USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 103
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William West, the second son, of Stockett West was born on July 13. 1818, and lived on the old homestead until his marriage to Hester Cowden Grafton, February 3, 1848. His wife also was born in Jackson township. on November 22, 1822, a daughter of Ambrose and Elizabeth Kelley Graf- ton, the fourth of a family of thirteen children. Her grandparents, Thomas and Hester Cowden Grafton, were sturdy pioneers who came from Vir- ginia to this section among the earliest settlers.
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Throughout his long life, William West was a farmer. Purchasing a farm one mile east of his father's place at the time of his marriage, he and his wife established their home and commenced their life work of making it an ideal farm, which work was later carried on by their sons. William West was a strong, active man; a substantial farmer and stockman; a man of influence in his community; a Republican in his political affiliation. He was at one time a member of the Honey Creek Baptist church. His wife was a life-long member of the Grafton Methodist church, of which her grandfather was a founder in an early day.
Three sons were born to William West and wife: John, who died in early childhood; George Washington and Henry Clay. William West died on April 28, 1900. His widow survived until July 3, 1905, living at the old home with their youngest son, Henry, who spent his entire life on the farm and helped bring it up to the high standard in which it was kept. He was born on July 17, 1857, and died on October 20, 1907.
George W. West was born on the home farm of his parents, January 16, 1855, and there grew to manhood, receiving his education in the schools of that neighborhood. Following in the footsteps of his father, he became a practical farmer. After his marriage, he built a house on the "lower eighty" of the home farm and there he and his wife established a beautiful home, where they spent the remainder of their lives, carrying on in their own home the hospitality for which the West homes have ever been noted. George West was an excellent farmer and took much pride in bringing and keeping his land up to a high degree of cultivation, developing one of the best-kept farm plants in Champaign county. He was an ardent Republi- can and took a good citizen's interest in local political affairs, having served his township in the capacity of treasurer and as a member of the school board.
On October 17, 1878, George W. West was united in marriage to Ellen Breslin, daughter of James and Bridget (Murphy) Breslin. The Breslins were natives of Ireland, both born in County Mayo, who came to this country in their youth. Ellen was the eldest of eleven children and was born in St. Paris, Ohio, March 21, 1856. She was a beautiful girl, a sweet and gracious woman, greatly loved for her unselfishness and thoughtfulness for others. She died on March 5, 1916, and her husband survived her but little more than a month, his death occurring on April 13, of the same year.
George W. and Ellen (Breslin) West were the parents of two daugh- ters, Mabel and Blanche. Mabel Hester West, who was born on August 6. 1879, was educated in the common schools and in the Ohio Normal Uni-
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versity at Ada. She married Sherman S. Deaton, a biographical sketch of whom appears in this edition. Blanche West, who was born on January 22, 1885, was graduated from the St. Paris and Urbana schools and later became a teacher in the St. Paris schools. On December 25, 1909, she was married to Edward Griswold Johnston, a civil engineer in the employ of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. Mr. Johnston's headquarters are at Pittsburgh, and he and his family reside in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one son, Robert West Johnston, born on July 22, 1913.
LELAND C. FUDGER.
Leland C. Fudger, one of the progressive young farmers of Goshen township, this county, was born on the place on which he is now living, on the Woodstock pike, three miles north of Mechanicsburg, and has lived there all his life. He was born on May 20, 1888, son and only child of Alanson P. and Lucy (Donley) Fudger, the latter of whom is still living at Mechanicsburg.
