USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 76
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The boyhood of Charles M. Smith was spent happily on his father's farm and with his brothers and sisters he attended the public schools of Hocking Township. Farming and stock raising have been his main interests and he has made both profitable.
Mr. Smith was married April 19, 1891, to Miss Isabel S. Coffman, who was born in Hocking Township, Fairfield County, a daugh- ter of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Hughes) Coff- man, the former of whom was born in Fairfield
County, a son of Martin Coffman, a native of Virginia and one of the early settlers in Hock- ing Township. The mother of Mrs. Smith was born in Hocking Township and her father was Jesse Hughes, one of the substantial early set- tlers here. Mrs. Smith is one of the survivors of a large family born to her parents, others being : David L., of Columbus, O .; Charlotte, widow of Solomon Hunter, of Lancaster; Re- becca A., wife of B. E. Smithi, of Lancaster ; Carpenter L., of Amanda Township; and Wil- liam R., of Columbus. Benjamin S. Coffman was a Republican in politics and he and wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had three children : Sema M., who is deceased; Benjamin G., who resides with his parents; and a babe that died in infancy.
In his political views Mr. Smith is a stanchi Democrat. He is an earnest and fair-minded citizen and was elected a trustee of Hocking Township in November, 1909, for a term of two years. He was reelected trustee, for his second term, Nov. 7, 1911. He is also a trustee of the East Union U. B. church and for some years has been treasurer of the parsonage board and takes a deep interest in the Sunday- school.
PHILIP F. BENADUM, a highly respected citizen and prominent man in Richland Town- ship, who is president of the board of township trustees, now lives retired from active business and occupies a comfortable residence at Rush- ville, O. He was born in Pleasant Township, Fairfield County, O., in 1854, and is a son of James K. and Sarah (Miller) Benadum.
James K. Benadum was also born in Fair- field County, where he died at the early age of twenty-eight years. He was a blacksmith by trade but had been reared on a farm. He married Sarah Miller, a daughter of William
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Miller, of Fairfield County, and they had four children born to them : George W., who died in 1884, married Elizabeth Rudy, who survived with three children-May, Eva and Harry; William S., who died in infancy; Mary L., de- ceased, who was the wife of J. W. Keller and had two children-Hardy and Harry; and Philip F.
Philip F. Benadum was reared by a careful mother and obtained his education in the dis- trict schools. Farming and stock raising en- gaged his attention for many years and he still owns several valuable farms, together with town property. He has been an influential man in his neighborhood and has served with effi- ciency in public office, elected to the same on the Democratic ticket. He married Miss Allie B. Stith and they had three children born to them, namely: Ode S., who lives in Richland Township, married Ethel Lee Middleton, and has one son, Frank D .; Etta Lee, who is the wife of Jacob C. Elder, and lives at Rushville ; and Ada J., who died in 1880. Mrs. Benadum had three brothers and three sisters-Addie, John M., James William, Clark, Dora J. and Sarah. Addie married R. M. Turner and they live at Rushville. John M. married Chloe Hutches and they also live at Rushville. The others are deceased. Mr. Benadum and fam- ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a steward and class leader and a member of its board of trustees. For many years he was also superintendent of the Sunday-school and at all times has been one of the dependable members of his church and community.
CLARENCE MARION CRUMLEY, a representative business man of Lancaster, O., where he is engaged in the fire insurance bus- iness was born January 22, 1861, in Hocking Township, Fairfield County, O., and is a son
of Peter G. and Catherine ( Strode) Crumley.
The Crumley family was established in Ohio by the great-grandfather, Christian Crumley, who was probably of German parentage but was born in Pennsylvania. He was accom- panied by his son, Conrad Crumley, in 1802-3 and they settled near Greencastle, in Bloom Township, Fairfield County. Conrad Crumley married Mary Fellers and they had six sons and two daughters, as follows: David, who is a farmer residing in Hocking Township; John, who died on his farm in Hocking Township; Mary, who died in the summer of 1911, the widow of Daniel Hoffman; Elizabeth, who is the widow of Amos Graham, and resides at Lancaster; Peter G., who is the father of Clar- ence Marion Crumley ; Joshua and Daniel, both of whom are farmers in Hocking Township; and George, who is a farmer in Amanda Township, residing near Cedar Hill.
