USA > Ohio > Knox County > The Biographical record of Knox County, Ohio : to which is added an elaborate compendium of national biography > Part 16
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Mr. Brown was born in county Cork, Ireland, on the 15th of November, 1831, and was reared on a farm in his native land. In 1856, in company with his parents, he left the land of his birth, and on a sailing vessel crossed the broad Atlantic to the new . world, spending thirty-nine days on the voy- age. After their arrival here the family lo- cated in Clermont county, Ohio, where our subject was engaged at farm labor by the month for the following six years. On the expiration of that period he located in Col- lege township, Knox county, where he pur- chased twenty acres of land and immedi- ately set about the task of making a home. He cleared and improved his land, and thereon erected a small log cabin, but in 1865 he sold that place and purchased fifty-eight acres of partially improved land in Pleasant township, remaining there until 1894. In that year he came to his present homestead, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of land, all of which is under a fine state of cultivation, improved with good and substantial buildings and everything about the place indicates the care and super- vision of a practical and progressive owner. The marriage of Mr. Brown was celebrated on the 3Ist of March, 1861, when Mary
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OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.
Clark became his wife. Seven children have brightened and blessed their home, namely : Mary E., who is still with her parents; Martha J., the wife of John R. Seymour, of Monroe township, Knox county ; John T., a member of the firm of Brown Brothers, prominent liverymen of Gambier; Clark G., who is engaged in business with his brother John ; Margaret C., deceased; Alice, who is conducting a millinery store in Mount Ver- non ; and Joseph H., at home. The Democ- racy receives Mr. Brown's hearty support and co-operation, and religiously he is a member of the Episcopal church. His course in life has ever been such as to command the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact, and he justly merits the high regard in which he is held by his fellow men.
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PERRY ROOF.
One of the boys in blue of the Civil war and at all times a loyal citizen, true to the interests of county, state and nation, Perry Roof is numbered among the representative farmers of Knox county. The Roof family was one of the first founded in this locality, and its members took an active part in its development through the pioneer epoch in its history. Our subject's grandfather, Jacob Roof, was a native of the Old Do- minion, but in a very early day he came to Knox county, where he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits in Union township. He was of German descent.
Jacob Roof, Jr., the father of our sub- ject, was born in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia. When a young man he left the place of his nativity and came to the Buckeye
state, locating at Danville, Knox county. Shortly afterward he entered the land on which our subject now resides, which was then covered with a dense growth of timber, but he immediately began the arduous task of clearing his place, erected a small log cabin, and soon his fields were made to pro- duce abundant harvests. He spent the re- mainder of his life on this farm, passing away at the age of seventy-seven years. In political matters he was first a Whig, but after the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks and was ever after- ward a loyal supporter of its principles. Mr. Roof was married at Danville, Ohio, to Miss Mary Baker, who was born in the Keystone state, but she, too, was numbered among the early pioneers of Knox county, whither her parents removed when she was a small child. She reached the age of seventy-six years. This worthy couple became the par- ents of ten children, seven of whom grew to years of maturity, and Mr. Roof, of this review, was the seventh child in order of birth.
During his boyhood days he attended the log school house near his home, and in early years he was also taught the value of indus- try and honesty as a preparation for the active duties of life. When the trouble be- tween the north and the south threw the country into civil war Mr. Roof nobly put aside all personal considerations and offered his services as a defender of the starry ban- ner, enlisting in Company E, Sixty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in October, 1862. During his military career he took part in many of the hard-fought battles of the war, including that of Murfreesboro, and during that t'me he was never seriously wounded. Receiving his discharge at Hillsboro, Ten-
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A CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
nessee, he returned to his home with an hon- orable military record, and at once took up the quiet pursuits of the farm. He has spent his entire life upon the old homestead which his father entered, and the place now consists of one hundred and twenty acres, all of which is under an excellent state of cul- tivation and contains all the accessories and improvements necessary for a well regulated farm. Mr. Roof's social relations connect him with the Patrons of Husbandry, and with Leroy Baker Post, G. A. R., of Dan- ville, in which he maintains pleasant rela- tions with his old army comrades of the blue.
