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 62

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 62

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Mr. and Mrs. Vandervort belong to the Walnut Street Christian church in Wil- mington, where Mr. Vandervort has served as a deacon. Mr. Vandervort is a Republican.

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JOHN STEPHENS.

A celebrated moralist once remarked that "there has scarcely passed a life of which a judicious and faithful narrative would not have been useful." There can be no doubt of the truth of this opinion when expressed by one of the greatest and best of men and It is particularly ftting to present the salient facts in the life of the late John Stephens, of U'nion township. Clinton county, Ohio. He was an industrious and successful farmer, an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, who, as a consequence of his industry, perse- verance, temperance and integrity, rose to a position of prominence among the hundreds of eminent farmers of this county. During his long and useful life he was highly esteemed in the locality where he resided.

John Stephens was born on March 31, 1840, near Waynesville, Oblo, and died on May 2. 1914. He was the son of Obadiah and Susannah (Ireland) Stephens.

Obadiah Stephens was a well-known farmer and stock raiser of Clinton county, wbo was born in Morris county, New Jersey, April 22. 1813. He was the son of Ebenezer and Maria (Phoenix) Stephens, natives of New Jersey and of English and German descent. His maternal grandfather was a soldier in the War of the Revolution and 'his father In the War of 1812. Ebenezer Stephens was a millwright by trade and also a farmer. His son was a farmer and later a distiller. At the time of his death, he owned about four hundred and fifty acres in Clinton county. Obadiab Stephens came to Clinton county in 1847. On April 13, 1837. he was married in Warren county to Susanna Ireland. She was a native of Frederlek county. Virginia, the daughter of Francis and Sarah (Curl) Ireland. the former of whom was a farmer by occupation and who located in Warren county in 1815, on a farm of sixty acres, where he Ilved until his death in November, 1917. and the latter of whom was also a native of the Old Dominion. Francis and Sarah (Curl) Ireland had six children : Thomas J .. Lucinda, Susannah, John C., Artimesia and James M.

Obadiah and Susannah Stephens were the parents of four children : Ann, Eliza, Emmeline. Francis I., and John, the subject of this sketch. Obadiah Stephens was n prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a Democrat. His paternal grandmother, who was a native of Wales and who lived to be ninety-seven years old. left one hundred and forty-four descendants at her death, including in all five generations. Some years before his death, Obadiah Stephens built a large frame house which still stands. Of the children born to him and his wife, Ann Eliza married Henry Lewis and they are both deceased : Emmeline is a resident of Wilmington, Oblo, and lives on Rhombach avenue : Francis I., who was born on June 30, 1542. married Sarah Gallaber and died on September 12. 1912. He was a farmer. The father of these children died In October, 1897, at the age of seventy-three and the mother. March 0. 1595, at the age of seventy-one.

John Stephens received the rudiments of an education in the public schools of I'nion township at Burtonville, He lived with his father and mother until his marriage, and in 1876 his father built another house for his son on the same farm and near the public highway. There he lived and assisted in the operations of the farm until his parents' deaths. Afterwards he moved into the large old homestead where he lived until his death. At the death of his father and mother, he received as his Inheritance the home- stead farm in partnership with his mumarried sister. Emmeline. Mrs. John Stephens still lives on the farm and continues its management. Altogether the farm now com- prises two hundred and thirty-one acres of land.

On March 2, 1876. John Stephens was married to Alwilda MeKenzie, who was born in Henry county. Iowa, the daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Morton) MeKenzie. hoth of whom were natives of Clinton county, born near New Antioch, the former of whom died in 1866 at the age of thirty-three and the latter of whom is still living at the age of seventy-seven. Soon after their marriage William and Elizabeth Mckenzie moved to

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Iowa, where they took up a claim. Later Mr. Mckenzie kept a hotel in Nebraska City, where he died in 1866. His widow and children returned to Clinton county, Ohio, and she afterwards married Eli Carson. They now live near Martinsville In Clinton county.

