USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 79
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1915, and his widow is still living. To them four children were born, those besides Mrs. Sarver being Cora E., wife of Alva Stayman, of Con- cord township; Theodore J., also of that township, and Walter W., a me- chanic living at St. Paris, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sarver have four living children, Blanche, born on November 9, 1900, who was graduated from the common schools in 1917; Harold J., April 10, 1903; Ivan W., December 13, 1905, and Ruby F., September 3, 1913. The Sarvers are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the affairs of which they take a proper interest. Fraternally, Mr. Sarver is a member of Crayon Lodge, No. 392, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the affairs of which organization he takes an active interest. Politically, he is a Republican, but has never taken a particularly active part in political affairs. Mrs. Sarver was gradu- ated from the business department of the National Normal School at Leba- non and for a year, before her marriage taught school, and has ever taken an interested part in the general social and cultural activities of her neigh- borhood.
JOHN W. KISER.
There have been many men born in Champaign county who have achieved distinction in some particular line. There have been men high in army and navy circles, eminent men in political affairs, bankers, musicians, artists, and men prominent in many other lines of activity, but in the field of finance there is one figure which so far overshadows all others that there is no comparison. This man, a native of Champaign county, was the late John W. Kiser. To have started in with nothing and build up a fortune of eight millions is but one of the features of the life of this man, but the fact that he did it is sufficient evidence that he was a man of extraordinary ability.
John W. Kiser, one of the financial leaders of Chicago for several years prior to his death, was born in Johnson township, Champaign county, Ohio, June 20, 1857, and died at the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, October 31, 1916. He was a son of George R. and Margaret (McVay) Kiser, early settlers in Champaign county, and residents of the county at the time of their death.
George R. Kiser was born in Shelby county, Ohio, December 10, 1829, a son of Nicholas and Margaret (Kiser) Kiser, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Nicholas Kiser died in 1843, leaving his widow with twelve children. The widow lived until her eightieth year. Of these
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BUEG Mans &B- LY
LAKiser
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twelve children-one had died before the death of the father-all reached maturity but one, and ten of the number married. George R. Kiser, the seventh child and the fourth son, started out to make his way in the world at the age of sixteen, and at the time of his death was one of the wealthiest men in Champaign county. He was first a farm hand, later operated a saw-mill, then engaged in the buying and shipping of livestock-all in Johnson township, this county. He located in St. Paris in 1866 and lived there until 1875, when he moved to one of his farms near Millerstown in the same township. In 1886 he returned to St. Paris, where he lived until his death. His estate included about twelve hundred acres, two hundred in Shelby county and the remainder in Champaign county. He was married in 1856 to Margaret McVay, a daughter of William and Susan (Stockton) McVay. George R. Kiser and wife had two children, twins, John William and Mary Belle.
John W. Kiser received his early education in the school of St. Paris and later was graduated from Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, in 1884. Marrying the same year, he located in Springfield and got his first business experience as a special collector for Reinhardt, Ballard & Company, of that city. Later he became collector for the Springfield Thresher Com- pany, being placed on the road and given charge of the collections of several states. He next associated himself with the Chandler-Robbins Sewing Ma- chine Company, of Chicago, and it was while with that company that he conceived the idea of going into the manufacturing business for himself.
The next step in his career took him to Chicago, the city of opportu- nity. He arrived in the city in 1889, full of enthusiasm, and with five years of practical experience behind him. He continued in the sewing-machine business for three years, meanwhile keeping his eyes open for an opportunity to engage in some manufacturing venture of his own. In the early nineties the bicycle craze struck the country and Mr. Kiser felt that here was his opportunity-and so it proved.
In 1892 he organized the Monarch Bicycle Company in Chicago and soon made it one of the strongest and largest bicycle companies in the world. The money rolled in as his wheels rolled, in ever increasing thousands, up and down the highways of the entire world. When the business began to show signs of waning he had the shrewdness to know when to dispose of his interests in it, and thus he averted the financial disaster of many other bicycle manufacturers who could not see the handwriting on the wall.
