Ohio, but was mainly reared and obtained his literary training at Hudson, Michigan. After de- eiding upon dentistry as his chosen pro- fession. Dr. Jones gave considerable at- tention to preliminary study and then entered the Indiana Dental College. at Indianapolis, where he was graduated in 1890 with his degree. He at once located at Troy, finding here a hearty recognition of his professional skill, and he has never had reason to regret his choice of home and business field. He is a member of the Ohio State Dental Association and he
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keeps thoroughly abreast of the times in marriage, Thomas Stockstill and wife the progress made in dental science. His office is conveniently maintained on the Public Square at No. 41712. He has addi- tional business interests but devotes the larger part of his time and attention to his profession.
In 1893 Dr. Jones was married to Miss Nora May Lickly, of Hudson, Michigan, and they have one daughter, Josephine. Ile is a Knight Templar Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and he belongs to the Troy Club and the Troy Business Men's Association.
JOHN PENCE STOCKSTILL, a prom- inent retired farmer, residing on his valuable property of 160 acres, situated in Section 4, Bethel Township, one mile west of New Carlisle, has resided here for the past thirty years. He was born March 20. 1841, in Shelby County, Ohio, and is a son of Elias D. and Elizabeth (Shroyer) Stockstill.
Thomas Stockstill, the grandfather. was born in North Carolina, from which State he came to Ohio seeking a home where slavery was not permitted. He reached Dayton and at the one store which was then the only mercantile establishment in the place, he applied for work and was directed to J. Haines, who lived near Palmer Chapel, which he had built. Mr. Stockstill came up to the requirements of Mr. Haines and after working for him for one year was accepted as a son-in-law, Mr. Stockstill marrying Catherine Haines, the only daughter of his employer. A family of nine children was born to them, namely: Elias D., John, Stephen, Irvin .J., Rachel, Sarah, Susan, Katherine and an infant danghter, who died unnamed. After
established themselves on a farm of 130 acres near Palmer Chapel, to which Mr. Stockstill later added eighty acres. He served in the War of 1812 and for a num- ber of months was stationed at the block- honse at Sidney. He was a man of Chris- tian life and character, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a very earnest temperance worker. The ashes of both Thomas Stockstill and wife rest in the family vault on the old home farm in Miami County.
Elias D. Stockstill settled in Salem Township, Shelby County, Ohio, after his marriage, on land which he secured from the Goverment and continued to reside on that farm for thirty years, when he re- tired to Sidney, where the remainder of his life was spent. In his early years of political activity, he voted with the Demo- eratie party, but for the twenty years pre- ceding his death he was a Prohibitionist. Both he and wife were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Sidney and they were buried in the ceme- tery belonging to that church. He married Elizabeth Shroyer, a daughter of Thomas Shroyer, and they had four children- Thomas, Elizabeth, David W. and John P.
John P. Stockstill went to school in his boyhood in Salem Township and he re- members the little log strneture with its slab benches and its poor accommodations. He attended one term of school at Fort Jefferson, but just at that time the Civil War began and he determined to be a soldier. He enlisted in Company I, 118th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served from August, 1862, until the elose of the war, being mustered out at Chicago, Illinois. He took part in many hard fought
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battles and endured many of the hardships of military life, but survived them all. After the war he returned to Shelby County and then worked at the tiner's trade for ten years, at Sidney. after which he engaged in bridge-building for six years for the Chicago & Dayton Railroad. Shortly after his marriage he decided to settle on his present farm, which was then uneleared and unimproved property. In addition to clearing the land and putting np all buildings, he had to drain 200 rods. He retained four acres as a timber tract but put all the rest of the land in tillable shape and continued to cultivate it hin- self until others were able to assinne the responsibility, when he retired from active labor.
lle first married Mary L. Miller and they had two children-Carrie, who died at the age of eight years; and Bessie, who married O. B. Key, resides in Shelby County, and has three children, Frederick. Oat, and Allen.
On October 30, 1879, Mr. Stockstill was married, second, to Miss Jennie Varner, a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Varner, and they have had two children: Varner, and W. N. Stockstill.
