History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 118

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108

USA > Ohio > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families > Part 118

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of his wound. After completing the course at Miami University, which he had entered In September, 1862, he entered the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, under W. W. Dawson, and was graduated In 1865, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, after serving one year as acting medical cadet. He was also stationed for four months at the state hospital for the insane at Nashville, Tennessee. Having passed the examina- tion before the army board of medical examiners, Doctor Conard received, ou March 14, 1865, an appointment as acting assistant surgeon of the United States army, which position he held until November 14, 1865, bis services by that time being no longer needed. During the period of this latter service he was on duty in the hospitals of Knoxville and Chattanooga. In December, 1865, Doctor Conard located at Peru, Indiana, where he practiced his profession until November, 1875, establishing a valuable practice. Because of ill health in his family, he removed to New Vienna, this county, where he has since been actively engaged in practice.

On February 28, 1866, Dr. George R. Conard was married to Martha Good, a native of Highland county. Ohio, daughter of Charles and Betsy ( Moore) Good, who came from Pennsylvania in 1854. and who spent their last days in New Vienna, the former dying at the age of eighty-eight years and the latter at the age of ninety. They were mem- bers of the Hicksite branch of the Friends church. To Dr. George H. and Martha (Good) Conard five children have been born, namely : Helen, who lives at home; Har- vey E., who is professor of higher mathematics at the Columbus high school of com- merce; Elma, who died at the age of twelve years, and Robert and William (twins), the former of whom is a physician at Blanchester, this county, and the latter of whom died at the age of three months. Mrs. Conard died on May 1, 1877, and on September 24, 1879, Doctor Conard married, secondly, Augusta Lacy, by whom be had one child, Jane L., of New York City, whose mother died on March 26, 1885.

Dr. George R. Conard is a member of Carey Johnson Post No. 404, Grand Army of the Republic, and has been commander of that post for many years. He is a Repub- lican but has never been an aspirant for office. He is a member of the Clinton County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion. He is # Mason, member of lodge No. 578, at New Vienna, of the chapter of that order at Hillshoro and of Highland commandery, Knights Templar.

ALONZO OGLESBEE.

Alonzo Oglesbee, who is an excellent farmer of Liberty township, where he owns one hundred and forty acres of land, was born on October 28, 1860, on the farm where he now lives, and is the son of Joshua and Mary (McKay) Oglesbee, the former of whom was born on July 20, 1825. and the latter on September 27, 1837, the daughter of George and Mary (Ferguson) Mckay, pioneers of Chester township, this county. George Mckay was a native of Virginia, who came to Clinton county when a young man, with his father. Afterward he returned to Virginia and brought back his wife on horseback. George Mckay was born in Virginia in 1800 and lived in Ohio from the time he was eighteen years old. He died in 1850 and his widow in 1878. George Mckay's father, Moses Mckay, who was born In Virginia about 1776, came to Clinton county in 1818 with his wife and eleven children, leaving one son in Virginia.

Joshua Oglesbee was the son of John and Sarah (Stump) Oglesbee, natives of Virginia, who were married in the Old Dominion state on September 4, 1800. Three children were born to them before they came to Oblo. John Oglesbee owned nearly twelve hundred acres of land in Liberty township, this county, a part of which is now owned by his descendant. Granville Oglesbee. John Oglesbee was the son of Isaiah Oglesbee, who settled In Clinton county, one and one-half miles east of Lumberton, where (50)

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he died in 1840, his widow surviving him three years. They were members of the Friends church.

Joshua Oglesbee spent his entire life in Liberty township. He remained at home with his widowed mother until reaching his majority, or until his marriage, on March 11, 1855, to Mary M. Mckay, to which union there were born three children, Alonzo, Sallie M. and Horace. Sallie M. Oglesbee married Charles Conklin, of Greene county, Obio. and Horace Oglesbee married Jennie Foodie, and now lives in Dayton, Ohio. Joshua Oglesbee and wife were members of the old-school Baptist church and active in church work. They owned four hundred and thirty acres of land in Liberty township. He died on May 28, 1900, and his widow died in 1908.

