USA > Ohio > Miami County > Troy > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 60
USA > Ohio > Miami County > Piqua > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 60
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
After his honorable discharge in April, 1865, Mr. Lee returned to Troy, where he learned the jewelry trade and worked at it for two years. Ile thien received his ap- pointment to the United States Revenue department and served six years. In the fall of 1873 he was elected sheriff of Mi- ami County and served two terms, being re-elected in 1875. After that he was en- gaged in business for several years in Kansas City, and after he came back to Troy conducted a grocery enterprise for six years. Then, under the administration of President Harrison, he was connected with the revenue service again for four years. Following this came four years as township clerk, when he was again ap- pointed to the revenue service and has been an efficient officer in the same ever since.
In 1868 Mr. Lee was married to Miss Elizabeth Clyde, a daughter of George C. Clyde, who was a pioneer of Troy. Mrs. Lee died in 1905, leaving two sons: Harry, who is connected with the C. U. Telephone Company, at Indianapolis; and Fred, who is with the firm of Long & Knight, of Troy. Mr. Lee is a member of the Presby- terian Church. He has been secretary and treasurer of the Seventy-first Regiment, Olio Volunteer Association, for a number of years, belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and also is a member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and lias been treasurer of both these organiza- tions for a long time.
A. S. ROSENBERGER, M. D., a prom- inent practitioner of the medical profes- sion of Miami County, Ohio, has been lo- cated at Covington since March, 1878, and is now serving his second term as a coun- cilman of that town. He was born on a
farm in Hancock County, Ohio, May 8, 1848, and is a son of Daniel and Elizabethi (Hartsough) Rosenberger.
Dr. Rosenberger was reared on a farm and attended the common schools of his native community. He taught district school during four successive winter terms, and pursued a scientific course in Oberlin College. About the year 1862 he went to West Independence, Ohio, where he taught one year, after which he took up the study of medicine under Dr. Detwiler, of Find- lay, Ohio. In the spring of 1871 he was graduated from the Cleveland Homeo- pathie Ilospital Medical College, and im- mediately thereafter engaged in practice at Carey, Wyandot County, Ohio. He next practiced at Leipsie, in Putnam County, for six years, from which place he came to Covington. He has built up a large and remunerative practice, and has been iden- tified with the development of the commu- nity and its institutions.
In 1872 Dr. Rosenberger was united in marriage with Miss Sabrina E. Workman, of Holmes County, Ohio, and she died in the spring of 1891, leaving two children, as follows: Charles L., manager of a large chair manufacturing plant at Syra- euse, New York; and Bertha, wife of Dr. J. M. Wine, of Dayton, Ohio. In 1893 the subject of this record formed a second marital union, withi Miss Elizabeth Delp, and they have a comfortable home in Cov- ington. Religiously he is a consistent member of the Church of the Brethren, of which he is one of the ministers.
WASHINGTON IRVING TENNEY, secretary of the board of the Miami Coun- ty Fair Association and formerly auditor of Miami County, is a resident of the city
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
of Troy and has a wide acquaintance throughout this section of the State. He was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, near the Miami County line, in 1833, and is a son of Dr. Eli Tenney.
Dr. Eli Tenney, who was auditor of Mi- ami County at the time of his death in 1873, was a well known exponent of the medical profession, and from 1848 until 1871 was in practice at West Milton. He then entered upon his duties as county auditor and moved to Troy. He was a graduate of Starling Medical College, of Columbus. Doctor Tenney was a member of the Legislature of Ohio one term, being elected in 1855.
W. Irving Tenney was practically reared in Greene County, Ohio, until his fifteenth year, when, in 1848, his parents moved to West Milton. He attended the district schools and also Columbus High School one year. During the war he was in the 100-day service as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regi- ment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was first elected county auditor in 1873, as suc- cessor to his father, and in 1875 was re- elected for two years. Upon retiring from that office he purchased a farm just west of Troy, on which he lived and farmed un- til 1894; he then purchased a small tract of sixteen acres and lived upon it until 1905, when he moved to Troy, although he has since continued to superintend farming operations. He has been a mem- ber of the Miami County Fair Board since 1877, and has served as secretary of that body since 1883. He is vice-president of the Mad River and Miami Valley Fair Circuit. He was a member of the Board of Education of Troy for ten years, and still is one of the Board of School Ex-
aminers. In 1901 he was elected to repre- sent the county in the State Legislature and served two terms with marked effi- ciency. Mr. Tenney was engaged as teacher for about twenty years, being su- perintendent at Milford.
