USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 77
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107
764
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
GEORGE E. STEPHENSON.
George E. Stephenson, secretary, treasurer and manager of the Rose- wood Grain Company, which operates an elevator at Rosewood, Adams township, is one of the best known grain men in Champaign county. He was born in the above named township and county, April 9, 1867. He is a son of Thomas and Hettie (Whitmer) Stephenson. The father was born in Clark county, this state, in 1830. He was a son of David and Anna (Kiser) Stephenson, both natives of Virginia, where they grew up and married. They removed to Clark county, Ohio, among the early settlers and lived there many years, finally removing to Logan county, this state, and spent the rest of their lives there.
Thomas Stephenson was reared on the home farm and educated in the district schools. When a young man of twenty years he left Clark county for Logan county and lived there with his parents until he went to Indiana, where he spent several years. He then returned to Ohio and bought a farm in Adams township, Champaign county, and here he remained, engaged in general farming, until he retired from active life. He finally moved to Rosewood, where he died. His family consisted of six children, four of whom are living at this time, namely: Clara B., who is the wife of David Weimer of Shelby county, Ohio; Charles D., who lives in Crowell, Texas; George E., of this sketch; and T. J., who lives on the home place in Adams township.
George E. Stephenson grew to manhood on the home farm in Adams township, received his early education in the district schools, and later studied at Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, this state. After leaving college he took up teaching, which he followed with much success. His services were in demand and he was popular with both pupils and patrons and ranked among the leading educators of this section of the state. He kept well abreast of the times in all that pertained to his profession and was active in institute work. He was superintendent of schools at Woodstock for three years, and superintendent at St. Paris for seven years, after which he spent two years in Sidney, Ohio. In 1906 he came to Rosewood and turned his attention to the elevator business for himself. He continued thus for two years and in 1908 organized the Rosewood Grain Company, of which he has been secretary, treasurer and manager ever since. The business has constantly grown under his able management until it has become one of the best known elevators in Champaign and adjoining counties. A large
765
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
amount of grain is handled annually. Mr. Stephenson also owns a fine farm of one hundred acres in Adams township, where he carries on general farming.
Mr. Stephenson was married on December 22, 1893, to Minnie Laurer of Conover, Miami county, Ohio, and to their union two children have been born, namely: Mabel H., who was graduated from the high school in Adams township, then attended the Ohio State University at Columbus, from which she was graduated, and is now teaching English in the local high school; Laura W., who was graduated from the high school in Adams township, April 28, 1917.
Politically, Mr. Stephenson is a Democrat. He was a member of the school board in Adams township for a period of eight years. He is promi- nent in fraternal circles of the county and belongs to the following lodges : Pharos Lodge No. 255. Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master ; St. Paris Chapter, No. 137, Royal Arch Masons; Urbana Council, Royal and Select Masters; St. Paris Order of Eastern Star; the Knights of Pythias at St. Paris, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Rose- wood. His wife belongs to the Universalist church at Conover.
JOHN T. SARVER.
John T. Sarver, retired farmer and stockman, now living at Spring Hills, and the proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres in Harrison township, this county, was born in that township and has lived there all his life. He was born on October 1I, 1843, son of Jacob and Barbara (Pence) Sarver, who were both members of pioneer families in Champaign county and whose last days were spent here.
Jacob Sarver was born on November 6, 1816, son of Jacob and Nancy (Robinson) Sarver, who came to this county in 1808 and settled in Harrison township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, and were numbered among the most useful and influential pioneer residents of that community. The elder Jacob Sarver was born on March 16, 1779, and his wife was born on November 15, 1776. Upon coming to this county the pioneer, Jacob Sarver, entered a quarter of a section of land in what is now Har- rison township and there established his home. He was an energetic man, and, as his affairs prospered, he gradually added to his holdings until he became owner of enough land to give each of his children a quarter of a
766
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
section as they grew to maturity. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity and established homes of their own. The senior Jacob Sarver died on May 20, 1844, and his widow survived him many years, her death occurring in January, 1872. They were members of the United Brethren church and took an active interest in church work, and in the development of the social side of the community in pioneer days.
