USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 76
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His brother, Jesse Kline, was a pupil in the schools of Chambersburg and afterward went to Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he engaged in the loan business. After two years he returned to Dayton and became owner of the Buckeye Loan Company. He is now conducting the affairs of the Dayton Adjustment Com- pany and is a very prominent and busy man of that city.
SIMON BRENNER.
Simon Brenner, an ex-senator and representative of Montgomery county is now living a life of retirement on his farm of forty-five acres on the Brandt pike in Wayne township. He comes from a family which has long been prom- inently connected with the affairs of this state and country. His paternal grand- father, Lewis Brenner, was of German descent and a native of Virginia, where he owned a plantation of six hundred acres and a large number of slaves. His son, Jacob Brenner, was also born in Virginia but came to this county as a boy with his father. At that time, in 1809, the only means of conveyance was a wagon, and the land which the older Brenner had selected, a tract of six hundred acres, had to be cleared before it was ready for a home or for farming. It was an arduous task and was not completed when Simon Brenner became old enough to assist, for he remembers well the part he took in the work of clearing. Jacob Brenner married Miss Sarah Mathes and had ten children, two of whom died in infancy.
Simon Brenner received his fundamental education in the schools of the county, going first to the old log school house. During all the time that he was fitting himself for life, however, he worked on the farm and gave his spare time to the reading of law and medicine. In both of these subjects he had ad- vanced quite a little when he found it necessary to enter the world of business. For some thirteen years he traveled as the representative of a fruit tree firm and was successful in this line of work as he has been in whatever else he has undertaken. Upon retiring from this business he returned to the farm, its life and work and entered in the political arena of Montgomery county as well. He was a democrat in his party affiliations and soon made himself a power in the local councils of the party. He took an active interest in the welfare of the county and state and was elected a representative. After serving for two terms he was nominated and elected to the senate, securing a majority of eighteen hundred votes against one of the strongest candidates the opposition was able
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to put up at that time. This was accounted a great achievement, and well it might be. Mr. Brenner served one term and then retired, and has since been en- joying the peace and comforts his active life entitled him to.
In March, 1870, Mr. Brenner was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Swan, the daughter of Frank Swan, a broker in New Jersey, and a member of a prom- inent family. Seven children have been born to the couple. Elizabeth is the wife of Harvard Good, a well known merchant near Lima. May W., married Dr. Bond, and is now the mother of two daughters, Mary and May. Albert, a farmer, married Edna Smith and they have two children, Mabel and Ray. Simon, Jr., is also a farmer and lives near his father. He married Miss Edna Ketlig. Lena Bell, the youngest of those living, is a school teacher in this county. The two other children died in infancy.
Mr. Brenner is a thorough farmer and a stock raiser on a small scale. Dur- ing the winter months this part of his work receives a little more emphasis through his boarding and feeding some stock for others. He is also a man who exerts his best influence for the good of the community which he did not shrink from serving while he was in active life. It was regretted that he saw fit to retire from public life after his first term as senator, for the generous support that was accorded to him at the time of his election was but an indica- tion of what he might expect should he rely upon the support of the county. This and the good will of the community he still retains in his quiet life.
EDWARD K. PARISH.
On the roster of Dayton's officials appears the name of Edward K. Parish, a member of the board of public service, who is equally well known in this city as a successful brick manufacturer and contractor, having for twenty-five years conducted a growing and profitable business in these lines. A native of the neighboring state of Indiana, he was born in Logansport in 1853 and there pur- sued his education in the public schools, continuing a resident of that city to the age of thirty years. In the meantime he learned the bricklayer's trade, displayed efficiency in his work and became a contracting builder. Seeking a broader field of labor, in 1883, he removed to Dayton where he has now made his home for a quarter of a century, during which period he has been closely associated with its building and manufacturing interests. He was a contracting brick-mason until 1901, when he withdrew from that field of activity to concentrate his energies upon the manufacture of brick. Throughout his entire life Mr. Parish has held to no false standards nor has he sought success by easy methods, being fully conscious of the fact that earnest, persistent labor is the only substantial basis upon which to build prosperity.
