USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 2
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While Republican principles have met with his approval and been given his support in the main, he has never hesitated to express his disapproval of any which he deemed unworthy of the party. Mr. Katzenberger was initiated into the Odd Fellows lodge August 6, 1857, later becoming a charter mem- ber of Champion Lodge No. 742, and is a member of Green- ville Encampment No. 90. He became a Mason in 1868, and takes much pleasure in his fraternal associations. As a relaxa- tion, Mr. Katzenberger binds his own books, among them
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being twelve volumes, from 1867 to 1876, entitled Der Odd Fellow, and he has bound the annual Masonic Review since 1869, when volume 36 was issued. A man of broad views and kindly sympathies, he has not connected himself with any religious organizations, but has always been found ready to contribute generously of his time and means towards the furtherance of all movements, and has contributed to hospitals, fraternal homes, prospective railroads, digging for gas and similar projects, while those in need have found that they never call in vain upon him for material aid. Interested in the weather report, Mr. Katzenberger has been a voluntary observer for the weather bureau of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture and has his records for the past twenty years in an accurate and neat form.
Of late years his interest has centered upon the museum which grew out of a collection he and his brother Anthony commenced making in a room over the grocery. This col- lection is now in the basement of the Greenville Museum and Mr. Katzenberger is constantly adding to it. He is honorary curator of the museum and it benefits from his generous con- tributions as well as by his constant care of the specimens consigned to his charge. The record of the development of Mr. Katzenberger from the immigrant seeking freedom from oppression to the honored citizen, successful business man and distinguished collector of relics, reads like a marvelous story, but it is true in every respect and the example of what this one man has accomplished must be an active stimulation to the ambition of all similarly situated
JAMES CALVIN ELLIOTT.
For a third of a century James Calvin Elliott has been a practitioner of law, and for the major portion of this time he has honored the legal fraternity of Darke county, Ohio. An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and public recognition for themselves, and at the same time have honored the locality where they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific reference to the one whose name appears at the head of this paragraph. He holds distinctive precedence as a lawyer, as a man of high in- tellectual attainments and as one who stood loyally by the
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government during one of the most trying epochs in our national history. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. A strong mentality, an invincible courage, a most determined individ- uality, have so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a moulder of opinion. Although he has passed the sixty-sixth milestone on life's journey, he is still an active factor in the professional and business life of Greenville, and is counted among the representative citizens of the community.
James C. Elliott is the scion of a long and sterling line of forebears, the founders of the branch of the Elliott family to which the subject belongs in this country having been Daniel Elliott, and Elizabeth (Ferguson) Elliott, who first came to Pennsylvania, Lancaster or Chester county, about 1756, and afterwards settled in Chester county, South Caro- lina, in 1767. They had children, William, Margaret (E. Orr), Benjamin, John, Daniel, Jane E. (Douglas), Ebenezer and James, Daniel Elliott, Sr., having been killed in 1780 by Tory Guerillas, when resisting the stealing of his horses. His sons, William and Benjamin, though young, thereafter took an active part with the Revolutionists in South Carolina under Captain McClure. The subject's paternal grandparents were Ebenezer and Esther (Gaston) Elliott, whose deaths oc- curred in Preble county, Ohio. They were the parents of eight children, seven sons and a daughter, namely: Joseph G., James, Jeanette (E. Douglas), William, John, Ebenezer, Hugh and Isaiah. The subject's father, John Elliott, who was born in South Carolina in 1803, was, in 1806, at the age of three years, brought to Preble county, Ohio, the family locating near Morning Sun, where John was reared to man- hood and spent his active life. He was reared to the life of a farmer, and never forsook that vocation. He died there in 1875, at the age of about seventy-two years, his wife having passed away in 1858, aged forty-five years. They were earnest and active members of the United Presbyterian Church and were highly esteemed in the community where they had spent practically their entire lives. John Elliott had been married twice, his first wife having been in her maidenhood Mary Latta. She died and left three children, all of whom also are dead, namely: Joseph; Esther, who married a Mr. Stephen Pearson, and Ebenezer Newton, who died some time prior to the Civil war. For his second wife John Elliott
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married Margaret McMillan, a native of county Antrim, north of Ireland. To that union were born seven children, namely : Sarah Diantha, of College Corner, Preble county, Ohio; John Alexander, of College Corner, Indiana; James C., the imme- diate subject of this sketch; Dr. Hugh Henry, a successful and well-known physician at Rushville, Indiana; Mary Agnes, who died unmarried; William Scouller and David Cluster, both of whom live at College Corner. Mrs. Margaret Elliott's parents were Alexander and Sarah (Parkhill) McMillan, who were natives of county Antrim, Ireland, but who came to the United States just after the close of the Revolutionary war and settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. About the year 1817 they removed to Ohio, locating in Preble county, where the father entered a tract of government land. Mr. McMillan died soon afterwards in Pennsylvania, and his widow and children thereafter made their home in Preble county, her death occurring there at an advanced age. There were five children in this family, Archibald, John, Nancy, Sarah and Margaret.
