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 55

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 55

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To William and Rachel Louise ( Moore) Miller were born six children, namely : Clara, now deceased, was the wife of L. E. Kretzer, of Lebanon. Ohio; Ed C. is a travel- ing salesman of Sabina ; Isaac, who lives in Wilmington, Ohio, is a salesman in the store of Frank Gallup: Harry is a farmer at Westboro, Ohio: Frank L .. is the subject of this sketch; Nellie, a twin sister of Frank L., Is the wife of J. E. Briggs, of Morrisville, Ohio. The mother of these children, Rachel Louise Miller, is a daughter of Samuel and Christiana (Rhonemus) Moore, both of whom were born in Washington township, Clinton county. the former in 1520, and the latter in 1819. Both are now deceased, the father dying in 1900, and the mother in July, 1884. Samuel Moore was the son of MeCagy and Reberca (McGee) Moore, who were of Irish descent and who came from Pennsylvania to Clinton county, being numbered among the early settlers of this locality. Samuel Moore was a farmer throughout his active life, owning one hundred acres of land in Washingon township. The family all belonged to the Christian church. Samuel and Christina Moore were the parents of ten children.

Frank L. Miller was born at Sabina, Clinton county, Ohio, on October 20. 1875. He secured his elementary education in the country schools near Martinsville and in the public schools of Wilmington after the family moved to this city. At the age of twenty years he applied himself to learn the trade of Jeweler under El Devoss at Wilmington, with whom he remained ten years, becoming a proficient workman and fully qualified

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for any department of that trade. In 1906 Mr. Miller went to New Vienna and started a store on his own account, but in 1908 he came to Wilmington and bought a store which he has since conducted. He is very successful in his conduct of the business and has met the public approval to such an extent that he is in the enjoyment of his full share of the local trude. He carries a splendid up-to-date stock of goods and his courteous treatment and evident desire to please his customers has gained for him a well deserved popularity.

Mr. Miller is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter at Wilmington, and is a member and a trustee of the Baptist church of this city. His family also belong to this same church. He is a member of the Com- mercial Club of Wilmington, and in many ways has evinced bis personal interest in the local public welfare.

On September 1, 1904, Frank L. Miller was married to Sarah Walker, who was born on a farm near Wilmington, the daughter of Abel and Mary Walker. Her mother is living, but her father, who was one of the founders of the Clinton County National Bank, is now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born one child. Mary Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Miller move in the best social circles of Wilmington, and are deservedly popular with the people of this section.

LAWRENCE EGAN.

Lawrence Egan, a well-known business man of Wilmington, Ohio, during the past eleven years, has been engaged in the coal. building supply and sewer-pipe business in this city, with an office and yard on Sugar Tree street. Today he holds a distinctive position of prestige among the successful business men of Clinton county and has had much to do with advancing the material interests of the city of Wilmington and in helping to make it one of the most important commercial centers of this section of the state. Such a man cannot fall to Interest, for he is not only a representative citizen in his sphere of endeavor, but here he has established a reputation for honor and integrity.

Lawrence Egan, who was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, January 11, 1851. is the son of Lawrence and Margaret (Maher) Egan, the former of whom was born in County Tipperary in 1821 and who died In 1895, and the latter of whom, likewise, was born in County Tipperary in 1830, and who died in 1892, Mr. Egan's paternal grand- parents were Lawrence and Catherine (Butler) Egan, the latter of whom was Lord Butler's sister, but who, nevertheless, married a man without rank or title. The Butlers owned a big estate and Lord Butler's sister, the grandmother of Mr. Egan, had a life estate, and as long as there was a son nanusi Lawrence in the family, he was entitied to the fruits of the estate. The Egans had a large amount of property In an early day In Ireland, but during an insurrection the Catholics had all of their property confiscated. The Evans, who were good Catholics and who wanted to avoid confiscation. deeded their land to old Captain Butler. a lord, and the great-grandfather of Lawrence Egan. The Butlers refused to return the land, but instead gave them positions as overseers on the estate so they would not cause so much trouble. Mr. Ezan's grandparents lived and died in Ireland and were good Catholics. His maternal grandparents also lived and died In that country.