The late Alanson P. Fudger was born on what is now the H. M. Fudger farm in Goshen township and spent all his life in that township, a well-known and substantial farmer and influential citizen. The Fudgers are an old family in Champaign county and further and fitting mention of the family is made elsewhere in this volume. Alanson P. Fudger was an active and influential Republican, for years one of the leaders of that party in this county, served for some time as a member of the county Republican central committee, and also as county commissioner for four years. He also took an earnest interest in the general agricultural affairs of the county and for some years was a member of the county fair board. He was a Royal Arch and York Rite Mason, affiliated with the blue lodge and the chapter at Mechanicsburg and with the commandery at Urbana, and took an active interest in Masonic affairs. By religious persuasion he was a Universalist, and took a proper part in the affairs of the church. His widow is a member of the Methodist Protestant church at Mechanicsburg. She is a daughter of William W. and Mary E. (Redd) Donley, natives of Virginia, the former born at Winchester and the latter at Newton, both members of slave-owning families. They were married in that state in 1846 and later came to Ohio, locating at Lebanon, where William W. Don- ley engaged in the retail meat business, later coming to Champaign county
ALANSON P. FUDGER
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and locating at Westville, from which place they presently moved to Mechan- icsburg, where the rest of their lives were spent, Mr. Donley conducting a hotel there until the time of his retirement from business. During the Civil War, William W. Donley served for four years as a soldier of the Union, having enlisted at Lebanon as a member of Company B, Seventy-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served until the close of the war. He died in 1883. His widow survived him for more than ten years, her death occurring on May 10, 1895, she then being sixty- six years of age. Mr. Donley was a member of the Universalist church and his wife was a Baptist. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom grew to maturity, those besides Mrs. Fudger being Sarah (deceased), Edgar, Frank and Elmer.
Leland C. Fudger was reared on the farm on which he is now living, a fine place of two hundred and seventy acres, and from the days of his boyhood was a valuable factor in the labors of developing and improving the place. On February 24, 1916, he was united in marriage to Mary Dor- sey, who was also born in this county, a daughter of Michael Dorsey and wife, the latter of whom was a Lawless, and after his marriage established his home on the home place and has continued to operate the same, carry- ing on his farming operations in accordance with modern principles of agri- culture. Mr. Fudger has a well-improved farm plant and is doing well. Politically, he is a Republican, inheriting from his late father a deep belief in the basic principles of that party and is an ardent and enthusiastic sup- porter of the same, being recognized as one of the most active and influen- tial young Republicans in that part of the county. His wife is a member of St. Michael's Catholic church at Mechanicsburg and takes an earnest interest in parish affairs.
ISAAC N. ANDERSON.
Isaac N. Anderson, one of Urbana township's best-known farmers, is a native son of Champaign county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in Mad River township on August 28, 1850, son of Joseph and Louisa (Steinbarger) Anderson, the former of whom was born on that same farm, but whose last days were spent at Tremont, this state.
Joseph Anderson was born in Mad River township, this county, a son of John and Nancy (Lower) Anderson, natives of Virginia, who were mar-
(65a)
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ried in their native state and then came over into Ohio, about 1816, and settled on a farm in Mad River township, this county, where they lived until their retirement from the farm and removal to Urbana, where their last days were spent. John Anderson and his wife were the parents of nine children, those besides Joseph having been James, Betsy, William, Albert, Marion, Louise, Susanna and one daughter who died in childhood. Reared on the pioneer home farm in Mad River township, Joseph Anderson established his home on a part of that farm after his marriage and there continued to reside until his removal years later to Tremont, this state, where his last days were spent, his death occurring there in 1909, he then being eighty years of age. Joseph Anderson was twice married and by his first wife, Louisa Stein- barger, was the father of six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Erastus, a resident of Tre- mont ; George, a farmer of Union township, this county ; Wiley, of Tremont ; Jasper, who is now living in Nebraska, and Elmer, of Mechanicsburg, this. county. The mother of these children died at the age of sixty-one years. and Joseph Anderson later married Mary Overhulser, who survives him and is still making her home at Tremont. To that union were born three chil- dren, Anna, Susanna and Charles, the two former of whom are deceased and the latter of whom is now living at Urbana.
Isaac N. Anderson was reared on the home farm in Mad River town- ship and in the neighborhood schools received his schooling. After his mar- riage in the spring of 1876 he continued farming in his home township for twenty years or more, or until in 1900, when he bought the Busser farm of fifty acres in Urbana township, where he is now living and where he ever since has made his home. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Ander- son has made many notable improvements on the same and now has a well- improved and profitably cultivated farm and one of the best farm plants in that neighborhood. In addition to his general farming Mr. Anderson gives considerable attention to stock raising and dairying and is doing very well. his farming being carried on in accordance with progressive methods with a view to getting the best possible results from a small farm intensively cultivated. Mr. Anderson is a Republican and has held some of the township offices from time to time, in that connection giving his earliest attention to the public service.
On March 5, 1876, Isaac N. Anderson was united in marriage to Ella Mitchell, who was born in the neighboring county of Clark, and to this union has been born one child, a son, Harvey Allen Anderson. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Baptist church at Urbana and take a proper
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interest in church work, as well as in other neighborhood good works. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Urbana lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and takes a warm interest in the affairs of that popular fra- ternal organization.