Mr. Kiser's next venture was in the field of horseshoe manufacturing. (50a)
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The Phoenix Horseshoe Company had already been organized, its main mills being at Poughkeepsie, New York, and Joliet, Illinois. When he became identified with this company in 1902 the main stockholder was E. H. Miller, but within five years Mr. Kiser was controlling most of the stock and in 1907 became president of the company. At the same time the capital stock was increased to three million dollars, and within a short time Mr. Kiser was practically the sole owner of the company. In 1910 he secured control of the Cincinnati Horeshoe and Iron Company and maintained his connection with this company until his death, continuing in active charge of his extensive business interests until a short time before his death.
Mr. Kiser never forgot his old home in Champaign county, and he liked to spend as much of each summer as possible in St. Paris. There he built one of the finest homes in the state of Ohio in 1912, a home which was always open to the friends of his boyhood days. This home is pointed out as one of the most beautiful in the state, not only as regards its external features, but also because of its beautiful appointments within. Mr. Kiser was a man of rare tastes and liked to surround himself with beautiful things. In 1915 Mr. Kiser bought a fine country home at Port Chester, New York, about thirty miles from New York City. He intended to make it his permanent summer home, but when he became seriously ill, he sold it. He also built a fine home in Chicago, at 3357 Michigan avenue, but the encroachments of business caused him to give it up as a residence. After closing his home Mr. Kiser and his wife went to New York City, where they leased an apartment at the Ritz-Carlton, but the increasing seriousness of Mr. Kiser's condition caused them to return to St. Paris. They remained in St. Paris for four months and then went to Chicago and made their home at the newly opened Blackstone Hotel. Mr. Kiser was under the care of the best obtainable medical talent, but he lived only a few months after he and his wife returned to Chicago.
One of John W. Kiser's favorite recreations was farming. He bought so much land in Champaign and adjoining counties that his Chicago friends were always joking him about buying the whole state of Ohio. At any rate, his land holdings were so extensive that he was described in Chicago papers after his death as the "owner of counties." In addition to being president of the largest horeshoe manufacturing company in the world and having hundreds of acres of valuable land to look after, Mr. Kiser also was inter- ested in a number of other business enterprises in which he had large hold- ings. He was a director of the First National Bank of Chicago and a large
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stockholder in the Miehle Press & Manufacturing Company, of Chicago. His vast estate at the time of his death was estimated at eight millions, all of which is now in the competent hands of his only son, John W. Kiser, Jr.
John W. Kiser was married in 1884, the year of his graduation from college, to Thyrza W. Furrow, daughter of Ezra H. Furrow, the first large merchant of St. Paris. She was born in St. Paris, June 29, 1858. They were the parents of two sons: John W., Jr., and Furrow John. The latter was killed accidentally on April 29, 1902. John W. Kiser, Jr., was born on June 10, 1889, in Chicago. He received his education in the public schools; Howard school, of Chicago; Lawrenceville school, Lawrenceville, New Jersey; University High school, Chicago; University of Chicago, and was graduated from Yale University in 1915 with the degree of Ph. B. He at once actively took charge of his father's business. Although young in years, he had already had sufficient experience to enable him to take up the management of the wonderful business which his father had developed. He has already shown business capacity which indicates that he will be a worthy follower of his father in the field of finance. He is now president of the Phoenix Horseshoe Company and a director in the Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Company, Chicago, and also a director in the First National Bank of St. Paris, Ohio. He makes his home in New York City.
The private life of John W. Kiser was without a blemish. Devoted to his family, he was loved by his business associates as a friend to whom they could always turn for assistance. When the news of his death was received at his offices at 209 South LaSalle street, there was the most pro- found sorrow at his passing. His religion was the simple, unostentatious kind, but none the less sincere. In politics he was an independent Demo- crat, and as a member of the city council in Chicago for two terms he made a good record in behalf of his constituency. He was a member of the fol- lowing clubs : Union League, Chicago Athletic, Mid-day, Glen View, South Shore, Country and Chicago Gold Club, at Chicago; the Blind Brook Coun- try Club, New York; the Automobile Club of America, the Ohio Society of New York and the Chicago Historical Society.
