USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 119
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On July 26, 1911, Cloyd D. Looker was united in marriage with Hazel Groves, daughter of J. M. and Myrtle (Brown) Groves, both born in Fayette county, the former descended from sterling old English stock. There were three children in the Groves family. Mrs. Looker being the eldest. The others are Forest (deceased) and Mabel. wife of Edward Heath, a farmer of Sedalia.
Mr. Looker's fraternal affiliation is held in the Knights of Pythias, through Even- ing Star Lodge No. 736, at Sedalia. He votes independently in politics, his choice falling on the candidate himself rather than any party platform which he may repre- sent. Mr. Looker holds his church membership with the Methodist Episcopal church. in the faith of which he was reared by his conscientious father.
Mr. Looker is regarded as one of the promising young men of this section. and having kept so fair a record in the past. he gives promise of still greater influence for good and a still fuller and broader manhood, as the years pass over him. Realizing fully the importance of the life work he has chosen, and bending his best energies to his task, he is well worthy of the high degree of esteem in which he is held throughout the township.
COURT M. NEFF.
The Neff family are among the descendants of those Hollanders who figured so distinctly in the making of early American history, and in Court M. Neff, the reader finds a true type of those sturdy pioneers, who first chose their homes in the East and South ; but who later, as the trend of population moved westward, were as quick to see the opportunities of the vast new land and became active in the work and preparation of- future homes as were those of other nations. The grandparents of Court M. Neff, Jacob W. and Elizabeth Neff, were natives of Virginia. George W. Neff, son of Jacob and Eliza- beth Neff, was born near Parkersburg, Virginia, January 5, 1823, but left there when twenty years of age.
George W. Neff came to Pickaway county, Ohio. where he engaged in farming until 1871, removing thence to Madison county, Ohtio, where he purchased eighty-one acres of land in Pleasant township. He was married to Elizabeth Marshall, who was born on September 12, 1825, in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and of this union eight children were born, six of whom are now living to mourn the loss of their father, which occurred in 1900.
COURT M. NEFF
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
Elizabeth (Marshall) Neff, was the daughter of Rev. James M. and Sarah (Murray) Marshall ; the father a native of Ohio and the mother a native of Ireland. Elizabeth (Marshall) Neff taught school in the early days of Pickaway county, Ohio. Mrs. Neff died on December 10, 1906. Both husband and wife had been great workers and sup- porters of the Methodist church.
Court M. Neff, one of their eight children, was born on February 21, 1869, in Pickaway county, Ohio, and was reared on the farm in Pleasant township, Madison county, Ohio. He attended the district schools for a time, completing his schooling by attending one year in Delaware and two years in the schools of London. After conclud- ing his days as a student, he began teaching, first in the district schools of Madison county, where he taught for eight years, and later teaching for six years in Fayette county and resigned and then served as rural mail carrier, the first carrier on rural route No. 2, out of Mt. Sterling.
Subsequently, Mr. Neff became connected with the Security Building and Loan Asso- ciation, in which company he served as clerk for three years. In 1909 he became a stock- holder of the company and an insurance agent with Robert H. Schryver. Mr. Neff is now secretary of the Security Building and Loan Association, also a stockholder and director of the grain company. Mr. Neff is now a property owner in Mt. Sterling and one of the representative citizens of this thriving town.
Mary E. Anderson, daughter of William P. and Lucina (Young) Anderson, both natives of Pleasant township, Madison county, Ohio, became the wife of Court M. Neff in 1894. Mrs. Neff was born on April S, 1874, at the home of her parents in Pleasant township. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Neff was blessed with one child, Mary L., who was born on April 18, 1902. Mr. Neff is chorister of the Christian church, of which he is an active member. He holds a membership in the Knights of Pythias, also in the Free and Accepted Masons, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political sentiments are with the Democratic party and his progressive ideas make him a most likable gentleman and valuable help to both church and state.
NATHAN GILLESPIE.
The complex requirements necessary to the modern farmer of the present age demand a more liberal education than was essential in the days of the forefathers. Each decade rapid advancement in agricultural lines is noted, as well as in other pro- fessions and trades. In agricultural lines the heavy and extremely laborious tasks have been largely supplanted by scientific methods. employing machinery with its various uses, and the soil. once replete with all its virgin richness, has become depleted of its many necessary ingredients, and prolific harvests now require a scientific rotation of crops and a knowledge of what and how much is deficient in the land. The raising of graded stock demands study and experience.
