History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 42

Author: Middleton, Evan P., ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1338

USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 42

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death married Thomas Thayer, and Charles Henry, September 24, 1848, who married Effie McDonald on October 14, 1869.

George H. Humphreys was reared on the paternal farm and was complet- ing his studies at Wittenburg College when the Civil War broke out. Though but eighteen years of age at the time, he enlisted on August 20, 1861, as a member of the Sixteenth Ohio Battery and went to the front, serving with that command until he was mustered out on August 2, 1865, with the rank of corporal. During his long period of service Mr. Humphreys was in all the battles and skirmishes participated in by his command, some of the most important engagements of the war, and escaped without a serious wound, though for a short time he was on the sick list. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Humphreys returned to the home farm in Clark county and after his marriage in 1868 continued to live there for a year, at the end of which time he moved to the Robert S. Miller farm, where he remained a couple of years. He then took charge of the Charles Wilson farm and spent a year there, engaged in farming on a large scale, and then, in 1872, moved to Urbana, where he bought an established undertaking business and continued conducting that business the rest of his life, becoming recognized as one of the leading undertakers and funeral directors in this part of the state. Mr. Humphreys was a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Urbana, was a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Presbyterian church, in the affairs of all of which organizations he ever took a warm interest. He was well known throughout the county and his death on February 27, 1916, was widely mourned.

It was on December 31, 1868, that George . H. Humphreys was united in marriage, in Clark county, to Ida L. Miller, of Enon, that county, a daughter of Robert Simpson and Elizabeth (Shellenbarger) Miller, both natives of that same county and members of pioneer families there. Robert S. Miller was a landowner and a merchant at Enon, later moving to Day- ton, where for five years he was engaged in the grocery business, after- ward retiring from business and moving back to the farm at Enon and then moved back to Enon, where he and his wife died. Robert S. Miller was a stanch Republican and he and his wife were originally members of the Presbyterian church, but later became affiliated with the Methodist Epis- copal ... church ... They were the parents of three daughters, those besides Mrs. Humphreys being Margaret, who married Dr. Alonzo Becker, of Springfield, and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased, and Bethenia. widow of Edward Kiefer, of Clark county.

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To George H. and Ida L. (Miller) Humphreys two sons were born. Robert Earl and Harry French, the latter of whom, born on October 8. 1876, died at the age of four years and two weeks. Robert Earl Humphreys, born on May 11, 1872, grew up at Urbana and completed his schooling at Wittenburg College at Springfield, afterward being taken into his father's undertaking establishment at Urbana as a partner in the concern, and since the death of his father has continued conducting the business. He married Rovilla Edna Mumper and has one child, a son, Robert Mumper Humphreys. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Humphreys has continued to make her home in Urbana, where she is very pleasantly situated, the Humphreys residence being one of the fine old homes on Sciota street. She is a member of the Presbyterian church and has for many years given her earnest atten- tion to local good works, ever helpful in promoting movements looking to the advancement of the common welfare hereabout.

ALBERT F. LEWIS.

Albert F. Lewis, well-known building contractor at Urbana, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life, with the exception of ten years-1886 to 1897 at Chicago, Illinois. He was born at Bowlusville, in the neighboring county of Clark, July 28, 1853, son of Cyrus E. and An (Given) Lewis, the former a native of that same county and the latter of Pennsylvania, who later came to this county and after several years spent on a farm moved to Urbana, where they spent their last days.

Cyrus E. Lewis was reared on a farm in Clark county and received his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, later tak- ing up farming with his father and was thus engaged in that county for some time. He married Ann Given, who was born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, daughter of Taty Given and wife, who came to this county when their daughter, Ann, was ten years of age and settled on a farm in the southern part of the county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Cyrus Lewis was a son of Britan Lewis and wife, the latter of whom was a Ward. In the early fifties Cyrus E. Lewis moved up from Clark county into Champaign county with his family and here farmed for several years, at the end of which time he moved to Urbana, where he engaged in the teaming business and was thus engaged the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, four . whom are still living, the

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subject of this sketch having a brother, George Lewis, living in Chicago, and two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, living at Urbana.

