USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 46
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born January 19, 1918, and is living on a farm southeast of Yellow Springs : Omar Kenneth, February 12, 1895, who died on December 26, 1912, and Leslie Berg, October 13, 1904, who is in school.
HARRY N. HEIFNER.
Harry N. Heifner, proprietor of the Wickersham Hotel at Jamestown, was born on a farm in Silvercreek township, this county, November 16, 1883, son of Samuel and Mary (Early) Heifner, both of whom also were born in this county, the former in 1855 and the latter in 1858, who are still living on the old home place a mile east of Jamestown, where Mr. Heifner has been for years engaged in general farming and in the live-stock business, with particular reference to the shipment of hogs. To Samuel Heifner and wife three children have been born, one of whom, a son, Charles D. Heifner, is now deceased, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Stella, born on March 5, 1878, who married W. W. Barnett. of Jamestown.
Reared on the home farm, Harry N. Heifner completed his schooling in the Jamestown schools and for a short time thereafter was engaged on his father's farm, remaining there until he was past twenty-one years of age, when he went to Dayton and became engaged there as a street rail- way motorman, but he did not find that sort of a vocation to his liking and he presently returned home and became engaged in the live-stock business in association with his father, continuing thus engaged until some months after his marriage, when he moved to Jamestown and became the proprietor of the Wickersham Hotel. in succession to C. H. Neil. It was on March I, 1914, that Mr. Heifner bought the furniture and fixtures of the Wicker- sham Hotel and in the following December he bought the hotel building and has since continued as sole proprietor and manager of that popular hostelry. The Wickersham Hotel occupies a corner that has been devoted to hotel purposes ever since the village was platted, the first building erected there having been the pioneer tavern that was conducted by Thomas Watson, who was succeeded by Zina Adams. In after years the old tavern was replaced by a more commodious hotel building called the Parker House and which served as hostelry in the village until it was destroyed by fire at the time of the disastrous conflagration that swept the town on the night of June 18, 1878. The historic corner was unoccupied after that fire until in the spring of 1880, when Al. Wickersham, at that time one of Jamestown's public- spirited citizens and who still retains interests there, though now a resident of Denver, Colorado, commenced the erection of the building which still bears his name. The hotel building is of brick, with stone trimmings, of an attractive style of architecture, is one hundred and forty feet in length by
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forty wide, two stories in height and besides ample office and dining room contains twenty-five sleeping rooms, as well as three rooms that are used for commercial purposes. Mr. Heifner has in his wife competent aid in the operation of the hotel.
On October 3, 1913, Harry N. Heifner was united in marriage to Helen K. Bradds, who was born in the village of Jamestown, daughter of Richland and Margaret (McFarland) Bradds, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom is still living at Jamestown, and to this union has been born one child, a son, Frederick Russell, born on March 19, 1917.
PAUL WILLIAM WEISS.
Paul William Weiss, senior member of the mercantile firm of Weiss & Wead, of Yellow Springs, has had many years of mercantile experience, and has been engaged in business at Yellow Springs since the summer of 1915. He was born at Xenia, on June 2, 1880, son of Paul and Josephine (Schury) Weiss, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in the city of Xenia.
The elder Paul Weiss was born on May 9, 1844. When he came to this country he located in Greene county, Ohio. On February 17, 1874, he mar- ried Josephine Schury, who was born at Xenia on October 28, 1855, and who died on May 23, 1895. To that union were born eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being the following: Emma Elizabeth, born on November 30, 1875; Edgar Henry. January 13, 1878, who died on August 27. 1881; Eva Charlotte, February 8, 1882; Mabel Rose, January 13, 1886, who died on February 5, 1910; Bertha Grace, December 9, 1888; an infant, February 24; 1891, who died on March 3, 1891, and Mary Ruth, January 14. 1893. For twenty-five years the elder Paul Weiss was employed at the powder mills, moving from Xenia to Goes in 1887, and continued to make his home at the latter place until his removal to Springfield, where he is now living. in the employ of the American Seeding Machine Company.
