USA > Ohio > Brown County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 46
USA > Ohio > Clermont County > History of Clermont and Brown Counties, Ohio, from the earliest historical times down to the present, V. 2 > Part 46
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Mr. Kearns is a standard Republican, and is active in the interests of the party, having served as supervisor and a member of the school board. He was chairman of the board of education in Jefferson township.
Mr. and Mrs. Kearns are members of the Christian church at Russellville and their children are members also. The reputation of Mr. Kearns in his neighborhood is that of a man of sterling worth and a farmer of excellent agricultural ability.
ROBERT W. MILLER.
Mr. Robert W. Miller has made farming his occupation throughout his entire life and has attained a high degree of success in his chosen pursuit. The home farm of Mr. Miller is located on the Arnheim pike, on the old Dixon ridge, in Union township, Brown county, Ohio. He was born in Pleasant township, Brown county, March 15, 1849, and is a son of Robert S. and Mary J. (Evans) Miller.
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Robert S. Miller, the father, was born in Pennsylvania, November 22, 1817, and died November 20, 1901, at his home in Union township. His father, Robert Gillen Miller, came to Brown county from Pennsylvania, locating first in Lewis township and was active in the operation of the famous Un- derground Railroad. He finally located in Pleasant township and was living in a log house, now the home of Albert H. Moore, at the time of his death, aged sixty years. He was a captain of the Home Guards. Robert devoted his attention to farming and was considered among the most successful in his locality.
Mary J. Evans was born in Brown county, December 12, 1821, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. She was a daughter of William and Mary (Patten) Evans and was an aunt of Capt. Nelson W. Evans, of Portsmouth, Ohio. Her death occurred January 24, 1875. She and her husband were consistent mem- bers of the Christian church.
In the family of Robert S. and Mary J. (Evans) Miller were nine children, of whom five sons and two daughters are now living: George, of Thorntown, Ind .; John W., of Byrd town- ship, Brown county; Robert W., our subject; William W., of Bethel, Clermont county, Ohio; James E., of Clark township, Brown county; Jane (Tweed), of Dayton; Sarah F. (Cox), of Union township; Anna C. (Carr) died in 1880; and Emma died in infancy.
Mr. Robert W. Miller has been a resident of Union town- ship since he was five years of age and has been a successful farmer practically all of his active life.
Mr. Miller was united in marriage in 1881, in Lewis town- ship, to Miss Addie L. Cahall, who was born in Lewis town- ship, in November, 1853, and departed this life June 8, 1902. She was a daughter of James and Fannie (Drake) Cahall, an old family of Lewis township. She was survived by three children :
Everett J. P., at home.
Miss Mary B. was born in 1883 and died in December, 1907. Miss Sadie L., at home.
By his study of the political issues of the day Mr. Miller is a Republican.
The religious views of Mr. Miller and family are in favor of the Christian church, of which they are active members.
Mr. Robert W. Miller enjoys the high regard and esteem of the community in which he has lived for so many years, be-
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cause of his many sterling qualities and excellent traits of character. By the many years of practical experience in gen- eral farming and stock raising he has become proficient along those lines and has met with well deserved success.
GREENLIEF NORTON COX.
Mr. Greenlief Norton Cox, deceased, was one of the most prominent and influential farmers of. Brown county, Ohio, was also a carpenter by trade, and his death, on October 17, 1912, removed one of the most prominent workers in the up- building of this county. Mr. Cox resided on a well cultivated farm on the Arnheim pike in Union township. He was born in Jefferson township, on Eagle creek, Brown county, Ohio, December 6, 1832, his parents being John and Freelove (Ben- nett) Cox. The father died March 9, 1859, and the mother December 30, 1872. They both were natives of Virginia, John having served in the war of 1812. He was a large landowner and dealer in horses, selling to Cincinnati markets, residing near Russellville, Brown county.
Mr. G. N. Cox was one of eleven children, all of whom but one sister are now deceased. He spent his boyhood on the farm and obtained a good practical education and grew up with the rude health an active, busy life on the farm produces. At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Cox was one of the first to offer his services in behalf of his country, enlisting in 1861, in the Fourth Independent Ohio cavalry, serving from July 10, 1861, to February, 1862.
Returning from the war, Mr. Cox was united in marriage on December 11, 1862, to Miss Sarah A. Henry, who was born in Pleasant township, Brown county, September 27. 1843. a daughter of James and Ruth Ann (Day) Henry, both natives of Brown county.
