USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 101
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On April 4. 1884, James A. Mercer was united in marriage to Fannie Turner, who was born in Silvercreek township, this county, daughter of Jacob and Minerva (Wood) Turner, both of whom also were born in this county, and who were the parents of three children, Mrs. Mercer having had two brothers, Albert, who died when six years of age, and Charles Turner, who is now living at Cedarville. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer have two daughters,
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Mary E., born on March 15, 1885, who married George Ensign, who is operating Mr. Mercer's farm in Ross township, and has one child, a son, , Roger Albert, born on April 26, 1911; and Lena Belle, October 15, 1888, who married Clarence Mott and is living on a farm in the vicinity of Cedar- ville. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Jamestown.
ALBERT E. BALES.
Albert E. Bales, one of New Jasper township's well-known farmers, was born in that township on August 16, 1869, son of Jacob and Matilda (Lucas) Bales, the former of whom was born in that same township, a son of John Bales, a soldier of the War of 1812, who was the son of Elisha and Rebecca Bales, Pennsylvania Quakers, who had come to Ohio with their family in 1806 and had settled in Greene county.
Elisha Bales, the pioneer, was born in Pennsylvania and was there reared in the faith of the Friends and to the life of a farmer. He married in that state and a few years later moved to Virginia, where he remained until 1806, in which year he came with his family to Ohio and established his home on a tract of land five miles southeast of the then village of Xenia. where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Upon coming here Elisha Bales bought two sections of land in the old Military tract on what is now known as the Hook road in Caesarscreek township, paying for the same one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, and with the assistance of his sons cut a farm out of the timber land and created a good piece of property. He and his wife were the parents of four sons, John, Jacob, Elisha and Jonathan, and two daughters, all of whom lived to maturity and reared families of their own.
John Bales was born in Pennsylvania on March 6, 1879, and came with his parents, Elisha and Rebecca Bales, to Greene county in 1806. He helped develop the pioneer home farm in Caesarscreek township and became a substantial farmer and landowner. During the War of 1812 he served as a member of the company of Capt. Joseph Lucas and upon the completion of that service resumed farming. In his home township he married Sarah Lucas, who was born at Maysville, Kentucky, in 1795, and who had come up into the valley of the Little Miami with her parents, John and Frances (Rains) Lucas, the family settling in Caesarscreek township, this county. Her uncle, Simon Rains, also a pioneer of this county, was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving in the company of Capt. Zach. Ferguson. John Lucas and his wife both lived to be past eighty years of age, the former dying in 1851 and his widow surviving him for some years. John Bales was a Democrat,
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and served for fifteen years as justice of the peace and was his party's nomi- nee for a seat in the state Legislature. He became the owner of two hun- dred acres of fine land along the waters of Caesars creek and on that farm spent his last days, his death occurring there on March 1I, 1864. His widow survived him for more than ten years, her death occurring on June 8, 1874. They were the parents of twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, and all of these sons were for some time engaged in school teach- ing.
Jacob Bales, son of John and Sarah (Lucas) Bales, was born on the old home farm on the Hook road in 1838 and there grew to manhood. He early became a school teacher, receiving for that service during the short winter terms the wages of eight dollars a month. He was thirteen years of age when his father died and upon attaining his majority he came into possession of sixty acres of the home estate, on which he established his home after his marriage and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring on August 20, 1873, he then being but thirty-five years of age. His widow later married George Golder, but this second union was without issue. She lived until February 26, 1883. She was born, Matilda Lucas, in Virginia, in 1839, daughter of Basil Lucas and wife, who came to Greene county in 1843 and established their home on a farm east of Xenia. To Jacob and Matilda (Lucas) Bales were born two sons, the subject of this sketch having had a brother, John W. Bales, born on December 3, 1865, who died on May 31. 1881.
Albert E. Bales was but four years of age when his father died in 1873 and he was fifteen when his mother died. Thereafter he made his home with his uncle, Elisha Bales, completing his schooling in the neighbor- hood schools. Upon attaining his majority he entered upon his inheritance in his father's farm and after his marriage the year following established his home on that place and there continued to reside until 1907, when he sold that farm and bought the Shook farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on the Hook road in New Jasper township, where he ever since has made his home. Politically, he is a Democrat, as were his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He is a member of the local lodge of the Woodmen at New Jasper.