Paul Willian Weiss was seven years of age when his parents moved from Xenia to Goes and in the latter place he received his schooling. When sixteen years of age he began working in the general store known as Shoe- maker's, and there acquired his initial experience in the mercantile line. He afterward was employed in stores both at Xenia and at Dayton, but returned to Goes and there remained until in October, 1909, when he moved to Yel- low Springs and there became engaged in the mercantile business in partner- ship with D. A. Brewer, the firm doing business under the name of Brewer
(26)
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& Weiss, an arrangement that continued for three years and three months, at the end of which time Mr. Weiss retired from business and moved to a farm, where he remained for nineteen months. He then returned to Yel- low Springs and for six months thereafter was engaged as a carpenter, in association with his brother-in-law, continuing thus engaged until June 16, 1915, when he formed a partnership with Prof. Ralph O. Wead, superin- tendent of the Yellow Springs schools, and again engaged in the mercantile business, under the firin name of Weiss & Wead, he and his partner having bought the old established business of J. H. Birch at Yellow Springs. Mr. Weiss is the general manager of the store. He is a Republican.
On June 18, 1902, Mr. Weiss was united in marriage to Louise Geiger, who also was born in this county, daughter of Burkhart Geiger and wife, natives of Germany and the latter of whom is now deceased, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Kenneth Burkhart, born on February 4, 1904, who is now in high school; Mary Ella, September 25. 1908; Mabel Louise, October 11, 1910, and Hester Pauline, September 9, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss are members of the Presbyterian church, their older children also being members of the church.
GUY H. FOGG.
Guy H. Fogg, of the vicinity of Yellow Springs and the proprietor of a farm of two hundred and sixty-five acres just west of that village, is a native son of Greene county and has lived here all his life. He was born at Grape Grove, eight miles east of Cedarville, August 3, 1854, son of Andrew and Naomi (Little) Fogg, the former a native of New Hamp- shire and the latter of Virginia, who later became residents of the Yellow Springs neighborhood and whose last days were spent on the farm on the Dayton pike which their son, Guy H. Fogg, owns, just west of the village.
Andrew Fogg was born in 1804 and became a skilled cabinetmaker and gunsmith. When twenty-five years of age he located at Cincinnati and there became engaged as a cabinet-maker, but did not long remain in that city, presently coming into Greene county and locating at Xenia, where he became engaged as a gunsmith. Some time after his marriage he located at Grape Grove, where he remained until 1865, when he bought a farm just west of the village of Yellow Springs and on that place he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, Andrew Fogg dying there in 1885. His widow's death occurred at the home place in 1906. Andrew Fogg and wife were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch having had a sister, Elizabeth, who was born at Grape Grove in 1850 and who died in 1870.
Guy H. Fogg was eleven years of age when his parents took possession of the place which he now owns on Dayton pike. As a boy he was trained
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by his father in the use of wood-working tools and early became a cabinet- maker, a vocation which has ever been a pleasure to him, though his prin- cipal occupation has been farming. When sixteen years of age, in 1870, Mr. Fogg attended Antioch College and in that institution pursued a four- years course of study. During his school vacations he spent much of his time working at the carpenter trade, at the same time continuing his assist- ance in the labors of developing the home farm and after his marriage in the fall of 1878 established his home on that place and since the death of his father in 1882 has been in control of the same. Mr. Fogg is the owner of a farm of two hundred and sixty-five acres of land, the active manage- ment of which is now in the hands of his son, Kenneth, for whom he erected a fine house about fifty yards from the home place, taking much pleasure in doing the better part of that construction himself. Mr. Fogg's skill as a cabinet-maker is in evidence in numerous handsome pieces of furniture which he made with his own hands for his home and that of his son and his carpenter shop is a great source of pleasure to him. He and his son have a fine herd of Herefords.
On September 2, 1878, Guy H. Fogg was united in marriage to Georgia Jackson, who was born at Patriot, in Switzerland county, Indiana, January 6, 1850, and who died March 27, 1910, leaving three children, namely: E. Kenneth, now managing the farm for his father, and who married Mary Tresler, of the neighboring county of Montgomery, and has three children, Helen, Margaret and Kingsley; Ella, unmarried, who is keeping house for her father, and Florence, wife of Kingsley Smith, a real-estate dealer, living at Kansas City, Missouri. Miss Fogg and her brother and the latter's family are attendants on the services of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Fogg is a Republican.
