USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 66
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Lawson A. Parrett attended the rude log school house in his home neigh- borhood and finished his education at a select school at Spring Grove, securing the best education which was possible in his day. As a youth he worked on the farm and at a time when farm labor meant the hardest kind of work. At the early age of twenty he enlisted in the Civil War and served through-
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out that memorable struggle. He enlisted at Washington C. H., December 29, 1861, with the Twelfth Regiment of United States Infantry, and was assigned to duty in Company A, with Thomas Anderson as captain. He was captured on June 2, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and placed in Libby prison, where he remained for fifteen days. He was then transferred with a number of other prisoners to Andersonville, Georgia, where he remained for three months, when he was taken to Charleston, South Carolina, where he stayed two weeks, and later taken to Florence, in that state, where he was incarcerated when paroled. He fought in a large number of the severest engagements of the war, among them being Cedar Mountain, Bull Run. Antietam. Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania, Laurel Hill, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Bethesda Church and several others. His last battle was the battle of Cold Harbor, where he was cap- tured. His record appears remarkable when it is known that he participated in forty-eight different battles and skirmishes before he was finally captured.
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Parrett returned to Fayette connty, and upon his marriage, in 1866, began to farm in Wayne township. where he has since lived. He has retired from active farm life after a suc- cessful career of over half a century and is now living quietly in his handsome country home in Wayne township.
Mr. Parrett was married on Christmas day, 1866, to Jennie Campbell, the daughter of Lenox and Rebecca ( Johnson ) Campbell. Mrs. Parrett's father was born in Alexandria, Maryland, and served for two years during the Civil War as a member of the First Ohio Cavalry. Lenox Campbell was a son of James Campbell, a soldier of the Revolutionary War and a native of Scotland, who resided in Maryland. To Lenox Campbell and wife were born eight children, Jennie, Charles, Laura, William, Emma, Marietta, Jessie and Frank. All of these children are still living except William and Emma.
Mr. Parrett and wife have reared a 'family of seven children to lives of usefulness and honor, Stella, Hallie, Laura, Roy and Ert, Ethel and an infant, deceased. Stella is the wife of C. C. Parrett and has one son, Gale: Hallie is the wife of Charles Durnell and has three children, Sara, Byron and Frank; of these, Sara married S. Giffer and has one daughter. Ruth, the only great- grandchild of Mr. Parrett and wife: Laura married J. B. York and has two children, Mortimer and Maurine: Roy married Mabel Rogers and has two children, Roger and Genevieve: Erk is married to Chloe Free and has three children, Malcolm, Samuel and Donald: Ethel married Charles Goen and has one son, Dwight.
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Mrs. Parrett is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politi- cally, Mr. Parrett is a Republican and has been casting his ballot for the candi- dates of this party for over a half century. He has always been more or less interested in local politics and at the present time is trustee of Wayne town- ship, discharging the duties of this responsible posiion in a manner which reflects credit upon himself.
OSCO YEOMAN.
The Yeoman family have been residents of Fayette county, Ohio, for nearly one hundred years and Osco Yeoman is the fourth in direct descent from his great-grandfather, James, who came to this county in 1815. The first member of the family to come to America from England was Stephen Yeoman, the great-great-grandfather of Osco Yeoman, with whom this narrative deals. Stephen Yeoman had four sons, Walter, Gilbert, Samuel and James. James Yeoman married Sarah Bates, the daughter of Stephen and Lydia Bates, natives of Vermont and of English descent. Ten children were born to James and Sarah ( Bates) Yeoman : Abigail, Stephen, Joseph, Cyrene, Alva, Lydia, Jared, Minerva, Samantha, and Ira, the grandfather of Osco Yeoman.
Ira Yeoman was born in 1808, near Buffalo. New York and his wife, Osea McElwain, was born in 18II near Good Hope, Ohio. She was the daughter of Robert and Jane McElwain, natives of Pennsylvania and later residents of Maysville, Kentucky, and still later of Fayette county, Ohio, where they settled in 1810. Robert McElwain was born in 1779, and was married to Jane Taylor in 1804, ten children resulting from this union, James, John, William, Osea, Robert, Nancy, Samuel, Thomas, Eliza and Minerva. Robert McElwain was the first justice of the peace in Wayne township, Fayette county, and people came to him from far and near to settle their difficulties.