On October 2, 1891, Albert E. Bales was united in marriage to Mattie L. Whittington, who was born in Virginia, daughter of John R. and Mar- garet Whittington, who are now living retired at Greenville, this state. To this union three children have been born, namely: Ray, now living at Hamilton, Ohio, and who married Martha Jane Harnes and has three chil- dren; Ruth, a graduate nurse, who follows her profession in this county, and Bernice, who was born in 1909.
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REV. JOHN P. WILLIAMS.
The Rev. John P. Williams, a retired minister of the Methodist Epis- copal church, now living at Yellow Springs, is a native of England, born in the city of London, on October 8, 1851, son of Christopher Robert and Mary M. (Nimann) Williams, both of whom also were of English birth. He received his early schooling in a private school at Greenwich, in the vicinity of London. When sixteen years of age he became attracted by the possibilities then awaiting the gold miners in faraway New Zealand and he took a trip there, bent on making his fortune in the mines. For five years, or until he was twenty-one years of age, Mr. Williams continued mining in New Zealand, with more or less success. Mr. Williams had some family connections over in Australia and after having acquired all the experience in gold mining that he cared for he spent a year in Australia visiting these kinsfolks. He then sailed for Cape Town, Africa, and for a year or more visited there, at the same time investigating South Africa far up into the interior. He then returned to his old home in England and after a year there went to France, from which country he presently came to the United States, arriving at the port of New York when about twenty- three years of age. From there he went to Chicago and not long afterward in that city became interested in contract work and for some time was thus engaged there, employing a considerable force of men. In the meantime Mr. Williams had been seriously turning his thoughts in the direction of the gospel ministry and after a whole began preaching. Though reared in the established church of England, his personal interest was manifested in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and when about twenty- six years of age he was licensed to preach by the Chicago conference of that church and for twenty years thereafter was actively engaged in the ministry of that church, his various appointments eventually bringing him to Ohio, his last definite official charge having been at Middletown, this state. He retired from the ministry while stationed there, about 1889, and then moved to Xenia, from which city shortly afterward he moved to Yellow Springs, attracted to the natural beauty of the place and its desirability as a place of residence, and has ever since resided there. Though retired from the active ministry, Mr. Williams has continued active in platform work and is widely known as a lecturer, his illustrated lectures, particularly, hav- ing won for him a very gratifying reputation as a platform entertainer.
At Guilford, in Dearborn county, Indiana, the Rev. John P. Williams was united in marriage to Anna R. Hansell, daughter of Robert and Cathe- rine (Roberts) Hansell, of that place, the former of whom was born in England and the latter in the state of Maine, and' who were the parents of six children, those besides Mrs. Williams having been Theodore, Grant
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(deceased), Mary, Harriet and Abbie. Mrs. Williamson died on June 23, 1915, and is buried at beautiful Glen Forest cemetery at Yellow Springs. Mr. Williams has three daughters, Florence M., who has charge of the music department of Antioch College; Bessie Victoria, who married Prof. F. H. Young, of Cedarville, now a teacher in the Zanesville high school, and has three children, Paul R., Faith and Donald; and Marguerite Mae, who is a teacher of music in Antioch College and otherwise busied in the activities of that institution.
PIERRE W. DRAKE.
Pierre W. Drake, senior member of the firm of Drake & Van Kirk, dealers in lumber and coal at Yellow Springs, was born in the neighboring county of Clark on January 6, 1877, son of William W. and Bethany (Tay- lor) Drake, the former of whom also was born in that county, in 1830, of pioneer parentage. Bethany Taylor was born in Indiana, in 1830, but was reared in Clark county in the family in which Samuel Shallenbarger, afterward congressman from this district, was reared. William W. Drake, a well-to-do farmer in Clark county, was married in 1857. Both he and his wife are now deceased. They were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow: George, formerly and for years engaged in the lumber and saw-mill business at Yellow Springs, now living retired in that city; Ruthetta, wife of William M. Wilson, a farmer and stockman, now living at Alberta, Canada; Oliver, who established his home on the old home farm in Clark county after his marriage and who spent his last days there, his death occurring in 1917; Ralph, who is mar- fried and is living on a farm in Clark county, and Elmer, also married and living on a Clark county farm.
