USA > Ohio > Hardin County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 27
USA > Ohio > Marion County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 27
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RANK D. BAIN, M. D., who stands at the head of his profession in Hardin County, is a native of this state, and was born in Ken- ton, where lie at present makes his home, August 24, 1850. His father, Judge James Bain, born in 1817, in Greene County, Ohio, came to Kenton two years prior to our subject's birth, and here was an attorney of admitted ability.
James Bain served for some years as Probate Judge of Hardin County, and was a member of the first Board of Education in this portion of the state. He was an influential member of the
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United Presbyterian Church, and in the denomin- ation at Kenton was Elder for many years. He departed this life in 1879. His father, who also bore the name of James, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and served as a soldier during the War of 1812. He moved in early life to Greene County, Ohio, and was classed among the well-to-do pio- neers of that section.
The mother of Dr. Bain was prior to her mar- riage known as Miss Jane McBride. She died in 1857, when Frank D. was a lad of seven years. The following year his father was again married, the lady on this occasion being Mrs. Winget Dodds, who was born in Delaware County, this state, in 1819. She came to Kenton in the year 1837, and since the death of her husband has made her home with the Doctor. She has now passed the age of threescore years and ten, and is as bright and happy as many who are only half that age. Having been a resident of this place for over fifty years, she has seen Kenton grow from a hamlet of one hundred inhabitants to a thriving city of eight thousand people, and can relate inany an interesting tale of life in the early days. She has been a devout member of the United Presbyterian Church all her life, and de- votes much of her time to Christian work in her neighborhood.
Our subject has two brothers. Rev. Henry Bain, a prominent Presbyterian minister, located at Pittsburg, Pa., where he has been pastor of a church for a quarter of a century, is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, in the Key- stone State, and received a diploma from the Western Theological College of Pittsburg. The church over which he is presiding at the present time has had but four pastors during one hundred years. Henry Bain was a private in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio Infantry during the Civil War, and with his regiment participated in many well known engagements. The other brother of our subject is Charles. He, too, served his country in the late war, being on the field of battle during that entire period, as a mem- ber of the Second Ohio Heavy Artillery. He is now living in Jasper County, Ill., where he is engaged in cultivating a valuable tract of land.
The Doctor also has two sisters: Mary B. Miller, who is in charge of the Pittsburg (Pa. ) Hospital for Children, and Mrs. Nelson Robinson, whose husband is a tile manufacturer of Kenton.
Our subject received his literary education in' the common schools of his native city, and when only thirteen years of age went into a drug store as clerk. He continued in that capacity for five years, when he took up the study of medicine un- der the instruction of the late Dr. W. H. Philips. In 1872, after attending lectures at the Bellevue Medical College of New York, he was graduated therefrom, and then spent one year in the East, after which he returned to Kenton and entered into partnership with his former preceptor. This connection existed for two years, when our sub- ject practiced alone near Pittsburg, Pa., for three years. In 1879, on the death of his father, he returned to this city and has been in active prac- tice here ever since.
Dr. Bain was for several years physician to the County Infirmary, and at the present time is Sec- retary of the Board of Health, with which he has been connected ever since its organization. He has also been Surgeon for the Cincinnati & Fast- ern, the Toledo & Ohio Central, and the Big Four Railroad Companies for many years, and has acted in the same capacity for the Second Regiment Ohio National Guards.
In 1881 Dr. Bain took a post-graduate course at Rush Medical College of Chicago, six years later entered the Medical College of New York, pur- suing an advanced course of study, and in 1892 was graduated from the Post-Graduate School of London, England. He is a member of the Amer- ican Medical Association, the National Associa- tion of Railroad Surgeons, the Ohio State Medical Society, and the Northwestern Ohio Medical As- sociation, of which he was at one time President. He now holds the office of Vice-President of the Ohio Medical Association. He stands very high in Masonic circles, and is regarded by all to be one of the most skillful surgeons and physicians in the state. The Doctor is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is a stanch supporter of Republican principles.
Dr. Bain was married, September 16, 1875, to
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Miss Kate, daughter of Col. James Purdy, of Mansfield. She died two months after her miar- riage, and June 27, 1877, our subject was mar- ried to Miss Eleanor Armstrong, the daugliter of Wilson Armstrong, of Galion, thiis state.
