USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 47
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1907. he inherited the old homestead. He has never married and has always devoted himself to farming and stock raising, paying particular at- tention to the breeding of Shorthorn cattle and Berkshire hogs. His brother, Howard, who is now deceased. was educated at Ada. Ohio, and married Catherine Kellough, leaving his widow with two children. Wayne and Grace, who are attending school at Bloomingburg.
Mr. Wissler is a Republican in politics, and has been one of his party's leaders for many years. He is a man of high character, and enjoys to a marked degree the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has been associated. A man of broad education, he is deeply interested in everything pertaining to the advancement of the community, and for years has been recognized as one of the progressive and representative men of his town- ship and county. He is a man whom to know is to respect and admire, because of his sterling qualities of character and upright life.
ELMER MCCOY.
From the earliest ages agriculture has been an honored vocation and men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free, out-door life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterizes true manhood, and no greater bless- ing can befall a youth than to be reared on the farm. One of the most pros- perous of the younger farmers of Fayette county is Elmer McCoy, who is now managing the McCoy estate of one hundred and seventy acres on the Hayes road about three and one-half miles from Bloomingburg.
Elmer McCoy, the son of James R. and Martha J. ( Hays) McCoy, was born July 10. 1884, in Paint township, three and one-half miles west of Bloomingburg, on the farm where he now resides. James R. McCoy was married November 4, 1880, to Martha J. Hays, and to this union were born two children, Elmer, and Laura, the wife of James Collett.
Elmer McCoy attended the district school of his home neighborhood for the first three years of his school life, finishing his education in the Bloomingburg school, graduating from the high school at that place. At the age of twenty-one he began the management of the McCoy estate and has been successfully operating this farm ever since. This is one of the best improved and most highly productive farms of the county and, under
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the skillful management of Mr. McCoy, is bringing good returns each year. He raises a large amount of live stock, giving particular attention to the cattle industry and the raising of Duroc-Jersey swine, in which he has been very successful.
Mr. McCoy was married June 26. 1907, to Forest M. McCoy. the daughter of Allison and Francenia ( Bonham) McCoy. Although his wife has the same family name, they are no relation. To this union has been born one child, Almer Lynn, who is deceased.
Fraternally, Mr. McCoy belongs to the Knights of Pythias, while, po- litically, he gives his allegiance to the Republican party, but his extensive agricultural interests have prevented him from being actively identified with his party. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are all the members of the McCoy family. They are prominent in church work and deeply interested in everything which pertains to its wel- fare. Mr. McCoy is still a young man and the success which he has at- tained thus far indicates that he will become one of the substantial men of his county in the course of time.
WALLACE CREAMER.
To attain the age of ninety-five is an unusual thing and yet Wallace Creamer reached that remarkable age on the 16th day of April. 1914. He was a babe in arms when James Monroe was President of the United States, voted for William Henry Harrison in the fall of 1840 and had been married twenty years when the battle of Gettysburg was fought. The Creamer family was one of the first to settle in this county and its members have been prominently identified with its history for more than a hundred years.
Wallace Creamer was born on the farm where he is now living and has spent all of his life in Jefferson township. He is the son of David and Elizabeth (Smith) Creamer, natives of Berkeley county. Virginia, and early settlers of Fayette county, Ohio. David Creamer was a soldier of the War of 1812 and was living in this county at the time the war opened. David Creamer was the son of George Creamer, who was the first of the family to come from Virginia to this county. George Creamer had a fam- ily of six children, Michael, George, Joseph, David, Mrs. Rosana Christy and one who died in infancy. David Creamer and wife were the parents
WALLACE CREAMER
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of eight children, Sarah, Wallace, Jaxon, Nancy, Cynthia, Caroline, Kate and Washington. David Creamer took an important part in the early history of this county and served as surveyor of the county for many years.
