History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 86

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

USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 86

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married Chester Semler and lives on a farm four and a half miles west of Yellow Springs; Chester Miller, August 14, 1897, who is at home assisting his father in the management of the farm; Harry Lamar, November 4, 1901, who is now a student in the high school at Yellow Springs, and Clarence, who died in infancy in 1905. The Confers are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Confer and his son Chester are members of the local lodge of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.

WILLIAM R. BAKER.

William R. Baker, a veteran of the Civil War, former auditor of Greene county and formerly and for years engaged in the mercantile business in Xenia, in which city he is now living retired, is a native son of Greene county, born on a farm in Silvercreek township, one mile west of the village of Jamestown, August 31, 1841, a son' of John W. and Elizabeth ( Towell) Baker, the former of whom was born in Kentucky in 1814 and the latter, in Virginia, in 1813, who were married in this county and here established their home, many years later moving to Columbus, where their last days were spent.

John W. Baker was a son of William and Dorothy (Winans) Baker and was fourteen years of age when he came to this county from Kentucky with his parents in 1828. Two years previously William Baker had come up here from Kentucky on a visit to his kinsman, Doctor Winans, who was at that time practicing his profession at Jamestown, then a hamlet of fewer than a dozen houses, and had been so favorably impressed by the promising conditions here that he decided to locate in this county. Returning to Ken- tucky he disposed of his interests there and in 1828 came with his family and took up his permanent abode at Jamestown, where he erected a frame building on the site now occupied by Johnson's grocery store and there engaged in the manufacturing of harness. Not long afterward he established a tavern at Jamestown and Baker's Tavern was for years a popular stopping place both "for man and beast," a large yard and stable at the rear afford- ing accommodations for the latter. That tavern occupied the southeast corner of Main and Limestone streets. William Baker and his wife were the parents of eight sons and three daughters and John W. Baker was the fifth son. The latter grew to manhood at Jamestown and there married Elizabeth Towell. who, as noted above, was born in Virginia in 1813. She was a daughter of John and Sarah Towell, the former of whom died in Virginia, his native state. after which his widow came with her children to Ohio and after a sometime residence at Xenia located at Jamestown. After his marriage John W. Baker became engaged in the grocery business at Jamestown and remained there until his sons were well grown boys, when he moved to.a farm he had

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bought in Sugarcreek township, south of Jamestown, where he remained until in the early '6os, when, in order to secure better advantages in the way of schooling for the younger daughter he moved to Columbus, where he again became engaged in the grocery business and was thus engaged until his retirement. He and his wife spent their last days at Columbus, her death occurring there in 1900 and his, in 1901. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being Sarah E., widow of James Alex- ander, now living with her daughters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; James C., who died in the days of his youth ; John H., also now deceased; Samuel T., a veteran of the Civil War, who is living on his farm in the Cedarville neigh- borhood; Erastus F., a traveling salesman, who died at Chicago in 1914, and Clarissa A., wife of W. H. Dye, now living in Florida.

William R. Baker received his schooling in the schools of Jamestown and was a well-grown lad when his parents moved to the farm, where he was living when the Civil War broke out. In October, 1861, he enlisted for service, a member of Company A, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command for three years, or until the com- pletion of his term of enlistment, being mustered out in the fall of 1864, when his younger brother Samuel took his place in the company. During that period of service Mr. Baker was attached to the Army of the Cumber- land, Fourteenth Army Corps, Second Division, Third Brigade, and was an orderly at division headquarters when mustered out. He participated in many of the notable battles and engagements of the war, including those of Stone's River, Chickamauga, Jonesboro and the Atlanta campaign and upon the completion of that active service became an ambulance driver and thus continued his service until the close of the war.

Not long after his return from army service Mr. Baker became employed as a clerk in the grocery store of H. H. Eavey at Xenia, beginning that employment in 1867, and two years later, in 1869, bought a half interest in the store. Soon afterward the firm again was reorganized, Mr. Baker's brother-in-law. W. B. Harrison, buying his partner's interest, the firm then becoming Baker, Harrison & Company, and Mr. Baker continued thus engaged in the mercantile business until his election in the fall of 1883 to the office of auditor of Greene county. He was retained in office, by successive reelec- tions, until 1896, when he declined to be the further nominee of the party that had honored him by 'these successive nominations without opposition. For four years after his retirement from the auditor's office Mr. Baker was engaged in prospecting in the Scioto oil fields and since then has been living practically retired, his chief attention being given to the management of a

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farm he owns in this county, making his home in the old W. B. Harrison residence at 202 East Market street. He is a Republican.

