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 9

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 9
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 9
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 9


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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


9


Fayette, Pickaway and


Madison Counties.


OHIO ..


INTRODUCTORY.


HE time has arrived when it becomes the duty of the people of this county to per- petuate the names of their pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settlement, and relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age and the duty that men of the pres- ent time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In bio- graphical history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the great and aged men, who in their prime entered the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re- maining who can relate the incidents of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preser- vation of events without delay, before all the early settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.


To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough, in spite of their best works and the most earnest efforts of their friends to perserve the memory of their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor- tion to the amount of intelligence they possessed. The pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhu- mations made by the archeologists of Egypt from buried Memphis indicate a desire of those people


to perpetuate the memory of their achievements. The erection of the great obelisks were for the same purpose. Coming down to a later period, we find the Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu- ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their great achievements and carry them down the ages. It is also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea- to leave something to show that they had lived. All these works, though many of them costly in the ex- treme, give but a faint idea of the lives and charac- ters of those whose memory they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of the people that then lived. The great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity ; the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum- bling into dust.


It was left to modern ages to establish an intelli- gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating a full history-immutable in that it is almost un- limited in extent and perpetual in its action; and this is through the art of printing.


To the present generation, however, we are in- debted for the introduction of the admirable system of local biography. By this system every man, though he has not achieved what the world calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate his life, his history, through the coming ages.


The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the physical man is left. The monument which his chil- dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme- tery will crumble into dust and pass away ; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated by a record of this kind.


To preserve the lineaments of our companions we engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col- lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to wait until they are dead, or until those who know them are gone: to do this we are ashamed only to publish to the world the history of those whose lives are unworthy of public record.


1


Annie I. Sears


BIOGRAPHICAL.


0


C HAUNCEY EDWARD SEARS. It is not ease, but effort-not luck, but labor-that develops character. There is perhaps no po- sition in life in which difficulties are not to be met and conquered before success can be attained. As the skillful mariner gains his best experience amid storms, so on the ocean of life it is adversity which develops self-reliance, courage and the highest dis- cipline.


The experiences of many men go to prove the fact that obstacles in the path of progress may usually be overcome by perseverance, honest, zeal and energy, and above all by a determination to succeed in the face of every obstacle. These elements in the character of Mr. Sears furnish us with the key to his success. Among the citizens of Circleville, few attained the prosperity which rewarded his unconquerable perseverance, and a brief review of his life will be both interesting and profitable. Death has closed his labors on eartlı, but his character still lives as a model for others, furnishing an example which posterity may well study, admire and imitate.


The Sears family traces its ancestry to England, whence the great-grandfather of our subject came to America with two brothers, and settled in Con- necticut. Daniel Sears, grandfather of our sub- jeet, was a native of the Nutmeg State, whence he removed to Lewis County, N. Y., and settled in


Leyden Township, engaging in lumbering and farming in the section of country known as the Black River. His death occurred at Port Leyden, where he was buried. He came of Quaker ancestry.


The father of our subject, Chauncey Sears, was born in Connecticut, and was there married to Miss Emily Hollister, a native of Vermont. He pursued farming operations in Connecticut, and re- moved from that State to Port Leyden, N. Y., re- siding there for several years, but finally moving to Columbia County, N. Y., where he sojourned until his death. His principal occupation through life was that of agriculture, and he accumulated a competency. In politics, he was a Republican, and through life he adhered to the principles and teachings of the Quakers, in which faith he was reared.


The youngest son in a family of eight children, three sons and five daughters, Chauncey Edward Sears was born in Leyden, Lewis County, N. Y. His boyhood and early manhood were passed in Lewis and Columbia Counties, N. Y., where he at- tended the common school, worked as a mechanic, and also became familiar with the duties of farm labor. When twenty-eight years of age, he went to Livingston County, N. Y., and, settling near Mt. Morris, engaged in general farming. He was especially interested in raising broom corn, from which he manufactured brooms, and also in raising


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHIICAL RECORD.


and drying sweet corn, and superintended various mechanical enterprises.


In Livingston County Mr. Sears met and mar- ried Miss Annie Smith, M. D., a graduate of the Woman's Medical College of New York City. In the spring of 1873, he and his wife removed to Circleville, and during the same year built a fac- tory for drying sweet corn, and a few years later erceted the canning establishment which is now the largest and one of the most successful enter- prises of the kind in the State, and one of the three largest in the United States. Two engines are in constant use from June to November, and be- tween three and four hundred employes are given work. All the modern improvements and machinery are to be found in this estab- lishment, and everything is conducted with sys- tem and dispatch. The drying house is 60x150 feet in dimensions; the packing house is large, two stories in height, and all the other buildings for stor- age are commodious and conveniently arranged. The details of all this business were superintended by our subject. In 1882, Mr. and Mrs. Sears erected a canning factory in Three Rivers, St. Joseph County, Mich., which they have operated since that time.