Born and reared in Liberty township, Alonzo Oglesbee was educated In the common schools there. On October 21, 1898, he was married to Mary E. Turner, who was born in Greene county, this state, the daughter of John and Margaret ( Haines) Turner, farmers in that county and members of the Quaker church. Margaret ( Haines) Turuer was the daughter of Eber Haines, who was a prominent minister in the Quaker church in the early days of Clinton county. He was born In 1825 in Greene county and died in Clinton county in 1911. To Mr. and Mrs. Oglesbee seven children have been born, of whom six are living, Sarah M., Esther, Gladys, Leontine, Frances and Robert J. All of these children are still at home with their parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Oglesbee are members of the Friends church at New Hope and are regular attendants at Sunday school. Fraternally, Mr. Oglesbee is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

ROBERT EDWARD WOODS.

Robert Edward Woods, who has spent his entire life in Clinton county, needs no Introduction to the people who live within Its boundaries. His life has been devoted not only to promoting his own Interests and welfare, but also to promoting the interests of the public generally. He is an honorable representative of one of the esteemed families of this section and a gentleman of high character and worthy ambitions, He has filled no small place in the public life, as the important official positions which he has capably filled bear witness. He is a splendid type of the intelligent, up-to-date, self-made American farmer and is regarded as one of the best business men of Clinton county. enjoying the unqualified respect and confidence of all the people.

Robert Edward Woods was born on January 11, 1872, in I'nion township. this county. the son of James F. and Mary Lavinia ( Wood) Woods, the former of whom was born In Wilmington, Ohio, on July 2, 1844, the son of Joseph and Rosanna ( Fife) Woods, and is still living. The mother was born in I'nion township. the daughter of Robert and Mary ( Hughes) Wood, in 1850, and died in 1909. Joseph Woods was born at Lebanon, Ohio, and his wife, Rosanna Fife, in Wilmington. They were of Irish descent and died when their son, James F., was a mere lad. They were farmers by occupation and early settlers in CHuton county and were members of the Presbyterian church. Rosanna Fife was the daughter of James Fife, who immigrated to America from Tyrone. Ireland, at an early date and settled in Clinton county. He became one of the foremost citizens of the county and founded the first bank in Wilmington, now called the First National Bank. A large picture of him now hangs in the bank and a more extended mention of his life and work will be found in the chapter of this history relating to banks and banking.

James F. Woods, the father of Robert Edward Woods, grew up in the home of his uncle. Sllas Woods, and at the home of his grandfather, James Fife. As a boy he did farm work and for several years was a partner with Matt Fife in the dry-goods business in Wilmington. He then taught bookkeeping in Nelson's Business College for a few years. (having been a student in Wilmington College), and subsequently purchased a farm in

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Union township, which he presently sold and purchased one hundred and seventy acres in Washington township, where he lived until the time of his retirement from the active duties of the farm. Since the death of his wife in 1900, he has made his home with bis children. He is a Republican and has been a deacon in the Baptist church for many years and has also been treasurer of the same for thirty years, during all of these years having been a regular attendant. To James F. and Mary L. Woods three children were born, namely : Mary Rosanna, who married O. C. Lacy, of Springfield, Ohio; Robert E., the subject of this sketch, and Joseph S., who is a mechanic and lives at Wilmington.

The maternal grandparents of Robert E. Woods were Robert and Mary ( Hughes) Woods, the former of whom was born in Frederick county, Virginia, June 14. 1812, son of Isaac Wood, a Virginian, born in 1779, who lived to be ninety-three years old, and the latter, in I'nion township, this county, the daughter of Judge Jesse Hughes, a native of Kentucky, who was one of the first judges of the court In Clinton county. They were the parents of six children : Jesse, Nathan S., Lydia (deceased), John William, Isnac and Mary Lavinia. Robert Wood was a farmer of Union township, who retired late In life and moved to Wilmington, where he died In 1902, at the age of ninety, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1851, in her sixty-sixth year. Both were members of the Baptist church, and for many years were active in good works in the community in which they lived.

Robert Edward Woods received a good education in the public schools of Union township and in the Wilmington high school, from which he was graduated in 1892. I'pon returning to his father's farm. he was married and took charge of the farm. In 1008 he purchased his father's Unlon township farm of one hundred and twelve acres, but four years later sold it to the Buckley brothers and moved to Wilmington, from which place be directed the operations on his father's Washington township farm. In 1913 he purchased the Anna Sharp farm of fifty-one acres in Union township, situated northwest of Wilmington. Upon this farm he built a modern house in 1913 and there he now makes his home. He also farms one hundred and seventy acres for his father in Washington township, and raises large type Poland China hogs and a few cattle, most of his profit coming from raising and feeding hogs.

