Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, Part 38

Author: Chapman Brothers
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 894


USA > Ohio > Fayette County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 38
USA > Ohio > Madison County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 38
USA > Ohio > Pickaway County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 38


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109


Dr. Kepler was married, in 1873, to Miss Rosanna


16


338


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


Dafler, of Montgomery County, and a daughter of John W. and Rosanna C. (Risley) Dafler, natives of Germany, who came to America when young, and were married in Maryland. In 1867, they came to Ohio and settled in Montgomery County, where Mr. Dafler die l in 1889. His wife is still living there on the old homestead. In politics, he was a Democrat. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, to which his wife also belongs. They had eleven children, of whom ten are living: John E., David H., Christian C., Lewis P., Wesley W., Charles E., Andrew M., Mrs. Kepler, Elizabeth B. and Margaret C. Our subject and his wife have been blessed in their happy wedded life with three daughters, whom they have named Lauretta B., Dora V. and Maggie E. respectively. All have been given excellent educational advantages, the two eldest daughters being graduates of the London High School. Lauretta B. is successfully engaged in the profession of teaching, and Dora is studying stenography with a view to preparing herself for office work. Dr. Kepler is a good business man as well as physician, and by judicious investments has acquired some valuable property, including a fine tract of land in Guthrie County, Iowa.


In connection with this sketch a portrait of Dr. Kepler is presented to our readers.


=


M ILAN L. SMITHI is one of the oldest pio- neers living in Fayette County. Ile was born near Fincastle, W. Va., February 29, 1810, to Mathias and Christena (Myers) Smith, also natives of West Virginia. They were of German and English descent, respectively. The maternal grandfather was born in England and was in the Revolutionary War and was an early settler of Virginia.


The father of our subject came to Fayette County, Ohio, in 1814, about two or three years after the Indians were driven out. Their mode of travel was by ox-team and wagon. This country was very wild and almost a forest. Wild game was very plentiful and deer were seen in large droves. Mathias Smith first settled on Deer Creek, near


Waterloo, where he put up a little log cabin, in which he and his family lived until he had made some improvements. He was a wheelwright and mechanic by trade and worked at his trade some time after coming to this country. He passed from this life in the year 1821, at the age of thirty-nine. He was the father of four sons and three daughters, five of whom are now living.


Our subject is the eldest ehild living of his fa- ther's family, and was but ten years of age when he came to this country with his parents. There were very few school advantages in those days, but he was enabled to attend a private school for some time. The first schoolhouse he went to was a little log cabin with slab seats and puncheon floor. This young lad helped to clear up his fa- ther's farm and subsequently went to work by the month for himself, receiving the small sum of $7 per month in a tan yard. In 1827, he was married and moved to Western Illinois, where he lived eighteen months on a farm, at whichi time he sold out and moved to his present place. This land he paid $15 an aere for when it was in a wild state of nature and was called the Big Woods. He has made all the improvements on his place of two hundred acres himself, and they are first-class. He donated a half-acre for the erection of a church on his place and has been a School Director and takes great interest in all educational matters and relig- ious affairs.


The subject of this life history was married in March, 1827, to Miss Mahala Armstrong. To this couple, seven children were born, four sons and three daughters, six of whom are yet living. Mrs. Smith passed from life in July, 1878, and Mr. Smith was again married, this time to Margaret Custer, and they are both valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.


E DWARD R. JOIINSON is Justice of the Peace of Mt. Sterling and a well-known citizen of Madison County. His entire life has been passed in this State. He was born in Greenfield, Highland County, June 7, 1854, and is


339


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


a son of Col. A. C. Johnson. His father was a den- tist by profession. On the breaking out of the late war, he raised a company, of which he was elected Captain, and marched to the front. He partici- pated in twelve of the most important battles, and for his meritorious conduct was promoted to the rank of Colonel. After the war, he became a banker. Subsequently, he removed to Iowa, where he engaged in the grain trade, and later went to Nebraska, where he engaged in real estate. He married Louisa R. Jones and unto them were born six children, four of whom grew to mature years, our subject being the fifth in order of birth. Mary L. was married, and died, leaving one child; Mun- son C. is a farmer of Nebraska, where he resides with his wife and one child; Mrs. Ella R. Kearney is living in Linden, Iowa, and has a family of two children.


