USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 18
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 18
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 18
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D. C. Fay, the subject of this memoir,
was reared in Union county, Ohio. In 1862 he began the study of medicine under Dr. J. M. Southard, a prominent and well-known physician of that county. He graduated in 1868, and the same year located at Ostran- der, where he has ever since followed the practice of medicine. In his political rela- tions, Dr. Fay affiliates with the Republican party. He has served as a delegate to county and State Conventions, was Clerk of the Corporation for nearly a decade, was a member of the City Council for nine years, and has been a member of the School Board. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic Order, No. 158, and of the I. O. O. F., No. 467, and of the County and State Medical societies.
In 1871 the Doctor was united in mar- riage with Mary Liggett, and they have one daughter, Monna L.
J OSEPH M. KENNEDY .- The iden- tification of the agnatic line, in which our subject is a descendant, with the history of our nation, dates its incep- tion from early Colonial days, and the gene- alogy of the family is one whose tracing from that period offers an interesting record as bearing upon respective general history as one generation succeeded another in the field of activity and accomplishment. With the annals of the history of Union county, Ohio, has that of the Kennedy family been intimately connected from the beginning of the present century, the first representative in the county having been Joseph Kennedy, grandfather of our subject. He came hither in 1805, accompanied by his wife and three sons. He was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Mary Kennedy.
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MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
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As the name indicates, the family is of Scotch origin, and as early as 1732, three brothers, John, Thomas and William, left their native heath and took up their abode in the north of Ireland, where Thomas passed the residue of his life. Soon after this, however, John and William determined to continue their pilgrimage still farther, and they accordingly set sail for the New World; arriving here, John located in Charleston, South Carolina, where he reared a family, which, in the course of time, became scat tered throughout the South. William, who was the original American representative of that branch to which our subject belongs, landed at Baltimore, Maryland, and thence passed up the Potomac river and settled in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where at least one of his descendants still lives. Will- iam Kennedy was a prominent man in his section, and records in the possession of the present generation show that he served as Colonial Judge, under the regime of George III., prior to the war of the Revolution. He was the great-great-grandfather of the im- mediate subject of this review; was engaged in farming, and was a local preacher in the Presbyterian Church. Tracing along the direct line we find that the next in order was William Kennedy, a son of Joseph, who was reared and passed his entire life in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he was en- gaged in tilling the soil, as had been his father before him. He had a family of six sons, of whom four emigrated Westward, one settling at Steubenville, Ohio; one at Dayton, same State; one near Richmond, Indiana; and the last, Joseph, in this county, as already noted. He located in that section where the thriving village of Milford Center now stands, the place at the time compris- ing only three or four primitive log cabins.
Here he erected a smithy and began opera- tions at his trade of blacksmithing, which he followed as a vocation during the remainder of his life. He was a man of intelligence and sturdy rectitude of character, and at- tained prominence in the little pioneer com- munity, having held various offices of public trust in the gift of the people. We can scarcely fail to chronicle the fact that he was elected County Recorder of Union county, being the first incumbent in that of- fice after the organization of the county.
Joseph Kennedy reared a family of nine children, concerning whom we are enabled to offer the following record, given in the order of their birth: Hezekiah, a black- smith; John; Oliver C., who was for many years a merchant at Milford Center, where he also held preferment as Postmaster; Ellen; James; Joseph, who died in early childhood; Eliza; William, who was a banker at Bellefontaine, this State; and Mathias. The children all retained a residence in this State, save James, who located in the far West, where he attained a position of no little prominence, being a Whig and an ac- tive public-spirited man, large of physique, jovial in manner, and unmistakably popular.
John Kennedy, father of our subject, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1 802, coming with his parents to this county when a mere child, and in time learning the blacksmith trade under the direction of his father. He was employed at his trade until he had attained the age of forty years, when he purchased a farm and devoted the re- mainder of his life to agricultural pursuits, meeting with success and attaining a com- petence before his death. He was a man of broad intelligence and much force of char- acter, and had held several of the public of- fices of local order. He was married in 1825
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to Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Morse, one of the pioneer settlers in this county, and about five years later he removed to Madi- son county, Ohio, where he cleared up and improved a fine farm of 300 acres.
