USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 67
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Mr. Fox and his wife reared a family of eight children: Ruth. de- ceased ; Lily, who married Charles Nical and has four children, Gerhart, Her- man. Emma and Ann C .: Louis, the wife of Matthew Mader and the mother
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of four children, Lewis, Lucile, Christine and Martha; Rhetta, the wife of Blumerschine: Flora, the wife of Walter Rausch, and the mother of one daughter, Leona, and two sons, Frank and Andrew, who are operat- ing the old home farm for their mother.
. Mr. Fox was a Democrat in politics and was always interested in the success of his party. He served on the school board of Paris township and in this capacity favored every measure which he felt would benefit the schools of his township. The whole family are loyal members of the Lutheran church and are interested in its welfare and generous contributors to its support. Mr. Fox was always actively interested in civie matters, and was prominent in all movements looking toward the betterment of his com- munity in all lines, material. moral and educational. Because of his genial disposition, high integrity and manly qualities of character, he was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him, and left a name which will be hon- ored by his friends and cherished by his children and his children's children.
REV. WILLIAM ALEXANDER ATKINSON.
Pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Maysville, Rev. William A. Atkinson has endeared himself in the hearts and sentiments of his congrega- tion, and is held in high esteem by all the community. He was born in West Alexander. Washington county. Pennsylvania, March 28, 1870, a son of James C. and Sarah Jane ( Kimmons) Atkinson, the father a native of Vir- ginia and the mother of Pennsylvania. Their were five children in this family, namely: Eva, widow of James B. Giles, of Claysville, Pennsyl- vania ; George A., living on the old homestead in Washington county, Penn- sylvania ; Allan K., of West Alexander, Pennsylvania ; Elizabeth M., wife of S. F. Grandstoff, of Washington, Pennsylvania, and Rev. William A.
James C. Atkinson was born in Virginia and came as a boy to Delaware county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood and where he was married. His occupation was that of a farmer and he followed this all his life. In 1886 he returned to Pennsylvania and died in his Washington county home, Janu- ary 14, 1899, aged seventy-one years. His wife died in 1897, aged sixty-five years. Both were members of the Presbyterian. church in which he was a ruling elder for thirty-five years.
The paternal grandfather of Rev. Atkinson was George Atkinson, a native of Virginia and of Scotch-Irish descent. His wife was Susanna
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Faris, also a native of Virginia and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The grand- father was born in 1801, and after his marriage in 1826, came to Delaware county, Ohio, and was one of the early settlers of that county. He was a farmer and in later years engaged in stock raising. In 1865, with a view of seeking a better location for his business, he went to Ford county, Illinois, and established a home. After a few years on a farm he moved to Paxton in the same county, where he continued to live until his death, May 30, 1885, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife died in Delaware county, Ohio, in 1859, at the age of fifty-one years. In their family of children were the fol- lowing : James C., William, John S., Layman, Anna and Margaret. The maternal grandfather was John Kimmons and his wife was Sarah ( Supler ) Kimmons, natives of Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and stock raiser and lived in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he died in middle age ; his wife lived to be eighty-six years old. They had nine children, John. William. Maria, Margaret, Elizabeth, Samuel, Anna and Sarah Jane.
Rev. Atkinson started in life as a farmer's boy. Living at home on his father's farm he was accustomed to all the work incident to farm life. He attended the district schools and after completing the elementary studies in these schools he attended a select school for two years. He then entered Wooster College, at Wooster, Ohio, completed the college course and gradu- ated from that institution in 1893. Having decided to enter the ministry and make that his life profession, he had directed his studies during his academic and college course especially with that purpose in view, and after finishing his college course he entered the Western Theological Seminary at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from that institution in 1896, and was soon afterward ordained as a minister and installed as pastor of the Caldwell and Sharo ( Ohio) Presbyterian churches. He continued in this, his first pastoral charge, for more than seven years, and then went to Belle Center, Ohio. where he became pastor of the First Presbyterian church and continued in this charge for six years and a half. In June, 1910, he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian church, at Marysville, and began his ministerial labors in that year in this congregation, a pastoral relationship that still continues.
