USA > Ohio > Miami County > Troy > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 82
USA > Ohio > Miami County > Piqua > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 82
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September 18, 1887, Mr. Deeter was united in marriage with Miss Emma Fox, a daughter of John and Hannah (Mohler) Fox, and the following was the offspring of their union: One who died in infancy ; Calla, who is a teacher in the schools; Pearl, who is in attendance at Covington High School; and Clarence, who attends the public schools. Religiously they are members of the Brethren Church at Pleas- ant Hill. Politically Mr. Deeter is a Re- publican, as have been his father and grandfather before him.
MYRON IDDINGS comes of an old and prominent family of Newton Township, Miami County, Ohio, where he is the owner of a fine farm of 183 acres, located in Sec- tions 33 and 34. He was born on the home place in Newton Township, June 20, 1865, and is a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Mc- Dowell) Iddings, and a grandson of Joseph Iddings.
Joseph Iddings, the grandfather, was born in Tennessee, and in 1802 moved north to Miami County, Ohio, where he was among the early settlers. He settled in Section 34 in Newton Township, where Myron now lives, and there passed the re-
mainder of his days. He married a Miss Davis and they had the following children : William, John, Davis and Benjamin.
Benjamin Iddings was born in Newton Township, July 31, 1815, and always fol- lowed farming. Ile owned the 183-acre farm in Sections 33 and 34 now owned by his son, and made many of the improve- ments on the place. He was first married to Barbara Hill, a daughter of Nathan Hill, and the following were their off- spring: Delany, A. J., Elizabeth. Mary, William, Henry, Jasper, Belle and James. Mrs. Iddings died and was buried at Pleas- ant Hill Cemetery. He formned a second union with Sarah McDowell, a daughter of Samuel McDowell, and she survives him and resides at Covington. Two children blessed this union, Seymour and Myron. Mr. Iddings lived on the home farm until his death, November, 1901, and was buried at Pleasant Hill. He was a member of the Shiloh Christian Church, and in poli- tics was a Democrat.
Myron Iddings attended school in Union Township, after which he aided his father on the farm. At the time of his marriage, in 1890, he moved upon a twenty-three- acre tract, where he lived for abont ten years, during that time farming the home place for his father. Upon the latter's death he purchased the interests of the other heirs in the farm and moved into the old home. In 1902 he erected a fine new frame honse, in which he now lives. He has made extensive improvements on the place, including the erection of a substan- tial tobacco shed and the laying of 1,200 rods of tile for drainage. Ilis father had previously laid some 1,000 feet of tile. He raises the various small grains, hay, po- tatoes and tobacco, having an average of
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from six to eight acres of the latter prod- uct each year. He also has a splendid orchard on the place.
February 2, 1890, Myron Iddings was married to Miss Bertha Ingle, a daughter of Alexander and Sarah (Kendig) Ingle, and they are parents of the following: George, a member of the class of 1909 at West Milton High School; Howard Don- ald, who died in infancy; Robert Forest, a member of the class of 1913 at West Mil- ton High School; Randall Morris; Joseph Calvin; and Margaret Elizabeth. The three last named are attending the public schools of Union Township. Religiously they are members of the Friends Church. Mr. Iddings is a Democrat, but is in no sense a politician.
JOHN DODD, proprietor of a gen- eral store located on Main Street, in Con- over, Miami County, Ohio, has a large and well established business and draws trade from a large territory surrounding the vil- lage. He was born in Brown Township, Miami County, in 1859, and is a son of William and Honora (Griffin) Dodd. Will- iam Dodd was an old and well known resi- dent of this community. He was for twen- ty-eight years section boss on the Pan- handle Railroad, and then settled down on a farm which he purchased at the edge of Conover. There he farmed until his death at the age of sixty-five years. He married Honora Griffin, of Franklin County, Ohio, and they became parents of eight children, of whom four are now living.
John Dodd attended the public schools of Brown Township, after which he worked on the home farm for a time. He pur- chased the store of J. N. Frazier at Con- over, and has since carried on this busi-
ness in a highly successful manner. He has a large line of general dry goods and groceries and carries the many little side lines for which there is a demand in a small village. Mr. Dodd was united in marriage with Miss Retta Lauer, a daugh- ter of Dr. J. D. Lauer, of Conover, and they have a very comfortable home in the village. Religiously they are members of the Catholic Church at St. Paris. He is a Democrat in politics and served two years as treasurer of Brown Township.
