USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 52
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Mr. Mock was married December 14, 1865, to Elizabeth Shockley, the daughter of Clement and Elizabeth Shockley, and to this union have been born three children: Geneva, the wife of Mcclellan Zimmerman, who has four children, Carrie, Emmett, Ruth and Clement; Herbert, who married Daisy Allison, of Springfield, Ohio, and they have one child, Glena; and Adelia, deceased. The family are members of the Methodist Protestant church and are active in all church and Sunday school work.
HOWARD W. LOOKER.
Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free, out-of-door life of the farmer has a decided tendency to foster and develop that inde- pendence of mind and self-reliance which characterizes true manhood. No better fortune can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and the majority of our nation's great warriors, renowned statesmen and distin- guished men of letters were born on the farm and are largely indebted to its early influences for the distinction which they later attained.
Howard W. Looker, the son of Levi and Rebecca ( Bennett) Looker, was born December 14, 1869, in Madison county, Ohio. His parents were natives of the same county and reared a family of three children, Byron. Howard W. and Laura. Levi Looker was a son of Joseph and Margaret (Hann) Looker. Joseph Looker came from Virginia and settled in Clark county, Ohio. Seven children were born to Joseph Looker and wife, Joseph, Levi, Delilah, Nathan, Angeline, Thomas and Joshua. Levi Looker was a prominent citizen of this county and served with distinction in the Civil War as a member of the Fifty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
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H. W. Looker received his education in several different schools of Ohio. When seventeen years of age he came to Paint township, in this county, with his father. He quit school at the age of nineteen and began work on a farm. After his marriage he took up farming for his occupation and is classed among the progressive farmers of his township.
Mr. Looker was married February 9, 1893, to Mamie Tway, the daugh- ter of Nathaniel Tway, and to this union have been born five children, Merrill, Loren, Nathaniel, Delbert and Lucile.
Politically, Mr. Looker is identified with the Republican party, but owing to his agricultural interests he has never taken an active part in political matters. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Patrons of Husbandry, while, religiously, he is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. The career of Mr. Looker contains much that is com- mendable, and his life work forcibly illustrates what can be accomplished by a man of energy when his plans are rightly laid and his actions governed by right principles and noble aims.
G. W. HOLDREN, M. D.
It is not an easy matter to analyze the forces of character that result in a life of apparently tireless energy and a high degree of professional suc- cess; the biographer can do little more than note their manifestation in the career of the gentleman under consideration. In view of this fact, the life of the successful physician and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well-defined purpose, with the ability to make that purpose serve not only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor Holdren holds distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge, with the skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Holdren has achieved a notable suc- cess and an eminent standing among the medical men of the county. In addition to his creditable career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions, he has also proved an honorable member of the body politic, rising in the confidence and esteem of the public which he gladly serves in
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every possible manner. In every relation of life he has been true to his ideal of manhood and has never resorted to methods which have invited criticism or censure.
George W. Holdren was born in Ross county, this state, on June 24, 1862, the son of William H. and Mary (Long) Holdren, being one of a family of five children. He is the second child in order of birth, but the oldest living, the parents having lost one of their children in earliest infancy. Martin R. Holdren, another son of the family, is located at Fruitdale, this state. His wife was Alma Moon before her marriage and they are the par- ents of one child. Emil. William L. is deceased, while Herbert is a photog- rapher in Washington C. H. He chose as his wife Stella Dallinger and they are the parents of two children, Hazard and Charlotte. William H. Holdren, father of the immediate subject, was also born in Ross county, where practically his entire life has been passed. His entire life has been given over to agricultural pursuits and he has now retired from his strenuous labors and both he and his worthy wife are passing their declining years in peace and comfort. Doctor Holdren received his earliest education in the schools near his home in Ross county, which he attended until his eighteenth year, later finishing at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. He had fitted himself as a teacher, which vocation he followed for a few years. in the schools of his native county. During the latter part of his career as a teacher he read medicine under the tutelage of Dr. J. W. Hughey, at that time located at Good Hope. He later took up his residence at Wash- ington C. H., where he closed his long and worthy career. After advancing as far as he could under the kindly instruction of Doctor Hughey, young Holdren attended the Medical College of Ohio, located at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1889. Directly after finishing his college career, he located in Bloomingburg, where he has since resided and where he has won a host of friends. His career has not only been successful from a scien- tific standpoint, but he has gained for himself the sincere regard and con- fidence of the entire community. Doctor Holdren possesses a sincere and broad-minded sympathy with the afflicted and this, combined with an earnest desire to help others, at once wins for him the co-operation of his patient and his entire confidence. His kindly nature carries comfort and cheer into the sick room and this fact has also contributed its quota to the success he has won. He is also held in highest respect by his brother physicians be- cause of his genuine worth and he is a welcome addition to any company which he chooses to enter, for he possesses to an eminent degree those
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qualities which commend one to the good will of others. Doctor Holdren i's prominently connected with the various medical societies of the county and state. In 1913, Doctor Holdren was president of the Fayette County Med- ical Society.