On June 15, 1897, Rev. Atkinson was united in marriage with Bertha Carroll. daughter of William Danley and Mary ( Alexander ) Carroll. There were four children born to this union, Frank Carroll, Helen Farrs, William McMahon and Robert Alexander. Rev. Atkinson is a member of Belle Center Lodge, No. 347, Free and Accepted Masons : Lafayette Chapter, No. 60, Royal Arch Masons: Bellefontaine Council, No. 85, Royal and Select Masters: Bellefontaine Commandery, No. 61. Knights Templar, and the
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Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Dayton. His political affiliations are with the Republican party.
Mrs. Atkinson was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and her parents were also natives of that state. Her father died in 1906 at the age of seventy years; her mother's death occurred in 1899, at the age of sixty-three years. They had four daughters who grew to womanhood. Gertrude. Bertha. Pearl and Louise, and two who died in infancy. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Atkinson was John Carroll and his wife was Rebecca (Danley) Carroll, both natives of Pennsylvania. Their children were James, William, John, Hamilton. Elizabeth. Mary and Sadie. The maternal grandfather was Elias Alexander and his wife was Eliza (Forest) Alexander. both born in Pennsylvania. Their children were George, William, Harriet, Mary, Louise and Jane.
SAMUEL H. CARSON.
A distinguished veteran of the Civil War and a farmer of Union county, Ohio, for nearly half a century, Samuel H. Carson is one of the most highly respected citizens of the county. He has passed through more experiences than fall to the lot of the average man. Despite three years of strenuous service in the Civil War he is still living to relate the stories of his exploits to the present generation. After the close of the Civil War he made the long overland trip to Salt Lake City and spent about three years in the West, dur- ing which time he passed through some terrible experiences. Now in his declining years he is living quietly on his well improved farm in Jerome township.
Samuel H. Carson, the son of James M. and Jane (Lorimer) Carson, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 1, 1843. His father was born in Ross county, Ohio, January 24. 1813, and his mother was born in Musk- ingum county, Ohio, July 1, 1805. His parents were married April 2, 1839. in Muskingum county, Ohio, and to them were born five children, Andrew L., Ebenezer B., Samuel H .. William M. and Nancy Jane. Andrew L. served about three years in the Union army, as a member of Company C. One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out on June 1, 1865. at Sandusky. Later Andrew moved to lowa where he farmed in the summer and taught school in the winter until his death in 1877. Ebenezer B. died in Union county in 1890. William M.
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died at the age of eleven in Guernsey county, Ohio. Nancy Jane married Robert Walker and lived in Muskingum county until her death, both of them dying in 1889, her husband dying about three months before she passed away.
Samuel H. Carson received his education in the schools of Guernsey and Union counties, Ohio, and remained at home until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted on May 1, 1862, in Company C. One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. being mustered out of the service on June 5, 1865. During much of the time that he was in the service his regiment was engaged in guarding prisoners and doing guard duty in various places in the North. Immediately after the close of the war, Mr. Carson returned home and went west to Iowa. where he spent the winter of 1865 and 1866 with his parents. In May. 1866, he started for Salt Lake City, Utah, with a freight outfit, driving a number of ox teams. It took three months to make the long overland trip and during the first part of the journey Mr. Carson acted as night watch, although he drove the last one hundred and sixty miles. He worked for about two months in a saw mill after reaching Salt Lake City and then went to St. Thomas, a town in the extreme southwestern part of the state. He remained there a short time and then went to St. George, in the same state, and remained during the winter of 1866 and 1867. In the spring of 1867 he returned to Salt Lake City and two weeks later went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he spent the summer of 1867. In the fall of that year he came by train. the Union Pacific railroad having just been completed, to Union county, Ohio, and arrived here in December of that year. He remained in this county a few days and then went on to Muskingum county where he was married in the spring of 1868. He and his wife came to Union county and located in Jerome township where they are now living, about two miles north of New California, on their farm of one hundred and five acres. Since 1868 Mr. Carson has been engaged in general farming and stock raising, although he has now retired from active labor.