JOHN HOLFINGER, a prosperous farmer of Concord Township, Miami County, Ohio, is the owner of 14416 acres of land, of which 671% acres are included in his home place on the Pleasant Hill Road, about five miles west of Troy. The other farm is half way between Troy and Covington, and is the site of the old half- way house which was well known in earlier days. Mr. Holfinger was born in Wash- ington Township, Miami County, Ohio. October 23, 1853, and is a son of John Bernard and Agnes Barbara (Streib) Holfinger.
John Bernard Holfinger was born at Moessingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, May 9, 1820, and lived there for some years after his marriage. In 1853 they sold out in Germany and came to the United States, locating at once in Miami County, Ohio. He purchased a farm in Washington Town- ship and, with the exception of five years in Darke County, lived upon it the remainder of his life, which closed September 3, 1899. He was married in Germany to Barbara Streib, who was born at Moessingen, Wur- temberg, January 7, 1823, and by whom he had children as follows: Sebastian, born November 5, 1843, at Moessingen;
-
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Lewis, born February 15, 1846, at Moes- singen, died April 27, 1870; George, born March 7, 1848, at Moessingen; Barbara, born September 16, 1849, at Moessingen, died October 23, 1849; Christina, born De- eember 27, at Moessingen, died April 10, 1855; Agnes, born September 15, 1852, at Moessingen, died August 19, 1855; John, born October 23,1853, in Washington Town- ship, Miami County, Ohio; Rosina Reich- man, nee Holfinger, born March 8, 1856, in Newberry Township, Miami County, Ohio; Peter, born August 14, 1857, in Newberry Township, Miami County, Ohio; Mary Barbara, born July 15, 1859, in Franklin Township, Darke County, Ohio; John Mar- tin, born September 29, 1860, in Franklin Township, Darke County, Ohio; Bernard, born June 24, 1863, in Washington Town- ship, Miami County, Ohio; Samuel, born August 20, 1865, in Washington Township, Miami County, Ohio; Hanna Patty, nee Holfinger, born November 28, 1867, in Washington Township, Miami County, Ohio, died May, 1901. The mother of these children passed away March 28, 1884.
Mr. Holfinger, after the death of his first wife, formed a second union with Lucy Myers, who survives him. His death occurred September 3, 1899, at the age of eighty years.
John Holfinger was reared on the home farm in Washington Township, and in early boyhood became inured to hard work, having little opportunity for schooling. He helped clear the home farm, which con- sisted of eighty acres, only six of which were cleared when the Holfingers located upon it. When he became of age he began shifting for himself, his entire posses- sions at that time being the clothing he had upon his baek. After working a few days
he earned enough to buy an ax, with which he went into the woods and worked until spring. He then hired out to Samuel Reish for the summer, at $18 per month, and again the following winter worked in the woods. Thus he struggled along, work- ing and saving, until his marriage in 1877, when he rented a farm in Newton Town- ship, of Captain Rouser. He remained on that place six years, then lived in Darke County for two years, at the end of whichi time he traded with John S. Myers for his present home farm. He erected all the buildings on the place, made many desir- able improvements and placed it under a high state of cultivation. He purchased the Midway Farm on the Troy and Cov- ington Pike from the Musselman estate. He is a man of great energy and enter- prise, and the success which has attended his efforts is due to his own perseverance and industry, and the faithful assistance of his wife. He is a man of wide acquain- tanee and has many friends.
January 1, 1877, Mr. Holfinger was united in marriage with Eliza Musselman, a daughter of John and Sarah Musselman, and they have two children-Lula, wife of Henry Schlegel; and Ira J., who lives on the Midway farm. The latter married Effie Wilson and they have one son, JJohn Francis. Religiously the family belongs to the Lutheran Church at Covington. Mr. Holfinger is a Democrat in politics.