James C. Elliott was born in Dixon township, Preble county, Ohio, on September 17, 1847, and was reared on the paternal farmstead. After receiving his elementary education in the district schools, he attended the Morning Sun Academy, and later Miami University. After completing his general educa- tion he engaged in teaching school for three years, and then took up the study of law at Eaton, Ohio. In May, 1870, he was admitted to the bar and entered upon the active practice of his profession at Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. In 1873 he went to Tacoma, Washington, but the following year he returned to Ohio and located at Bradford, Darke county, where he remained until 1877, when he came to Greenville, where he has since remained and where he has steadily risen in the esteem of the people until today probably no man in the community can count more warm and loyal personal friends. Throughout the years that Mr. Elliott has been identified with the local bar he has enjoyed a large and dis- tinctively representative clientele. As a lawyer he is sound, logical, clear-minded and thoroughly trained, being familiar with all departments of the law, from the minutiae in practice to the greater topics wherein is involved the consideration of the ethics and philosophy of jurisprudence and the higher concerns of public policy. He has always prepared his cases with the greatest care and precision, has studied every point
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of law bearing upon his case and has marshalled his evidence and. his argument with masterly skill.
On the 5th day of June, 1877, James C. Elliott was married to Susanna B. Scott, the daughter of Abner and Esther (Hunt) Scott. She was born and reared in Preble county, Ohio, and she and Mr. Elliott were school-mates. Her parents were natives of New Jersey and beonged to the Friends' So- ciety. They are both now deceased, the father dying in Eaton, Ohio, and her mother in Greenville. Mrs. Elliott's paternal grandparents were Thomas and Mary (Smith) Scott, while her grandparents on the maternal side were John and Ann (Brown) Hunt, all natives of New Jersey. To Mr. and Mrs. Elliott were born six children, as follows: Clarissa M. became the wife of Dr. W. C. Davis, of Lola, Kentucky, and they have three children, Mary, Chester and Calvin; Leslie A. and Annie H., twins, died at the age of six months; Esther B., who died at the age of fourteen years; Pearl L., who is a graduate of the Greenville high school and of Miami University, is now a teacher in the Greenville public schools; James S. is a graduate of the civil engineering course of the Rose Polytechnic Institute, at Terre Haute, Indiana, and is now in the employ of the General Electric Company at Pitts- field, Mass.
Politically, Mr. Elliott has been a life-long Democrat and has taken an active interest in the success of the party. He was county prosecutor at one time for a period of six years and also served as city solicitor, while for a period of twelve years he was a trustee of the Children's Home. Mr. Elliott is a stockholder and a director of the Greenville National Bank and in other ways has shown a personal interest in the wel- fare of his city. Fraternally, he has for thirty-six years been a member of Champion Lodge No. 742, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of Jobes's Post, Grand Army of the Republic, this membership being consistent from the fact that, during the War of the Rebellion, he served for four months as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. Though his period of enlistment was not a long one, it was charac- terized by duty faithfully performed and by intense loyalty to the cause of the Union. Mrs. Elliott is an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She is a woman of rare qualities of head and heart and is a popu- lar member of the circles in which she moves. Personally,
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Mr. Elliott has, because of his acknowledged ability, genuine worth and fine social qualities, won a host of friends and is eminently worthy of representation in the annals of his county. Mrs. Elliott is a member of the Emersonian Club.
