USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 26
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 26
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 26
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ing county. Mr. Lewis is frank and jovial in his manner, honest in his dealings, and is honored and respected by all who know him.
a HRISTOPHER H. CHAMBER- LIN, a venerable and honored citi- zen of Mount Gilead, Morrow coun- ty, and one who was for many years one of the leading business men of the place, must call forth in this connection such con- sideration as is manifestly due him as, in the repose and retirement of his beautiful home, he views the hurrying throng with kindly and indulgent gaze, reflecting on what has been wrought within the long span of his days and resting from the cease- less toil and endeavor which brought to him success and the regard of men.
The father of our subject was Gideon Chamberlin, who is supposed to have been a native of New Jersey, and to have been born about the year 1779, the son of John Chamberlin. Gideon Chamberlin was a farmer during his entire life. Circumstances prevented him from bearing arms in the war . of 1812, but he provided a substitute. He married Catherine Hulsizer, who was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, the daughter of Christopher Hulsizer.
Gideon and Catherine Chamberlin re- moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, about 1817, and there the latter died, in 1837. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom all but one lived to attain mature years. At the present time there are but three surviving and all of these are men of venerable years. Their names, with age (in 1894), are here given: William, aged eighty-five; Christopher H., our sub- ject, aged eighty-three; and John aged
seventy-nine. The father came to Ohio in 1828 and settled in Franklin township, Knox county (now Morrow county), where he was one of the pioneer residents and where he made his permanent home. Somewhat later our subject went to Wooster, Wayne county, and entered a tract of land for his father, and here they took up their abode in the virgin forest, ultimately reclaiming the place and bringing it into effective cultiva- tion. On this farm, which was located on Owl creek, the father died, about 1837. He had been a member of the Baptist Church in Pennsylvania.
Christopher H. Chamberlin, the imme- diate subject of this review, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, April 19, 18II, receiving limited education advan- tages in Pennsylvania, whither his parents removed when he was but a child. He was seventeen years of age when his father re- moved to Ohio. His educational advan- tages were extremely meagre in character, but he was ambitious to learn and had a re- ceptive mind, being thus enabled to secure a good practical education as the result of per- sonal application and study. This line of reading and study has led him along to a position of much intellectual strength and wide information. As a boy he was com- pelled to work in the employ of others, but he continued to make his home at the pater- nal domicile until the time of his marriage.
In 1833, he wedded Miss Sarah D. Lyon, who was born in Ohio, her place of nativity having been a block-house, near Fredrick- town, which building was being used for the protection of the women and children during the war of 1812, her birth having occurred in that year. After his marriage our sub- ject constructed a log cabin on the farm of his father-in-law, and there continued to
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abide for three years, assisting in the work of the farm, which was located in Franklin township, this county (then Knox county). After three years had thus elapsed, his little log house was destroyed by fire and he then went to Bloomfield township and settled on a place which is the location of the present town of Sparta. Here he remained five years, after which, in 1840, he returned to his father's old place. The father had died and our subject purchased the interests of most of the other heirs to the estate. He built a house on the old homestead and occupied the same for a time, after which he disposed of his interest in the farm, taking in ex- change a tract of sixty acres, in Delaware county. This place was located in the dense woods of Harmony township, Dela- ware county (now Morrow), and he remained upon the same for a period of thirteen years, clearing up the land and improving it.
In 1853 he resigned his connection with agriculturism and came to Mount Gilead, where he engaged in the mercantile business and continued the enterprise for three years, after which he removed to Butler Center, Iowa, where he was engaged in merchan- dising somewhat over two years, after which he removed to a point ten miles distant in the same county (Butler), and there con- ducted a store for two and one-half years. In 1859 he returned to Mount Gilead and resumed merchandising in the same build- ing which he had previously utilized for the same purpose. After a short time he re- moved to the town of Williamsport, six miles east of Mount Gilead, and there con- tinued in the mercantile trade for several years, after which he once more returned to Mount Gilead and took up his residence, where he has lived for the past thirteen years.
