USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 13
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were being promised for the town of Decatur, Alabama, and before the ill-fated "boom" in values at that point had started he made some land investments there and thus got in "on the ground floor." Upon the or- ganization of the Decatur Land and Improvement Company Mr. Flynn, who was the chief promoter, was elected general manager of the same and so continued to the end, at the same time having a hand in numer- ous other enterprises projected there, and felt confidently assured of be- ing possessed of a good thing; everything looking exceedingly well when yellow fever broke out in the town and the "boom" bursted practically over night. At that inauspicious time Mr. Flynn was at Crab Orchard Springs, Kentucky, recovering from a severe attack of malarial fever and when he returned to Decatur after an absence of five months he found the place nearly depopulated, his former business associates prac- tically bankrupt and the town's doom sealed. He stuck it out for an- other year and then returned to Cincinnati, convinced that Decatur values had vanished never to return.
In 1890 Mr. Flynn became connected with the Xenia Shoe Manufactur- ing Company as that concern's sales representative in Southern territory and a year later bought a considerable block of stock in the company and was elected president and general manager of the company, a position he ever since has occupied. Mr. Flynn has not confined himself wholly to his exten- sive manufacturing interests since taking up his residence in Xenia in 1890. It was he who organized the Xenia Gas and Electric Company and for five years he operated the same, as president of the company. He then sold the plant to the Dayton Power and Light Company, which has since been operating it. In 1907 Mr. Flynn began to pay considerable attention to agricultural pursuits and since then he has built up an extensive dairy on his farm of four hundred and fifty acres at Trebeins, in Beavercreek town- ship, a few miles northwest of Xenia, During the summers Mr. Flynn and his family reside there, occupying their city residence at the corner of Church and North Detroit streets in Xenia during the winters. Mr. Flynn's eldest son, Frederick T. Flynn, who is completing a course in scientific agricul- ture at the University of Wisconsin, is now managing the dairy farm. Mr. Flynn is a Republican and for four years served as a member of the Xenia school board. He helped to organize and was the first president of the . Xenia Business Men's Club. He is a Royal Arch Mason. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at Xenia.
On June 20, 1894, about four years after taking up his residence at Xenia, P. H. Flynn was united in marriage to Elizabeth T. Trebein, who was born at Trebeins Station, this county, daughter of Frederick C. and Joan (Ankeney) Trebein, both of whom were born in this state, the former at Dayton and the latter in this county, a daughter of Samuel Ankeney and
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wife, members of old families hereabout and fitting reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume.
Frederick Christian Trebein, father of Mrs. Flynn, was born at Day- ton, this state, October 24, 1833, last-born of the two children born to his parents, William and Christina Trebein, who had not long before that date come to this country from Germany and settled in Dayton, their other child having been a daughter, Mary, born in Germany, Frederick C. Trebein grew to manhood in Dayton, rising from chore-boy in a store to a partnership in the business, and later owned and conducted a dry-goods store on Third street in Dayton. Failing health determined him to leave the store and in 1868 he disposed of his interests in Dayton and came over into Greene county and engaged in the milling business at the point later and ever since known as Trebeins, or Trebeins Station, where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on June 4, 1900. In addition to his milling business Mr. Trebein also possessed considerable property in Xenia and was identified with several of that city's industries. It was a year or more after his loca- tion in this county that Frederick C. Trebein was united in marriage to Joan Ankeney, the marriage taking place on November 16, 1869, and to that union were born two daughters, Mrs. Flynn having a sister, Bertha E., who continued to make her home with her mother after her father's death, the two moving to Xenia and establishing their home at 125 Detroit street. Elizabeth T. Trebein completed the course in the Beavercreek grade schools and then took a course of preparatory work at Cooper Institute, Dayton, and then spent two years at Bartholomew's private Female Seminary, thence to Antioch College, after which she entered Wellesley College, in Boston, from which institution she was graduated in 1893, the year before her mar- riage to Mr. Flynn. In her senior year at Wellesley Mrs. Flynn was presi- dent of the Eta Alpha Society, one of the highest distinctions that can come to a member of the student body of that institution.