Mr. Carson was married February 11, 1868, to Jane A. Taylor. the daughter of William and Eliza E. Taylor. To this union have been born four children: Lula, the wife of Zenas C. McCampbell, of Plain City ; Walker, a farmer of Jerome township; Cleo, the wife of W. G. Mitchell. a farmer of Jerome township: and May, the wife of Rev. S. H. McCollan, a minister of the United Presbyterian church now stationed at Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. Carson and his family are all members of the United Presbyterian
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church and Mr. Carson has been an active worker in this church for more than forty years. He is now a ruling elder in his church at New California. He was originally a Republican in politics, but for the last fifteen years has given his hearty support to the Prohibition party. He has served as a mem- ber of the school board of his township, but has never sought for any other official position. Mr. Carson is a quiet man of charitable impulses and kindly disposition and during his long life in this county has endeared himself to a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
WILLIAM KING.
Since the year 1887 William King has been a resident of Magnetic Springs, Union county, Ohio. He located at the springs on account of his health and, after regaining it, he decided to settle permanently in that place. He engaged in the grocery business and followed that for a number of years, after which he became interested in the real estate business, to which he has since devoted his attention. He has held a number of township offices and has served his township in one capacity or another for nearly a quarter of a century. He and his wife have reared two sons who have be- come prominent men in their respective communities.
William King, the son of John R. and Mary Ellen ( Timmons) King, was born September 1, 1855, in Pleasant township, Madison county, Ohio. His father was born in Madison county, Ohio, March 25, 1831, and died in the same county December 24. 1895. His mother was born in the same county. April 3, 1833, and also died in the county. December 23, 1906. His parents were married in Madison county, December 16, 1852, and to them were born six children, three of whom are now living: Mary C., the wife of J. W. Bricker, of Madison county ; William, of Magnetic Springs, Union county : Milton Alfred, who died at the age of four: Scott, who died at the age of eighteen months ; Emma, who died in infancy, and Laura, the wife of Lemuel S. Brickner, of Madison county, this state.
William King was reared and educated in Madison county, Ohio, and after his marriage, in 1878, took up farming in the county of his birth, and followed this line of activity until 1883. He was then compelled to retire from active work on the farm on account of his health, and in 1887 came to Magnetic Springs, where he hoped to be benefited by the water found at this place. His hopes were not disappointed and he regained his health,
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and then decided to make Magnetic Springs his home. He had two hun- dred and fifty dollars, and with this small amount of capital he started a grocery store, gradually increasing his stock as the business warranted. For seventeen years he continued in the grocery business in Magnetic Springs and then disposed of his store and engaged in the real estate business. In 1908 he bought a large hotel of thirty-eight rooms, the Hotel Columbus, and has since been managing it along with his real estate business. Mr. King also owns a large amount of valuable real estate in Magnetic Springs and vicinity.
Mr. King was married September 15, 1878, to Lutisha Watrous, a daughter of Ransom and Elizabeth (Lane) Watrous, natives of Madison county, Ohio, and to this union two sons have been born, John Ransom and Roy Milton. John. R. was born September 16, 1880, and is now an attor- ney at Columbus, Ohio. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University, and was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature in 1912 on the Republican ticket. He was married to Edith Conrad, of Magnetic Springs, June 24, 1903, and has three children: Margaret Lutisha, aged eight ; Helen, aged four, and John W., aged two. Roy Milton, the other son of Mr. and Mrs. King, was born December 12, 1881, and after finishing the high school. graduated from the Bliss Business College at Columbus. He is now a su- preme court stenographer at Columbus, Ohio. He served as a page for eight years in the Ohio Legislature, being appointed to this position when he was fourteen years of age. Roy married Ethel Candy, of Columbus, and has three children: Frances, aged seven: William R. and Martha, twins, four years of age.
