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 95
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William Jasper Carter was educated in the common schools of Adams county, Ohio.
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and began life as a farmer in that county. There he remained until 1897, at which time he removed to Clark township, Clinton county. Thirteen years later he purchased the farm where he now lives near Martinsville. To William Jasper and Elizabeth (Storer) Carter were born five children, Elmer. Rosa, Lillie. Zora and Edgar. Of these children Lillie and Edgar are deceased. The family are all members of the Methodist church, while William J. Carter votes the Republican ticket.
Educated in the common schools of Adams county, Ohio, Elmer Carter began farm- ing on his own account in that county, and followed that occupation for eight years. He came to Clinton county, Ohio, February, 1897, with his parents, and has since lived in Clark township. He lived one mile west of Martinsville, and for twelve years lived on the David Hunt farm, About 1910 he purchased sixty-three arres of land where he now lives, and which is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Carter Is an extensive feeder of bogs, and has made a considerable success of this line of farming.
On January 9, 1500. Elmer Carter was married to Anna Kennedy, who was born on November 7, 1865, a native of Adams county, Ohio, and a daughter of James Kennedy. a native of Ireland and an early settler in Adams county, Ohio, Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of two children, Ray, who Is farming in North Dakota, and Ruby, who is at home. The family are members of the Methodist church, in which they take an active interest.
C. D. KESTER.
C. D. Kester, a retired farmer of ('lark township, Clinton county. Ohio, and for- merly a well-known merchant of Farmers Station, was born on December 20. 1841, in Clinton county. He is the son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Carey) Kester, who were natives of Grayson county, Virginia. Daniel Kester was born on May 30. 1811. and his wife in May, 1814. The fermer accompanied his parents to Clinton county In 1814. The latter was reared nt Careytown. Highland county.
Of Daniel Kester. It may be said that he spent only three months in school. Eager for knowledge, he studied by the light of splinters by the fireside and became a well- , Informed man. He learned the carpenter's trade, and followed It for many years, Sub- seguentiy he purchased land and engaged in farming. In the last years of his life. however, he was occupied with his trade. He owned three hundred and eighty-Ave acres of land at the time of his death, all of which he had bought and paid for himself. When he started life on his own responsibility at the age of twenty years, he was given an ax and a pair of "jeans" by his master. Daniel and Elizabeth (Carey) Kester had eleven children, Miles, Anna, John, Carey D., Hannah, Rachel, Tamer E .. Mary. Sarah, Jessie and Daniel 8. The family were members of the Friends church, and all have remained faithful to the church of their fathers, Elizabeth (Carey) Kester was the daughter of Samuel and Anna ( MePherson) Carey untives of Grayson county, Virginia, who immigrated first to Highland county. Ohio, and Inter to Martinsville. Clinton county. They died in Clark township at the home of a daughter. Samuel Carey was a black- smith by trade, and owned one hundred acres of land in Highland. county at the time of his death.
C. D. Kester was reared to manhood on his father's form, and engaged in farming during most of his active career. In December, 1804, he enlisted in Company F. Eighty- eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war, being discharged on July 3. 1865. In January, 1878, he was employed as manager of the Farmers Station Joint Stock Company, and held this position for five years, During the same period he was the agent for the Baltimore & Ohio railrond at Farmers Sta- tion and also the postmaster. For many years he dealt extensively in live stock and in 18-1 shipped two thousand head of hogy. He abandoned the stock business about 1500. and removed to Warren county where he followed forming. Subsequently, how-
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ever, be returned to Wayne township, Clinton county, where he farmed for eleven years, ' until November 15, 1897, when be removed to Farmers Station and retired. In 1913 he erected new buildings at Farmers Station on the property which he owns and where he now realdes.
On September 8, 1866, C. D. Kester was married to Nancy Betterton, a daughter of William and Delilah Betterton, a native of Clark township, where she was born on August 16, 1846. William Betterton was a native of Virginia, born on May 12, 1811. He was educated in the Old Dominion state, and immigrated first to Illinois where he was married and where his first wife died. They had one child who died later in life. Afterwards, William Betterton came to Clinton county and was here married to Delilah King, a native of Clark township, born on May 25, 1823, and the daughter of William and Nancy King, natives of Grayson county, Virginia. They were early settlers in Clark township and farmers by occupation. They were also members of the Christian church. Although William Betterton and wife were Universalists, they attended other churches, They had two children: Jobn M., who died on April 22, 1913, and Mirs. C. D. Kester.
Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Kester, two. Etta and Milton L., are living, and Ada M. and Eva E. are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Kester are members of the Society of Friends. Mr. Kester is a Republican. For many years he was promi- nently identified with the State Grange, and served this organization us master of Eureka grange.
HENRY DEBOLT JONES.
Henry Debolt Jones, who, for many years, was a well-known business man of Cincinnati, Ohio, and later a successful farmer of Clark township. Clinton county, Ohio, was boru at Newtown, in Hamilton county, Oblo, May 19, 1844, a son of James and Eliza ( Debolt ) Jones, both of whom were natives of Newtown, Hamilton county. James Jones was a farmer in Hamilton county, and his parents were pioneers of Hamilton county.
The paternal grandfather of Henry Debolt Jones was Henry Debolt, Sr., and he built the Debolt Exchange in the city of Cincinnati. He owned hundreds of acres of land in Hamilton and Clermont counties, having been one of the best-known pioneer citizens of southern Ohio.
Henry Debolt Jones received his elementary education in the public schools of Hamilton county, Ohlo, and supplemented this by a course at the St. Xavier school at Cincinnati, a Catholic institution. Hle learned bookkeeping at the " Favorite" store In Cincinnati, and followed this occupation practically all the time he lived in that city, with the exception of three or four years when he was engaged in the commission busi- ness on his own responsibility. Cincinnati was bis home until 1902, when he removed to the farm, where his widow now lives. Here he remained until his death, on February 19, 190%.
On October 17, 1885. Henry Debolt Jones was married to Minnie M. Turner, a native of Clark township, who was born on the farm where she now lives on January 7, 1861. She is a daughter of William and Nancy Jane (McCann) Turner, both of whom were born at Perintown, Clermont county, Ohio.
Mrs. Jones' paternal grandparents were Daniel and Susan Turner, while her maternal grandparents were William and Elizabeth (Carter) McCann, of Lynchburg, Virginia, who located in Perintown. Clermont county, Ohio, in an early day. They died in Clark township. Clinton county.
William and Nancy June Turner were educated in the schools of Clermont county. The former was a farmer during his life, who came to Clinton county some time prior to his marriage in 1859. He was the owner of one hundred and eighty-five acres of land
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and during his life erected a magnificent brick house and also built large and com- modious barns. and otherwise improved his farm. He was a member of the Grange, in the welfare of which organization he was deeply interested. He and his wife were the parents of three children, Minnie M., Daniel and an infant son. They also reared Daniel H. Turner, who was a son of Mr. Turuer's brother, Henry.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. Jones were the parents of one daughter, Mabel Turner, who is living at home with her mother. She is the wife of Robert T. Conlin, a native of Canada, and they have one son, Robert Henry. Mrs. Jones is an earnest and devoted member of the Society of Friends, and takes an active interest in the affairs of that denomination.
The late Henry Debolt Jones was a well-known citizen, not only in Clark township, but of Cincinnati, Ohio, where, for some time, he was a prominent figure in the business life of the city.
Mrs. Jones now owns the home place, known as the "Fox" Turner farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres, also fifty acres in another tract, all In Clark township.
CHARLES W. SKIMMING.
Conspicuous among the farmers of Clinton county, Oblo, and numbered among its leading citizens is Charles W. Skimming, of Union township, who is a public-spirited citizen. well known In Clinton county for his activities in public affairs, and at present one of the commissioners of the county. Previously he served two terms as trustee of union township. He belongs to an old and distinguished family of Clinton county, and by marriage is connected with another very old family of this county, and one which has filled many important positions of trust and responsibility.
Charles W. Skimming was born on August 14, 1866, in Union township, a son of Robert Skimming, who was born in Allegheny county, Maryland, June 3, 1830, and who married Mary E. Bubb, December 6, 1853. She was born on June 6, 1830, in Clinton county, Ohio, the daughter of Henry and Matilda ( Woodruff) Babb.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Skimming were Anthony and Mary ( McDow) Skimming, both of whom were natives of bonnie Scotland, the former was born in Edinburgh, and died on April 22, 1855, The latter was likewise born in Edinburgh, and their marriage occurred in Scotland. Anthony Skimming and wife came to America in 1818, settling in Allegheny county, Maryland, and here they remained until the autumn of 1836, when they immigrated to Clinton county, Ohio, and settled at Wilmington.
