USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 34
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Where stood those buildings, within a year or so were reared better and more nearly fire-proof structures, so today the passerby would not know of that awful fire of 19Il.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The Carnegie public library at Washington C. H. is another one of the institutions of the place that the people take a just pride in. It was made possible through the gift of AAndrew Carnegie, of Pittsburg. Prior to the founding of this permanent library the city only had a small circulating library. Agitation was first begun in 1899 and efforts were made to induce the great library giver to aid in furnishing such an institution for this city. In 1901 the following letter was received from his agent in New York City : "A. S. Ballard, Esq., Washington Court House, Ohio :
"Dear Sir-Replying to your letter-if the city of Washington will provide a suitable site and pledge itself by resolution of council to support a free library at a cost of $1.200 a year, Mr. Carnegie will be pleased to provide a $12,000 room for a free library.
"Respectfully. "JAMES BERTRAM, "P. Secretary."
·
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The proposition was at once accepted and the building was constructed after the usual Carnegie plans for libraries in cities of this class. It stands on the corner of North and East streets. The president of the library board at the time was Col. B. H. Millikan. The Jenkins lots were secured at a cost of two thousand eight hundred dollars. This is a · valuable prop- erty and is handsomely supported by a small annual tax levied on all taxable property in the city. Its total cost was twenty-five thousand dollars. In 1904, when it was thrown open to the public, it contained four thousand five hundred volumes. In the autumn of 1914 it had six thousand volumes and numerous magazines, etc., additional. The board was then made up as fol- lows: President, Earl Barnett: treasurer, Miss Gertrude Gardner; secre- tary, George Hitchcock: Miss Florence Ustick, D. Chaffin. The librarians have been, since the present library was opened, Miss Kate M. Dixon, Corene Metz, Bessie B. Kerr and the present efficient librarian, Miss Mary Elizabeth Johnson, who entered upon her duties February 9. 1914.
I G hams & Bro MY
. Morris Thanh
BIOGRAPHICAL
MORRIS SHARP.
The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty and uprightness is held in higher value than the opposite qualities. Business demands confidence, and where that is lacking business ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth rather than for the wealth or political standing they may possess. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the younger generations heed their example, and when they "wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams" posterity listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among such men of a past generation in Fayette county was the late Morris Sharp, who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful in material pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, well educated, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the fanlts of his neighbors and one who always stood ready to unite with them in every good work and active in the support of laudable public enterprises. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in which he was universally held, for he was a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.
Morris Sharp was born in Aberdeen, Brown county, Ohio, on August 30, 1838, and was the son of Morgan and Frances ( Warren ) Sharp. These parents were natives, respectively, of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and Ken- tucky, and were the parents of three children, namely: Morris, to whom this memoir is chiefly devoted : Susanna, who married J. H. Baker. of Jamestown, and Samuel, who died in early childhood. In 1851 Morgan Sharp and his wife came to Jamestown, Greene county, Ohio, where they settled and remained some years, eventually removing to Washington C. H., where they made
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their home with their son Morris until their deaths. Morgan Sharp had passed an active and strenuous life, having served as a pilot on steamboats running from Cincinnati to New Orleans for twenty-two years. during which period he lived at Aberdeen, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. After 1851, for some years, he and his son Morris were engaged in the mercantile business at Jamestown' He was a man of strong character and enjoyed universal respect.
Morris Sharp's paternal grandfather, Samuel Sharp, was born in 1780 and died in Jamestown, Ohio, in 1846. He and his wife, whose maiden name had been Susanna Cook, moved from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, to Brown county, Ohio, and thence to Jamestown, which was their last resting place. They were the parents of nine children, Morgan, Eliza, Thomas, Lydia, Henry, Susan, Samuel, Melissa and one who died in infancy. Susanna Cook was, on the maternal side, descended from the Copes, whose history dates back to Oliver Cope, who came from Wilshire, England, and settled near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, locating with his wife and children. on Naaman's creek in about 1688.
