USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio > Part 69
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one sister : Hugh. James and Mary. Rob- ert Jackson came to America with his fa- ther and his family in 1762 and in 1786 was married to Elizabeth McCorkle, a beautiful girl and the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier killed in battle. She was born in Scotland and had two brothers, one of whom was killed in the Revolutionary war and the other was killed by accident. Both Robert and Elizabeth ( McCorkle) Jackson spent their last days in Greene county, Ohio, and were buried in Massies Creek burying ground. He died September 26, 1828. There were two sons and eight daughters in their family: David, Robert, Margaret, Jane. Elizabeth, Mary. Rachel, Martha, Nancy and Eleanor. Of this family Eleanor Jackson became the wife of William Ken- dall. She was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, March 15. 1800, and died June 6, 1888, near Xenia. Their children were Robert. Clark, Henry, Mary Ann, Eliza and Caroline. Mary Ann became the wife of James Collins Galloway. He died in Xenia, November 28, 1899, and his wife died in the same city. September 10. 1892. They were the parents of four children, all yet living: Clark Madison, born April 20. 1843: Alethia Ellen, March 27. 1846: Re- becca Alice, December 28, 1851 : and Will- iam Albert, April 8. 1860, all born in Xenia township.
Clark Madison Galloway, M. D., A. M., enlisted in Company E. One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service in the spring of 1864. and during that term was in West Virginia. He afterward re-enlisted in Com- pany G. One Hundred and Eighty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and took part in the battle of Nashville where Hood's veteran army was destroyed by General Thomas.
He was present when Johnston surrendered to General Sherman at Raleigh, North Caro- lina. At the close of the war he was mus- tered out of service and returned home. His preliminary education had been acquired in the public schools and in 1866 he continued his education as a student at Xenia College. In 1869 he entered Miami University, in which he was graduated in 1871. after which he began teaching, being professor in Greek, Latin and mathematics in Xenia Col- lege. For four years he was one of the in- structors in that institution and during the summer months he also taught in its sum- mer normals. In 1875 he entered the Med- ical College of Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1877. He then located for the practice of medicine and surgery in Xenia and is now associated with is brother, Dr. WV. A. Galloway. He took a special course at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. in 1879. He is now and for ten years has been secretary of the Xenia board of United States pension surgeons ; was coroner of Greene county for eight years : a member of the board of education of Xenia for twelve years: was physician and surgeon to the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home in Xenia from 1888 until 1891 ; and is assistant sur- geon of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company: was a member of the board of health for two years; and for a similar period represented the first ward in the city council of Xenia. In 1891-2 he was medical director of the Department of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic, and is a member of Lewis Post. No. 347. G. A. R., and Nathaniel Greene Chapter. S. A. R. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian and in political belief a Republican. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic Lodge of Xenia, No. 49, and in the line of his profes-
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sion is a member of the Greene County and Ohio State Medical Societies.
Alethia Ellen Galloway is a graduate of and received her degree of M. E. L. from Xenia College in 1864. In the same year she was married by the Rev. R. D. Harper. D. D., to William J. Parrett, of Lyndon, Ross county, Ohio. They have two chil- dren living : Carrie Dell, who was educated in Wooster University: and Clark Sher- man, who was graduated in the same insti- tution in 1897 and was married January 23. 1902, in Springfield, Ohio, to Sylvia Jones.
Rebecca Vice Galloway is a graduate of Xenia College of the class of 1873. at which time the degree of M. L. L. was conferred upon her. She taught for one year in the Osborn public schools: two years in Xenia College : attended Antioch College for one year; taught for two years in the public schools of Yellow Springs; and from 1888 to 1896 in the public schools of Nenia. She is a past regent of Cath- arine Greene Chapter, D. A. R .: a mem- ber of the Woman's Club of Xenia: is Ohio Federation secretary of the General Federa- tion of Woman's Clubs; and a member of the Xenia Library Association. On the 6th of February. 1896, she became the wife of Henry Harrison Eavey, the marriage being performed by Rev. J. C. Ely.