To P. H. and Elizabeth T. (Trebein) Flynn have been born six children, namely: Frederick T., mentioned above, born in 1896 and who is now managing his father's dairy farm; Marjorie E., who was graduated from the Xenia high school and is now in her second year in Wellesley College; Doris, who is now attending preparatory school at Science Hill, Shelbyville, Ken- tucky, with a view to entering Wellesley; Henry, born in 1903, who is now a student in the Xenia high school; Edward, 1909, and Elizabeth, 1913.
WILLIAM MCCLELLAND.
The late William McClelland, a soldier of the Civil War, former land appraiser, for years an elder in the Second United Presbyterian church at
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Xenia and for years a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Agricultural Association, was a native of Greene county and all his life was spent here. He was born on a pioneer farm in Sugarcreek township, Jan- uary 3, 1825, a son of Capt. Robert and Martha (McConnell) McClelland, pioneers of the Sugar Creek neighborhood, about four miles west of Xenia. Capt. Robert McClelland was a son of a soldier of the Revolutionary War and was a native of the state of Pennsylvania, born at the forks of the Yough, In 1802, the year before Greene county was definitely organized as a county, he came to Ohio and settled on a tract of land on Sugar creek, about four miles west of where Xenia, the county seat, later was established. There he established his home and there he spent the rest of his life, his death oc- curing there in 1847. Captain McClelland was commissioned commander of a company for service under General Harrison during the Black Hawk war and was also in command of a company during the War of 1812, at one time during that period of service being in command of Ft. McArthur, in what is now Hardin county, this state. Upon the completion of that term of service Captain McClelland was ordered to report to St. Mary's, where he was stationed for a time. Captain McClelland was a stern defender of the faith of the Scotch Seceders, the communion which later came to be merged into what for many years has been known as the United Presbyterian church, and for years served as an elder of the pioneer church. He was twice mar- ried and was the father of twenty-four children, each of his wives having borne him twelve children.
Reared on the farm on which he was born, William McClelland grew up a farmer. He was but twenty-two years of age when his father died and thereafter the responsibility of management of the farm was assumed by him. During the Civil War he became a member of the organization known as the "Squirrel Hunters" and later enlisted for service as a member of Company F. One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with the same until his honorable discharge. Upon the formation of the Republican party he became affiliated with the same and in 1890 was appointed land appraiser of his home township, which he also had served in the capacity of supervisor, and he also served for some time as director of schools in his local district. Mr. McClelland was for eight years a member of the board of directors of the Greene County Agri- cultural Association, but when the race-track privileges began to include concessions to the gambling element he withdrew from the association, de- clining to sanction by his presence on the board any such method of stim- ulating the "sport of kings," although himself a great lover of good horses and an admirer of an honest contest in the speed ring. He was for thirty years a member of the session of the Second United Presbyterian church at
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Xenia, for years superintendent of the Sabbath school of the same and also for years conducted a class in the Sabbath school. He died on March 10, 1910, then being in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
The late William McClelland was twice married. In 1846, at the age of twenty-one years, he was united in marriage to Jane Watt, of Beaver- creek township, this county, a member of one of the pioneer families of that neighborhood, and who died on March 30, 1883, without issue. On July 3, 1883, Mr. McClelland married Hannah M. Naughton, of Xenia, who survives him and who is making her home at Xenia. Mrs. McClelland also is a native of Ohio, born in Hamilton county, daughter of James and Mary (Welch) Naughton, both of whom were born in Ireland. Bereaved of her mother when but a child, Mrs. McClelland was reared in the household of David Brown, one of the early settlers of the Jamestown neighborhood in this county and her schooling was received here. Mrs. McClelland is a member of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia and is an active member of Woman's Relief Corps No. 29, of Xenia, her late husband hav- ing also been an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic.
JOHN S. BALES.
