USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 62
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On October 16, 1870, Warren B. Steel was united in marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Harner, who also was born in Beavercreek township, a member of one of the old families of Greene county, as will be noted by reference to a comprehensive sketch of the Harner family in this county presented else- where in this volume. Mrs. Steel is a daughter of Daniel and Anna ( Snider ) Harner, both of whom also were born in Beavercreek township, the former a son of George and Sarah (Koogler) Harner, pioneers of that township and the latter of whom lived to be one hundred and five years of age. Anna ( Snider) Harner was a daughter of Jonathan and Sarah ( Miller) Snider, who had come to this county from Maryland and had settled on a farm in th vicinity of Trebeins, where Jonathan Snider also operated a mill. Mrs. Steel was one of the four children born to her parents, two sons and two daughters, and was reared in the faith of the Reformed church. Mr. and
(35)
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Mrs. Steel have two sons, Daniel Frederick and Joseph I., neither of whom, however, are now residents of this county. Daniel Frederick Steel was born on November 3, 1875, completed his schooling in Antioch College, and is now engaged in the insurance business at Visalia, California. He married Grace Robertson and has two children, Helen and Harry D. Mr. and Mrs. Steel's second son, Joseph I. Steel, was born on October 7. 1885, completed his schooling in the high school, went to Joplin, Missouri, and is now engaged as a linotype operator.
GILBERT L. DILLINGHAM.
In the memorial annals of the village of Jamestown and of the James- town neighborhood in Greene county there are few names held in better remembrance than that of the late Gilbert L. Dillingham, who became engaged in the jewelry business in that little village in the early '40s of the past cen- tury and thus continued in business there all the rest of his life.
Gilbert L. Dillingham was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, May 4, 1821, and his parents also were born in that city, both of Scotch- Irish descent. He completed his schooling in the high school in Boston and early became an expert jeweler and watchsmith. When he was through with school and had completed his apprenticeship at the jeweler's bench he decided to come to Ohio and to here engage in business on his own account; and with that end in view, he then being but nineteen or twenty years of age, he located at Jamestown and there opened a jewelry store, continuing in business there the rest of his life, his death occurring there on May 5, 1864, hie then being forty-three years of age.
Mr. Dillingham was twice married. In 1846, five or six years after he took up his residence in Jamestown, he was united in marriage to Melvina Dwinell, of Middletown, this state, and to that union were born six chil- dren, Angeline, Prudence, Atta, Levi. Jackson and Horace, all of whom are now deceased save Mrs. Atta Johnson, a widow, still living at Jamestown. and Levi, who is married and is living at Bloomington, Illinois. The mother of these children died about 1859 and is buried at Middletown. About 1861, at Jamestown, Mr. Dillingham married Susan Taylor, of Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, who died in 1877, and to this union were born three children, namely: Vica, who in 1899 married James Cooper, a farmer of Greene county ; Josephine, who died when about five years of age, and 'Frances, who on December 25, 1889, was united in marriage to Oscar E. Bales, who for the past twenty-seven years has been engaged as a locomotive engineer on the Pennsylvania railroad, running out of Xenia. Mr. Bales is a native son
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of Greene county, born on a farm in New Jasper township, February 2, 1864, son of John S. Bales, a retired farmer of this county, now living in Xenia, and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Bales was for some years and until recently engaged in the hotel business at Xenia, proprietress of the Francess Inn on Detroit street.
REUBEN G. BATDORF.
The late Reuben G. Batdorf, a veteran of the Civil War and a farmer of Bath township, this county, was born on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Fairfield and practically all his life was spent in this county, the exception being a sometime residence during the days of his young manhood at Dayton, where he was engaged in commercial activities, and a later residence of a few years in the then Territory of Montana. He was born on December 4, 1843, son of Peter and Mary M. (Mitman) Batdorf, the latter of whom was born in 1816 and died on November 6, 1866. Peter Batdorf was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and in 1843 came to Ohio and settled on a farm in the immediate neighborhood of Fairfield, in Bath township, this county, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died there on April 10, 1880, being then seventy-five years of age, and was buried in the Mitman cemetery at Fairfield.