When our subject was only two years old, his parents removed to Washington C. H., where he grew to manhood. Ile acquired his literary educa- tion in the public schools of that city, after which, he pursued a business course in the Miami Com- mercial College, of Dayton, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1872. 1Ie then engaged in elerking in the Fayette County National Bank for two years, or until after the panic. In 1874, he organized the Farmers' Bank, of Mt. Sterling, with which he was connected one year, serving as teller. His next place of residence was in Sabina, Clinton County, Ohio, where he organized the Citizens' Bank, in which he held the position of cashier for two years.


On the 27th of August, 1877, Mr. Johnson was umited in marriage with Miss Laura Hughes, of Mt. Sterling. He then turned his attention to farming, following that occupation in Union Township, Fayette County, Ohio, where he operated rented land for three years. Ile then removed to Linden, lowa, where he engaged in the lumber business for four years and, on selling out, returned to Ohio and came to Mt. Sterling. Mr. Johnson owns a house and lot in Pleasant Township, close to the corporate limits of the city.


Four children were born to our subject and his wife, but two died in infancy. The living are: Lillie, who was born in Monroe Township, Pick-


away County, April 17, 1879; and Aaron C., who was born in Linden, Iowa, January 4, 1883. In polities, Mr. Johnson is a Republican, and has served two terms as City Clerk. He was elected Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1890. Ihs public duties he has ever faithfully performed. He has several times served as a delegate to the county conventions of his party and in its success feels a deep interest. Socially, he is a member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America.


ANIEL LUDWIG. This retired farmer of Pickaway County, now residing in Cirele- ville, was born in a large brick house on Kingston Pike, three miles southeast of Circleville, November 23, 1831. The first repre- sentatives of the family in America were Daniel and Mary Ludwig, natives of Germany, who emi- grated thence to the United States, and settled in Berks County, Pa. There the grandfather of our subject, also named Daniel, was born June 4, 1748. For a number of years he was associated with ex- Gov. Joseph Heister, of Pennsylvania, in a store in Reading.


Having resolved to seek a home in the rapidly growing West, Grandfather Ludwig, in the fall of 1806, emigrated to Ohio, accompanied by his wife and nine children, the journey being made with a two-horse team. He brought with him a small stock of goods, with which he intended to open a store. With that object in view, he erected a large brick house, in one portion of which the store was to be kept. But three of his sons, on whose aid he depended, died, and the store was never estab- lished, the goods being disposed of. The house alluded to was built in 1809, and was the largest and oldest brick house in the county. It stood un- til 1890, when the walls became unsafe, and it was torn down by the present owner, a grandson of the original owner. An elegant residence now stands on the site of that pioneer home.


On his arrival here, Grandfather Ludwig pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land.


340


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


and later entered land in this and adjoining coun- ties, and became owner of about three thousand acres. He was the original owner of the land on which the village of Logan, Hocking County, now stands, and was a man of great influence. His death occurred June 9, 1825. Ifis son Jacob was born in Berks County, Pa., April 7, 1806, and was but six months old at the time of his parents' re- moval to Ohio. His education was obtained in the ordinary schools of that day, and he commenced to operate as a farmer in his youth, beginning with two hundred acres of land, to which he added from time to time. He became the possessor of the old homestead, where he resided until his death in Oc- tober, 1881. By purchasing land at different times, and paying from $35 to $155 per acre, he became owner of some eighteen hundred acres of improved property. In politics, he was a Democrat, and re- ligiously, was identified with the Lutheran Church.


The maternal grandfather of our subject, Henry Morris, was a teamster in the War of 1812, and was a very successful farmer, continuing thus engaged until his death in 1873, at the age of eighty-five years. Unto him and his wife, Charity, were born several children, one of whom, Evelina, was born in Washington Township, Pickaway County. She was married to Jacob Ludwig, November 18, 1830, and died February 23, 1848, while still compara- tively young. She was the mother of eight chil- dren, of whom six grew to maturity, and are liv- ing at the present time, Daniel being the eldest.