The devoted and cherished wife of our subject entered into eternal rest in 1861. They were the parents of six children, of whoin only two are living, namely: Phoebe Ann, wife of Asa A. Gardner, of Mount Gilead, and the mother of two children by a previous marriage to Enoc Gerge; and Lucretia J., wife of Robert P. Halliday, of this city: they are the parents of two children.
Mr. Chamberlin consummated a second marriage April 19, 1863, when he espoused Miss Mary Truex, ne Linn, who is a native of Monroe county, this State, where she was born April 20, 1811. Our subject and his estimable wife are zealous members of the Baptist Church of Mount Gilead, and Mr. Chamberlin has been particularly active in temperance work, having identified him- self with the Murphy movement many years ago. Politically, he is an ardent Democrat of the Andrew Jackson type, his first vote having been cast for that sturdy President, in 1832. He has been consistent in the upholding of his political faith, both in de- fending and supporting the same. He held preferment as Justice of the Peace in this county for a term of nine years, and in Bloomfield and Congress townships served as Constable, and in Congress township as Township Treasurer and Justice of the Peace. During the war our subject con- tributed liberally of his means to the sup- port of the Union cause, with which he was thoroughly and uncompromisingly in sym- pathy.
Mr. Chamberlin's life has not been one of supine ease and of futile dreams. He has worked diligently and consecutively, and the high measure of success which is his has come as the direct result of his own efforts. When he started out in married
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life his earthly possessions were summed up in an axe and a good splint broom, which latter he had made with his own hands. Who would deny to such a man the reward which is so justly due,-the respect of his fellowmen ? One of the patriarchs of the county, and one known far and wide for the integrity of his character, our subject abides, in his declining days, safe in the honor and esteem of the community.
AJOR JAMES OLDS .- It is now our privilege to take briefly under review the life history of one who has attained a marked prestige in the line of his profession, that of law; who has rendered to the nation the valiant service of a patriotic and loyal son of the republic, and whose history in an ancestral way touches the early pioneer days when the courageous settlers took up their abode , in rude cabins in the midst of the sylvan wilds of the Buckeye State and lent them- selves to its reclamation. What better subject for biographic honors could be asked for in this connection?
James Olds was born in that portion of Delaware county, Ohio, which was subse- quently incorporated in the present county of Morrow, on the 4th of October, 1823, and to-day he is an honored and venerable resident of the county of his nativity, having for many years maintained his home and fields of operation in the official center of the county, Mt. Gilead. His father was Rev. Benjamin Olds, a native of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where he was born May I, 1795. By occupation he was a farmer and a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His parents, who were Eastern
people, located in the Old Keystone State and thence came to Delaware county, Ohio, settling in Oxford township in 1807 or 1808, and being among the very first settlers in the county. The father of our subject was only fourteen years of age when his parents removed to this State.