Reared on the home farm, Reuben G. Batdorf received his schooling in the Fairfield schools and when sixteen years of age enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union during the Civil War and in that behalf served for three years. Upon the completion of his military service hie returned home and not long afterward became engaged in a wholesale mil- linery establishment at Dayton and later with a drygoods store at Osborn, in this county : later making a trip West and spending a few years in the then Territory of Montana, at the end of which time he returned to his home in this county and after his marriage located on the farm in the Byron neigh- borhood where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in November 6, 1896. and he was buried in the Byron cemetery. He was a member of the Reformed church at Byron, as is his widow.
On October 3, 1869, Reuben G. Batdorf was united in marriage to Alice A. Harner, who was born on a farm north of Xenia, in Xenia township, this county, daughter of Jacob and Araminta (White) Harner, both of whom also were born in Greene county, the former in Beavercreek township and the latter in Xenia township, members of pioneer families hereabout. The Harners are one of the oldest families in Greene county and further refer- ence to the family is made elsewhere in this volume. To Reuben G. and
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Alice A. (Harner) Batdorf were born eight children, namely: Olivia, born on July II, 1870, who is still living in Bath township and who has been twice married, after the death of her first husband, William Wolf, she hay- ing married Fred Kuhn; Daisy, born' on January 7, 1875, now deceased ; Stella, October 22, 1878, also deceased: R. Dewitt, December 14. 1880, a resident of the village of Byron ; Mellie, April 27, 1883, who married Will- iam Bowers and is living in the neighborhood of Yellow Springs; Carrie, July 30, 1885, deceased ; Florence, September 27, 1887, who is living in Bath township, widow of the late Ira Poland, and Jennie, deceased. Mrs. Batdorf has fourteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
ISAAC N. KABLE.
Isaac N. Kable, proprietor of a farm in Beavercreek township, situated .on rural mail route No. 8 out of Dayton, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. He was born on April 5, 1855, son of Samuel and Catherine (Garver) Kable, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Maryland, whose last days were spent on the farm on which their son Isaac is now living.
Samuel Kable was born at Kabletown, in Jefferson county, Virginia, now a part of West Virginia, and there grew to manhood, later coming to Ohio with his brother James and locating in Greene county, for a time the brothers making their home here with the family of Moses Shoup. Not long after his arrival here Samuel Kable married Catherine Garver and made his home at Osborn, where he became engaged in the milling business. He later moved from there to a point northwest of Carlisle, down in Warren county, where he began to operate a mill and was thus engaged there until the fall of 1854, when he returned to Greene county and bought the farm on which his son, Isaac, is now living in Beavercreek township. That place then included a tract of one hundred and six acres and was but partly improved. Samuel Kable made improvements on the place and there died in November, 1864. His widow survived him for nearly ten years, her dleatlı occurring in 1873. He was a member of the Reformed church and she was a member of the Dunker church. They were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being Ann Rebecca, Mary, Joseph, Ella, Martha J. and John, of whom all are living save the first three. Ann Rebecca Kable married David Merrick, a farmer of this county, who died in 1904. She died in February, 1917. Mary Kable married Hiram Roscell and died in May, 1869. Joseph Kable mar- ried Harriet Hawker, became a farmer in the neighboring county of Clark
ISAAC N. KABLE.
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and there died in 1910. Ella Kable was married in October, 1864, to Henry H. Stafford, of Miami county, who three years later came to Greene county and after living for some years on a rented farm bought the farm of ninety acres on which he is now living in Beavercreek township. Henry H. Stafford was born in Miami county, son of William E. and Harriet ( Newell) Stafford, the latter of whom died in 1848 and the former in 1849, who were the parents of seven children, of whom three are still living, Mr. Stafford having a brother. William, living in Indianapolis, and a sister, Mary, living in St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford have six children, namely: Catherine, who married W. J. Engle, a Montgomery county florist, and has four children, Elberta H., W. S., Paul and Elizabeth ; Franklin K., superintendent of schools of Crawford county, this state, who married Viola Dill and has two sons, Carl and James; Edwin L., who is now farming the home place and who married Ella B. Shultz and has five children, Jerome, Florence, Irene, Henry and Paul: Carrie Edith, who died in 1890 at the age of seventeen years, and Herbert S. and Harry H., twins, the former of whom married Louise Pierce and is now living at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where he is engaged as secretary of the local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association at that place. Dr. Harry H. Stafford married Gertrude Pierce and is engaged in the practice of medicine at Dayton. Martha J. Kable married David Hawker, now living at Dayton, and has four children, Herbert K., William S., Marietta and Bessie M. John Kable, a farmer of Sugarcreek township, this county, married Jane Ferguson and has three children, Gertrude, Charles R. and Carrie.