Albert F. Lewis received his early schooling in the schools of Tremont City, over in Clark county, and at a normal school in the same town. He early became engaged as a carpenter and after awhile became a building contractor on his own account, a vocation he ever since has followed, for many years having been one of the best-known building contractors in this county. In 1894 he entered an architectural college at Chicago, where he took a thorough course in architectural .details and drawing and has since then been the architect of the most of the buildings he has been called on to con- struct, his designs being up-to-date and in full accord with the modern tendency, both in commercial and residential architecture. Mr. Lewis not only has erected some of the most notable buildings in Urbana, but many of the handsomest residence throughout the county and is well established in business. In his political affiliation he is a Republican, but has not been a seeker after public office.

Mr. Lewis has been twice married. It was in 1884 that he was united in marriage to Emma Skeen, a daughter of Joseph Skeen and wife, and to that union was born one child, a son, Dr. Lawrence J. Skeen, a well-known veterinary surgeon at Urbana. After the death of his first wife Mr. Lewis married Belle Delhausen, daughter of Jacob Delhausen and wife, and to this union two children have been born, J. Warren and Howard F. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general good works and social activities of their home town.

E. L. BODEY.

E. L. Bodey, attorney-at-law at Urbana, a member of the law firm of Deaton, Bodey & Bodey, former mayor of the city of Urbana and one of the best-known lawyers in this part of the state, is a native son of Champaign county and has lived in this county all his life. He was born on a farm in Adams township, January 28, 1867, son of the Rev. Christian and Naomi (Sheppard) Bodey, useful and influential residents of that community. the former of whoin also was born in this county and the latter in Coshocton county, both now deceased.

The. Rev. Christian Bodey, who for the last twenty years of his active

E. L. BODEY.

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life was widely known throughout western Ohio as a minister of the United Brethren church, was born on the old Bodey farm in Johnson township, two and one-half miles north of Millerstown, a son of Harrison and Nancy (Long) Bodey, the former of whom had come to this county from Vir- ginia with his father, Christian Bodey, in 1815, the family settling on land acquired from the government by the pioneer, Christian Bodey, in what later came to be organized as Johnson township. The pioneer Christian Bodey was a Virginian and a son of Frederich Bodey, who was one of the con- siderable company of soldiers that the government of George III secured from the Duke of Hesse to help the British troops in their attempt to suppress the rebellion in the American colonies and who had been quite content when finally compelled to lay down his reluctant arms to put in his lot with the colonists and to become a citizen of the great new land on this side of the water. Fredierich Bodey settled in the beautiful Shenandoah valley in Vir- ginia, married and established his home there and there spent the rest of his life, happily engaged in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture, and one of his sons, Christian Bodey, grew up there and when seeking a home of his own came out into this then new country and settled in this county. Indians still were numerous hereabout in those days, but, undaunted, he entered upon the reclamation of the tract he had secured from the government and in due time had a well-improved and profitably cultivated farm there. On that farm Harrison Bodey remained all his life, a substantial farmer and there his son Christian was reared, afterward locating on a farm of his own in Adams township and continuing farming during his active life in addition to his services to the community as a minister of the gospel. In the later years of his life the Rev. Christian Bodey retired from the farm and moved to St. Paris, where his last days were spent. He and his wife were the par- ents of four children, three sons and one daughter, the latter of whom, Nellie, is deceased, the subject of this sketch having two brothers, Perry and Samuel Bodev.

