USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 62
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Mr. Hoy was married December 24, 1895, to Julia A. Gray, a daughter
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of James and Barbara (Baughman) Gray, natives of Union county and still living. Mr. Hoy and his wife are the parents of six children, all of whom are still living, James A., Daisy Blanche, Francis Marie, Florence Estella, Thomas Harold and Forest Marion.
Mr. Hoy and his wife are both members of the Patrons of Husbandry at Plain City. Politically, he is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in local affairs. He was assessor of his township for nine years and is now holding the position as the result of an appointment at the hands of the deputy assessor of Marysville. Mr. Hoy is a man who is highly respected throughout the township and county and is one of the substantial citizens who have helped to make Union county one of the leaders among its sister counties of the state.
FIELDING A. THOMPSON.
An enumeration of the representative citizens of Union county who have won recognition and success for themselves and at the same time con- ferred honor upon the community dignified by their citizenship would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name heads this review, a man who has long held worthy prestige in business and social circles and has been distinctively a man of affairs. A man of education and upright character, he wields a wide and beneficent influence in the community, ever having the best interests of his city and county at heart and ready to aid and encourage every cause for the welfare of the people among whom his lot has been cast.
Fielding A. Thompson, like many others of more or less distinction, began life in a log house. This house was located in Mill Creek township, Union county, where he made his advent March 5, 1862. He is a son of Andrew Jackson and Lovina L. (Farnum) Thompson, both parents having been born and reared in Mill Creek township. They were farmers and Mr. Thompson was trained in this line of industry in his early years. It was while living on the farm in Mill Creek township that the mother died in 1874, and in 1882 the family removed to Paris township and later to Ken- ton, llardin county, Ohio, where the father died in April, 1909.
Fielding A. Thompson received his elementary education in the country schools while living on the farm in Mill Creek township. He afterward at- tended the high school in Marysville and later entered the Northern Normal
FIELDING A. THOMPSON
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University at Ada, Ohio, completing the course and graduating from that institution in 1888. Then for seven years he was engaged in teaching in the district schools of Union county and established a reputation as a popular and progressive educator. While he was a marked success as a teacher and earnestly devoted to that vocation, his ambition was to make the legal pro- fession his life work. With that purpose in view he gave up school teaching and began the study of law in the office of Judge John L. Porter, of Marys- ville. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1892, and at once engaged in the practice. May 15, 1893, he opened an office at the northwest corner of Fifth and Main streets and has been in this location ever since. He has been admitted to the practice in all state and federal courts. In these courts, as in the general practice in the lower courts, Mr. Thompson has won recogni- tion as a man of marked professional ability and a most successful lawyer.
In politics, Mr. Thompson is an advocate of the principles of the Demo- cratic party and has always been active in the promotion of the interests of his party. He has served his party as county chairman and has been identi- fied with the state organization. He has frequently been a delegate to dis- trict and state conventions, where his influence and counsel are given much consideration in the direction of party affairs. In 1896 Mr. Thompson was one of the two delegates from the eighth Ohio district to the Democratic national convention that met in Chicago and nominated William Jennings Bryan for President. That same year Mr. Thompson was elected mayor of the city of Marysville and was re-elected at the end of his term, serving four years. He was a candidate for prosecuting attorney of Union county in 1905, when the county was overwhelmingly Republican, yet he failed of election by only a few votes, thus attesting his high standing and the popular esteem in which he is held by the people of his county regardless of political affiliation. In 1908 he was elected a member of the city council and served one term; he was again elected to that position in 1913 and is now a mein- ber of that body.
On March 28, 1901. Mr. Thompson was united in marriage with Mary L. Raw, daughter of James Raw, formerly of Medina county, Ohio. The parents of Mrs. Thompson were natives of England. They both died at their home in Medina county and the daughter afterward came to Marys- ville. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two sons. Donald and Robert R., the former born July 27, 1905, and the latter July 25. 1914. They have an elegant home at No. 140 Elwood avenue, and a happy family in that home with everything to make life desirable. They are active and devoted members
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of the Methodist Episcopal church and contribute liberally to its support. Mr. Thompson is a member of the official board, has been a teacher for twenty years in the Sunday school and one of the most active workers in that department of religious endeavor. His only fraternal affiliation is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 87.