John and Elizabeth Kennedy became the parents of six children, namely: Mary Ann, wife of Addison Bidwell, of Darby township, this county; Eliza A., deceased wife of the late Nathan Bidwell, of this county; Ma- tilda, deceased; Oramell, an influential farmer of Madison county; Joseph M., sub- ject of this review; and Arritte, deceased. The father died in 1864, at the age of sixty- two years, and the mother in 1883, at the age of eighty-five years.
Joseph M. Kennedy, to whom this re- view is individually dedicated, was born in Madison county, this State, April 12, 1833; was reared on the paternal farmstead and attended the district schools during the win- ter months. He also studied at home, be- ing avidious to secure a good education, and showing a marked aptitude for and devotion to study while still a mere boy. Later he was enabled to enter the Wilson & Hinkle Academy, at Mechanicsburg, and there he continued his educational discipline for a period of one year. After leaving school he devoted his attention to teaching for three years. February 11, 1855, he was united in marriage to Miss Alma Bradley, after which he resided on his farm in Madison county for some fifteen years, having within this time held office as Justice of the Peace for six years. In 1857 he took up the study of law at home, testing his acquirements in legal lore from time to time by submitting to an occasional professional quiz by Harri- son McCloud, of London, this State. In 1869 he disposed of his farming interests in Madison county, and within the succeeding
year took up his residence in Marysville, where he was forthwith admitted to the bar and where he has since continued in the practice of his profession. On the start he formed a professional alliance with H. J. King, and this association continued for one year, after which our subject formed a part- nership with J. L. Cameron, with whom he was associated three years, after which he was alone for an equal length of time, and then again joined issues with Mr. King for one year. Since that time Mr. Kennedy has been alone in his professional work, which has been one of general practice. He has given considerable attention to pension claim business and has been successful in se- curing a recognition of the claims of many old soldiers, who served faithfully and well during the late war. Mr. Kennedy has retained a large and representative clientage and has been concerned in many of the important litigations of the county. He is eminently judicial, is strong in his argu- ments before a jury, and is ever logical and concise in his pleas, being recognized as one of the leading attorneys of the county.
In politics Mr. Kennedy is an ardent Republican, and in 1872 he was the munici- pal candidate of his party for the office of Mayor of Marysville, being duly elected and serving in that official capacity for two years, during which the affairs of the city were most capably administered. He has been particularly active in political work and has been a delegate to numerous State and county conventions of his party.
By his first marriage our subject had five children: Florence, deceased; Nettie A .; James W., of Madison county; John C., Deputy County Surveyor of this county; and Elizabeth. Mr. Kennedy's second marriage was consummated February 28, 1886, when
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he was united to Mrs. Permilla Ruggles, daughter of Elijah B. Hubbard, who was a clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Albany, New York, where Mrs. Kennedy was born. She has one child by her first marriage, Adolphus. Another son, Frank E., is deceased.
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J OHN C. ASMAN, one of the leading business men of Marysville, Ohio, was born in Bavaria, Germany, Sep- tember 30, 1837, youngest of the three children of Samuel and Margaretta (Pelsner) Asman. The other two are Leo- nard, a resident of Columbus, Ohio; and Charlotte, wife of Leonard Partalt, of Ger- many. The father was engaged in the grocery business in Bavaria, and both he and his wife died in their native land.