JAMES R. HODGE.
James R. Hodge, of the great farming plant of Hodge Brothers, in Union township, this county, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on February 5, 1866, son of Samuel M. and Amanda M. (Roberts) Hodge, useful and influential residents of that com- munity and further and fitting mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume.
Samuel M. Hodge was born in the neighboring county of Clark, as was his wife. In April, 1856, they came up into Champaign county and settled in Union township, where in 1860 Samuel M. Hodge bought a tract of one hundred and fifty acres and entered upon the agricultural operations that presently caused him to be regarded as one of the most successful and exten- sive farmers in this part of the state, the owner of eleven hundred acres of land and an extensive stockman. As his sons grew to manhood Samuel M. Hodge took them into partnership with him and carried on the farming op- erations under the firm name of S. M. Hodge & Sons. He died in Septem- ber, 1898, and in 1903 the firm name was changed to that of Hodge Broth- ers, the subject of this sketch being associated in business with his brothers, Edgar W. Hodge and Harry D. Hodge, the firm now operating seventeen hundred acres of land, on which there is raised annually something like four. or five hundred acres of corn and the same acreage of small grain, besides five hundred head of sheep, six hundred head of hogs and several carloads of cattle. The widow of Samuel M. Hodge is now making her home with her son James, the subject of this sketch. She and her husband were the parents of ten children, of whom seven are now living, Edgar W., Samuel E., James R., Harry D., Sarah, Agnes and Catherine : the three deceased be- ing Elizabeth, John and Francis I.
James R. Hodge was reared on the home farm in Union township and received his schooling in the Wild Rose school. He early became actively identified with his father and brothers in the management of the big farm, as a member of the firm of S. M. Hodge & Sons, and after his father's death continued with his brothers in the operation of the farm, being made man-
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ager of the plant upon the change of firm name to Hodge Brothers in 1903, and since occupied that position, one of the most progressive agriculturists in this part of the state. Mr. Hodge is a Republican and takes a good citi- zen's interest in local civic affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office. He was a member of the county fair board for several years.
In 1906 James R. Hodge was united in marriage to Mabel Reid, daugh- ter of James C. and Mary (Sailor) Reid, further mention of which family is made elsewhere in this volume. The Hodges have a very pleasant home in Union township, on rural mail route No. 4 out of Mechanicsburg, and take a proper interest in the community's general social activities.
JEAN P. PRINTZ.
One of Mad River township's best-known and most progressive farm- ers, living on his fine farm of two hundred acres on the Piqua and Urbana pike one-half mile east of Westville, is Jean P. Printz, who was born at Luray, Paige county, Virginia, on January 6, 1883, the son of Isaiah and Ida (Pence) Printz, both of whom were natives also of the old Dominion.
Isaiah Printz was a son of John Printz, who, in turn was a son of George Printz. The latter was aide-de-camp to Gen. George Washington in the Revolutionary War and lived long enough to be a captain in the War of 1812. The wife of Isaiah Printz was Ida Printz, her mother being Rebecca Lincoln, a first cousin of President Abraham Lincoln. Isaiah Printz and wife were both born and reared in Shenandoah county, Virginia. After their marriage they located on a farm in Paige county, Virginia. They became the parents of eight children, all of whom are now living: Esta- lene, the widow of Frank W. Bird, lives in Paige county, Virginia; Jean P., the immediate subject of this brief review; Anna, the wife of J. T. Campbell, of Luray, Virginia; Virginia, the wife of John Stewart, of Paige county, Virginia; Cecil, a farmer living near Monticello, Indiana; Mamie, the wife of C. L. Rhoades, of Rockbridge county, Virginia; Rexford, unmar- ried, a farmer near Bloomington, Illinois, and Elaine, living at home with her mother. Isaiah Printz was a prominent factor in the life of his home community during his life, being very active in the political life of the time. During the period when the Farmers Alliance and Populist parties were active in the country, he was the nominee of that faction for the state Legislature from his county, and was defeated by only one vote at the succeeding elec-
MR. AND MRS. J. P. PRINTZ.
Hamilton, Magrew
Elizabeth Magnum
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tion, which fact indicates his popularity among his fellow citizens. He was active in the affairs of the Lutheran church, of which his wife is still a member.