Lawrence Egan, Sr., was a gardener and served an apprenticeship of seven years in learning his trade. In 1851 he came to New York state and later emigrated to Kentucky, where he worked on the railroad. Within a few months he emigrated to Clarksville, Warren county, Ohio, and worked for John Hadley, a raltrond contractor. In 1852 bis family Joined him and when the family emigrated to Ohio they were accompanied by Lawrence, Jr., the subject of this sketch. The family was sixteen weeks In the trip across the ocean from Liverpool to New Orleans, and six weeks in the trip up the river. In 1857 the Egan family came to Wilmington, Ohio, where the futher

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worked on the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville railroad as a section boss for many years. Eventually, however, he purchased a farm in Clinton county and there died. He and his wife and family were good Catholles They had seven children, of whom Lawrence was the eldest; Richard is a policeman in Wilmington; Thomas ia a druggist In Wilmington; Patrick is a resident of Anderson, Indiana; John is a druggist in Wilmington; Mary is the wife of Thomas Maher, of Kokomo, Indiana, and Margaret, who is single, lives in Wilmington.

Lawrence Egan attended the public schools and after finishing his education worked in a grocery for some time. He had been compelled to go to work at the age of nine years. After reaching maturity be rented land for several years, and was finally mar- ried in Clinton county, Ohio. After his marriage, he engaged in the grocery business in . Wilmington for a short time, and then sold out and started a retail coal business. Here he has been engaged in business for the past eleven years, with his office and yard on Sugar Tree street.

In 1888 Mr. Egan was married to Jennle Spinks, a native of Kentucky and the daughter of William Spinks, now deceased, who was a farmer in Washington township. near Wilmington.

Mr. and Mrs. Egan have had three children, Catherine, Lawrence W. and Mary Ellen. Lawrence W. assists his father in the coal business.

J. TURNER DARNELL.

The subject of this interesting biographical sketch is one of the best-known horse fanciers and trainers in Ohio, a man who loves horses and has a singular and widely- recognized facility for bringing out the best there is in a horse in the matter of speed. J. Turner Darnell, of Wilmington, this county. has been engaged as a trainer for years, and bas the credit of having developed some of the best "steppers" that ever performed in the Ohio cireuit. As an owner, also, he is widely known, and during his career has been the possessor of some mighty fast horseflesh, including the famous "Kate Phelps," pacer. two-seventeen and one-quarter; "Minnie Burus," pacer, two-twelve and one-quarter; "Belmont Lady," trotter, two-thirteen and one-quarter, besides others of more than merely local fame ; and at present is the owner of "Ebony Todd." a phenomenal three-year old that done a furlong in seventeen seconds: "Crystal Wall," four-year-old trotter, with a record of a furlong in eighteen seconds: "Minnie Pointer." a four-year-old pacer, and "Lady Commodore,"a promising two-year-old. both of which have plenty of speed. He also is a trainer of race horses for other owners and has a wide reputation for his ability to "deliver the goods" in this connection.

J. Turner Darnell was born in Guffford county, North Carolina, near the city of Salem. on April 17. 1864. the son of Jacob and Rhoda ( Brooks) Darnell, both of whom were born on the same plantation in Guilford county, the former in 1812 and the Intter in 1817. In March of 1872, some years after emancipation, Jacob Darnell and his wife and children left North Carolina and came to Ohio, locating at Wilmington, this county, where Jacob and wife spent the rest of their lives, his death occurring in 1883 and her death occurring in 1855. For fifteen years Jacob Darnell served as janitor of the school building in Wilmington. a trust to which he ever was faithful, and he and bis wife possessed the respect and confidence of the community. They were the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest, the others being Albert, Alice and Susan, the latter two of whom died in young womanhood.

J. Turner Darnell attended the public schools of Wilmington and received an excellent grammar-school education. For several years he worked as a clerk in Hames' grocery store, after which he opened a restaurant, which he successfully conducted until 1914. at which time he began giving his whole attention to the development of his training stables, he having for nearly fifteen years before that time been actively engaged in developing

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the speed strains in promising colts of his own or such others as were brought to him by other owners, and he has had an unusual degree of success In this enterprise, Darnell's horses having a wide reputation over the racing circuits.