Ira Yeoman came with his parents to Ohio in 1815, being a lad of seven years at the time. They first located in Columbia, a small village near Cin- cinnati, and in the fall of 1815 removed to Wayne township, Fayette county, where James Yeoman. the father of Ira, lived until his death. The first winter the family spent here in 1815 was filled with all kinds of discourage- ments. The family lived in a house which they built in one day, the house consisting of a mere pen built with poles and had neither floor nor windows.
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Through these primitive conditions Ira Yeoman was reared to manhood and in 1830 married Osea McElwain. Ira Yeoman was one of the substantial and trusted citizens of his township and county. He served as township trustee for fifteen years, clerk for two years and as county commissioner for three years, filling all of these positions in an efficient and very satisfactory manner to his fellow citizens.
One of the largest birthday celebrations which ever took place in Fayette county occurred August 1, 1896, when nearly one thousand people assembled in honor of the eighty-fifth anniversary of Mrs. Ira Yeoman. Several hin- dred invitations had been sent out, and everybody came with well filled baskets and prepared for a big feast and a pleasant time. The crowd was made up of old and young from far and near, and included a large number of pioneer citizens who had come to pay their respects to the aged couple and talk over the days of long ago when Fayette county was a wilderness. At that time Mr. and Mrs. Ira Yeoman were probably the oldest pioneer couple in the county and had been married for sixty-six years.
Robert Yeoman was the only child born to Ira and Osea (McElwain) Yeoman, and grew to manhood in Wayne township, this county, and married Elizabeth J. Hill, and to this union were born five children: Osco, the im- mediate subject of this review ; Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of Andrew Clark : Ella, deceased, who was the wife of Charles Doster: Emma, the wife of Joseph White, and William Ira, deceased. The first wife of Robert Yeo- man died and he afterwards married Caroline Parker, and to the second union eight children were born, Mary, Joseph W .. Effie. Martha, Robert, Earl, Luella and Nellie.
Osco Yeoman attended the Rock Mills school in his home township, and later attended the district schools in Jasper township. At the age of twenty he began renting land and in 1894 purchased his present farm of eighty-five acres in Wayne township about one mile from Rock Mills.
Osco Yeoman was married December 24, 1874, to Susan Baughn, and to this union five children have been born: Jessie, who married Iva Edwards ; Orpah E., the wife of Harley King, is the mother of four children, Marcus H., Dorothy M., Susan L. and Elner M. Ida J., the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Yeoman, is deceased, as is Apel.
Politically, Mr. Yeoman is a member of the Republican party, but has never had any inclination to make the race for any public office, preferring to devote his time and attention to his agricultural interests. Fraternally. he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and, religiously, he and his family are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church.
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SIMON P. VAN PELT.
One of the distinguished veterans of the Civil War who has answered the last roll call is Simon P. Van Pelt, who spent his entire life in Concord township, Fayette county, Ohio. As a citizen, as a soldier and as a public- spirited man of affairs he performed his every duty in a way which brought him the hearty commendation of his fellow citizens. For four long years he served his country faithfully and well. In the tented camp, on the battle field, by day and by night, the debt which the American people owe to those gallant boys in blue can never be repaid, but a grateful people honor the living and remember those gone with reverence.
Simon P. Van Pelt was born on the 8th day of November, 1836, and died at his home in Concord township, January 2, 1913. He was the son of Peter and Mary (Row) Van Pelt, natives of New York and early settlers in Ross county, Ohio. Subsequently they moved to Fayette county, where they lived the remainder of their days. Twelve children, all of whom are de- ceased, were born to Peter Van Pelt and wife: Russell, Andrew, Willianı, Charles, Simon, Oliver, Mrs. Sarah Craig, Mrs. Mary Johnson, Anna, Mrs. Elizabeth Rowe, Mrs. Susan Post and Jane.