Wallace Creamer went to the Creamer school, a little log cabin in the woods, and learned to read, write and cipher in the manner of all the boys of that time. He is the only living person who attended this school and can relate many interesting stories of his school boy days. The home farm was largely in woods and his first labor found him swinging the axe, burn- ing logs, splitting rails and doing all of that heavy work which was the lot of the pioneers of this county.
Mr. Creamer was married in 1843 to Elizabeth Gray and consequently has been married more than seventy-one years. He started in with a farm of one hundred acres, all of which was covered with woods, and now has a finely cultivated farm of two hundred and fifty acres acres in Jefferson township. He has lived to see farming methods completely revolutionized and as new machinery has come into use he has added it to his equipment, and to the end of his active life was fully abreast of the times along agri- cultural lines.
Mr. Creamer voted for the Whig candidates from 1840 until the or- ganization of the Republican party in 1854, and has since cast his vote for the party which elected Lincoln in 1860. He has been a life-long member of the Methodist Protestant church and interested in its welfare. It is no small honor to be known as the oldest man in his county, and when to this is added the fact that his life has been one of usefulness and honor it can readily be seen why Mr. Creamer is called "The Grand Old Man of Fay- ette County."
GEORGE ELBA ZIMMERMAN.
To make a success of agriculture it is necessary to be something more than merely a hard worker. In these days when modern machinery has made it possible for the farmer to dispense with laborious efforts in order to get a good crop there is demanded a technical knowledge which it was not considered necessary to know fifty years ago. There are fields in Fayette county which fifty years ago would even produce twice as much corn as the same fields will yield today for the reason that the soil has lost much of its former fertility. Continuous cropping, without proper rotation of
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crops or scientific fertilizing, has depleted the plant food in the soil. The wise farmer of today realizes that a knowledge of the constituent elements of the soil is necessary if he wishes to secure the maximum results from his efforts. One of the progressive farmers of Fayette county who keeps well abreast of the latest advances in agriculture is George E. Zimmer- man, a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Jefferson township.
George Elba Zimmerman was born April 12, 1869, in Greene county. Ohio, and is the son of Fletcher and Lucy ( Preddy) Zimmerman. His father was born in this county and was a son of Obadiah Zimmerman, a native of Virginia and an early settler in Union township, this county. Fletcher Zimmerman and wife were the parents of eleven children, Alvin B., Osman T., Frank R., Trustin, George Elba, Dean, John, Mrs. Anna Ellis, Samuel, Mrs. Flora Haas and Mrs. Edith Neal. Fletcher Zimmerman is still living and is the owner of about two hundred acres of land, part of which lies in Fayette county.
George E. Zimmerman attended the Hargrove school in Jefferson town- ship and later went to the Luttrell school, where he completed his educa- tion. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age and be- gan farming on the shares, after which he rented a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, on which he lived for three years, when he bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres about three and one-half miles north of Jeffersonville. His farm, known as the Poplar farm, is one of the most attractive in the county and he has always taken great pride in keeping it in good repair. He is an extensive raiser of Duroc hogs and high grade cattle and derives the major portion of his income from the sale of his live stock. Mr. Zimmerman was married December 27, 1893. to Maude Perkins, the daughter of Absalom and Jennie ( Hitchcock) Gor- don. Mrs. Zimmerman's mother died when she was fifteen months old and she was then adopted by David and Elizabeth ( Ervin) Perkins and by them reared to womanhood. David was born in Washington county, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel Perkins and is living with the subject. Nine children were born to Samuel Perkins and wife: Weston, Willard, Mrs. Matilda Durken. Walter, David, Mrs. Sarah Thomas, Mrs. Columbia Ervin, Esther and Abbie. All of these children are deceased except Matilda and Colum- bia.
Mr. Zimmerman and his wife are the parents of five children, Harold W .. Donald R., Amos V., Ala L. and Theron A. Harold is a graduate of the Jeffersonville high school, while the other four children are still students
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in the common schools. Their parents are firm believers in the great value of a good education, and they are giving their children the benefit of the best educational training that can be had in the county. The family are all loyal members of the Christian church. in whose welfare they are interested and to whose support they are liberal contributors. Fraternally, Mr. Zim- merman is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Genial and unassuming in manner. he easily wins friends and always retains them because of his high personal qualities.