Reared on the home farm in Clark county, Pierre W. Drake remained there until he was twenty-one years of age, meanwhile completing his edu- cational course in Wittenberg College at Springfield and at Antioch Col- lege, Yellow Springs. Upon leaving college he became engaged with his brother George in the lumber business at Yellow Springs. Two years later he went to West Virginia and was there engaged in the lumber business, in the employ of a Philadelphia concern. After being thus connected for a couple of years he returned to Yellow Springs, in 1906, and formed a partnership with his brother George in the lumber and milling business there, and this mutually agreeable arrangement continued until 1910, when George Drake retired from business and his brother Pierre bought his interest in the concern and continued the business under the name of P. W. Drake. In 1916 Mr. Drake bought the coal business which had been for years conducted at Yellow Springs by S. S. Johnson, added the same to his
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lumber establishment and has since been operating the two in connection. In 1917 he admitted Lawson Van Kirk to partnership in his business and the same is now carried on under the firm name of Drake & Van Kirk.
On June 12, 1906, Pierre W. Drake was united in marriage to Georgia Black, who was born in this county, daughter of Prof. G. D. Black, presi- dent of Antioch College, and to this union one child has been born, Virginia. They are members of the Presbyterian church. Politically, Mr. Drake is a Republican and, fraternally, is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons at Yellow Springs.
ADELBERT N. VANDEMAN, M. D.
Dr. Adelbert N. Vandeman, who early in 1917 moved front Milledge- ville, Fayette county, and located in the pleasant village of Bellbrook, was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Webster City, Iowa, December 13. 1878, son of S. W. and Elizabeth (Foster) Vandeman, both of whoni were born in Adams county, Ohio, and who after their marriage in that county went to Iowa, where they established their home and where they remained for nearly twenty years, at the end of which time they returned to Ohio, bought a farm in Adams county and are still making their residence there. They have had three children, two sons and one daughter, the sub- ject of this sketch having a sister, Lelia, who married Ira Howard and is living in Adams county. Orville, the second son, died in his second year.
Adelbert N. Vandeman spent his early boyhood on the home farm in the vicinity of Webster City, Iowa, where he was born, and was fourteen years of age when his parents returned to Ohio and located in Adams county. Upon completing the course in the Cherry Fork high school, he spent a year in the university at Valparaiso, Indiana, preparatory to taking up for- mally the study of medicine. In 1905 he entered Starling Medical College at Columbus, from which institution he was graduated in 1909 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the fall following the receipt of his diploma Doctor Vandeman opened an office for the practice of his profession at Milledgeville, in Fayette county, and was there engaged in practice until in February, 1917, when he came into Greene county and located at Bell- brook, where he has since been engaged in practice.
On December 26, 1902, Dr. Adelbert N. Vandeman was united in marriage to Lyda Howard, daughter of Cyrus and Margaret (Fenton) Howard, of Adams county, and to this union two children have been born, Howard, born in 1903, and Lawrence, 1910. Mrs. Vandeman has two brothers, Ira A. and Kelly. Doctor and Mrs. Vandeman have a pleasant home at Bellbrook and have made many friends since taking up their resi- dence there.
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AMOS S. BULL ..
Among that doughty band of Scotch Seceders who came from their first settlement in the Lexington neighborhood of Kentucky in 1810 and formed the first Association congregation in this section of Ohio, were the Bulls, the Gowdys, the Laugheads and the Kyles, whose respective families still form a numerous and influential connection hereabout. About the time of the founding of the Massies creek settlement James Bull married Ann Gowdy and established his home on a considerable tract of land he previously had purchased in this county. Amos S. Bull, one of the sons of this union, grew up there and married a daughter of David M. and Elizabeth ( Kyle) Laug- head, and the surviving daughters of this union, the Misses Henrietta and Emily Johanna Bull, are still occupying the old home place in Miami town- shij :.