The early years of our subject were passed in gaining a knowledge of the "three R's" in the dis- trict school, and in becoming practically acquainted with farm work. He remained at home until he was thirty years old, aiding in cultivating the fif- teen hundred acres of which it consisted, and then, in the fall of 1860, became owner of the Mt. Oval farm of three hundred and thirty-three acres in Pickaway County, near where the chief Logan lived. Upon that place he successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1883, when he bought his father-in-law's estate of two hundred and twenty acres in the same township, becoming the owner of five hundred and fifty-three acres, divided into two splendid farms. His agricultural operations were rewarded with success, and finally,


in October, 1890, he retired to Circleville, where he purchased the beautiful home on Court Street, val- ued at $6,000, and one of the most attractive resi- dences in the city. He rents his land to tenants on shares, and still owns considerable stock. Before he came to the city, he was elected County Com- missioner in 1878, and served three years, after which he refused to fill the position longer. He was also Township Treasurer for a number of years. .


The marriage of Daniel Ludwig in 1863, in Pickaway Township, united him to Miss Julia A., daughter of Lemuel Steely, an extensive cattle dealer of Piekaway County. Mrs. Ludwig died in 1887, leaving four children, namely: Willis, who was graduated with first honors at the Commercial College, of Poughkeepsie, and is now in business at Pittsburgh, Pa .; Mary, Eveline and Lizzie are at home. The members of the family are identified with the Presbyterian Church at Circleville, and the young ladies are accomplished and well edu- cated, occupying prominent positions in social cir- eles. Mr. Ludwig served two terms as Assessor in Circleville Township, has been School Trustee, and represented his party, the Democratic, as delegate to county, State and congressional conventions. He is a man of probity and honor, whose life has been characterized by integrity, energy, and a de- sire to promote the welfare of his fellow-men, as well as his own personal advancement.


SAAC M. JOHNSON. Prominent among the prosperous and intelligent agriculturists of Perry Township, Fayette County, is the gen- tleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. His fine farm with its excellent improve- ments forms one of the most attractive features of the township. He is the son of William and Jane B. (Dowden) Johnson, natives respectively of Delaware and Virginia. The parents were mar- ried in the latter-named State and came hither in 1810, which was at an early day in the history of Ohio. They made their first location in Hellard's Bottom, Ross County, and in 1816 removed to Fayette County, where the father purchased one


341


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


hundred acres of partially improved land in Greene Township, which was the property of Jesse Rowe.


William Johnson located with his family in Greene Township, where, in addition to the tract already mentioned, he purchased two hundred acres more, which he cleared and improved. At the time of his death, which occurred about 1832, he was the possessor of a magnificent estate num- bering six hundred acres of valuable land, all of which had been accumulated by his untiring in- dustry and perseverance, coupled with his good judgment. The mother of our subject bore her husband thirteen children, only seven of whom are living, and died in the spring of 1880. Two sons, Caleb H. and Isaac M., were soldiers in the late Civil War. Mrs. Johnson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father in pol- ities was a Whig. He was a patriot in the War of 1812, fighting under Gen. William Henry Harri- son. The mother of our subject purchased another farm from the proceeds left her by her husband, and after remaining a widow for twelve years, was married to David Woodmansie, who is now de- ceased.


The original of this sketch was born September 9, 1822, on the old homestead in Greene Town- ship, this county. His school privileges were very limited, he being privileged to attend only a few months in the year the old log schoolhouse, with slab seats, puncheon floor and greased-paper win- dows. He remained under the parental roof, aid- ing his father in clearing the farm, until his twen- tieth year. Mr. Johnson aided in the construction through this section of the Cincinnati & Marietta Railroad, of which he was a stockholder, and when engaging to work out on farms, received as his first year's wages, $8.50 per month.


October 8, 1846, Cassandra, daughter of John Dick, became the wife of our subject. The father was a native of Virginia and after a short resi- dence in this State removed to Indiana, where he passed his last days near Wabash. Mrs. Johnson was born September 18, 1825. After his marriage, our subject worked land on shares for Jackson Rogers for another twelvemonth, at the end of which time he passed a like period on the old


home farm. In the spring of 1849, he purchased his present farm of Stafford Junkins. Mrs. John- son died October 27, 1855, after having borne her husband four children, all of whom are living with one exception : Jane Josephine was born Oct- ober 17, 1847, married David Shimp and resides in Perry Township, being the mother of five chil- dren; Mary 1 .. , born February 18, 1850, is the wife of Charles A. Stafford, who makes his home in Concord Township, and has three children; Ilen- son D. was born September 24, 1855, married Rilla Brannon and resides in this township, their family including two children.