Such, in brief, is the career of Champaign county's most famous finan- cier. But he was more than a mere maker of money. He was loyal to his home county as long as he lived; he was loyal to those, friends of his who were less fortunate. In all things he lived a large life, a life in which he tried to the best of his ability to make those around him happier. His life is ended on earth, but the good things he did, the kind words he said.
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will remain as a heritage to those with whom he was associated in life. Champaign county is proud to honor him as one of its most illustrious citi- zens.
GRANVILLE M. BOTKIN.
The efforts of Granville M. Botkin as a tiller of the soil having been amply rewarded, he is now spending his declining years in leisure in Me- chanicsburg. He was born, February 29, 1840, in Pleasant township, Clark county, Ohio, ten miles east of Springfield. He is a son of Abraham and Sarah (Wilkinson) Botkin. The father was born, October 15, 1808 in Clark county, this state, devoted his life to farming, and died, June 13, 1898. The mother was born in Champaign county, Ohio, on March 17, 1808, and died May 29, 1876. She was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, while Mr. Botkin belonged to the Methodist Protestant church. He was a stanch Republican. Eight children were born to Abraham Botkin and wife: George, now deceased, who served three years in the Civil War in Company C, First Kentucky Volunteer Infantry; William, who was also a soldier in the Civil War, a member of Company K, Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, died in Andersonville prison; Wallace, who served in the same company and regiment with William in the Union army and was killed in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee; Elizabeth; Granville M., of this sketch; Joseph, who served four years during the Civil War in Com- pany F, Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and lives in Mexico, Mis- souri; Lycurgus, who served one year in the Eightieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and lives in Centralia, Missouri; and Eliza, the youngest child, who makes her home in Cleveland, Ohio.
Granville M. Botkin received only a limited education in the public schools, and he lived with his parents until they died. After the death of his mother he moved to Mechanicsburg, Champaign county in 1876, where his parents had moved a year before. There the father died. Mr. Botkin was married, January 14, 1909, to Mrs. Louisa Henry, of Clark county, Ohio. She is a daughter of William and Nellie (Cook) Roach, both natives of Wyoming county, West Virginia. The death of the father occurred in Clark county, Ohio.
Granville M. Botkin has always engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he followed with success in Clark county, Ohio, until 1876, when he moved to Champaign county, and has since lived in the vicinity of Mechanicsburg.
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On May 2, 1864, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, from Clark county. He was sent into West Virginia, where he participated in several skirmishes. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged. He and his wife belong to the Method- ist Protestant church. His grandfather, George Botkin, was a son of Charles Botkin, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
JOHN T. EVILSIZOR.
John T. Evilsizor, farmer of Urbana township, Champaign county, was born in Jackson township, this county, November 6, 1852. He is a son of Squire and Christiana (Comer) Evilsizor, natives of the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, from which locality they came to Champaign county, Ohio, when young with their parents. Here they grew to maturity and were married, locating on a farm near St. Paris. At first Squire Evilsizor worked out as a farm hand, but later he farmed for himself, finally moving to Urbana township, where he died in Fremont City at the advanced age of eight-four years, and his wife at the age of seventy-nine years. They were members of the Hickory Grove church. The father was first a Whig and later a Republican. To Squire and Christiana Evilsizor eleven children were born, namely: Mary, the wife of James Dye, the former of Marion county, Ohio, but later of Nebraska, where her death occurred; Solomon who was a farmer in Urbana township, this county, died in 1915; Rebecca, who first married Joseph Bisseth of Pennsylvania, and secondly Joshua Zerkle, both are now deceased; Lewis, who served in the Civil War, estab- lished his home in Fremont City, Ohio; Eliza, wife of John Fanning, West- ville, Ohio; John T., of this sketch; Isaac, a farmer in Clark county, Ohio; Sarah, who married Andrew Shafer, of Quincy, Ohio; Rose Etta, wife of Thomas Nitchman, of Terre Haute, Ohio; Charles Wesley, retired farmer of Fremont City, this state; and Jasper, who died in infancy.