Isaac N. Kable grew to manhood on the farm on which he was born and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools. His father died when he was nine years of age and he thus early assumed responsibilities that ordi- narily do not fall upon the shoulders of boys. He was but eighteen when his mother died and he continued to make his home on the farm, after his marriage establishing his definite home there and in due time bought from the other heirs their interests in the place and thus became the owner of the farm, which he has since improved, remodeling the house and barn. Mr. Kable has enlarged the original acreage of his father's place by purchase of a bit of land adjoining and now has one hundred and twenty-three acres, besides a tract of forty-five acres north of his home place. In addition to his general farming Mr. Kable has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, beef and dairy cattle of the Durham and Holstein strains and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is a Republican, but has not been a seeker after public office.
Isaac N. Kable was united in marriage to Sarah Lafong, who also was born in Beavercreek township, a daughter of Orlander B. and Rebecca ( Black)
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Lafong, the latter of whom is still living, a daughter of Robert and Mary (Koogler ) Black, and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. To this union four children have been born, namely: Oscar, who continues to reside on the home farm, assisting his father in the manage- ment of the same; Pearl, wife of Howard Cosler, a Beavercreek township farmer; Clay, who died at the age of seven years, and Ella Marie. The Kables are members of the Mt. Zion Reformed church and Mr. Kable is an elder in the church.
CHARLES E. ANKENEY.
Charles E. Ankeney, proprietor of a farm in Beavercreek township, situated on rural mail route No. 10 out of Xenia, was born in that town- ship on December 6, 1853, son of Nelson and Elizabeth Ankeney, the latter whom is still living. She was born on a farm two miles north of Bellbrook in this county, a daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Crumley) Sidney, who came to this county from Virginia and located in the Spring Valley neighbor- hood, later moving to a farm north of Bellbrook, where Jacob Sidney died in 1835. His widow married Aaron Paxton and spent her last days in Beavercreek township, her death occurring there on March 4, 1883. she then being eighty-seven years of age. Of the seven children born to Jacob and Hannah (Crumley) Sidney, Mrs. Ankeney is now the only survivor, the others having been Aaron, a soldier of the Union army during the Civil War, who lost an arm in service and whose last days were spent in the South ; Joseph M., who lived in Michigan: William H., who made his home in Spring Valley; Clarissa M., who married John LaValley; Rebecca Ann, who married George Clymer, and Harriet Jane, who died unmarried.
Nelson Ankeney was born in the vicinity of Clear Springs in Washing- ton county, Maryland, September 15, 1825, and was but five years of age when his parents, David and Elizabeth (Miller) Ankeney, came to this county with their family in 1830 and settled on a farm in Beavercreek township, the place now owned and occupied by Albert Ankeney. On the 2nd of November of that same year David Ankeney died from a paralytic stroke, he then being forty-two years of age. His widow kept the family together and continued to make her home on the place on which she and her husband had settled. There she died on December 23, 1851, being then sixty-two years of age. She was a member of the Reformed church, as was her husband, and their children were reared in that faith. There were ten of these children, Samuel, Mary, Henry, Margaret, Sarah, John, Nelson, Martha, Jacob and David, and the descendants of this family in the present generation form a numerous connection hereabout.
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As noted above, Nelson Ankeney was but a child when he came to this county with his parents from Maryland and here he grew to manhood. After his marriage he began farming on his own account on a place a half mile north of Trebeins, later returning to the home place and thence, after a while, to another place, where he remained for thirteen years, or until 1876, when he bought the farm on which his widow is now living and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on October 7, 1902. He was a Republican and was a member of the Reformed church, as is his widow. Of the four children born to him and his wife the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth, the others being Emma L., now living with her mother and who is the widow of Abram W. Warner, a farmer of Starke county, this state, who died on December 20, 1901; Lewis W., a Beaver- creek farmer and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and Clara J., unmarried, who makes her home with her brother Lewis.
