USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 27
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child, a son, Frank H. Routzong, whose name forms the caption of this biographical sketch.
Frank H. Routzong grew up on the old home farm on which he was born and has always lived there. He received his schooling in the common schools and early became a valuable factor in the labors of the home farm, which he now owns. He has given considerable attention to dairying in connection with his general farming and raises Holstein and Jersey cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is a Republican and has given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been included in the office- seeking class.
On December 8, 1897, Frank H. Routzong was united in marriage to Harriet Wolf, who was born on a farm in Bath township, this county, a daughter of Benjamin and Lenora (Schauer) Wolf, both of whom also were born in Bath township and who are now living retired in the village of Osborn. Benjamin Wolf and wife, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, have two daughters, Mrs. Routzong having a sister, Cora, who married George Williamson, of Beavercreek township, and has a daughter, Grace Mae, who married Harry Ferguson and has one child, a son, Richard Benjamin. Mr. and Mrs. Routzong have three chil- dren, Wilfred W., Cora Eleanor and Catherine Louise. The Routzongs are members of the First Presbyterian church at Xenia.
ANDREW HOOD WHITE.
Among that numerous band of vigorous octogenarians of which Greene county is so justly proud there are few who have a wider acquaintance or are held in higher regard than the venerable Andrew Hood White, who for many years was actively engaged in the mercantile business at Clifton and . who is still living in that pleasant village, of which he has been a continuous resident since the latter '50s. Mr. White was one of the founders of the public-school system in Clifton and was for years clerk of the local school board. He also has been for years a member of the session of the Presby- terian church at Clifton, now the senior elder, and has thus been long recog- nized as among the leaders in good works throughout that part of the county and in the adjacent sections of the neighboring county of Clark.
Mr. White is a South Carolinian and proud of it, though he has never had occasion to regret the choice which made him a citizen of Ohio away back in the days of his young manhood, for this section of the Buckeye state has come to be very dear to him during the many years in which he has been a participant in its development. The manner of Mr. White's coming to and definite determination to settle in Greene county is but one of the count-
Eng By E Williams & Bro NY
Andrewost, White
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less instances showing upon what a slender chance human choice sometimes depends. He was born in Chester county, South Carolina, April 27, 1835, son of Abram and Esther (Thompson) White, both of whom also were born in that state, of old Colonial stock, the former born in 1793, who were substantial landed proprietors there. Reared in his home county, Andrew H. White received excellent schooling there and remained until he was twenty- one years of age, when he took a trip West, spending a year at Camden, Arkansas. At that time his brother, the Rev. W. G. White, was engaged in the ministry of the Presbyterian church at Clifton, in this county, and upon his return from the West he stopped at Clifton for the purpose of making a brief visit to his brother. So favorably impressed did he become with the outlook here, however, that he determined to make this his permanent home, readily coming to the conclusion that the attractive village of Clifton would be a most desirable point in which to engage in business. That he might be better qualified for a mercantile career, Mr. White went to Cin- cinnati, where he took a thorough course in a business college and then for a year afterward was engaged as a clerk in a general store at Dayton. He then returned to Clifton and there opened a store. From the very begin- ning of his commercial undertaking Mr. White was successful and he con- tinued in business, carrying on the same in the building in which he started his store, for forty years, or until his retirement from active business about fifteen years ago, when he sold his store. Since then he has been living retired, though lie still retains interests of one sort and another that pre- vents time hanging heavily on his hands. From the very beginning of his residence in Clifton Mr. White has taken an active interest in school affairs. For years he was clerk of the school board and thus the Clifton schools virtually grew up under his eye and in a measure under his direction. Politically, Mr. White is a Democrat of the old Jacksonian school and for years was regarded as one of the leaders of that party hereabout.