To the marriage of William and Elizabeth Mckenzie there were born five children, of whom Mrs. Stephens was the eldest. The others are: Perry, who lives at Martins ville, Ohio, where he is a carpenter ; Stanley, who is a farmer and lives near New Vienna ; Geneva, who married Samuel Skimming, a farmer living in Wilmington; and Keith, who died young. Elf and Elizabeth Carson were the parents of three children: Stella, who married Benson Wert; Bert, who lives at Dayton, Ohio; and Carey, who is a resident of Logan, Ohio.

Mr. and Mrs. Jobu Stephens had no children but they reared one child, Lola Clevenger, although she was not legally adopted. She married Matthew Ewbanks, a farmer of Union township.

Mr. Stepbens was a Democrat but one who never aspired to office and one who was never especially active in political matters. He was a man of quiet and unassuming manners, modest in his claim to greatness but gentle and kind to his wife and to those with whom he was most closely associated. He was a good man and a good citizen.

ELDORADO BRIGGS, M. D.

Dr. Eldorado Briggs is entitled to classification among those whose names add dis- tinction to the medical profession, not only in Wilmington, this county, although that city is his headquarters, but throughout a locallty comprising a much larger area. As an able and skillful practitioner, Doctor Briggs is worthy of due consideration in a publication such as the present one, in which one of the functions is to record the chief events in the lives of those who have been especially useful to their community. It has been largely through his own efforts that the subject of this brief review has risen to a position of prominence and popularity in the medical profession, as well as In business circles of the city in which he lives.

Eldorado Briggs was born on a farm near Wilmington, this county, on October 6, 1×53, son of Capt. Samuel and Catherine (Clevenger) Briggs, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey, and the latter, of Ohio. When Abel Briggs, paternal grandfather of Dr. Eldorado Briggs first came to Ohio, he settled in Warren county, and later finding the county of Clinton more to his liking, in 1825 he moved his family here, where he spent the rest of his life. Dr. Eldorado Briggs was the third of five children, born to his parents, the others being Alonzo, Romeo, Abel and Sarah. the only survivors now being Prof. Abel Briggs, of WHmington, and Doctor Briggs. Capt. Samuel Briggs died on the old home farm in this county, when the subject of this sketch was seventeen years of age. His widow continued to make a home for her children and survived until 1910.

The early life of Eldorado Briggs was not widely different from that of other farmer boys. He finished his common-school education at Martinsville, Ohio, and began teaching school In 1874, continuing thus engaged for four years, at the end of which time he began the medical studies which were to make of him a prominent physician. In 1879 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati and was graduated from that Institution in ISSI. He then practiced medicine for the seven years at Cuba, this county, at the end of which time, he took a post-graduate course at the Polyclinic school in New York City. I'pon returning from the East, he began to practice in Columbus, Ohio, but remained there only a year when he settled permanently in Wilmington, and engaged in the gen- eral practice of bis profession.

Doctor Briggs has been twice married. His first wife was Eva Cast of this county. to whom he was married in 1885. In 1903. Mrs. Briggs passed away. The following year he married Carrie Elder, and since that time their home is one of the most attractive and popular centers of social life in the city.

CLINTON COUNTY, OHIO.

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Professionally, Doctor Briggs is a man of more than local reputation, his association with many important organizations professional and otherwise, being the result of his personality as a man, and his success as a physician. As an indication of the latter, especially might be mentioned the fact that he is local medical examiner for Clinton county with the Industrial Commission of Ohio; he is also surgeon for the Pennsylvania railroad and United States Examining Surgeon for pensions: is medical examiner for many insurance companies; he is a fellow of the American Medical Association, and a member of the Ohio State Medical Association, and the Clinton County Medical Society. Besides those activities directly concerned with the medical profession, Doctor Briggs has been and is connected with several of the largest business enterprises of the city. He'is a director of the Citizens' Bank, and also a director of the Champion Bridge Com- pany, as well as a member of the Commercial Club. Notwithstanding all of the above pursuits which go to make up a busy life, the doctor finds time to look after his farm in Vernon township of this county. During his residence in Cuba, Ohio, Doctor Briggs participated netively in polities, and was from 1885 until 1880 postmaster of that town, under a Democratic administration, this being the party with which he has always cast hls vote.