John T. Evilsizor grew up on the home farm and received a limited education in the public schools, being compelled to go two and one-half miles through the woods to the school house in his district. He helped his father on the home place until he was twenty-one years of age, then worked for Christopher Metz in Urbana township for a period of twenty-four years. In 1872 he married Permetta Metz, a daughter of John and Martha Metz, who were pioneer farmers of Champaign county. Their family con-
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sisted of eight children, namely: Permetta, the wife of John T. Evilsizor; Kate, Letitia, Ellen, Emma, Edward, Otto and Richard.
Eight children were born to John T. Evilsizor and wife, namely: Frank, a farmer in Clark county, Ohio; Ida, the wife of Alfred Garard, of Springfield, Ohio; Carrie, who married Worden Hupp, of Fremont City, this state; Walter, living in Urbana township, Champaign county; Clarence, at home, a farmer and railroad man; Lottie, wife of Philip Geron, of Clark county, Ohio; Christopher, at home; and Ethel, who married Fred Weimer, a farmer of Urbana township, this county.
The mother of the above named children died on January 6, 1913.
Politically, Mr. Evilsizor is a Republican. He is a member of the Junior Order of American United Mechanics. He has served as trustee of Urbana township for a period of nine years in an able and satisfactory man- ner. At present he resides on a farmer in Urbana township, where he has lived forty-two years, his place consisting of ninety-three acres. He is well and favorably known throughout the county.
ISAAC P. YODER.
Isaac P. Yoder, owner of a fine farm of eighty-four acres in Harrison township, this county, two and one-half miles southwest of West Liberty, on rural mail route No. I, out of that place, is a native of the old Key- stone state, but has been a resident of Ohio since the days of his early manhood. He was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1853. son of the Rev. C. K. and Catherine (Plank) Yoder, natives of that same county, the former born on March 2, 1829, and the latter, October 13, 1830, who became residents of Logan county, this state, where their last days were spent.
The Rev. C. K. Yoder was a minister of the Mennonite faith, who came to Ohio with his family. After a sometime residence in Wayne county he moved, about 1874, to Logan county, where he established his home and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, the latter dying in 1896 and the former surviving until in May, 1911. They were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are living save one, John, who died at the age of seven years, the others besides Isaac P. Yoder being as follow: Levi, of Logan county; Malinda, wife of John J. King, of West Liberty; Samuel P., of Logan county; Nancy, wife of A. Y.
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Hartzler, of West Liberty; Emma, wife of John W. Zook, also of West Liberty; Amos, of Logan county; Chris, of Toledo; Catherine, wife of Rudolph Yoder, of Portage county, this state, and Minnie, of West Liberty.
Isaac P. Yoder's boyhood was spent in Wayne county, Ohio, having come to that county when two years of age. His schooling, however, was completed in Logan county, this state, to which county his parents had moved in the days of his youth. His father owned a farm in that county and he grew up a trained farmer, continuing that occupation in that county after his marriage in 1879 until 1910. In that year he moved down into Champaign county and located on the farm of eighty-four acres in Harrison township, which he now owns and where he has since made his home, he and his family being very comfortably situated there. Mr. Yoder is a Repub- lican, but has never given any particularly active attention to political af- fairs. He has a well-kept farm plant and is looked upon as one of the substantial farmers of his home community.
On January 29, 1878, in Logan county, this state, Isaac P. Yoder was united in marriage to Martha Kauffman, who was born in that county on August 27, 1857, and who was left without a mother when twelve years of age. To that union have been born twelve children, namely: Milton, born on January 5, 1879, formerly a high school teacher, now engaged in the lumber business at Belle Center; Katie, July 18, 1880, at home; Alta, October 19, 1882, wife of E. J. Hilty; Lewis, May 6, 1884, who was graduated from the high school and is now secretary and general manager of the "Farmers Equity" at Nampa, Idaho; John, October 9, 1885, who was graduated from the Grand Rapids Veterinary College and is now in the employ of the United States government, stationed at Lewiston, Louis- iana; Fred, March 17, 1887, who is engaged in the lumber business at Lake View, this state; Elmer and Ellen (twins), January 21, 1889, both of whom were graduated from the West Liberty high school, the latter graduating from the Mennonite Normal College at Goshen, Indiana, and now a teacher in the West Mansfield high school, and the former of whom, still living at home, is a graduate auctioneer; Clara, January 5, 1890, also a graduate of the West Liberty high school, wife of J. O. King; Aquila, December 18, 1893, a graduate of the West Liberty high school and a former school teacher, who is now engaged in the lumber business; Mary M., February 13, 1895, a graduate of the West Liberty high school, who is now engaged in teaching school, and Mark, October 24, 1896, a graduate of the West Liberty high school, who is at home. The Yoders are members of the Mennonite church at West Liberty and have ever taken a proper part in
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church work, as well as in the general good works and social activities of the community in which they live, helpful in many ways in promoting causes having to do with the advancement of the general welfare there- about.
