History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 40

Author: Broadstone, Michael A., 1852- comp
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1440

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Reared on the home farm on the outskirts of the city of Xenia, Joseph E. Eavey received his schooling at Xenia, completing the same in Profes- sor Smith's Seminary, which then was quite an institution of higher edu- cation, situated on East Church street, and after leaving school became en- gaged in the grocery business at Xenia in association with his brother Henry. This form of occupation did not suit him, however, and after nine months of experience with the grocery business he left the store and re- turned to the home farm. Three years later, in 1872, he began farming on his own account, renting a portion of his father's place, and in 1880, he meanwhile having married, bought a tract of two hundred and forty acres, paying for the same seventy-five dollars an acre-land now worth much more than double that price. On that place Mr. Eavey continued to make his home until 1897, when he moved to Xenia, where he since has made his home. In 1909 he erected there a house at 234 East Second street and continues to reside at that number. Though having for years made his home in the city Mr. Eavey has ever continued personally to superintend the work of his farms. He bought a tract of two hundred and thirty acres adjoining his original purchase and has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, making a specialty of Red Polled and Holstein cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. In 1897 Mr. Eavey bought a half interest in a coal business at Xenia and continued his connection with the same, under the firm name of Maddox & Eavey, for three years, at the end of which time he sold out, and has since given his whole attention to his agricultural inter- ests. Politically, Mr. Eavey is "independent."

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On October 18, 1877, Joseph E. Eavey was united in marriage to Sarah Etta Wright, who was also born in this county, daughter of John and Re- becca (Vaneton) Wright, who had settled here in the '40s, and to this union two children have been born, Herman and Ellen, the latter of whom mar- ried John M. Davidson, of Xenia, and has three children, Sarah. Margaret and Marie. Herman Eavey, manager of the Eavey Packing Company, con- tinues to make his home in the house of his parents. He married Edith Givens and has two children, Wallace and Elizabeth. The Eaveys are mem- bers of the First United Presbyterian church.

DAVID ELLIOT TURNER.

David Elliot Turner, owner of the old William G. Sutton farm, in New Jasper township, was born on a farm in that township, one mile south of the village of that name, March 12, 1860, son of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Spahr) Turner, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and who spent all their lives here.

Cornelius Turner was born in Silvercreek township in 1833, son of William and Elizabeth (Cruzen) Turner, who were married in this county on May 28, 1819, and established their home in Silvercreek township. Will- iam Turner, who was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving in the command of Joseph Lucas, was born in the vicinity of Cincinnati on October 23, 1792. His wife was born in Virginia on October 27, 1802, and was but a child when her parents came to Ohio and settled in this county, where she was married in her seventeenth year. To that union were born nine children and the descendants of these children form a numerous connection in the present generation. William Turner lived to be eighty years of age. His wife died in her seventieth year. Cornelius Turner, one of the sons of this pioneer couple, was given excellent educational advantages and after a course in Wesleyan University at Delaware was licensed to preach as a "local" preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. After his marriage he became engaged in the insurance business at Jamestown and there he died in 1871. he then being thirty-eight years of age. His widow survived him but two years, her death occurring in 1873. She was born, Elizabeth Spahr, in 1835. daughter of William and Sarah (Smith) Spahr, pioneers of Greene county. Cornelius and Elizabeth (Spahr) Turner were the parents of seven children, namely : William Albert, who established his home at Washington, Iowa, and there spent his last days; Sarah E., who married Douglas Rath- bone and who, as well as her husband, also died at Washington, Iowa; David E., the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Rosa, who is living

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on a farm two miles west of Jamestown, widow of Nathan Devoe; Ida, who married James Rathbone and died at Washington, Iowa; James, who also died at Washington, Iowa, and Phœbe, wife of Thomas Dewitt, of Spring- field, Ohio.

David E. Turner was but eleven years of age when his father died and was but thirteen when he was orphaned indeed by the death of his mother. He was reared in the household of his maternal grandfather, William Spahr, in New Jasper township and in the schools of that neighborhood completed his schooling. After his marriage in the summer of 1884 he for some time made his home on the place of his father-in-law, James R. Sutton, in New Jasper township and then bought a farm of seventy-five acres in that same township, on which he made his home for four years, at the end of which time, in 1900, he sold that place and bought the Sutton farm of one hundred and eighty acres adjoining his former place on the west, moved on to the same and has since made that his place of residence, he and his wife living in the substantial old brick house which the latter's grandfather, Jacob Sutton, erected on that place in 1851.