Morris Sharp was about nine years of age when his parents removed from Aberdeen to Covington, Kentucky, whence they went to Jamestown. Ohio, and in the schools of the latter place he received his education. Upon leaving school he became associated with his father in the mercantile business, but a few years later, on account of the failure of his health, he was com- pelled to change his vocation and for several years he was engaged in the banking business there, serving as cashier of the Farmers' and Traders' Bank from 1867 to 1873. In the year last mentioned Mr. Sharp came to Washing- ton C. H., and became cashier of the Merchants' and Traders' Bank and later president of the Commercial Bank, which he organized. He quickly became recognized here as a man of unusual business ability and sagacity and was numbered among the foremost citizens of his adopted city. He remained closely and actively identified with banking interests here up to the time of his death, which occurred on February 5, 1905, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Besides his bank holdings, Mr. Sharp had other material interests, being the owner of extensive tracts of farm lands. His career was a long. and useful one, and although he devoted his attention primarily to his indi- vidual affairs, as is quite natural and right. he never allowed the pursuit of wealth to warp his kindly nature, but preserved his faculties and the warmth of his heart for the broadening and helpful influences of human life, being to the end a kindly, genial friend and gentleman, with whom it was a pleasure
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to associate. Through the long years of his residence in this locality he was ever true to all trusts reposed in him and his reputation in a business way was unassailable. He commanded the respect of all by his upright life and engraved his name indelibly on the pages of Fayette county's history. His career was complete and rounded in its beautiful simplicity ; he did his full duty in all the relations of life, and he died beloved by those near to him and respected and esteemed by his fellow citizens.
Morris Sharp was a big man in other spheres than in the business world. He was a man of strong and honest convictions, his actions being ever the result of careful and conscientious thought. and on the great questions of the day he took a definite stand. The cause of temperance found in him an earnest and eloquent advocate, who gave no thought to self when by his personal effort the cause of temperance or prohibition could be advanced. His ability and active efforts were recognized and he was placed in nomina- tion for the governorship by the Prohibition party. That he was a man of more than ordinary strength is shown by the statement that he polled more votes than any other candidate on the Prohibition ticket has ever received in the state of Ohio.
Religiously, Mr. Sharp was an earnest and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, supporting the various activities of that society and serving a great many years as superintendent of the Sunday schools in the different towns in which he lived.
On October 15, 1861, Morris Sharp married Madeline Baker, who was born in Jamestown, Ohio, on the 20th of December, 1838. She is the daugh- ter of William G. and Thirza A. (Larkin) Baker, her father being a native of Kentucky and her mother of Ohio. They are both deceased, Mr. Baker dying in Jamestown, Ohio, when eighty years old and Mrs. Baker at Wash- ington C. H., at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. Mr. Baker was a man of versatile talents, being successful as saddler, merchant and farmer. They were the parents of seven children. Mrs. Sharp's paternal grandparents were William and Mary (Winans) Baker, who were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Jamestown, Ohio. Their children were Mathias, Elizabeth, William, Lydia, John, Jacob, Douglas, Andrew, Mary, Hillary and George. The maternal grandparents were David and Nancy (Harper ) Larkin, who came from Harper's Ferry and settled in Clark county, Ohio. They had five children. Eliza Ann, Thirza. Synthia, Perry and Oliver.
Mrs. Sharp was married on the 27th of June. 1911, to Prof. William W. Davies, who is referred to specifically elsewhere in this work. She is a
(24)
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lady of culture and refinement, who, because of her hospitable ways, her cheerful disposition and kindly attitude towards all whom she meets, is pop- ular in the circles in which she moves. She is an earnest supporter of all local movements for the betterment of the community and has been an effectual worker in religious and charitable fields for many years.
ELI CRAIG.
