USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 70
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William M. Campbell was reared in Bainbridge, Ohio, and graduated from the high school of Bainbridge in 1889. He then entered the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated from that ex- cellent institution in the spring of 1891. He then began clerking in his father's store at Bainbridge, Ohio, and later took charge of the store, re- maining at Bainbridge until after his marriage in 1897. In that year he came to Washington C. H. and took a position with the Dahl-Millikan Company in order to learn the grocery business. He went through all of the office positions and traveled on the road as a salesman for the company for a few years. He then returned to the home office in Washington C. H. and took charge of the buying, first of the notions, woodenware, etc., and later became the buyer for all of the departments of the store. He has been a director in the company ever since the organization of the Midland Company. He is now the vice-president of the Midland Grocery Company, controlling two stores, one at Columbus and the other at Washington C. H., known as the Dahl-Millikan branch. This company employs about forty salesmen on the
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road and is one of the largest wholesale grocery firms of the state. Mr. Campbell is essentially a self-made man and has worked his way up from a boy to his present position and is now one of the leading and eminently successful business men of Washington C. H.
Mr. Campbell was married June 24, 1897. to Ethel Dahl, the daughter of George and Ruth ( Bereman) Dahl. To this union one daughter, Vir- ginia, has been born. Mrs. Campbell was born in Washington C. H. and spent her whole life here. Her death occurred on December 27, 1911.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are stanch members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Campbell belongs to Bainbridge Lodge No. 196, Free and Ac- cepted Masons ; Greenfield Chapter No. 133, Royal Arch Masons; Chilli- cothe Council. Royal and Select Masters, as well as Garfield Commandery No. 28, Knights Templar, at Washington C. H. He is also a member of the Scioto Consistory, Columbus, Ohio, being a thirty-second-degree Mason. He also holds his membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Washington C. H. He is a director of the Fayette Canning Company and is a stockholder in the Fayette County Bank. In addition to his other in- terests, he owns two hundred and fifty acres in Union township, in this. county. Politically, he has always given his hearty support to the Republi- can party, but has never been a candidate for office. Mr. Campbell is recognized as a man of worth and stability of character and enjoys the high- est esteem of his fellow citizens.
FRANK C. PARRETT.
The Parrett family was one of the first to locate in Fayette county, Ohio, and the various members of this family have been prominently identi- fied with the history of this county for nearly a century. Frank C. Parrett is a worthy representative of this family and a man of broad and liberal edu- cation, who is now devoting himself to the supervision of extensive farming interests in Fayette and Greene counties. A graduate of the State University of Ohio, a newspaper man of several years' experience, he is now devoting himself to an agricultural career and is exhibiting marked ability in handling the large estate of his parents.
Frank C. Parrett, the son of John S. and Alice (Coffman) Parrett, was born in Union township, Fayette county, Ohio, on the old Samuel Coffman homestead September 13, 1882. His parents, both of whom were also natives of Fayette county, had only one child, Frank C. John S. Parrett was reared
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on Sugar creek, Union township, this county, and his wife was born and reared in the same township. He was a life-long farmer and after his mar- riage lived for one year in Washington C. H., where he was engaged in the hardware business. He then returned to the old Samuel Coffman homestead, where his wife was born, and lived there until his death, April 22, 1911. He was born in 1849 and spent his whole life in the county of his birth. His wife still survives him and lives on East Market street in Washington C. H. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. John S. Parrett was a farmer and stock raiser and a successful man in every way. He was active and industrious and accumulated a large estate. At one time he was a director in the Fayette County Bank and was also vice-president and a direc- tor in the Washington Savings Bank and Trust Company, having had a part in the organization of botlı banks.
The paternal grandparents of Frank C. Parrett were Frederick A. and Elizabeth (Grove) Parrett, natives of Ohio and pioneer settlers in Fayette county. Frederick Parrett cleared and improved a farm in Union township and was a large farmer and stock raiser and well known throughout the county. He lived to an advanced age, while his wife died a comparatively young woman. Frederick A. Parrett and wife were the parents of several children, Frederick, John S .. Noah S., Christopher, and two who died in in- fancy. After the death of his first wife he married again and three children were born to his second union.