In polities Mr. Stockstill is a Democrat and for one year he served as assessor of Bethel Township. He is a member of Palestine Commandery in the Masonic fraternity and belongs to the Odd Fellows and order of Rebecca, at New Carlisle.
449 South Mulberry, which modern struc- ture he put up in 1890. Ile was born in 1465. in Indiana, and was only six months old when his parents came to Troy, where his father, II. P. Norris, died in 1895.
Mr. Norris was reared and educated at Troy and when only twelve years of age was already providing for his own sup- port, serving as a clerk in a grocery store. lu a few years he embarked in business for himself and since 1890 has been estab- lished at his present location. His husi- ness interests are confined to his own line, but all matters of public moment claim his attention and he is in every way a repre- sentative citizen. In 1887 Mr. Norris was married to Miss Nannie Curtis, of Miami County. and they have two children. Carl and Robert, the older son being in his father's employ. Mr. Norris and family belong to the Christian (Imrch.
ILARRY E. COOMBS. one of Bethel Township's representative citizens and for thirteen years a member of the School Board, carries on general farming on his two tracts of land, both lying in Section 16, one of thirty acres and the other of 17415 acres. He was borz September 20, 1863, near Morgantown, in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Ilis father was George Valentine Coombs and his grand- father was Elisha Coombs.
Elisha Coombs was born in Maryland, where he married Elizabeth Wright, and they had five children: George V., E. II., Frank, Emma W. and Harriet. About 1870 they came to Miami County and re- sided in the home of a daughter, at Troy, during the remainder of their lives. Elisha Coombs was a very carnest and active
J. WILLIAM NORRIS, a representa- tive business man of Troy, who has been engaged in merchandising in this city al- most since boyhood, occupies his handsome residence at No. 444 South Mulberry Street, and carries on his grocery at No. - worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
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a leader in prayer meetings and experience meetings and served for years as a class leader. In politics he was a Whig and was opposed to slavery and on many occa- sions he assisted negroes to reach free- dom.
George Valentine Coombs was born in Allegheny County, Maryland, where he lived until he was forty years of age, ex- cept for the time he spent in West Vir- ginia. When he came to Ohio during the childhood of his son, Harry E., he settled on the farm of 17412 aeres in Bethel Township, Miami County, which is now the property of his son. All the land had been cleared except ten acres and all the buildings with the exception of the barn were in good condition, but he found it necessary to drain eighteen acres. During the Civil War he was captain of a com- pany in the 100-day service in West Vir- ginia. In Bethel Township he took an active part in public matters, voted withi the Republican party and served accept- ably in a number of township offices. Late in life he retired to Troy, Miami County, Ohio, where he died in April, 1892. He belonged to an Odd Fellow lodge at Mor- gantown, West Virginia, and when he left West Virginia transferred to New Car- lisle Lodge and was in good standing at his death. He was a charter member of Hickory Grove Grange, Bethel Township. Both he and wife were members of Pisgah Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was a trustee for years. He married Sarah Anderson and they had seven chil- dren-Scott, Flora, two that died young, Frank, Harry E. and Emma, the sur- vivors being Flora and Harry E.
Harry E. Coombs enjoyed excellent school advantages, attending the New Car-
lisle High School and Springfield College, after which he returned to receive prac- tical farm training from his father, and this he has put to excellent use. When the homestead became his own property he added thirty acres to it, which he pur- chased from Frank Judd. He carries on extensive farming and fattens for market about two carloads of cattle every year.
Mr. Coombs was married October 1. 1889, to Miss Mary S. Johnston, a daugh- ter of David A. and Abarilla E. (Stafford) Johnston, and they have three children: Howard J., Emma L. and Lois Elizabeth. The eldest was a member of the graduat- ing class of the Bethel High School of 1909, the second, of the class of 1911, and only her tender years has kept the young- est yet in the Glenwood School in District No. 9. In their intellectual attainments and social qualities they are credits to their parents and the community.