CHARLES E. BEATTY.
Charles E. Beatty, a farmer of Miami township, is a native son of Greene county, born on a farm in Xenia township on March 5, 1865, son of John and Delilah (Jones) Beatty, the former of whom was a native of Ireland, born in County Tyrone, Ulster, and the latter, of the state of Vir- ginia, born in 1837. John Beatty was born in 1812 and was twenty-eight years of age when he came to this country. After his marriage he settled on a farm in the neighborhood of the Collins school in Xenia township, and there spent the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being as follows: Catherine, who is living in Xenia township; William, a farmer, of Xenia township; James, deceased; John, who is en- gaged in the furniture business at Xenia; Margaret, also of Xenia township;
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Frank, who is now living in Michigan, owner of the great Kellogg straw- berry farm at Three Rivers, and Allie, of Xenia township.
Reared on the home farm in Xenia township, Charles E. Beatty re- ceived his schooling in the Collins school and as a young man began farming on his own account, renting farms, and was thus engaged until he entered upon possession of the farm on which he is now living in Miami township. Mr. Beatty served as school supervisor for four or five years. He is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Beatty has been twice married. On March 4, 1887, he was united in marriage to Amanda Burrows, a resident of the Osborn neighborhood, in Bath township, and to that union were born three children, namely: Alice, who married L. M. Stevenson, now living at Columbus, Ohio, and has one son, Robert; Roscoe, now living at Twin Falls, Idaho, manager of a big ranch belonging to his uncle, and who married Frances Lyman and has two children, Alice May and Francis Edward; and Mary, a professional nurse, who continues her residence at the old home in Miami township. The mother of these children died on April 3, 1907, and on June 28, 1910, at Yellow Springs, Mr. Beatty married Missouri Lott, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, July 14, 1880, daughter of Bradford and Delilah (Gates) Lott, the latter of whom is now deceased and the former of whom is now a resident of Fairfield. this county. Bradford Lott and wife were the parents of five children, those besides Mrs. Beatty being as follow: Mrs. Fay Loc. of Yellow Springs; Mrs. Blanche Sellers, of Troy; William, who married Sarah Frick, sister of Henry Clay Frick, of New York, the great coke and steel magnate, and is now living retired at Wooster, Ohio, and Victor, who died in 1904 and whose widow is living at Xenia.
CALVIN L. OGLESBEE.
Calvin L. Oglesbee, now living retired in the village of Spring Valley, was born over the line in Wayne township, in the neighboring county of Warren, and has been a resident of this section of the state all his life.' He was born on March 25, 1833, son of Elias and Mary (Stump) Oglesbee, both of whom were born in Frederick county, Virginia, and who were men- bers of pioneer families in this part of Ohio.
Elias Oglesbee was a son of Isaiah and Phebe (Painter) Oglesbee, Quakers, who in 1800, in company with four other Quaker families, the Kellys, the O'Neills, the Millses and the Faulkners, drove through from Frederick county, Virginia, to the then Territory of Ohio and formed what later came to be known as the Waynesville settlement, in Warren county, down on the Little Miami, not far below the Greene county line. In 1903 when the Quakers of Waynesville had their centennial celebration, descen-
CALVIN L. OGLESBEE.
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dants of these families from various parts of Ohio and Indiana were present. Isaiah Oglesbee got a tract of land in the woods on what later came to be established the county line, between Lumberton and Port William, there made a clearing, put up a log cabin and began to make a home in the wilder- ness. He and his wife reared a large family and spent their last days there. Their sons were David, John, Elias, Isaiah, Jacob, Jonathan and Eli, the latter of whom moved over into Indiana. Jonathan went to Iowa. For two years prior to 1817 Elias Oglesbee worked at his trade of a shoe- maker at Cincinnati and then he came back up here, walking to Painters- ville, where his mother's folks were living. In Virginia he had married Mary Stump, a daughter of Daniel and Hannah ( Ramey) Stump, Methodists, who had settled on a farm east of Waynesville in 1817. Daniel Stump and wife were the parents of nine children, namely: Hannah, who married Jesse Romine and moved to Indiana; Sarah, who married John Oglesbee and lived near Lumberton; Mary, who married Elias Oglesbee; Matilda, who married Isaac Stump and lived in this county; Catherine, who mar- ried John Henry and lived in the neighboring county of Clinton; Lydia, who died unmarried; Daniel, who remained on the old homestead: Jonas, who established his home in Greene county, and William, who became a resi- dent of Harveysburg, in Warren county.