On June 12, 1884, Mr. Turner was united in marriage to Mary Ar- minta Sutton, who was born on the place on which she and Mr. Turner are now living, daughter and only child of James Raper and Catherine Eliza- beth (Greenwood) Sutton, the former of whom was born on that same farm and there spent all his life. James Raper Sutton was born on October 27, 1844, son of Jacob and Susan (Smith) Sutton, the former of whom was a son of William G. Sutton, who in 1812 established his home on the tract of land now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Turner and is referred to in older chron- icles as the first permanent settler in that portion of Greene county com- prised within the borders of New Jasper township and further reference to whom, as well as further details regarding the history of the Sutton family. is made elsewhere in this work. James R. Sutton grew up on that place and after his marriage established his home there. He married Catherine Eliza- beth Greenwood, who was born on a farm two and one-half miles east of Xenia, May 25, 1846, a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Layman) Green- wood, the former of whom had come to this county with his parents from Virginia when but a lad. Robert Greenwood was married twice, his first wife a Watkins, and was the father of eight children, four by each wife. James R. Sutton died on March 26, 1900, and his widow died on July 1, 1906. They were members of Mt. Tabor Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Sutton was for years a class leader in the same.

To David E. and Mary Arminta (Sutton) Turner one child was born, a daughter, Susan Elizabeth, who married Ray Fudge, who lives on the farm adjoining that of the Turners, and has two children, Russell David

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and Frances J. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are members of Mt. Tabor Methodist Episcopal church, Mr. Turner being the present class leader as well as a member of the board of trustees and a steward. He also is serving at present as district steward of the church and formerly and for years served as superintendent of the Sunday school. By political inclination he is a Re- publican.

HON. JOHN M. MILLER.

Not once but several times in this work the reader will have noticed references to the high character of the work done in the old Beaver grade school in Beavercreek township in the days of a past generation when that school, which was giving a course akin to that of the present high school, had a reputation of more than local note. In those days twenty dollars a month was regarded as fair pay for the school teacher, but John M. Miller, during the time he had charge of the Beaver grade school. was paid one hundred dollars a month, a testimony to his fitness for the position that cannot be misunderstood. In that day the Beaver grade school ranked higher than the seminary at Xenia and the academies at Dayton and young men from both of these towns gladly placed themselves under the tutelage of Mr. Miller, who taught surveying in addition to the ordinary branches of learning that constituted the course in the old grade school. At the time of his death Mr. Miller was representing this district in the Legis- lature.

Hon. John M. Miller was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1830, and was ten years of age when he came to Ohio with his parents, Robert and Nancy (Minnich) Miller, the family locating in this county in 1840. Five years later the Miller family moved to Indiana, but seven years later. in 1852, John M. Miller returned to Greene county and in that same year entered Miami University, from which institution he was gradu- ated in 1856. He then took up the study of law in Xenia and in 1859 was admitted to the bar. In 1862 he was elected to represent this legislative district in the General Assembly of the state of Ohio and was serving in that capacity when he died on January 9, 1863, a contemporary account stating that the arduous labors of his legislative service undoubtedly hastened his death. Mr. Miller left a widow and two children, a son, Charles Edward, who died at the age of twenty-one years, and a daughter, Luella, who is still living with her mother in the old Harbein home at Alpha. Mrs. Miller was born at Alpha, Hetty M. Harbein, daughter of John and Hetty (Herr) Harbein, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume, John Harbein having been regarded in his day as perhaps the wealthiest man in

OLD HARBEIN HOMESTEAD, LATER OCCUPIED BY JOHN M. MILLER AND FAMILY.

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Greene county. The Harbein place at Alpha, now occupied by Mrs. Miller and her daughter, is perhaps richer in historic associations than any single spot connected with the development of Greene county, for on that spot stood the little log cabin of Owen Davis in which was held the meeting at which formal organization of Greene county was effected in 1803 and in which the first court held in Greene county performed its functions.