Mr. Coombs completed a very fine resi- dence in 1896 and has improved all his buildings with paint, making the whole place exceedingly attractive. He is a member of Hickory Grove Grange, of Bethel Township. With his family he at- tends the Presbyterian Church at New Carlisle.
SPAFFORD WOODHULL MAX- WELL, a representative retired citizen of Staunton Township and a veteran of the Civil War, resides on his valuable farm of 10216 acres, which lies along the Troy and Piqua Turnpike, with the Dayton & Miami Railroad passing through it. He was born on his father's farm, near Frank- lin, Ohio, October 20, 1836, and is a son of Thomas and Susanna (Jones) Maxwell.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Max-
SPAFFORD W. MAXWELL
MRS. RACHEL D. MAXWELL
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well, Thomas Maxwell, was born in Scot- land and came to America and settled in Monmonth County, New Jersey, prior to the Revolutionary War, and died in Ohio when aged eighty-two years. His family consisted of seven sons and two daughters. Of the sons, Thomas was one of the first born, in 1880, and he was six years old when the surviving members of the family decided to migrate to Ohio. The trip on the river was made on a flat-boat and land- ing was effected at Cincinnati. A few years later the family settled at Franklin, in Warren County, and there Thomas fol- lowed chairmaking for some years, and then bought a farm in Warren County, which he sold in 1839 and purchased the farm which his son, Spafford W., now owns, in Miami County. Its former owner was Caleb Hathaway, who had entered the land from the Goverment, and Mr. Max- well has the old deed, which bears the sig- nature of Thomas Jefferson, then Presi- dent of the United States.
Thomas Maxwell the second spent the remainder of his life on this farm, his death occurring in October, 1881. He was twice married, (first) to Susanna Jones, who died on the present farm, in the fall of 1839, and (second) to Anna MeCurdy, who came to Miami County from Lancas- ter County, Pennsylvania. She died in 1872, leaving no issue. The four children born to the first union were: Stephen J., who is now deceased; Martha, deceased. who married William Duncan, also de- eeased ; Rachel, deceased, who married J. Rowlands, also deceased; and Spafford Woodhull. The name borne by Mr. Max- well was bestowed on him by his grand- mother, in memory of a distinguished min- ister of New Jersey.
Spafford W. Maxwell was too young to remember the overland journey from War- ren to Miami County, but he has very vivid recollections of his boyhood, which was spent in assisting his father to clear the farm and in attending school in the log structure provided for that purpose. He continued to live at home until 1864, when he entered the Federal army as a mem- ber of Company K, 147th Pennsylvania Infantry, under Capt. J. F. Counts. When the regiment reached Washington City he was promoted to be corporal of his com- pany, and served in that rank until the close of the war. In the present year of universal commemoration of President Lincoln, he recalls with pleasure the time when he saw him, at Arlington Heights, in the last year of the war. Upon his re- turn to private life, Mr. Maxwell resumed farming with his father, and in 1872 he purchased the place and for many years continued agricultural pursuits. He has done a large amount of improving. Ilis commodious nine-room house is mainly of frame, but one part of it is a hewn-log structure, which was put up in 1818.
On January 8, 1868, Mr. Maxwell was married to Miss Rachel Devol, a daughter of Harrison Devol, an old poineer, and they have had seven children, namely : Minnie, who died in 1905. was the wife of Edwin Foster; Walter, who resides at Troy, Ohio, married Carrie Millhouse; Sallie, who married Frank Kendall, resides with her parents ; Anna, who resides at Troy, married James Gunder; Bertha and Merta, twins, the former of whom is the wife of Harry Morrow, of Piqua, and the latter of whom died when aged eighteen years; and Wilber D., who resides on a farm near
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Casstown, Miami County, and married Gertrude McDowell.
Mr. Maxwell and family belong to the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder for some forty years. In his younger days he was a great Sunday School worker and served for a long time as superintendent of the school. In poli- ties he is a Republican and has always taken much interest in public matters and at various times has acceptably served in township offices. He is a member of Cole- man Post, G. A. R., at Troy, Ohio.