The junior Jacob Sarver grew up on the pioneer farm on which he was born in Harrison township and after his marriage was given a quarter of a section of land by his father on which to establish his home. He was a good farmer and did well in his operations, gradually added to his hold- ings until he became a well-to-do landowner and a man of much influence in his community. His wife, who was Barbara Pence, a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, died on January 1, 1895, and he survived her for a little more than seven years, his death occurring on March 13, 1902, he then being past eighty-five years of age. He and his wife were the parents of six sons, those besides the subject of this sketch, the second in order of birth, being as follow: Samuel- C., born on August 12, 1841, who is now living at Topeka, Kansas; Jacob S., June 2, 1847, who is now living in Rosewood; David H., June 15, 1849, of Oklahoma; Isaac J., June 9, 1855, of near Bradford, Ohio, and William E., November 26, 1857, of Quincy, this state.
John T. Sarver was reared on the old home farm in Harrison town- ship, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood was a valuable assistant in the labors of developing and improving the home place. When he "started out" for himself he received one hundred and thirty acres of the home place and continued to improve and cultivate the same until his retirement from the active labors of the farm on December 27, 1915, and removal to Spring Hill, where he and his wife are now living and where they are very comfortably situated. Mr. Sarver continues to own his farm and has rented the same to advantage. He is a Republican, but has never held public office.
On May 1I, 1902, John T. Sarver was united in marriage to Susanna Neal, who was born in Concord township, this county, June 11, 1868, daugh- ter of James R. and Barbara (Taylor) Neal, and who was reared on a farm in that township and received her schooling in the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Sarver are members of the Salem United Brethren church in Harrison township and take a proper interest in church work and in other movements for the community's welfare.
767
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
SAMUEL L. ROBISON.
The sterling pioneer, Samuel L. Robison, is eminently worthy of having his life record perpetuated on the pages of local history, for he led a life of usefulness and honor, and did his share of the work in his locality in paving the way for the present-day progress and prosperity. He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1817. He was a son of David and Nancy (Hunter) Robison, both natives of that county. There they grew up, married and spent their lives on a farm.
The following children were born to David and Nancy (Hunter) Robi- son : Jane, who married Thomas Walker and they located in Chester county, Pennsylvania; Esther who married James Simpson; Eliza, who married James McClune, a teacher in the high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they resided for a number of years, later established their home in Chester county, that state; John, a merchant, farmer, lime and coal dealer at different periods of his life, who married first, Catherine Myers, and secondly Isabella Lang, his death occurring in Pennsylvania; Samuel L., of this sketch ; William, a merchant in Pennsylvania; Hunter, a mechanic by trade, who went West in the early days and died in California in 1849; and the youngest child, who died in infancy.
Samuel L. Robison grew up in his native county and attended the early-day schools there. In 1852 he came to Champaign county, Ohio, and engaged in the clothing business in Urbana with Robert Given, later buying a farm of one hundred acres on Pretty Prairie, Urbana township, where his son, John A., and the latter's sister, Ann M., now make their home. He put up all the buildings, made other good improvements and developed an excellent farm, which he operated until 1870, when he retired from active life. He continued, however, to live there until his death, December 26, 1910, at the unusual age of ninety-three and one-half years. His wife died on December 3, 1914, aged eighty-seven years. They were a fine old couple and had the esteem and good will of all who knew them. They were worthy members of the Presbyterian church. Before coming to this county Mr. Robison followed the mercantile business in different places, and taught school.
The following children were born to Samuel L. Robison and wife: William H., who married Rebecca E. Dunlap, and is engaged in farming in Urbana township, Champaign county; David T., who graduated from Hanover College and engaged in teaching several years, died, single, at the
768
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
age of twenty-six; Catherine, who died in Pennsylvania; Sarah, deceased; John A., born on the old home place and here has continued to reside and carry on general farming; Anna M., also born on the home farm in Urbana township and here has always resided; James, formerly engaged in the hard- ware and grain business in Urbana, Ohio, who married Lida Hedges. John A. and Anna M. Robison grew up on the home farm and were educated in the common schools of their neighborhood. She owns property in Urbana, and he owns one hundred and seventy acres of the homestead and three hundred and twenty acres in another part of Urbana township. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, but now rents out his land on which he set out over a mile of catalpa trees in 1888, and is living in retirement. He is a Republican and he and his sister belong to the Presbyterian church at Urbana.