The second generation of the family in Clinton county represented by Robert Skim- ining, the father of Charles W., gained considerable prominence in public life. Robert Skimming was only six years of age when he accompanied his parents to Clinton county, and received his education in the public schools of this county. He attended Wilmington Academy also, and taught school for six years. In 1860 he embarked in the mercantile business at Burtonville, in Union township, in which he remained for fifteen years, He owned a farm in Union and Washington townships, comprising one hundred and seventy-one acres. About 1875 he retired from the mercantile business and returned to his farm, where he lived the remainder of his life. Four children were born to Robert and Mary E. (Babb) Skimming: Emma, born on November 26, 1854: Samuel H., February 25, 1858; Charles W., the immediate subject of this sketch; and Wilbert, January 10, 1872.
Not only did Robert Skimming serve for fifteen years as a director of the Clinton county infirmary, having been first elected in 1873, but he likewise served two terms as commissioner of Clinton county, having been elected on the Republican ticket. As a member of the Baptist church, he was loyal and devout in the faith of that denomina-
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tion, and for several years was numbered among its most active workers in this county. He was a deacon in the church at the time of his death.
Charles W. Skimming, like so many of the native born citizens of Clinton county. attended Wilmington College after leaving the common schools, completing his education in that excellent Institution. He was a student at this famous old college for two years. While still a young man he began farming in Union township, and except for a period of four years, has spent all his life in this township. These four years were spent In Chester township. Mr. Skimming is the owner of one hundred and seventy five acres of land on which be lives in Union township.
On January 29, 1891, Charles W. Skimming was married to Martha M. McKay, who was born on November 25, 1870, a daughter of Robert F. and Mary F. ( Mickerson) Mckay. The history of the Mckay family is contained especially in the sketch of Weldon Mckay, presented elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Skim- ming are the parents of two children, Robert M. and Mary Helen. The former was born on May 15. 1895, and is now a student at Ohio State University, at Columbus, Ohio. The latter was born on April 14, 1902.
Mr. and Mrs. Skimming are earnest and loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Skimming is identified with the Masonic lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
EBER WATTS HAINES.
Among the well-known young farmers of Chester township, Clinton county, Ohio, is Eber Watts Haines, who is the owner of one hundred and four and one-quarter acres of land, and who, several years ago, was engaged in conducting a general store at Lum- berton, Ohio. Since 1909, however, he has devoted his attention exclusively to farming. He is a scion of a very old family in this county, and one whose ancestry had very much to do with clearing the forests and draining the swamps. Eber Watts Haines was born on February 28. 1872, in Caesars Creek township, Greene county, Ohio. His parents were Eber and Mary ( Mendenhall) Haines, the former of whom was born on January 20, 1825, in Caesars Creek township, Greene county, and the latter was a daugh- ter of Thaddeus and Priscilla (Sturgeon) Mendenball.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Haines were Zimri and Elizabeth (Compton) Haines, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter a native of North Carolina, who came with her parents when four years old to New Burlington, Ohio. Zimri Haines emigrated first from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, and there learned the cabinet- maker's trade. Later he immigrated to Greene county, Ohio, where he lived the re- mainder of his life. He was the father of nine children, Samuel, Elizabeth, Sarah, Maria, Elwood, Eber and Clayton, Aseph and Phoebe. He voted the Whig ticket and was a member of the Society of Friends.
Eber Haines received a good education in the common schools of Greene county, and followed farming in Caesars Creek township, in that county, until 1882, when he removed to Chester township, Clinton county. When about forty-five years of age, he began preaching in the local Friends church, and continued a minister In that faith until his death. December 10, 1911. He lived to perform the marriage ceremony for many of his grandchildren. The following children were born to Eber and Mary ( Mendenhall) Haines: Lydia Ellen, who died while young; Margaret, the wife of John Turner: Zimri D., who married Alice Mckay : Thaddeus A., who married Eliza Mary Hiatt : Priscilla, the wife of Jacob B. Mckay : Daniel W. and Wilomena, twins, the former of whom mar- ried Estella MeKay, and the Intter died early in life: Mary, the wife of William Hiatt, died at the age of twenty-eight years; and Eber W., the immediate subject of this sketch.