In 1858 Mr. Tenney was united in mar- riage with Miss Jane C. Kelley, who died in 1901. The following were the offspring of their marriage: Miss Ida B., a teacher in the high school at Denver, Colorado; Frank W., a Miami County farmer; Charles Elmer Tenney, D. D. S., who is practicing at Sydney., Ohio; Alice Bertha, who lives with her father; Mary Estella, who at the time of her death was an in- structor in the public schools at Troy; William Harold Tenney, D. D. S., who is practicing at Toledo, Ohio; Prof. George L. Tenney, who is connected with Lewis Institute, of Chicago, and is a graduate of the University of Colorado, at Denver, where he taught in the public schools sev- eral years; and Horace K. Tenney, who resides in New York State. Religiously the subject of this record is a member of the First Christian Church of Troy, of which he was a trustee a number of years. He is also a member of Coleman Post, G. A. R.
BENJAMIN I. DU BOIS, who now lives retired from active participation in business, enjoys the comforts of a beauti- ful home at No. 508 Spring Street, Piqua, of which city he is a well known and es- teemed citizen. He was born at Franklin, Warren County, Ohio, April 7, 1842.
When eleven years of age, Mr. Du Bois accompanied the family to Miami County and he remained on the home farm until the age of twenty years and then learned
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
the blacksmith's trade at Piqua. When Company 0, 147th Regiment, Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, was formed for the 100-day service, he enlisted, in 1864, and during that period was on guard duty at Arling- ton Heights, near Washington, D. C. After he returned to Piqua, he worked for a time as a carpenter and then went to Union City, Indiana, where he worked at black- smithing until 1887, when he came back again to Piqua. For four years he en- gaged in a farm implement business, after which he resumed carpenter work, which he continued for nine years, and then bought out the Model Laundry, which he subsequently turned over to his step-son, George A. Custer, who continues to op- erate it.
Mr. Du Bois was married March 3, 1875, to Mrs. Maggie A. Custer, a widow, having one son, George A. Her maiden name was Maggie A. Barnes-daughter of Adolphus A. Barnes of Randolph County, Indiana. One son, Lewis A. Custer, died in Denver, Colorado, 1901, aged 31 years. In former years, Mr. Du Bois took eon- siderable interest in public matters and held office, for seven years serving on the Piqua Board of Equalization. He is one of the leading members of the Green Street Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the order of Maccabees.
ROBERT M. EVANS, justice of the peace, and one of Monroe Township's lead- ing and substantial citizens, resides on his farm of eighty aeres, which lies on the west side of the Dayton Turnpike Road. six miles south of Troy. He also owns a second farm containing forty acres, which is situated in Section 28, Monroe Town- ship, one-quarter of a mile west of his
present home. He was born on his father's farm, about one-half mile from his own land, in Monroe Township, Miami County, Ohio, March 18, 1845. His parents were Robert and Mary (Jenkins) Evans.
Among the big farm wagons that car- ried a family of pioneers into Ohio and passed the lonely log cabins that then rep- resented the present busy city of Dayton, was that owned and probably driven by Joseph Evans, the grandfather of Robert M., who brought his family all the way from Georgia, in 1801, hoping to find a satisfactory place to locate, in a free state. The first stoppage was made in Montgom- ery County, near the Miami County line,. but conditions not proving altogether to his mind. Joseph Evans resumed the jour- ney and landed his family at Laporte, In- diana. There the pioneers lived until 1804, when they returned to Ohio and settled on what is now the Martin Idemiller farm, on the county line between Montgomery and Miami Counties. There Joseph Evans died some years later and his burial was one of the early ones in the Quaker ceme- tery at Mill Creek.
