USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 54
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Mr. Wever was married in 1877 to Frankie Buntain. the daughter of
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James and Melissa (Evans) Buntain, and to this union have been born six children : Maud, the wife of Dr. E. O. Irvin, who has two children, Dorothy and Starling : Jane, unmarried; Minnie, the wife of Charles McClimans, who has one daughter, Cornelia ; Mrs. Nina Junk, who has one son, Ralph; Frank, unmarried, and Mary.
The family are members of the Presbyterian church, and are greatly interested in the welfare of their denomination. Politically, Mr. Weyer is a member of the Progressive party, having become identified with that party upon its organization in 1912. He was for several years a member of the school board of his township, and in that capacity did everything he could for the benefit of the schools of his township.
LEWIS HAMILTON PARRETT.
There is no life so free and independent as that which the farmer leads. It is one of the gratifying signs of the times that there are so many of our colleges teaching agriculture and preparing our young men for scientific agri- culture. Fayette county has some of the most progressive farmers of the state and few counties have a larger acreage under cultivation.
Lewis H. Parrett, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Harper) Parrett, was born December 1, 1847, in Jefferson township, Fayette county. Joseph was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, and was the son of Isaac Parrett. the first of the family to settle in Ohio. Isaac had four children, John, Henry, Joseph and Christine. Joseph Parrett was eleven years of age when his par- ents settled in Ross county, Ohio, and about fifteen when they permanently located in Fayette county. He grew to manhood in this county and married Elizabeth Harper. Five children were born to Joseph Parrett and wife: Mrs. Emily J. Saum, James M., Joseph M., Christine K. and Lewis Hamilton, with whom this narrative deals. All of these children except Christine and Lewis H. are deceased.
Lewis H. Parrett attended the Black Oak school house in Jefferson town- ship and early in life began to help with the work on his father's farm. When he married in 1873 he moved to one of his father's farms, three miles south of Washington C. H. and remained there for three years. He then bought part of his present farm, to which he later added until now he has three hun- dred and forty acres in Paint township which he has brought to a high state of cultivation.
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Mr. Parrett was married February 27, 1873, to Mattie Kerr. the daugh- ter of Robert R. and Margaret ( McElroy) Kerr. Robert Kerr was born in Ross county, Ohio, near Greenfield, where he lived all his life. Mr. Kerr and wife reared a family of five children, Elizabeth, James, Emma, Mattie. Chalmers, and three others died in infancy.
There have been four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Parrett, Inez, Bessie, Harry D. and Ailee. Inez married Ford Irvin and has two daughters, Louise and Martha. Bessie is the wife of Professor Westhafer, of Amherst College, Massachusetts, and has one son, Robert L. : Harry married Alice Tway, while Ailee is still in college. All the children have had the best of educational advantages and are filling useful places in society.
Politically, Mr. Parrett is a member of the Republican party and always takes an intelligent interest in the civic life of his community. In the past he has served as school director of his township and gave his hearty support to all measures proposed for the benefit of the schools. The family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church and active workers in all church and Sabbath school work. Mr. Parrett has been the superintendent of the Sabbath school for the past seventeen years and his wife is a teacher. The whole life of Mr. Parrett has been that of a high minded and public spirited citizen and all of his actions have been such as to bring him the hearty com- mendation of his fellow citizens.
FRANK E. WHITESIDE.
For many years an instructor of youth in Fayette county, Ohio, and the present postmaster of Bloomingburg, Frank E. Whiteside has made his influ- ence for good apparent in the lives of many of the younger generation through- out the county and has long been regarded as a public-spirited citizen whose influence could be counted on for whatever venture had as its ultimate object the betterment of the moral, social or educational status of the community.