ALFRED M. BRANT, attorney and city solicitor for the corporation of Bradford, and vice-president of the First National Bank of that city, was born in Bradford, June 17, 1882, son of David and Rachel (Swank) Brant. When he was six years old he went to reside with an uncle, Israel
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
Routson, who lived north of Bradford in the country, and who, being childless, pre- vailed upon Mr. and Mrs. Brant to allow him the custody of the child. Here young Brant attended the township schools and afterwards became a student at the Brad- ford High School. For three years sub- sequently he was engaged in the occupa- tion of teaching, during which time he pre- pared himself for admittance to the Ohio Northern University. From this latter in- stitution he was later graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science, and from the Law School of the University with that of L. L. B .- in June, 1907. During the summer vacation of 1906 he read law un- der Prosecuting Attorney Yount, at Green- ville, Darke County. After passing an ex- cellent examination before the State Board of Bar Examiners, he was sworn in as an attorney-at-law before the Supreme Court of Ohio, June 18, 1907. Soon after he be- gan the practice of his profession in Brad- ford, where he is now located. He was ap- pointed city solicitor March 1, 1908, and was reapprinted in the following year. Early in 1908 he was made a director and elected vice-president of the First National Bank of Bradford, being probably the youngest bank official in the entire state.
Mr. Brant has thus made an auspicious entry into life's battlefield and has already secured an honorable place in the ranks of brain-workers. With his native energy and mental equipment, his prospects for a successful career seem of the best, and those who know him feel sure that the hon ors he has already secured and the re- sponsibilities he has assumed are but step- ping-stones to greater honors and respon- sibilities awaiting him in the not distant future.
Mir. Brant's political creed identifies him in all essential respects with the Demo- cratie party, but he reserves the right to act independently whenever he may see good cause. He is a member of the Ger- man Baptist Church.
E. VAN HORN is a well known farmer of Union Township, Miami County, Ohio, and resides on the farm of 151 acres known as the Horseshoe Bend farm, located one and a half miles northeast of Ludlow Falls. He was born at West Milton, Ohio, September 1, 1854, and is a son of John and Catherine (Kinkaid) Van Horn. He was about eighteen months old when his father went west to Kansas, and nothing was afterward known concerning him or lis whereabouts.
The subject of this record is one of five children born to his parents, namely : Rob- ert, of Terre Haute, Indiana; Julia, who lives in Kentucky; Frances, deceased; Amanda, deceased; and E. Van Horn. The last named received his educational train- ing in the public schools of Warren Coun- ty, Ohio, where his mother was born and reared. Upon leaving school he worked out by the month until about 1880 or 1881, when he rented the Johns farm near Tip- pecanoe City. He remained on that place nine years, then successively rented the Woodward Hills place four years and the Troop farm two years. Since that time he has lived continuously on the Hayner place, commonly known as the Horseshoe Bend farm. He is engaged in general farming and tobacco raising and is meet- ing with deserved success. He has a wide acquaintance throughout this section of the county and is very popular with his fellow men.
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Mr. Van Horn was united in marriage with Mollie Goepper, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a daughter of Leo- pold and Susan B. (Pendery) Goepper. Her father was born in Germany, July 4, 1827, and was about fourteen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States, locating in Warren County, Ohio, where he now lives at the age of eighty-two years. Mr. Goepper married Susan B. Pendery, who was born in Ham- ilton, Ohio, July 23, 1834, and is now living at the age of seventy-five years. They became parents of the following children : Mollie and Clara, twins; Edward, de- ceased; William, deceased ; Jefferson, de- ceased; Eugene, deceased; Albert ; Fannie ; Victor ; and Charlotte, who died in infancy. Edward Goepper was a sergeant of police in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Albert Goepper is in the railway mail service.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Horn have had five children, namely: Charles, who is pro- prietor of a laundry at Lockland, Ohio; Harry, who is in the employ of the Stem & Foster Manufacturing Company, at Lockland, Ohio; Bradford, who is farm- ing the Hance place in Union Township; Mae E., who is at home with her parents ; and Fannie, who died at the age of six years. Religiously she is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Van Horn is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
HON. J. HARRISON SMITH, one of the leading members of the Miami County bar, and a man who stands high in the es- teem of his fellow citizens, was born in Pigna, where he now resides, on Septem- ber 1, 1861, son of John Frederick and
Mary (Sullenbarger) Smith. His father, who was born in Baden Baden, Germany, in 1833, after coming to America enlisted in the Union army and was killed at the battle of Stone River. John F. Smith had not long been married when he thus met an untimely end, for it was but in 1860 that he was united in wedlock to Mary Sullen- barger, who had become a resident of this county some ten years previously, coming hither with her parents from her native county of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, where she was reared.