Peter G. Crumley was born in Bloom Town- ship, Fairfield County, July 11, 1834, and was young when the family moved to Hocking township, where he still resides. With his brothers Daniel and Joshua, a nephew, who is a son of John Crumley, he owns the original Crumley estate of over 600 acres. He married Catherine Strode, who was born July 6, 1837, a daughter of George H. and Rebecca (Ar- nold) Strode. George H. Strode was a tanner by trade and formerly owned a tannery on Wheeling Street, Lancaster, afterward moving to a farm in Hocking Township. He was born in Virginia and his wife was a daughter of Daniel and Catherine Arnold, pioneers in Pleasant Township, Fairfield County.
Clarence Marion Crumley is an only child. He attended District School No. 3 in Hocking Township and during the summer of 1879, a select school at Lancaster, conducted by Prof. William Wolf, in the basement of the Court House. Afterward he spent two years at the
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Ohio State University. After completing his studies there, he returned home and was en- gaged in farming and stock raising until April, 1892, when he was appointed to a position in the Boys' Industrial School, which he con- tinued to fill until January, 1894. He then re- turned to the farm on which he remained until 1898, when he began soliciting insurance for the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Company and continued to make his home there until Oc- tober, 1900, when he moved to Lancaster, hav- ing satisfied himself that he could make a suc- cess in that line of work. He was associated with John D. Jackson as a solicitor until Au- gust, 1901, when he purchased the former agent's business and since then has been con- ducting a general insurance business of his own and has met with gratifying success. For about seven years, Mr. Crumley was a member of the Ohio National Guard and for several years was second lieutenant of Co. I, 14th Infantry.
Mr. Crumley was married July 24, 1907, to Mrs. Emma D. White, a daughter of Joel B. and Emma (Hunter) Swartz. Mrs. Crumley has one son, J. Edward White, who was born March 18, 1900. Mr. Crumley is a member of St. Peter's German Lutheran Church, while Mrs. Crumley was reared in the Methodist faith. Politically he is a Republican.
CHARLES F. HOFFER, justice of the peace in Pleasant Township, Fairfield County, O., and a well known and reliable contractor and builder, was born in Switzerland, August 17, 1849 and is a son of Jacob and Maria (Maderia) Hoffer, both natives of Switzer- land.
Charles F. Hoffer was four years old when his parents emigrated to America, coming directly to Lancaster, O., shortly afterward moving to Hocking County and then to Pleas- ant Township, Fairfield County. Here he was
reared and obtained his education in the dis- trict schools and Pleasant Township Seminary. When eighteen years of age he learned the trade of a carpenter and builder and has been in business along this line ever since. He takes contracts for barns, houses and bridges and affords employment to from three to fif- teen men according to the season. In politics he is a Democrat. For three years he has been superintendent of roads in Pleasant Town- ship and looks after twenty-six miles and it may be remarked that the highways in Pleas- ant Township are in fine condition. For seven- teen consecutive years he has served in the office of justice of the peace.
Mr. Hoffer married Miss Nancy D. Boyer, a daughter of John Boyer, formerly of Walnut Township, and six children have been born to them: Charles F., of Pleasant Township; Harold L., of Chillicothe; Ida O., wife of Clark Sites, of Pleasant Township; Carrie E., wife of John Grube, of Liberty Township; and John C. and Minnie, both of whom are de- ceased. Mr. Hoffer and family are members of the Lutheran Church, in which he has been a deacon for thirty-seven continuous years. He is identified with the Masons and the Odd Fellows, both at Pleasantville, O.
J. H. FULTZ, a well known member of the Rushville bar and a substantial and public spir- ited citizen of Fairfield County, O., was born in 1867, in Richland Township, and is a son of David and Margaret (Brinkley) Fultz.
David Fultz was born in Pennsylvania and came to Fairfield County, O., locating in Rich- land Township, in 1855. Here he followed the carpenter's trade to which he later added the undertaking business, but now lives retired. In 1864, during the Civil War, he enlisted for service, entering Co. K, 159th O. Vol. Inf., and saw service in Maryland and Virginia.
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He still retains his farm in Richland Township and passes his summers there, going to Florida for the winters. He married Margaret Brink- ley, whose death occurred in 1901, and they had nine children born to them, as follows: Charles E., who lives at Charleston, W. Va .; J. H. ; Owen, who is a cornet soloist and travels with a concert company; Minnie, who married Bert Lyon, superintendent of the K. & M. Rail- road; Rhoda, who married William Stimble, of Newport, Ky .; Elizabeth, who is the wife of W. Wiseman, of Columbus; Hattie, who resides at home; Frank, who is in business at Middleport as train dispatcher for the T. & O. C .; and Della, who is the widow of Charles Dyarman, formerly a newspaper man.