The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Abigail Washburn, was born in the State of New York, in July, 1805, and came with her parents to Delaware county, Ohio, when but three years of age,-her parents also having been among the very early settlers in Delaware county. The marriage of Benjamin Olds and Abigail Washburn was solemnized in Delaware county, in October, 1822, and shortly after this event they settled in the woods of West- field township, where they built a hewed log house, and there remained, devoting them- selves to the reclamation and improvement of the place, until 1862, when the father of our subject was called to enter the life eternal, being sixty-eight years of age at the time of his death. In politics he was origin- ally a Whig, but united with the Republican party at the time of its organization. He was Justice of the Peace for many years, and was County Commissioner at the time the organization of Morrow county was ef- fected. He was a man of broad intelligence and one of much prominence in this section of the State, having been known throughout the length and breadth of the extended cir- cuit which he covered as a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother of our subject died, at his home in Mt. Gi- lead, August 31, 1889, having attained the venerable age of eighty-five years. They were the parents of eleven children, -nine sons and two daughters, -all of whom lived to attain maturity, a brief record of their
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lives being here incorporated: James, the eldest of the family, is the subject of this review; Henry, who married and reared a family, died in Illinois, November 18, 1856; Luther married, reared a family and died in 1893, at Cleveland, Ohio; Dr. Abner died August 10, 1856, soon after he had begun the practice of his profession; Sanford was a soldier in the late war of the Rebellion, was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, and died from the effects of his injuries, January 28, 1864; Jane died September 13, 1872; Miles died May 10, 1870, leaving a widow and two children; Lester married and is now a resident of Labette county, Kansas; Chauncey was a soldier in the late civil war, and died November 9, 1862, as a result of wounds received in the battle of Murfrees- boro; Mary is the wife of Wilbert Granger, of Delaware county, Ohio; Hon. Walter Olds, who is the youngest of the family, studied law with his brother, our subject, and was duly admitted to the bar, event- ually taking up his residence in Whitley county, Indiana, from which he was elected to the Senate of that State: he held prefer- ment as Circuit Judge for four years, and was later elected Judge of the Supreme Court of Indiana, an office which he resign- ed, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession in Chicago, Illinois, being one of the leading lawyers of the Garden City, and having office headquarters in rooms III3-14, Tacoma Building.
Major James Olds, the immediate sub- ject of this review, was born in one of the first log houses erected in Delaware county, this State, and the old farm where he first ope'd wondering eyes is still in his posses- sion. His first scholastic discipline was received in one of the primitive log school houses, with slab benches, wide fire-places
and meagre accessories. He remained on the old homestead, assisting in its improve- ment and cultivation, until he had attained the age of eighteen years, when he made his initial effort on his own responsibility by engaging to teach a district school. Just when budding ambition gave itself a definite aim is difficult to say, but certain it is that our subject looked out and beyond the nar- rowed mental horizon of the farm home, which was one in which culture and refine- ment were not absent and one in which as- pirations for a wider sphere of usefulness were readily enkindled.
Accordingly we find that in 1843 James matriculated as a student at Delaware Col- lege, in the village of Delaware, Ohio, being one of the first students in that institution, and having as a fellow-student the young man who eventually became the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Ohio, John C. Lee, deceased. He remained in the college until the fall of 1844, when he went to Indiana and there engaged in school teaching for a time, returning to Delaware within the suc- ceeding year and there entering the office of Judge Sherman Finch, under whose precep- torship he continued the study of law until his admission to the bar in 1848, - the year which marked the organization of Morrow county. While pursuing his professional studies he had taught school at intervals, and had thus been enabled to defray his in- cidental expenses.
After his admission to the bar, Major Olds located in Mount Gilead and entered upon the active practice of his profession, in which he has since continued consecutively in this place during all the long intervening years, with but one year's interruption, -- that which called him forth in defense of his country's honor.
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In 1861 he was commissioned a recruit- ing officer and organized the first full com- pany (Company D, Sixty-fifth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry), known as a part of the Sher- man Brigade. He was commissioned Major of the regiment named, but resigned in 1862, by reason of disability. Since that time he has been engaged in practice in Mount Gil- ead, being recognized as one of the represen- tative and most able lawyers of the county, and as one whose honor is above reproach. He is a stanch Republican, but has never sought or accepted official preferment in the gift of his party, -a record which is most ex- ceptional when office-seeking has been an al- most unvarying concomitant of the legal pro- fession.
Reverting, in conclusion, to the domestic - pages of our honored subject's life, we find that, on the last day of the year 1863, was consummated his marriage to Miss Anistasie Talmage, who was born in Gilead township, this county, in July, 1842, the daughter of . James M. and Louisa (Newson) Talmage, the former of whom was a native of the State of New York, and one of the early set- tlers in this county; and the latter of whom was born in Maryland. Mrs. Olds is the oldest of the four living children, and in her early years she was a successful and popular school teacher in this county.
