History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 108

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

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David Lyons, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Overturf, was born in Vermont, and came, when a very small child, with his parents to Union county, Ohio, where his father remained until a short time before his death, which occurred at the home of his son in Iowa. His wife was Martha Cox, by whom he had three children.

Mr. Overturf is very quiet and retiring in his manner, and occupies a position of high esteem in Madison county, where he is known and respected by all.

THOMAS JEFFERSON HOUSTON.

In Somerford township, Madison county, Ohio, is the old Houston homestead, the residence consisting of a fine old brick house, erected in the early sixties. Here Thomas Jefferson Houston, a well-known business man and farmer of Madison county, spent the last years of his life.

The scion of an old and honored family, Thomas Jefferson Houston was born on April 24. 1842, on the farm where his last days were spent, and where his death occurred on January 24, 1902. He was a son of John Maddox and Maria (Cartwell) Houston, who were natives of Clark county, Ohio.

Mr. Houston spent twelve years altogether in the grocery and hardware business, but returned to his father's old homestead in 1892. His father had died previously, January 31. 1879. Thomas J. Houston was the only son of his parents who reached maturity. There were six sisters in the family, none of whom are now living, Thomas J. being the last survivor of the family.

On November 9, 1875, Thomas J. Houston was married to Kate Locke, the daughter of John B. Locke, and to this union were born four children, three of whom are now living. One daughter died at the age of two years. After his return to the farm Mr. Houston engaged extensively in breeding Shorthorn cattle and purebred sheep. He was a very successful farmer, and quite as successful in business as he was in farming, and

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at the time of his death he ranked among the highly respected and substantial farmers and business men of Somerford township.

Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Houston, John Locke Houston, the proprietor of "Willow Springs Farm," was born on February 11, 1882, in London, and on December 24, 1910, was married to Dot Overturf, the daughter of E. C. and Mary (Yeazell ) Overturf. Mrs. Houston's parents were farmers in Pike township, Madison county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. John L. Houston are the parents of one son, Robert, who is now two years old. Mr. Houston is an enterprising farmer and dairy- man. The other children were Eva, Eldon B. and Ora, deceased. Eva is single. Eldon B. married Nell Van Wagner and lives in Idaho.

Mrs. Thomas Jefferson Houston is still living on the home farm. John Locke Houston is farming one hundred and twenty-two acres of his own and also supervises the cultivation of the old homestead of two hundred acres.

FENTON M. ROSEBERRY.

Fenton M. Roseberry, farmer and retired blacksmith, Irwin, Pike township, Madi- son county, was born on January 15, 1865, at Rosedale, Ohio, and is a son of Ebenezer T. and Mary E. (Carter) Roseberry. He was reared on a farm near Rosedale, and when old enough attended the public schools at that place. He learned the black- with's trade with Brown Brothers, at Irwin, working for them from 1888 until 1895, when he went into partnership with his brother, Carl A. Roseberry, conducting the business under the firm name of Roseberry Brothers, until 1914, when F. M. Roseberry retired from the business, turning it over to his brothers, Joseph and John, and it is now managed under the firm name of J. C. & J. B. Roseberry. Mr. Roseberry has always voted the Republican ticket, and has shown his public spirit by serving as a member of the board of education, and was also a member of the board of centralized schools at Rosedale. He and his brother own twenty-five acres of land, and he, per- sonally, is a stockholder in the Farmers' Telephone Company. Mr. Roseberry belongs to Homer Lodge No. 474, Knights of Pythias.

Ebenezer T. Roseberry, father of the subject of this sketch, was born on March 10, 1832, in Pike township, where he grew to manhood. He went to the Civil War in Com- pany C, One Hundred Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was a "hundred-day" man. Mr. Roseberry was married prior to the war, to Mariah Tway, by whom he had two children, Ella, who became the wife of William A. Carter, and a daughter who died young. His second wife was Mary E. (Carter) Roseberry, by whom he had eleven children, nine of whom are living in 1915: Effie, Fenton M., Mary, Margaret, Carl A., Nettie, Charles H. (deceased), Joseph C., John B., Bessie P., and one who died in infancy. Effe became the wife of William Morgridge; Mary is the wife of Ed. Stoddard; Margaret married Pearl J. Stoddard; Carl A. was united in marriage with Anna Bradley; Nettie married B. F. King; Joseph married Blanch Newman; John B. married Mabel Hanson; and Bessie married Nathaniel Harter.