The old log school house has gone and it has been replaced with the convenient, well-built school buildings of the present day, in which the farmer's children are advanced from grade to grade, with minute calculations for their fitness to undertake their labors in the future. The obligations devolving upon the parents on the farm, in this age, are numerous and most essential to the welfare of their children and the prosperity of their respective communities.
Nathan Gillespie, born on November 15, 1856, in Range township, Madison county, Ohio, procured for himself a broad, liberal education, which has been so essential in his duties as a father and a citizen. He is a man of vigorous mentality and is endowed with a strong, unbiased judgment, which is responsible for the full confidence of his fellow citizens bestowed upon him,
SOG
MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
Living on the farm and of Scotch-Irish descent. Nathan Gillespie, son of Joseph and Sarah H. ( Shepherd) Gillespie, who are referred to in the sketch of Isaiah Gilles- pie, attended the district schools and later the National Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio. After completing his studies at Lebanon, he took a commercial course at the business college. In 1878 Nathan Gillespie removed to his father's farm and became a tenant, and from this beginning, with his vigorous activity, he soon emerged as the owner of one hundred and ten acres of land deeded to him by his father. On this farm are found all the modern improvements, which are the result of the handiwork of Nathan Gillespie, who has added to the original acreage of one hunred and ten acres and is now the owner of two hundred and fifty-six acres of well-improved land. The raising of graded stock has become a specialty on this farm.
During the year 1878, which marked the start of his successful life in the agricul- tural line, Nathan Gillespie was united in marriage to Josie E. Connts, who was born on July 24, 1855, in Range' township, Madison county, Ohio. She is the daughter of Peter and Susan ( Popejoy) Counts.
The father, Peter Counts, was born in Ross county, Ohio, and came to Madison county, Ohio, where he herded cattle and devoted himself to farming until about the time of his death, which occurred in 1877, at Danville, Ohio. Susan (Popejoy) Counts, the mother, was born on November 2, 1812, in Ross county, Ohio, and died on June 18, 1915, at the remarkable age of one hundred and three years.
From the union of Nathan Gillespie and Josie E. Counts, four children have been born: Earl N., who married Lena Richardson, is a farmer living in Range township, Ohio: Effie is at home: Lelia M., who married W. A. Anderson, lives in Tennessee ; William Paul, who is living on the home farm, is married to Louise Blaugher, formerly of Paint township, Ohio.
In his political life. Nathan Gillespie is a Democrat; in church affairs, a Meth- odist, and in his fraternal relations, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons. In educational affairs he has been an untiring worker, having served as a member of the school board, in Range township, for nine years. Personally, Nathan Gillespie is a most affable gentleman, honest and sincere in his business relations, wholesome and clean in his domestic and social life, with a sense of honor and uprightness which commands for him a position as one of the most influential citizens of Madison county, Ohio.
BURTON B. CRAWFORD.
The truest aristocracy is unselfish, conscientious service to one's family and to one's fellow men; the best claim to respect is that of sincere effort, along worthy avenues of endeavor, and the surest road to success is the selection of work which is best suited to one's ability and education. So, in the annals of Range township, Madi- son county, Ohio, appears the name of Burton B. Crawford, one of twelve children born to William and Sarah ( Blizzard) Crawford, six of whom are now living.
Burton B. Crawford, born on February 26, 1853, in Paint township, Madison county, Ohio, chose for his life work that which he was best adapted for, the vocation of husbandry, and in this special sphere has met with more than ordinary success.
