USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 9
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Mr. Davies has long occupied a prominent place in the regard of his fellow townsmen. He is one of the oldest native sons of the city, having for more than the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten been an interested wit- ness of its growth and development, while in large measure he has contributed to its progress and substantial improvement. Not to know Samuel Watts Davies is almost to argue one's self unknown, and throughout the period of his man- hood he has enjoyed an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, being widely known in his dealings for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellowmen.
EARL WILBUR HELLER.
Among the younger residents of Montgomery county who are devoting their lives to the profession of teaching and by their efforts are promoting the educa- tional interests of the county is Earl Wilbur Heller, a native of Ohio, born in Jefferson township, this county, September 18, 1888. His father, George H. Heller, is a native of Germany, his birth occurring March 25, 1851. When but two years of age he accompanied his parents to the United States and they settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, taking up their abode in Jefferson township, where Mr. Heller has since continued to reside. In 1874 he was joined in marriage to Miss Sarah Ann Eck, who was born January 10, 1849, and in their family are the following children: Harry Newton, John Milton, Edith Estella and Earl Wilbur. The parents are members of St. Jacob's Lutheran church of Miamis- burg. The father has been a member of the Jefferson township school board at different times and is now one of the directors of the Jackson Township Mutual Fire Insurance Company, with which he has been connected for over eight years. He is well known and prominent in community affairs, being recognized as a rep- resentative citizen of the township, while his personal traits of character have gained for him the respect and esteem of all.
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No event of special importance came to vary the daily routine of life for Earl Wilbur Heller, who spent the years of his boyhood and youth in his father's home. He acquired his preliminary education in the common schools of Jefferson town- ship, graduating therefrom under the Patterson law in 1903. In the following autumn he entered Jefferson township high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1908, and he at once began teaching in district No. 13, this town- ship. Although but twenty-one years of age, Mr. Heller is nevertheless proving a capable and efficient instructor. He has never ceased to be a student but by thorough reading and research is constantly seeking to extend his knowledge. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the most important profession to which a man can direct his energies is that of teaching-a profession which has for its primary object the development of the latent powers in the young mind, that the duties of life may be bravely met and well performed, for it is in the youth that the life of the man is marked out, his future course decided and his choice as to the good or evil made. Recognizing the necessity and value of a most thorough and complete education, Mr. Heller is now contemplating pursuing a course of study in some good college in order to fit himself for advanced work in teaching.
WILLIAM ERNEST ALLAMAN, M. D.
Dr. William Ernest Allaman, who has successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Dayton since 1903, was born in Butler township, Montgomery county, Ohio, March 8, 1872. He was reared upon the home farm to the age of twenty years, and no event of especial importance occurred to vary the routine of rural life, his time being divided between the work of the fields, the duties of the schoolroom and the pleasures of the playground. After attending the country schools he continued his studies in the high school at Brookville, this county, and later entered the State University at Columbus, from which he was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Ph. G. Later he spent three years in the field for the Anti-Saloon League, after which he began preparation for the prac- tice of medicine as a student in the Ohio Medical University at Columbus and completed the full course by graduation with the class of 1902.
Dr. Allaman put his theoretical training to the practical test by serving for a year and a half as interne in the Protestant Hospital in Columbus, which brought him broad and varied experience and well qualified him for the duties of private practice when in November, 1903, he came to Dayton and entered upon the active work of the profession in this city. He was not long in gaining a good patronage for he soon gave evidence of the fact that he was well qualified to cope with the complex and intricate problems which continually confront the physician in his efforts to restore health and prolong life. The medical fraternity also recognized his ability and his fellow practitioners entertained for him the highest regard because of his close conformity to professional ethics. In addi- tion to a gratifying private practice he is acting as medical examiner for the Franklin Insurance Company of Springfield, Illinois. He keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the profession through his membership in the American
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Medical Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, the Montgomery County Medical Society, the Dayton Academy of Medicine, and the Physicians' Business Club.
On the 29th of January, 1904, Dr. Allaman was married in Columbus to Miss Edna G. Gilbert, a daughter of John and Sarah Gilbert. They now have two in- teresting little children, J. Gilbert and David William.
In his fraternal relations Dr. Allaman is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and the Daughters of America. He likewise belongs to the Young Men's Christian Association and to the First United Brethren church. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have no at- traction for him, as he prefers to concentrate his energies upon his professional duties. He is not unmindful of the obligations of citizenship, however, and his influence is always on the side of progress, reform and improvement, and his co- operation is helpfully given to matters pertaining to the intellectual and moral progress of the community.
HENRY B. GETTER.