In 1883 was celebrated the marriage of Edward K. Parish and Miss Ella Paulus, who was born in Preble county, Ohio, and they have one daughter, Glennie, now the wife of Fred Johnson. Mr. Parish is a democrat in his politi- cal views, active in the work of the party, for he deems that the conditions of the country demand the adoption of its principles as a safeguard to general govern-
E. K. PARISH
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mental interests. In November, 1907, he was elected a member of the board of public service and is giving excellent satisfaction by reason of the capable manner in which he discharges his duties. His fraternal relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Elks, and he enjoys the warm re- gard of his brethren of those organizations.
LEVI BAKER.
Levi Baker is a representative of one of the oldest families in Montgomery county and was born on the 9th of June, 1836, in Clay township within the cor- poration limits of Brookville, where he has always lived. He is a son of Ben- jamin and Frances (Niswonger) Baker, who came from Virginia in 1810 when the entire country was a wilderness. Large bands of Indians camped on the place which he took up and every evidence of pioneer life was to be seen. Not only did red men roam through the forests but the woods were also the haunts of many wild animals and through the forests in places there were only Indian trails. The father, however, turned his attention to general agricultural pur- suits and for many years was well known as a successful farmer and grain mer- chant.
Levi Baker was reared on the old homestead and his memory forms a con- necting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He can relate many interesting incidents of the early days. His education was acquired in the public schools and at the age of twenty-six years he entered into active business relations with his father. They not only carried on farming and pur- chased grain but also had charge of the postoffice and had the agency of the Panhandle and Pennsylvania Railroad at this point, being the first agents of those lines. They likewise conducted a general store and were thus closely as- sociated with diversified lines of activity that contributed to the improvement and general progress of the community. The business was conducted under the firm style of Baker & Son. After six years Levi Baker sold his interest, purchased a farm and in connection with the cultivation of his fields also carried on the grain business on his own account. His worth as a citizen and business man led to his selection for various positions of honor and trust. For thirteen years he was township assessor and for two terms was land appraiser. In 1883 he entered into business relations with D. C. Williamson as railroad and express agent under the firm style of Baker & Williamson and this connection was continued for about twenty years. Again Mr. Baker was called to public office, acting as county infirmary director for three years, as township treasurer for four years and as city treasurer for twenty-five years. He was also assistant postmaster and for six years filled the position of postmaster. In all of these offices he proved loyal, competent and faithful and his public record is one over which there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Gauger and unto them was born a daughter, Mary Ann, now deceased. For his second wife he chose Rebecca Koontz, and they had two children : Arlie L. and Edith L., who is now
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the wife of Ira B. Miller, a butcher of Brookville. They have one child, Don- ald B.
As a further expression of the confidence reposed in Mr. Baker it may be cited that he has settled as assignee and administrator many of the estates in this part of the county and never with a loss of a single dollar to any. His name is associated with many events and business projects of the community. He put up the first tobacco warehouse in Brookville and for many years has bought to- bacco for others averaging about one hundred thousand pounds annually for the last twelve years. He may well be termed the father of the tobacco industry in Brookville, which has been such an important source of revenue to the town. The village of Brookville has been built upon part of the old Baker farm and Mr. Baker has laid out two additions thereto. He enjoys the highest esteem of his neighbors and his friends are legion. He is often consulted upon matters relative to the history of this section of the state and seldom is his memory at fault concerning any matter that has left its impress upon the public life.
WELLINGTON C. SMITH.