In October, 1882, J. Turuer Darnell was united in marriage to Eliza Jane Thompson, who was born in Rochester, Warren county, this state, and to this union three children have been born, William T., Ethel May aud Vernon. Dr. William T. Darnell is a prac- tieing physician at Xenla, this state, where he bas built up an excellent practice. He received bis medical education at Chicago and for a time occupied the post of interne at Booker T. Washington's hospital, Inter going to the republic of Mexico, where he practiced his profession for a year, but Anding things too warm for comfort in that unhappy and revolution-ridden republic, returned to his native state and located at Xenia, where he is doing well. Ethel May married George Steward ; upon whose death she married, secondly, Arthur Fisher, of Cincinnati, and is living in that city. Vernon is still at home, an invaluable assistant to his father.

J. T. Darnell is a Republican and for years has been an active worker in the ranks of that party and on several occasions was sent as a delegate to district conventions of the party, and he served one term as constable, having been elected on the Republican ticket. He is a good business man and is financially independent. Horsemen throughout this part of the state repose much confidence in his ability to judge the qualities of a prospective racer and his training stables are kept busy developing promising strains. He is a prominent member of the colored Masonic. Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias lodges at Wilmington and takes a warm interest in the affairs of those useful fraternal organizations, being regarded as a leader of the people of his race hereabout.

J. LESTER SPAHR.

It may truthfully be said that he who erentes beauty is a public benefactor no less than he who creates the more material forms of wealth, The artist, no matter In what field he may labor, turns the attention for the moment from the common, sordid scenes of life. and directs it to that which is perhaps more worth while, though les valued and less honored. He whose name formus the theme of this biography spent his boyhood amid scenes of natural beauty, for he was a farmer's sou, and there he received those early impressions which determined in after years the direction which his energies should take J. Laster Spahr, one of the leading photographers of this county, was born in Greene county. Ohio, on August 4, 1577, his parents, Robert S. and Martha A. (Saville) Spahr, both being natives of the same county.

The parents were people of moderate means, and it took hard work and careful planning to provide shelter, food and clothing for the ten children that came to this Inue. But although theirs were busy lives, neither father nor mother neglected those higher duties having for their objert the training of the minds of their children which should result in strong, useful character. The fact that all of the subject's brothers and sisters are living is tribute to the care and wisdom of their mother who also is still living. The children of Robert S. and Martha A. Spahr were as follow : Albert G. of Xenia, Ohio; R. O., a farmer of Greene county : J. Lester, our subject ; Howard S., of Xenia : Fanny, wife of Lee Ledbetter, of Xenia ; Sherwin G .; F. B., Emma Spahr, Homer C. and Earl R., all of Xenia.

With so many to provide for, it was necessary that the elder children remain on the form to help their father and mother, the latter's life being as strenuous and as use- ful as that of her worthy husband. Thus it was that Lester did not leave the home place until he was twenty-one, receiving his education in the public schools. Leaving the farm when he reached his majority. he became a clerk and was employed by n number of merchants in Xenia, giving satisfactory service in this occupation. Being ambitions to have a business of his own, when he was twenty-six years old, he took up

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photography in the town in which he and some of his family were then living, and in 1906, he came to Wilmington to live, buying the studio where his present business In located.

J. Lester Spahr was married on January 1, 1914, to Zella Hayes, a daughter of Capt. Mellville Hayes, of Wilmington.

Mr. Spabr, while busy with matters relating to his own profession has identified himself with commercial organizations, and in thus doing, has not only contributed to his own success but also to the commercial interests of his home town. He is a promin- ent member of the Commercial Club, and is secretary and treasurer of the Ohio Society of Photographers, as well as a member of the National Association of Photographers. Mr. Spabr is known as one of the active, energetic, public-spirited business men of this community. Besides the above business affiliations, Mr. Spahr is interested in fraternal orders, and is a Mason. He and his wife are communicants of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they are among the most active and useful members.

Mr. Spabr is numbered among those men in the community who can always be depended upon to be kind in his judgments, considerate of the rights and welfare of others, and genial and trustworthy to a high degree.