The agricultural interests of Montgomery county find in Henry B. Getter a worthy representative. One of Ohio's native sons, he was born on the 9th of October, 1850, in Jefferson township, this county, on the farm where he now resides. His father, George Getter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1805 and in 1820 accompanied his parents to Ohio, where they located on the farm now in the possession of our subject. Here he met Miss Mary C. Wertz, a daughter of Daniel Wertz of Franklin, Ohio, and they were united in marriage in 1827. The children born to this union were eleven sons and two daughters, namely: John G., Daniel, George W., William, Jacob, Joseph, Peter, Samuel, Perry, Henry B., Albert, Sarah and Mary, all of whom attained mature years. The father devoted his entire life to farming interests and was a director of the county infirmary for a number of years and also township treasurer for many years.
Henry B. Getter, whose name introduces this sketch, acquired his education in the common schools of the neighborhood and when not busy with his text-books assisted his father in the cultivation of the fields. After laying aside his books he wisely decided to make the occupation to which he had been reared his life work and he has since been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits upon the old home- stead farm, upon which his grandfather had settled in early pioneer days. It is a well improved property of one hundred and sixty acres and responds readily to the care and time expended upon it. He is up-to-date in his methods of conducting his business and his interests, carefully managed, are returning to him substantial annual profits.
Mr. Getter was united in marriage February 19, 1874, to Miss Louise Lime- baugh, a daughter of John Limebaugh, residing in Frederick county, Maryland, and unto this union were born five daughters and two sons, namely : Cora, Florence, Catherine, Bessie, Effie, Herman C. and Carl V. Herman, the eldest
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son, is a graduate of Miamisburg high school and at present is taking a course at Wittenberg College, at Springfield, Ohio. Carl has just completed a course at the Jefferson township high school in the spring of 1909. Mr. Getter and his wife have been members of the Lutheran church for over fifty-eight years, dur- ing which time he has filled many official offices and positions of trust in the church, at present acting in the capacity of trustee. They are people whose ster- ling traits of character have drawn to them an extensive circle of warm friends who hold them in high esteem. Modest and unassuming in manner, he never- theless possesses those sturdy characteristics which command the respect and esteem of all with whom he is associated, while his salient qualities are in accord with the principles of honorable and upright manhood.
REV. D. FRANK GARLAND, D. D.
Rev. D. Frank Garland, D. D., pastor of the First Evangelical Lutheran church and thus closely associated with the movement for moral progress and religious teaching in Dayton, was born on a farm in Perry county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1864. His grandfather, John Garland, represented one of the old pioneer families of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was there born in 1790. Throughout his entire life he followed the occupation of farming in the county of his nativity, where his death occurred in 1865, when he had reached the seventy-fifth milestone on the journey of life. At the time of the second war with England he joined the American army and fought for the interests of this country.
His son, Daniel M. Garland, father of the Rev. D. Frank Garland, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1826. At the time of the Civil war he served as a corporal of Company H, Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, enlist- ing in 1862. He was with that command until September 25, 1865, and in the interim participated in forty-five important engagements, including the Atlanta campaign and the campaign against Hood. While often in the thickest of the fight and found again and again on the firing line, he was never wounded or cap- tured and when the war was over and victory perched upon the Union banners he gladly returned to his home and family. He had been married on the 28th of March, 1858, at Loysville, Pennsylvania, to Miss Elizabeth Kistler and unto them were born five children, of whom four reached mature years, while two are yet living, namely: John K., a druggist, residing in Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania ; and Rev. Garland, of this review. Following his return from the war the father engaged in farming and in teaching, following that profession through twenty-five years. His wife died February 3, 1903, when seventy-eight years of age, while he survived until July II, 1907, passing away in Dayton, Ohio, in the eighty-first year of his age.
Rev. D. Frank Garland spent his youthful days on his father's farm, there remaining to the age of twenty, his education being acquired in the country schools, while in the New Bloomfield Academy of Pennsylvania and in private study he prepared for college. He taught a public school in Perry county two
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years from 1882 to 1884. Later he entered the freshman class of Gettysburg College and was graduated therefrom in 1888, winning second honors in every contest from freshman through the entire course. He was valedictorian of his class. He afterward devoted two years to teaching in the preparatory depart- ment of that school and then pursued a theological course in the Gettysburg Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated in June, 1891.
Having thus qualified for the work of the ministry, the Rev. Garland went to Baltimore, Maryland, to take charge of the Church of the Reformation, continu- ing his pastoral duties there for more than five years or until October, 1896, when he accepted a call from Trinity church at Taneytown, Maryland. His labors there continued until the Ist of May, 1899, when he came to Dayton as pastor of the First Evangelical Lutheran church of this city. Here he has since con- tinued, covering a period of ten years, and under his ministry the work of the church has been greatly advanced in many lines. The new house of worship was erected at a cost of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars and is one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture in the west, having been built in the old English-Gothic style and seating seven hundred people. The different departments of the church work are well organized and the congrega- tion is faring forward not only in its numerical but also in its spiritual strength. He received the doctor's degree from his alma mater, Gettysburg College, in 1906.