James Henry was born in Byrd township, Brown county, April 22, 1820, and died January 9, 1889. He was a resident of Jefferson township for the most of his life, but in his later years he resided in Union township. He was very success- ful in his chosen calling, owning five farms, comprising some five hundred acres, and his success was due entirely to his own efforts and endeavor. His father. James Henry, was a son of James, who came from County Down, Ireland. and was among the first settlers of Brown county ; he was among
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the first members of the First Presbyterian congregation of Ripley. All the members of the Henry family were Presby- terians and the men favored the principles of the Repub- lican party.
Ruth Ann (Day) Henry, mother of Mrs. Cox, was born July 10, 1822, and is a resident of Union township. She is a daughter of John and Rachel (Dye) Day. The former died at the age of seventy-five years, his birth having occurred in Maryland, and the latter, who lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, died in 1873. She was a daughter of John Dye, a soldier of Revolutionary fame.
Mrs. Cox is one of eleven children, including one pair of twins, eight of whom are living: Mrs. Cox, the eldest; Rachel M. died at the age of fifty years; James C., a farmer of Union township; Ethelinda, wife of Alonzo Geeslin, re- sides in Union township; John D. resides with his widowed mother in Union township; William Frank, of Union town- ship ; Joseph B., a farmer of Brown county, residing in Union township; Edward died at the age of two months; Charles F., of Georgetown, Ohio, and Mrs. Lucy Ann Benner, of Day- ton, Ohio.
Mrs. Cox is the mother of four children :
William C., of Union township, married Sarah Miller, a sis- ter of Robert W. Miller. They have one son, Albert H.
Lola died April 28, 1900, at the age of thirty-three years.
Charles H. operates the home farm.
One child, who was the second in order of birth, died in infancy.
Mr. Greenlief Norton Cox was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Georgetown Post. During the war he was a bugler in the army under Captain Foster. He was prominent in the agricultural and social circles of Brown county and always took an active interest in all enterprises which tended to promote the public weal.
S. CARY BEASLEY.
Mr. S. Cary Beasley. one of the best known citizens of Brown county, is a representative farmer and stock raiser of U'nion township, where he owns a nicely improved and pro- ductive farm. He is a native of Brown county, his birth hav-
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ing taken place on June 12, 1865, his parents being Stephen Alfred and Nancy J. (Cluxton) Beasley.
Jeptha Beasley, great-grandfather of Mr. Beasley of this mention, with his brothers, John, Benjamin and Nathaniel, left their native State of Virginia and came down the Ohio river in 1789. John Beasley settled and remained in Kentucky, while the others came on to Brown county. Jeptha settled in Union township in 1798; Benjamin settled on what is known as Beasley's Run in 1796, and was the first settler in Huntington township; Nathaniel located at Decatur. They were prosperous in their various lines of endeavor, and were a credit to their father, Benjamin Beasley, a soldier of the Revo- lutionary war, whose gallant service won much admiration and praise.
John Beasley, a son of Jeptha Beasley, was a justice of the peace for eighteen years in Union township, and married many couples. He was a cousin of the late Squire Massie Beasley, of Aberdeen, Ohio, who is reputed to have married some seven- teen hundred couples during his service as justice of the peace. John Beasley married Miss Matilda Hamer, of a noted family of pioneers of Brown county.
Stephen Alfred Beasley was born May 1, 1825, and de- parted this life April 14, 1910, his parents being John and Ma- tilda (Hamer) Beasley. He was an energetic and prosperous farmer, which business he made his life occupation. He was in favor of the principles of the Republican party, to which he gave his support during his entire life. Although his par- ents raised him in the belief of the Christian church, he later embraced the faith of the Methodist church. He was also a member of the Union Lodge, No. 71, Free and Accepted Masons.
Nancy J. (Cluxton) Beasley was born in Adams county, Ohio, January 1, 1832, and still resides on the home farm, en- joying most excellent health for one of her years. She is a daughter of John and Nancy (Page) Cluxton.
John Cluxton was born in County Down about 1790 and came with his parents to the great America when about nine years of age, or about 1800. His father passed away during the year of their arrival in Pennsylvania, and his mother brought the family west to Adams county, Ohio, where she died. The death of John Cluxton occurred in Adams county in 1852.
Nancy (Page) Cluxton was born in Pennsylvania, at Con-
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nellsville, which town her maternal grandfather, Zachariah Connells, laid out on land which he owned. Her parents were Rev. William and Mary (Connells) Page, the former of whom was a minister of the Methodist church and during his minis- try assisted in the organization of many churches in Penn- sylvania and Ohio.