William Crawford, born on February 14, 1799, in Scotland, was the son of George and Amelia (Blizzard) Crawford, natives of Scotland, who removed to Virginia, where they remained until their deaths. He came to Madison county, Ohio, from Virginia, when a young man, and began teaching school in Range township, which occupation he followed for several years. Reaching the decision that a salary, no matter how large, was not a true recompense for the denial of pleasures to be gained through honest effort for himself, he purchased one hundred and forty acres of land, in Paint town- ship, Madison county, Ohio, and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
occurred on February 4, 1875, in London, Ohio. The wife of William Crawford, Sarah (Blizzard) Crawford, was born on October 11, 1811, in Range township, Madison county, Ohio, and was the daugghter of Burton and Amelia (Willoughby ) Blizzard, natives of Virginia. Her death occurred on April 24, 1SSS. The parents of Sarah (Blizzard) Crawford, Burton and Amelia (Willoughby) Blizzard, came to Madison county, Ohio, in the early days, and purchased land from the government for fifty cents an acre. This land consisted of nearly fourteen hundred acres and covered part of the area known now as Range township, and this unimproved wilderness, populated entirely by savage Indians, became the home of the Blizzard family, They were the first white people to settle in Madison county, Ohio, and their nearest market was Chillicothe, Ohio. They drove from Virginia in a covered wagon, subsisting on game and wild fruits gathered by the way, and after they were settled in this new wild life, spun and wove the material from which they made their garments. They became the parents of eleven children, none of whom are living. Burton Blizzard was born on August 7, 1781, and died on April 11, 1860. Amelia ( Willoughby) Blizzard was born on January 18, 17SS, and died on October 2, 1881, at the age of ninety-three years.
On Memorial Day, when our heads are uncovered in silent respect for those brave men who bled and died for their country's freedom from slavery; when the solemn requiem is sounded for those whose bravery rings loud in our hearts, and in the annals of America's history; when their deeds of daring and heroism are recounted for che benefit of their descendants-another note, as sweet, and loud and clear as a clarion call, should be sounded, and 'a song sweeter than any yet written should be sung above the graves of those pioneers who carved, from the cruelest savagery, "the land 'of the free and the homes of the brave." Another memorial day might well be set apart for the strewing of beautiful, sweet-scented flowers, upon the graves of those who unflinch- ingly met a savagery, greater than any encountered in so-called "civilized warfare." And on that day the silent palaces of our pioneer dead should be draped with blankets of trailing arbutus, a flower typical of their lives.
Burton B. Crawford was reared in Paint township, Madison county, Ohio, and attended the district schools of that section. When twenty-three years of age, he removed to Range township, where he was employed as a farm hand at a monthly wage, covering a period of three years. He then rented eighty acres of the Blizzard land and married the same year, 1879, Frances Gillespie, who was born on February 15, 1851, in Range township. In 1886 he purchased the present farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, which had been sadly neglected, and at once set out an orchard and made other necessary improvements. The house and barn were built, almost entirely, from timber on the farm and the breeding of Shorthorn cattle became one of the principal industries. The farm has been increased, until at the present time it con- sists of two hundred and twenty-five acres of some of the best land to be found in Madison county,
To the union of Burton B. Crawford and Frances Gillespie, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Shepherd) Gillespie, have been born ten children: Mrs. Nettie Barrett, living in Paulding county, Ohio: Joseph, a farmer of Pleasant township, Ohio; Sarah, wife of William Bogard, who resides in Springfield, Ohio; Benjamin, a minister living in Pataskala, Ohio; Mrs. Louisa Johnson, at home; Frank, now in British Columbia ; Bert, deceased; Mrs. Ollie Dacie, now of Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Millie Keifer, in Lon- don, Ohio; and Marion, deceased.
Burton B. Crawford, politically is an independent voter. He has been township trustee for two years and a school director for four years. The life of Burton B. Crawford has been one worthy of true regard and loyal friendship.
SOS
MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
JAMES WITHROW.
Among the representative citizens of Madison county, Ohio, there is no one who occupies a more highly-respected position than does James Withrow. As a self-made man he stands as a shining example of what can be accomplished by hard, conscientious work and strict attention to business. He is a most enterprising and successful farmer of Paint township, where he owns two hundred and four acres, comprising what is known as "Five Oaks Farm." Mr. Withrow is a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted early in the war and served three years as a soldier in the Union army.