After his marriage Elias Oglesbee located on a tract of land three miles east of Waynesville, but later became the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of land near Dunkirk, Indiana. He was a Quaker. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the seventh in order of birth, the others being the following: Sidney, who married Samuel Stump and moved to Indiana: Eleanor, who married Hugh Prater, of Warren county; Hannah, who married Thomas McKee and moved to Indiana; Mary, who also became a resident of Indiana and who was twice married, her first husband having been Jesse Baker and her second, a Parnell; Ruth, who married Isaac Mckinney and also moved to Indiana; Jane, who married Stephen Compton and moved to Indiana ; Phoebe, who married Jonathan Compton and also became a resi- dent of Indiana, and Jonathan, who married a Piper and continued to live in Warren county. The mother of these children died at the age of forty- four years. The father died at the age of sixty-four.
Calvin L. Oglesbee was reared on the farm on which he was born, down in Warren county, received his early schooling in the little old log school house which served the children of that neighborhood in those days, sup- plemented that schooling by a course of one term in the Cedarville schools and remained at home until his marriage at the age of twenty-eight years, in 1861, after which he continued on the home place until 1865, in which year he became the owner of a sixty-acre tract of his own. He presently
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sold that place and bought another farm of seventy-eight acres, which he cleared and improved and on which he resided until 1880, when he sold that place and bought a farm in the vicinity of Harveysburg, where he resided until his retirement on April 14, 1908, and removal to Spring Valley, where he since has made his home. Mr. Oglesbee owns a farm of one hundred and twenty-three acres. He has served the public in the several capacities of township trustee, clerk of the school board and as land appraiser.
Mr. Oglesbee has been twice married. On February II, 1861, in War- ren county, he was united in marriage to Rebecca Kling, who was born in the neighborhood of Lebanon, in that county, daughter of Lewis Kling and wife. Of the children born to that union two are still living, Dr. William Oglesbee, of Cleveland, this state. and Alice May, the latter of whom com- pleted her musical education at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and is now a teacher of music at Spring Valley. Dr. William Oglesbee, who is proprietor of a hospital at Cleveland, completed his schooling at Antioch College and at the Ohio Medical College, having been graduated from the latter institution in 1891, and after some preliminary hospital work opened an office for the practice of his profession at Cozaddale, later moving to Waynesville, Warren county, where he continued in practice until his removal to Cleveland. He married Minnie Zangmaster, of Cincinnati. Mrs. Rebecca Oglesbee died in 1896 and on September 22, 1898, Mr. Oglesbee married Martha Ann Morgan, who was born in Warren county, May 30, 1846, daughter of William and Matilda (Compton) Morgan, the former of whom was born in Greene county on November 16, 1816, and the latter in Warren county, April 24, 1808. William Morgan died in Warren county on Feb- ruary 19, 1896. He and his wife were the parents of two children, Mrs. Oglesbee having had a brother, James H. Morgan, born on December 24, 1844, who married Anna Sherwood and made his home on a farm two miles north of Spring Valley, where he died in March, 1908. Mrs. Oglesbee received her early schooling in Warren county, the first school slie attended there having been the old log Quaker church school on Caesars creek, and she completed her schooling at Earlham College, the Quaker institution of learning at Richmond, Indiana.
WILLIAM DODDS.
William Dodds, last mayor of the city of Xenia, former sheriff of Greene county, former county auditor and formerly connected with his brothers, of the old firm of A. & G. Dodds, in the marble-cutting business at Xenia, is a native of "the land o' the heather," but has been a resident of this country and of Xenia since he was sixteen years of age and is as intense an American as can be found between the two seas. He was born in Rox-
.
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boroughshire, Scotland, last-born of the seven children born to George and Isabel (Taylor) Dodds, both of whom were born in that same shire and the former of whom died when his last-born was but an infant, the subject of this sketch therefore never having known the supporting care of a father.