Simon P. Van Pelt spent his entire life upon the farm with the excep- tion of the four years which he spent in the service of his country. As a youth he attended the short winter terms of school in the rude log school houses of his home neighborhood, and this meager education he supplemented with wide reading in after life, so that he was always regarded as an ex- ceptionally well informed man. At the opening of the Civil War, he enlisted with hundreds of other young men from Fayette county and bore his share of the terrible burdens of that struggle with a fortitude which marked him as a man of bravery and endurance. He enlisted at the opening of the Civil War in the Seventy-third Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was mustered in as a musician in Company I. He served the full four years of the war, and then returned to his farm and resumed the peaceful pursuit of civil life. He remained at home until his marriage in 1871, and then began to farm for himself and for fifty years he led the simple life of a plain and unostentatious farmer, doing his every duty as he saw it and living a life which commended hin to his neighbors and friends.
Mr. Van Pelt was married in 1871 to Martha Eldrick, the daughter of Bernard and Sarah ( McClure) Eldrick. Her father was a native of Penn- sylvania and first located in Leesburg, Ohio, where he found employment on
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the boats plying up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He was a hatter by trade and subsequently became a merchant. In the latter part of his life he engaged in farming, and at the time of his death was the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred acres. There were seven children born to Bernard Eldrick and wife, Mary, James, John, Mrs. Emma Love, Mrs. Martha Van Pelt, Etta and Mrs. Anna Leverton. All of these children are now deceased with the exception of Martha and Anna. Mr. and Mrs. Van Pelt reared a family of two children, Mary and John E. Mary is the wife of Charles Mark, and has one son, Marion, who is now being educated at Staunton, Ohio. Jolin E. is managing the home farm.
Politically, Mr. Van Pelt was a Republican and, while interested in local politics, yet was never an active party man. He always took an active interest in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, and belonged to the John Bell Post for many years. He with his family were loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Thus, in brief, is the sketch of the life of the late Simon P. Van Pelt, a man who was admired for the life he lived and a man in whom everyone placed the utmost confidence.
HENRY HOPPES.
The first member of the Hoppes family came to Fayette county, Ohio, in 1806, four years before the county was even organized. John Hoppes, the father of Henry Hoppes, with whom this narrative deals, came from North Carolina with his parents in 1804, and settled with them on the Ohio river in Gallia county. In fact, the Hoppes family have been identified with the history of this county for one hundred and ten years, probably as long as any other family now represented within the limits of the county. Henry Hoppes has spent all of his eighty-three years in this county where he is now living. and during that time has seen the county emerge from a primeval forest to its present condition of prosperity. He served his country gallantly and well in the Civil War and spent two years at the front. His whole life has been a busy one, yet in the midst of his labors he has always found time to assist those who were less fortunate than himself, and therefore well merits the high esteem with which he is held by his friends and acquaintances.
Henry Hoppes, the son of John and Nancy (Brown) Hoppes, was born in Wayne township, July 2, 1831, and, as stated, his parents were from North Carolina, and located in Ohio in 1804 on the Ohio river. Jolin
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MR. AND MRS. HENRY HOPPES AND RESIDENCE
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Hoppes grew to manhood in Ohio and then returned to North Carolina, married and brought his young bride to Fayette county in 1806. He entered government land and cut out a farm from the dense forests which covered the land at that time. When the War of 1812 came on, he enlisted for service in his country's defense and served during that terrible struggle, re- turning to his farm in 1814, at the close of the war. He and his wife reared a family of twelve children, Henry, whose history is here related, being the only one living. The other eleven children are as follows: Mary, Jacob, Jane, Solomon, Betsy, John, Nancy, Henton, Margaret, Austin and Sarah. It is interesting to note that John Hoppes and his young bride, Nancy Brown, moved from North Carolina to Ohio on pack horses and that the fifty acres on which they settled in this county was purchased with money earned by the young bride by weaving.
Henry Hoppes attended school in the little log school house near Paint creek in his home township, and finished his educational training in the Locust Grove school. He worked on the home farm until 1850, being at that time nineteen years of age. He then went to California, driving an ox team overland, and remained there for nine years. While living in California he was first married, but after the death of his wife, in 1859, he returned to the county of his birth and bought a farm in Green township near Jamestown. He enlisted in the Seventy-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and served for two years, after which he returned to his farin, where he has since resided.