Frank E. Whiteside is a native son of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Madison county, near Mount Sterling, on August 21, 1876, the son of James and Catherine ( Quay ) Whiteside. James was also a native of this state, born in Pickaway county near Darbyville, where he received his educa- tion and grew to maturity. He has always followed the vocation of farming. prospering therein and becoming a considerable land owner. He at one time owned a farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Paint township, this county,
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which he has disposed of and now lives in quiet retirement in Bloomingburg. Special honor is due James Whiteside in that he was one of those loyal sons of the Union who went to the front during the dark days of the Civil War and was one of that victorious army which preserved the integrity of the nation. He enlisted for service in August, 1862, with a number of other men in and about Circleville, becoming a private in Company A, One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was immediately marched to the front, where his regiment saw three years of service. A peculiar incident is that he was wounded on the last day of his service, having been in many engagements previously without receiving a single scratch. After receiving his honorable discharge, he returned to Fayette county, being employed by the month in work on various farms. In 1866 he was united in marriage with Catherine Quay, their union being blessed with seven children, Allen, John, James, Creighton, Clara, Frank E., the immediate subject of this sketch, and Charles.
Frank E. Whiteside received his elementary education in the schools of Paint township, near his home, first entering in 1883. After advancing as far in his studies as was at that time possible in that neighborhood, he attended high school in Bloomingburg for two years. He received his higher educa- tion and special training in teaching at the Ohio Northern University, at Ada. and the Wooster University. After completing his studies in these various halls of learning, he was well equipped for imparting instruction to the young and for thirteen years was connected with various schools of Fayette county. He served two terms, or six years, as school examiner of his county. The successful school teacher needs to possess far more than merely a good educa- tion. There must be a full understanding and sympathy with youth and its various problems, a natural leadership and a never-failing, but unostentatious, influence in the direction of high and worthy motives. The influence of such a teacher is far-reaching in its effects and he can point with pride to useful young lives which have developed under his care and tutelage. The esteem in which Mr. Whiteside is held throughout the county marks him as one who has done well in his chosen vocation. On January 16, 1911, Mr. Whiteside received from President Taft the appointment to the postmastership of Bloomingburg and is retaining same under the rules of the civil service com- mission.
On April 27. 1910, Mr. Whiteside was united in marriage with Inez Pinkerton, daughter of H. A. and Mary E. ( Rodgers) Pinkerton, being their only child. H. A. Pinkerton was born and raised in Paint township, receiving
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his education in this locality and has the enviable record of having taught school for thirty-five consecutive years. To Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside has been born one child, Margaret Eloise, who is now two years old and a promis- ing little daughter. Mr. Whiteside's fraternal affiliations are with the time- honored body of Free and Accepted Masons and both he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star, the woman's auxiliary of Masonry. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. While not directly associated with any particular church, both Mr. and Mrs. Whiteside are interested in the work of all and give such assistance as they find possible. He is a man of genial temperament who makes friends readily, his relations with his acquaintances being of a most congenial order. He is well known all over Fayette county and enjoys a well-deserved popularity among his fellow citizens.
L. ERVIN PARRETT.
The respect which should always be accorded to the brave sons of the North who left their homes and peaceful pursuits to give their services and their lives, if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American Union, is cer- tainly due to L. Ervin Parrett, to a brief review of whose life the historian now addresses himself. Although a mere lad of eighteen at the time of his enlistment, yet he was not to be daunted and on the long and tiresome marches, in all kinds of situations, he proved his love and loyalty to his government. Too much honor cannot be given to those boys in blue who were exposed to the summer's withering sun and the winter's freezing cold, who walked the lonely picket line, a target for the unseen foe, and fought on the field of flame without a thought of their own dangers.
L. Ervin Parrett, the son of A. F. and Caroline ( Hess) Parrett, was born in Paint township, Fayette county, Ohio, August 22, 1844. His father was the son of John and Catherine ( Windle) Parrett, and was born in Jeffer- son township. John Parrett came to Fayette county about the year 1811, the year after the county was organized. John Parrett and his wife are buried on the farm where he first located on the banks of Paint creek. A. F. Parrett was one of the most substantial farmers of the county during his day and reared a family of four children, Melissa, Ella, Mrs. Indey Van Pelt, and L. Ervin, with whom this narrative deals.