Stephen Alfred and Nancy J. (Cluxton) Beasley became the parents of four children :
Adeline, who was the wife of John Garrett, of Toledo, Ohio, died in 1896, leaving two children, Orville and Raymond.
Miss Celestia is at home.
John, whose death took place November 5, 1904, left a fam- ily, whose sketch will appear elsewhere on these pages.
Samuel Cary, the subject of this review.
The details which have reached us concerning the boyhood and early youth of Mr. Beasley indicate that he was favored with the best educational advantages which his native locality afforded, and that he was reared in a home where frugality was encouraged and moral virtues extolled.
In 1891, Mr. Beasley was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Martin, of Union township, a daughter of Samuel P. Martin. The family circle of Mr. and Mrs. Beasley consists of two chil- dren :
Esther Rae, who after graduating from the Ripley High School, spent two years at the Ohio Wesleyan University, taking a course in art, giving especial attention to china painting.
Martha, who is also a graduate of the Ripley High School, is at home, as is also her sister.
The family home has been the present one since the year of 1889, the old home having been near the Mt. Air school house, in the eastern part of Union township, where Mr. Beasley was born. The present home was formerly the George Snedecker place, and was later owned by Lovell and Greenleaf Pickerell. The property is finely improved, Mr. Beasley and his father having done a great deal of it. Mr. Beasley devotes his time to general farming, raising grain and tobacco in connection with the raising of good stock.
Mr. Beasley gives his political support to the progressive Republican party, and is well informed on all questions of public interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Beasley and their daughters are active mem- bers of the Methodist church, to which they give liberally of their means.
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Mr. S. Cary Beasley is the last of the name now living in this section, where his forebears were among the pioneers. He is an exemplary citizen in both public and private life, and his friendly attitude to all has won him much esteem and ad- miration.
THOMAS WHISNER.
Mr. Thomas Whisner, whose splendid farm of one hundred and eighty-five well cultivated acres in Union township, lo- cated on the North Pole pike, Brown county, Ohio, proves his efficiency as a farmer and tobacco raiser, was born on Howard Ridge, on the lower Ripley and Bradyville pike, June 5, 1853, a son of Alex and Dicy Ann (Martin) Whisner.
Alex Whisner was also a native of Brown county, his birth occurring in Union township in 1826, and his death, January 28, 1885. He was a son of Thomas Whisner, a cabinet maker, who also made coffins, and followed his trade for many years at Ripley, where he had a shop. Thomas Whisner was from Pennsylvania, and came from there to Brown county, others of the family following later. In later years, he devoted his attention to his farm, where he died. His wife was formerly a Miss Porter, and her death occurred in 1850, from cholera.
Alex Whisner was in the vineyard business, having some six acres of grapes, from which he made a great deal of wine, making large shipments. He also had a large peach orchard. He was always an advocate of the principles of the Republican party and served in the home guards during the Civil war. He was one of the early Masons of Ripley.
Dicy Ann (Martin) Whisner was born in Huntington town- ship. Brown county, Ohio, November 17, 1825, and died No- vember 19, 1911. She was a granddaughter of Absalom Mar- tin, who was among the first settlers of Brown county, and was a great Bible student, and a member of the Methodist church, as was also his granddaughter. Her union with Mr. Alex Whisner was blessed with five sons and six daughters, ten of whom are living and are as follows: Clarinda, now Mrs. G. H. Smithson. of Birdsey, Ind .; Miss Isabell, still at home ; Thomas, our subject : John, of Russellville, where he owns a large farm : Miss Elizabeth, who is conducting a dress making establishment at Dayton, Ohio: Samuel, a farmer of Union township: Miss Ellen, died at the age of twenty-two
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years; Calvin, who is interested in the livery business at Rip- ley, operates the home farm; Miss Anne, at home, as is also Miss Fredericka ; and Alexander, who is in the livery business at Ripley, and his wife was formerly Miss De Vore.
Mr. Thomas Whisner was reared on the farm in Union township and has resided at his present home since 1882. He has spent the greater part of his life in farming, and at present has one of the finest and best cultivated farms in the county. He started in with his brother, John, with fifty acres and later bought him out. During the years that have followed, Mr. Whisner has added to his acreage and has made all the valuable improvements ; his fine farm giving all the appear- ance of careful management.