WARREN B. HOISINGTON.
One of the progressive agriculturists of Rush township, this county, is Warren B. Hoisington, who was born on his father's old home place in that township, January 17, 1847. He is a son of William W. and Olive (Kim- ball) Hoisington. The father was also a native of Rush township, where his family located in pioneer times. William W. Hoisington was a son of Abisha and Lucinda (Hastings) Hoisington, the former born on January 9, 1769, and the latter on August 3, 1768. They were natives of Vermont, where they spent their earlier years; making the long and somewhat hazardous journey from New England to Ohio in 1817, coming most of the way to Champaign county in a wagon drawn by an ox-team. They were typical pioneers and erected their cabin in the woods of Rush township, clearing and developing a farm by hard work and perseverance. Abisha Hoisington married for his second wife Lucinda Hastings, December 13, 1792. She was born on May 19, 1771, and died on September 13, 1825. His first wife, Olive Parkes, was born on August 3, 1768, and died on May 11, 1792. Abisha Hoisington became the father of eight children, namely: Olive, born on October 26, 1793; Sabrina, June 8, 1796; Harriet, January 5, 1798; Marie, July 14, 1800; John Milton, January 4, 1806; Mary Ann, April 5, 1809; Eleanore Dean, September 18, 1811, and William Wallace, April 7, 1816. All the above-named children were by Mr. Hoisington's second wife, Lucinda Hastings.
FRED B. HOISINGTON
769
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
William W. Hoisington, father of the subject of this sketch, grew up amid pioneer conditions on the home farm in Rush township. He assisted with the general work of clearing the virgin land and raising crops until he started out for himself. He first married Pollie Franklin, a native of Ver- mont, and after her death married Olive Kimball, a daughter of B. and Electa (Guthridge) Kimball. William W. Hoisington was the father of six chil- dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth. John G. Hoisington, the first-born of these children and the only child by the first marriage of his father, was born on May 6, 1843. He was a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, a member of Company A, Second Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was stationed at Washington, D. C., for some time. He was first in the three-months service, then re-enlisted. He took part in the first battle of Bull Run and later served with the Army of the Cumberland in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was three times mar- ried; first, to Mary Sessions, then to Mary Foster and, lastly, to Emma Brann'on. After the war he located on a farm near Woodstock, in this county, where he spent the rest of his life, dying on March 21, 1907. Fred B. Hoisington, born on July 6, 1844, also served as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, having enlisted in Company G, Ninety-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry and while serving in the South, in the Army of the Cumberland, he was captured by the Confederates and was for some time a prisoner at Andersonville, Georgia, and in Florence, Alabama. After the war he returned home and married Angela Kerr, of North Lewisburg, Ohio. He was in the drug business for awhile, and in 1898 was appointed special government land appraiser under President Mckinley, later holding the responsible position of general land agent. His death occurred on September 18, 1916. Amy L. Hoisington, born on March 22, 1849, has remained unmarried and continued to live on the old home place in Rush township. Celia E. Hoisington, born on September 26, 1853, died when three years old. William W. Hoisington, Jr., born on October 19, 1857, married Mary Arnold and is engaged in the carpenter's trade at Woodstock.
In connection with the late Fred B. Hoisington's appointment in 1898 to a government position there is an exceedingly interesting story, which is told in the following special dispatch from Columbus to the Cincinnati Com- mercial Tribune, dated May 19 of that year :
President McKinley has made one appointment to which not even the most rabid Mugwump will object. The recipient of that appointment, a Champaign county man. passed through Columbus the other day on his way to Washington to thank the Presi- (49a)
770
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
dent personally. It was through ex-Secretary of State Samuel M. Taylor that Major Mckinley heard of the existence of the appointee. During the Major's first term as governor, he spoke at the G. A. R. campfire in northern Ohio. There were several In the Columbus party, including Lieutenant-Governor Harris and Secretary Taylor. who spoke after the Governor.