John S. Bales, proprietor of a farm in Xenia township, now living retired in the city of Xenia, was born on a farm in what is now New Jasper township, this county, April 6. 1840, a son of Jacob and Dorothy (Hick- man) Bales, both members of pioneer families in this county, whose last days were spent on their home farm in New Jasper township.
Jacob Bales was born in this county, son of Elisha Bales and wife, who came over here from Virginia in the early days of the settlement of Greene county and established their home in what is now New Jasper township, where Elisha Bales eventually became the owner of one thousand acres of land. He started in there living in a log cabin, but afterward had a fine home. He and his wife spent their last days there. They were the parents of six children, Jacob being the third in order of birth. Of the other sons, Jonathan Bales became a farmer in Caesarscreek township; John, a farmer in New Jasper township, and Elisha, a farmer in New Jasper township. Jacob Bales grew up on the home farm and after his marriage was given a farm of one hundred and seventy-six acres of the home place and on that tract established his home, he and his wife spending the rest of their lives there. He was a Democrat and he and his wife were members of the Methi- odist Episcopal church. They were the parents of ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born and is now the only survivor,
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the others having been the following: Cyrus, who was a farmer in Dela- ware county, Indiana; James, a farmer in that same county; Sarah, who married John Jones, a farmer of Caesarscreek township, this county ; Rebecca, who married John Beal and lived in Indiana; Elizabeth. who mar- ried Adam Shirk and also lived in Indiana; Lewis, who was a farmer in New Jasper township, this county; Laban, also a farmer in New Jasper township; Amanda, wife of William C. Spahr, of New Jasper township, and Dorothy, wife of James C. Harness, of that same township.
John S. Bales was reared on the home farm and lived there until his marriage at the age of twenty-three years, when he started farming for him- self, buying a farm of eighty acres of partly-improved land in New Jasper township. He there made his home for ten years, at the end of which time he bought a farm of one hundred and thirty-seven acres three miles south- east of Xenia, in Xenia township, and there made his home until his retire- ment from the farm and removal to Xenia in 1904, since which time he has made his home in the city. He sold his farm in 1917. He is a Democrat, but has not been included in the office-seeking class.
Mr. Bales has been thrice married. When twenty-three years of age he was united in marriage to Catherine Spahr, who also was born in New Jasper township, this county, daughter of William and Sarah (Smith) Spahr, and to that union were born three children: Oscar Elliott Bales, who married Frances Dillingham and for the past twenty-five years has been en- gaged as a locomotive engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad, making his home in Xenia, where his wife was for some time hostess of the Frances Inn and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume; Alice Lucretia, who married Daniel D. Beckett and died at the age of thirty years, and William Franklin Bales, a farmer, who married Nora J. Beal and was killed by a horse in 1913. The mother of these children died in 1868 and in May, 1869, Mr. Bales married Amanda Jane Brickel, also of New Jasper township, daughter of Jacob and Mary Brickel, who came to this county from Virginia and whose last days were spent at Jamestown, and to that union were born five children, namely: Mary Jeanette, wife of Isaac F. Stewart, of Bowersville, this county; Henry Harrison, who married Georgia Hook and is farming in Xenia township; Charles L., who is now clerking in a hardware store in Xenia; Dallas E., who was an engineer on the Penn- sylvania railroad and who met his death in a railway accident at Richmond, Indiana, in 1910, and Grover Cleveland, who married Anna Fee and is now engaged at truck farming in Xenia. The mother of these latter children died in 1905 and in April, 1908, Mr. Bales married Mrs. Emma Jane John- son, widow of Charles Johnson, a Greene county fariner, who died in 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Bales are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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RANKIN R. GRIEVE.
Rankin R. Grieve, former sheriff of Greene county, former county treasurer, former treasurer of the city of Xenia, formerly and for many years secretary of the Greene County Fair Board and at present and for years past engaged in the real-estate business, combining the same with that of auctioneering, and who, by common consent, is declared to be the best- known man in Greene county, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in New Jasper township on Novem- ber 14, 1858, son of Robert S. and Elizabeth (Crawford) Grieve, the former of whom also was born in this county and the latter in Ireland, and both of whom are now deceased, the latter having died in 1888 and the former in 1905.