L. Ervin Parrett was reared on the farm in Paint township. attended
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the district schools of his neighborhood during the short winter sessions and spent his summer vacations on his father's farm, assisting with the farm work. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in Company D. One Hundred and Sixty- eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served during the remainder of the Civil War. His regiment, commanded by Col. Conrad Garris, partici- pated in many of the hard-fought battles of that memorable struggle and won a gallant name for itself. Immediately after the close of the war he returned to peaceful pursuits in his home county. He at once took up agricultural pur- suits and for nearly half a century has been engaged in farming in Paint town- ship. His farm of four hundred acres, known as the Wildwood farm, is well improved and is one of the most attractive farms of the county.
Mr. Parrett was married to Jennie Hays on the 25th day of March, 1888, and to this union has been born one daughter, Faith, who married Homer Miller, and has two children, Irvin and Marjorie. Mr. Parrett's fraternal associations are confined to John Bell Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Washington C. H., to which he has belonged for many years.
JAMES W. DUFFEE.
It is with marked satisfaction that the biographer adverts to the life of one who has attained success in any vocation requiring definiteness of pur- pose and determined action. Such a life, whether it be one of calin, consecu- tive endeavor or of sudden meteoric accomplishments, must abound in both lesson and incentive and prove a guide to young men whose fortunes and (lestinies are still matters for the future to determine. James W. Duffee is distinctively one of the representative business men of Washington C. H., where for forty-five years he has been recognized as a merchant whose deal- ings were ever "on the square" and who has always enjoyed to a notable degree the respect and confidence of all who have had dealings with him.
James W. Duffee was born in Hocking county, Ohio, on January 17, 1845. His parents were Charles and Lucinda (Tumbleson) Duffee, natives, respectively, of Meigs county, Ohio, and Virginia. They were the parents of one child besides the subject. George W., who came to his death by murder in 1913. Charles Duffee was the son of Daniel and Margaret (Donahoe) Duffee, who were natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers in Meigs county. Ohio, their deaths occurring in Hocking Valley when about sixty-four years old. They had eight children, Barney. Jackson, Edward. Leander, Wesley.
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Charles, Margaret and Mary. Charles Duffee followed the vocation of farm- ing until thirty-two years of age, when he engaged in the shoe business at Washington C. H., and a few years later retired from that line and engaged in the grocery business, which commanded his attention until his death, which occurred in 1895, when about seventy-three years of age. His wife had died at the early age of twenty-five years. They were Methodists in their religious belief and were God-fearing and earnest people. Charles Duffee was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted early in the conflict in the First Regiment Ohio Cavalry, with which he served about seventeen months. It was he who. as orderly for General Smith, carried the order to General Porter to move his troops from the second battle field of Bull Run. He was marshal of Wash- ington C. H. for two or three terms when it was a village. The subject's maternal grandparents, William and Lucinda ( Campbell ) Tumbleson, were natives of Virginia. They became early settlers in Hocking county, Ohio. and died there. Their children were six in number. John. Thomas, Lucinda, Maria, Lucretia, Mary.
James W. Duffee was brought by his parents to Washington C. H. when but thirteen years of age and in the public schools of this city he secured a good practical education. At the outbreak of the Civil War, though he was not yet sixteen years of age, he enlisted as a member of Company C, Sixtieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. George B. Gardner. After serving about one year, he was captured at Harper's Ferry, but was soon paroled and was later discharged from the service at Chicago. Mr. Duffee then returned to Washington C. H. and applied himself to the trade of shoe- making, which vocation he followed about ten years. He then entered into a partnership with his father and opened a shoe store, which they ran for about seven years, but at the end of that time they disposed of the shoe busi- ness and engaged in the grocery business. This enterprise met with success from the start and Mr. Duffee has continued uninterruptedly to the present time, having conducted business in one room for thirty-eight years. He has during all this time enjoyed his full share of the local patronage, due to his courteous treatment of his customers and his earnest efforts to please all who enter his store. He is a good manager, thoroughly understands the demands of his trade and caters carefully thereto, with the result that he is numbered among the most successful of Washington's business men.
On the 16th day of May, 1868, Mr. Duffee was married to Frances Wendle, a native of Columbus, Ohio, and the daughter of Daniel and Margaret ( Rupright) Wendle. To this union have been born three children.