E. L. Bodey grew up on the home farm in Adams township and sup- plemented the schooling received in the district school in the neighborhood of his home by a course in the high school at Urbana, after which, in 1886, he began teaching school at the old Comer school in Concord township and for fourteen years was engaged in teaching in this county, the last seven years of which service was spent in the school at Westville. In the mean- time Mr. Bodey had been pursuing the study of law in the office of C. E. Buroker. at St. Paris, and in June, 1900, was admitted to the bar. On (27a)

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January 2, 1901, he opened an office for the practice of his profession at Urbana and was there engaged in practice alone until in December. 1913. when he formed a partnership with S. S. Deaton, under the firm name of Deaton & Bodey, which mutually agreeable arrangement continues, with the addition, however, recently, of another member of the firm in the person of Mr. Bodey's son, Lowell C. Bodey, who was admitted to the firm on July 1, 1916. Mr. Bodey is a Democrat and has ever taken an active interest in the political affairs of the county. During his residence in Westville he served for some time as justice of the peace in and for Mad River township and in 1907 was elected mayor of Urbana, serving in that important execu- tive office for two years, or until January, 1910. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Masons and has risen to the Royal Arch degree in that ancient order ; he also belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

On February 14, 1888, E. L. Bodey was united in marriage to Rachel M. Grove, who was born in Adams township, this county, daughter of David and Elizabeth Grove, and to this union two children have been born, Lowell C. and Ruth, who died 1899, aged two years. Lowell C. Bodey was born in 1891 and, following his graduation from the Urbana high school. entered Wittenberg College at Springfield, from which institution he received his bachelor degree in 1913. Thus equipped by preliminary study, he entered the Cincinnati Law School and was graduated from that institution in June. 1916, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In the following month he was admitted to partnership with his father and Mr. Deaton. Of the two hun- dred and seventy-two applicants for admission to the bar in the state of Ohio in 1916 Lowell C. Bodey rated second in the examination and was but four- tenths of one per cent. behind the first man.

JOHN RHODES.

John Rhodes, an honored veteran of the Civil War and a well-known retired merchant, of Urbana, was born in that city and has lived there all his life. He was born in a house which stood on the present site of the Clifford theater, October 11, 1842, son of Nelson and Sarah J. (Converse ) Rhodes, well-known residents of Urbana at that time. The house in which he was born is still standing, long ago having been moved to South Main street, and is still in use. Nelson Rhodes was born in this county, a son of John Rhodes and wife, Virginians, the first of the name to come to this part of Ohio.

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John Rhodes, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, came to this part of Ohio in pioneer days and established his home in the immediate vicinity of Springfield, which then was in Champaign county, and there he spent the remainder of his life, an energetic and influential pioneer of that community. Nelson Rhodes was reared on the pioneer farm of his father and early began taking an active part in local political affairs in Champaign county. He served for years as a justice of the peace and also for years as clerk of courts for this county, making his home at Urbana. He was killed in a runaway accident, being thrown from his buggy, in 1878, and his widow survived him many years, her death occurring on December 13, 1913. They were active members of the Presbyterian church and were the parents of four sons, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born and now the only survivor, the others having been William, a former justice of the peace and clerk of the court for this county, who also for years was a dry-goods merchant at Urbana : Edwin, who was a tinner and whose last days were spent in New York, and Charles, who died in infancy.

John Rhodes was reared at Urbana and received his schooling in the schools of that city. When eighteen years of age he began working as a carpenter and was thus engaged when the Civil War broke out. In Decem- ber. 1863, he then being twenty-one years of age, Mr. Rhodes enlisted for service in the Union army and was presently attached to the troop which served as a mounted body-guard for President Lincoln and he was thus serving at the time of the President's assassination, his station having been at Washington. Mr. Rhodes was the only person from Champaign county thus to be made a part of the President's personal guard. During that period of his service he had one of the finest horses in the United States cavalry service and this horse was a great favorite of the lamented little "Tad" Lincoln, the President's youngest son, and the lad often was given permission by his father to ride the horse in company with Mr. Rhodes. who thus became intimately acquainted with the President and the Lincoln family. Mr. Rhodes received his honorable discharge from the army in September, 1865, and upon the completion of his military service returned home and resumed his vocation as a carpenter at Urbana, being thus engaged until after his marriage in the spring of 1880, when he engaged in the gro- cery business at Urbana, starting a store at the corner of North Main street and Church street in July of that year. For seventeen years Mr. Rhodes continued in business at that corner and then moved his store to the Brand & Warnock building, where he continued in business for three years, or until his retirement. During much of that time Mr. Rhodes, always a lover of

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fine horses, was engaged in the buying and selling of horses an became recog- mized as one of the best horsemen in this part of the state.