The subject of this sketch acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Piqua, and graduated from the high school in the class of 1884. In the follow- ing year he became a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he remained for a year. He then entered Harvard University, where, be- sides taking the regular classical course, he studied philosophy, history, political economy, and law. The last mentioned study he pursued with special ardor, for he had resolved to adopt the legal profes- sion as his future sphere of activity. After leaving college he commenced the practical study of law under the mentorship of the Hon. John McDonald, of Piqua. That he showed himself a young man of capacity may be gathered from the fact that he soon afterwards in 1890-received the ap- pointment as special agent in the United States census department to ascertain the mortgaged indebtedness of the states of Mississippi and Arkansas, which work oc- cupied him for some six months. He was then offered a position at Washington, D. C., to assist in the classification of the mortgaged indebtedness of the United States, and was there engaged until 1893.
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While a resident of the nation's capital he entered the Columbia Law School (now the George Washington Law School) and pursued his studies to such good advan- tage that he was graduated a bachelor of law in 1891, and received the degree of master of law in the following year. He was admitted to the bar at Richmond, Vir- ginia, in 1893.
On returning to his home in Miami County, Mr. Smith, instead of immedi- ately taking up the practice of his pro- fession, spent two years working on the farm; but in March, 1896, he was admitted to practice in his native state, and has since been engaged in the practice of law in the city of Piqua. In November, 1896, he was elected on the Republican ticket as prosecuting attorney, assuming the duties of the office in the following January, and serving two terms. He soon proved his efficiency, and it is the general opinion that the legal business of the county was never better taken care of than when in his hands. Mr. Smith was probate judge from November, 1902, and served one term. He was subsequently nominated for a second term, but on this occasion suffered defeat.
For a number of years past Mr. Smith has taken an active and beneficial interest in local, state, and congressional politics, his aim being not merely the success of his party, but the carrying out of the popular will and the perpetuation of pure, stable and representative government. As a law- yer he takes a high rank, possessing not only the qualifications of a good attorney, but also a high degree of forensic ability and eloquence. He is also a keen judge of character and has been especially success- ful in jury cases. He has a convenient and well appointed office in the Orr Block.
Mr. Smith belongs to various prominent fraternal orders, being a member of Day- ton Lodge, No. 147, F. & A. M .; Piqua Lodge No. 8, I. O. O. F., and Piqua Lodge, No. 523, B. P. O. E .; also of Loramie Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men, No. 153, Pi- qua; and Council No. 80, Junior Order of American Mechanics.
He was married in 1895 to Miss Anna E. Ball, a daughter of William B. and Kate Ball, of Memphis, Tennessee. They - have had two children-John H., who died, and Fred W., who was born August 1, 1908.
JOHN G. MYERS, grain merchant and tobacco dealer, residing at Pleasant Hill, is one of the leading business men of Mi- ami County, being a stockholder in the First National Bank at Troy, vice-presi- dent of the Pleasant Hill Banking Com- pany, president of the Myers Grain Com- pany, and manager of the Myers & Patty Elevator Company. He was born July 12. 1854, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Michael and Susan (Groff) Myers.
Michael Myers was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Angust 25, 1831, and is a retired resident of Pleasant Hill. He remained in his native place until after his marriage and the birth of five children, when he came to Miami County, Ohio, and settled first at Pleasant Hill. Later he bonglit a farm of twenty-five acres, but sold it and then went to Brownsville, Nebraska, where he engaged in a butchering business for a time, after which he returned to Pleasant Hill and for twenty subsequent years was engaged in a huckstering busi- ness, purchasing twenty-six acres of land in Newton Township. He is a stockholder ,
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in the Pleasant Hill Banking Company. In politics he is a Democrat, and for a number of years he served in the Town Council, during which he advocated many of the reforms and improvements which have made the place an excellent one both for business and residence. He is a lead- ing member of the Christian Church. He married Susan Groff, a daughter of John Groff, and they had six children: John G .; Amos and Monroe, Mary Ann, Isaac and Henry, who is a resident of Chicago, Illi- nois. Amos, Monroe and Isaac are now deceased. Mary Ann married John S. De- bray, lives at Dayton, and they have two children, Joe and Wanda.