William Albert Galloway, B. S .. M. D .. was educated in Antioch College, being graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science. On his graduation from the Med- ical College of Ohio, in March, 1890, he be- came associated with his brother. Dr. Clark M. Galloway, and has practiced continu- ously to this date. He was married April 2. 1891. in Newark. Ohio, by Rev. E. B. Jones, to Maude Evelyn, only daughter of William C. and Evelyn ( Spitzer ) Lyon. Her father
was lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1888 to 1890. Three children have been born to them: Evelyn Helen, born February 8, 1893: William Lyon, born March 29. 1895; and Elizabeth Mary, born May 21, 1902. Dr. W. A. Galloway was appointed a mem- ber of the State Normal and Industrial board of trustees at Wilberforce University by Governor Bushnell in 1806, and has been president of the board continuously since. He belongs to Xenia Lodge, No. 49. F. & .A. M .; is corresponding secretary of Na. thaniel Greene Chapter, S. A. R. ; vice pres- ident of the Ohio Society, S. A. R. : and in his church relations is a Presbyterian. From 1899 to 1902 lie was physician to the Greene County Infirmary and Children's Home; is surgeon to the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton Railroad; is a member of the Greene County, Ohio State and Mississippi Valley Medical Associations : and is a frequent con- tributor to medical and other journals.
OTTO A. WILSON.
Otto A. Wilson, who is now living in Fairfield, is well known in Democratic cir- cles in Greene county, taking a deep and active interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding of his party. He is now serving in the po- sition of township clerk. He was born in the village of Fairfield. August 7. 1867, and is a son of William W. and Sarah ( Greiner ) Wilson. His paternal grandfa- ther, William Henry Wilson, was a native of Ireland and emigrated with his family to the new world, after which he served as en- sign of the Fifth Company of the Seventy- fourth Regiment of the Militia of Pennsyl-
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vania. being appointed to the position in 1811. the commission being signed by Gov- ernor Simon Snyder. This document is still in the possession of our subject. Mr. Wilson also has a commission in his posses- sion signed by President James Monroe, ap- pointing William H. Wilson as the first sur- veyor of Clark county, Ohio. In 1816 the grandfather purchased a tract of land bor- dering for one hundred feet on Market street, in Springfield, Ohio, and this was in possession of the family for over eighty years, being sold but a short time ago. He (lied while yet a young man, passing away in 1823. His remains were interred in Springfield, Ohio, but later were transferred to the family lot in Fairfield. He was the father of three children : Mrs. Emily Smith, who died in Fairfield in 1889: Catherine. who became Mrs. Bressler, of Fairfield, and died in July, 1890: and William W., the father of our subject. The mother of these children passed away in 1868.
William W. Wilson was born in Spring- field, Ohio, July 20, 1823. and pursued his education in the public schools there until he was twelve years of age, when he went to Bath township, Greene county, to live with Arthur Johnson, and in that locality he completed his education. In 1846 he be- gan to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, in Dayton, Ohio. He would walk to Dayton on Monday morning and return on Satur- day evening, making the journey on foot each way. a distance of fifteen miles. After he had completed his trade he returned to Fairfield, where he opened an undertaking establishment and cabinet shop. continuing business along those lines until the close of the Civil war. He then entered into partner- ship with D. K. Wolf. under the firm name of Wilson & Wolf, and openel a general
store in Fairfieldl. but the partnership con- tinued only a short time. Mr. Wilson becom- ing sole owner of the business which he con- ducted successfully until a few years prior to his death, when on account of ill health he sokl out. He started in life with no capital and by hard. earnest, honest work he accumulated considerable property and became a wealthy man. At the time of his death he owned a house and lot in Fair- field, where he lived, a farm in Bath town- ship. Greene county, another farm in Clark county and a business block and a house and lot in Springfield, Ohio. all having been ac- quired from his own earnest exertions. In politics he was a lifelong Democrat, and served as township trustee for a number of years, while for a few years he was justice of the peace, proving a capable and effi- cient officer. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he was a regular attendant upon its services until his health failed. Mrs. Wilson was ill for about eighteen months prior to her death. During the last six months she was unable to leave her bed. She passed away Novem- ber 6, 1901. at the age of sixty-seven years. and was laid to rest bi the side of her hus- band in Fairfield cemetery. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were born two children, the daughter being Cornelia, the wife of F. D. Johnson, a resident of Cheyenne, Wyoming. in the United States mail service. .