On September 9. 1896, Robert E. Woods was married to Ada B. McMillan, who was born in Chester township, this county, on December 10, 1877, the daughter of Shipley and Sarah ( Lacy) MeMillan. Shipley McMillan was the son of Newton McMillan, the second son of William and Deborah McMillan, who Immigrated from York county, Pennsylvania, to Clinton county. William MeMillan was a native of Scotland and his dife, Deborah, was a native of Wales. On first coming to Clinton county, Newton McMillan, settled on the sixty-acre farm Inter owned by Duane D. Smith. Sarah Lacy was the daughter of Joshua and Ruth C. (Bankson) Lacy, who were married on March 12. 1850, Joshua Iney was born on November 24. 1827. In Clinton county, the son of Enos I4 and Sarah ( Wright ) Lacy, the former a native of Virginia and the latter a native of Ohio, both of English descent, who located in Clinton county about 1816. Ruth C. Bankson was a native of Highland county, Ohio, and the daughter of William Bankson. a native of England. Shipley McMillan died on January 11. 1914, at the age of sixty-nine years, and his widow Is living with her father, Joshua Lacy, In Wilmington.

To Robert E. and Ada B. (McMillan) Woods three children have been born, Edith, born on May 30, 1900; Harold Edward, May 4, 1905, who died on February 19. 1906, and Mary Ruth, September 9. 1906.

Robert Edward Woods is a Republican and served as township trustee for one terin and as school director for fourteen years, Mr. and Mrs. Woods belong to the Baptist church at Wilmington, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Few young men living in Clinton county are more highly respected than Robert E. Woods, and few more thoroughly deserve the confidence of their neighbors and fellow citizens than he.

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FRANCIS II. PYLE.

Various members of the Pyle family have long been prominent in the history of Clinton county. The late Francis H. Pyle, who was a successful farmer of Adams township, where he owned one hundred and ninety-four acres of land, was a well-known stockman, whose father was trustee of Adams township for three years; a director of the Goshen, Wilmington & Columbus turnpike and a member of the Clinton county board of agriculture. Francis H. Pyle spent practically all of his life In Clinton county, and was always engaged in farming.

Francis H. Pyle, a native of Wayne township, was born on July 10. 1844, and died on October 28, 1907. He wa the son of Samuel and Isabel W. ( Austin) Pyle, the former of whom was born on July 22, 1812, and died on July 1, 1887. The Pyles came originally from North Carolina, Samuel Pyle's father, William, having been born there on March 11, 1788. About 1824 William Pyle built the Clarksville grist-mill, which be operated for about a quarter of a century. In 1869 he went to live with his son, William L. Pyle, at Indianapolis, and about six years afterwards, while on a visit to his old home in Clinton county, was taken severely ill and died on July 20, 1875, in his eighty-eighth year. William Pyle, who was the son of John and Ruth Pyle, was first married to Mary Hadley, who was born on July 17, 1792, and who died on February 7, 1848. Later he married Abigail Hadley, who died in 1853, after which he married Lydia (Hazard) Smith. William and Hary (Hadley) Pyle were the parents of nine children, among whom was Samuel, the father of the late Francis H. Pyle.

Samuel Pyle was married on July 6, 1837, to Isabel W. Austin, who was born on July 1, 1817, and who died on April 25, 1856. She was the daughter of Thomas and Eleanor Ann (McDaniels) Austin, the former of whom was born on August 2, 1777, and the latter on May 13, 1784. Eleanor Ann MeDaniels was the daughter of William and Priscilla Ann MeDaniels, the former born In June, 1754, and the latter on April 16, 1764. After the death of his first wife, in 1856, Samuel Pyle married, secondly, February 25, 1858, Mrs. Harriet S. McMillan, widow of Milton McMillan, who was born on January 13. 1816, and who died on January 12, 1883. Samuel Pyle was the father of eight children, namely : Anna Eliza, born on April 21, 1838; Emily C., October 14, 1839; Amanda M., July 29, 1842; Francis H., July 10, 1844; Melissa J., September 3, 1846; Thomas William, September 5, 1848; Alfred C., October 12, 1850; and Arthur W., October 23, 1853.

The late Francis H. Pyle received bis education in the schools of Adams township and farmed all of his life in the same township, where he owned one hundred and ninety- four acres of land. He was married on December 10, 1867, to Lizzie Hadley, who died on September 22, 1868, less than one year after their marriage. On January 11, 1877. he married, secondly, Lydia E. Osborn, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Fulghum) Oshorn, who was born on October 13, 1854, and who died on May 21. 1913. Francis H. Pyle was the father of four children.