SAMUEL F. BERRYHILL, · senior member of the firm of S. F. Berryhill & Son, dealers in poultry, eggs, produce and coal at Covington, was born on a farm in Brown Township, Miami County, Ohio, May 29, 1860, and is a son of A. M. and Catherine (Brelsford) Berryhill. The parents of Mr. Berryhill are both de- ceased. The father was a farmer and well-known stock dealer and trader, pass- ing the larger portion of his life in the neighborhood of Fletcher, Ohio.
Samuel F. Berryhill was educated in the schools of Brown Township and engaged in farming until 1887, when he started in the poultry business at Fletcher, where he continued until he came to Covington, in 1906. For three years he was engaged in the clothing business at Enid, Okla- homa, in partnership with his son. Mr. Berryhill purchased a farm of 140 acres in Brown Township, on which he raises cattle and hogs and has the land under rental. He has been in his present busi- ness for twenty-two years and has asso- ciated his son Carl with him, under the firm name of S. F. Berryhill & Son.
In March, 1909, a stock company was
formed for the manufacture of ice, known as The Covington Artificial Icc Company, with a capital stock of $15,000 and with the following officers: S. F. Berryhill, president; J. W. Ruhl, vice-president ; C. C. Shuman, secretary and treasurer. The plant will have a capacity of fifteen tons per day.
Mr. Berryhill was married in 1880 to Miss Jennie E. Smith, who was reared at St. Mary's, Ohio, a daughter of James B. Smith. They have one son. Carl A., who married Miss Cora Shaw, of Oklahoma. Carl A. Berryhill belongs to the Elks and both he and father are members of the Knights of Pythias. The firm of S. F. Berryhill & Son is a representative one in Covington business circles.
REV. GOSWIN B. MENGE, the pres- ent assistant at St. Boniface Church, Piqua. Ohio, has accomplished much for the good of the church and its members, in spite of the fact that he is the youngest clergyman ever stationed in this county. Born at 952 Hatch Street, Mt. Adams, Cincinnati, Ohio, on February 3, 1883, he received his primary schooling at the Im- maculata. Completing the course in 1896, he entered St. Xavier College, the most famous Roman Catholic institution for higher education throughout the Ohio Val- ley. Seldom meditating on a future career, with but one end in view, the ob- taining of a thorough college education, Father Menge devoted much time to par- tienlar studies, receiving special instruc- tions in various branches. Under the direction of Rev. James Shannon, S. J., he obtained a special course in electricity, which has proven of much advantage to lim even in his ecclesiastical career. De-
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termined to obtain a knowledge of the people in general he plunged into polities and frequently assisted at primaries and conventions. In June, 1903, he graduated from St. Xavier, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
The future was a matter Father Menge seldom considered, but his thoughts were turned in this direction by the death of his brother Lawrence. After mature deliber- ation, and seeking counsel from both friends and foes, he chose an ecclesiastical career, entering Mt. St. Mary's Seminary of the West the September following his graduation from St. Xavier. Being or- dained priest by Archbishop Moeller in June, 1907, he was assigned to Rev. George P. Steinlage as assistant.
Father Menge is a devoted son of his Alma Mater, a member of its Alumni Association, and of the Xothree Club, a society composed of the members of the Xavier Class of '03. He is the first assistant sent to St. Boniface Church direct from the Seminary, and his motto, "Bigotry is ignorance," has gained for him many non-Catholic friends.
REV. JOHN H. SNELL, general farmer and representative citizen of Bethel Town- ship, residing on his valuable estate of eighty-one and one-half acres. was born in Bethel Township, Miami County, Ohio. 'November 3, 1849, and is a son of Daniel and Susannah (Detrick) Snell.
Daniel Snell was born in 1814, in Rock- ingham County, Virginia, and was twenty- five years of age when he came to Miami County and took up his residence in Bethel Township, from which he later moved to Clark County, where he died in August. 1893. In polities he was an old-time
Democrat. He married Susannah Detrick, who died February 2, 1895, and both were buried in a cemetery not far from Spring- field, Clark County. They were worthy members of the German Baptist Church. They had eight children, namely: Bar- bara, Elizabeth, Catherine, Jacob, Daniel, Philip, John H. and Abraham.