The life history of him whose name heads this biographical review is closely identified with the history of Fayette county, which has been prac- tically his life-long home. He began his remarkable career in this locality in the pioneer epoch and throughout the subsequent years he has been closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success fully commensurate with his efforts. He is of the highest type of progressive citizen, and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among those whose enterprise and ability have achieved definite and commendable results. The cause of humanity never had a truer friend than Mr. Craig. In all the relations of life-family, church, state and society-he has displayed that consistent Christian spirit, that natural worth, that has endeared him alike to all classes. His integrity and fidelity have been manifested in every relation of life, for he early learned that true happiness consisted in ministering to others. The example of such a life is always an inspiration to others, and his influence has long been felt in Fayette county, whose interests he has always had at heart and which he has done so much to promote during his active life here.
Eli Craig is the scion of a long line of honorable ancestry, his forbears having been identified with the settlement and development of the Buckeye state. It is a family tradition, and probably correct, that his paternal great- grandfather was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. The latter's son, John Craig, the subject's grandfather. was a native of New Jersey, as was his wife, Sarah Ann Cooley. After their marriage they came to Ohio. settling in the edge of Ross county, where he became a pioneer farmer, but died in young manhood. His widow passed away in middle life. They were the parents of the following children: David S., John, William, Thomas J., Thompson ( who is still living, at the age of eighty-seven years ) and one who died in infancy.
David S. Craig, the subject's father, was but four years of age when
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brought to Ohio by his parents, the family settling near Greenfield, where he grew to manhood. When five years old he began attending school and gained a good practical education. After completing his studies he learned the shoe- maker's trade, which vocation he followed for many years. Eventually he bought a small store in Greenfield and, in connection with his regular employ- ment, engaged in general merchandising. He was a man of versatile abilities and also learned the difficult trade of oil-cloth printing, at which he worked to some extent. AAfterward he moved to Staunton, of which he was one of the first settlers, and there he carried on a successful business for some years. His death occurred there in 1860, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. From 1851 to January, 1854, he had lived in Indiana, where he ran a shoe shop and general store, but on his return to Ohio he bought out his brothers at Staunton, remaining in the business there during the remainder of his life. Later he associated with him his sons, Eli and William, under the firm name of D. S. Craig & Sons. After his death the sons continued the business under the same name until 1871. when it became Craig Brothers, with the addition of a younger brother. David II. David S. Craig married Sarah West, a native of Adams county, Ohio, and the daughter of Eli and Sarah (Guffin ) West. natives, respectively, of Delaware and Kentucky. Eli West came to Fayette county, Ohio, in 1820. To him and his wife were born seven children, Elizabeth, Wesley, Amos, Sarah, Eli H., Elsie and Spencer. To David S. and Sarah ( West) Craig were born ten children, namely : Eli. the immediate subject of this review: Williams; John W., deceased; Sarah Ann, who married William H. Rowe: David H., of Duncan, Oklahoma : Elizabeth J., wife of Thomas N. Craig, of Washington C. H., and four who died in infancy. The mother of these children lived twenty-five years after the death of her husband, dying at the age of eighty-one years.
Religiously, David S. Craig and his wife were originally members of the Methodist Episcopal church, but later he and others broke away from the mother society and identified themselves with what was then known as the Radical Methodist church, now the Methodist Protestant church, in which he was licensed to preach in 1840. However, after going to Indiana he reunited with the Methodist Episcopal church, to which faith he remained loyal during the remainder of his life.