The maternal grandparents of Frank C. Parrett were Samuel and Nancy (Smith) Coffman, natives of Ohio and pioneer settlers in Fayette county. They both died at an advanced age after rearing a large family of children, Mrs. Jane Grove, Mrs. Matilda Johnson, Mrs. Charity Sturgeon, Mrs. Armilda Lanum, Mrs. Nancy Dick, Mrs. Alice Parrett, Samuel E. and Mrs. Mary Deinous.
Frank C. Parrett was reared on his father's farm in Union township and graduated from the high school at Washington C. H. He then attended the Ohio Normal University at Ada, and later entered the Ohio State Uni- versity at Columbus, graduating from that institution in the spring of 1904 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He was then engaged in newspaper work for about four years, doing both reportorial and editorial work on various Columbus newspapers and on the Toledo Blade. In 1908 he took charge of a farm in Madison county, Ohio, where he remained for four years and after his father's death, in 1911, he returned to Washington C. H. and now looks after his father's and mother's lands in Fayette and Greene counties.
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Mr. Parrett was married September 26, 1907, to Katherine Eastman, the daughter of Henry Neville and Lillian (Jones) Eastman. Mrs. Parrett was born in Columbus, Ohio, her father being a native of Zanesville and her mother of Columbus.
Politically, Mr. Parrett is a stanch Republican and has been one of the leaders of his party for many years in local affairs. On November 3, 1914. he was elected to the General Assembly of Ohio as representative from Fay- ette county, a fact which speaks highly of his standing in his county. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Columbus, Ohio, and also of the Royal Arch Masons of the same place.
GEORGE ALLEN.
The late George Allen, the son of William and Sarah ( Hidy) Allen, was one of eight children born to his parents, the others being Irvin, Samuel, Adam, William, Aaron, Joel and Elizabeth J.
George Allen was reared to manhood in his home county and received a good common school education. He remained with his parents until his marriage and then located in Jefferson township, in Fayette county. He bought a small farm and gradually added to it until at the time of his death he owned two hundred and fifty acres of land on the Jamestown pike about two miles from Jeffersonville. He was a progressive farmer and took an active interest in the welfare of his community. In addition to farming he operated a tile mill for about ten years in his township. He served in the Civil War as a member of Company G, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Regi- ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and upon the organization of the Grand Army of the Republic became a member of the post at Washington C. H.
Mr. Allen was married December 1, 1868, to Mary S. Williams, the daughter of Jesse and Margaret (Bodkin) Williams. Her father was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, and when a young man came to Ohio and located in Fayette county. Seven children were born to Jesse Williams and wife, Jeremiah, Henry M., Mary S., Thomas. John, Esther and Fannie. Jesse Williams was the son of Thomas and Esther (Young) Williams, natives and life-long residents of West Virginia. Thomas Williams and wife reared a family of five children, Elizabeth. Prudence. John, Eli and Jesse.
Mr. Allen and wife reared a family of seven children. Lily, Adah, Ford, Raymond G., Roy, Clarence O. and Della. Lily is the wife of Adam Jacks and has three children, Luella, Claude and Marie. Adah is the wife of
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Arthur Hidy and has three children, Florence, Francis and Earl. Ford H. married Jennie Edge. Raymond G. married Belle Perslinger and has two children, Mildred and George. Roy married Edith Connor, and Della be- came the wife of James Rea.
JOHN MORGAN BAKER.
The manager of several large farms in Ohio is John Morgan Baker, who has the supervision of twelve hundred acres in this county. He is a man of excellent education and after leaving college became the bookkeeper in the Commercial Bank of Morris Sharp & Company, of Washington C. H., where he remained for many years. He left the bank in order to look after the extensive farming interests of Morris Sharp, his uncle, and for the past ten years has been thus engaged.
John Morgan Baker, the son of John and Susan (Sharp) Baker, was born in Jamestown, Greene county, Ohio, July 2. 1873. His parents, who were natives of Kentucky and Aberdeen, Ohio, respectively, had three sons : Owen, a farmer living near Buena Vista, Ohio; John Morgan, of Washing- ton C. H., and Warren, who died in infancy.