ISAAC EARLYWINE.
The subject of this sketch is of that sterling old Pennsylvania stock, which in every state in the Union has made for edu- cation, commercial and financial advance- ment. Adam Earlywine, his father, a native of the Keystone state, married Susan Wolfe, also of Pennsylvania nativity, and she bore him eight children. Not long after their marriage they came to Knox county, Ohio, and located in Jackson township on the farm now owned by their son, Isaac Earlywine, and on which he was born August 5, 1818. The elder Earlywine cleared land and put it under cultivation and improved it until it was a profitable agricultural property. He served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812 and was a man of influence in the community, and he and his wife were com- municants of the Presbyterian church.
Isaac Earlywine early became familiar with all the details of clearing and improv- ing land and carrying on successful farm-
ing, and during all his younger years was a valuable assistant to his father. In 1840 he married Miss Lizzie Nichols, a daughter of Thomas and Susan ( Hendricks ) Nichols, who were natives of he Old Dominion and were well-to-do farmers. Mr. Nichols was also a soldier in the war of 1812. His wife bore him eight children, of whom Mrs. Ear- lywine was the second in order of nativity. By his marriage with Miss Nichols, who was brought to Knox county when she was nine years old, Mr. Earlywine has had four children, who were named as follows in the order of their birth : Susan M., Lizzie Ann, Thomas J. and Mary D., but the last men- tioned is now deceased. Susan M. is the wife of Robert Voost, of Harrison town- ship; Lizzie A. is the wife of Jackson Mc- Cament, of Clay county ; and Thomas J. married Mary Hallabaugh, and operates the old farm.
Politically Mr. Earlywine is a Democrat and he wields considerable influence in his township, which he served as township trus- tee five years. He has also been entrusted with other public responsibilities, and in his capacity as private counsellor is frequently called upon to give advice in much business of importance. He is a progressive man and a friend to public education, and his fellow citizens have come to know that his public spirit is equal to all reasonable demands upon it.
JOSEPH CRITCHFIELD.
Joseph Critchfield, the efficient and pop- ular postmaster of Howard, is one of the leading and representative citizens of his lo- cality. He was born in Howard township,
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OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.
Knox county, Ohio, on the IIth of October, 1838, a son of Lewis Critchfield, also a na- tive of this county. The latter's father, Joseph Critchfield, claimed Pennsylvania as the state of his nativity, and after his mar- riage he and his wife made the journey from that state to Ohio on horseback, locating in the dense woods of Howard township, Knox county. They made their home for many years on the farm now owned by Daniel McGuigan, Jr., and Mr. Critchfield was sub- sequently killed by a horse. His son, Lewis C., the father of our subject, was reared to years of maturity on his father's farm, and upon taking up the active duties of life on his own account he chose the occupation to which he had been reared, and throughout his active business career he followed the tilling of the soil in Knox county. His life's labors were ended in death when he had reached the age of seventy-seven years. In early life he gave his political support to the Whig party, but after the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks and was ever afterward a loyal supporter of its principles. He held membership in the Christian church, in which he took an active and helpful interest, having greatly assisted in the organization of the church at Mil- wood, and for many years he was an officer therein. For his wife he chose Mary J. Dawson, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but when a young lady she accompanied her parents on their removal to Knox county, Ohio, and her death occurred when she had reached the age of sixty-six years. Her father, Dr. John Dawson, followed the tilling of the soil in the Keystone state and was also a physician by profession, following both oc- cupations after his removal to Howard town-
ship. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Critch- field was blessed with a family of six chil- dren, of which our subject was the eldest in order of birth. Two of the number died in infancy, and a son, John Dawson Critch- field, who was a prominent attorney of Mount Vernon, was called to his final rest in 1900. The two surviving daughters are: Elenor, the wife of Matthew Welsh, of Howard; and Mary J., the wife of J. Thorn- ton Whitworth, a prominent farmer of Mon- roe Mills.