APT. JAMES W. LOUTHAN, whose home is on section 27, Blanchard Township, Har- din County, won his title and honors in the Civil War, in which he served valiantly for four years and four months. He was elected in 1892, on the Democratic ticket, to be County Commis- sioner, and received a handsome majority, his op- ponent being J. M. Shannon, of this township. At first his associates were J. B. Bailey and R. S. Latham, of McDonald and Goshen Townships, respectively. At present the other Commissioners are Messrs. T. J. Dickinson and Frank Hursh. While the Captain has been a member of the Board the pike roads have been extended, the armory at Kenton erected, and other improve- ments made. As an official he is very popular, and that not only in the ranks of his own party.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Moses Louthan, was a native of Scotland, and his ma- ternal grandfather, John McConnell, was of Irish birth. The Captain's father, Samuel M., was born in Beaver County, Pa., in 1801, and died at the age of eighty-five years, in 1886. By his first union, which was with Susan Grosscross, he had two children. His second wife was Eleanor, a native of Beaver County, Pa., in which state she died. The father later married Mary Ann Fullerton, who is still living on the home farm on section 16, Blanchard Township, where they settled in 1852. Slie bore her husband nine chil- dren, of whom five are living. Samuel Louthan was a carpenter by trade, and politically was a Democrat. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but was prominent in the upbuilding of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this locality. The Captain was born in Beaver County, Pa.,
September 20, 1840. His mother's other chil- dren were John M. and Elizabeth, both of whom are deceased. When nine years of age lie became a resident of this township, and passed liis boy- hood on his father's farin, attending school in tlie : home district and in Kenton. April 20, 1861, on the first call for troops, he enlisted at Sullivan, Ind., in Company I, Seventeenth Indiana In- fantry. He was on his way to the West, and had proceeded that far when his patriotism over -. canie all other considerations, and he tendered his services in defense of the Flag. He was sta- tioned at Indianapolis during the three-months service, but June 12 was regularly mustered in for three years. That summer he was sent to West Virginia, and in the fall was attached to the Army of the Cumberland. He took part in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Shiloh, and all the battles in which his regiment was en- gaged. In the winter of 1862-63 he was under Col. J. T. Wilder, at Murfreesboro, who was in charge of Wilder's Brigade, which was made up of four regiments. That year the Captain had charge of the scouts, but as a non-commissioned officer. In March, 1864, he was made Second Lieutenant by Governor Morton, and June 12 fol- lowing was commissioned Captain, as the regular Captain of Company I had been attached to an- other staff, and the First Lieutenant was inca- pacitated for duty by sickness. About this time Colonel Miller, of the Seventy-second, took charge of this brigade, which was attached to the cavalry commanded by General Wilson, and acted as the regular cavalry. The Captain took charge of a number of scouting parties, and on one of these expeditions, wlien near Columbus, Ga., he cap- tured a rebel officer, Lieutenant Howell, with whom he is now carrying on a correspondence. A warm attachment exists between the two, who hold each other in higli respect. At the time of Johnston's surrender, Captain Louthan was under Wilson's command, and his last service was when efforts were made to capture Jeff Davis at Macon, Ga. He never received a wound, except a slight injury caused by the rebounding of a piece of shell. His final discharge was dated August 19, 1865, at Macon, Ga.
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Returning from the South to Ohio, our subject bought a picce of land, and since that time has been engaged in its cultivation. He has cleared about ciglity acres, and has a well improved place. Fraternally he belongs to the Union Veterans' Union, and was made a member of the Masonic order in 1892, at Dunkirk. Both he and his wife are active members of Harris Chapel, a Method- ist Episcopal Church two miles distant from their home, and the Captain is now serving as one of its Stewards.
December 30, 1866, occurred the marriage of J. W. Louthan and Belinda I. Thomson, who was born September 20, 1845. She is a daughter of James A. and Elizabeth (Hinebangh) Thomson, early settlers of this township, their old home- stead being the one adjoining the farm of our sub- ject. Two children have been born to the Cap- tain and his wife: Ara, who is the wife of Thomas Smith and lives in this neighborhood; and Charles, who is still at home.