Robert S. Grieve was born on a pioneer farm within two miles of the city of Xenia on July 27, 1831, a son of Archibald and Agnes (Stephenson) Grieve, natives of Scotland, the former born in Selkirk in 1775 and the latter, in Roxboroughshire, who became residents of Ohio in 1814 and here spent their last days. Archibald Grieve grew to manhood in his native Scotland and on March 1I, 1811, was there united in marriage to Agnes Stephenson, daughter of John and Isabella Stephenson. A year later, in 1812, he and his wife came to the United States, landing at the port of New York, and in 1814 left that city and came to Ohio, presently settling in this county and buying a tract of one hundred acres in the vicinity of Xenia, where they established their home and where they spent the remainder of their lives. They were members of the old Seceder ( Associate Presby- terian) church and their children were reared in that faith. They were nine of these children, of whom five lived to rear families of their own, hence the Grieve connection in this generation is a no inconsiderable one hereabout.
Of the children of the pioneer Archibald Grieve here referred to, Robert S. Grieve received his schooling in the local schools of his neighborhood and from boyhood was a helpful factor on the home farm, in due time taking up farming on his own account, and in 1867 bought a farm upon which he long resided, a tract of sixty acres, and later bought a tract of one hundred acres additional on the line between Xenia and New Jasper townships, and continued actively engaged in farming until his retirement, about 1899 and removal to Xenia, where his last days were spent, his death occurring there in 1905, he then being seventy-four years of age. Robert S. Grieve was twice married. In 1856 he was united in marriage to Eliza- beth Crawford, daughter of Robert Crawford, of Xenia, and who died in 1888, leaving three sons, the subject of this sketch, the youngest, having two brothers, Archibald Grieve, who lives on the old home farm in New Jasper township, and John, unmarried, who is living at Xenia. In 1892 Mr.
RANKIN R. GRIEVE.
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Grieve married Johanna Kyle, who died in 1895. He was an active mem- ber of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia.
Reared on the home farm, Rankin R. Grieve received his early school- ing in the schools of that neighborhood and supplemented the same by a course in Smith Seminary at Xenia, meantime taking an active part in the labors of the home farm, and remained there until 1892, in which year he was appointed deputy sheriff of Greene county and made his headquarters at Xenia, where, after his marriage two years later, he established his home. In 1894 he was elected sheriff of the county and in 1896 was re-elected to that office, serving until 1899. Upon the completion of this term of service Mr. Grieve engaged in the insurance business at Xenia and later was ap- pointed station and express agent for the Dayton, Xenia & Springfield Trac- tion Company and was thus engaged until his election in 1908 to the office of county treasurer. In 1910 he was re-elected to that office and thus served in the treasurer's office until 1913, since which time he has been engaged in the real-estate business at Xenia, with present offices in the Allen building. As long ago as 1905 Mr. Grieve entered the ranks of auctioneers and his services have been in wide demand as a crier of public sales and real- estate sales throughout this part of the state. For many years Mr. Grieve was secretary of the Greene County Fair Board and in this capacity acquired a wide acquaintance throughout the county, an acquaintance which has been enlarged by his long connection with the court house and his wide experi- ence as a crier of sales, until it now is generally agreed that no man in Greene county has a wider acquaintance than he. In addition to his other business connections Mr. Grieve is a member of the board of directors of the Commercial and Savings Bank Company of Xenia and formerly served as treasurer of the city of Xenia and as treasurer of the city school board. He is an active Republican, for several years served as a member of the Republican county committee and has been a delegate to conventions innu- merable. For some time after taking up his residence in Xenia Mr. Grieve made his home at the corner of West Main and Galloway streets, where he built a house, but later sold that place and bought his present residence at 107 West Market street.