GEORGE F. CRAWFORD.
Success does not depend so much upon the possession of talents or powers unusual to the majority of mankind, as upon the exercise of those qualities which are common to all. Hope is of the valley, while Effort is climbing the mountain side, so that personal advancement comes not to the one who hopes alone, but to the one whose hope and faith are those of definite action. We may then hold in high regard the result of individual accomplishment and accord due credit and honor to the man who has won success by worthy means. The subject of this review, who is numbered among the well- known and successful members of the legal fraternity of Darke county, has been characterized by consecutive effort and integrity of purpose, while his advancement and success have come as a direct result, and to him has not been denied the fullest measure of confidence and esteem.
George F. Crawford was born on June 29, 1869, in Twin township, Darke county, Ohio, and is the son of Joseph B. and Christina R. (Hoffman) Crawford. Joseph B. Crawford was born and reared on a farm in Butler township, this county, southwest of Arcanum, and in young manhood he engaged in teaching school for a few years. He then engaged in farming in Twin township, on the old Hoffman farm, where his children were all born. He was a careful and painstaking man in his operations, was successful and owned one hundred and fifty-three acres of land at the time of his death, which occurred there on August 19, 1906, at the age of seventy- three years and nine months. His widow, who still survives . him, at the age of seventy-five years, lives with her son, George F., in Greenville. The subject's paternal grandfather was Alexander Crawford, who married Eliza Scofield, and they became early settlers of Warren county, Ohio. He was a farmer and in an early day they came to Darke county and brought large tracts of land, their home being located in Butler township. To them were born the following children :
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Andrew J., Joseph B., Ann, Alexander, Thomas and William R. The subject's maternal grandparents were Michael and (Zigler) Hoffman, who were natives of Wurtem- berg, Germany. Emigrating to the United States, they set- tled in Darke county, Ohio, and became successful farmers in Twin township, where they spent the remainder of their lives and died. Their children, seven in number, were Jacob, Frederick, Sophia, George Frederick, Christina R., David and John. The subject of this sketch is one of five children born to his parents, the others being Emma, deceased, who was the wife of Richard H. Burke; Edwin A., who died in early childhood; Alma is the wife of Orange W. Greer, who lives on the old home farm in Twin township; William H., who lives on and operates the old Jesse Branbarger farm in Twin township.
George F. Crawford was reared on his father's farm in Twin township, to the cultivation of which he gave his assistance as soon as old enough. After attending the district schools, and the Arcanum high school, he became a student in the National Normal University, at Lebanon, Ohio, where he pre- pared himself for a pedagogical career. For a number of years he was successfully engaged in teaching school two years of the time in Texas, and he won an enviable reputation as an educator. He then took up the study of law and in 1901 he was admitted to the bar, and immediately afterwards entered upon the practice at Greenville. He met with a favorable reception on the part of both the legal fraternity and the public and from the beginning of his professional career to the present time he has had no reason to regret his choice of a life work. He owns and lives on a cozy little farm, just outside of the corporation, where his most enjoy- able hours are spent. Thorough training, natural aptitude and a love for his profession have combined to give Mr. Crawford a standing in professional circles in Greenville, which could not have been purchased by other means. He has been connected with some of the most important litiga- tion tried in the local courts and has uniformly met with a gratifying measure of success.