Doctor Briggs is a member of the Presbyterian church and has been liberal in both time and means in building up the strength of his church of which he Is at present a trustee. Doctor Briggs is also a prominent member of the Masonic lodge, in which he takes a very deep interest.

As the lives of many physicians have shown, much of their success is due to the kindly and sympathetic co-operation of their wives, and It would be difficult indeed .to close the present sketch without acknowledging the service . which Mrs. Briggs has ren- dered not only to her husband in his practice, but to the community, by her interest in his work and her practical helpfulness. In this respect. the physician's wife no less than the preacher's, is called upon to make personal sacrifices, and she too merits grateful recognition.

It is quite evident from the facts bere set forth, that both Doctor and Mrs, Briggs are useful as well as conspleuous members of the social group called a city, in which they have for some years made their home. They belong to that class of citizenship. which by its adherence to high ideals, and a strict sense of obligation, contribute largely to the prosperity and the good of the body politic, and their influence is thus very strongly felt by a very large circle of friends and associates.

SAMUEL HORACE HODGIN.

The final causes which determine the fortunes of Individual men and the destinies of states are often the mme. They are usually remote and obscure; their Influence is wholly unexpected until exposed by result. When they inspire men to the exercise of courage, self-denial and industry, call Into play the higher moral elements and lead men to risk all upon conviction, such causes lead to the turning of great states. great peoples and great movements. The country is the greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men. The intrinsic safety depends not so much upon measures and methods as upon that true manhood from whose deep sources all that is precious and permanent in life must at last proceed. Pursuing ench his personal good by exalted means, they work this out as a logical result, having wrought on the lines of the greatest good, What Samuel Horace Hodgin, president of Wilmington College. Is doing for his fellowmen and the community in general. might be told in words, but in its far-reaching influence his work cannot be measured by any fuite gauge of value. A well-educated. symmetrically developed man. his work as an educator has brought him prominently before the public, and today he stands In the front ranks of educators In the Middle West. Because of his earnest life, high attainments. well-rounded character and large

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influence, he is eminently entitled to specific mention In a work of the province of the one at hand. He is too well known to the people of Ohio to need any introduction through this history, and is by nature averse to any notice suvoring of adulation, but in the belief that houor should be accorded to whom honor is due, the following lines are devoted to a brief review of his career.

Samuel Horace Hodgin was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, on September 11, 1872, his home being near the famous old battle-ground of Guilford court house, where on March 15, 1781, Cornwallis was outgeneraled and forced to abandon the Carolinas. The subject's parents were David and Martha (Blair) Hodgin, both natives of North Carolina, the father of Guilford county, and the mother of Randolph county. David Hodgin came of good old Whig stock and was in religious belief, an ardent Quaker, as were the generations before him. The progenitor of the family in this country, Robert Hodgin, was a Quaker preacher, who in 1657, came from England to America and located in Pennsylvania. Samuel Hodgin's father was a man of splendid qualities, a gentleman farmer and schoolmaster. During the war between the states, he gave splendid service as collector for the eastern district, and Jater was a member of the North Carolina state Legislature. A leading citizen of his county, he exerted large influence and was held in high repute. David Hodgin died in 1898, and the mother of Samuel Hodgin is still living in North Carolina. Her great-grandmother was a Arst couslu of Lord Cornwallis. who commanded the British forces in America during the War for Independence. To David and Martha ( Blair) Hodgin were born thirteen children, of whom eleven are now living.