· On April 18, 1866, Andrew H. White was united in marriage to Margaret J. Hand, who was born in this county, in the neighborhood of Yellow Springs, a daughter of John and Sarah (Johnson) Hand, the former of whom died when his daughter Margaret was two years of age, his widow surviving him for years. The latter was a native of Mason county, Ken- tucky. Mrs. White died at her home in Clifton on May 24, 1893, and is buried in the beautiful cemetery there. She left one daughter, Miss Florence Kennett White, who is a great stay and comfort to her father in the latter's declining years. Miss White was given excellent educational advantages in the days of her girlhood and has traveled quite extensively in the South. Mr. White is now the senior elder of the Presbyterian church at Clifton and for many years has been clerk of the session, his interest in church
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work thus extending to all departments of the same; an interest that he is happy to say does not wane with advancing years.
JESSE F. JOHNSON.
Jesse F. Johnson, who died at his home in Jamestown in 1896 and whose widow is still living there, was for years a merchant and business man of that village. He was born on a pioneer farm south of that village on June 6, 1827, son of John D. and Martha (Blain) Johnson, who were among the early settlers of that section. John D. Johnson, whose last days were spent at Jamestown, to which place he moved upon his retirement from the farm, was twice married and was the father of eight children, Cyrus, Jesse F., Joel, Julia, Mrs. Eliza Jane Christopher, Cloyce, Salathiel and Samuel.
Reared on the farm, Jesse 'F. Johnson received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained at home until his marriage in the fall of 1854, when he became engaged in the grocery business at Jamestown. Not long afterward he moved to Wilmington, county seat of the neighbor- ing county of Clinton, and there became engaged in the grocery and hard- ware business, continuing thus engaged at that place for five years, at the end of which time he returned to Jamestown, resumed the grocery business in that village and there continued thus engaged the rest of his life, his death occurring there in 1896. In addition to his mercantile interests at Jamestown Mr. Johnson was one of the leading stockholders of the Farmers and Traders Bank at that place. He was a Republican, and a member of the Christian church.
On November 2, 1854, Jesse F. Johnson was united in marriage to Amy Fuller, who was born on a farm in the vicinity of Wilmington, this state, daughter of John and Hannah Fuller, who during the '40s left this state and went to the then Territory of Iowa, where John Fuller became the founder of the now thriving city of Ottumwa, in Wapello county, his orig- inal plat of that town, laid out on the land he had entered, carrying twenty- two lots. Mrs. Fuller died there and in 1849 John Fuller joined the gold- seekers rush to California and spent his remaining days there, dying in Sacramento. John Fuller and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. Johnson, the second in order of birth, is now the only survivor, the others having been Sarah Louisa, who married Ivan Hester; Anna Maria, who was twice married, her second husband having been William Mercer, of Jamestown, and Henry W .. Mary Ellen and Gideon.
To Jesse F. and Amy (Fuller) Johnson were born three children,
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namely : Charles, who died in infancy; Alice May, who died at the age of thirteen years, and William Warren, who is now engaged in business at Jamestown, which has been his home since the days of his infancy. Will- iam Warren Johnson, president of the Peoples Bank of Jamestown and a merchant in that village, was born at Wilmington during the time of the residence of his parents in that city, in 1862. and was but an infant when his parents returned to Jamestown in 1863. He was reared in the latter town, receiving his schooling in the schools of that place, and from boy- hood was trained in commercial ways, an assistant to his father in the latter's management of the store. Upon his father's retirement from busi- ness, he continued the management of the store and has thus been engaged ever since. For years he has served as president of the Peoples Bank.
William W. Johnson married Ethel Smith, of Pottersburg, this state. By a former marriage Mr. Johnson had one son, Dr. Jesse Stanley Johnson, an osteopathic physician, now practicing at Hagerstown, Maryland. Doctor Johnson was reared at Jamestown and was educated there and at Misilla Park, New Mexico, and upon receiving his diploma from the osteopathic college entered upon the practice of his profession at Washington, D. C., but presently moved from there to Hagerstown and has since been practicing in the latter city. He married Bettie Eolio Cook, of Bridgeport, Ohio. Mrs. Johnson is a member of the Christian church.
DAVID E. CROW.