An older chronicle refers to John M. Miller as having been essentially a self-made man, and continues the narrative thus: "His father being poor, he was obliged to devote his minor years to helping on the home farm- inclement weather only being called his own. On such days he toiled with the axe, maul and mattock-cutting cordwood, splitting rails and clearing ground-to earn means to purchase books and pay for tuition when he could go to school. His evenings were all spent in study (his page being lighted from scraps of burning bark), and by diligent application he soon got to master the elementary branches and was able to teach a common school. By alternate teaching and rough manual labor he husbanded enough to commence a college course. It was yet, however, to be much interrupted and himself to be reduced to many straits before it was completed-losing at one time a year and a half, and in all, two years of a four-years course. The question is, in the reader's mind, 'Did he graduate?' Yes! 'How did he rank?' Number one! 'What! in two years of study?' Exactly so-and this not consecutive, but made up, in truth, of mere fragments of time. Moreover, he added both German and French to the usual college course. And here we may safely rest the claims of Mr. M. to genins and persever- ance; for we doubt if any other institution in the United States has recorded such an achievement. We once read of one who performed such a feat, but who won, at the same time the honors of the martyr and the victor.

"Mr. M. was very tall and rather slender, but he was as straight as an arrow. His head was very well shaped. His hair was dark and worn rather long his beard was full, but thin; and his features were regn- lar, but slightly prominent. His manners were very inviting, his disposition genial, and his friendship sincere and cordial. As a representative he was faithful to his trust-always at his post and always attentive to what was passing before him. He was a very good speaker and reasoned well, and with careful culture would have soon become a leading man in the state."

EZRA BROWN.

Ezra Brown, trustee of New Jasper township and the owner of a farm on rural mail route No. 8 out of Xenia, in that township, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life, now living practically retired, he

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and his wife being very comfortably situated at their home just north of the village of New Jasper. Mr. Brown was born on a farm in Silvercreek township on February 6, 1855, son of James and Rachel (Powers) Brown, both of whom also were born in this state, the former in Belmont county and the latter in Clinton county, whose last days were spent in Greene county, where James Brown had resided since the days of his young man- hood.

James Brown was born in 1816 and grew up in Belmont county, where he was born, his parents, Richard and Mary Elizabeth Brown, having been pioneers of that county. Richard Brown and his wife were Methodists and their last days were spent in Belmont county. Their son James was early trained as a brickmason and as a young man came to Greene county to estab- lish himself as a building contractor and for some time worked at that vocation in and about Paintersville, his first contract there having been the erection of the old Beal house near that village. He later bought a farm in Silvercreek township and having married meanwhile, established his home there. remaining on that farm until 1865, when he sold that place and bought a farm of one hundred and ten acres in New Jasper township, the place where his eldest son, Cyrus Brown, is now living, making his resi- dence on that place until his retirement from the farm and removal to Paintersville. There he opened a grocery store and spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there in August, 1886, he then being past sev- enty years of age. James Brown was a Republican and for some time served as assessor of New Jasper township. In addition to his other activ- ities he was for years recognized as one of the leading stockmen in that part of the county, he and Squire Clemens having long been engaged together in the breeding of fine horses and mules. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Brown died in May, 1893. She was born, Rachel Powers, in the neighboring county of Clinton in 1812. daughter of Edward and Mary Powers, who had a farm in that county and who spent their last days there. Edward Powers was born in Ireland and when nineteen years of age left that country in order to evade army service and came to America as a stowaway, hiding beneath household goods, on a vessel that was six weeks in making the passage. He brought with him a gun which is still in the possession of the family. After looking about in the East, Edward Powers came to Ohio, locating in Clinton county, where he became the owner of a farm and where he spent the rest of his life and where his daughter Rachel was living when she married James Brown. To that union were born seven children, namely: Cyrus, who is still living on the old home place in New Jasper township; Mary Elizabeth, widow of Lewis Lane; Lami, who died in youth; John, who became a farmer in

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Xenia township and there died in 1912; Marshall, a farmer of New Jasper township; Ezra, the subject of this biographical sketch, and Rachel Ann, wife of Charles Harrison, of Lima, Ohio.