Robert Evans, father of Robert M., was born February 7, 1789, in Georgia, and hence was fifteen years of age when his parents finally settled in Ohio. When he reached maturity he entered Government land, securing a farm in Montgomery Coun- ty, on the line, and there he built a typical southern house, two stories in height, probably with double "galleries," as they are still denominated in Georgia, and it is not difficult to believe that he took great comfort in this home. Evidently others thought well of the place as some years later he sold it to advantage and bought land in Miami County, on which the south-
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
ern half of Tippecanoe City stands. At that time all this land was a thicket, ex- cept where Indians had made small clear- ings. By 1837 he had about cleared up this second farm and he then traded it for the partly cleared northwest one-quarter of Section 28, Monroe Township, the transac- tion being entered into with John Clark, who then laid out Tippecanoe City. On this farm Robert Evans died in June, 1863. He was a vigorous man into ad- vanced age. He married (first) Eleanor Jenkins, and they had the following chil- dren: Thomas J., Joseph, Julia Matilda, Esther, William, Moses, Eli, and Maria, the last named being now the only sur- vivor. She is the widow of Samuel Jay and lives in Indiana. The second mar- riage of Robert Evans was to Mary Jen- kins, who was born August 20, 1839, and seven children were born to this union, namely : Mary, Esther and Aaron, all de- ceased ; Jesse, who was a member of the Ohio National Guards, during the Civil War, now deceased ; Kerren H., who is the wife of Darius Jester, of Montgomery County, Ohio; Robert Milton; and Eliza- beth, who married William Macy and re- sides in North Dakota.
Robert M. Evans has a vivid recollection of a happy boyhood spent mostly in the fields and woods, with occasional attend- ance at the district school and of the time thus well spent he has a memento, a little gift which was presented to him in 1851, by an appreciative teacher, as a reward for good condnet. When he was about eighteen years of age his father died and he inherited the east one-half of the home farm and remained on the place until 1879. He then went to Ginghamsburg, in Mon- roe Township, where he entered into busi-
less with A. C. Beson, embarking in the general mercantile line, they carrying a large stock of farm implements, groceries and dry goods, and operating under the style of Beson & Evans. The partnership continued until August 2, 1894, when Mr. Evans sold out to Mr. Beson. In 1890 Mr. Evans bought his home farm from his father-in-law, Louis Keller; on this place his wife was born and reared. For many years it was known as the old Keller farm and the old brick house is still standing, although, in 1896, Mr. Evans erected his more modern residence. He does not per- sonally cultivate his land, his time being fully occupied with his public duties.
On March 2, 1867, Mr. Evans was mar- ried to Miss Minerva J. Keller, who died February 6, 1909, aged sixty-three years. She was a lady of Christian life and ex- emplary character, one who filled every position that life presented to her, with the completeness of a good woman. To this marriage were born eight children, name- ly: Maris and Howard Virgil, who both died young; Zenetia B., who died at the age of nineteen years; Lilly H., wife of Adam Underwood; Sarah, wife of Harry Barnhart; Laura, the wife of Ira Oaks; Anna P., the wife of William Kendall; and Rhoda M., who resides with her father. Mr. Evans and family are united with the United Brethren Church.
Mr. Evans is one of the leading Repub- licans of Monroe Township. His war rec- ord is as follows: In June, 1863, he be- came a member of the Twenty-fifth Regi- ment, Ohio National Guards, which was then organized, entering Company G, un- der Capt. Newell Kerr and Col. B. F. Ros- sin. In 1864 the regiment responded to the call of the President and for four months
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did duty in the forts in the vicinity of Washington City. This regiment was known at that time as the 147th Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry. On November 6, 1876, Mr. Evans was elected justice of the peace, an office he has continued to hold ever since. In point of years of service, he is the oldest justice in Miami County.
FRED DOLL, SR., a well-to-do farmer of Monroe Township, Miami County, Ohio, resides on the old home place of sixty acres located about six miles southwest of Troy. He was born near the River Rhine, in Ger- many, May 2, 1838, and is a son of Conrad and Mary (Genslinger) Doll.
Conrad Doll was born and reared in Germany and there for some years con- ducted a vineyard and engaged in the mak- ing of wine. Accompanied by his wife and their two sons, he came to the United States in June, 1843, the voyage consum- ing forty-two days. They moved to Troy, Ohio, immediately after their arrival in this country, making a part of the journey in a wagon. They remained in that city twelve years, Mr. Doll having an interest in a brick yard there. He then sold out his interest and purchased the farm on which our subject now lives of Israel Kessler for the sum of $1,800, the latter having paid but $900 for it the preceding year. But fifteen acres had been cleared and Conrad set about clearing the remainder. It was while thus engaged he lost his life by the falling of a tree, in March, 1861, at the age of fifty-two years. His wife survived him and lived to reach the age of sixty-four, although an invalid for thirty-seven years. They had seven children: Elizabeth, who died in Germany; Fred; Jacob; and four who died young.