David E. Crow, steward of the workhouse at Xenia, was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Jeffersonville, in the neighboring county of Fayette, a son of E. H. Crow, who was born in Champaign county. this state, and who was killed in an accident when his son David was a child. The latter grew up in Fayette county, received there a common-school education and followed farming until he came over into Greene county and became en- gaged in the oil business at Jamestown. For four years Mr. Crow was en- gaged in the oil business at Jamestown and then, in 1892, he moved to Xenia and in the latter city became established in the same business, continuing thus engaged until his appointment on January 15, 1902, to the position of super- intendent of the public workhouse, a position he occupied until the inaugura- tion of the new form of city government in 1918, when he was made steward of the workhouse. Mr. Crow is a Republican and, fraternally, is affiliated with the local lodges of the Free and Accepted Masons, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America at Xenia.
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LEWIS MIDDLETON.
The late Lewis Middleton, who died at his home in Caesarscreek town- ship on November 12, 1917, was born in that township and had spent all his life there. He was born on December 6, 1839, son of Thomas and Sarah (Hartsook) Middleton, early settlers in Caesarscreek township, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland. Thomas Middleton was born in Berkeley county, now in West Virginia, a son of Betheul and Naomi (Ganoe) Middleton, both of whom also were born in that same county and who later came to this part of Ohio and became pioneers of Greene county. Betheul Middleton's father was Thomas Middleton, who was born in New Jersey, but who had established his home in western Vir- ginia, where he spent his last days. To Betheul Middleton and wife were born the following children: John, Thomas, William, James, Nathaniel, Betheul, Betsy, Amy, Polly and Linda. Along in the '30s the two elder sons, Thomas and John Middleton, came over into Ohio on a prospecting trip and located a tract of land where Middleton Corners later came to be established, in Caesarscreek township, this county. Thomas Middleton then went back to Virginia and brought back with him his parents and other members of the family, the family driving through to Greene county with a six-horse team. The land they had bought was a part of the Andrew Tate tract and there in the heavy timber the Middletons put up a log house and established their home, the parents spending there the remainder of their lives.
At the age of eighteen Thomas Middleton became engaged in teaming, a vocation which in those days of long freight hauls by wagon train meant more than it does in these days, and later became a cattle buyer and pork- packer, buying and packing his stock here and disposing of the same in the market at Cincinnati, the first year in which he thus was engaged his transac- tions aggregating fourteen thousand dollars. He also took an active part in political affairs and was long recognized as one of the leaders in the Democratic party hereabout, a familiar and influential figure at party con- ventions and the like and for years treasurer of his home township. Thomas Middleton lived to the ripe old age of eighty-six years, his death occurring at Lewis Middleton's home in Caesarscreek township on May 22, 1888, and he was buried in the Eleazar churchyard. His wife had preceded him to the grave some years, her death having occurred at the age of seventy-five. They were members of the Methodist Protestant church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, all of whom are now deceased save Elijah, the fourth in order of birth, who married Charity Kurl and is now living at Nevada, Missouri, the others besides the subject of this memorial sketch having been Elizabeth, who married John
MR. AND MRS. LEWIS MIDDLETON.
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Rumbo; William Harrison, who married Sarah Forkner; Nathan J., wlio married Margaret Sipe, and Sarah Jane, who married David Turner.
Lewis Middleton was reared on the farm on which he was born and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools. From the days of his boyhood he was a valued factor on the farm and after his marriage in 1867 continued to help work the place until 1875, in which year he bought the Sellers Fudge farm of one hundred and five acres in Caesarscreek township, established his home on that place and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there in the fall of 1917, he then lacking less than a month of being seventy-eight years of age. In addition to his general farming Mr. Middleton had for thirty-five years been a breeder of fine horses, during that time having done much to improve the strain of horse flesh throughout this and adjoining counties. He was a Bryan Democrat. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and their children were reared in that faith.