Otto A. Wilson, of this review, pursued his education in the schools of Fairfield and acquired a teacher's certificate, but never engaged in teaching. He always lived with his father and assisted him in his work and after his father's health failed assumed the management of the business. He is, how- ever. a painter by trade and followed that pursuit for a number of years, working in
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some of the western cities. For a time he was employed in the shipyards at Seattle. Washington.
On the 27th of September. 1894, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Cora Miller, a native of Bath township, and a daughter of Jacob and Catherine Miller. In his political views Mr. Wilson is a stanch Democrat, and in 1895 was elected on that ticket to the office of township clerk, in which capacity he is still serving. During the campaign of 1800 and those succeeding he has been a member of the central and executive committees, and has served as clerk of both committees. He has also for several times been a delegate to the county and state conventions and is unswerving in his allegiance to the party. His wife is a member of the Reformed church, while he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. They have one of the finest homes in Fair- field. It is heated by hot water. is modern in every respect and was built in an at- tractive style of architecture. Mr. Wilson himself drawing the plans for the place. Ile also owns a farm of one hundred and sixty- five acres of very valuable land in Bath township and this brings to him a good ren- tal. adding materially to his income. Mr. Wilson has spent his entire life in this lo- cality and is widely known as a gentleman of genuine worth, of reliability in business and one whose genial manner and social disposition has gained him many friends.
JOHN R. SMITH.
A farm of one hundred and fifty acres situated in Sugarcreek township is the prop- erty of John Riley Smith, a well known agri-
culturist of Greene county, who throughout his entire life has engaged in the tilling of the soil in this portion of the state. His birth occurred about four miles from Nenia on his father's farm on the Columbus pike at what is called East Point, in a stone house which is still occupied as a residence. llis natal day was November 18, 1839. and he is a son of John G. and Sophronia ( McFar- land) Smith. The father was born in lla- gerstown. Maryland, and when only two years old was brought by his parents to Ohio, the family making the journey on horseback and bringing with them their farming utensils. Mr. Smith was born on Christmas day in 18to and the year 1812 witnessed their emigration westward. The family settled at Cedarville but at a later date returned to Maryland. When two years had passed, however, they came once more to Ohio. The grandfather, Jonathan Smith, owned a small farm of ten acres on which he made his home until his death, which occurred about 1845 when our subject was six years of age. His wife, Mrs. Bar- bara Smith, lived to a very advanced age. John G. Smith, the father of our subject, spent the greater part of his youth in this county amid its frontier surroundings and scenes and assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm, After arriving at years of maturity he mar- ried Sophronia McFarland, who was born in this county, her parents being Arthur and Martha ( Claypool) McFarland. The young couple then began their domestic life upon a farm which Mr. Smith rented. They be- came the parents of nine children, of whom our subject was the third in order of birth. Four of the number are still living, the oth- ers being Jonathan M .. George Metlenry and Howard Scott, all residents of Madison
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county. Ohio. The father departed this life when about seventy years of age.
Only very limited educational privileges did John R. Smith receive on account of ill health. He remained at home until about twenty-two years of age and then began to earn his own livelihood. For two years he rented land and in 1880 he purchased his present farm, comprising about one hundred and fifty acres. This he has improved with modern equipments and accessories and its neat and thrifty appearance indicates to the passerby the enterprise and progressiveness of the owner.