John G. Myers finished his education in the Pleasant Hill schools and then helped his father both in this section and during the time the family lived at Brownsville. Later he helped his father in the huckster- ing business and operated a wagon for about fifteen years. In 1879 he built the ele- vator known as the Myers & Patty at Pleas- ant Hill and also bought one at Ludlow Falls, and at Maria Stein, Mercer County, and built one at Reignville, all of these being owned by the Myers & Patty Com- pany. In 1893 he went into the tobacco business at Pleasant Hill. His interests are numerous and important, but he has a firm grasp of all their details and has the reputation of being one of the most far- seeing and able business men of this section.
In October, 1874, Mr. Myers was mar- ried to Miss Mary Belle Patty, a daughter of Dr. William and Sarah Jane Patty. They had two sons, Charles M. and Will- iam M. The former is connected with the Myers Grain Company as manager, and operates track buying at Columbus, Ohio;
married Florence Favorite, and they have three children-Mary Belle, Carolyn and Ouida. William M. is manager of the Myers grain business at Lockburn, Ohio, and is treasurer of the Myers Grain Com- pany. The mother of these sons died JJune 29, 1889. Mr. Myers was married (second) August 14, 1890, to Miss Alwilda Ellis, a daughter of James and Lydia Ellis, of Clinton County, Ohio, and they have one daughter, Vesta Marie, who is in school.
GEORGE W. PLEASANT is a prom- inent farmer and tobacco grower of New- ton Township, Miami County, Ohio, and is the owner of a fifty-acre farm in Section 26 of that township. He was born in Au- gusta County, Virginia, July 4, 1865, and is a son of William and Ellen Pleasant.
William Pleasant, father of the subject of this record, was born in Virginia and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1867 while in middle life. His widow now resides in Dayton, Ohio. They became parents of the following children : Will- iam, Robert, James, George W. and Jane.
George W. Pleasant was very small when his mother moved to Ohio, and he re- ceived his first schooling near Dayton, in Montgomery County. He subsequently attended the Penny ('reek school in Darke County, Ohio, and after leaving school was engaged for himself in the general store business at Painter Creek, in Darke Coun- ty. At the end of four years he sold out and purchased his present farm of fifty acres in Newton Township, Miami County. All of the buildings were standing on the place at the time of its purchase by him, except the tobacco shed, which he built. He has done considerable tiling and made
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other improvements of an important na- ture, and has a well kept and attractive property. He follows general farming and tobacco raising, having an average acreage of about eight acres in tobacco each year. He is progressive in his meth- ods and a hard worker and is meeting with deserved success.
December 24, 1891, Mr. Pleasant was joined in marriage with Miss Olive Miles, a daugliter of Samuel Miles, and they have one son, Willis, who is a member of the class of 1912 in Pleasant Hill High School. Religiously they are members of the Friends Church. In fraternal affiliation Mr. Pleasant is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Lanra. He is a Democrat in politics, but has no political aspirations.
E. N. SNYDER, a leading citizen of Newberry Township, residing on his valn- able farm of eighty-seven acres, which lies on the Range line road, near the Shelby County line, about five and one-half miles north of Covington, was born in Preble County, Ohio, March 16, 1833, and is a son of Henry and Eva Parmelia (Mow) Sny- der, both of whom spent their worthy lives there.
E. N. Snyder attended the district schools and grew to manhood a practical farmer. Following his marriage he set- tled on one of his father-in-law's farms, in Montgomery County, but one year later, in 1858, moved to his present farm in New- berry Township. Mr. Snyder has resided on this place for fifty-one years, during which long period he has made many im- provements in the way of erecting farm buildings, but the same house shelters the family now that stood on the place when he and wife moved here. Its appearance,
however, is entirely different, but the fonn- dation is the same. Its original construc- tion was of logs and to the first structure Mr. Snyder added, later put in new floors, ceilings, etc., and it has all the appearance of a modern house.
On March 16, 1856, Mr. Snyder was mar- ried to Miss Huldah Wysong, a daughter of Valentine Wysong, and they had three children born to them, namely: Anderson Snyder, a prominent farmer in this town- ship, married (first) Harriet Rhoades, who died leaving three children, and (second) Mina Stiver, and they have one child; Val- entine, who died just as he reached man- hood; and Lucy Ann, who married William Palsgrove, has had three children, two daughters surviving. From his long resi- dence here and on account of his high per- sonal character, Mr. Snyder has been one of the township's influential as well as use- ful men and it was mainly through his ef- forts that the mile of turnpike passing his house, on the Range line road, was finally built. He made three different trials be- fore this public-spirited enterprise was put through.
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