On January 1, 1867, in this county, Lewis Middleton was united in marriage to Samantha Long, who was born in New Jasper township, this county, November 14, 1847, daughter of Adam and Margaret (McGuffy) Long, the latter of whom also was born in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families in this part of the state. Margaret McGuffy's mother was a Kauffman. Adam Long was a native of Virginia and was but a lad when he came to Greene county with his parents, Adam and Margaret (Ewing) Long, the family settling in New Jersey township among the early settlers of that part of the county. The elder Adam Long and his wife had five children, William, Henry, Peter, Eliza and Adam. The latter grew up on the pioneer farm which his parents had settled in New Jasper township and he married in that township and for years made his home there, later moving over into the adjoining county of Fayette, where he died. His widow married a Mr. Whaley and moved to Indiana, where her last days were spent. The younger Adam Long was a Republican and he and his wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he for years served as class leader. To him and his wife were born nine children, namely: Peter, who died in the days of his boyhood; James, a veteran of the Civil War, who is now living in St. Clair county, Missouri ; Francis, who also enlisted his services in behalf of the Union during the Civil War and was killed at the battle of Shiloh; Samantha, widow of Mr. Middleton; William, who is now living in the vicinity of Dayton, this state; Adam, a retired farmer, now living in Xenia; Curtis, who married Elizabeth English and died at the age of twenty-one years; Jane, wife of George Rusby, of Independence, Iowa, and Elizabeth, wife of Caris Mercer, of Woodburn, Indiana.
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To Lewis and Samantha (Long) Middleton were born six children, namely: Harry Edgar, who died at the age of five years; Lora, wife of Solomon Early, of Caesarscreek township, this county; Thomas, a Greene county farmer, who married Lulu Dunlap and has three sons, William, Roy and Harold; Thurman, who married Jessie Forkner and is farming in Caesars- creek township; Arthur Leroy, who died in youth, and Curtis, who died at the age of sixteen years. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Middle- ton has continued to make her home on the farm, retaining her interest in the community in which she has lived all her life and in which she has been a witness to the amazing changes that have been wrought since the days of her girlhood.
WILLIAM P. ANDERSON.
William P. Anderson, a retired farmer now living at Cedarville, where he has made his home since his retirement from the farm in 1907, was born on a farm one and a half miles south of Cedarville on February 4, 1848, son of William and Mary (Collins) Anderson, the former of whom was born in that same township and the latter in the state of Pennsylvania, whose last days were spent in this county.
William Anderson, father of the subject of this sketch, was a son of William Anderson and wife, the latter of whom was a Kyle, who came up here from the neighborhood of Lexington, Kentucky, at an early day in the settlement of Greene county and put in their lot with that of the fol- lowers of the Rev. Robert Armstrong, members of the Associate Reformed (Seceder) church, who had come up here into the valley of the Little Miami in order to get away from slavery conditions. The elder William Anderson established his home at what came to be known as "Andersons Forks," in the south part of the county. He later moved to a farm in the vicinity of Cedarville and on the latter place, spent his last days. The younger William Anderson grew up on that farm and in time became a farmer on his own account. After his marriage to Mary Collins, who also was a member of one of Greene county's pioneer families, he estab- lished his home on a farm on the Jamestown pike, six miles from Xenia, spending the rest of his life there, his death occurring in 1868, he then being sixty-two years of age. His widow survived him for many years, she having been eighty-eight years of age at the time of her death in 1906. William and Mary (Collins) Anderson were the parents of eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being as follows: Mary, now deceased, who was the wife of the Rev. Walker Taylor; Ella, also deceased, who was the wife of the Rev. Frank Spencer; Margaret, the wife of James A. Curry, who is now making her
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home in Springfield, in the neighboring county of Clark; Martha, deceased, who was the wife of Thompson Crawford, of Cedarville; Nannie, deceased, who was the wife of Dr. E. C. Harris, of Springfield; Archibald, now de- ceased, who remained on the old Collins homestead, and who was twice married, his first wife having been Ella Webster and his second, Ella An- derson: Lydia, who is now living at Santa Ana, California, widow of William Smart: Maria, wife of John C. Williamson, of Xenia: Samuel C., who married Nettie Williamson and spent his last days on the old Ander- son home place, and Eula, also deceased, who was the wife of the Rev. W. C. Coleman.