The paternal grandfather was Michael Roseberry, who came to Pike township from Pennsylvania, and was united in marriage here with Elizabeth Jones, by whom he had three sons and eight daughters, Joseph, John and Ebenezer. John died in infancy and Joseph died when twenty-one years of age. His daughters were: Eleanor, Mary P., Hannah, Elizabeth, Pernella, Sarah. Jane and Julia. Eleanor became the wife of Ira Stacy; Mary P. was married to John Lockwood; Hannah was married to Joseph Rice; Elizabeth became Mrs. John Fox; Pernella became the wife of Isaac Fox; Sarah was married to Isaac Fox; Jane became the wife of William Kitelinger; and Julia was married to William Hunt.

Fenton M. Roseberry was united in marriage, June 27, 1895, with Dollie Haynes,

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laughter of Henry and Rebecca Haynes. She died in July, 1899, leaving surviving, her husband and two children, Mary E., born on March 29, 1896, who was graduated from the Rosedale and Mechanicsburg high schools, and is a student in the Ohio State Uni- versity at Columbus, Ohio; and Frank M., born on November 24, 1898, who is a student in the high school. Fenton M. Roseberry was married, secondly, November 25, 1905, to Nettie Reed, daughter of James and Mary (Stewart) Reed. She was born on May 23, 1864, in Hardin county, Ohio. She was reared on a farm and obtained her educa- tion at the district schools.

James Reed, the father of Mrs. Fenton M. Roseberry, was a "hundred-day" soldier in the Civil War. His wife was Mary (Stewart) Reed, and they were the parents of six children, five of whom are living in 1915: Margaret J., Finley T., Stewart G., Edward G., deceased; Orra-Euphema and Nettie.

Mr. Roseberry is well known in this part of Madison county, and he and his wife and family are held in high esteem throughout the community.

HENRY B. CONVERSE.

Henry B. Converse was born on January 8, 1850, in Canaan township, a son of James N. and Julia A. (Calhoun) Converse. He was educated in the public schools of the district and the Lutheran College at Columbus, Ohio, after which he attended a business college in the same city during the year 1870, and soon after took unto him- self a wife, and settled down to the vocation of a farmer. Politically, Mr. Converse was a Democrat, and demonstrated his public spirit by serving in all the township offices, save that of township clerk. He was active in local politics to the extent of officiating as assessor, trustee, treasurer and supervisor. He was a member of the Big Darby Baptist church. Mr. Converse belonged to Urania Lodge No. 311, Free and Accepted Masons; Adoniram Chapter No. 73, Royal Arch Masons; London Council No. 41, Royal and Select Masters, and Mount Vernon Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar. He was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason at Columbus, Ohio, and was past master of Urania Lodge No. 311, and past worthy patron of the Ohio Eastern Star.

James N. Converse, father of the subject of this sketch, was a son of Charles and Phoebe (Norton) Converse, was married to Julia A. Calhoun, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Calhoun, by whom he had two children, Henry B. and Elizabeth, who became the wife of A. C. Milliken, and is now a widow, living at West Jefferson, Ohio.

The paternal grandfather was Charles Converse, who was a son of Reverend Jere- miah, who emigrated to Darby Plain in 1814. The wife of Charles Converse was Phoebe (Norton) Converse.

The maternal grandfather was James Calhoun, who was born on February 27, 1802, on the Portage river in northern Ohio. He came with his parents to Darby Plain in 1810, coming through that portion of Ohio where Columbus now stands when there were but two houses on the site and they were built of logs. His father was drafted during the War of 1812. The father went to Columbus, Ohio, and started north. His family never saw him again. His grave is somewhere on the Sandusky Plains. James Calhoun was left to care for his mother, one brother and three sisters. He kept the farm, paid for it, and managed to keep the family together until his mother was married, secondly, to a Mr. Kilbary, who was the father of Thomas and Asa Kilbary. She was the mother of one child by this marriage, Alexander Kilbary, who became prominent as a physician at Sacramento, California. Mrs. Kilbary lived and died on the Darby Plains. By her first marriage, Mrs. Kilbary had five children : James, Jr., who was married to Eliza- beth Carpenter, of Licking county, Ohio, and they were the parents of five children,

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three of whom died in infancy; Julia, who married James N. Converse, and was the mother of two children; Elizabeth, the widow of A. O. Milliken; and two others.