J. H. Fultz was educated in the public schools and Dennison University and later completed a course in law, being admitted to the bar in 1903. For some years he was en- gaged also in railroad work. He maintains his law office at Rushville, of which place he has been in the past and still continues a leading citizen. He served two terms as mayor and for sixteen years was a member of the Board of Education, its clerk for seven years and its president for one and has acceptably filled nu- merous other local positions. He is the can- didate of the Democratic party for representa- tive and in all that goes to make good citizen- ship, he is well equipped for the race and has both personal and political friends by the score. Mr. Fultz has traveled is almost every part of the country and is an unusually intelligent, broad-minded man. He is a member and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church. For a number of years he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity. He has numer- ous business interests and is a stockholder in the Rushville Bank.
On December 27, 1889 Mr. Fultz married Miss Melpha Combs, of Rushville, a daughter
of John and Jennie (Withrow) Combs. John Combs, who was a native of Perry County, Ohio, took up his residence in Rushville, this county. He was a carpenter and also an in- ventor of note, inventing many useful devices, which, however, he did not have patented. He and his wife, who was a native of Virginia, had a family consisting of Melpha, now Mrs. Fultz; Otto C., Charles E., Tella, wife of Thos. G. Anderson; Mabel, wife of John Morehead; and Jessie C., wife of G. C. Warner.
Mr. and Mrs. Fultz have become the parents of four children-Carl G., Wilfred B., Fern M. and Beulah M.
CHARLES H. CHRISTY, who is a promi- nent farmer in Amanda Township, of which he has been township trustee since January, 1908, is a native of Fairfield County, born Oc- tober II, 1852, one mile south of his present farm, on the Amanda and Circleville turnpike road. He is a son of Joseph and Hannah (Steward) Christy.
John Christy, the paternal grandfather, was a son of John Christy, who was a native of England. Grandfather Christy was an early settler in this part of Fairfield County and owned a farm two miles west of Amanda. He probably married in Ohio and became the father of eight children, as follows: Peter, Jonas and Nicholas, all of whom died in Illi- nois ; Henry who spent his life on the old home place in Amanda Township; Joseph; Cather- ine, who was the wife of a Mr. Collins; Susan, who married a Stout, and a babe, all the family being now deceased.
Joseph Christy was a well known man in his day in Fairfield County, having some 600 acres of land in the County and many men in his employ. During the Civil War he bought horses for the Government and all his active
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life he was engaged to a large extent in stock dealing. In politics he was a stanch Democrat but the only office he ever accepted was that of land appraiser, in which he served two terms. He married Hannah Steward, who was born in Pennsylvania and came to Fairfield County when six years old. She was a daughter of Charles Steward, and they had the following children born to them: Nancy A., who is the wife of Amos Aldenderfer, of Amanda Town- ship; Charles H., our direct subject ; Lewis, who lives in Hocking Township, Fairfield County ; Jemima, who is the wife of Eli Alden- derfer, living in Amanda Township; Mary Alice, who is the wife of Frank Wilson, living in Amanda Township; Emma, who is the wife of John Myers, living on the Circleville turn- pike road; Minnie, who is the wife of Albert Marion, living on the Circleville turnpike; James, who is a resident of Kansas City, Kan .; Sherman, a twin brother of whom died in in- fancy; and Lucy, who is the wife of Charles Barr, residing in Amanda Township. The father of the above family died February 12, 1907, and two days later his burial took place in Dutch Hollow Cemetery. The venerable mother survives, being now in her eighty-sec- ond year, and her home is with a daughter, Mrs. Aldenderfer.
Charles H. Christy was reared on his father's farm and remained at home until he was twenty-six years of age, when he married and then located where he now lives, purchas- ing it on easy terms from his father. The latter left all his children well provided for, his widow still owning the homestead. Mr. Christy made all the improvements here and later bought an adjoining farm of 133 acres and also owns a farm of eighty acres on Clear Creek in Amanda Township. He carries on general farming and stock raising, in late years having shifted the greater part of the respon-
sibility to the shoulders of his sturdy sons. He is interested in the Farmers and Merchants Bank at Amanda and also in the Amanda Tele- phone Company.