Reared in his native village, William Dodds completed his studies in the night school there and when sixteen years of age came to the United States, his brothers, Andrew and George Dodds, meanwhile having become established in the marble-cutting and general monument business at Xenia, and here he joined them in 1866, settling down, under their direction, to learn the details of the marble-cutter's trade; and he continued thus engaged in the Dodds marble works at Xenia until 1882, in which year he became engaged as a member of the Xenia fire department. Three months later, however, he gave up his position in the fire department and returned to the marble works, but not long afterward again left that establishment and returned to municipal employment, becoming a member of the police force and so continued until his appointment to the position of court bailiff. During the incumbency of Sheriff Linkhart, Mr. Dodds was appointed deputy sheriff and in 1890 was elected sheriff of Greene county, having been previously nominated for that office by the Republicans of the county. He was re- elected in 1892 and thus served for two terms in the sheriff's office. Upon the expiration of this term of :service, in September, 1895, Mr. Dodds re- sumed his former connection with the police department and continued that connection until his entrance in 1902 upon the duties of auditor of Greene county, to which position he had been elected, as the nominee of the Repub- lican party, in the previous election. Mr. Dodds was re-elected to the office of auditor and he thus continued in that office for two terms, or until 1909. In the meantime he had been elected mayor of the city of Xenia and upon the expiration of his term of service in the auditor's office entered on his new duties in the city hall, as chief executive of the city of Xenia and by suc- cessive re-elections continued to hold that office until the creation of the city- manager form of government in 1918. In addition to the formal executive duties of his office, Mayor Dodds, by charter right, also presided over the city police court .. Mr. Dodds is the proprietor of a livery stable, a business in which he was long associated with his son, the late Oliver A. Dodds, under the firm name of Dodds & Son.
On May 28, 1874, William Dodds was united in marriage, at Xenia, to Mary E. Knox, daughter of Brice Knox and wife, the former of whom formerly was engaged in the harness and saddlery business at Xenia, and to this union was born one child, a son, Oliver A. Dodds, mentioned above, who died at Akron, Ohio, March 25, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Dodds attend the Presbyterian church.
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CHRISTIAN M. ZELLER, D. D. S.
Dr. Christian M. Zeller, dental surgeon, who has been practicing his profession at Yellow Springs for the past twenty years or more, was born at Medway, in the neighboring county of Clark, December 15, 1871, son of John and Esther (Harnish) Zeller, both now deceased, who were born in Pennsylvania. The former died in 1912 and the latter in 1913. Esther Harnish was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was but two years of age when her parents came to Ohio and settled in Clark county, where she spent the rest of her life. John Zeller was born in 1832 and his youth was spent in his native state. In the days of his young manhood he came to Ohio and located in Clark county, where for some time he followed his trade as a plasterer. After his marriage he became engaged in farming in the vicinity of Medway. All of the children born to him and his wife are still living save one, Lorenzo, who died when eight years of age. The others besides the subject of this sketch, the fifth in order of birth, are Alonzo, Henry, John. Frank, William and Cyrus.
Reared at Medway, Christian M. Zeller received his schooling in the schools of that village and until he was twenty-one years of age continued his labors on the farm. He then went to Cincinnati, where he entered the Ohio Dental School, second to the oldest institution of that character in the United States. He later entered the Cincinnati Dental School and was grad- uated from that institution in 1897. Upon receiving his diploma Doctor Zeller opened an office for the practice of his profession at Yellow Springs and has since been located there.
On August 29, 1908, Doctor Zeller was united in marriage to Verona Brown, of South Westerlo, in Albany county, New York. They are men- bers of the Presbyterian church. The Doctor is a Republican. Fraternally. he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
FREDERICK SHELLABARGER.
Frederick Shellabarger, proprietor of a fine farm four miles east of Fairfield, in Bath township, rural mail route No. 3 out of Osborn, was born on what was known as the old Galloway farm, over the line in Mad River township, in the neighboring county of Clark, and has lived hereabout all his life, having resided there until he moved down to his present farm in Greene county in 1906. He was born on September 26, 1868, son of Ephraim and Jane E. (Dolbeer) Shellabarger, the former of whom also was born in Mad River township, Clark county, a member of one of the pioneer fami- lies in that section of the state.
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