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QUIRE COONEY. There can be no higher tribute paid to a man than to say with truth that in the course of a long and useful career he has not only gained a competence for himself, but has also maintained the highest regard of his fellow-men. Such may with justice be said of the subject of this sketch, who is one of Hardin County's most honored citizens. For many years he has made his home on section 12, Marion Township, where he owns a farm consisting of five hundred and sixteen acres of well improved land.
Referring to the ancestral liistory of the Cooney family, we find that our subject's father, Asa Cooney, was born in Fairfax County, Va., in 1795. In an early day he came to Ohio, where he settled in Ross County, removing from there to Champaign County, and in the spring of 1841
coming to Hardin County. Until his death, Oc- tober 9, 1876, he continued to reside on section . 12, Marion Township, where he owned an eighty- acre farmi. This was the largest number of acres he ever owned, and the large holdings now owned by his sons have been accumulated through their personal efforts.
The marriage of Asa Cooney and Nancy Ann McCauley took place in Union County, Ohio, in 1825, and resulted in the birth of eight children, namely: James; Squire; June, wife of H. H. Wil- son; John, who is a resident of Grand Rapids, Iowa; Amanda L., deceased; Lucinda, who lias been married three times and is now the wife of Harvey Mathews; William; and Evaline, wife of Lewis Oldecker.
The subject of this sketch was born in Union Township, Champaign County, Ohio, August 15, 1827. He attended school in Champaign and Hardin Counties, continuing his studies, though at irregular intervals, until twenty-one years of age. About one year after attaining his majority he began in the world for himself, his first work being in the employ of James Gray, who paid him $13 a month. He and his brother James frequently took jobs of "grubbing" by the acre, and splitting rails by the hundred. Much of the winter season was devoted to hunting, and in this way were secured valuable furs, which were sold to people in this locality. Besides this they also bought and sold furs.
In 1854 Mr. Cooncy bought an undivided share in an estate, and the eighty-one acres set off to him form a part of his present homestead. Of the original tract about fifteen acres had been cleared, but the remainder was in the primeval condition of nature. In the fall of 1856 he built a log cabin, and to this home he brought his bride the following year. While he had very little of this world's goods, he had a sufficient amount to enable him to begin housekeeping without incurring an indebtedness. It has always been his aim to avoid debt, and the $100 which he borrowed at the time of purchasing his first piece of land is the largest sum and the last he has owed in the course of a long and successful career. By frugality and energy he has added
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to his original tract, until liis landed possessions now aggregate about five hundred and sixteen acres.
June 27, 1857, occurred the marriage of Mr. Cooney and Miss Eliza J. Given, the daughter of Alexander and Mary (Campbell) Given, of whom mention is elsewhere made. Her paternal grand- parents were William and Jane (Mahan) Given, natives, respectively, of Maryland and Virginia. Her father is one of the oldest surviving settlers of Hardin County, to which he came in April, 1830. She was born in McDonald Township, January 6, 1837, and is one of three children, the others being Mary H., wife of T. J. McDonald, and Frank. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cooney have been born four children, one of whom died in in- fancy. The others are Mary C .; Spencer H. ; and Vallie J., wife of F. G. Hursh, living on section 12, Marion Township. In politics Mr. Cooney has always been a stanch Republican. He was at one time elected a Justice of the Peace, but re- fused to qualify for some months, being, how- ever, finally prevailed upon to accept the position. Some years ago he served as School Director and Road Supervisor, which position he filled with credit to himself.
ATTHEW G. MILLER. For many years Mr. Miller has made his home in Bowling Green Township, Marion County, where he is the owner of a valuable farm, including one hundred and eight acres. In youth he became thoroughly familiar with the occupation of his ancestors, that of agriculture, and this he has followed for liis life work. As a farmer he is care- ful, persevering and industrious, and his success is largely due to the exercise of these qualities, combined with sound judgment. He is a veteran of the Civil War, in which he took an active part, rendering valiant service in defense of the Old Flag.
A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Miller was born
in Cumberland County, May 16,. 1839, and he and his twin sister, Margaret, were the eldest of the six children born to John and Hannah ( Gel- bin ) Miller. Margaret is the wife of David Judy, of Peru, W. Va .; Hannah, the next younger, died at the age of forty-five years; George passed away in infancy; Kerrenhappuch is the wife of Frank M. Bain, of Ann Arbor, Mich .; and John, the youngest of the family, died when about forty years old.