Mr. Thompson is the owner of a fine farm in Paris township and gives some attention to farming along with his other activities. This brief review falls far short of a complete sketch of the busy life of Mr. Thompson, but it will in some measure serve to give the reader an idea of the character the writer has attempted to portray.
GEORGE LYONS:
One of the most highly respected and esteemed citizens of Milford Center, Ohio, is George Lyons, who has been engaged in the drug business in Milford Center since the first day of April. 1871, and has spent his whole life, with the exception of the time he was in the Civil War, in Milford Center, or within a mile and a quarter of the village. He enlisted for service in the Civil War at the age of seventeen and participated in the Atlanta cam- paign with General Sherman. Mr. Lyons' long residence here has given him a large acquaintance throughout the county, and he is held in high esteem. not only as a business man, but as a neighbor, as a citizen, and as a friend who is always willing to share with those less fortunate than himself. His record as a business man is above reproach and he belongs to that high class of true American citizens who make our nation the greatest on earth.
George Lyons, the son of Benjamin and Mary (Morrow) Lyons, was born in Union township, about a mile and a quarter from Milford Center, on April 13. 1846. His father was born in Vermont while his mother was a native of one of the Eastern states. They were the parents of two children, Martha, who died single, and George, of Milford Center.
Benjamin Lyons was married three times and had three sets of children. Mary ( Morrow) Lyons, the mother of George, was his third wife. She had been formerly married, her first husband being a Mr. Whelpley, who died in Adams county, Ohio. The parents of George Lyons were early settlers in Union county where his father followed the occupation of a farmer. Benjamin Lyons owned a small farm in this county on Buck Run where he lived the most of his life. In his declining years he went to lowa to make his
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home with his son, Levi, and there his death occurred at the age of eighty years. His wife, Mary Morrow. died in 1886. He was a Universalist in faith and his wife was a member of the Methodist church.
George Lyons was reared on his father's farm in Union township, this county, and received such education as was afforded by the district schools of his day. At the age of seventeen he enlisted in Company F, Thirty- second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for a year and a half, or until the close of the war. He participated in all of those battles which Sherman fought on his march through Georgia to the sea. He then went with that general through the Carolinas and was present at the surrender of General Johnson on April 26, 1865, and was present at the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., May 24 and 25 of that spring.
Immediately after the close of the Civil War Mr. Lyons returned to peaceful pursuits in Union county and for the first two years followed farm- ing. He then went to Marysville and operated a huckster wagon for about a year, after which he came to Milford Center and established the drug store in which he has since continued. His store is well equipped with an up-to- date stock of drugs and druggist's sundries, and is one of the oldest estab- lished places of business in the village. He has always so conducted his affairs as to win the confidence of the people, and it is safe to say that no more highly respected business man lives in the county than Mr. Lyons.
Mr. Lyons was married on Christmas day, 1876, to Nancy Stewart. the daughter of Dr. Charles and Elizabeth ( McClenagen) Stewart, and to this union four children were born, Charles, Dessie, Zoe and one who died in infancy. Dessie died when she was about two years of age. Charles, who married Bertha Lincoln. is a telegraph operator at Milford Center and has two children, Frances and Zoe. Zoe, the second child of Mr. Lyons, is de- ceased. She was the wife of C. C. Fahl, and left one child, who is also now deceased.
The first wife of Mr. Lyons died at the birth of the fourth child on April 3. 1888. She was born in Harrison county, Ohio, where her parents were early settlers. Her father was a practicing physician and had three children, Nancy, Ella and Douglas.
On January 19, 1889, Mr. Lyons married for his second wife, Ella, the twin sister of his first wife, and to this second union one son, Harold Stewart, has been born. Harold, who married Eva Gillespie, is working for his father in the drug store.