Mr. King has been a life-long Republican, and has frequently been called upon by his fellow citizens to fill official positions. He has been a member of the school board of Magnetic Springs special for more than twenty years, has served as assessor of Union township, Madison county, Ohio, and since coming to Union county has served as assessor of Lees- burg township, and he was also justice of the peace from 1892 to 1808. For twelve years he was mayor of Magnetic Springs, and while holding this office he was instrumental in getting many improvements which have made Magnetic Springs the pleasant village it is today. He was a sergeant- at-arms in the Senate of the seventy-fifth General Assembly of Ohio, the same session in which his son sat as a member of the Legislature. For twenty years he was postmaster of Magnetic Springs, resigning his posi- tion on the first day of September, 1913. Mr. King and his family are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church at Magnetic Springs.
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DAVID B. WISE.
The Wise family have been residents of Union county, Ohio, since 1849 when the first members of the family located in Jerome township. David B. Wise came here as a lad of eleven with his parents and has made his home in Jerome township since that time. He, with two of his brothers, served in the Civil War and rendered faithful service to their country during that ter- rible struggle. For the past fifty years he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits and now owns one hundred and twenty-six and one-half acres a half mile north of New California in Jerome township. He has now retired from active farm life and is living at ease after a long life of labor upon the farm.
David B. Wise, the son of Anthony and Sarah (Leighley) Wise, was born June 2, 1838, in Stark county, Ohio. His father was born in Pennsyl- vania and his mother in Stark county, Ohio. His father came west to Ohio with his parents when a lad and settled in Stark county and there he grew to manhood and married. Twelve children were born to Anthony Wise and wife. six daughters and six sons. and seven of them are still living: Susan. who first married William Fulk and after his death. Matthias Sensel, who died in 1868: David B., of Jerome township; Catherine, of Marysville, the wife of H. Wood: Sarah, who lives in Marion, Ohio, the wife of George Benson; Samuel. of Ohio: Frank, a farmer of Union county, and Priscilla, the wife of Jasper Hubbard. of Columbus, Ohio. Two children died in infancy and one girl died at the age of two. Anthony Wise died December 26, 1887, at the age of eighty-six years, one month and nine days. His wife died April 16. 1909. at the age of eighty-nine years, seven months and seven days.
David B. Wise came to Union county, Ohio, with his parents when he was eleven years of age and settled on a farm of two hundred and forty acres for which his father traded, giving in return sixty acres which he owned in Stark county, together with a sum of money. David B. Wise grew to man- hood in Jerome township and enlisted in Company D, Eighty-eighth R gi- ment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for about two years and a h. f. Two of his brothers, William and Eli, were members of the Eighty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served under Captain Fields. Will- iam died in the service and Eli moved to Missouri after the close of the w. r, where his death occurred. A brother-in-law of Mr. Wise. William Fulk. who married Susan Wise, was also a member of Company D. Eighty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died while in the service.
After the close of the Civil War David B. Wise returned to his home in
MR. AND MRS. DAVID B. WISE.
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Jerome township and took charge of his father's farm, managing it for a number of years. He then bought a farm of sixty-three acres on which he lived for a few years and then sold it and bought his present farm of one hun- dred and twenty-six and one-half acres. He engaged in general farming and stock raising and has met with commendable success. A few years ago he retired and is now spending his life in ease on the farm where he has lived for so many years.
Mr. Wise was married to Lydia Deemer, a daughter of William Deemer and wife, natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers in Ohio, and to this union have been born three children: Nellie, the wife of Charles Ohaver, of Colum- bus, Ohio; William F., of Columbus, and Leo, a teacher in Plain City.
Mr. Wise has long been identified with the Democratic party but has never been active in its councils. He and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian church. Mr. Wise is one of the oldest farmers now living in Jerome township and here he has spent the past sixty-five years of his life. During all of these years he has so lived as to commend himself to his fellow citizens and is eminently deserving of the high esteem in which he is universally held.
CHARLES D. BROWN.
A prominent farmer and public-spirited citizen of Union county, Ohio, is Charles D. Brown, who was born more than forty years ago on a farm near Plain City, Ohio. He is a man of excellent education and taught school several years before retiring to the farm and engaging in agricultural pur- suits. He lived in Plain City for several years and was elected mayor of that village by the largest majority ever given any candidate for that official position. During his term of office he gave excellent service to his fellow citizens. He has always taken a prominent part in matters of state, and is now serving his second term as a member of the General Assembly of Ohio.