Taylor was not a soldier and felt awkward in trying to address veterans. So, in lieu of a speech, he told a story about a man in his county, a private in the Ninety- fifth O. V. I. He told of the incarceration in Andersonville of this young Ohio soldier and a fellow private of his company; how both wasted away under the Andersonville ordeal. The Champaign county man's friend was weaker and near to dying on the day when the list of prisoners to be exchanged was read out. The crowd of skeletons strained their ears, each with the fierce hope of hearing his name. The Champaign county man's name was read, but Fred compressed his lips and did not answer. The- list was finished and Bill's name was not on it. Then only did Fred's lips relax. He said quickly : "Bill, answer to my name. You can't stand this. I'll pull through." Bill did and was exchanged. Nine months later Fred, weighing ninety pounds, was exchanged. He had weighed 160 when captured.
On the way back from the campfire the Governor said : "Taylor, I wish you would write out that story and let me have it." Taylor did so, and the Major used it in his speech at Grant's tomb on Memorial Day, 1894.
Not long before the inauguration Secretary Taylor was in Canton, when the President-elect remarked : "By the way, Taylor, what's become of your Andersonville prisoner?" Taylor told Mckinley what Fred was doing and added: "He ought to be remembered." The other day Fred Hoisington, of Champaign county. ex-private Ninety- fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was appointed appraiser of abandoned mineral operations .. at $S a day and expenses. Sam Taylor was here today and told the story.
Warren B. Hoisington grew up on the home farm in Rush township, and attended the local district schools, later taking a commercial course at Oberlin. He remained on the home farm with his parents until his marriage on June 28, 1877, to Eliza Lepert, who was born at North Lewisburg, this county, a daughter of C. B. and Elizabeth (Davis) Lepert, who came to Champaign county from one of the Eastern states. Mr. Lepert was a car- penter and followed that trade for many years at North Lewisburg. He was born on February 10, 1817. His wife was born on November 19, 1821, and died on June 9, 1863.
Mr. Hoisington has always followed general farming and stock raising. He owns a well-kept and productive farm in Rush township, where he has made a comfortable living, having been on this farm, which consists of eighty- eighty and one-half acres, since 1877. His wife died on September 1I, 1916. leaving one child, Edna, who was educated in the local public schools and the high school at Mechanicsburg, later attending the Normal School at Ada, Ohio, then the Normal School at Marion. She was court stenographer for Judge E. P. Middleton at Urbana for a period of ten years, her long reten-
771
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
tion indicating that her services were of a high order and not only ably but faithfully performed.
Politically, Mr. Hoisington is a Republican. He has served as trustee of Rush township, also as land appraiser and is at present assessor of his township. As a public servant he has given entire satisfaction to all con- cerned, being prompt and loyal to the best public interests.
VERSALINS S. MAGRUDER.
Versalins S. Magruder, an honored veteran of the Civil War, former corporation clerk of the city of Mechanicsburg and for years actively en- gaged in the insurance and loan business in that city, one of the best- known business men in that line in Champaign county, is a native son of, this county and has lived here all his life. He was born in the house which stood on the site of his present office building in Mechanicsburg, May: 22, 1846, son and only child of J. L. and Anna E. (Stafford) Magruder, who were among the best-known and most influential of the earlier residents of that then ambitious village.