Amos S. Bull was born on the old Bull place on Massies creek, January IC, 1820, son of James and Ann (Gowdy) Bull, the former of whom was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, in 1776, a son of William Bull, a soldier in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War and whose death occurred here on October 31, 1811. James Bull was nineteen years of age when he came to Ohio and he lost little time after his arrival here in establishing himself as a landowner, making a purchase at the Dayton land office of a tract of one thousand acres. On November 8, 1804, he was united in mar- riage to Ann Gowdy, daughter of John and Ann Gowdy, who also had come up here from Kentucky. After his marriage James Bull established his home on the land he had bought from the government and continued the develop- ment of the same. During the War of 1812 he served as a soldier, a member of Capt. James Morrow's company. He and his wife reared their family on their pioneer farm and there spent the rest of their lives, James Bull living to the great age of ninety-six years, his death occurring in 1872, and he was buried in the old Massies Creek church yard. He was for years one of the most influential members of the Massies Creek Associate church, but after the "union" of 1858 he and his family became affiliated with the United Presbyterian church. James Bull and his wife were the parents of eight children, all now deceased, namely: William Hunter, John Gowdy, Susanna, married James Turnbull, Margaret, who married James Hopping, James Law, Robert Scott, Amos S. and Andrew Rankin. They also reared until he was twenty-one years of age, Amos Shaw, son of Mr. Bull's widowed sister, Mrs. Ann Shaw. James Bull also had another sister, Mary, and five brothers, Asaph, John, Thomas, Richard and William.
Amos S. Bull received his early schooling in the primitive neighborhood school and supplemented the same by attendance at the academy which then was being conducted by the ministers at Xenia. He became early recognized as
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one of the best-informed men in his community, ever interested in school work and was for years an active member of the local school board. Upon the organization of the Republican party he became affiliated with the same and ever after remained an ardent advocate of the principles of the party. Originally a member of the Associate church, he became a United- Presby- terian after the "union" and ever took an earnest interest in church affairs, a member of the session, first of the Associate church and then of the United Presbyterian church, for fifty-one years. After his marriage, in the early torties, Amos S. Bull continued farming a part of his father's old place until 1855, when he bought the place in Miami township where his daugh- ters are now living, and there he and his wife spent their last days, her death occurring in 1872. Mrs. Bull was born in this county, daughter ot David Mitchell and Elizabeth (Kyle) Laughead, who were married in this county shortly after they had come here with their respective families from the Lexington settlement in Kentucky in 1803, both the Laugheads and the Kyles, even as, the Bulls and the Gowdys, having been among the earliest and most influential pioneer residents of this county. To Amos S. Bull were born two sons and four daughters, James Harvey, Elizabeth Anna, Mary Frances, Henrietta, Emily Johanna and David Louden, all of whom are now deceased save the Misses Henrietta and Emily Bull, who are still making their home on the old home place in Miami township, rural mail route No. I out of Yellow Springs, where they are very pleasantly situated. Amos S. Bull died on August 12, 1902, he then being past eighty-two years of age. and his body was laid beside that of his wife in the Stevenson cemetery on Massies creek.
WILLIAM EDWARD COY.
William Edward Coy, farmer and stockman in Beavercreek township, was born in that township on November 10, 1862, a son of Adam and Soph- ronia (Crowl) Coy, the former of whom was a son of Jacob Coy, one of the foremost pioneers of that part of Greene county.
Reared on the home farm in Beavercreek township, William E. Coy received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and early took up farming. After his marriage he established his home on a farm and began operations on his own account. He is now the owner of a farmi of a fraction more than seventy-eight acres and in addition to his general farming gives considerable attention to the raising of registered Poland China hogs. Mr. Coy is a Republican and he and his family are members of the Reformed church, connected with the Mt. Zion congregation.