On October 11, 1894, at Xenia, Rankin R. Grieve was united in mar- riage to Bertha J. Richter, who was born at Cincinnati. Mrs. Grieve's father died when she was a child and her mother later married Gustav Sea- mon and when her daughter was about eight years of age moved from Cin- cinnati to Xenia, where Mr. Seamon became engaged in the grocery busi- ness and where he is still living, since the death of his wife, making his home with Mr. and Mrs. Grieve. Mr. and Mrs. Grieve are members of the Second United Presbyterian church and Mr. Grieve has been for many years treas- urer of the church organization.
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WILLIAM H. FINLEY, M. D.
Dr. William H. Finley, of Xenia, physician and surgeon, was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township, this county, February 2, 1857, a son of Robert and Emma (Channon) Finley, both of whom was of European birth, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of England, who came to this country not long after their marriage and proceeded on out to Ohio, settling in Greene county, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
Robert Finley was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, and there grew to manhood and married Emma Channon, who was born and reared in Lan- cashire, England, but who had gone to Ireland to serve as a governess. After a daughter had been born to this union Robert Finley emigrated with his family to the United States, Ohio being his destination, and settled in the Lamb neighborhood in Sugarcreek township, this county, where he estab- lished his home along the banks of the Little Miami and was living there when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of his adopted country and went to the front as a member of Company E, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was commis- sioned captain of the same before the close of the war. Captain Finley was a stonemason and contractor and followed that vocation after coming to . Greene county. In 1879 he moved from his place along the river to the village of Bellbrook, where he continued his contracting business and where his wife died in 1888. In 1890 he moved to Xenia and in that city spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in 1903. Captain Finley and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the fourth in order of birth, the others being John, who is still living at Bellbrook, where he has long followed the business of a building con- tractor ; a daughter who died at the age of four years; Emma, wife of John Brown, of Bellbrook; Mrs. Sarah Linscott, deceased, and Lavina, who died at the age of twenty years.
Reared in Sugarcreek township, William H. Finley received his early schooling in the district schools of that township, one of his teachers there having been the Hon. M. A. Broadstone, former state senator front this dis- trict and for many years a lawyer at Xenia, whose name appears on the title page of this work. Upon completing the course in his home school young Finley attended Xenia College for a time and then for three years taught school in this county, in the meantime studying medicine under the preceptor- ship of Doctor Turnbull at Bellbrook. Thus equipped by preliminary study he matriculated at the Ohio Medical College and was graduated from that in- stitution in 1881. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Finley returned to .Greene county and opened an office in the village of Spring Valley, where
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he remained until 1890, in which year he moved to the city of Xenia and there formed a partnership with Drs. H. R. and Ben McClellan, an arrange- ment which continued until the death of the latter. In 1901 Doctor Finley formed a partnership with Dr. H. R. McClellan which continued until June, 1917, when he formed a partnership with his son, Dr. Kent Finley, who not long before had been graduated from Jefferson Medical College and had for a year been engaged as an interne in the Miami Valley Hospital at Dayton, and this arrangement continues. The elder Doctor Finley has taken several post-graduate courses in surgery. He is a member of the Greene County Medical Society, of the Ohio State Medical Society, of the American Medi- cal Association and of the Congress of Surgeons. The Doctor is a Repub- lican by inclination, but party bias does not blind him to the need of fit men for public office and on local measures he does not hesitate to vote inde- pendently of party ties. For the past seven years or more he has been serving as a member of the Xenia school board.
ยท On September 22, 1882, Dr. William H. Finley was united in marriage to Ida Kent, who also was born in this county, at Bellbrook, a daughter of George and Mary Kent, the latter of whom is still living, being now in the ninety-fifth year of her age. George Kent, who was a member of one of Greene county's old families, studied law as a young man, but after a while abandoned the thought of entering the legal profession and became a tailor, which vocation he followed at Bellbrook, near which village he also owned and operated a farm. To Doctor and Mrs. Finley four children have been born, namely : Irma, Ethel, Kent and Martha. The Finleys are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Xenia and the Doctor has been for years a member of the official board of the same.
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