James Calhoun, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was married to Eliza- beth Carpenter, November 20, 1823. She was born in 1797 and died on March 19, 1846. Mr. Calhoun was married, secondly, to Mrs. Lucretia Burnham, to which union no chil- dren were born. By her first husband, Mrs. Calhoun was the mother of the following children : Annie, John, Henry, Dwight, Asa, Emeline, Lucius and Flora. James Calhoun was a pioneer in Madison county, and made his living as an auctioneer, crying all the sales in this part of the county, in addition to which he was endowed with considerable skill as a veterinary surgeon. He was a Democrat, and voted in Canaan township when there were but two Democrats there. He was always public-spirited, and showed his interest by serving in several of the township offices.

Henry B. Converse was united in marriage, September 16, 1875, to Elizabeth Beach, daughter of Uriah and Eleanor (Downing) Beach, born April 25, 1857, in Brown town- ship, Franklin county, Ohio, and lived there until her marriage. She was a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. This union has been blest with four children, Walter, Julia E., Uri B .; Eleanor Downing. Walter Converse was educated first in the district schools, and was later a graduate of the Plain City high school, and the Ohio State University, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts on his graduation from the latter institution. He was married to Zella M. Beck, and follows farming in Washington township, Franklin county, Ohio; Julia E. Converse is a graduate of the Plain City high school. She also attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, and is now the wife of William Walker, a farmer in Canaan township. Previous to her marriage, Mrs. Walker taught in the grade schools of Plain City and in the high schools of Mt. Vernon and Circleville. Uri. B. Converse is a farmer in Franklin county, Ohio. He was united in marriage with Blanche Cramer. Eleanor Downing Converse received her early edu- cation at the Plain City schools, graduating from the high school of that place, after which she entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Mrs. Converse is a member of the Big Darby Baptist church, in which she takes an active interest, and has served as president of the local missionary society. She is president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and is past worthy matron of the Elizabeth Chapter No. 56, Order of the Eastern Star, of which both Mr. and Mrs. Converse were charter members. Mrs. Converse is an agreeable, whole-souled woman, who has the sympathy of all in her bereavement.

Henry B. Couverse died on April 23, 1915, 'and his remains were interred in the Plain City cemetery. In his lifetime he was an earnest citizen in every respect and a splendid type of man. He gave unfailingly to the common good of the community and took a leading part in all movements for the betterment of Canaan township and the county in general. For the benefit of the people of his community he maintained a part of his land as a picnic ground at his own expense for the enjoyment of his fellow creatures. He was founder and one of the early presidents of Farmers' Institute at Plain City. From his early manhood Mr. Converse was active in fraternal affairs and few men were better known in this part of the state in Masonry than he. He was selected on many occasions to act as guardian for children who were bereft of their parents and his splendid influence and protection has shaped the course of many chil- dren who were entrusted to his care. Being an expert judge of land values Mr. Con- verse was often appointed to appraise estates and was also an expert judge of live stock, particularly sheep, and often officiated as judge of stock at the county and state fairs.

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HOWARD J. CONVERSE.

Farmer and civil engineer, Howard J. Converse, a distinguished citizen of Darby township, Madison county, Ohio, is descended from Revolutionary stock. He is the proprietor of "Rose Lawn Farm," a tract of twenty-eight acres of land, located three miles southwest of Plain City, Ohio. He is the scion of an old family established in this section as early as 1814, more than a century ago.

Howard J. Converse, a native of Darby township, was born on September 2, 1851. His parents were Dr. Jeremiah and Hortense (Hemenway) Converse, the former of whom was the son of Jeremiah and Malinda (Derby) Converse, and he in turn was the son of Rev. Jeremiah Converse, a Revolutionary soldier.