Eber W. Haines was for some time a student at Wilmington College after leaving
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the common schools, and finished his education in that excellent institution. His career as a farmer was begun in Chester township, where he now lives, and where he owns one hundred and four and one-quarter acres of land. In 1906 he purchased the general store at Lumberton and conducted this business for two years, but in 1909 returned to the farm where he has since lived.
In 1906, Eber W. Haines married Mary Morris, the daughter of Allen and Louisa (Doan) Morris, the former of whom was a farmer of Clinton county. Mrs. Haines was one of four children born to her parents. The others are: Elias H., who married Amelia Stille; John, who married Mary Nye; and Lee, who married Luetta Farris, in 1912. Mrs. Haines' paternal grandfather was John Morris Mr. and Mrs. Eber W. Haines are the parents of one son. Eber Allen, born on January 18, 1910. The family are all members of the Friends church, Mrs. Haines, however, retaining her membership in the Methodist church.
In 1905, about a year before his marriage, Mr. Haines spent the winter at Wauchula, Florida, with his parents and elder sister. His mother died there unexpectedly, Decem- ber 27, 1905. Three years later his father spent the winter on Marco Island.
GEORGE E. CROUSE.
Agriculture has been an honorable vocation from the earliest time, and as a usual thing men of humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free, outdoor life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterize true manhood. Among the industrious and honorable citizens of I'nion township who have turned their attention to the farm is George E. Crouse.
George E. Crouse was born on February 3, 1856, near Cuba, in Washington town- ship, Clinton county, and is the son of Empson and Mary ( Horseman) Crouse, the for- mer of whom was born in Washington township in 1820, and who died in April, 1881, and the latter of whom was born In Union township, Clinton county, In 1821, and who died in 1905. Empson Crouse was the son of John and Rhody ( Matson) Crouse. The former was of German extraction, and the son of John Crouse, Sr., who came from Germany to America shortly after the close of the Revolution, when he was eighteen years old. John Crouse, Jr., was born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1794, and in 1817 was married to Rhoda Matson, a daughter of John Matson. Some time during 1817 he immigrated to Ohio, and settled on land later owned by James Skimming, from whence he moved to Cowans creek on what was known as the Williams farm. John Crouse, Jr., died in 1867 in his seventy-third year. His widow died the next year in 1868. John Crouse, Jr., who was familiarly known as "Uncle Johnny" was a small man physically and one of a very militant disposition. He had little education. In fact he could not write his name, but, nevertheless, owned three farms at the time of his death and was considered very successful for his day and generation. His wife was familiarly known as "Aunt Rhody." They had nine children.
The maternal grandfather of George E. Crouse was Amos Horseman, whose wife died early in life, and after her death he married again. They were members of the Society of Friends and came to Clinton county from Virginia, settling on Cowans creek. Amos Horseman had a fair education. By his two marriages he had twenty-two chil- dren. most of whom died early in life of tuberculosis. Only one is now living.
The late Empson Crouse grew up in Washington township, and had little opportu- nity to obtain an education. He Inherited the home farm of one hundred and thirty acres from bis father and was a succesful farmer. He was more or less prominent in Incal Democratic politics and served some time as a school director. Empaon and. Mary ( Horseman) Crouse had eleven children, of whom one, Thurman, the youngest, died at the age of thirty-two: John lives on the home place; Eliza J., deceased, married Will
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Conner ; Elizabeth married Marion Mckibben, a retired farmer of Cuba, Ohio; David H. is an electrician in Iowa; Sarah married James Turner, who is deceased, and now lives near Cuba, Ohio; Rhoda married Frank Ireland, of Washington township; Melvina is unmarried and lives in Cuba; George E. is the subject of this sketch; Charles lives at Aspen, Colorado, where he is a miner; and Della married Harry Dailey, a retired miller of Wilmington.
George E. Crouse was also limited in educational advantages and was able to attend school only three months each year. He remained at home until his marriage, farming the home place, after which he purchased twenty-seven acres of land. In 1902 he sold the farm and purchased eighty acres of the Boyd farm on the New Vienna pike, In Unton township. In 1918 Mr. Crouse remodeled the house and barn and refenced the place.