PERRY C. MOWERY.
The career of any man who wins a definite goal in life always presents certain features which should be of interest to the rising generation. The farmer who starts in with seventy-seven and one-half acres and accumulates enough to make a farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres, as has Perry C. Mowery, of Paint township, this county, deserves a great deal of credit. In these days a man cannot live the life of a hermit, but must be a part of the community in which he lives; therefore, the most valuable citizens to any community are the men who not only are able to manage their own affairs successfully, but also to take an intelligent part in the affairs of the com- munity. Mr. Mowery has not only been successful in his own private affairs. but has, when called upon by his fellow citizens, contributed his share to the welfare of the community in which he resides.
Perry C. Mowery, the son of John and Margaret E. ( Smith ) Mowery, was born October 7. 1868, in Jefferson township, Fayette county, Ohio. His father was a native of Pendleton county, Virginia, and when a young man came to Fayette county, Ohio, and worked upon farms in Jefferson town- ship for some time. He worked for the Haigler and Parrett families and shortly after coming to the county married and located in Jefferson town- ship, where he acquired a very comfortable farin. Six children were born to John Mowery and wife: Perry C., Albert R., Seymour, Bertha, Minnie ME. and Myrta M.
The education of Mr. Mowery was received in the Hidy district school and was confined to a few months during the winters of his boyhood days. At the age of twenty-one he began working out by the month, and upon his marriage. at the age of twenty-four years, his wife inherited seventy-seven and one-half acres of his present farm. To this he has since added an equal amount, so that he has one hundred and fifty-five acres of excellent farming
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land in Paint township. He has divided his attention between the raising of crops and live stock in such a manner as to secure the maximum results from his efforts. Being a man of progressive ideas and good management, he has had the satisfaction of realizing a handsome income from his farm each year.
Mr. Mowery was married August 4, 1892, to Dollie .1. (Brock) Allen, the widow of Coleman Allen and the daughter of Evan and Susanna (Grif- fith ) Brock. By her first marriage Mrs. Mowery had one son, Leonard. To Mr. and Mrs. Mowery have been born five children, Ruth A., Russell W., Lawrence A., Dorothy M. and J. Delbert.
Fraternally, Mr. Mowery is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, while, politically, he is a member of the Democratic party. While interested in all the great issues of the day, he has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his farming interests. In the course of an honorable career he has been successful in the lines to which his efforts have been directed and such has been his clean and wholesome life in this county that he has won the esteem and respect of all who know him, and he is regarded by all as one of the substantial and progressive citizens of his community.
ULYSSES GRANT WISSLER.
The modern system of agriculture demands that farmers be as scien- tifically trained as are the physicians of the country. It has been proven that the man with the college education who is trained in the best agri- cultural schools of our country has all the advantage over the farmer who lacks this training. There are many factors of efficiency in farming which are totally unknown to the untrained farmer and for this reason there are thousands of farmers in Ohio today who are just able to make a bare living. There are two conditions which make farming very profitable with- out diversity of enterprises. One of these conditions arises when in any community a particular farm enterprise is for any reason exceedingly profit- able. For example there is one section in northwestern lowa where more popcorn is raised than any other place in the world. As long as this con- dition lasts the greatest profit may be made by sticking to this one enter- prise, even if it leaves the farmer and his working force idle for a con- siderable portion of the year. The other condition under which farming
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may be quite profitable without diversity of enterprises is that under which a single farm enterprise permits a large acreage of crops and gives good seasonal distribution of labor. This is the case with the wheat culture as conducted in the Northwest. However, single-crop system of farming is also exposed to the danger which inheres in any farm business based on a single enterprise, namely, fluctuation in prices and danger from loss because of untimely weather conditions. Diversified farming is, therefore, safer than farming based on a very small number of enterprises and, under most conditions, is more profitable. It is diversified farming that has placed Fayette county, Ohio, where it is today.