Jean P. Printz was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Virginia, receiving his elementary education in the district schools of his home neigh- borhood, afterwards attending the high school and academy in Luray, Vir- ginia. He was also a student of Washington University, Washington, D. C., for a time, but was forced to discontinue his studies at the latter insti- tution on account of failing health. In search of health, for the next three years he traveled over the West, and in 1909 came to Champaign county, Ohio, coming direct to Westville, where he remained for a short time, after which he returned to his old home in Virginia, where he remained for one year, then came back to Champaign county, locating on his present farm. Here he is very successfully engaged in farming, making a specialty of feeding cattle for the market. He is also starting in to specialize in a line of pure-bred Belgian horses. Besides his farming interests, Mr. Printz is a stockholder in the Urbana Building and Loan Association and the Citizens National Bank of Urbana. On December 7, 1910, Mr. Printz was married to Elizabeth Magrew, daughter of Hamilton and Elizabeth (Snyder) Magrew. Mrs. Printz is a member of the Presbyterian church at Urbana and is popular among the religious and social circles of her community. She was born on November 19, 1885. Mr. Printz is a member of Magrew Lodge No. 433, Knights of Pythias, and is a past chancellor of that lodge. He is a Democrat in politics.
The Magrew family have been prominent in Champaign county for more than a hundred years. Hamilton Magrew, the father of Mrs. Printz, was born in Mad River township, on January 31, 1834. His father, Archi- bald, was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, in 1792, and came to Cham- paign county in 1810 with his parents, his father, Archibald, Sr., then enter- ing all of section 11 in Mad River township. Since the arrival of the family in the county in 1810 they have been influential factors in every phase of the county's development. Archibald Magrew, Sr., laid out the village of Westville, the original plat of which is still in existence. He married Ruth Miller, also a native of Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of five children : Archibald, John, William, Matthew and Mary. Archi- bald Magrew, Jr., was married on February 25, 1813, to Mary Taylor, a daughter of John Taylor, of Salem township, this county. They were the parents of ten children: Margaret, who became the wife of Amos Rupert: Mary J., who married Jacob Aulabaugh; Caroline, who married Milton
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Fithian; Lemuel, who married Linda Miller; Matthew, who died in the days of his youth; Hamilton, who married Elizabeth Snyder and had three children, Luella, who married William F. Ring, an attorney, of Urbana: Cyrus H., who died at the age of fifteen years, and Elizabeth H., who mar- ried Jean P. Printz.
Daniel Snyder, father of Mrs. Hamilton Magrew, was born in Shenan- doah county, Virginia, and came to Champaign county in 1815 with his parents, Daniel and Barbara (Pence) Snyder, who located on a farm south of Westville, in Mad River township, and there spent the remainder of their lives, Daniel Snyder dying on February 17, 1849, at the age of sixty-four years; his widow surviving until April 14, 1866, she being seventy-eight years of age at the time of her death. They had four children, Daniel. Sarah, Susan and Elizabeth.
Daniel (Jr.) and Anna (Kiser) Snyder were the parents of fourteen children, all of whom grew to maturity and married, namely: John, who married Caroline Magrew and located in Mad River township, where both he and his wife spent their last days; Cyrus, who married Sabra Ward and was a practicing attorney at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and at Washington, D. C., and who died on May 30, 1906; Eliza Jane, who married Dr. John Noble Beach, of West Jefferson, this state, and who died in 1908; William, who married Melissa Ogden and died on the old home farm south of West- ville; Minerva, who is now living in Louisiana, widow of Dr. N. B. Free- land; Elizabeth, who married Hamilton H. Magrew; Mary Ann, who mar- ried Enos Johnson and who, as well as her husband, died at Sidney, this state; Martha, whose last days were spent in Pennsylvania; David, who married Roanna Chance; Margaret, now living at West Jefferson, who has been twice married, after the death of her first husband, John Houx, having married John Roberts; Dr. Charles Snyder, of London, this state; Laura, now deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Nevin, of Dayton, this state; Bal- four, who married Carrie Rainey and is now connected with the Snyder- Chaffe Candy Company of Columbus, this state, and Josephine, wife of William Foye, a druggist, of Marion, this state. Daniel Snyder took a prominent part in the general affairs of the community during the early days of the settlement of this part of the state, commanded a company of home guards during the time of the Indian trouble, was one of the organ- izers of the Champaign County Agricultural Society and was president of the old Westville-Dayton Turnpike Company. Hamilton Magrew was a member of the board of directors of the Citizens National Bank of Urbana and was one of the managers of the Champaign County Agricultural Society.