It was on April 29, 1880, that John Rhodes was united in marriage to Minnie Mefford, who was born at Mt. Vernon, in Knox county, this state, daughter of Judge William M. and Sarah J. ( Patrick) Mefford, and to this union three children have been born, namely: Dr. Nelson M. Rhodes, a graduate of the Cleveland Medical College, now practicing at Urbana, who married Jennie Hubbard and has two children, Mefford and William; Ada, who married W. O. Taylor, an electrical engineer in New York City, and Sara Ward, a trained nurse, a graduate of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Mrs. Rhodes is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes an earnest interest in church work. Mr. Rhodes is an active member of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, at Urbana, and has for years given his earnest attention to the affairs of that patriotic organization.

LEMUEL RUNYAN.

The late Lemuel Runyan, an honored veteran of the Civil War and a substantial retired farmer of this county, who died at his home in Urbana in the summer of 1915, was a member of one of the pioneer families of this part of the state, as is his widow, the latter of whom, born in this county, is still living at Urbana. Lemuel Runyan was born on a pioneer farm in the neighboring county of Clark on July 2, 1842, son and only child of Peter Lynch and Sarah ( Evans) Runyan, substantial residents in the neighborhood of Asbury church. Peter Lynch Runyan was born in that same county, son of George Runyan and wife, the latter of whom was a Lynch, natives of Virginia, who were among the earliest settlers in this part of the state, making their home in the neighborhood of Asbury church, in Clark county, in pioneer days and becoming useful and influential pio- neers in that community, where their last days were spent. George Runyan · was the first of his name to settle in this part of Ohio. He and his wife were the parents of five children, those besides Peter being George, John, Susan and Telitha. One of these daughters was captured by the Indians when a child and was scalped by the savages.

Peter L. Runyan grew up on the pioneer farm of his father in Clark county and in turn became a farmer on his own account, continuing thus engaged all his life. He was twice married, the subject of this sketch being

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the only child of his union with Sarah Evans. His second wife was a Hendricks and to that union two children were born, a son, Lafayette Run- yan, who is now living at Springfield, this state, and a sister, Susanna, who married Frank Yeazell and is also living at Springfield.

Lemuel Runyan was reared on the home farm in Clark county, receiving his schooling in the local schools, and was living there when the Civil War broke out. Though not yet nineteen years of age, he enlisted for service in the Union army in 1861 and went out as a sharpshooter in one of the local regiments, being later transferred to the cavalry, and served until the close of the war. During the latter part of this service he was severely wounded, but was not permanently disabled. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Runyan returned to his home and was there engaged in farming until after his marriage in 1874, when he moved over into this county and bought a farm in Union township, where he established his home and where he continued to reside until 1902, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Urbana. where he spent his last days, his death occurring on July 17, 1915. Mr. Runyan was an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and took much interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization.

It was on February 18, 1874, in Union township, this county, that Lemuel Runyan was united in marriage to Lydia Alice Bayless, who was born in that township, a daughter of William Cavanaugh and Mary Ann (Colbert) Bayless, both of whom also were born in this country. William Cavanaugh Bayless was born in Union township, son of Hezekiah Bayless and wife. the latter of whom was a Stephens, natives of New Jersey, who were early settlers in, Union township, the first of the Baylesses to settle in this county. Hezekiah Bayless and wife were among the best-known pioneers of the south- eastern part of Champaign county and . on their pioneer farm there they . spent their last days. They were the parents of eight children, of whom William C. was the first-born, the others being as follow: John, who was a carpenter and whose last days were spent in the vicinity of Cincinnati: Burris, who went West and there spent his last days; Robert, also deceased, who was a carpenter at Mechanicsburg, this county : Daniel, also a carpenter, whose last days were spent at Mechanicsburg; Mrs. Susan Yocum, whose last days were spent in Kansas: Rebecca. who married Joseph Cartmell and lived near Mechanicsburg, and Mrs. Sarah Reynolds, also of this county. William C. Bayless grew up as a farmer and continued thus engaged all his life, one of the substantial farmers of Union township. He married Mary Ann Colbert and to that union five children were born, of whom Mrs. Run-