On December 25, 1894, George F. Crawford was united in marriage with Jane McClain, the daughter of Andrew and Martha (Wieland) McClain, and to that union was born a son, Leo. C. Mrs. Crawford was born near Gordon, Monroe township, this county. Her father, who was one of the
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early settlers in that locality, died on January 6, 1913, aged sixty-nine years and nine months, and is survived by his widow. They were the parents of three children, namely: Nelson, who died in infancy; Jane, wife of the subject, and Myrta, who is the wife of Orie O. Weisenbarger, a druggist in Greenville. Mrs. Jane Crawford was a woman of excel- lent qualities of character, beloved by all who knew her, and was an earnest member of the Baptist Church. Her death occurred on April 11, 1910, at the age of thirty-six years and eleven months. Her paternal and maternal grandparents were, respectively, Nelson and Amanda (Gordon) McClain and Jacob and Olive Wieland.
Politically, Mr. Crawford has always given his support to the Democratic party, in the success of which he is deeeply interested, though he is not in any sense a seeker after public office. . Fraternally, he is a member of Greenville Lodge, No. 161, Knights of Pythias, in the work of which he takes an appreciative interest. Mr. Crawford is a man of high intel- lectual attainments, being a close and critical reader, and holds broad views of men and things. In him there are combined to an unusual degree those qualities which inspire personal friendships of uncommon strength, and all who know him have the highest admiration for the excellent qualities of his head and heart.
JUDGE DAVID L. MEEKER.
The history of jurisprudence in Darke county shows no more distinguished name than that of the late Judge David L. Meeker, who for years led his professional associates and also rendered invaluable aid to those struggling to gain an advance in civic matters. Residing at Greenville, Ohio, from there he directed his efforts and centered his affections, and when he died the whole community mourned the loss of a citizen of worth and a man of merit. Judge Meeker was born in Darke county, near Castine, Ohio, in 1827, a son of David L. Meeker. The latter married a Miss Miller, who like himself was born in New Jersey. They became early settlers of Darke county, Ohio, where they developed a farm, owning land in Butler township, and there both died, she living to an advanced age. Their children were: Nathaniel, William, Frank, John, Rufus, David L., James, Emeline, Char- lotte and several others whose names are not on record.
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Judge David L. Meeker, while growing to manohod on his . father's Butler township farm, acquired an excellent edu- cational training in the public schools and an academy, and while still young began teaching school to earn the money to further prosecute his studies. He began reading law at Green- ville, Ohio, in the office of Judge Ebenezer Parsons of Miami county, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. Two years later he opened an office at Greenville, and entered upon a general practice that extended over a number of years and brought him into contact with a number of celebrated cases as he was a lawyer of more than ordinary ability, a profound thinker and a man of excellent judgment. In 1856 his ability received signal recognition by his election to the office of prosecuting attorney of Darke county, and he was re-elected to the same office in 1858. Following this he was elected to the bench as common pleas judge and held that office for twenty-two years. In 1872, he was appointed by Governor Noyes to fill a vacancy on the same bench caused by the resignation of Judge J. C. McKenny, and in 1873 was elected to the same office without opposition. Again in 1878, upon the recommendation of all parties, he was unanimously elected.
The first wife of Judge David L. Meeker was Miss Mary A. Deardoff, a daughter of David and Sarah (Rush) Deardoff, and one in the following family: Isaac, Jacob, Peter and Mary A. Judge and Mrs. Meeker had the following family: Frank D., Sarah E., Walter S., Mary C., Virginia G., Nan E., Alice M., and Carrie W. Frank D. is in the real estate business and also negotiates loans and writes insurance, being located at Greenville, Ohio. He married Cora Studebaker, who died without issue, and he then married (second) Emma Anderson, and they have one son, David A. Sarah E. is deceased, having been the wife of D. L. Gaskill, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Walter S. is an at- torney at law, who was admitted to the bar in 1886, having been graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in that year. He began practicing law at Greenville and became a member of the firm of Meeker, Bowman & Meeker, which connection lasted for several years, when Mr. Bowman withdrew and the firm became Meeker & Meeker. Later D. L. Gaskill was associated with the two Meekers, the name becoming Meeker, Meeker & Gaskill, thus continuing until the death of David L. Meeker, when the pres- ent style of Meeker & Gaskill was adopted. Walter S. Meeker
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married Minnie Lowry on April 20, 1887, she being a daugh- ter of Jasper and Louisa (Studebaker) Lowry, and two chil- dren have been born of that union-Corrine, who died at the age of three years, and Louanna. Mary E. Meeker married J. R. Smith of Greenville, Ohio, and they have three children- Helen, Robert and Paul. Virginia G. married William H. Gilbert, an attorney of Troy, Ohio, and they have one daugh- ter, Virginia. Nan E. Meeker lives at Greenville, Ohio. Alice M. Meeker married Albert R. Crawford, and they have two children, James and Virginia. Carrie W. Meeker married Charles C. Allen ; they live at Troy, Ohio, and have two chil- dren, Richard and Morris. The first Mrs. Meeker died in 1876, having been a member of the German Reformed Church. She was born in Darke county north of Greenville and her parents were also natives of Ohio. After the death of his first wife, Judge Meeker married Jennie C. Crisler, who sur- vives him and makes her home at Greenville, Ohio.