On December 25, 1885, William E. Coy was united in marriage to Saralı Black. who also was born in Beavercreek township, daughter of Jonathan
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and Ellen (Cosler) Black, the latter of whom is still living, a resident of the Mt. Zion neighborhood. Jonathan Black and wife were the parents of eight children, all of whom save two, Margaret and Susan, are still living. those besides Mrs. Mary Ellen Coy being Samuel, who is living in Sugar- creek township; Duff G., now a resident of the state of Iowa; Effie, wife of David Bates, of Beavercreek township; Bertha, wife of John Shoup, of Beavercreek township, and Anna, wife of Grant Coy, of that. same town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. William E. Coy have one son, Russell Coy, born on May 31, 1890, who on January 9, 1911, was united in marriage to Martha Dietz, of Adams county, this state, and has one child, a daughter, Bessie Lucille.
JAMES CROWL.
James Crowl, proprietor of an old-established livery and undertaking establishment at Bellbrook, was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, not far from Bellbrook, September 18, 1855, son of William H. and Sarah An (Berryhill) Crowl, the latter of whom also was born in this county, daugh- ter of William T. and Nancy (Lyle) Berryhill, of Sugarcreek township.
William H. Crowl was born in Pennsylvania and in that state grew to young manhood, later coming to Ohio and locating in Greene county, where he married Sarah Ann Berryhill, a member of one of the old families of Sugarcreek township, and became engaged in farming, a pursuit he followed until his death in 1860, he then being forty-five years of age. His widow survived him for many years, her death occurring in April, 1907, she then being eighty-four years of age. William H. Crowl and wife were the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the sixth in order of birth, the others being the following: Henry Lyle, deceased; Horace Rufner, deceased; Oscar Lawson, a resident of Bellbrook; William Rufus, deceased; Alexander Lacey, a resident of Dayton ; Anna C., who mar- ried George C. Peck and is now living in Missouri ; Mary Elizabeth, deceased, and Henry Francis, who is living at Wooster, this state.
James Crowl received his schooling in the Bellbrook schools and as a young man became engaged there in the butcher business, a business he followed until the spring of 1882, when he opened a livery stable at Bell- brook and thus established there a business which he has ever since main- tained. In 1896 he bought out the undertaking establishment of W. H. Morris at Bellbrook and has ever since also conducted that business, one of the best-known funeral directors in the county. Mr. Crowl is a Republican and front 1889 to 1897 he served as village constable, from 1890 to 1897 served as trustee of Sugarcreek township and from 1899 to 1910 served as
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township treasurer. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Cedarville and with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics at Bellbrook.
On March 20, 1895, James Crowl was united in marriage to Harriet Mason Kemp, of Bellbrook, who died on March 10, 1902. To that union were born four children, Donald Wallace (deceased), Margaret Kendall, Dorothy Louise and Mary Lewis (deceased). Mr. Crowl and his daughters are members of the Presbyterian church.
THOMAS H. TINDALL.
Thomas H. Tindall, train dispatcher at Yellow Springs for the Dayton, Xenia & Springfield Railroad Company, was born on a farm three miles from Clifton, this county, on October 15, 1855, son of Charles and Julia (White ). Tindall, the latter of whom was the daughter of the Rev. John White, of Selma, in the neighboring county of Clark.
Charles Tindall was born in the Berkshire country in England and was but a lad when he came to this country with his parents, who came on out to Ohio and settled on what is now called the Tindall lease, the old Taylor tract of one thousand acres in the upper part of this county. Charles Tindall became engaged in farming on his own account and after his mar- riage established his home on' a farm in Miami township, where he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1899. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the sixth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Elizabeth, who married John Anderson, a Greene county farmer, and is now living at Springfield, this state; William, who is married and is now engaged in farming in Nebraska; Nancy, deceased; Mrs. Margaret Miller, now a resident of the state of Wisconsin; John, deceased; and Frederick, who is married and lives at Selina.
Thomas H. Tindall was reared on the home farm and received his schooling in the local schools. He early learned the carpenter trade and after his marriage in 1893 established his home at Cedarville, where for twenty years he was engaged as a carpenter and builder, later moving to Yellow Springs, where he became similarly engaged. Meanwhile he had learned the art of telegraphy and in 1917 accepted the position of night dispatcher at the car barns of the Dayton, Xenia & Springfield Railroad Company at Yellow Springs and has since then been thus engaged. Politi- cally, Mr. Tindall is a Republican.
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