J. L. Magruder, who at the time of his death in 1906 enjoyed the dis- tinction of having been in business at Mechanicsburg longer than any other man there, was a Virginian. He was born at Magruder's Mills, east of the Shenandoah river, at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, in Clarke county, in the Old Dominion, August 29, 1817, son of Ninian and Elizabeth (Lyons) Magruder, the former of whom had settled there with his parents in 1775 and who spent the remainder of his life there, his death occurring in 1830. J. L. Magruder was thirteen years of age when his father died and when he was seventeen he came to Ohio in company with his brother-in-law, Emanuel Mayne, who settled at Springfield. Among the first efforts of the young man to gain a livelihood in his new home was the grubbing of the stumps from the first lot cleared on the townsite of the village of Vienna, east of Springfield. He then drove an ox-team and assisted in the difficult task of grubbing and clearing out the right-of-way of the National road in the vicinity of Springfield. In the following fall he made arrange- ments with Abner Riddle, of West Liberty, to learn the saddle and harness- making trade. After an apprenticeship of four years at that trade and after working as a journeyman at the same for a year, he located at Rush- ville, in Fairfield county, where his mother then was residing, and started
772
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
a small shop in that village. Not long afterward, however, he received a letter from his old employer at West Liberty containing an offer of a partner- ship in the latter's business at Mechanicsburg, which he at once gladly ac- cepted. Later he engaged in business for himself. April 25, 1841, he married 'Ann E. Stafford, of West Liberty, and established his home in Mechanicsburg, where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1867 Mr. Magruder took his only son, V. S. Magruder, into partnership with him, under the firm name of J. L. Magruder & Son, and that mutually agree- able arrangement continued until in the spring of 1903, when the younger Magruder engaged in the insurance business. J. L. Magruder was engaged in the harness and saddlery trade for the long period of seventy-one years, sixty-two years of which time was spent in business at Mechanicsburg. Dur- ing all that time his place of business was on the one lot, the site of the present office building of his son, V. S. Magruder. J. L. Magruder died on November 8, 1906, he then being in the ninetieth year of his age, active in business to the very last.
Reared at Mechanicsburg, V. S. Magruder received his schooling there and was living there when the Civil War broke out. On May 2, 1864, he, then being twenty days under eighteen years of age, enlisted in the hundred- day service and went to the front as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He then proceeded from Cumberland, Maryland, to Petersburg, Virginia, being mustered out at Co- lumbus, this state, in the following September. For some time before going to the front he had been serving as deputy postmaster at Mechanicsburg, under Postmaster J. W. Legge, but upon the completion of his military service did not re-enter the postoffice service, entering school instead. On April 10, 1867, he was made a partner of his father in the harness and saddlery business at Mechanicsburg, under the firm name of J. L. Magruder & Son, and continued thus engaged until on May 1, 1903. At that time he began giving more attention to the insurance and loan business which he had started in 1901, at that same site, though continuing connected with his father's business for nearly two years thereafter. He has ever since been actively engaged in the insurance and loan business, having built up a wide connection in that line throughout this and neighboring counties. Mr. Magruder is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs. For nearly fifteen years he served as corporation clerk of the city of Mechanicsburg and for three years as a member of the board of directors of the city schools. In other ways he has also done well
773
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
his part in promoting the public service in his home town, ever helpful in advancing all causes designed to further the common welfare.
On December 30, 1870, at Mechanicsburg, V. S. Magruder was united in marriage to Anna Horr, daughter of William and Mary (Cone) Horr, of that city, and to this union one child has been born a son, Dr. James William Magruder, who is now engaged in the insurance and loan business with his father at Mechanicsburg. Doctor Magruder is a graduate of the Mechanicsburg high school, the Ohio Wesleyan University and of the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. For nine years after receiving his diploma he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Peru, Indiana, and spent the winter of 1905-06 in Florida. In the following summer he returned to his old home at Mechanicsburg and has ever since been engaged there in business with his father, relieving the latter of much of the detail work of the office. On December 30, 1915, the forty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of his parents, Doctor Magruder was united in marriage to Alice M. Goode, of Wyoming, this state; the marriage being a happy culmination of a college romance.
The Magruders have a very pleasant home at Mechanicsburg and have ever given their earnest attention to the general social and cultural activities of their home town. V. S. Magruder has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Mechanicsburg since he was thirteen years of age and was for a number of years the leader of the choir in that church, both he and his wife ever taking an active interest in church affairs and other local good works. Mr. Magruder is a member of the local lodge of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and is also affiliated with the encampment of that order and with the Daughters of Rebekah. For twenty-five years he served as financial secretary of the Odd Fellow lodge and for twenty- five or twenty-six years served as a member of the board of trustees of the same, ever interested in promoting the cause of the order throughout this part of the state. A lifelong resident of Mechanicsburg, Mr. Magruder has been a witness to and a participant in the development of that town from the days of his early boyhood, and during his long and active life has contributed no small part to that development. For more than three score years and ten he has lived in Mechanicsburg and there is probably no one in the town more intimately acquainted with the history of the place than he, his vivid recollection of events through all these years proving a veritable mine of information regarding the history of that part of the commty.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.