On December 9, 1885, George E. Crouse was married to Addle Osborn, who was born in Adams township, Clinton county, Ohio, and who is the daughter of Peter and Louisa Osborn, the former of whom is a farmer and a minister in the Friends church. Mr. and Mrs. Crouse have had two children, Edna and Osborn. Edna was born on April 30, 1890, and was married to Fred Cast, who died of pneumonia four months after their marriage. Later she was married to Grover Early. Osborn was born on Septem- ber 8, 1900.
Mr. and Mrs. Crouse formerly were members of the Beech Grove meeting of the Quaker church. Mr. Crouse is identified with the Democratic party.
W. JEFF MCKIBBEN
W. Jeff Mckibben, the scion of an old and distinguished family of Clinton county, and a well-known farmer of Clark township, was born in that township on February 18. 1851, the son of John and Matilda (Garner) Mckibben, the former of whom was born on December 2, 1809, in Greene township, Clinton county. Ohio, and died on August 24, 1894, and the latter of whom was born on September 3, 1811, in Clark township, Clinton county, and died on October 12, 1883. They were married on April 3, 1834, and had six children, as follow : Mrs. Eliza J. Davis, who was born on July 6, 1836; James MI., October 14, 1837, died on November 30, 1913; Mrs. Mary E. Pittzer, July 17, 1843; Mrs. Martha A. Brown, May 6, 1848; J. F. and W. Jeff, twins, February 18. 1851.
John MeKibben, Jr., was a son of Jobn and Catherine (Leonard) Mckibben, natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the former of whom was a prominent land owner in Green township. Upon leaving Pennsylvania, they first settled in Kentucky, where they spent one year, and from which they Immigrated to Green township, Clinton county, about 1803. Here they purchased one thousand acres of land, part of which was cleared. They had purchased a large tract of land in Kentucky, but the title proved defective aud the vendor, being an honest man, gave them one thousand acres in Ohio In its place. They died at their home in Green township.
John McKibben, Jr., the father of W. Jeff, was reared as a farmer boy and his educational advantages were limited. His wife was the daughter of James and Polly ( Moon) Garner, natives of North Carolina, who were married in Randolph county, North Carolina, in 1794. and moved to Tennessee in 1790, settling just across the road from the home of John Fushee Garner. Polly Moon was the eldest daughter of Joseph aud Anna Moon. Mr. and Mrs. James Garner and family remained fifteen years in the state of Tennessee and from that state immigrated to Clinton county, Ohio, with their nine children, one having died fu Tennessee. Four more were born after their arrvial In Ohio. It is an interesting fact that within eighty years. James Garner had five hundred and twenty-six descendants. After bis marriage. John Mckibben, Jr., moved to a farm which he had purchased in 1831. He owned one hundred and thirty-seven
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acres and was a member of the Grange and a stockholder in the Farmers Staton Joint Stock Company. He was a Republican in politics.
On May 2, 1878, W. Jeff Mckibben was married to Mary O. Bette, who was born on October 18, 1851, the daughter of Christopher and Lydia (Huff) Betts, of Clinton county, Ohio.
To Mr. and Mrs. W. Jeff Mckibben were born two children, Etta May aud Bertha LaTaurette. The latter married Harry Milton Fawcett.
Mr. Mckibben has always followed farming. He owns one hundred and ten acres In Clark township and has splendid buildings on his farm.
Mrs. McKibben is a member of the Friends church. Mr. and Mrs. McKibben ard members of the Daughters of Rebekah, and Mr. Mckibben is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
FRANK L. MCDONALD.
Frank L. McDonald, the well-known superintendent of the Clinton county Infirmary, is one of the worthy citizens of this county and one who has figured in the growth and development of the agricultural and commercial Interests of this great section. Although still in the prime of life. he has been identified for many years with the progress and prosperity of Clinton county and has contributed bis resourceful ability to many spheres of action. Earnest purpose and tireless energy, combined with sound judgment and every-day common sense. have been among his most prominent characteristics. He well merits the respect and esteem accorded him by the people of Clinton county.
Frank L. McDonald is connected by birth and marriage to families which have been prominent in the educational, agricultural, civic and political life of this county for more than a century.
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