REV. GEORGE HICKEY.
The Rev. George Hickey, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church at Urbana, is a native son of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Urbana since his appointment as pastor of St. Mary's in 1903. He was born at Glendale, a suburb of Cincinnati, in 1868, and received his elementary schooling in the Catholic parochial school of that place, upon completing the course in which he entered St. Francis Xavier College at Cincinnati, graduating in 1888. Having early consecrated his life to the priesthood he then, with the holy office in view, pursued his studies at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, being ordained in 1892. After his ordi- nation he spent two years studying at the Catholic University.
In September, 1894, Father Hickey was appointed assistant to the pastor at St. Brigid's church, Xenia, this state. In 1895 he was appointed pastor of the church at Eaton and after two years of effective labor there, in 1897, was appointed pastor of the church at Milford, in Clermont county, where he remained until his appointment as pastor of the parish of St. Mary's at Urbana in 1903, since which time he has been a resident of Urbana and one of the best-known and most influential clergymen in that city.
GEORGE R. RANDALL.
A well known farmer in Urbana township, Champaign county, is George R. Randall, who was born in Mad River township, this county, June 18, 1861. He is a son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Preece) Randall. The father was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and the mother was born in Somersetshire, England. She was a daughter of James Preece, a native of England, from which country he brought his family to America about 1850, locating in Urbana, Ohio, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a butcher by trade. He first married Elizabeth Bacon, by whom he had only one child, Jemima, who came to this country with her father and married Richard LeMar, and they are now living in Urbana township on
REV. GEORGE HICKEY.
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a farm. Later James Preece married Mrs. White, a widow from England, but this union was without issue.
Reuben Randall's father, Robert Randall, was a native of Maryland, from which state he went to Pennsylvania when young and married there,. establishing his home in that state. Four of his children came to Cham- paign county, Ohio, namely: Reuben, mentioned above; Agnes, who mar- ried William Parlett, and they established their home on a farm west of Urbana; Ruth married Benjamin Bosley, and they reside in Concord town- ship; Mary lives on North Main street, Urbana.
Reuben Randall was born in 1833. He received a limited education in the common schools of his day, but he was a self-taught man, becom- ing in time a good scholar by wide, miscellaneous home reading. He came to Champaign county, Ohio, with his parents about the year 1850. As a young man, he followed engineering and the saw-mill business, but in later life he was a farmer. His wife was born in 1830. They were members of Nettle Creek Baptist church. His death occurred at the age of seventy- five, and his wife's at the age of eighty. They were parents of five children, Mary E., deceased, remained single; George R., of this sketch; Jemima, died when seventeen years of age; James R., who married Alice Stein- barger, and they live at West Milton, Ohio; Edward L., who marriel Adella Fenton and is a farmer in Urbana township, this county.
George R. Randall grew to manhood on the home farm, and he at- tended the district schools. On December 27, 1887, he married Serepta Fenton, a native of Urbana township, this county, and a daughter of John and Emeline (Evilsizor) Fenton. Mr. Fenton was born in Clark county, Ohio, but he established his home in Champaign county, first living in Mad River township, then in Urbana township. He was always a farmer. During the Civil War he served in the Union army. His wife was born in Mad River township, Champaign county. They now reside in Urbana town- ship. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Fenton named as follows : Serepta, wife of Mr. Randall; Alonzo, who lives in Mad River township; William E., living in Union City, Indiana ; Burton, deceased; Della, deceased ; John, who lives in Coshocton county, Ohio; Olive, deceased.
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