On October 6, 1882, Mr. Thomas Whisner was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Wiles, who was born in Union township, September 15, 1855, her parents being Joseph and Mary Ann (Kimball) Wiles. The Kimball family are now mainly in the west and are very successful in business. They were among the early settlers of Brown county, the family coming to Ohio from New Hampshire. Mary Ann (Kimball) Wiles passed from this life in 1906, at the age of eighty years.
Joseph Wiles was born in Union township, a son of Chris- tian Wiles, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, of Pennsyl- vania German descent. He flat boated down the Ohio river to Brown county.
Mrs. Whisner is the oldest of six children: Carrie, died in infancy ; Sarah Ellis, at home, single; Joseph Wiles, died at the age of seven years; George, is a farmer of Union town- ship; Moses, is operating the home place.
Mr. and Mrs. Whisner have had born to them the follow- ing named children :
Joseph E., aged thirty years, is at home. He married Miss Hattie Henry, and they have two children, Imogene and Helen.
Audrey and Ora, twins, are twenty-eight years old, the former of whom was married March 22, 1913, to William Buchanan, a farmer in Huntington township, and the latter is the wife of Clifford Radabaugh, residing at Sharon- ville, Ohio, he being a bookkeeper and general manager of a storage business at Cincinati; and they have one child. Eda May.
Harriet, twenty-four years of age, is the wife of John Heglin, of Detroit, Mich., where he is engaged in a detective office as a bookkeeper.
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Albert, eighteen years old and Roy, fifteen years old, are at home.
Orville, died at the age of eighteen months.
In politics, Mr. Whisner is a zealous supporter of the Re- publican principles, and his worth has been recognized on more than one occasion by his party.
The social relations of Mr. Whisner are with the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Chapter of Ripley. The daughters, Audrey and Harriet, are members of the Order of Eastern Star of Ripley.
The family of Mr. Whisner attend the Methodist church at Fitch's chapel in Union township. Mr. Whisner is a man of wide acquaintance throughout the county, and is held in the highest esteem.
SAMUEL HIETT MARTIN.
Mr. Samuel Hiett Martin, a progressive farmer and stock raiser of Brown county, Ohio, owns and operates a splendidly improved farm of one hundred and two acres on North Pole pike in Huntington township. He was born in Union town- ship, Brown county, May 6, 1867, a son of Ephriam and Ruth (Hiett) Martin, the latter of whom was a daughter of Major and Sarah Hiett, and died in September, 1907.
Ephraim Martin was born in Union township, Brown coun- ty, June 22, 1836, and is now living in retirement at his home in Huntington township, where he has resided for the past thirty-eight years. He is a son of Samuel and - (Camp- bell) Martin, who were from Kentucky.
Mr. Samuel H. Martin is one of seven children, of whom four brothers and two sisters are living, namely: Elijah, who was born in 1863, died in childhood; William, born June 2, 1865, is a farmer of Huntington township, Brown county ; Samuel, our subject ; John C., who was born August 13, 1869, and George W., who was born September 7, 1871, are operat- ing the home farm in Huntington township, the latter of whom married Miss Laura Arn, daughter of John Arn, an early resi- dent of Brown county ; Sallie, born July 28, 1876, wife of Jo- seph Cooper, a farmer of Huntington township; Lorena, born January 5, 1880, is the wife of James Stephenson. of Dayton, Ohio, with the National Cash Register Company.
Mr. Samuel Hiett was reared on the farm which was his
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home for twenty-five years, and received a good common school education. He was united in marriage to Miss Clara Jane Fulton, on the 21st of December, 1892, she being a daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Cooper) Fulton, both of whom are deceased. They were resident farmers of Hunting- ton township, Brown county.
Mrs. Martin is one of seven children: Cora, who was born in 1862, is at home with her brother, Joseph; Cooper, born in Huntington township, in 1864, married Grace Sutton; Titus B., born in 1866, is a farmer of Huntington township, and married Jennie Ellis; Margaret, born October 13, 1868, died November 24, 1911; Clara J., wife of Mr. Martin of this re- view, was born November 3, 1870; Charles D. Fulton was born in 1872, and married Annie Griffith, he being a farmer of Huntington township; Joseph C., born 1877. The mother had three children by a former marriage to William Riggs, and they are, Emily, now Mrs. John Buchanan; Samuel, of Huntington township; and Wylie, deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are the parents of twin daughters, Cora Belle and Ruth Lee, the latter of whom died when an infant ; birth occurred December 15, 1899.
In politics, Mr. Martin is an active Republican, as have been all the family. Both Mr. and Mrs. Martin are members of the Christian church, Hiett's chapel.