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Gracie, Margaretta and a son who died in infancy. Mrs. Duffee's parents were natives of Bavaria, Germany, who emigrated to the United States and became early settlers of Columbus, Ohio, though later they moved to Wash- ington C. H., where they both died. They had seven children, Frances, Peter, William, Daniel, Theodore, Allie and Clara.
In their religious belief, Mr. and Mrs. Duffee are members of the Presby- terian church. Fraternally, he belongs to Fayette Lodge No. 107. Free and Accepted Masons : to Fayette Chapter No. 103; Royal Arch Masons, and to John M. Bell Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Politically, he is a Demo- crat and has taken an active part in public affairs, having served for nine years as a member of the school board and doing much effective work in the cause of education. He is also a trustee of the Memorial Hall and was for some years a member of the board of tax commissioners and one of the sink- ing fund trustees. He has at all times had the welfare of the community at heart and has given his support to many movements for the general uplift. He has also helped in a material way and is a heavy stockholder in the Fayette Canning Company, of which he is president.
Next to the oldest merchant in Washington C. H., in point of continuous service, Mr. Duffee has, by an active, public-spirited and progressive attitude, long been numbered among the influential men of his community and he is eminently deserving of the high standing which he enjoys. . \ wide reader and keen observer of men and events, he is keenly alive to the great issues of the day and his opinions and advice are held in high regard by those who are close to him. Of genial and kindly disposition he has won a host of warm and loyal friends.
O. WADE CREATH.
The biographies of the representative men of a county bring to light many hidden treasures of mind, character and courage, well calculated to arouse the pride of their families and of the community, and it is a source of regret that the people are not more familiar with the personal history of such men, in the ranks of whom may be found tillers of the soil, mechanics, teach- ers, as well as lawyers, physicians, bankers and members of other vocations and professions. The subject of this sketch is distinctively one of the lead- ing citizens of the township in which he lives, and as such has made his in- Arence felt among his fellowmen and earned a name for enterprise, integrity
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and honor that entitles him to worthy notice in a work of the nature of this volume.
O. Wade Creath, present mayor of the village of Bloomingburg, Ohio, and manager of the Home Telephone Company of that place, was born on November 18, 1870, in Madison county, near Mount Sterling, on the old Creath homestead, where his father also was born and raised. He is the son of William Allen Creath, a short sketch of whose career will be found else- where in this volume. His mother was Mary E. McCafferty, who is deceased. William Allen Creath, who is a life-long farmer, is now living in retirement. The subject is one of a family of four children, being the third child in order of birth. Eva, the oldest of the family, is Mrs. William Parker and resides near Bloomingburg. Minnie is the wife of Dr. J. E. Holmes, of Columbus, while Clarence, the youngest of the family, practices dentistry in St. Paul, Minnesota. His wife before her marriage was Alene Schrader and they have one child, Willard.
Mr. Creath received his elementary education in the schools of Bloom- ingburg, later receiving the more advanced grades at Wooster, this state. After completing his studies at that point. he for a time attended the uni- versity at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He returned to Bloomingburg, where for a time he was connected with a general store and then at the outbreak of hostilities between our nation and Spain he enlisted for service with Company D. Eighth Regiment, Ohio . Volunteer Infantry, going from Wooster. He saw active service and was at Santiago, Cuba. at its fall. After the close of the war he returned here and some time later became interested in telephone service. He was instrumental largely in bringing the telephone service of the county up to its present high state of efficiency and for some time has been manager of the Home Telephone Company. Mr. Creath's political affiliation is with the Republican party and on that ticket he was, in November, 1911, elected to the office of mayor of Bloomingburg, and again elected in Novem- ber, 1913, which position he fills with efficiency at the present time. He has for many years taken an active part in the politics of this locality and is re- garded as one of the best workers of his party. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church, to which he gives loyal support. Mr. Creath is a man of energy and laudable ambitions, as witnessed by the fact that he is at present reading law with a view to completing his studies begun at AAnn Arbor some years back. In this endeavor he bids fair to attain a gratifying degree of success for. aside from his unswerving integrity and courteous man- ner, he possesses a quiet firmness which will serve him well in his chosen vocation. Practically Mr. Creath's entire life has been passed in this locality
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and throughout the years he has been true to every trust imposed in him of whatsoever nature. He possesses a kindly and genial disposition, is a pleas- ing companion and readily makes friends. He is well informed on a wide range of topics and with his native ability and the determination he has to rise still further on the ladder of success, he bids fair in the years to come to place himself still further in the forefront of Fayette county's leading citizens.