Doctor Holdren manifests a commendable interest in political affairs, being a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He repre- sented his district as senator in the State Legislature, being elected for one term, and has also been a member of the school board for a number of years. His fraternal affiliation is with the time-honored body of Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained the degree of Knight Templar, holding his membership in the commandery at Washington C. H. He also received the Royal Arch degree at the same place. Doctor Holdren is also a member of the Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, and is one of the earnest and active members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bloomingburg.
Doctor Holdren was married on September 11, 1884, to Jennie Kearney, daughter of James and Eleanor ( Hays) Kearney, farmers of New Holland, both of whom have now passed into the great beyond. To Doctor and Mrs. Holdren have been born four children: Floyd, the son of the family, is a graduate of the Bloomingburg high school and the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity of Delaware. Ohio. He is at present connected with the high schools in Hamilton, this state. His first position was held with the Fort Kearney schools, where he remained one year, when he went to Wapakoneta, Olio, for two years and from there to East Liverpool, Ohio, for two years and then to his present location. He was prominent in school and college circles and is an enthusiastic member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Shirla died in infancy. Bernice married George L. Borders, of Belle Center, Ohio. Her elementary education was obtained in the schools of Bloomingburg, where she was graduated from the local high school with a post-graduate period at Washington C. H. high school. She finished her musical education at the Stinson Conservatory of Music, at Washington C. H. and made for her- self an enviable name in music circles of this locality. Since her marriage they live at New Richmond, Ohio, where her husband is superintendent of schools. Pauline, the youngest daughter of the house, is at present attend- ing high school.
The entire family is most highly regarded in the community where so many years have been passed and where each in his particular way is striving to better the social, moral and educational life. Doctor Holdren stands high in the regard and estimation of his vast number of acquaintances, which is but a fitting tribute to his years of unselfish devotion to the cause of humanity.
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CHARLES H. PARRETT. : :
It is a well known fact that public opinion instead of our legislatures really rules this country. It was the insistent cry of the public, voiced in the newspapers of the land, which forced through the last two amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and it was this same influence which led. President Wilson to insist upon a reduction in the tariff and the passage of a new monetary bill. Public opinion, however, would be absolutely use- less, without it had the opportunity of expression, and there is no way by which public opinion can find its full usefulness except through the medium of the newspapers. For this reason it is not too much to say that the news- papers of our country are really its rulers: that they have more power in the shaping of the destinies of our nation than Congress itself. Congress can do no more than voice the will of the people as revealed in the news- papers. According to the returns made in the 1910 census, the state of Ohio had eleven hundred and eighty-one papers of all kinds, one hundred and eighty-four of which were daily papers and six hundred and ninety-nine being published weekly. Fayette county boasts of several excellent papers, and among them are the Washington Daily Herald and the Weekly Ohio State Register, established in 1885 and 1836 respectively. These papers are published by the Herald Publishing Company, of which Charles H. Parrett has been the secretary and treasurer for the past four years.
Charles H. Parrett, the son of Cyrus R. and Sarah Elizabeth Parrett. was born on September 8, 1872, in the city where he has spent his whole career. His parents were both natives of this county, and were the parents of a family of seven children, five of whom lived to maturity. Cyrus R. Parrett was reared as a bound-out boy and received only a limited education. At the opening of the Civil War he enlisted in Company F. Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, and served three years as a private. After the close of the war he returned to Fayette county, and for several years conducted a restaurant and boarding house in Washington C. H. Later he followed the carpenter trade and did considerable contracting in the county. His parents were Pleasant Parrett and wife, pioneer settlers of this county, and they had a family of three children. Charles H., Harmon E., and Cyrus R., the father of Charles H. Parrett, with whom this narrative deals. Pleasant Parrett died several years before his wife and she married again, having two children by her second marriage.
Charles H. Parrett has lived all of his life in this city. He received a
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good education and, after leaving school, assisted his father in carpentering. However, he wished to become a printer and entered one of the newspaper offices of Washington C. H. and learned the trade of a printer. By the time he was twenty years of age he was a practical printer and for the past twenty- two years has been actively identified with the printing business in this city. On August 6, 1910, he was made the secretary-treasurer of the company in recognition of his ability and integrity. This company publishes two papers. the Daily Herald, which is independent in politics, and the Weekly Ohio State Register, which is Democratic. In addition to the publication of these two newspapers, the company does a large amount of job printing and de- rives no small part of its annual income from this source.