James Withrow was born on January 18, 1842, in Paint township, Madison county, Ohio, the son of George Washington and Catherine (Truman) Withrow, the former of whom was born in Madison county, Ohio, February 27, 1813. and the latter was born in New York state, January 29, 1815. Catherine Truman came with her parents to Ohio when six years of age. She was married to George Washington Withrow on January 27, 1833, and to them were born fourteen children, seven of whom died in infancy. The seven children who grew to maturity were as follows: Margaret, born on May 7, 1834, married Albert Rankin, married, secondly, Isaac Kemp, who died in 1913, and she now lives in Union township; William, August 3, 1837, died on August 5, 1904; James, who is the subject of this sketch: John, July 12, 1844, is a resident of California ; Lucy, July 6, 1846. is the wife of James McDonald and lives at Crescent, Iowa; David, July 26, 1850, lives in Paint township; Fannie, May 6. 1855, is the widow of Richard Armstrong and lives in Indiana.
George Washington Withrow was the son of James and Mary ( Stockton) Withrow, the latter of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the daughter of Robert Stockton. James and Mary (Stockton) Withrow were the parents of eight children. James With- row died in August, 1823, and his wife, who was born in 1778, died in April, 1841. Both were buried on the home farm, now a portion of the Paint township cemetery. William Withrow, from whom the family is descended in this country, was a native of England, who. npon coming to the United States, located in Pennsylvania, where he resided until his death. James Withrow, who married Mary Stockton, was a son of William With- row and came from Pennsylvania to Ross county. Ohio, in 1801. Five years later, in 1806, he immigrated to Madison county.
George Washington Withrow first purchased one hundred and seven acres of good land and added to it until, at one time, he owned twelve hundred acres. He was a farmer and stock raiser, a Whig in politics, but subsequently a Republican. He could justly be termed a Prohibition Republican. George Washington Withrow served as county commissioner and as township trustee. In early life he was a member of the Washingtonians and Sons of Temperance, and when forty years of age became a convert of the Methodist church and served as a trustee, steward and class leader of the Newport church. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternity. No man was better known in Paint township than he and no family is more highly respected than that bearing the name of Withrow. George Washington Withrow died on June 3. 1890, and his wife on April 5, 1886.
James Withrow, the subject of this sketch. received a good common-school educa- tion. Until he reached maturity he lived at home on the farm, attending school in the winter. On July 22, 1861, he enlisted in Company K. Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and was mustered out as a non-commissioned officer on July 21, 1864, having served three years. He was severely wounded at the battle of Mission Ridge and has always suffered from the effects of that wound. After returning home from the war, Mr. Withrow engaged in farming with his father and remained with him for five years. Later he purchased land until he now owns as fine a farm as can be found in Madison county.
MR. AND MRS. JAMES WITHROW
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
James Withrow was married on October 2, 1865, to Clara V. Peck, the daughter of Gideon and Deborah (Kilgore) Peck, the former of whom was born in Ross county, Ohio, February 14, 1814, and the latter was born on January 3, 1815. Mrs. Withrow was the youngest child in her parents' family and was born on December 26, 1845. Mrs. Withrow's parents were married on April 17, 1834. They were the parents of five chil- dren, of whom three are living: James, born on March 30, 1835, died on September 28, 1898; Sarah, November 4, 1836, is the widow of Clinton Rayburn, of London ; Emma A., January 26, 1839, married Uriah Hussey on June 25, 1861, and lives in Indiana ; Hagar, November 14, 1841, died on November 9, 1854; and Clara, the wife of Mr. Withrow.
Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Peck came to Madison county, Ohio, and settled in Paint town- ship on a farm in 1837, having moved to this county from Ross county. They remained in Paint township the rest of their lives. Mrs. Withrow's father died in 1879 and her mother in 1903.
Mr. and Mrs. James Withrow have been the parents of three children, only one of whom is living, Jennie, Sarah and May. Jennie died in infancy. Sarah married Edward Blaugher and to them were born two children, Louise and Clara. The mother of these children has been dead many years. Louise married Paul Gillespie, of Range township. Clara married Claude Dorn and has one daughter, Jean Elizabeth. May Withrow is the wife of Owen Taylor and has three sons, Marvin, Wayne and James. They live in London, Ohio.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Withrow has served as township trustee for three years. He served as commissioner of Madison county for seven years and as school director for fourteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Withrow are active and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Newport. Mr. Withrow served as superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and as trustee of the church for forty years, he has also served as steward. On October 2. 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Withrow celebrated their golden wedding.
ISAIAH GILLESPIE.