Our subject was again married, November 11, 1856, this time to Leeann, daughter of William and Matilda (Chambers) Clawson. The father of Mrs. Johnson was a soldier in the War of 1812, and passed from this life in 1869. His good wife bore him seven children and died in 1869. Miss Lec- ann was born May 10, 1828, in Ross County, this State. He of whom we write is the owner of three hundred and fourteen acres of valuable land. nearly all of which is under fine cultivation. The old log house has long since given way to a large brick residence, which is presided over by Mrs. Johnson, who is a most intelligent and hospitable lady. The farm buildings are numerous and sub- stantial, thus affording ample room for the storage of grain and the shelter of stock. Many rods of tiling thoroughly drain the land, which is some of the most productive in the county.


Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Metli- odist Episcopal Church, with which body they have been connected the past forty years. Our subject has been a Trustee and Steward in his de- domination and contributes generously of his means for its support. He has been a charter member of the Grange, in which organization he was Chaplain, and his good wife, who was also a member, was Flora. For a number of years he was a large stockholder and Director of the Grange Store. He has served on both the School and Township Board, and, in politics, votes the straight Republican ticket, firmly believing that party to be in the right. Always interested in township affairs, he served for a period as a Trustee.


Mr. Johnson burnt the brick used in the con-


342


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


struction of his residence, and also in the school- house of his district. He and his wife adopted a little daughter of Dr. Brown, of Buena Vista, who bore the name of Ella. She was an inmate of their home for eight years, when she died. Our subject was born in this county, has helped to clear land, build roads and the railroad, has seen this county when it was a wilderness and has aided in all its development, until now, in his declining years, his eyes look out upon as grand a country as the sun ever shone on.


M ARCELLUS LE ROY BRYAN, the well- known editor and proprietor of the Mad- ison County Democrat, published at London, wields a powerful influence upon local politics and in the public life of the county, and for many years has been potent in advancing its interests through the columns of this, one of the oldest established and most ably-conducted news- papers in this part of Ohio.


Our subject is a representative of one of the old families of the State, and was born in the county town of Batavia, Clermont County, March 23, 1829. Ilis grandfather, David Chester Bryan, was born on Long Island in 1771, was united in mar- riage with Ruth Bryan in 1792, and died in Ba- tavia July 31, 1829. In 1800, he had left his old island home with his family, and after living three years in New Jersey, had migrated to this State, and had settled in Williamsburgh, Clermont County, removing his residence to Batavia in 1825, which town he platted and named. In 1806, he was elected a member of the Ohio House of Represen- tatives, but his seat was contested and given to Thomas Morris, who afterward became United States Senator. Mr. Bryan was subsequently elected State Senator, and served as such from 1807 until 1810, when he resigned to become Clerk of the Courts of Clermont County, which office he filled until his death, nineteen years later, his son Melanethon succeeding him as Clerk.


Our subject's father was also named David


Chester Bryan, and he was born on Long Island. He was quite young when the family. came to Clermont County. July 14, 1828, he was married to Mary Malvina Moore, a daughter of Capt. Charles Moore, who was an officer in the War of 1812, and was one of the earliest settlers of Cler- mont County. Capt. Moore came to this State from Philadelphia, and bought a large tract of land near Batavia, on which he erected a flouring mill and a distillery on the East Fork of the Little Miami River. The mother of our subject still survives in the eighty-fourth year of her age. Eight of her ten children are now living, of whom our subject is the eldest. David C. Bryan, Jr., was a man of some prominence in the community in which he lived. For some years he was the leading merchant in Batavia. About the year 1835, he moved to Cincinnati and bought out a mercantile establishment on Lower Market Street, which he conducted a few years, or until he failed, owing to a stress in the money market. He after- ward returned to Batavia, and a few years later removed to Fulton, which is now embraced in the corporate limits of Cincinnati, where he resided some years. At length, he returned once more to Batavia, and died there in 1869, from the effects of a sunstroke received some time previously. He served as Justice of the Peace for many years, and was Auditor of Clermont County one term. In politics, he was an old-line Whig until the organ- ization of the Republican party, when he joined the Democratic forces and was a good Democrat the remainder of his life.