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yan was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Nelson, a cabinet-maker, who married Lydia Limbell and a part of whose life was spent in the West, but whose last days were spent in Urbana, this county ; Luretha, now living at Springfield, widow of Peter Igon; Elnora, widow of David Johnson, living near Union church, and Jennie, who married William Smith, after whose death she married Lorenzo Reid and is now living at Rockford, Iowa.

To Lemuel and Lydia A. (Bayless) Runyan five children were born, namely: Winifred, better known as "Win," a member of the Caswell-Run-' yan Company, manufacturers of cedar chests at Huntington, Indiana. who married Bertha L. Howard and has two children, Josephine and Dick : Bertha May, who finished her schooling in the college at Ada, married John Heaton Linville, a railway mail clerk at Urbana, and has three children, Dorothy Elizabeth, Naomi Ann and Robert Runyan; Ralph, a contractor at Lima, this state, who completed his schooling in the business college at Urbana, married Nellie Thomas and has two children, Roma Kathleen and Clara Elizabeth ; Mary 'Alice, a graduate nurse, who is a graduate of the University of Penn- sylvania at Philadelphia, and Ruth Ann, who completed her schooling in the Toledo Conservatory of Music, at Toledo, Ohio, and married Stanley Kauff- man, a manufacturer, of Bellefontaine, this state. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Runyan continues to make her home at Urbana, where she has a very pleasant home. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has ever taken an earnest interest in church work and in other local good works.

HENRY SMITH.

A well-known farmer of Johnson township, this county, living on rural route No. 5, out of St. Paris, is Henry Smith, who was born in Craig county. Virginia, January 29, 1847, the son of James and Catherine ( Deeds ) Smith, both of whom were natives also of Virginia, where they grew to maturity and were married. About 1857 James Smith came with his family to Ohio, locating on a farm in Millerstown, Johnson township, this county. He was a potter by trade, and made pottery at Millerstown for several years, after which he moved to Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he followed his trade for some years. He then went south, where his death occurred, his wife having preceded him several years, her death occurring in Johnson township, this county. They were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are now

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living: Elizabeth, the widow of Henry Pence, living in Jackson township; Isabelle, widow of Harvey Sowers, now living in Clark county, Ohio; Nancy. the wife of William Sagers, of Fremont, Ohio; Joseph B., a farmer of Johnson township, who served in the Civil War; George, a truckman living in Johnson township, also served in the Civil War; Henry, of this sketch, and Sarah, wife of George Baker, of Grant county, Indiana.

Henry Smith came with his parents to Ohio from Virginia when he was about ten years old, and attended the district schools of his home neigh- borhood. At the age of seventeen he enlisted for service in the Civil War in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was said to be the best drilled company in the regiment. under Col. J. B. Armstrong, Lieut .- Colonel Todd and Capt. J. F. Reicard. This regiment was on the front line at Petersburg, and saw much hard service during the war. Mr. Smith served until the fall of 1864, when he was honorably discharged from the service. He returned to his home after being mustered out, and resumed work on the farm, and after his marriage located in Johnson township, where for twenty years he followed the carpentering and contracting business, but now devotes his time to operating his farm of thirty acres. He had at one time thirteen acres of fruit of all.kinds. He built his present home in 1886, and made all the improvements just as they stand and set out all of the trees. He is a well-to-do man and enjoys the respect and esteem of all who know him.

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History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 42

Author: Middleton, Evan P., ed Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1338

Author: Middleton, Evan P., ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1338