Charles E. Ankeney was reared on the farm, received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and after his marriage in the fall of 1880 made his home on a part of the home place tintil 1895, when he bought the place on which he is now living, moved to the same and has since made that his place of residence, the owner of a farm of two hundred and twenty-three aeres. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Ankeney has erected a ten- room house, a barn 36 x 64 feet in dimensions and has made other improve- ments. In addition to his general farming he gives considerable attention to the raising of livestock and is ably assisted by those of his sons who are still at home.
On October 26, 1880, at Alpha, Charles E. Ankeney was united in mar- riage to Emma Kershner, daughter of Eli A. and Elizabeth (Steele) Kershner, the latter of whom also was born in Beaverereek township, a member of one of the old families in that part of the county. Eli Kershner was born in Washington county, Maryland, and in 1828 came to this county, becoming engaged as a cabinet-maker at Xenia, later moving to Beavercreek town- ship, where he continued active in that vocation and where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring at Alpha at the age of eighty-five years. His wife had preceded him to the grave many years, her death having o
when she was forty-four years of age. They also were members of the Reformed church and were the parents of two children, Mrs. Ankeney now alone surviving, the other child having died in youth. To Mr. and Mrs. Ankeney have been born nine children, namely: Stella K., wife of Doctor McCormick, of Xenia; Nellie, who is at home; Ray, wife of H. R. Arm- strong, of the Fairfield neighborhood; Eli H. and Nelson H. (twins), both
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deceased; Winfield, now a student of Miami University; Harry, who died in youth, and John and Carl, at home. The Ankeneys are members of the Reformed church. Mr. Ankeney is a Republican, but is not an office seeker.
SAMUEL HARNER.
Samuel Harner, a soldier of the Civil War and proprietor of a farm of one hundred and sixty-three acres in Beavercreek township, situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of Xenia, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life with the exception of a period of four years during the '70s, when he lived in Missouri. He was born on March 7, 1838, son of Samuel and Nancy (Watts) Harner, both of whom were born in that same town- ship, members of pioneer families in that part of the county.
Samuel Harner was a son of Jacob and Mary (Heffley) Harner, the latter of whom was a daughter of one of the earliest settlers in Greene county. Jacob Harner was a native of Germany, who upon coming to this country made his way out to Ohio and located in Greene county, where he presently married Mary Heffley and settled on a farm in Beavercreek township, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of nine children, those besides Samuel having been Charles, Abraham, William, George, Jacob, Mary, Catherine and Sarah J., the descen- dants of whom in the present generation form a numerous connection. Samuel Harner grew up on that pioneer farm in Beavercreek township and in addition to becoming a good farmer became skilled in the use of tools, his services in that line being of value to his neighbors, for whom he made plows, grain cradles and various articles of agricultural or domestic use. He married Nancy Watts and in 1822 settled on the farm on which his son Samuel is now living, building there a frame house which served as a resi- dence for the family until it was destroyed by fire in 1857, after which he erected the brick house which has ever since served as the farm house and in which the subject of this sketch is now living. The bricks for that house were burned on the place and while the house was being erected the family lived in the work shop which Samuel Harner maintained on his place. On that farm the senior Samuel Harner spent his last days, his death occurring there in 1871. His widow survived him for many years, her death occur- ring in 1906. They were members of the Reformed church and were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others having been Jacob, George, Mary Ann, Nathan, William and Nelson.
The junior Samuel Harner was reared on the home farm in Beavercreek
SAMUEL HARNER AND FAMILY.