On the Ist of February, 1877, was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Henrietta Maria Bonner, who was born in Xenia township. Greene county, March I, 1840. a daughter of Stith and Maria (Mer- cer) Bonner. Her father was born in Din- widdie county, Virginia, in 1791. and the mother in Hamilton county, in 1800. Both had come to Greene county in childhood and were here married. The paternal grandfa- ther. Frederick Bonner, arrived here in 1803 before the admission of the state into the Union. He purchased a large tract of land just south of Xenia where the Orphans' Home now stands. One of his grandsons. William F. Pelham, donated twenty-five acres of this land to the Soldiers' Home. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Smith was Edward Mercer, who built the first brick house ever erected in Greene county. It stood on the farm owned by Robert Men- denhall. Mrs. Smith began her education in a log school-house and later spent a year and a half as a student in the Xenia Sem- inary. By her marriage she has become the mother of one son, Jesse Clyde, who was born on the home farm. March 9. 1880. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of
the Methodist Episcopal congregation at Gladys Chapel, and since casting his first presidential vote for Lincoln in 1864 Mr. Smith has been a Republican. Since 1866 he has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Xenia. and his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of that fra- ternity which is based upon mutual helpful- ness.
JAMES E. GALLOWAY.
There is particular satisfaction in revert- ing to the life history of the honored and venerable gentleman whose name initiates this review, since his mind bears the impress of the historic annals of the state of Ohio from the early pioneer days, and from the fact that he has been a loyal son of the re- public and has attained to a position of dis- tinctive prominence in the thriving little city where he was born and where he has main- tained his residence during the greater part of his life, being one of the revered pa- triarchs of the community. He, however. spent a qaurter of a century upon the Pacific coast during the most interesting epoch in its history .- that following the discovery of gold in California. No family has been more closely or honorably connected with Greene county than the Galloway family. which. through more than a century, has been identified with the improvement, prog- ress and upbuilding of this portion of the state.
James E. Galloway was born in what is now the very heart of Xenia. January 3. 1825. His father. James Galloway, came to this county in 1797. being one of the first settlers to establish a home here. Ohio then formed a part of the Northwestern Territory and had not yet been admitted to the union
JAMES E. GALLOWAY.
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of the new republic. The grandfather was Rev. Hugh McMillan, a minister of the born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was of Scotch-Irish descent, his ances- tors having come to this country from the north of the Emerald Isle. He loyally served as a soldier under General Washington in the Revolutionary war. He was an ex- pert shot and was designated to engage in hunting in order to supply the regiment with meat. He served for several years, partici- pating in many battles, vet was never woun- ded. Emigrating westward to establish a home upon what was then the frontier, he first took up his abode in Kentucky and participated in the battle at Blue Lick. In 1797 he came to Greene county, and was probably the most influential resi- dent of the county at an early datc. He served as the first county treas- urer, and his influence was most marked in laying the foundation for the future development and prosperity of this portion of Ohio. He became a pros- perous agriculturist and remained a resi- dent of Xenia township until his death, which occurred in 1838, when he was eighty-eight years of age.
The father of our subject also bore the name of James Galloway. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and after arriving at years of maturity married Martha Towns- ley, a native of Cumberland county, Penn- sylvania. They became the parents of ten children, but our subject is now the only surviving member of the family. Further mention is made of the parents in the his- torical section of this volume.
James E. Galloway, whose name intro- duces this record. acquired his early edu- cation in Xenia in a private school taught by Thomas Steele. He afterward pursued a classical course in a school taught by the
Covenanter church, who was very thor- ough in his methods of instruction, and in addition to the common branches of learning taught the languages. Later Mr. Galloway entered Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. where he was graduated in 1844, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On complet- ing his education he went to St. Louis, Mis- souri, where he secured a clerkship in a wholesale dry-goods house, serving in that capacity for five years, but the discovery of gold in Califronia changed his plans and in the spring of 1849 he started for the El Do- rado of the west, going up the Missouri riv- er to St. Joseph, whence he drove a six-mule team across the plains. At first there were five wagons and seven men in the train, but later the strength of the party was augment- ed until there were eighteen men, who tray- eled together for protection. The original party of seven had purchased a stock of goods which they intended to take to Cali- fornia, but at Salt Lake City their mules gave out and so they auctioned off their goods until they had but a small remnant left. That they sold to Bishop Hyde, tak- ing notes payable in three or four months. Mr. Galloway and another man called on Brigham Young with the notes and sold them to him with a thirty per cent discount. At that time most of the Mormons were living in wagons, for they had not yet built homes in the city afterward to become fa- mous as a Mormon stronghold. At this place Mr. Galloway saw California gold for the first ime. He took in payment a five- dollar gold piece which the Mormons had minted, worth about four dollars and a quarter. After four months of travel across the hot sandy stretches and through mountain passes he and his party arrived
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in California on the 14th of September. 1849. While en route they had seen In- dians several times, but were not molested save at Grand Island, where the red men stole a mule from the party. There were over a thousand Sioux Indians who passed their camp on their way back from a fight with the Pawnees.