Wellington C. Smith, attorney-at-law, practicing as a member of the firm of Van Deman, Burkhart & Smith at Dayton, was born in Lytle, Warren county, Ohio, July 15, 1874, and was one of the family of five children, three sons and two daughters, whose parents were Mr. and Mrs. Joel E. Smith. The father was born in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1833, and died July 11, 1907, in Warren county, Ohio, at the old home which he had so long occupied. He made a splendid record by his service as a soldier in the Civil war, becoming one of the boys in blue of Company B, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for one year. He participated in the battle of Five Forks and in other engagements and joined General Sherman at Goldsboro, North Carolina, after which he continued northward with the Union troops to Washington, D. C., where he participated in the grand review which was the closing pageant of the war. At that time thousands of people lined the streets of the capital city and cheered the returning soldiers while across Pennsylvania avenue swung a banner bearing the words, "The only debt which our country cannot pay is the debt which she owes to her soldiers."
Wellington C. Smith spent his youthful days in his native town to the age of fifteen years when the family removed to Dayton. In 1891, however, his parents returned to their old home in Warren county. Mr. Smith of this review sup- plemented his early education by a high school course in Waynesville, Ohio, and then took his initial step in the business world as an employe of the Big Four Railroad Company, being employed by that line in the Union Depot at Dayton as telegraph operator from 1895 until 1898. Subsequently he entered a college preparatory school at Dayton, where he pursued his studies for a year that he might thus qualify for a more advanced course. In the meantime he had de- termined to make the practice of law his life work and to this end entered the law department of the Ohio State University, where he devoted three years to
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study. He was then admitted to the bar June 13, 1901, and in 1902 entered the employ of the National Cash Register Company in the legal department, where he continued for three years. In 1905 he became assistant in the law office of Van Deman, Burkhart & Shea and a year later succeeded Mr. Shea as the third partner in the firm. He is thus now engaged in the practice of law, and, being devotedly attached to his profession, systematic and methodical in habit and conscientious in the discharge of every duty he is making a creditable record and steady progress as a member of the Dayton bar.
On the 3Ist of December, 1902, Mr. Smith was married in Springfield, Ohio, to Miss Gertrude Stephenson and they have one son, Everett Hale Smith. Mr. Smith gives his political allegiance to the republican party and as every true American citizen should do keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. Socially he is connected with the Tribe of Ben Hur and he belongs to the Reformed church. As the years have gone by and his acquaintance has grown the circle of his friends has also increased and substantial qualities of manhood, of citizenship and of legal ability promise well for his continued advancement in public regard and in his chosen field of labor.
ADAM SCHANTZ.
Adam Schantz, president of the Dayton Breweries Company, has, in his busi- ness career, displayed marked ability and enterprise in coordinating forces and carrying to successful completion large schemes of trade and profit. A native of this city, he was born December 16, 1867, and as the years have passed has come into important relations with the business affairs of Dayton, his activities in a large measure being of a character that contribute to general prosperity as well as to individual success. He pursued his studies in the Dayton schools to the age of twelve and for several years thereafter aided his father in the conduct of a meat market. He then became bookkeeper in the brewery of George Schantz & Company, where he remained until the 23d of June, 1887, when his father purchased the interest of George Schantz in the brewery and conducted the business under the name of the Riverside Brewery.
Adam Schantz of this review acted as manager for his father and so continued until the Ist of March, 1904, when this plant was merged with five other brew- eries in Dayton and the Dayton Breweries Company was formed with Adam Schantz as president, in which position he has since continued, thus becoming the head of one of the extensive industrial interests of the city. On his father's death he was made executor and trustee of the estate without bond and is now so acting. His resourceful energy and initiative spirit have led him into active connection with various business concerns. He is now president of the Buck- eye Building & Loan Association and president of the Dayton Citizens Electric Company, president of the Dayton Street Railway Company, president of the Edgemont Realty Company, a director of the Teutonia Fire & Marine Insur- ance Company of Dayton, a director of the Gem City Realty Company and of the
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Dayton Iron Stove Company. He is likewise president of the Ohio Brewers As- sociation and president of the Ohio Brewers Vigilance Bureau.