Ulysses Grant Wissler, a farmer and stock raiser of Paint township, this county, was born on the farm where he is now living, September 10, 1866. He is a son of Simon and Anna (Sechrist) Wissler, who reared a family of eight children: Mrs. Susan Yates, Mrs. Alice Dixon, Mrs. Elmira Watts, Ulysses Grant, Jesse, Albertus, John and Clarence. Simon Wissler is a son of Henry and Susan ( Neff) Wissler and was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, coming to Fayette county, Ohio, when he was twenty-one years of age. He remained in this county one year and then returned to Lancaster county, in his native state, and brought back his father and mother with him. Henry Wissler became one of the largest land owners in Fayette county and from the time of his arrival in this county, in 1853, until his death he was prominently identified with the history of the county. At the time of his death he was the owner of one thousand acres of fine farming land. Henry and Susan (Neff) Wissler were the parents of seven children, Christian, Mrs. Mary Anderson, Henry, Simon, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett, Elias and one who died in infancy.
Ulysses G. Wissler received his education in the schools of his home township and spent his boyhood vacations assisting his father on the home farm. At the age of twenty-one he began working by the month and a year later went to Cass county, Missouri, where he lived for twelve years. He was married while living in the West and settled on a farm in Cass county, Missouri, where he lived until 1901. He and his wife then took a long trip throughout the Northwest, where he went for his health, and fol- lowed this with a trip through the Southwest. He then returned to Fayette county, Ohio, and located on the farm where he is now living. He has been uniformly successful in all of his farming operations since locating in this county, and by a system of properly supervised diversified farming has made his farm highly remunerative.
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Mr. Wissler was married January 14, 1891, to Nettie Watts, the daughter of Henry and Martha ( Parks) Watts, natives of Kentucky. Henry Watts was born in Warren county, Kentucky, as was his wife, and they inved there until after the death of Mrs. Watts, at which time Henry Watts and his children moved to Missouri, where he married again. To the first marriage of Henry Watts were born six children : Basis, of Kansas : Blanche, of California: Jennie, of Kansas; Vernon, of Alaska: Nettie, the wife of Mr. Wissler, and Briggs, of Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Wissler have one daugh- ter living. Edith Ann, the wife of Ernest Garrison.
CAREY GEORGE PARRETT.
A successful farmer and stock raiser of Paint township is Carey G. Parrett, whose ancestors have been identified with the history of Fayette county for more than a century. The Parrett family came to this county shortly after its organization in 1810 and its various members have filled many positions of trust and honor in the county. They have been people of high ideals and straightforward methods and have risen to places where they have been the leaders in their respective communities.
Carey George Parrett, the son of T. F. and Mary ( Greenlee ) Parrett. was born in Fayette county, July 5. 1871. His father, the son of George Parrett, was born in this county and was twice married. His first wife was Mary Greenlee and to this marriage were born three children, Frank, Fantie and Carey George. The second wife of T. F. Parrett was Mary Belle Coff- man and to this union there were born three children: Thomas, deceased : Harry C., who married Madge Anderson: Louis, who married Hazel Sol- lars.
The elementary education of Carey G. Parrett was received in the district schools of his home township and his high school training in the schools of Washington C. H. He assisted his father, who was a large land owner. on the farm during the summer vacations and thus gained an intimate knowl- edge of the various phases of agriculture by the time he was old enough to begin farming for himself. Upon reaching his majority he started in as a renter and is now one of the largest renters of the county. He owns a farm of one hundred and six acres on the Prairie pike and rents five hun- dred acres in addition. He recently bought eighty-seven acres in Paint township near Bloomingburg and will move there soon. He has one of the
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most productive farms in the county and is a large stock raiser, handling several car loads of stock for the market every year.
Mr. Parrett was married March 10, 1896, to Cora Hays, the daughter of James and Mary E. ( Armstrong ) Hays. Mr. Hays was born in Paint township and was the son of John and Catherine ( Wibright ) Hays. Mr. Parrett and his wife have two children, Thomas H. and Mary Mildred, both of whom are in the schools of Bloomingburg.