John C. Asman spent the first twenty- three years of his life in Germany, where he received a fair education in the common schools and where he also learned the trade of butcher. He then came to America, landing here without money or influential friends and first locating in Columbus, Ohio. That was in 1860. For three years he worked at his trade in that city and in 1863 came from there to Marysville. Here he was employed in the meat market of L. Woods, with whom he remained until the latter's death, after which Mr. Asman and Mike Woods bought out the business. Mr. Asman had saved his earnings while in Columbus and at the time he came to Marysville had $200. With this he started out in business. To-day he is ranked with the most wealthy and influential men of the city, and his success in life is attributed wholly to his own industry and business
ability. He remained in partnership with Mr. Woods a little over a year, and after- was associated with several others, having a business partner until 1879. From that year until 1889 he was alone in business, and since 1889 his son, Will- iam, has been in partnership with him. They now operate one of the finest equipped meat markets in central Ohio, which is known as the Palace Meat Market and which was fitted up by them in the spring of 1894. It has a tile floor and all the lat- est improved furnishings. They manufac- ture all kinds of sausage and prepare a large variety of cured ineats, and they kill an average of five cattle, seven calves and fif- teen hogs every week the year round.
Mr. Asman also has other business in- terests in this city. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Marysville Bank, and a stock- holder and director in the same, and when the Union Bank of Marysville was organized he became a stockholder and director in it. In 1892 he was one of four gentlemen who founded the John Rouch Manufacturing Company; at the reorganization of the Rob- inson & Carry Company, of this city, he took stock in it; and in 1894 he was one of the organizers of the Marysville Hotel Com- pany. Of this last named company he was made a director and treasurer. Indeed, he was one of the main factors in pushing to a decisive issue the formation of the company and the erection of their building. He also erected his own business block and resi- dence. From these brief statements of the important concerns with which he is con- nected, it is readily seen that Mr. Asman is a public-spirited and progressive man. In- deed, there are few men in the city who have done more to advance its interests than has he.
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Mr. Asman was married in Marysville in March, 1865, to Miss Anna B. Emmert, a native of Paris township, this county, born in 1840, daughter of Michael Emmert, one of the old settlers of Union county, who came here in 1837. Mr. and Mrs. Asman have had eight children, viz .: William, who is in partnership with his father; Charlotte, wife of Rev. William Stillhorn, West Alex- ander, Ohio; George, who was killed on the railroad at Delaware, Ohio, May 8, 1891; Elizabeth, at home; Charles, who is in Chi- cago studying pharmacy; and Fred, Thomas and Maggie, at home.
Mr. Asman and his family are members of the Lutheran Church of Marysville and he is one of the Elders of the church.
J OHN P. KRITLINE .- A well-known and an honored resident of Union- ville, Union county, Ohio; one who has passed the major portion of his life in said county, and one who. has long held conspicuous official preferment in a local sense, it is most fitting that a review of the life of Mr. Kritline be included in this work. He was born November 12, 1831, near Baden-Baden, Germany, coming to America with his parents in 1836 and landing in New York just three months to a day subsequent to the date of embarkation. Shortly afterward they started for Ohio, traveling by canal to Buffalo, thence by Lake Erie to Cleveland, from which city they proceeded by canal to the capital city of the State. From Columbus they came to Union county, where the father purchased land in the "Dutch settlement," in Paris township. About a year after their arrival "milk sickness," a disease familiar to the pioneers of the section, broke out among
the settlers and became fatally epidemic. Our subject's father, mother and two broth- ers were attacked with the malady, and all of them succumbed to its ravages within sixty days.
Mr. Kritline was one of eight children, of whom five besides himself survived the epidemic which carried off his parents and brothers. The other five survivors were Margaret, Catherine, Andrew, Mary and Maria. Margaret was married, in Germany, to a man named Hingdefer, and they came to America and to Union county at the same time as did the former's parents; she died more than twenty years ago, at the age of forty-eight years, her husband having died five years prior to this, leaving her with a large family. Catherine married Gottleib Rupright, a farmer residing four miles east of Marysville, in Paris township, Union county, and she died in February, 1891, at the advanced age of seventy-five years, her husband surviving until February, 1893, when he passed away at the age of seventy- nine years. They left a large family, all of whom have attained to mature years. Mary, who is unmarried, resides in Colum- bus, where she conducts a dressmaking es- tablishment, and where she has lived con- tinuously since 1848. As the result of life- long industry, she has accumulated a little property, owning a valuable home on War- ren street, in that city. Maria, the young- est, was bound out to Mr. Gibson, of Union township, later on married John Wideman, and died several years ago, leaving four children; Mr. Wideman subsequently re- married.