On the Ist of January, 1901, in this city, Mr. Schantz was married to Miss Mary Eve Olt, a daughter of John Olt, and they have three children, Adam, Ger- trude and John. Mr. Schantz belongs socially to the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Golden Eagles, and is also a member of St. John's Lutheran church. He manifests keen insight and sound discrimination wherever he puts forth his activities and his intelligently directed effort has made him an im- portant factor in the business ranks of his native city where his holdings and interests are extensive.
SILAS WOGOMAN.
Silas Wogoman, an agriculturist residing on section 15, Perry township, has served as justice of the peace of that township for a number of terms and is still the incumbent in the office. He was born in Perry township on the 30th of May, 1865, his parents being Joel M. and Rebecca (Emerick) Wogoman. The father, likewise a native of Perry township, Montgomery county, was born No- vember 29, 1838, while the mother's birth occurred on the 31st of December, 1840. Joel M. Wogoman was a son of Joel and Elizabeth (Overholser) Wogo- man, and the maternal grandparents of our subject were David and Frances (Mikesell) Emerick.
Silas Wogoman devotes his time and energies to the pursuit of general farm- ing, operating a tract of land on section 15, Perry township, which annually re- sponds to his cultivation in bounteous harvests. On the 4th of August, 1904, he wedded Miss Ella Rebecca Lang, a daughter of Henry Lang, by whom he has one child, Archie Everett.
Politically Mr. Wogoman is a stalwart democrat and is now serving as jus- tice of the peace in his native township, having held the office for several terms. His decisions are strictly fair and impartial, indicating a mind judicial in cast and entirely free from bias. He is likewise acting as truant office in Perry township. The name of Wogoman has long figured honorably in connection with the annals of Montgomery county and Silas Wogoman, who has spent his entire life within its borders, is highly esteemed as one of its most respected, enterpris- ing and public-spirited citizens.
JOHN A. RECK.
John A. Reck, a prominent and well known citizen of Butler township, is the owner of a tract of fifty-nine acres of fine farming land. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, on the 3Ist of July, 1844, his parents being Eli and Nancy (Weaver) Reck. The paternal grandfather, John Reck, made his way to this state in 1826, locating at Gettysburg, which town he named. He purchased sixteen hundred
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
acres of land, likewise erected a flour mill and was long numbered among the prosperous and influential citizens of his community. He lived to attain the venerable age of ninety-four years. Eli Reck. the father of our subject, was born at Gettysbury, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of July, 1817, and was a lad of nine years when he accompanied his father on the removal to this state. He fol- lowed general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career and passed away in Cedar county, Missouri, in 1891, his remains being there in- terred. His wife, whose birth occurred at Nashville, Ohio, on the 12th of October, 1823, died December 13, 1902, and also lies buried in Cedar county, Missouri. Their union was blessed with nine children, as follows: Anna, who was born in 1842; John A., of this review; Henry, born in 1846; Eli, Jr., in 1848; Mary E., in 1850; Susan J., in 1853; James A., in 1856; Silas, in 1861 ; and David, whose birth occurred in 1858. John A., Mary E. and Susan J. are the only sur- viving members of the family and the two last named make their home in Washington. Mary E. is the wife of Lewis Smith and has one child, Edward. Susan J. gave her hand in marriage to Noah Houck, by whom she has two children, Nancy and Ella.
John A. Reck obtained his education in the common schools and early be- came familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist through the assistance which he rendered his father in the cultivation of the home farm. On the 2d of May, 1864, when not yet twenty years of age, he enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of Company C. One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With his regiment he went to New Creek Station, West Virginia, and thence to Martinsburg, where he guarded a provision train for thirty days, marching five hundred and sixty miles in that time. He took part in the engagements at Sweetsprings and Lewisburg, West Virginia, and was then sent to Cumberland, Maryland, where he assisted in the erection of a fort. There, for a whole day, the Union forces were besieged by an army of sixteen thousand rebels, whom they finally repulsed. Mr. Reck was mustered out on the 2d of September, 1864, returning home with a most creditable military record. He then again gave his time and energies to the work of general farming and remained a resident of his native county until twenty-three years of age, when he drove across the country to Missouri by wagon, the journey consuming twenty-eight days. He followed farming in that state for seven and a half years, on the expiration of which period he returned to Ohio, taking up his abode in Miami county. Subsequently he removed to Darke county and there continued to reside until he came to Montgomery county in March, 1908. As stated above, he is now engaged in the cultivation and improvement of an excellent farm of fifty-nine acres in Butler township, which returns to him a gratifying annual income. The prosperity which he now en- joys is directly attributable to his own well directed labor and unfaltering energy, for he started out in life empty-handed and has worked his way steadily upward until he has gained wide and favorable recognition as a most substantial and re- spected citizen.