Dr. Jeremiah Converse, the father of Howard J., was born in Darby township, Madison county, Ohio, June 11, 1822, eight years after his father, who was a pioneer minister, had located in this county. He was born in a season marked by an epidemic, which was well remembered by the older citizens of a half century ago, having made deep inroads upon the thinly-settled community of Darby Plains, and having thickly populated the primitive grounds on Big Darby, set aside and sanctified with tears as a burying ground for the dead. The mother of Dr. Converse was Malinda Derby, descended from the old English titled family of that name, and was a woman of remarkable characteristics of mind. Her keenly active faculties, aided by untiring devotion to her family, under less harrowing circumstances than those which sur- rounded the pioneers, would naturally have led to a careful, discriminating education for her children, but the school house and text-books of today were beyond her dreams and beyond the dreams of her time. It was by studious application of all his energies and the precious little spare time he could get from labor in the fields and woods, that young Converse obtained the rudiments of an education. The thud of the grubbing hoe, the crash of falling trees and the wielding of the ox-goad in preparing the land for cultivation, were interjections in his educational progress until about 1844, when he turned his mind to the study of the science of medicine and graduated four years later from the Starling Medical School at Columbus, Ohio.

About the time he began the study of medicine Dr. Jeremiah Converse was mar- ried to Hortense Hemenway, a young lady of excellent family and fine qualities of mind and heart. To them were born six children. Following his graduation he began a professional career which lasted for twenty-five years and with it began an observ- ance and study of the physical condition of the country, especially its sanitary require- ments, together with the advancement of social, agricultural and general ideas which kept him prominently before the public. He never entirely gave up his farming interests and these, with his extensive practice, required the major part of his time. Yet in all these he was careful to give his children excellent educational advantages. For one-fourth of a century he ministered to the sick over an extensive scope of country on horseback, traveling through the woods, over the mud roads and through the swamps, all of which impressed him with the idea that he could make himself more useful by establishing pikes and ditches to drain the country. He did much for the benefit of those who lived in his community. He served with distinction, for many years, as clerk, trustee and assessor. In 1860 he was elected to the office of county commissioner of Madison county. He was truthfully a high minded and helpful man, not only to Darby township but to Madison county as well. He always had a good word for everybody and no one ever went hungry from his door.

Rev. Jeremiah Converse. the founder of the Converse family in Madison county, who came here in 1814 from Vermont. had nine children, Sandford. Parley, Squire, Lathrop. Orinda, Surviah, Jeremiah, Silas and Charles. Jeremiah. the seventh child in this family. was born in Vermont. By his marriage to Malinda Derby. there was

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a large family of children, Cyrus D., born on September 5, 1814; Rhoda, January 31, 1817; Erastus, December 23, 1818; Elias, April 10, 1821, and died on April 21, 1821; Dr. Jeremiah, June 11, 1822, and died on November 2, 1895; Lemuel D., January 31, 1826, and died on January 26, 1909; Zelotus, June 8, 1828, and died on August 9, 1829; Malinda D., July 12, 1830; Lois D., January 15, 1833; and Rosanna C., April 12, 1835. Lois D. is the only member of the family now living.

To Dr. Jeremiah and Hortense (Hemenway) Converse were born six children, Hortense, born on July 15, 1845, and died on June 2, 1850; Maschal D., August 18, 1848, died in September, 1908, who married Mary Hornish and had one son, William H; Howard J., the subject of this sketch; Eldon G., deceased, July 20, 1854, who mar- ried Eva Worthington and had three children; Avis I., January 28, 1859, who married Charles F. Crawson, of Bloomington, Illinois, and has three children; and Carrie H., July 6, 1860, who is the wife of Price M. Walker, and has one child.

Howard J. Converse was reared on the farm in Darby township and received a common-school education, attending school in the winter and working on the farm in the summer until he had reached his majority. During the next sixteen years Mr. Converse was engaged in teaching, and after he quit teaching took up civil engineering. This was about 1885 and he has followed this profession ever since, in connection with a little farm work.

On January 1, 1879, Howard J. Converse was married to Rose Faulkner, who was born at Oswego, New York, October 21, 1855, and is the daughter of John and Margaret (Hanlin) Faulkner. Mrs. Converse's father was a native of England, born in Buck- ingham and having come to the United States at the age of eighteen, when he located at Oswego, New York. Her mother was born in Toronto, Canada, and educated in the Canadian schoola. Mr. and Mrs. Converse have had one daughter, Maude B., who was born on November 21, 1879, and who died on November 23, 1892.

Mr. and Mrs. Converse are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Plain City, Ohio. Mr. Converse is a Republican in politics and Mrs. Converse is an active member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist church.