A man of great energy, promptness and reliabil- ity, whose word was always considered as good as his bond, Mr. Sears was a splendid addition to the citizenship of Circleville. Ile possessed great versatility of talent, was an able writer and a prompt and eloquent speaker. He was a publie-spirited, upright citizen, and a humanitarian, using his tal- ents and means freely for the uplifting of society and humanity in general. A thorough temperance advocate, he did much for the advancement of that cause, and was an active member of the In- dependent Order of Good Templars. In politics, he was a stanch Republican. In religious matters, he was educated in the Quaker principles, but was no stickler for creeds, forms or ceremonies, be- lieving firmly in a practical daily Christian life as taught and lived by Jesus. Ile died February 7, 1892, greatly lamented by the entire community where he resided.


Mrs. Annie (Smith) Sears, M. D., was born in Van Buren, Onondaga County, N. Y. Her father


was a native of Greenock, Scotland, and died when she was an infant; her mother passed away when forty-four years old. The latter was the fourth daughter in a family of twelve children, seven daughters and five sons. Her parents were by name Abram and Polly Gillitt, and were natives of Ver- mont. Mrs. Gillitt was a sister of President Fill- more's mother. Mrs. Sears is sole proprietor of the business of C. E. Sears & Co., manufacturers of canned goods, and is a lady whose business acumen is well known, and one who is thoroughly capable of superintending her own affairs. She is a grad- uate of medicine, eclectic in principle, and very successful in practice when she gave her time thereto.


In later years, it was the choice of Mrs. Sears and her husband that she should assist in the business instead of following her profession. Wide-awake and enterprising, she has conducted the entire busi- ness successfully since the death of her husband, and is a woman of independent turn of mind, always doing her own thinking. All the progressive and reform movements of the day find in her a faith- ful friend, and she is identified with the Western Packers' Canned Goods Association. She is a member of the Grand Lodge of Ohio of Good Templars, and at present serves as Chief Templar of her own distriet. In religion, she was reared in the Quaker doctrine, but is no seetarian, believing that Christ's people should all be one, and that without a daily practical Christian life, theories and doctrines are of no avail. In polities, she is a Republican, but believes in the equal rights and privileges of all men and women as being God- given.


W ILLIAM CROMWELL ROW, ex-County Surveyor and Civil Engineer for the State Canal Commission, is a man of education and learning, and well posted in all that pertains to his business. Like many of the most active and enterprising residents of Cireleville, he is a native of Pickaway County, born one mile southeast of Circleville. in Washington Township, on the 25th


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


of September, 1849, and no doubt takes a deeper interest in the welfare of his native place than any stranger could.


Ilis father, Samuel Row, was born in this county (see sketch of Dr. George Row) and followed the occupation of a farmer in Washington Township. On this farm our subject passed his youthful days, and in addition to the common-school education he received in the home district, he attended the High School in Circleville for one year. Being possessed of more than the ordinary degree of learning and good sense, he began teaching school in Washington Township when eighteen years of age, and, meeting with much success in this occu- pation, he continued it for nine years, teaching dur- ing the winter months for the most part. After this, he attended school for three years, during 1869. 1870 and 1871, taking a miscellaneous course. He studied engineering, and worked at this, and also taught school in his native State until 1876. He then became Deputy County Treasurer under John L. Seall, for eighteen months, or until he was elected to the position of County Surveyor, when he resigned.


In the year 1877, he was nominated and elected to the last-mentioned office on the Democratic ticket, and so ably did he discharge the duties of this position, and so well did he meet the require- ments of the people, that he was re-elected in 1880, and again in 1883, and held the office until the Ist of January, 1887. During this time, he was actively engaged in county surveying. In 1890, he was appointed by the Canal Commission as Civil Engineer; has held this position for two years, and during eighteen months of that time he was on the road and traveled all over the State. He does his office work here, and finds time out- side of his regular duties to interest himself in, and extend a helping hand to, all worthy enterprises.


He chose for his life companion Miss Ohve Bennett, a native of Pickaway County, born in Circleville, and their union was celebrated in the year 1879. She is the daughter of A. J. and Sa- rah Bennett, of Columbus, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Row's nnion has been blessed by the birth of five interesting children: Edith, Fayne S., William C. Jr., Leslie, and Helen. Mr. Row has done a great


deal of work for the city since he has held his present position. He laid out a cemetery in Wal- nut Township, this county, and also one in Fair- field County; also an addition to Circleville, and numerous other equally important duties. He as- sisted in organizing the State Association of Sur- veyors and Engineers, and was an active member until 1888, when he withdrew. IIe is a Democrat in politics, and socially is a Knight of Pythias.