To successfully cultivate a tract of land, and at the same time rear, carefully and well, a family, is a difficult thing of accomplishment and the best index to a man's character. Isaiah Gillespie, of London, Range township, Madison county, Ohio, has done both, and by his well-directed efforts and virile nature has won a commendable success in life.
Isaiah Gillespie was born on February 11, 1843, in Range township. Madison county, Ohio, and is the son of Joseph and Sarah H. (Shepherd) Gillespie. To Joseph and Sarah H. ( Shepherd) Gillespie nine children were born : Eliza J., deceased ; James S., of Washington C. H., Ohio, a retired farmer: Isaiah, a farmer of Range township ; Margaret, deceased : Samuel, living near St. Paris, Ohio; Mrs. Frances Crawford, living in Range township: Ruth, widow of R. B. Jones, living in Springfield. Ohio; Nathan, of Range township, this county ; and Josephi, who lives at Dayton, Ohio.
Joseph Gillespie, the father of this family, was born on July 8, 1807, in the state of New York, and in early childhood moved to Fayette county. Ohio, with his parents. Fayette county was the scene of his boyhod, where he learned the trade of blacksmith, at which vocation he worked for four years, in Bloomingburg, Ohio, from from the age of seventeen until twenty-one, inclusive. Continuing at this trade of the anvil, he also engaged in farming, combining the two, and in Madison county found it wise to follow both occupations until his death, which occurred on December 5, 1890. Sarah H. (Shepherd) Gillespie, the wife of Joseph Gillespie, was born on May 29, 1819, in Ross county, Ohio, and died at the advanced age of seventy-eight years, her
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
death occurring on February 17. 1897. Her parents were natives of Virginia but of English extraction.
Reared within one-half mile of where he now resides, Isaiah Gillespie has been, a dominant factor in the growth and expansion of his community. He received his education in the Concord district school, located in Range township. He remained on the farm until twenty-eight years of age, when he began work with his brother-in-law, continuing for two years.
On November 4, 1877, Isaiah Gillespie was united in marriage to Mary A. Mulford, born on September 29, 1855. in London, Ohio, and shortly afterward rented land from his father, which he cultivated until 1SS6. About this time he fell heir to seventy-five acres, upon which he made improvements and additions, until at the present time he is the owner of one hundred and twenty-seven acres of well-improved land. Mary A. Mulford, his first wife, was a graduate of the Union schools and taught for three terms in the district schools, after her graduation. To their union were born three children, Edward. Carl and Harris. Edward farms the home place, and is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle and a fancier of full-blood stock. Carl is a natural artist and has made a specialty of doing landscapes and cattle in oil. One of his paintings was exhibited at the London fair and was awarded a prize. The picture was a June land- scape, showing a few dead trees in the foreground. Harris is a graduate of the Ohio State University and the Drew Theological Seminary, of Madison, New Jersey. He began his ministry in 1910, and now has a pastorate at. Hannibal, Ohio. He married Sadie Lou Smith, of Atlanta, Georgia, and has two children. Isaiah Harris and Mar- garet Irene.
The mother of these children died on October 13. 1SS3. On November 17, 1887, Isaiah Gillespie was united in marriage to Rachel M. Fox, who was born on January 15, 1850, in Clinton county, Ohio, and died on Novmeber 29, 1903.
Isaiah Gillespie is a Democrat, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. This short and simple review is wholly inadequate to depict the virtues, or the sterling worth of this highly-respected citizen, who holds the sincere regard of all who know hin.
ISAIAH SHEPHERD.
A remarkable instance of progressive husbandry over old methods is shown on the modern farm of Isaiah Shepherd, of London, Range township, Madison county, Ohio, and the increase in land values has been so great as to elicit surprise. The parents were pioneers in Ohio, the father having been born in this state more than one hundred years ago, in 1802, and the mother in 1818, in Ross county, Ohio. Andrew and Nancy (Price) Shepherd came to Range township in 1835 and bought the present farm of six hundred and forty acres for six dollars an acre. This place Mr. Shepherd cultivated for thirty-nine years, until his death, which occurred in 1874. In those days only the ernde methods were used in the building of homes and the cultivation of the crops, but those very methods, inefficient as they were, became the groundwork of present- day success. Without the inspiration and example of those old pioneers, the civilization of today would be of a much lower order than it now is.
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