John Baker was a druggist in his early manhood and later was em- ployed by the D. M. Ferry Seed Company, of Detroit. and remained with that company for fifteen years. He died in Columbus, Ohio, in 1910, at the age of sixty-four. His wife died January 12, 1879, at the age of thirty- eight. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The paternal grandparents of John M. Baker were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Greene county, Ohio, where they died at an advanced age. Five children were born to the grandparents of Mr. Baker, Arvilla, Frank, Samuel T., John Hillary and W. Raper. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Baker were Morgan and Frances ( Warren) Sharp, natives of Ken- tucky. Morgan Sharp was a river pilot for many years and later operated a general store at Jonestown, Ohio. Mr. Sharp and his wife both died at Washington C. H. He passed away in June, 1882, and his widow in March, 1890. Three children were born to Morgan Sharp and wife, Morris, Susan and a son who died in early childhood.
John Morgan Baker came to Washington C. H. when he was five years of age and has lived here ever since. After graduating from the Washington C. H. high school, he entered Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where
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he spent three years. He then became bookkeeper in the Commercial Bank of Morris Sharp & Company, of Washington C. H., and remained with them for fourteen years. Mr. Sharp died February 11, 1905, and since that time Mr. Baker has been looking after the extensive farming interests of his uncle.
Mr. Baker was married January 6, 1898, to Ora Belle Harsha, the daughter of John P. and Amma ( Wiley) Harsha. To this union two children have been born, Helen and Warren Harsha.
Mrs. Baker was born in Springfield, Ohio, January 7, 1875. Her par- ents were natives of Ohio and have been residents of Washington C. H. since 1893. Her father is a monument dealer and a prominent citizen of the city. Three daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Harsha, Ora Belle, Jessie Dea and Mary Edith.
Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, but has never taken an active part in the political affairs of his county. Fraternally, he is a member of the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks.
ROBERT B. GREENLEE.
A man long identified with the business in Bloomingburg, Ohio, is Robert B. Greenlee, who is now living a retired life in that town. He was born April 29, 1846, in Marion township, Fayette county, Ohio, the son of Samuel and Anna ( Hess) Greenlee. His father came from Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, and settled in Marion township in this county about 1836. His mother came from Hesse, Germany, and his mother's grandfather was in the Revolu- tionary War. Samuel Greenlee and wife were the parents of five children, Mrs. Mary Parrett, Caroline, Anna, Robert B. and Charles.
Robert B. Greenlee was educated in the country schools and later finished in Bloomingburg Academy. He started to work for himself before reaching his majority and after his marriage became interested in the mercantile busi- ness in Bloomingburg. He proved to be a very successful business man and retired several years ago from active business life, having laid by a very com- fortable competence for his declining years.
Mr. Greenlee married Jane Holland and to this union three children have been born, two of whom are living, Pauline and Mary. Pauline is the wife of Howard Jefferson and has two daughters, Jane H. and Charlotte. Mary
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is a graduate of the Wooster high school as well as her sister, Pauline. His daughters are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, being entitled to this honor because their great-grandfather on their mother's side was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
Mr. Greenlee is a member of the Presbyterian church, as are the other members of his family. Politically, he has long been identified with the Republican party but has never taken an active part in the councils of his party. He is a man of high character and has lived such a life in his com- munity as to merit the high esteem in which he is held.
ROY HAGLER.
An enumeration of the representative citizens of Fayette county would be incomplete without specific mention of the well-known and popular gen- tleman whose name introduces this sketch. A member of one of the old and highly-esteemed families of this locality and himself a public-spirited man of affairs, he has stamped the impress of his individuality upon the commu- nity and added luster to the honorable name which he bears, having always been actuated by a spirit of fairness in his dealings with the world in general, and leaving no stone unturned whereby he might benefit his own condition as well as that of his friends and the favored section of the great common- wealth in which he has been content to spend his life. Straightforward and unassuming, genial and obliging, Mr. Hagler enjoys the good will and respect of a wide circle of friends throughout this part of the state.