Samuel H. Hodgin received the ground work of bis education in a log school house, known as the Concord school in Guilford county, North Carolina. His father was the master of the school and to his training and discipline the subject gives a large share of credit for his mental training. Mr. Hodgin entered Guilford College, where he was graduated in 1895, following which he taught in the same college for two years. He went to Haverford College, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1808, and then returned to Guilford College as head of the department of English literature and history. He entered Harvard University in September, 1901, where he was graduated in 1902. During the following year, he was superintendent of the city schools of Oxford, North Carolina, and then accepted the position of head master of Oakwood Seminary, over which he presided for two years. This is the educational institution of the Society of Friends in New York state, and is counted among the best schools in that section of the country. In the autumn of 1905, he returned to Guilford College as head of the depart- ment of English language and literature. In 1912 he was offered and accepted the presi- dency of Wilmington College and at once entered upon his official duties. What he has done here is a matter of record.

As president of Wilmington College, Mr. Hodgin has earned the commendation of all who are well acquainted with the splendid work he has done. From a purely business standpoint, he has exhibited ability of the highest order, and during the few years in which he has been at the head of the college, the finances of the institution have been so handled and the policy of the school so wisely formulated and carried out that never in Its history has it been in better condition to carry on the great work before it than it is today. It was under Mr. Hodgin's direction and largely through the stimulus of his own personal effort that the reorganization of management of the college was effected. When he came to the presidency, the college was under the control of two different boards -one a board of trustees of nine members, and the other, a board of managers of eighteen members, all appointed by the quarterly meetings. Mr. Hodgin secured a change in the charter of the college so that It is now under the management of a board of trustees of nine members, and the affairs of the institution are managed with more ease and con-

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fidence and with less cause for friction. Along with this Improvement in the management of the institution has come a substantial increase in the attendance, the student body having Increased about fifty per cent during Mr. Hodgin's administration. The growth of Wilmington College since Mr. Hodgin became president is the highest testimonial that could possibly be paid to his ability and foresight as an executive and to his eminent standing as a broad-minded, scholarly and enterprising educator. He has always stood for the highest grade of work in the class room, exercises the greatest care over the buildings and grounds, looks after the comfort and welfare of the students, and, being proud of the college and jealous of its good name and honorable reputation, it is easily understood why he enjoys such great popularity with all connected with the institution. He has proved himself equal to every emergency in which he has been placed and to every position with which honored, and, as a ripe scholar and gentleman of cultivated taste and high ideals, fills a large place in the public view and enjoys to a marked degree the esteem and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact.

Samuel H. Hodgin was married in August, 1000, to Olive I .. Jenkins, of Richmond, Indiana, the daughter of Amasa and Mary Ann Jenkins, and to this union have been born two children, Olive Marian, born In 1909, and Samuel H., Jr., born in 1913.

Mr. Hodgin is a member of the Friends church, and takes a deep interest in spiritual matters. He is keenly alive to the Interests of the locality with which he is identified and, as a member of the Commercial Club, exerts a marked influence among the business men with whom he is associated. He Is a man of fine and forceful personality-the best type of young manhood. Genial and companionable and a splendid conversationalist. he is a welcome guest In any circle which he chooses to enter, for he carries with him the spirit of optimism and good cheer, while bis life is a constant source of inspiration to those who come under his Influence.

PERRY M. CHAMPLIN.

One of the enterprising and highly-respected farmers of ('linton county, who has succeeded in his chosen vocation, largely as the consequence of his own courage, persist- ency nud good management, is Perry M. Champlin, who owns a farm of two hundred and thirty-one acres In Washington township. He is a man who believes In taking a part in public affairs but he has never permitted outside Interests and influences to inter- fere with his success as a farmer.

Perry M. Champlin was born on August 28, 1866, on the old home farm in Washing- ton township, the son of Edward M. and Sarah ( Bates) Champlin, the former of whom was born on December 8, 1836, and the latter of whom was born on August 30. 1841.