.John 11. Snell was afforded excellent educational advantages and made good use of them. For several years he at- tended school at Lawrenceville, Clark County, then spent two terms in Spring- field College, after which he embraced teaching as his profession, devoting him- self to this for the succeeding thirteen years, three of which were spent in Kan- sas. After he married, in 1877, he had settled in Clark County, where he taught school and also engaged in farming, after which he visited Kansas, where he lived on a farm for six years, being recalled to Clark County on account of his father's failing health. He remained there for two years and then purchased his present fine farm in Bethel Township, Miami County, from Milton Sensman. This farm is favorably located, being situated four and one-half miles west of New Carlisle and reached by the Studebaker Turnpike Road. He found all the present buildings standing, but repairs were needed, and he has done considerable improving since tak- ing charge of his property. Grain, hay, fruit and stock are the products of his farm.
On December 2, 1877, Mr. Suell was mar- ried to Miss Susanna Neher, a daughter of Adam Neher, and they have had two chil- dren: Edgar A., who died October 25, 1900; and John D., who married Media
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
Chalk, a daughter of William Chalk. They have two children, Miło and Thelma.
Mr. Snell and family are members of the old German Baptist Church of Bethel Township, in which he has been a minister for the past five years. Like his father, he is a Democrat.
LEWIS C. GESSAMAN, one of Bethel Township's substantial citizens, engages in general farming on his ninety acres of valuable land, which is situated not far from the village of Phoneton. He was born on this farm in Miami County, No- vember 8, 1856, and is a son of George J. and Malinda ( Fluke) Gessaman.
The Gessaman family is numbered with the old representative ones of Bethel Township. The grandfather, George Ges- saman, came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, accompanied by his wife, and reached the little frontier town of Dayton in 1811. There they were directed into the great wilderness where they had located a claim of 160 acres in the forests of Bethel Town- ship, and their grandson, Lewis C. Gessa- man, has the old sheepskin deed from the Government, which cemented the contract.
George Gessaman was a typical pioneer, and before his strong arm the giants of the forest fell to make room for the build- ing of his first cabin. On his cleared land he carefully planted the cherry stones he had thoughtfully brought from his old Pennsylvania home, and these transplant- ed seeds in the course of years produced the fine cherry orchard which his descend- ants now enjoy the fruit of. No trace is left of the buildings he put up, but it was his industry and strength that cleared up the larger part of the original farm. It is certain that at one time he was a soldier
and in all probability he fought in the War of 1812. He died in 1839, his wife a few years later, and their burial was in Bethel Cemetery. They were among the founders of the German Reformed Church in this section.
George J. Gessaman, father of Lewis C., was born March 19, 1819, on the farm which is now owned by the latter. He was twenty years old when his father died and he took charge of the home farm and also of two eighty-acre farms in Indiana, which had been willed to his two sisters. He gave filial care to his mother as long as she lived. He aequired other land in addi- tion to the homestead and at the time of his death owned 182 aeres, which he di- vided among his children. He erected the substantial buildings now in use, including the fine brick residence. Ile was never a politician, but he always took an interest in public affairs, especially those in con- nection with the good government of the township, casting his vote with the Repub- lican party. Both he and his wife were worthy members of the German Reformed Church. During the Civil War he was twice drafted; on the first occasion he paid a substitute, and on the second he was found to have passed the age limit. He died March 9, 1894, his wife having passed away February 13, 1882, and both were buried in the Bethel Cemetery. He was married in early manhood to Malinda Fluke, a daughter of John Fluke, and thir- teen children were born to them, all of whom reached mature years with the ex- ception of the four eldest-John George, John Peter, David and Margaret. The others were named respectively: Sarah, Harriet, Lavina, Martha, Charlotte, Lewis C., William L., Sylvester G., and Grant.
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