GEORGE M. AUSTIN, M. D.

Few families of pioncer desrent are better known in Clinton county than the Austins and the Smiths, families which, from the very beginning of the social order in this favored community, have played a prominent part in the affairs of the county. By the marriage of Benjamin N. Austin and Mary Smith, a happy union of these two familles was effected and Dr. George M. Austin, of Wilmington, one of the best-known and most prominent physicians in the county, thus traces his ancestry to these two lines of dominant pioneer stock. The Austins came to this county in 1508, the Smiths locating here eight years later, and both familles exerted a powerful influence for good in the formative period of the now well-established commonwealth, ever being found on the side of the right in all movements designed to promote the general welfare.

George M. Austin was born on a farm near the Mt. Pleasant church, in Vernon township, Clinton county, Ohio, August 23, 1856, son of Benjamin N. and Mary (Smith) Austin. the former of whom was born in Surrey county. North Carolina, in 1810, and died in 1870, and the latter of whom was born in Vernon township, this county, in 1821. and died in 1901.

Benjamin N. Austin was a son of William and Elizabeth (Austin) Austin, first cousins, the former of whom was a native of Prince George's county, Maryland, and the latter of whom was a native of Albemarle county. Virginia. The Austin family in America dates to about the close of the seventeenth century, at which time the first of that name to locate in this country settled In Maryland. This colonial Austin was a member of the English gentry and maintained a proper display of his cont-of-arms after coming to this side. The Austins are of Norman descent, the family being directly traced back to a noted thirteenth-century crusader.

William Austin was bereft of bis father by death when a young child and upon reaching a proper age was apprenticed to the carpenter trade, at which he became quite proficient. He assisted in the construction of the first locks in the Potomac river at the time Washington City was built. At Charlottesville, Virginia, he married his cousin, Elizabeth Austin, and located in Surrey county. North Carolina, where, for eight years, he was engaged in farming. At the end of that time, In 1911, attracted by the glowing reports sent back by his brother, Thomas Austin, who had located in this county three years before and wishing to avold slave territory he decided to come to Clinton county. With his family and belongings transported in two wagons, drawn by oxen, he made the tollsome journey to this county in six weeks, hailing the stopping places In Vernon town-

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ship with joy. For three years he lived on a farm near the confluence of Todd's creek and Cowan's creek, near which place his brother, Thomas, bad located in 1808, and three years later bought three hundred and twenty acres of land in the eastern part of the same township; later enlarging his holdings by buying four hundred acres nearby, and there he spent the remainder of his life. On this farm the Austin family established a private burial ground, which, years later, was extended to include the bounds of the present Mt. Pleasant cemetery.

Though the Austins originally were members of the Church of England, William Austin became a devout Wesleyan Methodist and performed a very active part in the organization of the Methodist church in this county. Soon after arriving in this county he founded the Mt. Pleasant Methodist church and all his life was one of the most liberal supporters of the same. He also founded the first Methodist church in the then com- paratively insignificant hamlet of Wilmington, this church having thus had a con- tinuous existence of more than one hundred years, it having been organized in the year 1813. William Austin was a man of unusual vigor, hoth bodily and mentally, and easily ranked among the foremost pioneers of that section. He was a capable and forceful speaker and was wont to fill the pulpits of his two churches during the absence of the "circuit" preacher. whose visits to this county then were made but once in six weeks, and thus became known far and wide as a local preacher of much power, his influence extending far beyond the confines of Clinton county, no man in this section of the state being beld in higher regard than be. His son, Benjamin N. Austin, surrounded by such wholesome influences, grew up to useful and influential manhood. He was. not yet one year old when his parents made the tollsome journey from North Carolina to this county, therefore practically all his life was spent here. His youth and young manhood were spent in assisting his father to reclaim bis large estate from the forest wilderness and later he cleared a small farm of his own, to which he later added further purchases, receiving also a tract by inheritance, until he became the owner of three hundred acres of excellent land in Vernon township. He also owned a half section of land in Indiana and was counted as one of the most substantial residents of this county, He, following in the footsteps of his devout parents, was an earnest member of the Methodist church. ever active in promoting the interests of that communion, and three of his brothers became Methodist ministers.