Mr. Baker has been twice married. On March 1, 1876, he was united in marriage to Anna Harrison, who was born and reared in this county, her home having been about eight miles east of Xenia. She was a daughter of James and Ruth ( Hanna) Harrison and a sister of W. B. Harrison, who for years was a merchant and manufacturer at Xenia and a politician of more than local influence. To that union were born two daughters, Florence B., who married Frank Wickersham and now lives in Denver, Colorado, and Jessie R., wife of J. A. Chew, managing editor of the Xenia Gasette. The mother of these daughters died in October, 1892, and on September 12, 1905, Mr. Baker married Mrs. Agnes (Garrett) Harrison, widow of the late W. B. Harrison, mentioned above. Mrs. Baker was born at Wilmington, Dela- ware, a daughter of Elwood Garrett and wife, and was living in that city at the time of her marriage to Mr. Harrison, her home since then having been in Xenia. Her father, Elwood Garrett, a Quaker, who died in 1910 at the great age of ninety-three years, was a photographer and was quite an inventor, he having put up the first telephone in use in the city of Wilming- ton. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Church of Christ (Scientist) and Mr. Baker is a member of the Masonic order.

CLARK K. BICKETT.

Clark K. Bickett, proprietor of a farm on the Bickett road in Xenia township, rural mail route No. 2 out of Xenia, was born in that same town- ship on March 28, 1866, son of Matthew A. and Caroline (Kendall) Bickett, both of whom also were born in that township and the latter of whom is still living there.

Matthew Alexander Bickett was born on January 19, 1831, a son of William R. and Isabella ( Alexander) Bickett, the former of whom was born in the Coaquilla valley of Pennsylvania about 1796, a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Reed) Bickett, natives of Ireland, who came to this country some years after their marriage and settled in Pennsylvania, where Adam Bickett's last days were spent, his death occurring there not many years after. His widow and her children, of whom William R. Bickett was the youngest, came to Ohio in 1818 and settled in this county, purchasing a tract of one hundred and fifty acres in Xenia township, which tract is still held in the family. There William R. Bickett grew to manhood, married and spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1865. His widow sur- vived him for twenty years, her death occurring in 1885. They were men- bers of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia and their children

MR. AND MRS. CLARK K. BICKETT.

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were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, Adam R., Mat- thew A., Mary Jane ( Mrs. Solomon Foust), Elizabeth Isabella, Lydia Ann and W. Harvey.

Reared on the home farm in Xenia township, Matthew A. Bickett established his home in that same township after his marriage in 1865 and continued to make his home there the rest of his life, his death occurring in November, 1911. His widow is still making her home on the old home place. She was born in that township, Caroline E. Kendall, a daughter of William and Eleanor (Jackson) Kendall, who were married in that town- ship and there spent their last days. William Kendall, who was a soldier in the War of 1812, was born in Kentucky, a son of Robert Kendall and wife, who later came up into Ohio and located in Greene county. His wife, Eleanor Jackson, was born in Xenia township, a member of one of the pioneer families of that part of Greene county. Of the six children born to William Kendall and wife, all are deceased except Mrs. Bickett. Matthew A. Bickett was a member of the Second United Presbyterian church at Xenia, as is his widow, and their children were reared in accordance with the tenets of the same. There are seven of these children, of whom the sub- ject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follow: Charles A., a farmer and stockman of New Jasper township, this county, who mar- ried Edna Watt, of Greenfield, Ohio; William Albert, who married Mar- garet Harper and is farming in Xenia township; Anna M., unmarried, who continues to make her home with her mother; the Rev. John W. Bickett, a minister of the United Presbyterian church, who married Leota Watt, of Greenfield, Ohio, and is now stationed at New Concord, this state; Eleanor I., who married Herbert Tate and is now living on a farm in the vicinity of Bellbrook, and David Cameron Bickett, who married Pearl McCampbell, of this county, and is farming the old home place in Xenia township.