Mr. Lyons has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for more than thirty years, and has also been a member of the Ransom Reed
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Post. Grand Army of the Republic, of Marysville. since its organization. He has been a life-long Republican and has been frequently called upon by his party to serve it in various capacities. He has been a councilman of Mil- ford Center for a number of terms and has also served as township and corporation treasurer for two terms. Mrs. Lyons is a member of the Presbyterian church, and although Mr. Lyons is not an active member of the church, yet he is an attendant and, with his wife, is a generous contributor to its maintenance.
Mr. Lyons is a fine example of the self-made man and during his long career in this county has so lived as to entitle him to inclusion among the representative men of his county.
JOHN H. WILLIS.
Among those who have achieved success in the legal profession and who stand in the front rank of the members of the bar is John H. Willis. He was born September 19, 1867, in Clinton county, Ohio, the son of William H. and Tobitha Jane ( Bonecutter) Willis. His great-grandfather Willis came to America as a British soldier in 1812 and when the war was over he decided to remain in America. He became a minister in the Metho- dist Episcopal church and followed that calling for many years. The greater part of his ministerial work was in Ohio, in which the Willis family were pioneers.
William H. Willis also had a military record of which he and his children may be justly proud. He was a member of the Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that made a record for valiant and con- spicuous service in the Civil War. Mr. Willis enlisted in 1861 and followed the fortunes of his regiment throughout the war, participating in the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth and the many other great campaigns and battles in which the regiment was engaged. He married after the war and in 1873 moved with his family to Taylor township. Union county, where he engaged in farming and where he still resides.
John H. Willis was reared in the village of Broadway and vicinity, his father at that time being only a day laborer. He received his elementary education in the public schools at Broadway. That he made good use of the educational opportunities afforded by these schools is evidenced by the fact that he was qualified to teach and engaged in this occupation for five years,
JohnHWillis
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teaching in the district schools of the county. In early life he decided to study law and with that end in view he applied himself to such reading and studies as would qualify him for taking a thorough course in a law university. He entered the law department of Northern Normal University at Ada, Ohio, and graduated in that institution in 1893 at the head of his class. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1893, in a class of sixty-two, standing third in the list. His first practice was in Lima, Ohio, where he remained for one year and then went to North Lewisburg, in Champaign county, where he remained for seven years in successful practice. In 1908 he came to Marysville, opened a law office and soon established a reputation as a lawyer of ability and one among the leading men of his profession. By strict attention to business and a conscientious regard for the interests of his clients, Mr. Willis has been unusually successful in cases in which he has appeared as counsel. He has been admitted to practice in all the state and federal courts.
Politically, Mr. Willis affiliates with the Democratic party and takes an active interest in party affairs. He is frequently a delegate to district and state conventions and is recognized as a man of influence and wise dis- cretion in the selection of candidates and the formation of party policies. In 1910 his party nominated him for prosecuting attorney of Union county and he was elected that year. He was re-elected to this office in 1912. The same year he was nominated for Congress on the Democratic ticket and would have been elected had he accepted the nomination. But he declined the congressional nomination, preferring to make the second race for prose- cuting attorney.
Mr. Willis was married May 17, 1893, to Nellie T. Fisher, daughter of Jacob and Jennie (Gebhart) Fisher, of Broadway, Union county, Ohio, natives of Germany and Vermont, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Willis have two daughters, Roberta J. and Alma M., both in school. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and earnestly devoted to every- thing pertaining to its interests. For a time Mr. Willis was superintendent of the Sunday school and is now teacher of a Bible class. In every depart- ment of church and Sunday school work Mr. Willis takes an active interest. He is actively interested in every cause that has for its object the good ot the community and the promotion of things that tend to right living.
As a lawyer of marked ability and a citizen of high standing Mr. Willis is a desirable acquisition to any community. In his office, at No. 122 South Main street, he has a library well stocked with legal lore, and at his home.