On January 17, 1878, Mr. Christy was mar- ried to Miss Martha Griffithi, who was born in Amanda Township, a daughter of Samuel P. and Elizabeth (McKinley) Griffith, the former of whom was born on the old Griffith home- stead north of Amanda, a son of James Griffith, a pioneer. Mrs. Christy has two sisters and tliree brothers: Joseph, who lives at Kokomo, Ingl .; Simon, who lives two miles . south of Amanda; J. Harvey, who lives on the Circle- ville turnpike road; Mary, who is the widow of Daniel Micsse, and lives in Columbus; and Elizabethi, who is the wife of Henry Reber. Seven sons and two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Christy, namely : Joseph Mil- ton, who lives on an adjoining farm, married Carrie Phillips and has four children-Helen, Emmett, Glen and Rose; Samuel Kirby, who lives on his grandmother's farm, married Ida Walker, and has three children-Ivy, Edith and Grant; Albert, who resides at home; Al- pha, who lives two miles north of Cedar Hill, married Blanche Kiger; Orpha, who is a teacher in the Amanda High School; Willard and Millard (twins) both of whom live at home; John, who is a teacher ; and Mary, who resides at home. Mr. Christy and family be- long to the Lutheran church. He is a Dem- ocrat in politics and is looked upon as one of the representative men of the township.
ORRIN FRIEND, one of the excellent farmers and enterprising and successful stock- raisers of Pleasant Township, resides on his valuable farm of 100 acres. He belongs to a prominent and substantial family of this section and was born in Pleasant Township, May 25, 1857, a son of William and Sarah A. ( Peters)
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Friend. His father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother in Ohio. William Friend was one of the representative men of Pleasant Township. His death occurred in 1899 and that of his wife one year later.
Orrin Friend attended school in Pleasant Township and at Fairfield Union Academy at Pleasantville, of which he was a trustee for a number of years and was president of the board. He has given much careful attention to raising fine cattle and in the fall of 1903 at the Fairfield County Agricultural Society Fair held at Lancaster, O., he won several first prizes and several second ones by his exhibits of Aberdeen-Angus cattle.
Mr. Friend married Miss Laura S. Hempy, who was born in Fairfield County and is a daughter of Christopher Hempy, the death of the latter occuring in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Friend have had five children, the three living being Edwin S., Carrie F. and Mabel D. Mr. and Mrs. Friend are members of the Pleasant Run Baptist Church as was his late father, and is clerk and trustee of the same. Mr. Friend is a Republican in politics.
HENRY F. ANESHENSLEY, general farmer, residing on the excellent farm of 105 acres, situated near Rushville, Fairfield County, O., and belonging to his father-in-law, Jacob Bauman, is one of the leading citizens of Rich- land Township, of which he is a trustee. He was born in this county in 1853 and is a son of Adam and Phebe Aneshensley.
To the parents of Mr. Aneshensley nine chil- dren were born, six of whom survived infancy -Henry F., Benjamin, Samuel, Joseph, Adam and John. Of these Samuel married Allie Mathias and they live at Sugar Grove, O. Jo- seph married Mary Court, and they live at Lan- caster, O. Adam is a resident of Los Angeles, Calif. After the death of his first wife, the
father married Mary Mathias and five children were born to this union, four of whom survive : Seymour, who lives at Lancaster, married a Miss Kuhn; Homer, who lives in Berne Town- ship, Fairfield County, married a Miss Gabel- ine ; Harvey, who lives at Lancaster, married a Miss Yountz; and Irvin, who is also a resident of Lancaster.
Henry F. Aneshensley was reared on the home farm and obtained his education in the district schools. Farming and moderate stock raising have engaged his attention since he entered into business and through his industry and thrift he has become practically independ- ent. He has always been actively interested in the welfare of his section and enjoys the con- fidence of his fellow citizens as is evidenced by their electing and reelecting him a trustee of the township. He was married in early man- hood to Sophia Bauman, daughter of Jacob Bauman, and they have two sons : Charles, who married Mabel Shafer and has four children- Raymond, Helen, Dwight and Loren; and Ed- ward, who resides in Richland Township, mar- ried Anna Crist and has one daughter, Ger- trude. Mr. Aneshensley and family are mem- bers of Grace Lutheran Church and for twenty years he lias been a trustee of the same. Polit- ically he is a Democrat. The family is one well known and very much respected in Rich- land Township.
J. T. HUFFORD, M. D., who for forty years has been engaged in the practice of med- icine, has been a resident of Madison Town- ship, Fairfield County, O., for thirty-four years of that time. He was born in Rush Creek Township, Fairfield County, May 5, 1844, and is a son of Casper and Jeanette (Turner) Hufford.