Joseph Critchfield, whose name intro- duces this review, has spent his entire life in the place of his nativity, and the educational privileges which he enjoyed in his youth were those afforded by the log school house of his neighborhood. In October, 1861, in response to his country's call for aid, he en- listed as a private in Company A, Sixty- fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in Jan- uary, 1863, he was made a musician of his regiment, serving in that position until the close of the war. His military career cov- ered a period of four years, two months and eighteen days, and during that time he par- ticipated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and many others equally important. On the Ist of January, 1864, he veteranized at Blain's Cross Roads, in East Tennessee, and on the following March he received a thirty days furlough, but during his stay at home he was sick with the measles. Re- joining his command on the 5th of April, he took part in the battles of Jonesborough, Spring Hill, Franklin, and in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign. During his entire career as a soldier he was never wounded or captured, but he suffered greatly from sick- ness, and at the close of hostilities, on the
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26th of December, 1865, he received an hon- orable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, retiring from the service with the rank of first lieu- tenant.
Returning to his home in Knox county, Mr. Critchfield was for a time engaged in mercantile pursuits with his father-in-law, Jonathan Hammond, which relationship was maintained for seven years, on the expira- tion of which period our subject sold his interest to his partner and for the following nine years was engaged in farming in Union township. He then took up his abode in Lan- caster, Fairfield county, Ohio, where he made his home until October, 1883, when he came to Howard and again turned his at- tention to mercantile pursuits, in partner- ship with Eli Wolfe, thus continuing for about ten years. Mr. Critchfield then sold his interest to his partner, since which time he has been engaged in superintending his farm of one hundred and eighty-two acres in Howard township, located one and a half miles southeast of the village of Howard.
In 1864, during his absence from the army on his thirty days' furlough, our sub- ject was united in marriage to Mary E. Hammond, who was born in Knox county, Ohio, a daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Lybarger) Hammond. Two daughters have been born unto this union,-Lulu, the wife of George A. Cheney, station agent for the Chicago, Akron & Columbus Railroad at Mount Vernon ; and Keturah, the wife of Charles Cheney, who is engaged in the livery business in Danville, Ohio. The Repub- lican party receives Mr. Critchfield's active support and co-operation, and during Presi- dent Harrison's administration he was ap- pointed to the office of postmaster of How- ard and was reappointed in 1901, by Presi-
dent Mckinley. In LeRoy Baker Post, G. A. R., he maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades, and of the Methodist Episcopal church he is « worthy and hon- ored member.
JUDSON ROBERT DRAKE.
The efforts that lead to success have been manifest in the business career of J. R. Drake, who is an enterprising farmer in Howard township. He was born in this township October 20, 1867. His grandfa- ther, Dr. George Drake, came to Knox coun- ty in 1847, and here devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. Smith Drake, the fa- ther of our subject, was a native of Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, and in the year 1847 took up his abode in Howard town- ship, Knox county, upon the farni where his son, J. R. Drake, now resides. He erected one of the first sawmills in the township and furnished much of the lumber used in build- ing bridges in the early days. Throughout his entire life he.conducted a sawmill, and his business record was one of strict hon- esty and fair dealing. In his political views he was a Republican and religiously was con- nected with the Jelloway Christian church, taking an active part in its work. He held a number of offices in the church, contribut- ing generously to its support and did all in his power for the cause of Christianity. He married Florence McNutt, a native of Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, and a daugh- ter of Robert MeNutt, who was also born in the Keystone state and died in Knox county, Ohio, about 1883. The father of our subject died at the age of sixty-five years
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OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.
and his wife passed away at the age of six- ty-seven. They had three sons and three daughters, all of whom reached mature years.