At the time of the death of his parents our subject was six years of age, and his sister Mary was two years his senior. The three orphans were placed under the guar-
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dianship of Philip Snider, who is a promi- nent resident of Marysville, and by him they were bound out, according to the prevalent custom in such cases. Our subject thus en- tered the home and service of Thomas Rob- inson, a farmer residing near Unionville, and there remained until he had attained his majority. During the time he was with Mr. Robinson his muscles received better training than his mind. The conditions of his apprenticeship required that he be sent to school three months in the year, but some years he was permitted to attend school scarcely that many weeks. When he be- came of age, therefore, he had to face the future with the bare rudiments of an Eng- lish education. It has been demonstrated over and over again, however, in the history of men that education is by no means con- fined to books or schools. The practical experiences of every-day life more fully equip a man for meeting the duties that each day brings forth than do the mere theories of teachers and of books. What, there- fore, Mr. Kritline lacked in the way of edu- cation he made up in patient and persever- ing industry. As a boy he had learned to work, and the result of this healthful disci- pline had been a rugged constitution and a sturdy independence of character. His active and receptive mind began to assert itself, and he determined to improve every opportunity for bettering himself. At the close of his apprenticeship he hired out by the inonth. He next entered the employ of a son (also Thomas by name) of Mr. Robin- son, and with him remained for a period of seven years, devoting his time to the ship- ping of cattle, hogs and sheep. In 1859 Mr. Kritline, who has never married, took up his residence in Unionville, and began boarding with Mrs. Sarah Holycross, with
whom he has continued ever since, with the exception of five months during the late war. In the summer of 1862 he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was made a Corporal. Through the fault of the officer commanding the regiment, he and a number of others were not mustered in, and he was sick in the hospital at Delaware, Ohio, over- taking the regiment at Louisville, Kentucky, and participated in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky. After this battle, when the pay- roll of the regiment was being made out, the officers decided that those who had not been duly mustered in were not entitled to pay, and that for the service they had given the government they would receive nothing. In other words, it was decided that they were not enlisted soldiers. Upon being in- formed of this dictum, Mr. Kritline, who regarded it as an injustice to himself and the others siniilarly placed, left the regiment and returned to his home in Unionville. Shortly after this, at the instance of persons ignorant of the facts, he was arrested as a deserter, and was taken to Cincinnati, where after his case had been investigated, it was decided that as he had not been mustered in he was never in the army, and his release was ordered forthwith. It was brought out in the investigation that he had requested to be mustered in, but that the officer of whom the request was made had told him the mat- ter could be attended to at any time. No blame, therefore, could possibly be attached to him for his action in the premises.
After this brief but rather unsatisfactory military experience, our subject resumed his residence in Unionville, devoting his atten- tion to bee-keeping and gardening. For the past nineteen years he has held the prefer- ment as Treasurer of Darby township, and
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has also been the Treasurer of the corpora- tion of Unionville since the time of its or- ganization in 1880. The fact that he has filled these two offices acceptably for so many years is evidence of the trust and confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citi- zens. It may be safely said of him that no other man in the township is better known or more highly respected.
While Mr. Kritline has acted with the Republican party, he has never been re- garded as an extreme party man, -while be- lieving in the principles of his party, he has, when it came to a choice of candidates for county and township offices, been guided by a desire to see the offices filled by men best qualified for the position sought.
A B. SWISHER, M. D .- Marysville, the county seat of Union county, Ohio, is favored in having repre- sented in her list of professional men individuals whose endowments fully ca- pacitate them for the discharge of the re- sponsible duties which devolve upon them. In considering the life histories of the lead- ing medical practitioners of the city we would speak of him whose name appears as introducing this paragraph.