Clark K. Bickett .grew to manhood on the old home farm, completed his schooling by a course in the old Xenia College on East Church street and after his marriage in the spring of 1889 began farming on his own account. He bought the William McQuiston place of one hundred acres on the Bickett road four miles east of Xenia, where he since has made his home and on which in 1916 he erected a new dwelling of nine rooms, the same being equipped with electric lights, hard-wood floors, two bath rooms and various up-to-date conveniences for housekeeping. He also built the forty-by-seventy-two barn on the place, erected two silos, one of a hundred- ton capacity and the other of seventy-five-ton capacity, and laid a cement floor one hundred and eight by one hundred and three feet on his barnyard. On his original tract of one hundred acres he laid twenty-two hundred rods of tile and on the tract of one hundred and forty acres adjoining, which he

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later bought, he also has done extensive tiling. In addition to his general farming Mr. Bickett has for years given considerable attention to the rais- ing of live stock, feeding a couple of car loads of steers and two or three hundred head of hogs annually, feeding all the grain he raises, besides buying thousands of bushels for that purpose. He has a herd of Jerseys for dairy purposes and his specialty in the way of hogs is Duroc-Jerseys. Politically, Mr. Bickett is an "independent" Republican.

On May 24, 1899, Clark K. Bickett was united in marriage to Mar- garet Turnbull, who was born in Ross township, this county, daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (Spencer) Turnbull, and to this union four children have been born, Mary E., Joseph T., Blanche and Robert, the two former of whom are now (1918) students in the Xenia high school, the first-named being a senior. The Bicketts are members of the Second United Presby- terian church at Xenia.

CHARLES DILL DOBBINS.

The late Charles Dill Dobbins, who died at his farm home on the line between Cedarville and Ross township on January 10, 1909, was a native son of Ohio and all his life was spent in this state, a resident of Greene county since the time of his marriage in 1876. He was born in the city of Lima, county seat of Allen county, March 10, 1853, son of Hugh and Mary (Elwell) Dobbins, the latter of whom was born and reared in Clark county, this state.

Hugh Dobbins was born in Pennsylvania and was twelve years of age when he came to Ohio with his parents, the family settling in Allen county, where he grew to manhood and became a farmer and landowner and served for fourteen years as auditor of the county. After his marriage he moved to Lima and later lived at Yellow Springs. For years he was a Republican, but in his later years espoused the cause of the Prohibition party. He and his family were Presbyterians. Hugh Dobbins was twice married, and by his first wife, Mary Elwell, was the father of four children, of whom the subject of this memorial sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being Chalmers, also deceased; Libbie, wife of Clark Funston, of Yellow Springs, this county ; and James, a farmer, living in the vicinity of Ada, this state. The mother of the children died in 1856 and Hugh Dobbins later married Mary Funston, who died in 1908. This latter marriage was without issue.

Charles D. Dobbins was reared on the farm and completed his early schooling at Ada. He plowed the first furrow for the foundation of the main building of the Ohio Northern University and later entered the college,

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pursuing his studies there with a view of entering the gospel ministry, but failing health interrupted his studies and he did not finish the course. After his marriage in 1876 Mr. Dobbins made his home in Greene county, buying here the farm of one hundred and fifty-two acres on the line between Cedar- ville and Ross township where he spent the rest of his life. In addition to his general farming he gave considerable attention to the raising of live stock, with particular reference to pure-bred Merino sheep and Poland China hogs. Originally a Republican, Mr. Dobbins in his later years became a Prohibi- tionist.

On October 25, 1876, Charles D. Dobbins was united in marriage to Flora E. Turnbull, who was born in this county and who survives her husband, now making her home in Cedarville, to which place she moved in 1911 and bought a home on North Main street. She is a member of the United Presbyterian church at Cedarville, as was her husband. To Charles D. and Flora E. (Turnbull) Dobbins were born seven children, namely: Orlando, who mar- ried Alta Spangler and is living on the home place, a part of which he is farming ; Alma, wife of Harry King, a farmer, living at Washington Court House, in the neighboring county of Fayette; Mary, wife of Omer Burrell, of Springfield, in the neighboring county of Clark; Hattie, wife of Denver Wisecup, of Oxford, this state; Max Elwell, who died at the age of two years, and Zelpha, who is living with her mother at Cedarville.