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at No. 329 West Seventh street, he has a house well furnished with every- thing necessary to make home real and happy. This includes not only the material furnishings of the home but the most essential furnishing of a real home, the wife and children. With these a home may be happy regardless of the home furnishings; without them the house may be ever so finely furn- ished, but is not a home. Mr. Willis is in the enjoyment of a happy combina- tion of wife and children is a home furnished with everything for material comfort.
DR. HERMAN CLYDE DUKE.
The man who devotes his talents and energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity is pursuing a call which in dignity, importance and beneficial results is second to no other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, he is indeed a benefactor of his kind, for to him more than to any other man, are entrusted the safety, comfort and in many instances the lives of those who place themselves under his care. It is grati- fying to note in the series of personal biographies appearing in this volume that there remain identified with the professional life of the county many who are native sons of the county, and who are ably maintaining the prestige of honored names. Such a man is Dr. Herman Clyde Duke, whose father has for forty years been one of the leading physicians of Union county, Ohio.
Dr. Herman C. Duke, the son of Dr. William B. and Laverna V. (Trevitt) Duke, was born in Richwood, Ohio, September 16, 1875. Dr. William B. Duke was born and reared in Licking county, Ohio, and came to Union county in May, 1875. Dr. William B. Duke and his wife were both natives of Licking county, his birth occurring February 21, 1843, and that of his wife April 25. 18.47.
Dr. W. B. Duke remained on the home farm until he reached his majority and then made an overland trip to California, where he was engaged in various pursuits until 1865. He then returned to Licking county, Ohio, and worked on a farm for about a year. after which he went to Arkansas and spent a year. Upon returning to Licking county, he studied medicine at Alexandria under Dr. C. H. Stimson, and started the active practice of his profession in Humansville, Polk county, Missouri. After remaining there fifteen months, he returned to Ohio and located in Knox county at Mt. Lib-
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erty. Two and one-half years later he removed to Arkansas, but in the spring of 1875 he returned to Ohio and on the first day of June of that year he began the practice of his profession in Richwood, where he has since con- tinned to reside.
Dr. William B. Duke was married September 16, 1869, to Laverne V. Trevitt, the daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Nichols) Trevitt, and to this union one son, Dr. Herman C., has been born. Mrs. Duke died June 16, 1907, at the age of sixty. She was a loyal member of the Baptist church. Dr. W. B. Duke belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Ohio State Eclectic and the National Eclectic Medical Associations.
The paternal grandparents of Dr. Herman C. Duke were David and Sarahı (Conard) Duke. She was his second wife. David Duke and wife were pioneers in Licking county, Ohio, and both died there at an advanced age, leaving a family of nine children, Salathiel Allen, John Crawford. Nathan W., Jonah B., David M., Sarah Elizabeth, William Benton, Joseph WV. and Lewis C. The paternal great-grandfather of Dr. Herman C. Duke was John Duke, who was the son of Francis Duke, born in Ireland in Febru- ary, 1751. Francis Duke was killed by the Indians on September 1, 1777, in an heroic attempt to relieve the besieged garrison at Fort Henry, Wheeling, Ohio county, Virginia. Francis Duke married Sarah, the third daughter of Colonel David Shepherd, a colonel in the Revolutionary War.
John Duke was twice married, his first wife being Catherine Hoover. presumed to have been the daughter of Jacob Hoover, formerly of Dunkard's Creek, Pennsylvania. Nine children were born to this first marriage of John Duke. The second wife of lohn Duke was Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler and to this second union six children were born. John Duke moved to Lick- ing county, Ohio, in 1803 when there were only fifteen residents in the whole county, and he was the first justice of the peace in Granville township in the county. Later he moved to Iowa and settled in Jones county with his wife when at an advanced age, and died there in 1849 at the age of seventy-two.
The maternal grandparents of Dr. William B. Duke were Nathan and Hannah ( Butcher ) Conard, natives of Virginia and early settlers in Licking county, Ohio, where they located in 1807. Six children were born to Nathan Conard and wife, Sarah. Jonah, John, Cyrus, Joseph and Betsey.