After arriving in California Mr. Gallo- way and another man opened an auction house in Sacramento, there conducting busi- ness for two years, selling sometimes in twenty or thirty minutes several thousand dollars' worth of horses, mules and oxen. They did a general auction business at Sac- ramento, which place was then called Su- ter's Fort. After two years Mr. Galloway went to Marysville, where he remained for ten years, establishing a wholesale grocery and general mercantile business, selling to the mountain merchants who had their places of business on the streams, where mining camps had been established. In 1860, however, our subject sold his store and went to San Francisco, where for a number of years he engaged in the brokerage business, handling mining stocks of all kinds. He continued this until 1866, when, after seventeen years' residence in Califor- nia, he went to Montana, making his way in June of that year by steamship to Portland, Oregon, whence he proceeded up the Co- lumbia river to Walla Walla. Washington. and from there proceeded across the moun- tains with three others on pack horses and mules, carrying provisions, and crossing two spurs of the Rocky Mountains. After about a month's travel he arrived in Mon- tana, landing at Bear Town, then a mining camp. When he had been in the territory about three months he was nominated for the legislature and although not eligible to
run, a lawyer there told him to go ahead, as the only copy of the organic act in the ter- ritory was in the pocket of a judge one hun- dred and fifty miles away. Mr. Galloway was nominated by the "self-risers," as the old Californians were known, and his op- ponent was a "tenderfoot." Mr. Galloway ran far ahead of his ticket and was elected. While traveling to the convention, fifty miles away, he stopped at a house for supper and was told that he might stay all night, but for two years he had not slept in a bed and. instead of accepting the offer, he and his companion went out doors and slept on a straw stack.
After being elected Mr. Galloway re- moved to Helena, for he was prospecting in that locality at the time. The legislature met at Virginia City and to that place he went by stage coach. There were twenty- five members of the house and thirteen mem- bers of the council and it was to the latter body-corresponding to the state senate of to-day-that Mr. Galloway was elected. His district covered a trritory about forty miles wide and one hundred and forty miles long. When the members of the legislature reached Virginia City there were no board- ing places and with several others he had to sleep on the floor of the bar-room covered up with his blanket. Later he and others slept on the floor of the council chamber, and in the morning they would slip their blankets under the benches occupied by the spectators. Mr. Galloway remained in Montana for about four years, prospecting part of the time. He afterward went into a wholesale commission house at Helena as a clerk, and during that time drew the largest salary of any man in the state, having full charge of the business. He was offered a partnership, but declined, as he desired to
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return home. Prices were very high in His father, William T. Stark, came to those days. Brooms sold for twenty-four dollars a dozen ; nails at fifty dollars a keg ; sirup at five dollars a gallon, and sugar at forty cents a pound, and all these were the wholesale rates.
After twenty-five years' residence on the Pacific coast Mr. Galloway returned to Xenia and has since lived a retired life, al- though he was at one time a director in the First National Bank of this city. He has made several trips to California, going at different times by way of Nicaragua, the Panama route and Mexico, and in other parts of the country he has also traveled ex- tensively. He is connected with the Beta Theta Pi, a Greek letter fraternity. In pol- itics he was originally a Whig, and after- ward became a Republican, and although he was very active in political circles at an ear- ly day, he always refused to hokoffice, save that of state senator. His life history, it written in detail, would furnish many a chapter of thrilling interest. His has been an eventful career in which many experi- ences have relieved his history from mo- notony. Reared amid the scenes of frontier life in Ohio, connected with the early devel- opment of the Pacific coast, he is now en- joying a well merited rest and is accounted one of the honored and respected residents of Greene county.
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