Major and Mrs. Olds are the parents of three children, namely: Mame, born Octo- ber 26, 1864, is the wife of W. R. Baxter, a leading lawyer of Canton, this State; Benja- min, born September 27, 1868, has been as- sociated with his father in law practice for the past four years, having completed his literary education at the Ohio Wesleyan University, in Delaware; and W. Floyd, born April 6, 1884.
In the line of fraternal affiliations our
subject is identified with but one organiza- tion, the Grand Army of the Republic, re- taining a membership in Hurd Post.
S IMEON D. KILGORE .- The work of tilling the soil soon resolves it- self into a somewhat monotonous routine and the honest husband- man, upon whose success depends to so large an extent that of all the lines of in- dustry and enterprise, must needs be wide awake else he will lapse into distinctive ruts and thus bar the way to progress and to the mazimum of success possible. One of the farmers of this favored section who has kept himself emancipated from these set methods which become habits and are fol- lowed because they represent the custom of years, is he whose name initiates this re- view, - a man who has attained to a high order of success and who finds no reason to enter the all too common complaint that "farming does not pay."
The date of Mr. Kilgore's nativity was May 10, 1836, and the place was Camden township, at a point about three miles dis- tant from Plain City, Madison county, this State. His parents were Thomas and Jane (Patterson) Kilgore, both of whom are now deceased, the mother dying at the age of seventy-one and the father at eighty-one, in Madison county, where they were honored and prominent residents for many years.
Thomas Kilgore was born in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, and was of stanch old Irish stock, his paternal grand- father having been born in the Emerald Isle. The Patterson family were from Bot- tetourt county, Virginia, where representa- tives have been located from early Colonial days. The marriage of our subject's par-
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MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
ents occurred after they had taken up their residence in this State. The father first settled in Ross county, almost on the very ground where the city of Chillicothe now stands, buying land at $1.25 per acre. There he remained until he removed his family to Madison county, where he devel- oped a fine farm and passed the remainder of his days.
Thomas and Jane Kilgore became the parents of ten children, of whom four are now living. Concerning the family we offer the following record: John, born October 30, 1815, lives in Franklin county, and became the father of three children, one of whom is deceased: one of his sons, Thomas, was for three years in active ser- vice in the late war, having been a member of the First Ohio Cavalry; Sarah, born September 18, 1817, died July 13, 1842, having been the wife of Jeremiah Sher- wood, by whom she had two children, one of whom is living, a resident of Franklin county; Elizabeth, born April 24, 1819, married Chauncey Beech, and lives in West Jefferson, Madison county; William, born January 26, 1823, was a prominent farmer of Madison county, where he died, in 1889, leaving four children; Harvey, born De- cember 23, 1824, lives on the old home- stead in Madison county and has two chil- dren; Rebecca, born February 6, 1827, married Jacob Taylor, by whom she had four children, her death occurring in 1890; Lucinda, born December 21, 1829, died in 1859; Eliza, born March 24, 1833, died January 5, 1836; and two other children died in infancy.
Our subject was reared to farm work on. the old homestead in Madison county, re- ceiving his preliminary educational training in the district schools, the knowledge thus
acquired serving as a most effectual ground- work for the comprehensive practical edu- cation which he has gained by his labor in and contact with the world and its affairs.
July 3, 1864, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Cary, a native of Madison county, where her parents were honored pioneer residents. Soon after his marriage our subject settled in Mill Creek township, Union county, and here he has ever since retained a residence. His first purchase was a tract of 200 acres, lying about four miles distant from his present place of abode. He has resided in his present quarters since 1893, the place, familiarly known as the Luther Liggett farm, having been purchased by him at that time. He now has a landed estate in this county of 637 acres, with three dwelling houses and seven barns. With so extended a domain, all of which is under a most per- fect system of cultivation, it is needless to say that our subject stands forth as one whose success has come as the direct result of his own well-ordered and consecutive endeavor.
In politics Mr. Kilgore is firmly arrayed in the support of the Republican party and its principles, and religiously he lends his influence and support to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife and daughter, Cora, are devoted adherents.
Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore have had three children, namely: Etta J., born, March 12, 1869, completed her education at Lebanon, Warren county, was possessed of a high order of musical ability and was for some time engaged in teaching in this line of art, being a young woman of pure and gracious refinement: her un- timely death occurred July 12, 1891, and though those who knew and ap-
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preciated her beautiful character can but mourn their loss, yet there comes to them the consolation of the thought that such a life was most eminently fit to merge into the glories of the life eternal; Cora E., at- tended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, for three years, stopping her work there in her junior year; Thomas H., born March 6, 1877, is attending the high school at Watkins.
e DGAR J. VAUGHAN, a well-known business man, holds distinctive pref- erment as cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Cardington, Morrow county, and of this county he is a native son, having been born, August 9, 1857, on the old homestead, in Lincoln township, where his father still lives, the family being one whose history has been identified with that of the Buckeye State from the early pioneer days.
Our subject was the eldest son of James W. and Rachel A. (Wood) Vaughan, to whom individual reference is made in detail elsewhere in this volume. Edgar J. Vaughan was reared on the old homestead farm, his rudimentary educational discipline having been received in the district schools of Lin- coln township, after which he attended the public schools of Cardington and Mount Gilead.
In 1879 he was appointed Deputy County Surveyor, under J. T. Buck, having been engaged in surveying for some time prior to securing this official preferment, which came as a practical testimony to his ability in that professional line. In 1880 he came to Car- dington, and for two years acted as assistant cashier of the First National Bank, being elected cashier of the institution in 1882,
and having ever since acted in that import- ant and exacting capacity.
In December, 1882, Mr. Vaughan was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Mooney, who was born in this county, her father, the late M. L. Mooney, having been an early settler in Cardington and the pioneer drug- gist of the place. Mrs. Vaughan received her education in the Cardington schools. To our subject and his wife two children have been born, namely: Henry W. and Ed- gar W.
In politics Mr. Vaughan casts his fran- chise in support of the Republican party and its principles. He has maintained a lively interest in educational work, and has served as a member of the Board of Education in Cardington. Fraternally he is prominently identified with the Masonic Order, retaining a membership in Cardington Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M., and having held the office as Master of the same for four years; he is also a member of Mount Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M., and of the Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Vaughan is one of the progressive and public-spirited business men of Carding- ton, and has ever stood ready to lend influ- ence and support to all measures and enter- prises tending to conserve the growth and development of the village and the welfare of the community.
P. VAUGHAN, who is one of the prominent attorneys of Morrow county, and who is a resident of the thriving village of Carding- ton, was born in Lincoln township, this county, April 17, 1862, the second child of James W. and Rachel A. (Wood) Vaughan, who are still abiding on the old homestead as old and honored citizens of the commun-
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ity. It is hardly demanded at this juncture that we recapitulate the pertinent points in their life history, since the the same is given in full in an individual sketch appearing elsewhere in this volume.
Our subject was reared on the old home- stead, where he remained until he had at- tained the age of eighteen years, his rudi- mentary educational discipline having been secured in the district schools of Lincoln township. In 1880 he entered the public schools of Cardington, graduating at the high school in 1882. After this he was en- gaged in teaching school for four winters, meeting with much success in his pedagogic efforts. He then matriculated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, in Delaware, this State, and there continued his literary studies for one year.
Having determined to make the profes- sion of law his life work, in the fall of 1885 Mr. Vaughan entered the office of Judge A. K. Dunn, of Mount Gilead, pursuing his professional studies under such preceptorage until the fall of 1886, when he entered the law department of the Cincinnati College, where he completed the prescribed course, being admitted to the bar in 1887. In June of the same year he returned to Mount Gil- ead and remained with his old preceptor, Judge Dunn, until April 1, 1888, when he located in Cardington, where he has since been engaged in the active practice of his profession, retaining a representative and constantly increasing clientage, and stand- ing as one of the most capable and most thoroughly informed of the younger lawyers of the county.
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