J. R. Drake is the fifth member and sec- ond son in the family. His childhood days were passed upon the farm, and in the prim- itive schools of the neighborhood he pursued his education, which was supplemented by study in the Danville high school and by one year's course in Hiram College. Much of his life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, but for four years he was associ- ated with Barbar & Company, wholesale grocers of Mount Vernon. He remained in the house for three years and then went upon the road as a traveling salesman, continuing in that service for one year. With this exception he has always followed farming, and to-day he is the owner of one hundred acres of valuable land, rich and arable and well improved, and which was a part of the Drake homestead. He also has other business interests, being part owner in a grocery store at Zuch and also in the Zuch flouring mill. He possesses excellent busi- ness ability, strong judgment and keen dis- crimination, and his untiring industry, sup- plemented by the qualities just mentioned, have made him quite successful.
March 3, 1892, occurred the marriage of Mr. Drake and Miss Bertha Johnson, a na- tive of Pike township, Knox county. Her parents, Marshall and Mary Johnson, died when she was about a year old, and she was then reared by her grandparents, B. C. and Esther (Pealer) Harris. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Drake has been blessed with one son, Gordon. Our subject and his wife have a wide acquaintance in the county and enjoy the high regard of many friends. He
is a stalwart Republican, unswerving in his advocacy of the principles of the party and at one time served as justice of the peace in Howard township. He is an exemplary member of Mount Zion Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M., of Mount Vernon, is also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and belongs to the Christian church of Jello- way. His salient characteristics are his en- ergy and straightforward methods in busi- ness, his co-operation with all measures which he believes of public benefit, his loy- alty in citizenship and his fidelity to every duty.
BENJAMIN SMITH.
The late lamented citizen of Morgan township, Knox county, Ohio, whose hon- ored name appears above, has a place in his- tory as the man who entered the last one- hundred-and-twenty-five-acre tract of gov- ernment land in that township, and as one who lived longer within the borders of the township than any other of its citizens.
Benjamin Smith, son of James Harring- ton and Martha (Davis) Smith, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, January 27, 1807, and was brought by his parents to Knox county, Ohio, in 1811. Such educa- tion as was available to him he acquired near his home in an old log school house with slab, seats and benches, and a big fireplace and greased-paper windows, and entirely desti- tute of anything like a floor. He was brought up to farming and lived in the township continuously from 1811 until his death, March 9, 1900, during the long period of eighty-nine years. He improved his farm and added to its acreage until it comprised
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A CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
one hundred and forty-six acres. In early life he was a Whig and later he was a Re- publican, and he was influential in local af- fairs, and was frequently called to places of trust and responsibility, though he was in no sense an office-seeker. He was a devout and consistent member of the Baptist church, always generously helpful to its various in- terests.
Mr. Smith married Sarah Brown Jan- uary 17, 1833. Mrs. Smith, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, March 4, 1809, bore her husband two daughters: Martha Jane, who was born March 31, 1834, and died unmarried in 1855; and Sarah Ann, who was born October 19, 1836, on the farm on which she now lives and which she successfully manages.
HON. ANTHONY BANNING.
In pioneer days Anthony Banning came to Ohio and was actively identified with the development and improvement of this sec- tion of the state when it was a frontier region. He was associated with agricultural and industrial interests and was also active in promoting the intellectual and moral growth of the community. He was born in Talbott county, Maryland, May 13, 1768, and his full name was James Mansfield Anthony Banning. He was the only son of James Banning, a landed proprietor of large influence in that locality. The only sister of our subject became the wife of Benjamin Chew, a most intimate friend and associate of George Washington. He be- came chief justice of the state of Pennsyl- vania and resided in Philadelphia.