Roy Hagler, farmer and stock raiser of Jefferson township, Fayette county, Ohio, was born on August 17, 1870, on the old Hagler homestead where his father was born. He is the son of Jesse and Angeline ( Rodgers) Hagler and was one of a family of three children, the other two being How- ard, the oldest son, and Gertrude, wife of V. R. McCoy. Jesse Hagler, father of the immediate subject, was born on October 22, 1823, being the son of Isaac and Susan ( Stuckey) Hagler, the former having come from his native home in Virginia and located in this county in 1811. Throughout his life he followed the vocation of farming and was one of the pioneers of this section. He purchased the farm on which his grandson, Roy, makes his home. comprising some three hundred and sixty acres, for six dollars and twenty-five cents per acre. Being a man of more than ordinary intelligence, he was one of the foremost men of his time in this community and left the
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impress of his individuality upon not only the material aspect of this then new section, but upon its moral and educational life as well. He and his faithful wife lie buried upon the homestead where they spent so many active years of life. After the death of Isaac Hagler, Jesse, the son, took over the management of the home place and there passed his entire life, his death occurring on February 12, 1900. He, too, was a man of prominence in the community and well filled his place in life. He received his education in the schools of Jefferson township and was a man of broad ideas and generous impulses. His three children received excellent educations in addition to careful home training, thus well fitting them for their places in life. He was highly respected by a large circle of friends and his death was a distinct shock to the community in which his entire life had been passed.
In his youth Roy Hagler attended the schools of the community, princi- pally the Creamer school, an educational landmark of this section, which education was supplemented by a course at the Ohio State University. His brother also attended the university, while the sister was sent to the Gran- ville school. From the time he was a young boy he took an interest in the affairs of the home farm and during the spare time. while attending school, he was receiving from his father careful instruction in the secrets of suc- cessful husbandry. The family life of Mr. Hagler was ideal, all working together for the common good and not until the father's death was the land divided. The Hagler farm is located on the Jamestown road, about five miles northwest of Washington C. H., the residence being one of the finest in the county. It contains nine rooms and is constructed of iron clay brick. Its location is ideal, being set back off the main road and surrounded by at- tractive shrubbery and trees. Mr. Hagler is quite successful in raising the crops best adapted to this section and has an enviable reputation as a raiser of good cattle and horses. He prefers the Angus breed of cattle and his horses are the Belgian variety, his stables producing many fine specimens.
Mr. Hagler chose as his wife Flora Robinson, daughter of George F. and Lavina ( Bramble) Robinson, to whom he was united in marriage on November 30, 1898. They are the parents of four children, namely : Ruth, Jesse, Mary and Alfred, all of whom are attending school and all of whom are worthy representatives of this honorable family. The family having remained in this county since early pioneer times, many incidents of family history are identified with well known county landmarks. Hagler Station, on the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton railroad, receives its name from the family.
Mr. Hagler is deeply interested in any movement having as its object the advancement of any community interest, being regarded as one of the best
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citizens of this section. The entire family is well liked and respected by a large circle of friends, and having been found faithful to every trust of life. Mr. Hagler is well deserving the high esteem in which he is held by all who know him.
MATTHEW GILMERR.
Enumerated among the progressive farmers of Wayne township, Fay- ette county, Ohio, is Matthew Gilmerr, who has a farm of two hundred acres où the New Holland and Good Hope pike, about nine miles southeast of Washington C. H. He has been a resident of this county practically all of his life, having come here with his parents in his boyhood days. He comes from a splendid family, one that always stood for right living and industrious habits, for education and morality, and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth. His whole life has been characterized by industry, perseverance, temperance and integrity, and he has worked himself from an humble station to a successful place in life, attaining an honorable position among the well-known and highly esteemed men of the locality in which he resides.
Matthew Gilmerr, the son of Martin and Sarah (Bybee ) Gilmerr, was born July 27, 1858, in Ross county, Ohio. Martin Gilmerr was a native of Hardy county, Virginia, and located in Ross county when he first came to Ohio, and later settled in Fayette county. Martin Gilmerr was the son of Matthew and Elizabeth ( Shobe ) Giherr, and had a family of ten children, Emily J., Elizabeth, Levi, Matthew, Nettie, Clara, Anna, Henry E. and two who died in infancy.