Mr. Parrett was married August 28, 1894, to Daisy Lininger, the adopted daughter of John and Catherine (Popejoy) Lininger, and to this union have been born three children, Ruth Margaret, Bessie Pearl and Alice Enid. Mrs. Parrett was born near Danville, Indiana, and when a small girl was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Lininger, who gave her all the care and atten- tion possible and educated her so that she is a fitting helpmate for her hus- band. Mr. and Mrs. Parrett are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are their daughters.
CHARLES WISSLER.
One of the prosperous farmers of Paint township, Fayette county, Ohio. is Charles Wissler, who, without being favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, has attained a comfortable place in life and is well and favorably known throughout the county where he was born. He has reached his success by the observance of those qualities of industry and economy which always characterize the successful man. As a result of his industrious life he is regarded by all who know him as a man of the best type of American citizenship, straightforward, genial and obliging, who, while advancing his individual interests, has never neglected his general duties as a citizen of the commonwealth.
Charles Wissler, the son of Christian and Eliza (Core) Wissler, was born July 8, 1868, on the old Wissler homestead in Paint township. He at- tended the schools of his home neighborhood during the winter seasons and assisted his father with the work on the farm during his summer vacations. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-one years of age,
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and then began working for himself. At the age of twenty-five he was married and at once located on his present farm of one hundred and thirty acres about five miles from Bloomingburg. He carries on a general system of farming, paying particular attention to the breeding and raising of hogs. His farm is well improved and under his skillful management is yielding a handsome return each year.
Mr. Wissler was married October 27, 1893, to Mary Shotts, the daugh- ter of Rufus C. and Magdalene (Sailer) Shotts, and to this union has been born one son, Harry C., who is now attending school. Mrs. Wissler's father was a native of Ross county and now lives in Sedalia, this state. Five chil- dren were born to Rufus C. Shotts and wife: Mary, William F., Edward S., Florence B. and Rufus.
Politically, Mr. Wissler is a Republican and, although taking an intelli- gent interest in the great political issues of the day, yet he has confined his energies to the development of his agricultural interests. He and his family are loyal and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and liberal contributors to the support of their favored denomination.
JOHN H. PETERS.
Among the earnest men whose enterprise and depth of character have gained for them a prominent place in the community and the respect and confidence of their fellow citizens, there is no one more worthy of mention in this volume than John H. Peters, of Paint township. A leading farmer and stock raiser of the township in which he resides, and a man of decided views and laudable ambitions, his influence has always been exerted for the benefit of his fellow citizens and the general wefare of his community. With few opportunities except those which his own efforts were capable of master- ing and with many discouragements to overcome, he has made an exceptional success in life and in his old age has the gratification of knowing that the community in which he has resided has been benefited by his presence and counsel.
John H. Peters, the son of Daniel and Mary C. ( Hawkins) Peters, was born April 30, 1844, in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. Daniel Peters was the son of Daniel and Christina ( Fansler) Peters, natives also of Virginia. Daniel Peters, Sr., came to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1823, where he lived the remainder of his life. Daniel Peters, Jr., and wife were the parents of
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seven children, Ellen, Sarah F., John H., Reuben A., Amanda, Austin S. and William. Ellen died unmarried; Sarah F. became the wife of Abraham Mowery, and has four children, Charles, Amanda, Bess and Ida ; Reuben A. married Kate Sheets and has three children, Charles, Daniel R. and Minnie ; Amanda married Noah Zirkle and has four children, Charles, Fannie, Clara and Jane; Austin S. married Frances Sheets and has three children, Hugh, Rose and Gertrude ; William M. married Martha Saum, and has two children.
John H. Peters was educated in Virginia and, although he was only seventeen years of age when the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Con- federate army and served three years. He was mustered in as a member of Company K, Twelfth Regiment Virginia Cavalry, and served under Gen. J. E. B. Stewart, his colonel being Asher W. Harmon. He was captured at Culpeper, Virginia, and was held a prisoner of war at Point Lookout, Mary- land, and Elmira, New York, but was exchanged and rejoined his regiment. being finally discharged at Richmond, Virginia.
After the close of the war Mr. Peters went to Licking county, Ohio, and for the first three years worked by the month. He saved his earnings, bought a team and began farming for himself. After his marriage he came to Fayette county and located in Paint township, where he bought a small farm. As he prospered he added to his land holdings until he is now the owner of one hundred and seventy acres of fine farming land on the Bloom- ingburg and Sedalia pike. He has so managed his farm as to secure maxi- mum results from his efforts, and by dividing his attention between the rais- ing of crops and live stock he has attained a very comfortable competence for his declining years.