C HARLES W. MURPHY, senior member of the firm of Murphy & Darst, editors of the Democratic Daily and Weekly Herald, at Circleville, was born in Bellbrook, Greene County, Ohio, August 20, 1846. Ilis father, John B. Murphy, was also a native of that county, while his grandfather, JJohn C. Murphy, hailed from Ken- tucky, and early in life located near Bellbrook. Ile later went to Cincinnati, where he was engaged in pork-packing from 1830 to 1840, at the end of which time he returned to Greene County and be- came an agriculturist. IFe was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in 1872, after having been successfully engaged for a number of years in cultivating the soil.


The father of our subject was engaged in the drug business in Xenia from 1857 to 1866, when he disposed of his business and removed to Man- kato, Minn., and became a banker and real-estate dealer. He was the resident manager and mem- ber of the Board erecting the State Normal School Building of Mankato, being one of the earliest settlers in that place, locating there before the railroad was built, and was active in all public im- provements. In 1872, he returned to his native State, and departed this life at Xenia. His good wife, who was known in her maidenhood as Miss Rebecca Clark, was born in New York State, and was the daughter of Harry Clark, who later re- moved to Mansfield in the northern part of this State, where he was engaged as a wheelwright and surveyor. Mrs. Murphy is still living and makes her home in the city of Chicago.


Charles W. Murphy was the eldest of three


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


children born to his parents, and received his edu- cation in the public schools at Xenia and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. In 1870, he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which institution he was gradu- ated two years later with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He then removed to Iowa, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Ham- burg. After being thus engaged for two years, he became publisher of the Sidney (Iowa) Union, a weekly paper which he conducted very success- fully for six years, during three years of that time being Postmaster in that city.


In 1881, on account of ill-health, the original of this sketch spent eighteen months in Colorado and New Mexico, then in the fall of 1882 returned to Circleville, formed a partnership with Mr. Darst, and published the weekly Herald. A year later, they started the daily, which now has one of the largest circulations in the county. In 1863, Mr. Murphy enlisted in the Fifth Independent Battal- lion Ohio Cavalry, and later became a member of the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, serving his country for a period of eighteen months and being mustered out as Corporal.


Miss Margaret B. Darst became the wife of our subject June 8, 1876. She was born in Circleville, and by her union with Mr. Murphy has become the mother of two children, viz: Clark D. and Ken- neth. In their church relations, they are Episco- palians.


G 6


W ILLIAM FLEMING. Amid the mutations with which the years in their flight en- compass the changing experiences of man- kind, it becomes the happy fate of but few to pass a long and successful life upon the homestead where first their eyes opened to the light of day. Such has been the fortunate experience of Mr. Fleming, who was born January 31, 1809 upon the farm where he still lives, in Wayne Township, Pickaway County, and who has, during his useful existence of four-score and more years, been closely connected with the development of the county,


growing with its growth, and attaining to personal independence as it gained a solid reputation among other counties of the Buckeye State.


Among the soldiers who during the Revolution fought for liberty, was Capt. Fleming, whose son John was the father of our subject. John Flem- ing was born in Berkeley County, Va., whence he emigrated to Ohio about 1802, and settled in Wayne Township. Some six years after his arrival here, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Moore, who was born in Bourbon County, Ky. Her father, Fer- gus Moore, emigrated from Ireland when a young man, and served five years in the Revolutionary War, and, after his marriage in Pennsylvania, emi- grated to Kentucky, and thence to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he remained for a time. Ile was one of its earliest settlers, and put the first shingles on any building in the village. At that early day two or three families occupied one rude cabin, and kept corn under the bed in order to secrete it from the Indians.


Subsequently, Mr. Moore removed to Wayne Township, Pickaway County, where he purchased a tract of land, and was one of the first settlers. Ilis useful and honorable life was brought to a close in 1806, when he passed from earth to his final rest. He is spoken of to this day as a brave sol- dier during the Revolutionary War, a kind neigh- bor and industrious man. The parents of our sub- ject, after their marriage, made their home in a rude log cabin, surrounded by a dense wilderness, and containing only the absolute necessities of ex- istence. There the father cleared and improved a farm, leaving it only to serve during the War of 1812, and when he reached the age of sixty four years, in 1844, he was called hence by death. Ilis widow survived until 1866, when she died at the age of seventy-five. They were worthy people, sincere Christians, and interested in measures of public importance, he having served as one of the first Trustees of the township, and being in other ways identified with its progress.


The parental family consisted of eleven chil- dren, three of whom are still living, and the eldest of this large family is William. He was born in a cabin constructed of round logs, and in that prim- itive structure his boyhood days were passed. His


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education was limited to the old-fashioned schools of that time, with rude benches and few text-books, and he also aided in the clearing of the farm.