The father of Dr. Hufford was born in Fair- field County, a son of Christian and Mary
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Magdalena Hufford, early settlers in this sec- tion of Ohio. He married Jeanette Turner, who was a daughter of James and Susan Turner, who were of Scotch extraction. To Casper Hufford and wife the following chil- dren were born: J. T .; Christian, who is de- ceased ; Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Rev. J. M. Mills, a minister in the Methodist body; and Lafayette, Finely, Joseph, George, Elizabeth and Casper. The Huffords have been prominent people in the county for many years and have been particularly well known in the medical profession, Dr. N. D. Hufford, an uncle of Dr. J. T. Hufford having been one of the old practitioners.
J. T. Hufford in his youth attended the vil- lage schools at Bremen and the old Academy at West Rushville, and also, just after the close of the war, a term of select school taught by Prof. Parsons. In September, 1861, when in his eighteenth year, he enlisted for service in the Civil War, entering Co. H, 62nd O. Vol. Inf., and served continuously until December 20, 1865. Returning home on the close of his military service, he entered the office of his uncle, Dr. N. D. Hufford with whom, and with Dr. E. A. Frampton, he studied medicine and was subsequently licensed to practice by the Fairfield Medical Society, an accredited au- thority in that day. Since then Dr. Hufford has been engaged in practice in Madison Town- ship, in which section he is widely known, re- spected and beloved.
Dr. Hufford was married first to Miss Violet McClannahan, a daughter of Joseph and Catlı- erine McClannahan, and to this marriage the following children were born: Cora, who is the wife of William Fosnaugh; Nettie and George, both of whom are deceased; Casper Burton; and Henrietta, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Stebelton. The second mar- riage of Dr. Hufford was to Miss Zelda Sisco,
a daughter of Aaron and Catherine Sisco, and three children were born to them: Elizabeth, James F. and Leslie. Dr. Hufford and family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Republican in his political views and fratern- ally is identified with the Masons. Although not a college graduate, Dr. Hufford has dem- onstrated medical and surgical skill on a thou- sand occasions. He was trained in the early school where lives were saved and suffering al- leviated through the care, ability and devotion of the physician, entirely without the modern aids of antiseptics and the appliances which these same physicians and surgeons, through their wonderful experiences, have succeeded in inventing. He is an honored and valued mem- ber of the Fairfield County and the Ohio State Medical Societies.
W. H. KELLER, who is serving in his third term as a member of the board of trustees of Pleasant Township, Fairfield County, O., is one of the enterprising farmers of this town- ship, in which he was born on October 30, 1872. He is a son of John and Sarah J. (Nis- ley) Keller.
John Keller was born in Fairfield County and his wife in Licking County, O. The for- mer was a son of Henry Keller, who was born in Pennsylvania and came among the early set- tlers to Pleasant Township. John Keller fol- lowed farming until his death in 1893. He was twice married and his children who still survive are William H., Edgar H., Myrtle C., Charles M., Lambert L. and Walter L.
WV. H. Keller obtained his education in the public schools of Pleasant Township and has devoted himself to farming, owning a well cul- tivated tract of forty-nine acres. He is a Dem- ocrat in politics, as was his father, and is serv- ing as local superintendent of the Pleasantville turnpike road in Pleasant Township.
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Mr. Keller married Miss Anna M. Willis, who was born in Hocking Township, Fairfield County, a daughter of the late John T. Willis, and they have three children : Jacob H., Luther B. and Annabelle Marie. Mr. Keller is a mem- ber of the U. B. church at Pleasant Hill, which he joined at the age of 25 years, while Mrs. Keller is a Lutheran. He is identified with the Improved Order of Red Men at Thurston, O., joining that order at the age of twenty-two years. Mr. Keller is a good citizen in every sense of the word, taking an interest in all that concerns the welfare of his section and setting an example of industry and wholesome living.
W. C. McCANDLISH, whose valuable farm of 176 acres, lies in Rush Creek Town- ship, one and one-quarter miles north of Bre- men, O., was born on his father's farm, four miles east of Bremen, in April, 1850, and is a son of George V. and Brittanna (Kaufman) McCandlish.
George V. McCandlish was born in 1812, at Baltimore, Md., of Scotch parentage. When twenty-two years of age he came to Fairfield County, O., and located on the R. J. Black farm, east of Bremen. He devoted all his sub- sequent life to farming and stock raising and died on his place south of Bremen, when he was aged sixty-seven years. He married Brit- anna Kaufman, who was born at Brownsville, Pa., and they had three children : Martha, who is deceased; W. C .; and John V., who resides at Van Wert, O.
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