Mr. Hoppes was first married in California in the fifties to Lucy Raines. and to this union two children were born, Mrs. Sarah F. Sager and Mrs. Alice Davis. The second marriage of Mr. Hoppes was to Sarah J. Smith, and to this union two children were born, Mrs. Minerva Cook and John. The third marriage of Mr. Hoppes was to Amy Kerns, the daughter of William and Rebecca Kerns. William Kerns was a native of Fairfax, Vir- ginia, and had a family of seven children, Eliza, Amy, Mrs. Mariah Coe. Prescott, George W., John W. and Joseph S. Three of these children, Amy, Prescott and Joseph S., are living. To the last marriage of Mr. Hoppes was born one son, Valentine, who married Emma Winn and has four children, Hazel, Donald, Leland and Howard H. Of these children, Hazel and Donald are deceased.
Mr. Hoppes is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic and always takes an active interest in the affairs of the local post. He has been a member of the Baptist church for more than forty years and has always
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lived a life consistent with its teachings. He is now living a retired life on his excellent farm of eighty acres in Marion township, where he has been residing for more than half a century. His life has indeed been a busy one and full of interesting experiences. He is a man who is still hale and hearty and able to recount his famous drive across the country to California in 1850, as well as his Civil-war experiences. His whole life has been such as to win for him the esteem and good will of his fellow citizens, and no man in the county is more beloved and highly respected.
SILAS WOLFE.
Every nation on the earth has contributed its quota to the population of the United States, but no nation has furnished better citizens for our country than has Germany. Hundreds of thousands of the best blood of Germany have come to this country and become substantial citizens of the various localities in which they settled. Fortunate indeed is the locality which has its German descendants numbered among its citizens, for wherever they are found they are always among the most substantial citizens of the community. There are very few foreign-born citizens in Fayette county, Ohio, and ac- cording to the 1910 census there were only eight who were born in Germany. One of the best remembered German citizens of the past generation is Silas Wolfe, who lived in this county for more than half a century.
The late Silas Wolfe was born in Germany in 1830, and died at his country home in Wayne township. Fayette county, Ohio, in 1904. He was the son of Joseph and Marie ( Kowientz ) Wolfe, and one of eight children, Joseph, Anton, Marie, Silas. Caroline, Kowientz, George and Charles. All of these children are now deceased except Caroline, George and Kowientz.
Silas Wolfe was educated in Germany and came to America in 1854, the voyage to this country occupying forty-eight days. Upon coming to this country he first settled at Chillicothe. Ohio, but shortly afterwards located in Fayette county, where he lived the remainder of his life. He was a success- ful farmer and at the time of his death was the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Wayne township.
Mr. Wolfe was twice married, his first wife, to whom he was married in 1871, being Rose Gangle, and to this union one child, Amiel, was born. After the death of his first wife, he was again married, on Christmas day, 1876. to Margaret Gerber, the daughter of Joseph and Margaret ( Weaver) Gerber,
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natives of Germany, who had been raised in their native land and married in Pennsylvania after coming to America, and Mrs. Wolfe was born in Pennsyl- vania. Joseph Gerber and wife settled in Pennsylvania on a farm, where they reared a family of nine children, Mary, Charles, John, Frank, Margaret, Henry. Caroline, Antonie and Joseph.
Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe were the parents of eight children, Rose, Elizabeth, Emma, Louis, Sada, Frank, Lena and Pauline. Rose is the wife of Gale Evans; Elizabeth is the wife of Mitchell Martin: Emma is the wife of Fred Beals; Louis married Lucinda Duff and has one daughter, Norma E .: the other four children are unmarried and living with their mother.
Mr. Wolfe was a loyal and devout member of the Catholic church, and held his membership in St. Benignus church at Greenfield, Ohio. He was a man of sterling qualities of character, even-tempered, patient and scrupulously honest in all the relations of life. He was devoted to his family and was of essentially domestic tastes, preferring his fireside to that of the public forum.
ROBERT W. SORRELL.
One of the pioneer farmers of Fayette county, Ohio, is R. W. Sorrell, who has been a resident of Wayne township for the past seventy-four years. He has seen this county emerge from a primitive forest to its present pros- perous condition, with good roads, well-tilled fields, handsome homes and thriving towns and villages. In this transformation Mr. Sorrell has taken an active part and has been no inconsiderable factor in making his township one of the best agricultural sections of the county. While primarily de- voted to his own interests, he has not neglected to mingle in the civic life of his community and his support has always been given to measures of general welfare.