Ezra Brown was about ten years of age when his parents moved from Silvercreek township, where he was born, to New Jasper township and his schooling was completed in the schools of the latter township. As a young man he was for three years engaged working on the farm of his brother Marshall, making his home with the latter. He then for several years was employed variously in the neighborhood, mainly engaged in farm work, and, in the meantime having married, then rented a farm on which he made his home for five years, at the end of which time, in 1897, he bought the farm on which he is now living, just north of the village of New Jasper, the fields of which, since 1914, he has rented out. Mr. Brown has a farm of ninety-nine acres. He is a Republican and is serving his third term as trustee of his home township. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper.

On January 23, 1887, Ezra Brown was united in marriage to Mary Letitia Spahr, who was born in New Jasper township, this county, daughter of Sanford and Eliza Spahr, and a member of one of the oldest families in the county. Sanford Spahr was a son of Mathias and Susanne (Hagler) Spahr, both natives of Virginia. His father, John V. Spahr, lived and died in Virginia. Mathias Spahr was a brother of Philip Spahr, who was one of the first settlers in what is now New Jasper township. Mathias Spahr set- tled in Xenia township on a farm owned by Clark Bickett. Sanford Spahr moved from this county over into Indiana many years ago and settled on a farm in Randolph county, his daughter (now Mrs. Brown) then having been but four years of age.

MICHAEL BROWN.

Michael Brown, proprietor of a farm on the Fairfield pike about two miles northwest of Yellow Springs, in Miami township, is a native son of the Emerald Isle, but has been a resident of this country since the days of his boyhood. He was born in County Cork, Ireland, December 15, 1838, and was seventeen years of age when he came to this country. For two years after his arrival on this side he worked at St. Louis, Missouri, and then came to Ohio and began working on a farm in the vicinity of Cedar- ville in this county. He later worked on the railroad and in the stone quarries. Some time later Mr. Brown bought a farm in the vicinity of Clifton, but three years later disposed of his interests there and returned to Cedarville, where he remained for eighteen months, at the end of which time

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he decided to resume farming and in 1874 bought the farm of fifty-one acres on which he is now living. He also owns a twenty-acre tract south of Yellow Springs.

In September, 1860, Michael Brown was united in marriage to Mar- garet Day, who died on February 10, 1909. To that union were born eight children, two of whom died in infancy, those who grew to maturity being the following: Margaret, who is living at home; John, a farmer, living in the vicinity of Yellow Springs; Martha, wife of John Meehan, who has one daughter, Martha; Thomas, who is at home in general charge of the farm; Mary Ann, who died in 1907, and Ellen, wife of David Bailey, living near Allentown, Ohio. Mr. Brown is a Democrat. He and his family are members of the Catholic church at Yellow Springs.

WILLIAM A. PAXSON.

The Paxsons have been represented in this county ever since the year 1804, that having been the date of the coming here of the family from Pennsylvania and their settlement in Beavercreek township. Aaron Paxson was a son of James Paxson, whose wife, Cynthia, was for years one of the most influential Quaker ministers in the city of Philadelphia, and he thus was reared amid excellent surroundings and in a manner conducing to sobriety of demeanor and steadfastness of purpose. James Paxson married Cynthia Beal and continued to make his home in Pennsylvania, having become established in Fayette county, that state, until his death about the year 1804. Thien his family came to Ohio with his uncle Isaac and his mother and settled in Beavercreek township, this county. Aaron Paxson was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1797, and was thus but seven years of age when he became a resident of Greene county. He grew to manhood here and in June, 1820, married Susanna Wall, of Pennsylvania, and established a home of his own in Beavercreek township, reared his family there and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there on December 11, 1884, he then being eighty- seven years of age, and he was buried in the Beaver Creek cemetery. He was thrice married and was the father of eleven children by his first wife. John Paxson, one of the sons of Aaron Paxson, followed the sober and straightforward course of his Quaker ancestors and in due time made for himself a home in the Beavercreek neighborhood. He married Louisa Le Valley and to that union were born five children, of whom the subject of this biographical sketch was the first-born and all of whom lived to maturity. Louisa Le Valley was a daughter of John Le Valley, who had

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM A. PAXSON

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come to America from France with General Lafayette and was an aid-de- camp on the latter's staff. Her mother was of the family with which John Smith of Jamestown colony fame was connected.