Benjamin N. Austin was twice married. By the union with his first wife eight chil- dren were born, namely : Willlam Harrison, who died during the Civil War, while serving in the ranks of the One Hundred and First Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry ; Mrs. Catherine Billers, dereased : Thomas, who died in infancy; Mrs. Mary Bogus, deceased : Francis Bogus, died in infancy; Mrs. Sarah E. Cogall. who lives in Alabama : James Fletcher, a farmer, who lives in Illinois, and Ruth, now deceased, who married Philip Sherwin, a merchant of Cleveland, Ohio.

T'pon the death of the mother of the above children. Benjamin N. Austin married, secondly. Mary Smith, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah ( Higgins) Smith, the latter of whom was a daughter of Matthew Higgins, a soldier in the patriot army from New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. Epbraim Smith was the son of Simon Smith, a New Jersey blacksmith, whose grandfather was an English sailor who settled in Long Island and Jater moved with his family to New Jersey. Ephraim Smith came to Ohio in the year 1816, locating in this county, where he settled on a farm in Vernon township, where he spent the rest of his life. This farm was situated on the main highway of travel in the pioneer days and Ephraim Smith operated a tavern at that point called I'nion Inn (near Villars chapel), which had high renown in those days for the excellent character of entertainment which it provided for both man and beast. The Smiths were members of the Baptist church and were substantial and influential citizens of their day ;

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there being a large family of children, whose progeny today are honorably represented in various sections of this county, further information regarding whom is set out in the biographical sketch relating to S. G. Smith, presented elsewhere in this volume.

To Benjamin N. and Mary (Smith) Austin were born six children, as follow : Charles T., who died In childhood; George M., of Wilmington; Alpheus, a Methodist minister, stationed at Madisonville, Ohio, one of the leading ministers of the Cincinnati conference ; Louis E., who died at the age of seventeen; Florence, who lives at Wilming. ton, and Emma, who died in childhood.

George M. Austin was reared on the home farm in Vernon township, attending the district school nearby, later attending Wilmington high school, from which he was grad- nated in 1880. He then entered the Medical College of Oblo at Cincinnati, from which excellent old Institution he was gradnated in 1883. Upon receiving his diploma he immediately located in Wilmington and has been very successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in that city since that time. Doctor Austin is one of the fore- most physicians of this part of the state, and his practice extends far beyond the borders of the county. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Ohio State Medieal Society and the Clinton County Medical Society, in all of which organizations he takes an interested part. Since his boyhood, Doctor Austin has been interested In geology and archeology, particularly in local geological formations, and he has perhaps the finest collection of geological specimens relating to this section to be found in the state. His thoughtful research in this connection has caused him to be recognized as an authority on the subject and he is in wide demand on the part of geological societies and journals devoted to that subject for papers relating to his discoveries, while the United States governent geological survey recognizes him as an authority in this section, he frequently being called on to supply the government with accredited specimens from his choice collection.

On December 30, 1890, George M. Austin was united in marriage to Elmin C. Watson. who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio. daughter of Rev. John M. and Eliza (Negus) Watson, the former of whom, for many years a missionary in the west, is now making his home with Doctor and Mrs. Austin, his wife having died some years ago. Elma C. Watson was a former teacher in Wilmington College and was thus engaged when Doctor Austin formed her acquaintance. She is a woman of most admirable qualifications for the difficult role of a physician's wife and has proved a devoted helpmeet to her earnest husband. Doctor and Mrs. Austin are the parents of four children, Faith, a teacher in the Philadelphia public schools, and Mary E., John B. and Elizabeth, who are still at home.

ISAAC NEWTON LAIR.

That "there is no honor not founded on worth, and no respect not founded on accomplishment," can be applied fittingly to the subject of this blography, who is widely and favorably known in this county. He has been endowed with energy, foresight and absolute integrity, and in business, as in private life, has possessed the confidence of his associates as well as that of the public in general. Isaac Newton Lair, cashier of the Citizens' National Bank of Wilmington. Ohlo, Is a scion of one of Kentucky's old and honored families.

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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 55

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