Marcellus Bryan served an apprenticeship in the printing office of the Clermont Courier, edited and published by Andrew Gest, since deceased. At the age of nineteen, he left home and went to Columbus to work as a type-setter in the office of the Ohio Statesman, then edited by Col. Samuel Medary. He was afterward employed as compos- itor on the Daily Fact, a paper conducted by Col. John Geary, and during that time he was united in marriage with Martha Sydney Masterson, daugh- ter of Mr. John Masterson, an educated gentleman, who came to Columbus from Ireland, and for sev- eral years taught the languages in the Columbus High School. About a year after his marriage.


343


PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHIICAL RECORD.


our subject and his wife went to Circleville, where Mr. Bryan took charge of and printed the Circle- ville Herald for one year, returning then to Col- umbus ..


In December, 1857, Mr. Bryan and Mr. J. A. Kissinger came to London to assume charge of the National Democrat, a small weekly paper, owned by John M. Smith, now deceased, and published by Douglas King. After the lapse of about a year, Mr. Bryan bought Mr. Kissinger's interest, and some time after changed the name of the paper to the Madison County Democrat, which name it still bears, and it is conducted by Mr. Bryan and his sons, whose wide-awake and progressive policy has made of it one of the best publications of its kind in the State, always readable, keeping well abreast of the times, and a keen exponent of the prinei- ples of the party which it so ably represents.


The veteran editor of the Democrat has belonged to the Democracy ever since he cast his first vote, and but few men in the county have a clearer knowledge of politics than he. He is a man of large, round-about common sense, with a keen faculty of judging men and affairs that has been serviceable to him in his long and honorable career as an editor and whenever he has mingled in pub- lie life. He has been at the head of the village government as Mayor of London two terms, and he was Village Recorder one term.


Mr. and Mrs. Bryan have seven surviving chil- dren, namely: Mary Letitia, Ormond Masterson, Chester Edwin, Charles Moore, Mattie Tenney, Marcellus and Addison Watson. Anna Omega died October 6, 1876, in the seventh year of her age.


AVID F. BINDER, dealer in gents' furnish- ing goods in Mt. Sterling, is a popular citizen and enterprising business man, well deserving of representation in this volume. A native of the Buckeye State, he was born in Greenfield, Highland County, August 15, 1844, and is a son of Frederick and Melinda (Ileath) Binder. His father was born in Baden, Germany, and at the age of eighteen crossed the


Atlantic, coming on to Ohio, where he met and married Miss Ileath, a native of Madison County. The father had learned the trade of a clock maker and for a time engaged in repairing and selling clocks on the road. He afterward embarked in the grocery business in Greenfield Three children of the family are yet living: David, of this sketch; Joseph K., a grocery merchant of Greenfield, and Fannie A., who is also living in Greenfield.


Our subject acquired an excellent education, pursuing a course in the Greenfield High School, from which he was graduated at the age of nine- teen. Ile received his business training in his father's grocery store.


In May, 1864, Mr. Binder enlisted for the late war as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Ohio Infantry. At the battle of Cyn- thiana, Ky., he was made a prisoner, but was ex- changed the following day, so that he continued in service with his regiment. After being mus- tered out, Mr. Binder returned to Greenfield and began clerking, which pursuit he followed until his removal to Mt. Sterling in 1865. He here se- cured a position as a salesman in the hardware store of N. J. D. Kauffelt, by whom he was em- ployed for fourteen and a half years, a fact which indicates his faithful service and the confidence and high regard in which he was held by his em- ployers. He made a popular salesman, his court- eous and gentlemanly demeanor winning patron- age.


Mr. Binder was married January 31, 1878, the lady of his choice being Miss Anna Timmons, of Mt. Sterling, who was born February 9, 1854. They had but one child, Frederick, who was born February 15, 1880, and died on the 9th of March, 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Binder have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in this community and rank high in social circles. He is an honored member in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken seven degrees. lle also belongs to Bostwick Post No. 406, G. A. R., has filled nearly all its offices and has attended a National Re-union in Columbus. He votes with the Democratic party on State and national questions, but indepen- dently at local elections. He has served as City Clerk for seven years, his duties being discharged




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.