R. W. Sorrell, the son of Robert Lee and Eliza (Sharp) Sorrell, was born December 20. 1840, in Wayne township. His father was a native of Virginia, as was his mother, and after their marriage they came to Ohio and located in Fayette county. Eliza Sharp was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Sharp, natives of France. Robert L. Sorrell and wife reared a family of eleven children, Edwin. Belle, R. W., Anna, Jane and six who died in infancy.
The limited education of Mr. Sorrell was received in the rude log school house of his immediate neighborhood in Wayne township and in the graded
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schools of the county seat. At an early age he began to work on the farms in his township and after his marriage he worked and rented for about twenty-two years. His present farm comprises forty acres where he now lives. By a system of careful farming he has made a very comfortable living and reared a family of several children to lives of usefulness and honor.
Mr. Sorrell was married in 1865 to Mrs. Martha Sorrell, who was the widow of the subject's brother and had three children. To this union there have been born eight children, Frank, Alvin, Minnie. Robert, Ida, Grace, Jesse and one died in infancy. Three of the children are married, Alvin, Minnie and Ida. Politically, Mr. Sorrell is independent.
WILLIAM THOMAS STEERS.
Although a resident of Fayette county but a few years, yet so pro- nounced is the personality of William T. Steers that he has already impressed his individuality upon the community in which he lives. A man with a thorough business training along banking lines, he has taken charge of the Farmers Bank of Good Hope and made it one of the most successful of the smaller banks of the county. He thoroughly understands every phase of the banking business and having had a wide experience as a business man pre- vious to taking charge of this bank, he was well qualified to pilot this new financial institution. Although organized in 1910. the Farmers Bank of Good Hope has already made a reputation as a sound, safe and conservative bank, and well merits the patronage which it receives from this section o: the county.
William Thomas Steers, the son of William H. and Elizabeth ( Conrad ) Steers, was born in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, November 12, 1873. His father was born in Covington, Kentucky, and was the son of William Steers, a native of Germany. The grandfather and his wife, Elizabeth, were the par- ents of three children: William, the father of the immediate subject of this review ; Henry and James. William H. Steers was a small boy when his parents moved from Covington to Dry Ridge, Kentucky, and in the latter place was reared to manhood and lived the remainder of his days. He was a prosperous farmer and a large land owner, and at the time of his death, in 1893, was one of the most substantial men of his community. He was acci- dentally killed by lightning in 1893. Nine children were born to William H.
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Steers and wife, Jennie, Catherine, Fannie, Margaret, John S., Mrs. Ollie Vance, Willian T., Nellie and Rowena. All of these children are still living except Fannie.
William T. Steers attended the district schools of his home neighbor- hood in his native state, and then spent one year at the Normal School in Lebanon, Ohio, He then entered Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indi- ana, where he spent three and one-half years, taking the business course. After graduating at Valparaiso he became an instructor in penmanship, book- keeping and shorthand in the normal school at Crookston, Minnesota. The next thirteen and one-half years were spent in Chicago, seven and one-half years of which were spent as bookkeeper and cashier for W. H. Carring- duff & Company, and the remainder of the time as bookkeeper and cashier of the T. H. Flood Company. In 1910 he came to Good Hope, this county, and helped to organize the Farmers Bank in that place.
The bank was organized with the following officials: President, E. D. King ; vice-president, Isaac Cory ; second vice-president, S. B. Hoppe ; secre- tary, treasurer and cashier, Williamı T. Steers; second cashier, Tillie B. Steers. The directors of the bank are as follows: Dr. S. E. Boggs, H. C. Smalley, R. J. Holdren and H. D. Johnson. The bank has a paid-up capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, with deposits of more than forty-five thousand dollars, which are increasing all the time.
Mr. Steers was married January 10, 1899, to Tillie B. Bracht, the daughter of Alfred and Minnie (Holton) Bracht. Mrs. Steers' father was born in Kentucky and is now living the life of a retired farmer in his native state. Mr. and Mrs. Bracht reared a family of eight children, James, Mary, Tillie, Genia, Alfred, Charles, Holton and Mayme. The mother of these children is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Steers are the parents of one daughter, Eugenia Lucille.
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