Born, reared and married in Cumberland Coun- ty, Pa., our subject's father removed thence to Ohio in 1847, and purchased a farm in Montgom- ery Township, Marion County, where he re- mained until his death, in 1883, at sixty-eight years of age. He was a man of influence in his locality and served for a time as Trustee of his township. His parents were born in Pennsyl- vania, and were of German extraction. The lady whom he married was a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1807, and of German descent. She died on the old homestead when seventy-one years old.
No event of special importance marked the life of Mr. Miller until the outbreak of the Rebellion. when, fired with a spirit of patriotismi, he en- listed, November 14, 1861, as a member of Com- pany G, Eighty-second Ohio Infantry, and served with that regiment until the close of the war. The period of his enlistment was three years, but he re-enlisted at the expiration of that time, and continued in active service until he was taken prisoner. Among the battles in which he par- ticipated were those of Gettysburg, Chancellors- ville, Bull Run, Cross Keys and Peach Tree Creek. In the first-named engagement, July 1, 1863, he was shot through the right hip and was taken to a hospital, where he remained until the 15th of the month. He was then removed to the hospital at Harrisburg, where he was confined a couple of months. From there he was taken to Columbus, Ohio, where he remained until the Ist of December, and then rejoined his regiment at the front. In the battle of Bentonville, N. C., March 19, 1865, he was captured by the enemy and thrown into Libby Prison, but was released soon afterward. He was then ordered to Mary-
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JOHN A. ROGERS, M. D.
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land and from there to Columbus, Ohio, where he received an honorable discharge June 12, 1865.
On returning to Marion County, Mr. Miller purchased the fain which he now owns, and which has been his home ever since. December . 28, 1865, he married Miss Clara Porter, of this county, an estimable lady, who was his compan- ion and helpmate until her death, June 12, 1889, at fifty-one years of age. Two sons were born of their union, of whom the elder, John Sherman, is a farmer of Marion County, and the younger, Matthew N., is similarly engaged in Paulding County, this state. On the 4th of June, 1890, Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Mrs. Ella E. (Jones) Clark, of Marion County, and they became the parents of two daughters: Lillie D., who died in infancy; and Mabel Fern, a bright and interesting child.
Interested in public matters, Mr. Miller is a stanch Republican in his political views. He has served as Assessor of his township for two terms, and has filled other local offices of trust. Social- ly he is a member of Agosta Lodge No. 451, I. O. O. F., and the Grand Army Post at Agosta. In religious belief he is a Methodist. The valu- able property which he has accumulated repre- sents the hard toil of many years, and he is just- ly worthy of the high degree of success he has gained.
OHN A. ROGERS, M. D. In the fall of 1843 Dr. Rogers came to Kenton and opened an office for the practice of the medical pro- fession, becoming the first physician of the place. From that time to this, he has been prominently identified with the history of this now thriving city, the progress of which he has promoted in every way possible. A few years after locating here, with the money he had saved meantime, he opened a small drug store, and has since conduct- ed a remunerative and increasing business, being the oldest man in the trade at this point. For
more than half a century he has resided at No. 123 North Main Street, where he has a commodi- ous and cosey home.
Born in Greene County, Ohio, February 27, 1820, Dr. Rogers is the second son of John Rog- ers, who was born in Frederick County, Va., in January, 1796, and in 1817 came to Ohio. There is no anthentic written history of the family, and the information herein contained has been hand- ed down from one generation to the next orally. The grandfather of the Doctor, whose name was John Rogers, was born near Winchester, Freder- ick County, Va., about the middle of the eight- eenth century, on or near the place made famous by General Sheridan in the Civil War. He was a Quaker, and took no active part in the Ameri- can Revolution, whether from Tory proclivities or religious convictions is not known, though probably from the latter, for in all ages the Quak- ers have refrained from active participation in bloody conflicts.