M. E. GORDON.

M. E. Gordon, farmer, Irwin, Pike township, Madison county, was born on October 4, 1867, at West Liberty, Logan county, Ohio, and is a son of John and Eliza (Kelley) Gordon. He came with his father to Madison county when four years of age and was educated in the public schools of Rosedale, Ohio. and later became a teacher in the public schools of Madison county, and followed that vocation for five years, after which he became engaged in the general merchandise business, which he followed for ten years at Rosedale. His business was a prosperous one, enabling him to purchase his present valuable farm consisting of one hundred and ten' acres, located in Pike town- ship. where he has since followed farming. Mr. Gordon is a Democrat in national politics, otherwise he is an independent voter. He is a member of the Catholic church at Mechanicsburg. Ohio. He has made a specialty of breeding fine stock of various kinds. At present, Mr. Gordon is one of the directors of the Farmers' Telephone Company.

John Gordon, father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Ireland, as was also his wife, Eliza (Kelley) Gordon, to whom he was married before coming to the United States. They settled in Logan county, Ohio, in 1861. Mr. Gordon went to the Civil War in Company I. One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving until the end of the war. Mr. and Mrs. John Gordon were the par- ents of ten children, six of whom are living in 1915: C. C., P. H., W. P., Martin, M.

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E., and Mary. C. C. Gordon is a prosperous attorney at Marion, Indiana; P. H. Gordon is a resident of Rosedale, Ohio; W. P. Gordon lives at Osborne, Ohio; Martin Gordon makes his home at Mechanicsburg, Ohio; and Mary Gordon is the wife of F. J. Roll, of Belle Center, Ohio.

M. E. Gordon was united in marriage, August 26, 1901, with Nellie E. Donlan, daughter of John and Mary Donlan, of Plain City, Ohio. Nellie E. Donlan was born in Champaign county, Ohio, and was educated first at the public schools of Plain City, and later entered the college at Ada, Ohio, where she became a teacher, remaining six years. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have one daughter, Lucile, who was born on July 7, 1902.

Nellie E. (Donlan) Gordon was a daughter of John and Mary Donlan of Plain City. John Donlan was born in County Galway, Ireland, and came to America when about twenty years of age and settled near North Lewisburg, Ohio, and engaged in farming. He was married at North Lewisburg to Mary Reed, the daughter of John and Nancy Reed, who also were natives of Ireland. Two brothers of Mary Reed, Joseph and John, came to this country and settled in Ohio; both are now dead and in their lifetime lived in Champaign county, Joseph having lived for a time in Madison county. After their marriage, John and Mary (Reed) Donlan settled near North Lewisburg on a farm and lived there about twenty years, later moving to Madison county and settled on a farm near Plain City. Mrs. Donlan died on July 12, 1912, and Mr. Donlan continues to make his home on the same farm. Their children were: Alfred, deceased; Ralph, deceased; Fred, deceased; Francis; Anna, who married P. H. Gordon; and Nellie E. The family belonged to the Catholic church.

Mr. Gordon has always followed a high plane of thought and action, and because of his genuine worth, he has won the good will of all who know him.

THOMAS KILBURY.

A veteran of the Civil War and an industrious farmer, the late Thomas Kilbury was one of the most highly-honored citizens of Canaan township during his day and generation. He was born in Canaan township, in June, 1840, the son of Ira and Eliza- beth (Brittenham) Kilbury. They were both of Madison county, Ohio. Ira Kilbury was a farmer.

Thomas Kilbury was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. He was about twenty-one years old at the breaking out of the Civil War and enlisted in Company K, of a regiment being recruited in this part of Ohio, and served until the close of the war. During the war Mr. Kilbury was married, and when he had received his final discharge, returned to Canaan township and began farming. He died on October 25, 1892.

The late Thomas Kilbury was married in October, 1862, to Rosanna Bowen, who was born in Clark county, Ohio, February 24, 1840, and who is the daughter of William and Barbara A. (Sugh) Bowen. The former was a native of Virginia and the latter also of the Old Dominion state. Subsequently, they came to Ohio and settled in Clark county, Ohio, where they lived until their death. They had six children, of whom only one is now living. Mrs. K'lbury was reared on a farm near Springfield, Ohio, and when old enough attended the public schools until she was eighteen years old. She worked at home until she was married. in 1862.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Kilbury had one son, Corrie E., born on August 7, 1874, and who died on September 7, 1914. He was educated in the common schools and remained at home with his mother.

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 108

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207