Rev. Garland was united in the holy bonds of matrimony October 29, 1891, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Miss Anna J. Comfort and they have one son, Charles Comfort, whose birth occurred February 5, 1895. Both Rev. and Mrs. Garland have an extensive circle of friends here and their home is the center of a cultured social circle. Rev. Garland belongs to the Phi Gamma Delta, a col- lege fraternity, and is interested in all those lines of activity which indicate the trend of the world's progress or bear upon man's best development.
CHARLES A. FOX.
Among the residents of Germantown who are enjoying a well earned rest as the reward of earnest and persistent toil in former years is numbered Charles A. Fox, retired farmer, who is still the owner of a valuable tract of land of one hundred and three acres, situated near the Oxford road about three and a half miles west of the town in which he makes his home. He has always lived in Montgomery county, his birth having occurred in Miami township, on the 16th of February, 1856. His parents were George L. and Susannah (Manning) Fox. The former was a son of George and Elizabeth (Link) Fox. The grandfather of our subject was a planter and slave owner, who lived in Virginia near Har- pers Ferry and was the first of the family to come into this section of Ohio. His son George Fox, Jr., was born in Warren county, Ohio, and followed the occu- pation of farming throughout his entire life. On leaving the place of his nativ- ity he came to Montgomery county and cast in his lot among its early settlers, taking an active part in promoting its pioneer development and progress. Unto him and his wife were born eight children: David and Jennie, who are now de-
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ceased ; Washington ; William; Wesley; Mary; Adam; and Perry. The last named is a resident of Dayton.
Charles A. Fox, reared under the parental roof, attended the schools of Miami township, thereby acquiring a good, practical education as a preparation for life's duties. He worked on the farm during the school period and early acquainted himself with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. Hav- ing arrived at years of maturity he made arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage in 1879 to Miss Ella Shinn, a daughter of William and Deborah (Anderson) Shinn. Her father was born near Cincinnati and was a son of Asa Shinn. He spent his entire life in Ohio and was well know as a rep- resentative farmer and large landowner. The Anderson family came to this state from New Jersey and were among the first settlers in Clermont county, where the grandfather of Mrs. Fox was known as a prominent and influential citizen, wielding a wide influence in public affairs. He had reached the age of ninety- three years at the time of his demise. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fox have been born five children : Emma, the wife of William Robinson, by whom she has one son, Amos ; Amos, who is living on the home farm and who married Ella Humbert, by whom he has two children, Luella and Bessie; Herbert, who married Clara Ankeney and has a daughter, Johanna; Elizabeth, who is living at home with her father ; and Maggie, the wife of Calvin Ankeney, a resident of Montgomery county.
While rearing his family, Charles A. Fox resided upon a farm and was widely known as one of the leading agriculturists and stock-raisers of this part of the county. He brought his fields under a high state of cultivation, added to his place many modern improvements and became one of the best known farmers of this part of the state, his diligence and enterprise constituting the salient features in a business career that won him substantial success. Mr. Fox belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge at Springboro and has many friends among his breth- ren of that fraternity, while in business life and social circles he has won the high regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
ROBERT IRVIN CUMMIN.
The activities of Robert Irvin Cummin left their impress upon the commercial, social and religious life of Dayton to an unusual degree and who can estimate the benefits that arise from the labors of one whose business enterprise is well balanced by broad humanitarianism and who in all of his intense and well directed mercantile interests ever recognized and utilized the opportunity to work for the city's welfare and progress as well as for individual success. He was born in Liverpool, Perry county, Pennsylvania, July 7, 1845.
His parents were Dr. William and Mary ( Hart) Cummin. The father was a native of Ireland and the mother was of Scotch-Irish descent, although her birth occurred in Tuscarora valley, Pennsylvania. Dr. William Cummin was a physi- cian of marked ability and wide reputation. He was educated for the profession in the schools of Edinburgh, Scotland; Belfast Institute in Ireland; and in
ROBERT I. CUMMIN
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He practiced his profession in Pennsylvania and died in 1846 at the early age of forty-two. His widow long survived him and passed away in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.
Their son, Robert I. Cummin, came to Ohio as a young man of seventeen years, spending the succeeding three years as an employe in a dry-goods store in Marion. He then removed to Dayton and accepted a position in the store of Prugh & Rike who were then conducting an extensive dry-goods business. His connection with that firm terminated after two years when the firm of D. L. Rike & Company was formed, in which S. E. Kumler and Robert I. Cummin became the junior partners. This firm carried on a prosperous business for more than twenty-five years and then a reorganization took place under the name of the Rike Dry Goods Company with Mr. Rike as the president and Mr. Cummin as the vice president. Following the death of the first officer in 1895 Mr. Cummin succeeded to the presidency and held that position until his own demise on the 30th of August, 1907. During all of these years he was an indefatigable worker, alert to grasp every new and practical idea, and quick to advance every right policy that promised either to promote the interest of his business or to conserve the public good. He was the originator of the plans upon which the present business block of the Rike Dry Goods Company was constructed and to his wise foresight and his faith in Dayton may be attributed a large share of credit for the gratifying growth of the general dry-goods industry in this city.