William A. Paxson, eldest of the five children born to John and Louisa (Le Valley) Paxson, was born on the old Paxson farm in Beavercreek township, this county, July 6, 1850, and was there reared to manhood. His early schooling was received in the neighborhood schools. When fourteen years of age he found that he had exhausted the possi- bilities of the neighborhood school and he then began attendance on the schools at Jamestown, four miles away, walking daily to and from the school, and he recalls that during that course and despite often adverse weather conditions and other handicaps he did not miss a day of school during that period of attendance. Thus equipped by preliminary study Mr. Paxson then entered Ohio Wesleyan University and there pursued his studies for two years, at the end of which time he was licensed to teach school and for one term taught in what then was known as the Larkin school, resuming his place on the farm in the following spring. In the meantime Mr. Paxson had been devoting such leisure as he could command to the study of law under the preceptorship of J. A. Sexton at Xenia and in due time matriculated at the Cincinnati Law College, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1874 and was in that same spring admitted to the bar. During his attendance at law school Mr. Paxson was associated with the law firm of Donham & Foraker at Cincinnati and upon being admitted to the bar was inclined to enter upon the practice of his profes- sion in the city, but the state of his health having become somewhat reduced he was advised by his physician to get out of the city. Following this advice he located at Washington Court House, county seat of the neighbor- ing county of Fayette, there became associated in practice with Col. S. F. Kerr and continued thus engaged in that city until his return in 1876 to Greene county and location at Jamestown, where he ever since has made his home and where he has continued his law practice.

In addition to carrying on his law practice Mr. Paxson has for years been personally interested in agricultural pursuits and owns land in this county and five hundred and sixty-six acres in the neighboring county of Fayette. In the development of his properties he has followed a system carefully thought out years ago that has been beneficial to the whole com- munity, for the example set by him in his agricultural operations has been followed with advantage and profit by many others. That he early gave his thoughtful attention to the subject of the betterment of farming con- ditions was shown years ago when he secured the first prize in a contest for the best article upon the subject of "Tile Drainage of Farm Lands"

(23)

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and the second prize in a similar contest upon the subject of "System in Farming," conducted by two of the leading agricultural papers in the United States, both of which were hotly contested; while in his great poem, "The Rented Farm," which originally appeared in the Stockman (Pittsburgh) and which, by request, has been reprinted in that journal no fewer than a half dozen times (a very great compliment to the writer), as well as copied by other farm journals and various newspapers all over the country, gave to the world a most valuable word-picture of a condition that has faced the farmer from time immemorial, and it is undoubted that the lesson there conveyed has been heeded with advantage and comfort by many. In pass- ing, it is but proper to state that Mr. Paxson's "The Rented Farm" is pre- sented in the "Sidelights" chapter of the historical section of this work and is thus definitely preserved as a valuable contribution to the literary develop- ment of Greene county.

Mr. Paxson also is a writer on various other subjects besides that of agriculture and has been a wide contributor to the press on political, social, legal and religious topics. He has from the days of his youth been a con- stant reader, and has accumulated an excellent library at his home in James- town. In 1901 he published a story of rural life in Ohio under the title of "A Buckeye Baron," which received considerable favorable attention on the part of the reviewers. The book is generously illustrated- with pictures of scenes about Clifton and as much of the narrative of the story has to do with what must be recognized as conditions common to that section of Greene county the "local atmosphere" of the story is thus strengthened. There is a suggestion of an autobiographic quality about "A Buckeye Baron" that lends an additional interest to the tale in the minds of the friends of the author. Both by tradition and by preference a Republican, Mr. Pax- son, in his political views reserves the same right to independence of expres- sion as he reserves in the expression of his religious views and his views on other basic phases of social life. Though nominally a Methodist, Mr. Paxson has never been regarded as strictly orthodox in his observance of the tenets of that communion. "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them"-each one for himself, is his doctrine. Mr. Paxson has been a wide traveler and has given his thoughtful attention to the problems of government revealed to him in his travels. His simple creed is summed up in the following expressive little poem written by him many years ago:

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History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 40

Author: Broadstone, Michael A., 1852- comp Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1440

Author: Broadstone, Michael A., 1852- comp
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1440