The Republican party has claimed the support of Mr. Parrett and he has always taken an intelligent interest in its success. At the present time he is serving as road supervisor in his township and filling the office to the entire satisfaction of all those concerned. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Bloomingburg. Mr. Parrett is a man of strong convictions and by his straightforward and upright life has gained the high esteem of all with whom he has been associated.
JESSE P. KELLOUGH.
Poets often tell the truth and the old song which contains the refrain, "The farmer feeds them all." states a very fundamental and economic truth. The products raised on the farm are the sources of the world's food supply, and should the farmer cease his work for a year the whole world would starve to death. Every other occupation might be done away with but farming and people could live, but a total cessation of farming for a short time would actually depopulate the world. A man can live without banks all his life, but deprive him of his bread and his career is soon ended. Farming is becoming an honored profession. Our district schools are teaching it as a science, and our colleges are granting degrees for agricultural work. Farmers of any community sustain the people de- pendent on the workers of any other profession. Without the farmer the banker would close his doors, the manufacturer would shut down his factory and the railroads would suspend operation. Among the progressive farmers of Fayette county, Ohio, who are helping to keep the banker, the manu- facturer and the railroads there is no one more worthy of mention than Jesse B. Kellough, the proprietor of the Valley View farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres in Paint township.
Jesse P. Kellough, the son of John W. and Senith ( Poole) Kellough. was born April 16, 1874. in Madison county, Ohio. His father is the
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son of John W. and Rebecca ( Pummell) Kellough, and was born on the Wabash river near Logansport, Indiana, July 5, 1839. John W. Kellough, Jr., lived in Indiana two years and then removed with his parents to Ohio, where the family first located near Chillicothe. Here he grew to manhood, married and lived for several years. In 1872 John W. Kellough came to Fayette county, where he is still living. Ten children have been born to John W. and Senith ( Poole) Kellough: Mayme, Charles C., Nellie B., Anna W., Sallie C., William S., Claude H., Jesse P., Catherine and Robert W. Three of these children, Sallie C., William S. and Claude H., are de- ceased. John W. Kellough is still living at Mt. Sterling, Ohio, and his wife died August 29, 1913.
Jesse P. Kellough was educated in three different states, Ohio, Illi- nois and Iowa. He attended school for a time in Fayette county, Ohio, and spent one year in Piatt county, Illinois, and one year in schools of Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, near Mason City. After completing his education he returned to Fayette county, Ohio, and at the age of twenty-five began renting land in Clark county, near South Charleston, but only remained in that county a year, and then located in Paint township on a small farm of fifteen acres. That he has prospered is shown by the fact that he has added to this small acreage until now he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of excellent farming land in Paint township. He has placed ex- tensive improvements upon his farm and Valley View farm is known throughout the county as one of the most attractive farms of this section. It requires skillful management and scientific farming to accumulate land at the price which the farmer has to pay for land today. The money which will buy one acre of land today would buy more than fifty acres one hundred years ago, and it is hardly possible that the farmer derives fifty times as much revenue from the land at the present time.
Mr. Kellough was married March 1I, 1897, to Iva W. Woods, the daughter of Ashley and Amanda (Zimmerman) Woods, and to this union one son has been born, who first saw the light of day December 9, 1899.
Mr. Kellough and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the welfare of which they are actively interested and -to the support of which they are liberal contributors. Fraternally, Mr. Kellough belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while, politically, he is identified with the Republican party, although he has never been an aspirant for any public office. The career of Mr. Kellough has been such as to win the hearty commendation of his fellow citizens, being a man
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who has won his success by the use of honorable methods and the exercise of the Golden Rule in all of his dealings. Such men are a credit to the community in which they live, and the fact that Mr. Kellough has stood for the best interests of his community in all lines shows why he is so highly regarded by all with whom he is associated.
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