Mr. Reck has been twice married and by his first wife had two children. Willis A., who was born July 10, 1870, is a mail clerk, his run being between Indianapolis and St. Louis. He married Miss Bessie Rankin, of Covington, Ohio.
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J. Lewis, whose birth occurred June 29, 1877, is now acting as manager of a lum- ber company. He wedded Miss Mary Wagner and they have one child, Lloyd, now three years of age. For his second wife John A. Reck chose Miss Anna M. Warfield, whom he wedded in the year 1880. She was born in Grant county, . Indiana, October 17, 1852, her parents being Jeremiah and Anna (Howard) Warfield, both of whom are now deceased and lie buried at Covington, Ohio. Her father was a farmer by occupation. Unto John A. and Anna M. (Warfield) Reck has been born one child, Earl O., whose birth occurred May 30, 1881, and who is now inspector of cash registers for the American Cash Register Com- pany at Columbus, Ohio. He wedded Miss Lova Dunnum of Covington, Ohio, and they have one child, Evelyn, born June 4, 1909.
Politically Mr. Reck is an ardent advocate of the republican party, being con- vinced that its principles are most conductive to good government. For twenty years he has been an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Shiloh Springs Christian church, with which his wife is also identified. For eight years he served as trustee and has always been a most active and helpful church worker, doing all in his power to promote its growth and extend its influence. He is a man of many sterling traits of character, reliable in business, progressive in citizenship and at all times trustworthy and honorable.
CLARENCE P. FOLSOM.
Advantageously situated on the lake near the rich coal fields of Ohio, Dayton has become one of the centers of the iron trade and to this industry the city owes much of its wealth and indirectly its substantial growth and upbuilding. Clarence P. Folsom is well known as a representative of the iron trade through his con- nection as president of the Dayton Globe Iron Works. His life record has been marked by steady progress, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities.
Mr. Folsom was born in Malone, New York, in 1869 and was there reared . until 1887, his education being acquired in the public schools of that place, which he attended until he reached the age of fifteen years. On putting aside his text- books he secured a situation as clerk in a woolen mill office at Malone, remaining there to the age of eighteen years, when he bade adieu to the friends of his youth and removed westward to Dayton.
Since 1887 Mr. Folsom has resided continuously in this city and has made his presence felt as a forceful factor in commercial and industrial circles. Soon after his arrival he secured a situation in the drafting room of the Stillwell & Bierce Manufacturing Company. He was with this firm and its successor until August, 1903, when he entered into his present business relations as vice presi- dent of the Dayton Globe Iron Works, but is now president. This is one of the important industrial concerns of the city and in his official connection Mr. Folsom is called upon to solve many intricate trade problems. He has proven himself
C. P. FOLSOM
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DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY
equal to the situation, however, for he is a man of marked force, of keen discrim- ination and of notable sagacity.
Mr. Folsom has two children, Miriam and Eleanor, but lost his wife in 1891. His political allegiance is given to the republican party for he has firm faith in the principles of its platform, yet at local elections he casts an independent ballot. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to the lodge and council, and he also belongs to the Dayton City Club. He is likewise a member of the Third Street Presby- terian church and it will thus be seen that he is neglectful of none of those asso- ciations which constitute helpful interests in life and promote a well rounded de- velopment of the individual.
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