Mrs. Dobbins was born in Cedarville township, a daughter of Samuel K. and Catherine (Funston) Turnbull, both now deceased, the latter of whom died on September 5, 1913, she then being eighty-six years of age, and the former, January 5. 1917, he then being in the eighty-eighth year of his age. Samuel Kyle Turnbull, further reference to whom is made elsewhere in this volume, also was born in Cedarville township, a son of John and Margaret ( Kyle) Turnbull, the former of whom was a son of William Turnbull and wife, who had come up here with their family from the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, and had settled in Cedarville township in the early days of the settlement of that region, all of which, together with further details of the history of the Turnbull family in Greene county, is set out at considerable length elsewhere. The stone house erected by William Turn- bull upon coming to this county is still standing, now owned by the Fowler family, on the Columbus-Cincinnati pike. about three miles southwest of Cedarville. Catherine Funston was born in the neighboring county of Clark. a daughter of John and Keziah (Scott) Funston, the latter of whom was a daughter of Thomas Scott, who had come up here into Ohio from the vicin- ity of Lexington, Kentucky, and had settled in Clark county, not far north of the Greene county line. John Funston was a son of Paul Funston, whose parents had come to this country from Ireland. To Samuel K. and Catherine (Funston) Turnbull were born four children, those besides Mrs. Dobbins

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being John Edwin Turnbull, who is living on the home place in Cedarville township; Fannie, wife of Charles Barber, of Cedarville, and Melda, who married Edwin Bull and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased.

SAMUEL T. BAKER.

Samuel T. Baker, farmer and stockman, a soldier of the Civil War, president of the Greene County Fair Association, former mayor of James- town and former township trustee, has been a resident of this county all his life. He was born on a farm on the Xenia-Jamestown pike, one mile west of Jamestown, March 17, 1847, son of John Winans and Elizabeth (Towell) Baker, the latter of whom also was born in this county, in Silver- creek township, in 1813, daughter of John and Sarah Towell, pioneers of that section, who had come here from Pennsylvania. John Towell was regarded as the strongest man in Greene county in his generation and he died as a result of putting his great strength to an excessive test. On a wager he carried four bushels of wheat up a stairway in a mill, but the strain was too much and he died shortly afterward, leaving his widow with four small children, of whom Mr. Baker's mother was the youngest, the others being John, who became known as Squire Towell and lived in Ross township, Samuel, who moved to Indiana, and Mrs. Caanan Brouse, who also moved to Indiana. The Widow Towell did not remarry and lived to be ninety-six years of age.

John Winans Baker was born in Kentucky in 1814 and was but a child when his parents, John and Mary (Winans) Baker, came up here with their family in 1816 and settled in the immediate vicinity of Jamestown, where John Baker built a large house and became a considerable landowner. He did a large business in hauling to Cincinnati. He and his wife were Metho- dists and were the parents of thirteen children, Mathias, George, William, Douglas, John Winans, Hilary, Jacob, Andrew, Mary and four daughters who died young. John Winans Baker grew up in the Jamestown neighbor- hood and after his marriage became engaged in the grocery business at Jamestown, remaining there until his sons were grown, when he moved to his farm southeast of the village. Upon his retirement he and his wife moved to Columbus, where in 1900 Mrs. Baker died from the effect of injuries received in a fall down a cellarway, she then being eighty-seven years of age. A year later John W. Baker fell down stairs and received injuries from which he died on Christmas Day, 1901. They were Methodists and he was a charter member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Jamestown. John WV. Baker and wife were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being the following:

AMOS WILSON CRESWELL.

. .

MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL T. BAKER.

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James, who died in youth ; Sarah, now living at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, widow of James Alexander; William Raper, of Xenia; John H., who died at Columbus; Erastus Frank, who died at Chicago; Isadora, who died at the age of four years, and Arvilla, who is the widow of Willis H. Dye and is now living in Florida.