FRANK L. PARRETT.
Among the citizens of Fayette county, Ohio, who have built up com- fortable homes and surrounded themselves with valuable personal property few have atttained a greater degree of success than Frank L. Parrett, the owner of one thousand acres of land in this county. With few opportunities except what his own efforts were capable of mastering, and with many diffi- culties and discouragements to overcome, he has achieved an exceptional suc- cess in life and is one of the four farmers of this county who own one thou- sand or more acres of land. He has always been regarded as a good busi- ness man, an excellent manager and a man who was thoroughly in touch with all of the latest agricultural methods. He has always enjoyed the respect and esteem of those who knew him for his friendly manner, his interest in public affairs and his upright mode of life, and is regarded by those who know him as one of the substantial and worthy citizens of the county, in whose advance- ment and growth he has always taken a prominent part.
Frank L. Parrett, son of Capt. T. F. and Mary ( Greenlee) Parrett, was born November 2, 1864, on the Sugar Creek farm in Jefferson township, this county. As a boy he attended the public schools of his township during the winter seasons and worked on his father's farm during the summers. At the age of eighteen he commenced farming for himself by renting land and later bought one hundred acres, which formed the nucleus of his present ex- tensive land holdings. He has always been an extensive stock raiser and par- ticularly successful in the raising of Belgian horses and Shorthorn cattle. As he has prospered he has added to his original acreage until he is now the owner of one thousand acres in this county located about six miles north of Washington C. H. on the Prairie pike.
Mr. Parrett was married March 25, 1886, to Stella Briggs, the daughter of Abner and Catherine ( Johnson) Briggs, and to this union has been born one child, who died in infancy.
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Politically, Mr. Parrett is a Republican, and has always been interested particularly in local politics. He has served on the school board of Paint township and in this capacity favored every measure which he felt would benefit the schools of the township in any way.
JOSIAH HOPKINS.
The best title one can establish to the high and generous esteem of an intelligent community is a protracted and honorable residence therein. The fate Josiah Hopkins, one of the best known and most highly esteemed men of Fayette county, resided here practically all his life, and his career was a most commendable one in every respect, well deserving of being perpetuated in the annals of his county. Like his sterling father before him, he was a man of well defined purpose and never failed to carry to successful completion any work or enterprise to which he addressed himself and during his lifetime contributed in a definite way to the general growth of Fayette county.
Josiah Hopkins was a native of Fayette county, having been born near the present Fairview church, on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. on the 7th day of October, 1832, and died at his home in Washington C. H., April 14, 1914. His parents, Jeremiah and Nancy ( Claypool) Hopkins, were natives of Pennsylvania and, with the desire to benefit their financial con- dition, they, in an early day, moved with the title of emigration westward and became pioneer setlers of Fayette county, Ohio, wheer they spent the rest of their days. Jeremiah Hopkins followed the vocation of farming, in which he was successful. and was a strong and sturdy figure in the early days of the community. His death occurred at Washington C. H. in 1875. in the sixty- ninth year of his age. He was survived a number of years by his widow. who died July 31, 1891, having been born May 17. 1807. They were faithful and earnest members of the Wesleyan Methodist church and, because of their consistent and upright lives, they enjoyed the esteem of the entire community. They were the parents of thirteen children, of which number eleven grew to maturity, namely: Mary Jane, deceased, was the wife of Cyrus Hegler ; Sarah, deceased, was the wife of Julius Bicknell; Washington, who lives near Eldorado Springs, Missouri: Josiah, the immediate subject of this review; David, of Washington C. H. : Elijah, of Hot Springs, Arkansas: Nancy M., wife of Joseph Beatty, of Washington C. H. : Phoebe. wife of Albert Peter- son, of Frankfort. Ross county, Ohio; Harriett Ann, wife of George Hamil- ton, of Florida : Orange Scott, who was a soldier in the Civil War and died
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