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township, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and living there when the Civil War broke out. In the spring of 1864 he went to the front as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and while thus serving was taken prisoner by the enemy at New Creek Station, Virginia, and for four months thereafter was confined in the rebel prisons at Belle Isle and Richmond, later requiring several weeks of hospital attention at Richmond, his condition being regarded as critical when he finally was transferred. When Mr. Harner entered the service he "tipped the beam" at one hundred and eighty pounds. When he was sent from Libby Prison he weighed but eighty pounds, a mere shadow of his former self, and he has ever since suffered more or less from the effects of the privations he was compelled to undergo in the rebel prison pens .. In the spring following his return from the army Mr. Harner was married. After his marriage he continued to make his home on the home place until in the '70s, when he moved with his family to Missouri, making the journey of seven hundred miles by wagon, and located in Clinton county, that state. Four years later he returned to Greene county and resumed his place on the old home farm, where he has ever since resided. For more than fifteen years Mr. Harner has lived retired from the active labors of the farm, the place now being operated by his eldest and only surviving son, WV. Harry Harner, who is married and lives there.
On March 14, 1865, Samuel Harner was united in marriage to Mary Campbell, who was born in the neighboring county of Clark, July 5. 1845, a daughter of James and Drusila (Clarke) Campbell, who later became resi- dents of Greene county, where they spent their last days. James Campbell dying here in 1850, his daughter Mary, last-born of the twelve children born to him and his wife, being then five years of age. The widow Campbell survived her husband for many years. Of her twelve children, but three are now living, Mrs. Harner having a brother, Stephen Campbell, living at Ludlow Falls, and a sister, Rebecca, living at Bellbrook. To Samuel and Mary (Campbell) Harner three children have been born, W. Harry, Samuel L. and Ada May. The first of these, W. Harry Harner, as noted above, is now operating part of the home farm. He has been twice married, his first wife having been Luella Charlton and the second Emma Moody, and they have three children, William L., Ada Belle and Iva May. The second son, Samuel L. Harner, who died on April 6, 1917, also was a farmer and operated part of his father's place. He married Sarah Jane Hickman and had eleven children, Ernest. Everett, Mabel, Elwood, Beulah, Helen, Ken- neth, Alberta, Neoma, Louise and Muriel D. The only daughter, Ada May Harner, married Owen Swadner, of Oldtown, and has had nine children,
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Etta, Ethel, Esther, Carrie, Clarence, Herman, Alice, Margaret Lucile and Ada Louise, the latter of whom died at the age of three years. The Harners are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Oldtown. Mr. Harner is a Democrat and has held some local offices, including for some years mem- bership on the school board. Mr. Harner saw the first train of cars enter Xenia upon the completion of the railroad from Springfield to that city and has witnessed the development of this county through all the wonderful change that has taken place since the days of his boyhood.
HUSTON HANNA CHERRY.
Huston Hanna Cherry, farmer and stockman and a veteran of the Spanish-American War, was born on the farm on which he is now living, in the eastern part of Xenia township, December 21, 1879, son of David H. and Mary E. (Watt) Cherry, both of whom also were born in Ohio and the latter of whom is still living, a resident of Xenia since 1903, in which year she moved from the farm to that city with her husband, the latter spending his last days there, his death occurring about twelve years after his retire- ment from the farm.
David H. Cherry was born on a farm on the Hook road in Xenia town- ship, February 25, 1839, a son of James and Elizabeth (Greenwood) Cherry, Virginians, who were married in the Old Dominion on April 12, 1815, and soon afterward came to Ohio and settled in the Laughead settlement three miles east of Xenia, near where they spent the remainder of their lives. James Cherry was born on May 12, 1789, and died on December 24, 1851. His widow, who was born on April 25. 1795, -m1 vived him for more than "
years, her last days being spent in the home of her son David, where she died on May 14, 1883. James Cherry, the pioneer, and his wife were adherents of the old Scotch Seceder faith and were the parents of eleven children, of whom David Haslip Cherry was the last-born and all of whom are now deceased, the others having been the following: William, born in 1816; Mary Ann, December 13, 1817, who died at the age of seven years; Jane. December 9, 1819, who became the wife of Robert Crawford; Rachel. December 5, 1821, who became the wife of William Kyle: James Q., October 8, 1823; Robert, December 29, 1825: Jolin, February 20, 1828; Benjamin, July 30, 1830; Andrew Louis, December 13, 1832, and Isaac New, May 22, 1836. The Cherrys and the Laugheads were old friends and neigh- bors in Virginia and it was this acquaintance that led James Cherry to settle here, where the David Laugheads had previously settled, after his marriage in 1815. The old Indian trail between the two chillicothes (Indian villages),
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