Charles D. Brown, the son of David and Sarah E. (Taylor) Brown, was born near Plain City, May 23, 1873. His father was born in Madison county, Ohio, April 8, 1833, and died August 6, 1912, at the age of seventy- nine years, three months and twenty-eight days. David Brown was a son of James and Mary ( Burnside) Brown, and at his death David Brown left three brothers and sisters still living. Mrs. Delilah Wilkinson, F. Ray (45)
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Brown and Mrs. Melissa Lafferty. James Brown and wife were the parents of thirteen children.
David Brown was first married March 30, 1857, to Isabelle Patrick, a daughter of Young and Della Patrick, and to this union two sons were born, William E., and Hiram C., who died in infancy. After the death of his first wife David Brown was married, June 15, 1864, to Sarah E. Taylor, a daughter of Samuel and Eunice Taylor, of Plain City, and to this second union twelve children were born: James Sheridan, Frank Irwin, Mrs. Clara M. Ackley, Ida B., Charles D., John T., Mrs. Eva G. Sidner, Nellie M., Bes- sie F., Lulu G., Flora Lucile and Russell H. Mr. Brown and his wife were greatly interested in their children and were anxious that they all receive an excellent education. It is probable that 10 man in the state of Ohio ever furnished more children as teachers than did David Brown. No less than ten of his children taught school in Madison county, and seven of this number were graduated from the National Normal University at Leb- anon, Ohio The records of the university show no family has ever fur- nished as many graduates as the family of David Brown.
David Brown was a life-long farmer and for sixteen years lived in Union county near Plain City. After the death of his father he purchased the old homestead in Madison county and made that his home until his death, in 1912. He was very successful as a farmer and took great pride and satisfaction in his large farmi. His mind was always keen and alert to matters of public interest, and he always kept in close touch with current events. He served as trustee of Darby township in Madison county and was always interested in the civic life of his community. In all business transactions he was willing to do more than he required of others, and it can be truly said that he lived by the Golden Rule. His everyday life was characterized by unusually sound judgment and he was frequently consulted by his friends who regarded him as a wise and trusted counsellor. His widow is now living near Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and twelve of his children are still living.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the district schools of Madi- son county and the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. He graduated from the latter institution in 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Prior to his graduation he had taught school and after complet- ing his university course continued in the teaching profession for several years in the capacity of principal and superintendent of schools in Madison and Champaign counties.
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In 1900 he moved to Union county and located in Plain City, where he took an active part in the life of the town. He has always been promi- nent in the councils of the Republican party, and his worth as a citizen is shown by the fact that his party nominated him for representative from Union county to the General Assembly of Ohio, and he was elected for the first time in the fall of 1912. He made such an excellent record in the Legislature that he was re-elected in the fall of 1914.
Mr. Brown was married June 21, 1899, to Lulu Hunter, a daughter of Levi and Artie (Bushnell) Hunter, of Champaign county, Ohio. For the past fifteen years he has operated a large farm of four hundred and thirty acres at Plain City, Ohio, this being part of his mother's estate, and has made practically all of the improvements now on the farm.
Mr. Brown is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Patrons of Husbandry and also a charter member of the P. C. C. of P. C. O., holding his membership in these lodges at Plain City, Ohio.
Mr. Brown is a man of high character and sterling qualities in every way and has always proved faithful to every trust that has been reposed in him by his fellow citizens. As a teacher, as a public spirited citizen, and as a member of the legislative body of his state, he has performed his every duty in a manner which entitles him to the highest commendation of his fellow men.
MORGAN YOUNG.
A native of Delaware county, Ohio, and a resident of Union county since the spring of 1861, Morgan Young is one of the oldest farmers of Clai- bourne township. As a young man he worked in the gold mines of the West for a few years, and then returned to Ohio and settled down in Union county, where he has since made his home. He has a well improved farm of one hundred and twenty-two acres, on which he has placed all the improvements now on the farm. He has retired from active farm labor him- self and given over the management of affairs to his son.
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