Eli Craig was born near Good Hope, Fayette county, on January 10. 1833. and he was reared under the parental roof, his education being secured in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of thirteen years he began clerking in his father's store and remained with him for many years,
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finally, as stated above. being admitted into partnership in the business. While living at Staunton he served as township treasurer and as a member of the school board, and also served as postmaster for seventeen years. Mr. Craig came to Washington C. H. in the fall of 1872 and on the day of his arrival he was appointed county treasurer to fill a vacancy. He discharged the duties of that office with eminent satisfaction for two years, and at the end of his official term he again engaged in the dry goods business, as a continuation of the partnership with his brothers, Williams and David H. However, so satisfactory had been his public service, that in 1878 he was, by the suffrages of his fellow citizens, again chosen to the office of county treasurer, and was re-elected in 1880. Mr. Craig has continued in the dry goods business to the present time, a period of over forty years, his sons. Thomas H. and David S., having been associated with him since 1883. During the past two years his two grandsons, Walter D. and Clarence E., also have been admitted to the firm, which is still known as Craig Brothers. This business, which is one of the oldest in Fayette county, is widely and favor- ably known in all parts of the county, many of the patrons of the store com- ing from distant parts of the county. About forty persons are on the com- pany's pay-roll, which is unmistakable evidence of the extent of the business
Eli Craig is a man of marked public spirit and every movement that has promised to be for the advancement of the public welfare has had his unre- served support. When the Children's Home was established he was one of its first trustees and took an active and prominent part in the completion of that splendid institution. After about ten years' service he resigned from the board, though his interest in the home never ceased. Politically, Eli Craig was originally a Whig, but later became a Republican, which party he has ever since given his support. Fraternally. he is a member of Temple Lodge No. 227, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to which fraternity he has belonged for fifty-seven years. Religiously, he has long been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and as a trustee for over forty years.
On the 17th day of June, 1858, Eli Craig married Mary A. Burnett and they became the parents of two sons, Thomas H. and David S. Thomas H. married Eliza O. Pine and they have six children, Walter D., Clarence E .. Mary W .. Winchell, Harold and Robert. David S. married Nina Maynard and they have three sons living, Maynard, Paul S. and David S. The subject also has a great-grandson. Thomas T. Mrs. Mary Craig, who is a native of Fayette county, is the daughter of Thomas and Rachel ( Bush ) Burnett,
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who were natives of Virginia and early settlers in Fayette county. They were the parents of twelve children, and after the death of his first wife the father married again, having one child by the second union.
Eli Craig has reached the advanced age of more than eight decades, heaven having lengthened out his life beyond the Psalmist's allotted three score and ten until he has been permitted to witness the vicissitudes of the most remarkable epoch in the world's business and inventive history, in all of which he has been an interested spectator, and, indeed, has played no in- conspicuous part in pushing forward the wheels of progress in his own locality. There is no doubt but that his long life has been due mainly to his sterling character, conservative habits and pure thinking. Even-tem- pered, patient, scrupulously honest in all the relations of life, hospitable and charitable, he has deservedly won a high place in the esteem and a warm place in the affections of the people with whom he has lived and mingled for so many years.
JOHN H. CULHAN.
No sturdier or better citizens have ever come to our shores than have those sons of Ireland who have made their homes in this country. Fortunate indeed is the community which receives these people and incorporates them in its body politic, for wherever they are found they are always industrious, upright and willing to do their share toward the advancement of the material and moral welfare of the community in which they reside. In the old country they learned those habits of industry which insure success, and upon their emigration to this country they never fail to bring along these same habits which made them independent in their old home. John H. Culhan, while a native of Ohio, has all of those sterling characteristics which mark his Irish parents. He has made his own way practically since he was ten years of age and is a fine type of the self-made man. He is a man of strict integrity and has built up a reputation for honesty and uprightness during his long residence in Washington C. H.
John H. Culhan, the son of Michael and Jane (Harvey) Culhan, was born in Hillsboro, Highland county, Ohio, December 22, 1856. His par- ents were natives of Ireland and married in Brooklyn on coming to the United States. Later they settled in Hillsboro, Ohio, where the father died in 1861, being only about thirty-three years of age at the time of his death. Michael
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Culhan served in the regular army in his native land before coming to America. He and his wife were both devout members of the Catholic church. After his death in 1861, his widow married Michael McMahan, and to her second marriage one son was born, Michael, who is now living in Hillsboro, Ohio. Michael Culhan and wife were the parents of four sons: James, of Bedford. Indiana: John H., with whom this narrative deals: Robert. of Seneca, Illinois, and George, of Russell, Ohio.