A native of Champaign county, Ohio, our subject was born September 8, 1854, one of the four children of Joseph and Amanda (Bambarge) Swisher, the nativity of each of whom traces back to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
The mother of our subject died in 1871 at the untimely age of thirty-seven years. The father, who is now a resident of Belle- fontaine, Logan county, Ohio, was reared on a farm in the Buckeye State and secured his education in the common schools. Early 9
in life he adopted the profession of teaching school, which vocation he followed for years in connection with farming. He came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in company with his parents, the family locating in Cham- paign county. When the war of the Rebel- lion cast its gruesome pall over a divided nation Joseph Swisher promptly made ready to go forth in defense of the stars and stripes, enlisting in the One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He served for three years, participated in a number of the most memorable battles, re- ceived successive promotion for meritorious services on the field and was mustered out a Major.
The boyhood days of Dr. Swisher, were passed amid the quiet, pastoral scenes of the paternal farmstead in Champaign county, where he remained until he attained the age of seventeen years, devoting his time to at- tending the district schools and to such du- ties as he could perform on the farm. At the age of seventeen he entered the work of school-teaching, devoting himself to this line of work for three winter terms and, meeting with unqualified success, he then se- cured a position in the public schools of St. Paris, Champaign county, where he was re- tained until 1878. During this time he had employed his leisure hours in the careful and consecutive study of medicine, taking up a course of reading under the preceptorship of Dr. W. H. McIlvain, of St. Paris. Being by this time well grounded in the elemental principles of the medical science, he entered the Miami Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he completed the prescribed course, graduating as a member of the class of 1882, and receiving a diploma entitling him to carry on the general practice of medicine and surgery. The expenses incidental to the
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college course he defrayed through funds gained entirely by his own exertions. After his graduation the Doctor established him- self in active practice at Casstown, Miami county, Ohio, where he remained for a pe- riod of seven years. In 1889 he came to Marysville, and here he has since continued to reside. By close attention to business and unswerving devotion to his patients, as well as by reason of his recognized profes- sional ability, he has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice and in gain- ing the respect and good will of the com- munity.
Arriving in Marysville in June, 1889, at the ensuing fall election he was elected to the office of County Coroner, a position in which he served two terms. In the spring of 1890 he was appointed as United States Examining Surgeon for this district of the pension department and served as a member of the Board of Pension Examiners, at Marysville, until the close of the Harrison administration. In 1892 he was appointed physician to the Union County Children's Home, and he is still the incumbent in this office. During the year 1893, he served as local surgeon for the Toledo & Ohio Cen- tral Railroad Company, and in the spring of the same year was appointed Health Officer for the city of Marysville, an office which he holds at the present time. He is medical examiner at Marysville for the John Han- cock, the New York Mutual, the New York Life, the Aetna Life, and other life insur- ance companies.
The marriage of our subject occurred September 20th of the Centennial year, when he was united to Miss Emma Robin- son, of St. Paris, daughter of M. G. and Eliza Robinson. Doctor and Mrs. Swisher are the parents of two children: Chester,
aged sixteen, and Grace, aged eight (1894). In 1893 our subject erected a modern resi- dence on West Sixth street, and here the family maintain their pleasant and hospit- able home.
The Doctor is a physician who keeps fully in pace with the advancements made in medical science. is progressive in his meth- ods, and has not been denied that honor and regard which are justly his due.
J OHN Q. SOUTHARD, M. D .- Prominent among those honored res- idents of Union county whose minds bear the impression of the history of pioneer days and trace along consecutively the course of events of the years which mark the end of this glorious nineteenth century, stands the subject of this review, Dr. John Q. Southard, who is a native of the Buckeye State, with whose history that of the family has been linked since the beginning of the present century. Even taken aside from his own accomplishment and his marked precedence as a man and a physician, it is then most compatible that space be given in this volume to a sketch tracing the genealogy of Dr. Southard and to his portrait, as the scion of an honorable and representative family.
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