Though the genealogy cannot be traced, there is little doubt that John Rogers, Sr., was a direct descendant of the martyr of the same name. When the Shenandoah Valley was opened for settlement, many of the sturdy Germans from Pennsylvania settled there, and from among them John Rogers took a wife, in the person of Mary Rinker, who was a Lutheran; a prayer- book of that faith was in the family of the father of Dr. Rogers at one time. The children born to John and Mary (Rinker) Rogers were three sons and a daughter, Casper, Evan, Jolin and Eliza- beth. The two former married and remained citizens of Frederick County, Va .; Elizabeth be- came the wife of Henry Woolery, and migrated to Ohio about 1816, settling about 1838 in Auglaize County, five miles east of Wapakoneta, where a number of their descendants still live; they had three sons, Jolin, Herry and Rinker.
The mother of Dr. Rogers was Margaret Her- bert, whose father died when she was an infant, leaving her mother with two small children and no means. She struggled along, supporting then as best she could, but she, too, soon died, leaving them to the charity of strangers. George Herbert, an uncle of our subject, learned the
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blacksmith's trade in early life, and, going to the adjoining county of Frederick, started a little shop in Gainesboro. Being an unmarried man, he sent for his sister to keep house for him, and here it was that she became acquainted with our subject's father, whom she married in 1817. Her brother married Ann McCool, and the two new- ly-wedded couples started across the Alleghany Mountains for the wilds of Ohio, making the journey in an ordinary road wagon.
Arriving at Brownsville, they took passage on a flatboat down the Ohio to West Union, this state, and thence with their team traveled to Greene County, where they settled and remained two years. While residing there, our subject was born. Later they moved to Clarke County and settled near West Charleston, where they re- mained for seven years. Going from there to Champaign County, they purchased the farin that was their home the remainder of their days. The father was engaged as a local Methodist preacher throughout much of his life. He was a man of upright character, and his death, in 1849, was mourned by a large circle of friends. His wife survived him twenty-six years, dying in 1875, aged eighty-five years.
George Herbert, mentioned above, remained in Greene County until 1832, when he sold out, in- tending to remove to Cass County, Mich. After having loaded his household effects in a wagon, he and his family started for the house of a neigh- bor who was to accompany them, but on the way they were stricken with cholera, that scourged the country then. In less than two days he and his wife were dead, leaving seven children: Bev- erly, George, Fay, Gabriel, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Ann and Deborah. The four eldest sons went to Michigan, but a few years later removed to Platte County, Mo., where one, Beverly, died. George Fay removed to Oregon, and Thomas, at last accounts, was in Illinois. The two daughters, at the death of their parents, went to live with our subject's parents, but a few years later joined their brothers in the West. Mitchell, the young- est of the family, was adopted by William John- son, a farmer living three miles southeast of Me- chanicsburg, Champaign County, and there he
remained until eighteen years old, when he start- ed out for himself, and was lost track of by our subject.
The family of which Dr. Rogers is a member consisted of three sons and one daughter. Jacob, who was born in 1818, married, in 1841, Nancy Baxter, daughter of Stephen Baxter, of Mechan- icsburg, Ohio, but formerly from New England. Her mother lived to be more than one hundred years old. Jacob removed his family to Edgar County, Ill., where he still resides. His six chil- dren were John, Obed, Hollie, Nelson, Charles and William; the latter went to Stevens County, Kan., where in 1888 lie was elected County Treas- urer. Our subject's other brother, Russell Bige- low, died at Mechanicsburg, Champaign County. The sister, Margaret, married Jacob S. Adams, a Methodist minister, now of Delaware, Ohio; she died in 1857.
On the home farm our subject grew to man- hood, receiving but a limited common-school ed- ucation. Under the careful training of his par- ents there was instilled in him that noble trait of his Quaker ancestors, honesty, which has been a marked characteristic of his whole life. At the age of twenty he commenced the study of medi- cine under Dr. Abner Cheney, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio. Three years later he was graduated fromi the Ohio Medical College, and at once located in Kenton.
In the fall of 1843 Dr. Rogers married Miss Clarissa E. Knight, then of Champaign, but for- merly of Miami County. Her mother, formerly a Miss Rex, first inarricd James Dye, by whom she had two sons and a daughter, James H., Thomas and Mary. . The first-named, Col. Jamies H. Dye, was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty- sixth Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. Aft- er the death of her husband, Mrs. Dye married Mr. Knight, becoming by that union the mother of two sons and two daughters. Widowed a sec- ond time, she afterwards was married to Stephen Dye, a brother of her first husband. Her death occurred about 1841.
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