The years spent in Brown county have been profitable ones for Mr. Martin, and he enjoys the respect and esteem of the community in which he lives.
SAMUEL DRAGOO.
Mr. Samuel Dragoo, deceased, was for many years a promi- nent farmer and stockraiser of Brown county, Ohio, and was held in high esteem by the citizens of his community for his many sterling traits of character. He was born in Union township, March 16, 1816, and passed from this life June 18, 1884. He was a son of Daniel and Susan (Bayne) Dragoo, both natives of Virginia, and born in the same year, 1780.
Belchazzer Dragoo, great-grandfather of Samuel, was born in Virginia and removed at a very early age to Mason county, Kentucky. Later he located on three hundred acres of land in Brown county, which he donated to the Shakers, which
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organization he and three daughters and one son joined. The son, Benjamin, was reared by the Shakers and in early man- hood came to Ripley, Ohio, where he resided until his death, at the age of seventy-seven years. His parents both died with the Shakers near Cincinnati, aged ninety-seven and ninety years, respectively. Daniel Dragoo died September I, 1837, and his wife departed this life June 12, 1854.
Samuel Dragoo was reared on the farm and was married, ยท February 8, 1837, to Miss Rachel A. Day, daughter of John and Rachel Day. Her birth occurred June 20, 1820, and to her union with Mr. Dragoo were born nine children, of whom six are living: George, of Tarkio, Mo .; Scott, of Langdon, Mo .; Samuel, of El Paso, Tex .; Daniel, of Kansas; Mrs. Thomas Shelton, of Adams county, Ohio, and Mrs. J. H. Evans, of Union township, Brown county, Ohio. Those de- ceased were: John; William S .; Jane (Dragoo) Lawrie, all of whom were residents of Brown county. .
Mr. Samuel Dragoo resided on the old Dragoo homestead for a period of sixty-six years, removing to the home on the Russellville pike in the spring of 1882, where he remained until his death. This farm consisted of two hundred and fif- teen acres and was a finely cultivated property.
He was a standard Republican and he and Mrs. Dragoo were members of the Christian church.
JOHN BUCHANAN.
Mr. John Buchanan, who owns one of the best and most highly cultivated farms, consisting of one hundred and fifty- eight acres, on the Ripley & Bradyville pike in Huntington township, Brown county, Ohio, possesses the respect and esteem of the entire community in which he lives. He was born July 2, 1853, in Huntington township, and is a son of Thomas and Ellen (Hiett) Buchanan, a more extended men- tion of whom appears on another page of this history.
The boyhood and youth of Mr. John Buchanan was spent on the farm of his father and as the years passed became pro ficient in all the details of farm life under his father's in- struction. He received a good education in the schools of his native county.
Mr. Buchanan was united in marriage, January 16. 1876.
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to Miss Emily C. Riggs, who was born in Moundsville. W. Va,. but whose childhood was spent in Huntington town- ship, where her parents, Mathias and Catherine Ann (Cooper). Riggs, removed when she was a babe. She has one brother, Samuel Riggs, who is a resident farmer of Huntington town- ship.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan consists of ten chil- dren, of whom one daughter, the seventh in order of birth, is deceased. The others are as follows:
Charles Foster, a druggist of Los Angeles, Cal., married Miss Emma Markwell, of California, and they have one child.
Catherine Ellen is the wife of James Brookover, of near Manchester, Adams county, Ohio.
Chester Arthur, of Adams county, Ohio, is a farmer and married Miss Faye Shelton, daughter of Thomas Shelton, and is the youngest of twelve children, all of whom are mar- ried. They have one son.
Ruth, wife of Fred K. Rousch, of Manchester, is the mother of two children.
Cora, wife of Douglas Hall, of Newport, Ky., where Mr. Hall is associated with his father in the coal and gravel busi- ness. They have an infant daughter.
Roy is attending the Columbus Agricultural College.
Mabel died in infancy.
Ola, William H. and Joseph Thomas are at home.
Mr. Buchanan is a staunch Republican and is intereste ! in all questions of public good, but does not care for public office.
Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan are members and liberal supporters of the Hiett's Chapel Christian Church.
MRS. IDA DRAGOO WILSON.
Mrs. Ida Dragoo Wilson, widow of the late Mr. W. K. Wilson, is a representative of a prominent family of Vir- ginia, her parents being Jonah and Sophia (McCoppin) Cad- wallader. Her birth occurred at Lynchburg, Highland county, Ohio, in 1864.
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