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He was a member of the local lodges of the Masons and of the Knights of Pythias at Westville and the lodge of the latter order at that place was named in honor of himself and his brother Lemuel. His wife, Elizabeth Magrew, is a member of the Presbyterian church at Urbana. Hamilton Magrew died on December 30, 1907.
Anna Kizer, wife of Daniel Snyder, was a daughter of Philip and Elizabeth (Kite) Kizer, natives of Virginia, who came up into this part of Ohio, by way of Cincinnati, and settled in Clark county. Philip Kizer became a prominent factor in the early life of that community and was for some time captain of the local company of state militia. After his death his widow moved with her children up into Champaign county and settled in Mad River township, where her last days were spent.
LEVI J. GOOD.
Among the pioneer families of Champaign county there are few names better known than those of the Goods and the Spains, these two families having been among the earliest settlers of that part of the county now com- prised within the bounds of Wayne township. It was in 1805 that the Goods and the Spains drove through from Dinwiddie county, Virginia, to the then new state of Ohio and settled in Champaign county, which had just been established as a civic unit in that year. Both the Goods and the Spains were cultivated families and their influence in the early days of the Wayne township settlement, in which they located, was from the very beginning exerted in behalf of good citizenship, good schools and the highest measure of social culture that could be accomplished in a wilderness. Thomas Good, the pioneer, and his wife, Frances, established their home in the woods in what later came to be organized as Wayne township, settling on the tract ever since known as the old Good homestead, now occupied by their great granddaughter, Eliza Good and her brother, James Elwood Good, and there they spent the remainder of their lives, useful and influential pioneers of that community. Upon settling there Thomas Good put up a log cabin and set 'about the task of clearing his wilderness tract. He later built another log cabin and still later a frame house and in due time had a well-improved farm. He and his wife were Methodists and from the beginning of their residence here took an active part in the religious life of the new community. doing much to extend the same, and were helpful in the work of organizing various church bodies in that part of the county.
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Among the children born to Thomas Good and his wife was Theo- derick S. Good, who was born on that pioneer farm in Wayne township on January 22, 1806, not long after his parents had settled there. He grew to manhood on that place and married his neighbor, Mary G. Spain, who was born on the adjoining farm, daughter of James and Elizabeth Spain, who had accompanied the Goods over from Dinwiddie county, Virginia, in 1805 and had settled in this county, as above noted. Elsewhere in this volume there is set out at greater length something of the history of the Spain family in this county, together with an account of the descendants of the pioneer pair above mentioned. After his marriage Theoderick Good established his home on the old home place and there spent the rest of his life, a substantial and industrious farmer. Among the children born to him and his wife was Levi J. Good, the subject of this memorial sketch.
Levi J. Good was born on the old Good homestead in Wayne township on August 27, 1831, and there spent all his life, his death occurring on March 31, 1882, he then being in the fifty-first year of his age. Despite the limited facilities for schooling in the days of his youth, the log school house then being the seat of learning in that neighborhood, Levi J. Good acquired an excellent education through home help and wide reading and was a proficient Latin scholar. Reared a Democrat, he espoused the cause of the Republican party upon the organization of the same and voted for Abraham Lincoln for President in 1860, ever afterward remaining an ardent Republican and for years being regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this county. He held numerous township offices and other positions of trust and responsibility in the community and did much to advance the cause of local good government in his generation. In addition to his general farm- ing operations Mr. Good was extensively engaged in the raising of high grade live stock and was a constant and successful exhibitor at the county fairs, in the affairs of which he took an active interest and in the promotion of which he took a useful part. He and his wife were members of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, namely: Eliza, who was born on the old Good home- stead and is still living there; Sale, who married Ida M. Thompson and is now a resident of Dayton, connected with the great works of the National Cash Register Company at that place; Polly Ann, who died at the age of eighteen months; James Elwood, who has always lived on the old home place and is now managing the same; Ai, who lived at home until 1903, when he moved to Urbana, where he is now engaged in the contracting business, and Ivan T., who married Esther Smith and is now living at Springfield, Ohio,
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