Fred Doll, Sr., was a small boy when he came to America with his parents, and spent his boyhood in Troy, which then was a small place. He attended school but a short time, then worked in the brick yard for twenty-five cents per day. He also carried water for the men engaged in the construction of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, receiving therefor the sum of eighty-seven and a half cents per day. He moved upon the farm with his parents, upon which small wild game was at that time plentiful. They lived in the old log house which still stands and which Mr. Doll keeps as a relie of the pioneer days. It was originally provided with a claphoard roof, through which the snow would drift, and well does he remember sleeping with his head under the blanket to keep off the snow. He helped to clear the farm, which came into his possession at the death of his parents, and he con- tinued to live in the log house for twenty- two years. He then built the seven-room frame house, in which his son now lives, and is at the present time building a com- modious frame house for the use of him- self and wife. He has always followed general farming, growing some tobacco, and what they possess has come mainly through their unceasing toil and good man- agement.
February 2, 1860, Mr. Doll was united in marriage with Barbara Frank, who was born in the same community in Germany as was he. She is a daughter of Simon and Elizabeth (Farver) Frank, and was seventeen years old when they came to the United States, being thirty days on the water. They arrived in July, 1858, and lo- cated at Troy, where Mr. Frank worked and lived until his death at the age of sev-
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
enty-eight. His wife died first, aged sev- enty-six years. They had nine children, of whom five died in Germany. Those who came to this country were : Catherine, widow of Jacob Smithi; Barbara, wife of Fred Doll; Jacob; and Elizabeth wife of Fred Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Doll became parents of the following: Jacob, who mar- ried Dora Kerr; Samuel, who married Flora Rouser, and whose death occurred in 1904: Catherine, wife of Newell Kerr; Mary, wife of George Running; Elizabeth, wife of George Butts; George, who mar- ried Callie Kimmery; Fred, who married Irma Wheelock; Charles, a teacher in the schools; Dora, wife of Harry Fox: and two who died in infancy. Religiously. they are members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Doll is a Democrat in politics.
WILLIAM H. FOSTER, president of the Board of Infirmary Directors of Miami County, is one of the representative and substantial farmers of Staunton Town- ship, residing on his estate, which is situ- ated near Troy. He was born at Brent, Miami County, Ohio, in March, 1855, and is a son of the late John H. Foster, who came from Pennsylvania to Miami County in 1853.
William H. Foster was reared on his father's farm and farming has been luis main occupation through life. In 1862 he settled in Staunton Township and has been identified with the interests of that sec- tion ever since. He has been a member of the township School Board for many years, and in November, 1907, was elected township assessor. For six years he has been an active and useful member of the Miami County Agricultural Society, and in November, 1906, he was first elected a
member of the Board of Infirmary Direct- ors and two years later was re-elected. On October 17, 1878, Mr. Foster was married to Miss Medora A. Secrest, who was born and reared in Staunton Township and is a daughter of John Seerest, an old resident of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Troy. He is a prominent mem- her of the order of Odd Fellows, at Troy, being past noble grand, past chief patri- arch in the lodge and a past officer in the Uniform Rank degree.
J. GUY O'DONNELL. city solicitor of Covington, and senior member of the well known law firm of O'Donnell and Billings- ley, with offices at Covington and Ver- sailles, Ohio, has been a resident of the former city sinee 1887. He was born in Mt. Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio, April 28, 1875, and is a son of James and Mary (Williams) O'Donnell. He was but two and a half years of age when his father died, he being a marble eutter by trade.
J. Guy O'Donnell was reared in Morrow Connty, Ohio, and there attended the pub- lic schools. In 1887 he moved with his mother to Covington, Miami Connty, Ohio, and was there graduated from the high school in 1893. He read law under the pre- ceptorship of Hon. W. C. Johnston of Piqua, and was admitted to the bar of Mi- ami County in October, 1896; he was ad- mitted to practice in the Federal courts on May 4, 1899. Mr. O'Donnell opened his office for praetiee in Covington, January 15, 1897, and has since continued here with a high degree of success. July 1, 1902, he formed a partnership with Thomas Billingsley, who has had charge of the Versailles office of the firm and is city
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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
solicitor of that city. They have an ex- tensive practice, and in addition do a very large fire insurance business. Mr. O'Don- nell first served a two-year term as city solicitor, from 1897 until 1899, and since 1902 has served continuously in that office.
He was united in marriage with Miss Emma Colbert, a daughter of Peter S. Col- bert of Covington, and they have two ehil- dren, J. Guy, Jr., and Roger C. Frater- nally, the subject of this record is a mem- ber of the Elks at Piqua, of which he is a past exalted ruler; Improved Order of Redmen; and the Ancient and Honorable Order of Gobblers. He has filled all the chairs of these lodges.