July 22, 1832, Mr. Fleming was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Sullivan, who was born in Pickaway County, January 11, 1812, and was the daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Atchison) Sullivan, natives, respectively, of Delaware and Virginia. After his marriage, Mr. Fleming continued to re- side on the old homestead, when he purchased a part of his Grandfather Moore's old homestead, which belonged at the time to his uncle, and there engaged in farming and stock-raising on an exten- sive scale. The original log cabin was replaced with a small brick residence, and that was vacated in 1869, when the family were domiciled in the present commodious brick structure. The estate of one hundred and fifty-six acres is in good cul- tivation, and is still managed by its owner, who, however, no longer engages in the tilling of the soil. At an early day, he bought and sold cattle, owning some of the best grades ever brought into the county, and was accustomed to drive them to Philadelphia, where they were sold.


Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Flem- ing, namely: Sarah, wife of James H. Anderson, a pioneer of Wayne Township; John S., who is mar- ried, and lives near the old homestead; Mary, who married John Neff, and resides in Jackson Town- ship; William, whose home is in San Francisco; and Samuel, who died when eighteen years old. For sixty years, some of it in sunshine and some in shadow, Mr. Fleming and his estimable wife have lived in happy wedded life, and now side by side are passing through that dim and twilight path, beyond whose lengthening shadows gleams the brightness of eternity.


For a half-century or more, Mr. Fleming has · been connected with the public affairs of Wayne Township, and now has in his possession the book kept by the first Treasurer of the township. A stanch Democrat, he cast his first vote for Gen. Jackson, and has served in positions of honor and trust. During war times, he was County Commis- sioner, serving six years. When he shall have served his present term, he will complete his fiftieth year as Treasurer of Wayne Township. He has


served as Justice of the Peace for thirty-three years, and during his administration, has performed many marriage ceremonies, tried a great many suits, and transacted a large amount of business. In all cases brought before him, he endeavors to effect an amicable settlement, rather than encour- age a suit.


ERCIVAL S. COLLINS. It is not "luck" that makes one fail and another succeed. It is not "fickle fortune" that brings clouds of adversity and difficulty upon one, while another has smooth and easy sailing; but it is careful, conscientious, thoughtful purpose, business tact, and command of resources that en- able one to advance where another can make but little headway. Mr. Collins is endowed with these fortunate qualifications, besides possessing more than ordinary public spirit and enterprise, and enjoys to an eminent degree the confidence of social and commercial circles.


The citizens of Washington C. II. are well ac- quainted with Mr. Collins, whose drug store has been located on the corner of Fayette and Court Streets since 1817, with the exception of one year. He is one of the pioneer druggists of the city and, with two exceptions, his drug store is the oldest in the place. Throughout the long period in which he has been thus engaged, he has maintained the esteem of his fellow-citizens, who have always found him reliable in his dealings and courteous in manner. In addition to the drug business, he devotes considerable attention to veterinary sur- gery, in which he has been successful.


Born in Cabell County, W. Va., November 28, 1829, our subject is the son of Patrick and Hannah (Griffith) Collins, natives of Christiansburgh, Va. He was about eight years old when he accompanied his parents to Jamestown, Ohio, where his father resided on a farm until his death, when about ninety-one years old. Our subject was reared on the old homestead, and in his youth learned the trade of a tailor, although he never followed it. For two years, he read materia medica, after which


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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.


he studied veterinary medicine. He began to practice with Dr. Winans, of Jamestown, but soon after, in 1847, removed to Washington C. H., where he has since carried on his profession and also engaged in the drug business.


Ever maintaining a close interest in the publie affairs of the community, Mr. Collins has served as Deputy Sheriff for two years, was City Marshal for four years and a member of the City Council for seven and one-half years. He is probably as well known as any citizen of Washington C. H., and is one of the most successful auctioneers in the State, having made some of the largest horse sales ever made in Ohio, Indiana and adjoining States. At a commission of one per cent, he has made as much as $156 in one day.


Mr. Collins erected a commodious residence on East Market Street, where he has resided for many years. Within this pleasant home he and his wife are wont to entertain their friends with a charm- ing hospitality which endears them to their guests. Mrs. Collins was, formerly, Miss Eliza P. Grubbs, and became the wife of our subject, February 10, 1850. She is a cultured lady and is highly es- teemed in the social circles of Washington C. H. Socially, Mr. Collins is identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows as one of its most prominent members.


S TEPHEN WATSON, President of the Madi- son National Bank of London, and Vice- president of the London Exchange Bank, and one of the largest land-holders of the county, has long been prominent in the business world of this section of the State as a financier and capitalist of exceptional ability, whose liberal and progressive spirit has been potent in advancing the material welfare of city and county, and his influence being felt in all that pertains to the higher interests of the community.




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