Dr. Herman C. Duke was reared in Richwood, Ohio, and graduated from the Richwood high school in 1895. He then entered the Eclectic Med- ical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the fall of 1895, graduated May 10, 1898. and began the active practice of his profession the next month in Richwood
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with his father. He and his father have been in partnership for the past six- teen years and have built up a practice which extends over a wide territory.
Dr. H. C. Duke was married September 16, 1899, to Laura Jane Cahill, the daughter of Benton and Lavina ( Howland) Cahill, and to this union two children have been born, William Benton and Mildred Eloise. Mrs. Duke was born in Claibourne township, Union county, Ohio, January 5, 1877. Her parents were natives of this state and are now living in Richwood. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cahill, Sylvia, Laura J., Emery and Delmer. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Duke were John E. and Han- nah ( Brisben) Cahill. Her maternal grandparents were Jonathan and Jane (Stewart ) Howland.
Mrs. Duke is a member of the Presbyterian church. Doctor Duke be- longs to the Free and Accepted Masons, while he holds his membership in the Ohio State and National Eclectic Medical Associations. Politically, he is a Democrat and at present is a member of the board of education in Richwood. He is a director in the Richwood Telephone Company and in the Farmers Deposit Bank of Richwood. He and his father own a farm of sixty acres one mile south of the village.
JOHN M. FOX.
John M. Fox, superintendent of Union county children's orphan home, has spent the greater part of his active life in this county and is justly re- garded as one of its most enterprising public-spirited citizens. He is a native son of the Buckeye state, having been born on a farm near Washington C. 11., in Fayette county, January 5, 1862. He is the son of George W. and Elizabeth ( Adams) Fox, who came from the East among the early settlers of Fayette county.
George W. Fox was a farmer and stock raiser and his location in Fay- ette county afforded a favorable field for that industry and also a good location for a home in which to raise a family. He had seven children in that home. Charles, Ellen, Nancy John M., Philip and Minnie, all of whom are living, except the daughter, Nancy. The father of George W. Fox was born and reared in the East and did not come to Ohio. George W. enlisted in the army and served through the Civil War, and after his discharge at the close of the war he returned home and again took up his work on the farm.
It was on this farm that John M. Fox spent his early life and received
Im frat
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his early training in habits of industry. He was reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. His education was obtained in the country schools of the neighborhood which he attended while at home. After he had grown to manhood and his school days were over he started farming on his own account and was quite successful. In the course of a few years he was the owner of a farm containing one hundred and fifty acres. He afterwards sold this farm and bought another farm of one hundred and forty-nine acres in Allen township, Union county. He sold this and then bought sixty-eight acres in the same township, which he still owns.
On June 2, 1895, Mr. Fox was united in marriage with Anna Cross, daughter of George P. and Margaret ( Williams) Cross. George P. Cross was a farmer and stock raiser in Licking county, Ohio. He had a family of nine children, David, Daniel, William, Howell. Charles, Jane, Edward, Anna and Frank. He was a son of Daniel and Phoebe ( Howell ) Cross. who came from Pennsylvania and settled near Newark. in Licking county. Ohio. After living there for a few years the family removed to Union county, and this has been their home ever since.
MIrs. Fox is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is especially interested in mission work. She is matron of the children's home, of which Mr. Fox is superintendent, and is well qualified for that responsi- ble work. Politically, Mr. Fox is in full accord with the principles of the Republican party and gives to the candidates of that party his hearty and earnest support.
JAMES H. GILLESPIE.
One of the highly respected citizens of Union county, Ohio, of a past generation is James H. Gillespie, who is well remembered by the older citizens of this county. Although a quiet and unassuming man with no ambition for public position or leadership, yet he contributed much to the material, civic and moral advancement of his community, while his admirable qualities of head and heart and straightforward. upright course of his daily life won for him the esteem and confidence of the circles in which he moved. In every community some men are known by their upright lives, good common sense and moral worth rather than for their wealth or political standing, and such a man was the late Mr. Gillespie. He was a fine type of the reliable, self- (42)
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