JOSEPHI A. KLOEB, proprietor of a plumbing and heating establishment and manufacturer of gas stoves, has followed this business in many cities and towns, but has been located at Piqua, Ohio, since 1896. He was born in Piqua in 1857, and is a son of Joseph A. Kloeb, Sr., who was prominent among the people of this com- uninity about the middle of the last cen- tury. The senior Kloeb was born in Ger- many but came to the United States and followed his trade as a saddler. He came to Piqua from Cineinnati about 1850, and here was one of the pioneer saddlers. He was organizer of the first fire department of the city, and at the time of his death in 1866 was serving in the capacity of street commissioner.
Joseph A. Kloeb, subject of this record, was reared and educated in Piqua, where he early in life learned the plumbing busi- ness. He has never followed any other business and has worked in thirty-two states of the Union, in the District of Co- lumbia, and in Canada. In 1896 he re-
turned to his native city, where he has built up a large and well paying business. He is a man of good business standing and enjoys a high degree of popularity. Re- ligiously, he is a member of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.
CHARLES A. ROBINSON, township trustee and a prosperous farmer of Lost Creek Township, owns and resides on a fine farm of 20312 acres, located near the Miami County line. He was born March 17, 1845, in a log house on his present farm and is a son of Michael and Eleanor (Rich- ardson) Robinson.
Michael Robinson was born November 11, 1800, in New Jersey, and was there reared to maturity. During his early man- hood he came with his mother to Warren County, Ohio, where he resided some few years, but did not purchase land. He was there married to Eleanor Richardson in 1826 and about 1834 came with his family and mother to Miami County, where he purchased a tract of timberland at $1.25 an acre. The family made their home in an old log house which stood upon the land and the nearest market was at that time Dayton, Ohio. Here Mr. Robinson en- gaged in farming the remainder of his life, his death occurring July 15. 1854, his widow surviving him until August 10, 1890. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, namely : Lydia A., married Nathan Jackson, both are deceased: Andrew J., deceased ; Michael, deceased: Rebecca, married J. H. Corey, both deceased ; Thom- as, deceased: Edward R .: Eleanor, de- ceased; Charles A., subject of this sketch ; and Hannah J., who is the wife of William Le Feever.
Charles A. Robinson was reared in an
.
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
old log house on his present farm and ob- tained his educational training in the dis- triet schools of Lost Creek Township. When still quite young he gave a helping hand to the work on the farm, and subsequently purchased the land from his father's heirs, the original tract consisting of 180 acres. He has always followed general farming, has erected a commodions eight-room, frame house and has made various other improvements on the land. He has always been a successful farmer and has added to his original purchase, now owning a tract of 20316 acres of rich farming land.
Mr. Robinson was united in marriage September 25, 1875, with Ina M. Wright, a daughter of Obadiah and Rebecca (Nei- barger) Wright, who were the parents of three children : Dr. C. H. Wright, of Addi- son, who graduated from the Eclectic Med- ical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1876; James G., a resident of Michigan, who is engaged in fruit growing; and Ina M., the wife of our subject. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, namely : James E .; Zella, wife of J. G. Scott of Troy, who has one child, Tom; and Leah, who married Dr. B. Hyde of Addison and has one child, Virginia.
Politically, Mr. Robinson is a Democrat and has served two terms as trustee of Lost Creek Township and was for some time a member of the Miami County Fair Board.
HON. M. H. JONES, a prominent law- yer of Miami County, who has been suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession for the past sixty years, was born in the District of Columbia in 1825. He acquired a good literary education, and after studying law and being admitted to
the bar, entered upon the practice of his profession in Piqua, where he soon made a name for himself as an able attorney, which reputation he enjoys to the present day. For a number of years beginning with 1878, he was associated in practice with his son, now Hon. W. D. Jones, com- mon pleas judge, which connection was continued until the latter was appointed by Governor Bushnell to the common pleas judgeship, to fill the vacancy caused by the election of Judge Theodore Sullivan as circuit court judge. For the time of their association the firm enjoyed the leading practice in the city of Piqua and was re- garded as one of the strongest possible combinations of legal talent. Mr. Jones's wife was born in New Hampshire in 1828, a daughter of Timothy Davis Wood, who settled at a comparatively early date in Miami County, Ohio.
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