Mr. Peters was married March 8, 1877, to Nancy J. Green. the daugh- ter of Louis and Elizabeth ( Alkire) Green. Her father was a minister of the Christian church and was a native of Greene county, Ohio. Louis Green and wife were the parents of six children, Mary, Nancy J., Thomas, J. W., Lucinda and George. Mary became the wife of John Salmon; Thomas married Sarah Hidy, now deceased, and has two children, Emma and Ernest : J. W. married Jennie Bostwick, and has two sons, George W. and Ross; Lucinda became the wife of W. R. Thomas and has four children. Harry, Evan, Bessie and William, deceased: George married Mary Brock and has three children. Jessie, Leslie and Margaret.
Politically. Mr. Peters has been a life-long Democrat in politics, but has never felt inclined to take an active part in political matters. He and his family are consistent members of the Christian church, in whose welfare they have long been interested.
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WILLIAM S. PARKER.
The name of William S. Parker is one familiar to the residents of Paint township, Fayette county, Ohio, as that of a hard-working, neighborly and accommodating farmer, whose time and toil spent in the cultivation of his fertile farm have brought him prosperity and a competence. He lives on his excellent farm of four hundred and sixty-five acres located on the Midway road, about three miles from Bloomingburg, and on this farm he has passed his entire life, having been born on August 28, 1860, in one of the log and frame houses now standing. He is the only child of Robert and Margaret (Selsor) Parker, the former of whom was born on November 28, 1828, on the state land near Bloomingburg. He was a son of John and Mary ( White- man) Parker. John was a native of Virginia and when a young man came from his home in Hampshire, that state, to this locality. He had left his family in Virginia, to remain there until he found a suitable location. This he found in the tract where Robert, father of the immediate subject, was born. He was there for a short time, when he purchased the land and brought his family on from the East. John Parker was one of the best educated and most influential men of his day in this section and to the pioneer life of this locality brought many of the finer customs of life as found in that older section of our country and which added a much needed charm to the almost sordid life of the pioneer.
William S. Parker received his elementary education in the Larimer school of Paint township, taking the more advanced grades at the Bloom- ingburg high school. From his earliest boyhood he assisted the father in the duties of the homestead and when quite a young man was skilled in the science of agriculture and stock raising. Mr. Parker's farm is considered one of the best managed in this section and in every department it testifies by appearances to the thought and care expended on it. Aside from general farming, Mr. Parker gives considerable time to live stock, and in this line of agricultural work he is eminently successful.
On January 8, 1891, Mr. Parker was united in marriage with Eva Creath, daughter of William A. and Mary E. (McCafferty) Creath, and in view of the fact that he was the only child of his parents he brought his bride to his father's house, where the four lived happily until separated by death. The father died in 1908 and the mother in 1802, both being laid to rest in Bloomingburg cemetery. To Mr. and Mrs. Parker have been born three children, the oldest of whom, Robert C., is now eighteen years old and
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a graduate of Washington high school. Selsor graduated from Blooming- burg high school and Kathleen, the youngest of the family, is now attending school at the latter place. All are promising young people, much admired and respected by the circles in which they move. Mr. and Mrs. Parker and their children are consistent members of the Presbyterian church and give earnest attention to the spiritual verities of life, contributing liberally of their means to the support of all religious and benevolent movements. In fact, they are regarded as among the leading citizens of this section, whose sup- port can be counted on for anything which tends to upbuild the moral, social or educational life of their fellow men. Mr. Parker's political affiliation is with the Republican party, although he has never been active in such circles.
CHARLES YORE.
Among those in this part of the state who have built up a highly credit- able reputation and have distinguished themselves by right and honorable living, is the subject of this brief sketch. His prominence in the affairs of the community is conceded and his deeds will speak for themselves. A tried and true old saying is "Actions speak louder than words" and with this thought in mind it can be safely said that the life of the subject of this sketch proclaims to the world what manner of man he is.
Charles Yore, one of the most thorough and painstaking farmers of this section, residing on a rented farm of two hundred and twenty-three acres in Paint township, not far from Bloomingburg, was born on January 26. 1855, at Dover Plains in the state of New York, being a son of Bernard and Charlotte ( Thompson ) Yore. Bernard was a native of England and both in his native country and after locating in the eastern part of our country he followed agriculture as a vocation. In search of better oppor- tunities than the East afforded, he emigrated westward about sixty years ago, settling in Paint township. His death occurred in 1862 and he lies buried in the old cemetery at Bloomingburg. He was the father of four children, the immediate subject being the third child of the family. Thomas was the eldest. James, the second, and John W., the fourth. When a young boy, the subject attended what is now known as the Willis school, an old educational landmark known in those days as the Larrimer school. Here he acquired such education as the schools of that time afforded, and assisted in the work of the home farm during all of his spare time. Early becom-
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