While thus engaged in building up a splendid mercantile establishment Mr. Cummin had not been unmindful of his obligations and duties to the public as a citizen. He zealously supported many movements for the general good and various public projects benefited by his wise judgment. He was a member of the company which constructed the Fifth Street railroad in Dayton and was for many years one of its directors and a factor in bringing about its success. He was also largely instrumental in procuring the state legislation which made all the pikes of the county free to the use of the public without the imposition of tolls, while his interest in the promotion of good roads was actively manifest in many practical ways, placing him among the pioneers in support of that move- ment in Ohio. He was likewise one of the organizers of the original Board of Trade of Dayton and served on a number of its most important committees. Every movement which was a matter of civic virtue and civic pride received his endorsement and he was equally interested in matters of national progress.
On the 15th of June, 1881, Mr. Cummin was united in marriage to Miss Ellen P. Church, a daughter of Judge Gaylord Church, of Meadville, Pennsyl- vania. They became the parents of four children: Gaylord, Edith, Hart and Pearson, all of whom survive the husband and father. Mr. Cummin was de- voted to the welfare of his family, counting no personal sacrifice or effort on his part too great if it would promote the happiness and welfare of the members of his own household.
While extensive and important business enterprises claimed the attention of Mr. Cummin he was ever mindful of his obligations to the church and those forces which work for the moral development of the community. He held mem- bership in Christ Episcopal church, for twelve years served as one of its vestry-
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men and at his death had been for a decade the treasurer of that parish. At the time of his death the church passed the following resolutions :
"In the removal from their midst of Robert Irvin Cummin, who has been summoned to his eternal rest, his associates in the Vestry of Christ church, for themselves, the parish and the diocese, desire to place upon record their sense of the immeasurable loss thus sustained.
"For twelve years he has been with us as a vestryman, and in the twelve years he is the only member removed by death. An innate gentleman, of good judg- ment, earnest, ever ready for service, always cheerful and optimistic, we shall in our meetings greatly miss the inspiration of his genial presence.
"The twelve years during which he has been a member of the Vestry, have been the most prosperous in the history of Christ Church parish. We shall be constantly reminded of Mr. Cummin, for he has had an intimate connection with everything that has been done in the parish during this time. To his efforts is due the financing and erection of St. John's mission building on Findlay street.
"Our congregation will miss him sadly, for he rarely failed attending services. and at the social gatherings of the parish, he was always present with a cheer- ful, pleasant greeting for every one.
"In his domestic life Mr. Cummin was a pattern. To Mrs. Cummin, daughter and sons, we tender our fullest and sincere sympathy.
J. LANE REED, HORACE BONNER, J. RUSSELL JOHNSTON, Committee.
"The memorial of the Vestry expresses the heartfelt sentiment of all of us. His death is a personal loss to us all because Mr. Cummin was a loyal friend to all. The best tribute we know is the universal sorrow of his acquaintances."
Mr. Cummin was interested at all times in the measures and movements which were factors in the upbuilding of the community, or contributed to the public needs. Speaking of one of these connections a local paper said: "As a member of the board of directors of the Miami Valley hospital he proved him- self most invaluable; because of his broad charity, his unfeigned sympathy and his many sterling qualities of mind and heart, he contributed not a little to the development and beneficence of this institution. His presence will be missed in the meetings of the directors and his wise counsel will no longer be a potent factor in shaping the interests and directing the affairs of an institution in which he was so deeply interested because of its benefits and blessings to our common humanity."
One of the Dayton papers in comment upon the life of Mr. Cummin said : "He has been so long identified with the business, commercial, social and re- ligious interests of this city as to give him unusual prominence in all active circles in this community. Having a high appreciation of his responsibilities as a citizen, he was uninterruptedly interested in the creation and development of everything which promised to propagate and perpetuate the happiness and prosperity of others and the advancement of the city he had selected as a home. Possessed of most admirable moral and mental equilibrium, conservative and enterprising,
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his influence always radiated throughout the circles within which he moved and touched the boundary lines with so much self-assertive yet modest energy and power as to make him an important factor in the determination of momentous and vital matters. He was scrupulously consistent in all things appealing to either his head or his heart; a man of unquestioned integrity and unyielding rectitude, a courteous, polished gentleman, identified with movements which gave an upward trend to his own life and contributed to the cultivation of the best things in the lives of others."
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