William P. Anderson grew up on the home farm and completed his schooling in the Xenia schools. After his marriage in 1883 he established his home on the old home place, one hundred and seven acres of which he bought, and engaged in general farming and in the raising of live stock until he sold the farm in 1907 and moved to Cedarville, where he since has made -his home. In addition to the land he owned in this county, Mr. Anderson also was the owner of a farm in the adjoining county of Clark and the owner of lands in Texas. He is a Republican, and has served the public in the capacity of justice of the peace and as a member of the school board. While living on the farm he also operated a stone quarry.
On December 19, 1883, William P. Anderson was united in marriage to Emma J. Collins, daughter of Col. Thomas C. Collins of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Colonel Collins was born on the farm in that county on which his father, James Collins, a soldier of the Revolution, was born, James Collins having been the son of Cornelius Collins, a native of Ire- land, who had come to this country and had established his home in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, in Colonial days. James Collins, the Revolu- tionary soldier, was the father of two sons, Cornelius and Thomas C., the latter of whom was for years auditor of his home county, a member of the board of county commissioners and the trustee of a local insurance com- pany. He was an elder in the United Presbyterian church. Col. Thomas C. Collins was twice married. By his first wife, who was Grace McCul- lough, he was the father of six children, James, Hugh, Thomas, Mary, Grace and Sarah. His second wife, the mother of Mrs. Anderson, was a daughter of Ross and Sarah Campbell, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. By that second marriage he was the father of three children, Mrs. Anderson having a brother, Ross, who is living at Quarryville, Pennsylvania, and a sister, Bertha I., who married George Herbert and is now living at Glasgow, Scot- land. Mrs. Anderson completed her schooling in the Pennsylvania State Normal School and for a time before her marriage was engaged in teach- ing music.
To William P. and Emma J. (Collins) Anderson have been born four
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children, William E., Thomas Collins, Bertha Isabel and Wallace Cooper, all of whom are living and doing well. William E. Anderson was born on Noveniber. 24, 1884, and upon completing the course in the high school at Xenia entered Tarkio College at Tarkio, Missouri, upon completing the course at which he began teaching school. He then went to Kansas and later to Colorado, in which latter state he became the owner of a ranch in the vicinity of Olathe; later going to Greeley, Colorado, where he is now living, one of the chief stockholders and the general manager of the firm of WV. D. Garlington & Company, dealers in general produce. He married Elizabeth Doland. Thomas Collins Anderson, who is now engaged in farming at Olathe, Colorado, where he also is a ranch owner, went to Kan- sas after finishing the course in the high school at Cedarville and entered Sterling College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He married Emma Quinlan and has three children, Phyllis Jean, Lois Rachel and Genevieve. Bertha Isabel Anderson completed her school- ing at Cedarville College and has since been engaged in teaching school, at present connected with the schools at Osborn, she having previously taught for one year at Selma and for two years at West Liberty. Wallace Cooper Anderson finished the high school course and took one year at Cedarville College and is now attending Cooper College, Sterling, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the United Presbyterian church.
ROBERT HARVEY NASH.
The late Robert Harvey Nash, former county commissioner and the proprietor of a fine farm on the Hoop road, a mile and a half east of Xenia, rural mail route No. 8 out of that city, where his widow still lives, was born in this county and all his life was spent here. He was born on a farm on the Columbus pike in Xenia township, March 20, 1851, son of John R. and Mary (Jackson) Nash, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, the latter a daughter of Gen. Robert and Minerva (Eddy) Jackson, further mention of whom, together with a comprehensive narrative relating to the Jackson family in this county, is made elsewhere in this volume, the Jacksons having been among the foremost pioneers of the Cedarville neighborhood.
Elsewhere in this volume, in a biographical sketch relating to the vener- able John R. Naslı, of Xenia township, there also is set out a comprehensive history of the Nash family in this county, this family having had its begin- ning here with the coming of Nathan and Polly (Ward) Nash from Waslı- ington county, Pennsylvania, about the time Greene county was erected into a civic unit, one hundred and fifteen years ago. This pioneer couple
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