Matthew Gilmerr received his education in the public schools of Ross and Fayette counties, working on the farm during the time he was not at- tending school. Upon his marriage, in 1888, he bought out the other heirs to the paternal estate, and has lived there for the past thirty-five years. He is a practical and systematic farmer, giving his personal attention to every detail of the farm work, and in the raising of crops and live stock he has been highly remunerated for his efforts. His life has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the notably systematic and honorable methods he has followed have won for him the confidence and regard of all who have formed his acquaintance.
Mr. Gilmerr has been twice married, his first marriage being to Elizabeth Ater, daughter of Abraham Ater, and to this first marriage were born two
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children, Bessie, who married Jesse White, and has one daughter, Edith Annabel, and Mathew, Jr., deceased. After the death of his first wife, in 1897, he married, in 1901, Mrs. Mary Bryan, the widow of Darius Bryan, and to the second union no children were born.
Fraternally, Mr. Gilmerr is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and also holds his membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Gil- merr is enjoying life on his farm, realizing, as the public at large are realizing more than ever before, that the farmer today is to be envied above all other men. He has worked his way from the foot of the ladder, a fact which renders him the more worthy of the praise that is duly accorded him by his fellow men.
JESSE HAGLER.
Nearly a century ago the first members of the Hagler family settled in Fayette county, Ohio, and since that time the family has been prominent in all the activities connected with the growth and development of the county. In the summer of 1814 there came to Ross county, Ohio, Isaac Hagler and Susan Stookey with their respective families, and in that same year this young couple were married and the year following located in Fayette county. They started life under pioneer conditions, built a rude log cabin and started to clear the virgin forests and make a home for themselves in this new county. The Hagler and Stookey families came from Hardy county, Vir- ginia, and were among the first to locate in Ross county, Ohio. There were nine children came to bless the union of Isaac and Susan ( Stookey ) Hagler : Mrs. Lottie Hankins, born in 1817; Mrs. Kate Millikan, born in 1818; Mrs. Matilda McLean, born 1822; Mrs. Susan Browning, born 1830; Albert, born 1826; Felix, born 1827, and Jesse, born 1823. Upon coming to this county, Isaac Hagler located seven miles northwest of Washington C. H., where he lived until his death, July 10, 1830.
The late Jesse Hagler, the fifth child of Isaac Hagler and wife, was born October 22, 1823, and died February 12, 1900. He was born on the Hagler homestead in Jefferson township and lived on the same farm all his life. He received a very limited education, since the schools of his boyhood days offered very few advantages. From his earliest boyhood he worked upon the farm, and after his father's death, he and one of his brothers bought out the interests of the other children in the home farm and operated the old home place in partnership. As he prospered from year to year he added to
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his holdings until at the time of his death he was the owner of ten hundred and sixty acres in Jefferson township.
Mr. Hagler was married May 1, 1864, to Angeline Rogers, the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Rogers, early pioneers of this county. Mrs. Hagler was born June 25, 1840, and died September 27, 1874, leaving her husband with three children: Howard, Gertrude and Roy. Howard is now farming two hundred and seventy-three acres of the old homestead; Gertrude. is the wife of V. R. McCoy, and Roy, whose history is presented elsewhere in this volume, is also on the old Hagler homestead.
JOHN E. HOPKINS.
A substantial farmer and stock raiser of Madison township, Fayette. county, Ohio, is John E. Hopkins, who was born June 25, 1862, near Linden, Ross county, Ohio. He was the son of Levi and Rachel (Kintz) Hopkins, natives of Ross county, Ohio. Levi Hopkins was the son of Matthew and - ( Harper ) Hopkins, natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers of Ross county. Levi Hopkins came to Fayette county and settled one mile east of Madison Mills, where he and his wife reared a family of five children, Selah, Ella, John E., J. W. and H. L. Of these five children, Selah and H. L. are deceased.
John E. Hopkins was educated in the schools of his home township and later attended the high school at Washington C. H. and the Normal Uni- versity at Lebanon, Ohio. He then taught school for a few years during the winter months and worked on his father's farm during the summers. At the age of twenty-four he began renting land and has been farming since. A few years after his marriage he bought his present farm of two hundred and fifty acres one mile west of Madison Mills on the White Oak pike and now has one of the finest farms in his township.
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