Samuel C. Pyle, the eldest son of Francis H. Pyle, was born on September 7. 1878, and married Bessie J. Winfield on December 31. 1906. to which union three children have been born, Francis HI., born on November 21, 1907; Lloyd W., June 4, 1910, and Lawrence D., August 31, 1912. Ethel D. Pyle, the second child of Francis H. Pyle, was born on January 11, 1880, and on February 21, 1006, married Alonzo E. Carson, who was born on August 19, 1871, to which union two children have been born, Eleanor L., born on November 10. 1906, and Joseph P., March 2, 1910. Myrtle F. Pyle, the third child, was born on May 13. 1881. Earl F., the fourth child, was born on August 18, 1884, and on February 28, 1906, married Mildred C. Hooton, who was born on December 6, 1885. to which union five children have been born: Myron O., born on January 18. 1907; Manard T., October 24. 1908: Henry S .. August 23. 1910, who died on September 8, 1913; Edwin A., September 17, 1912. and Frank L., June 20, 1915.

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Earl F. and Myrtle E. Pyle live on the old home farm of two hundred and forty-six acres and are engaged in general farming and stock raising. They have a dairy and keep thoroughbred Jersey cattle, making breeding a specialty. This worthy brother and sister are warranted in a just measure of pride which they take in the ancestry of the Pyle family.

J. OSCAR VILLARS.

Among the oldest familles in Clinton county, Ohio, are the Villars, whose ancestral home was established in this county early in the last century, when James Villars, the great-grandfather of J. Oscar Villars, the subject of this sketch, emigrated from Greene county, Pennsylvania.

For a little more than a century, therefore, the family has been established in Clinton county, and the late generations of the familly, especially, have been prominent in the educational life of this section of Ohio. The healthful growth of this family is due in part. no doubt, to the high standard of morality and of Christian living which the varlous generations have maintained. Several members of the family have enjoyed a college education. Others have been lending farmers and stockmen, but almost without exception, they have been prominent in the religious life of the county.

J. Oscar Villars, who represents the fourth generation of the Villars family in Clinton county, was born near Clarksville, in this county, July 3, 1873, and is the son of John W. and Kezia (Penquite) Villars, the former of whom was born, October 3, 1833, in Vernon township. Clinton county, Ohio, and died on September 20, 1885, and the latter of whom was born in 1835, In Washington township, Warren county, Ohio, and who died on December 25, 1877.

Mr. Villars' paternal grandparents were James and Frances (Gregg) Villars, the former of whom was born on October 28, 1800, and when six years of age accompanied his father, James Villars, to Ohio, from Greene county, Pennsylvania. The family bad come from Virginia originally. In 1813 James Villars came with his family to Clinton county, and purchased a farm in what is now known as Vernon township. His son, James, finally owned sixteen hundred acres of land in Clinton county, and divided bis time between farming and preaching. The pioneer preacher was called a circuit rider, and James Villars was a circuit rider, or itinerant preacher, in the Methodist Protestant church, and founded Villars chapel, in Vernon township. In 1868. This church was not essentially sectarian, but was dedicated to the use of any Christian religion. James Villars, before the formation of the Republican party, was a Whig, but afterwards identified himself with the party of Lincoln. He and his wife had twelve children.

Mr. Villars' maternal grandfather, William Penquite, was an early settler in the eastern part of Warren county, Ohio. The Penquites came from Cornwall, England, where they were living as early as 1600. The earliest history of the family, in America, begins with that of Mary Penquite, who was born on October 25, 1719, and died on July 31. 1818. Her son, William, was born on August 16, 1756. and died on March 28, 1839. His son, William, was born on September 80, 1786, and died on September 20, 1865. His daughter. Kezia, was the mother of J. Oscar Villars.

The late John William Villars, son of James Villars, grew up on his father's farm in Vernon township, and attended Yellow Springs College. During the Civil War he was the captain of a company of "squirrel hunters." He was given a farm by his father and later purchased additional acreage, living one mile east of Clarksville, Ohio, where he owned three hundred and thirty-three acres. This was his home at the time of his death. Like his father before him, he was an ardent Republican. His wife was a member of the so-called Campbellite church. better known today as the Christian church. Mra Kezia (Penquite) Villars, the mother of J. Oscar, died when he was four years old, leaving four sons and one daughter. The daughter, Jennie, died the following summer,

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but the four boys are yet living. William, the eldest, lives near Clarksville, in Warren county : Horace Finley, In Little Rock, Arkansas, and Charles Edwin, in Chicago, Illinois.