Edward M. Champlin, the son of Joshua and Hannah E. Champlin, was reared on a farm and lived there until seventeen years of age. Joshua Champlin was a retired sea captain and settled In Washington township. Clinton county. He bought one hundred seventy-nine and three-quarters acres of land in 1830 and remained here the balance of his life. Beginning at the age of seventeen, Edward M. Champlin served an appren- ticeship of three years learning the printer's trade in the office of the Cincinnati Com- mercial, at the end of which period, he engaged in the retail grocery business with his brother. John M., at Cincinnati, where they lived for four years. At the end of that time. they returned to Clinton county, where, after living a year, an additional year was spent in the west. I'pon returning to Clinton county. Edward M. Champlin enlisted on September 15, 1861, In Company F, Seventeenth Regiment, Oblo Volunteer Infantry, werving under General Thomas. He participated In the battles of Wild Cat. Somerset, the siege of Corinth, Perryville, Hoover's Gap. Stone's River. Chickamauga and Mission- ary Ridge. Still later he enlisted as a veteran under Sherman and was engaged at Resaca. Kenesaw Mountain, Jonesboro and Atlanta. He participated In the famous march from Atlanta to the sea and was discharged with worthy honors at Camp Chase, Ohio, July

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17, 1865. On July 25, 1864, he was appointed first lieutenant and was finally promoted to adjutant, with which rank he was discharged. At the end of the war, he returned home and engaged in farming.

Edward M. Champlin was married to Sarah E. Bates, October 5, 1865. She was a native of Warren county and died on February 20, 1873. To this union were born four children : Perry M., the subject of this sketch; Minnie A .; and George and Falward B., both deceased. Mr. Champlin was married, secondly, June 18, 1874, to Mary E. Ireland, the daughter of John C. Ireland, of Wilmington. She was born in Warren county, Octo- ber 20, 1842, and bore her husband two children, Emma B. and Lena. Edward M. Champlin was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows He was a Repub- Henn and served two terms as township trustee.

Perry M. Champlin, whose paternal grandparents were Joshua and Hannah E. Champlin, natives of Rhode Island, was educated in the common schools of Washington township and, when a young man, began farming on his father's farm. This vocation he has followed ever since. He owns two hundred and thirty-one acres of land in Wash- ington township.

Perry M. Champlin was married to Florence E. Purdy, who was born in 1870 and died on October 2, 1910. To this union were born four children: Edward L. (deceased), who married Iva Sprinkle and had one child. Frances; May, who married George Irvin ; Orval, who died young; and Burdette. On August 27, 1911. Mr. Champlin was married. secondly, to Elizabeth Armbrewster. who was born on August 14. 1872. in Highland county, Ohio, the daughter of Dominic and Hannah Mary ( MeLaughlin) Armbrewster. No children have been born to this second marriage.

As a Republican, Mr. Champlin has served In various minor capacities, especially as a member of the school board. He is a member of the Junior Order of U'nited' American Méchantes.

ALFRED J. WILLIAMS.

In the wonderful progress humanity has been making along so many scientific lines in recent years. no more significant step has been taken in any direction than that which marks the improvement in the methods of caring for the physical ailments of mankind. All "schools" of medicine have been effected by the irresistible demand of bumanity for something that will actually touch at the roots of disease and provide correctives for the manifold bodily sufferings of humanity. In all of these "schools" there no doubt has been marked advance, due to this Insistent demand, but in the field so rapidly being filled by the progressive school of osteopathy, there has been an advance in the last few years that has been remarkable and which is being taken note of by thoughtful persons every. where.

Among the practicing osteopathie physicians of Ohio, there is none who enjoys a better reputation for keeping abrenst of all the latest knowledge which the unceasing research of science daily is bringing to light relating to the treatment of humanity's ailments, than Dr. Alfred J. Williams, who, since March, 1900, has been very successfully engaged in practice at Wilmington, this county, where he has well-equipped offices. Dur- ing the time Doctor Williams has been located in Wilmington he has made many warm friends, not only In the county seat. but in all parts of Clinton county, where the practice of his profession has called him. He undoubtedly has succeeded In proving to even the most doubting ones, who, not very many years ago, were inclined to look askance at the claims set up by the osteopathic school of treating human ills, the actual and unmistakable benefits growing out of the methods of this school of practice.

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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 62

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