Judge Meeker died September 5, 1896. During his lifetime he was a member of Greenville Lodge No. 143, F. & A. M., and Greenville Lodge, I. O. O. F. Politically, he was a Demo- crat, but when he was before the people for election to office, he received the support of the best class, for all, regardless of party lines, recognized his sterling honesty, clearness of judgment, professional ability, and probity, and desired to have a man of his character administer justice and enforce the law.
HON. JAMES I. ALLREAD.
No student can carry his investigations far into the history of Darke county without finding the name of Allread figuring conspicuously on its pages, in connection with the account of its development along material, moral and intellectual lines.
In searching the geneological record of the Allread family we learn of one William Allread, a hero of the Revolutionary war who served under the command of General Wayne. Among his children we learn of a Henry Allread, who came to Ohio and settled in Butler county in 1820, entering land from the government in the midst of a dense forest where he se- cured one hundred sixty acres. Later Henry Allread moved to Darke county where he died after a few years of strug- gling with primitive forests, ague, malaria, etc., for supremacy. His widow with her family moved back to Butler county.
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Some of the children were old enough to aid in the support of the family, but Isaac being too young to be of much help was bound out for a term of years. After he had served through his indenture he worked and saved his earnings until he had $1,000, when he came to Darke county to buy land. It was summer time and as he looked at a piece of land he dug the toe of his boot into the soil which to him appeared to be all right and very rich. He bargained for 160 acres and made a first payment. The next spring he moved with his mother and two sisters to Arcanum and when he looked for his pur- chase he found it covered with water deep enough to swim a horse. He wanted to forfeit what he had paid, but his moth- er persuaded him not to do that. He subsequently found that the place could be easily drained, which was done. It became one of the best farms in the county and was the first farm to be sold for one hundred dollars per acre. On this farm in 1826 was born a son, Isaac Allread, who became a farmer by occupation. He married Hannah C. Houk, who was born in Darke county in 1830. She was the daughter of James and Abagail (Shepherd) Houk, who came to Darke county in 1820. Isaac Allread and his wife became the owners of a farm in Twin township adjoining the present village of Ar- canum and there were born their three children, the oldest of whom was James I. Allread, the subject of our sketch. Probably little did the parents at that time think that the little lad who made his appearance on September 29, 1858, would some day reflect great honor upon the name by occupying a position of great honor and trust, that of a member of the Court of Appeals of the great state of Ohio.
At the proper age for admission to the public school he en- tered the class in A B C's and from that time he fought his way through the schools of Arcanum, which fitted him both mentally and physically for the greater battles in which he was to take part in the high school at Greenville and still later at the State University at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Of a naturally kind disposition he was not inclined to either sit idly by and see others imposed upon nor to submit too tamely to being imposed upon himself. When not attending school he was with his parents on the home farm until he was nine- teen years of age when he entered the law office of William Allen of Greenville, Ohio. After three years of close appli- cation he was admitted to the bar October 6, 1880. He at once "hung out his shingle" as an attorney at law. After
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