Samuel T. Baker was reared at Jamestown, where he received his school- ing and became familiar with the details of the grocery business in his father's store. He was but a boy when the Civil War broke out and in January, 1864, he then not being seventeen years of age, he enlisted for service as a mem- ber of Company A, Seventy-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and became an orderly to Major-Gen. Charles T. Walcott, commanding the First Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, and while thus detailed went with Sherman's army to the sea and participated in the Grand Review at Wash- ington, being mustered out at the close of the war. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Baker returned home and not long afterward opened a grocery store at Grape Grove, but presently returned to Jamestown and was there engaged in the grocery business for three years, at the end of which time he and Alf Johnson started a horse-breeding farm just east of the village, making a specialty of breeding and training saddle, draft and coach horses. For twenty-five years Mr. Baker exhibited his horses at county and state fairs and in show rings and acted as judge and starter at race meets over a wide territory. He also made a specialty of auctioneering at horse and general farm sales and for forty -- five years followed that vocation throughout this section of Ohio and over in Indiana. For the past five years Mr. Baker has been serving as president of the Greene County Fair Associa- tion. On the place on which he lives, the old Amos W. Creswell farm east of Cedarville, Mr. Baker has in late years given much attention to the rais- ing of registered Berkshire hogs and in 1913 was the winner of the grand champion sweepstakes for boars at the Ohio state fair. Mr. Baker is a Republican, served for two terms as mayor of Jamestown and for two terms as township trustee. He and his wife are members of the Reformed Pres- byterian church at Cedarville.

Mr. Baker has been twice married. In 1868 he was united in marriage to Sarah Rebecca Townsley, a member of one of Greene county's pioneer families, and to that union two children were born, Harry T., now living at Columbus, and Raymond, now living at Cincinnati. The mother of these sons died in 1898 and on October 9, 1901, Mr. Baker married Ada L. Cres- well, who also was born in this county, daughter of Amos W. and Rebecca (Ward) Creswell, who were the parents of five children, but two of whom, Mrs. Baker and William Ward Creswell, grew to maturity. Mrs. Baker is connected with two of the oldest families in Greene county. She completed

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· her schooling in the college at Delaware, this state. Her father, Amos \\'. Creswell, who was the owner of five hundred acres of land east of Cedarville, a part of which tract is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Baker, was born in that same neighborhood on March 13, 1827, son of Samuel and Letitia (Wil- son) Creswell, the latter of whom, born in 1802, was a daughter of Amos Wilson, who, with his brother, Major Daniel Wilson, is traditionally said to have been the first permanent white settler in the region that came to be organized as Greene county, Amos Wilson being credited with having built the first house in the county, which he later sold to his brother Daniel, all of which is set out elsewhere in this work. The Creswells also have been here since the days before the organization of the county, as is set out at length elsewhere. Amos Wilson Creswell, father of Mrs. Baker, was a grand- son of James and Catherine Creswell, the former of whom was killed by Indians in Kentucky, after which his widow and her children, two sons and five daughters, came up here and settled on what is now the Andrew Jackson farm in Cedarville township. Samuel Creswell, born in 1778, was the fourth in order of birth of the children of this pioneer widow, the others having been Ann, who married Thomas Spence and had three children : Margaret. who married John McClellan and had six children: Betsy, who married Daniel Boyles : Catherine, who married William McClellan; Sarah, who mar- ried Simon Bromagem, and James, who married Ann Junkin. Samuel Cres- well was a soldier of the second war with England, 1812. To Samuel and Letitia ( Wilson) Creswell were born five children, namely: James, born in 1821, who married Ellen Cregor and moved to Crawford county. Illinois, where he died in 1895; Ann, born in 1823, who remained unmarried, making her home with her brother Amos and died in 1904; Samuel R., born in 1825, who died at the age of sixteen years; Amos W., father of Mrs. Baker, and Benoni, born in 1828, who married Mary Jane Marshall and spent all his life in Cedarville township, his death occurring in 1914. Amos Wilson Creswell was twice married. In 1864 he was united in marriage to Hannah Rebecca Ward, who was born on April 27, 1841, and to that union were born five children, of whom Mrs. Baker, the first-born, was born on November 24, 1865, the others being William Ward, born on December 1. 1867, who married Ethel May Fields; Samuel Lee, born in 1870, who died in1 1877; one who died in infancy in 1872, and Anna Luella, born in 1873, who died at the age of six months. The mother of these children died on January 26, 1875, and Mr. Creswell later married Mrs. Margaret A. Raney, a daughter of J. N. Townsley. He died on December 20, 1899, and the brick house he erected on his farm in 1878 is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Baker.

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History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume II, Part 86

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