The father died when J. Oscar was twelve years old, after which he lived with his brother, William, in Warren county, Ohio. During this period he attended the public schools of Clarksville, subsequently entering Wilmington College, where he was a student for four years, graduating in 1894. In Wilmington College he won a fellowship to Haverford College, and the next year after his graduation from Wilmington College was a student at Haverford, where he received his Master degree in 1895.

Mr. Villars, upon his graduation from Haverford, taught in the Wilmington high school for three years, and then taught ten years in the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, near Philadelphia. For six years he was instructor in mechanical drawing and for six years he was assistant superintendent of this school endowed with one million, five hundred thousand dollars by the late Isaiah V. Williamson, of Phila- delphia. After this he migrated to Montana, where he remained three years, at Great Falls. After the death of his father-in-law, he returned to Wilmington. since which he has been teaching and attending to business interests. He and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and, fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He lives on Xenia avenue, in Wilmington.

On August 11, 1897, J. Oscar Villars was married to Lula Cecilia Statler, who was born in Vernon township, this county, August 28, 1875, the daughter of George Henry and Mary M. ( McCray) Statler, the former of whom is dereased. The latter lives in Wilmington.

Professor and Mrs. Villars have two sons. Donald Statler, born on December 21, 1900, and Roger Merrill, October 3, 1904.

Of Mrs. Villars' parentage, it may be said that her father, George Henry Statler, was born near Little East fork. In Vernon township, this county, on June 10. 1849, and died in Wilmington on September 20, 1912. The Statler family were all members of the Methodist Episcopal church and stanch Republicans.

George Henry Statler was the son of Samuel and Mary ( Harris) Statler, the former of whom was born in Loudon county, Virginia. December 25. 1799, and died on April 12. 1868. The latter was born in the same county in Virginia, September 18, 1803, and died on September 15, 1884. John Statler. the father of Samuel, was a native of Germany, who emigrated to Virginia and became a planter and slave-bolder. He enlisted and served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War and, with his two brothers, was discharged where Washington City now stands and afterward purchased one thousand acres of land in Clinton county, Ohio, for the benefit of his three children.

Samuel Statler, grandfather of Mrs. Villars, grew up in Virginia and spoke no language save the German until he was eight years of age. At the age of nineteen be came to Ohio, and made his home with his brother-in-law. Dr. Asael Tribbey. He soon erected a cabin on the land his father had purchased, and, as he was a man of ability and thrift. soon enjoyed great prosperity. He died in 1868, Jeaving his nine children very well circumstanced.

Mrs. Mary ( Harris) Statler, grandmother of Mrs. Villars, was the daughter of James and Mary (Cherry) Harris, both of whom came from Loudoun county, Virginia, and were of Welsh descent. In 1806 James Harris located in Vernon township, where he became a wealthy farmer. As a member of the Whig party. he served in the state Legislature of Ohio. He and his wife came to this county at a time when there were no roads here- about, but only "blazed" trails.

The late George Henry Statler was the youngest of nine children, of whom only four are living. Of his father's estate, he Inherited the homestead house, which was built in 1800, together with about two hundred acres of land, which now belongs to his daughter. Mrs. Villars. He lived upon the farm until 1004, at which time be retired and moved to

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Wilmington, where his last days were spent. He was a strong Republican, quiet and re- tiring in his home life; a man of even temperament, good business ability, thrifty and prosperous.

On September 11. 1873, George Henry Statler was married to Mary Melissa McCray, who was born in Warren county, this state, near Clarksville, on February 16, 1853, and who is still living in Wilmington. She is the daughter of Samuel C. and Sarah Elizabeth (Humphreys) McCray, the former of whom was born in Salem township, Warren county, February 14, 1831, and died on June 21, 1900, and the latter of whom was born in the same county on May 28. 1830, and died on September 9, 1906. Samuel C. McCray . was the son of Daniel and Harriett ( Skinner) McCray, both natives of Loudon county, Virginia, very early settlers of Warren county, this state. They were farmers and mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. Harriett ( Skinner) McCray was the daughter of a colonel of Virginia troops, who served during the Revolutionary War.

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History of Clinton County, Ohio Its People, Industries, and Institutions, with Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, Part 118

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1108

Author: Albert J. Brown (A.M.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : W.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1108