John H. Culhan was only five years of age when his father died in 1861, and when about ten years of age he went to live on a farm in Brown county, but returned to Hillsboro three years later, where he attended the public schools for a short time. He then went to live with a man by the name of James Clark at Hillsboro, where he remained until he was nineteen years old. when he went to Cincinnati to learn the carriage and blacksmithing trade, but remained there only a few months. In 1875 he came to Wash- ington C. H., where he has since resided. He followed the blacksmithing trade for a few years and then engaged in the restaurant business, following that occupation until he received his appointment as postmaster in May, 1907. Upon the expiration of his first term of four years he was reappointed and is still filling this position to the entire satisfaction of the patrons of the postoffice.
Mr. Culhan has been twice married. His first marriage occurred April 18, 1883, to Lucy Long, the daughter of Alexander and Martha ( Boher) Long, whose death occurred February 2, 1887, leaving no children. On November 26, 1888. Mr. Culhan married Sallie \. Collins, the daughter of Edward and Mary ( Coleman) Collins, and to this second union have been born two children, Jane Prudence and Mary Alice. Jane is a teacher in the public schools of Washington C. H. and Mary is a student in the local high school. Mrs. Culhan was born at Clarksville, Clinton county, Ohio. Her parents were natives of Ireland and early settlers in Clinton county, this state, where they died. Edward Collins and wife were the parents of five children who lived to maturity: Sallie .\. ; James; Mary, deceased, who was the first wife of Attorney-General T. S. Hogan; Miss Alice Collins, and Thomas, deceased.
Politically, Mr. Culhan is a Republican and has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his party. He served on the board of review of his county for several years. Fraternally. he is a member of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons at Washington C. H., and holds membership in the Royal Arch chapter. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, being a charter
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member of the lodge at Washington C. H. He is also a member of Wash- ington Lodge No. 129, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mrs. Culhan and the two daughters are loyal and devout members of the Catholic church.
JAMES MADISON WILLIS.
Agriculture has always been an honorable vocation. At the present time the agricultural output of the United States is more than equivalent to the total output of all other industries combined. The 1910 census reported the total value of all crops in Fayette county, Ohio, to be three million, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand three hundred and thirteen dollars, an amount which far exceeds that of all the other industries of the county. According to the same census there were one thousand eight hundred and forty-six farms in this county, of which number one thousand and eighty were operated by their owners, seven hundred and forty-two by tenants and twenty-four by managers. That the farming land is rapidly increasing in value is shown by a comparative statement of the value of farm lands in this county in loco and 1910. The last census placed the value of land in this county at eighty-four dollars and ninety-three cents an acre, while in 1900, it was only forty-six dollars and eighty-three cents an acre, an in- crease in value which speaks well for the farmers of this county. In fact, the farmer is the only one who can exist independently of every other voca- tion, for the farmer holds in his grasp the food and clothing supply of the country. The merchant, the banker, the manufacturer and men in every other industry are dependent absolutely on the farmer's crops. A famine throughout this country would bankrupt the strongest merchant, wreck the largest bank and close the most extensive factory, and land is, as it always has been, the most favorable financial investment. Panics may sweep the manufacturer out of business over night, but the farmer can survive when every other industry fails.
James Madison Willis, one of the largest farmers of Fayette county, Ohio, was born on a farm near Bloomingburg, this county, October 19, 1869. His parents, William R. and Virginia ( McDonald) Willis, were natives of this state and were the parents of three children: Elsie, the wife of O. S. Hopkins, of Washington C. H. : James Madison, and a daughter, Pearl, who died in infancy. William R. Willis was reared in Fayette county and was a lifelong farmer and stockman. He inherited a good farm from his father
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