When our subject was quite young his father died, and his uncle, Henry Banning, a sea captain, became his guardian. He took him on several sea voyages and pro- vided him with good educational privileges, intending him for the priesthood, for the family were Catholics, but in his fourteenth year Anthony Banning left the church of his fathers and joined the Methodist church, a course which cut him off from his own people, who regarded him as lost on account of his abandonment of the Romish church. However, a long life of usefulness lay before him, and he accomplished great good in the world. At the age of eighteen he began preaching as a circuit rider in Greenbriar county and the mountainous districts of Vir- ginia, and his zeal and earnestness in pre- senting the cause of Christianity gained to his Master's cause many followers.
Mr. Banning was married, July 30, 1791, to Mrs. Sarah Pierce, a daughter of Jacob Murphy, who became one of the first settlers of Redstone, Pennsylvania, near Uniontown. She was born on the eastern shore of Maryland and was reared near El- licotts Mills, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Ban- ning became the parents of eight children. Sarah married Daniel S. Norton, and re- sided in Knox county. Jacob M. wedded Miss Sophia Zimmerman, daughter of Gott- lieb Zimmerman, of Mount Vernon. With her children she removed to Hardin county, and one of her family is now in Los Ange- les, California. Rachel became the wife of Rev. Elnathan Raymond and their daughter, Mrs. George K. Norton, is living in Mount Vernon. James S. has a son who is repre- sented on another page of this work. Mary became the wife of a Mr. Caswell. Betsy married a Mr. Bronson, of Mount Vernon.
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OF KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.
Priscilla, who was born May 1, 1801, was married to Sewell Gray, of Massachusetts, whose birth occurred April 9, 1806. He died at Mount Vernon in May, 1862, and her death occurred in 1891. Anthony Banning, the youngest of the family, married Jane Dudley, of Mount Vernon, and their chil- dren are William B. and Frank Banning and Mrs. Errett, of Mount Vernon.
In 1791 Anthony Banning was ordained to the Methodist ministry by Bishop Asbury. While residing in Pennsylvania, near Mount Braddock and Connelsville, he engaged in preaching in those places, also conducted a tan yard and a general store. He like- wise served as justice of the peace from 1791 until 1799, and was a prominent fac- tor in the business, political and moral life of the community. Between 1808 and 1812 he made several trips up the Muskingum river with goods, and on some of these trips purchased land in Knox county, whither he removed in 1812. He traded tanned leather and saddlery goods to Samuel Kratzer for an interest in the site of Mount Vernon, and during the long period of his residence in this city he engaged in many pursuits, pros- pering in all, for he was a man of marked enterprise, determination and business abil- ity. He conducted general stores at Mount Vernon, Tymochtree and Danville, and was the proprietor of a mill at Clinton, also con- ducted a tan yard and extensively engaged in farming. Though his business pursuits were so extensive and varied he yet found time to devote to his Christian work, and was much of the time engaged in preaching on Sundays and at all times exerted his in- fluence, which was strongly felt in behalf of the moral advancement of the community in which he made his home. His political sup-
port was given the Whig party, and he served as associate justice of the county from 1827 until 1834. He was active in every movement for the benefit of the county and town, and was the promoter of many meas- ures for the general good. He built a church upon his own land just at the time Bishop Purcell was denied the use of all the other churches, whereon Mr. Banning placed his at the disposal of the Catholics, and the first Catholic sermon delivered in Mount Vernon was in the Banning church, as it was called. He held to his own religious views tenaci- ously, but accorded to others the same priv- ilege. In the month of February, 1844, Judge Banning was accidentally drowned while crossing the ice west of Mount Ver- non while going to his farm. He was hon- est and conscientious, resolute yet liberal, and was most kind-hearted and generous. Knox county profited by his citizenship, and the world is better for his having lived.
ELISHA WORKMAN.
Many are the representative farmers of Knox county who have spent their entire lives in this portion of the state, a fact which indicates unmistakably the excellence of the country and the advantages offered to its citizens. Among this number is Mr. Work- man, who was born in Brown township, December 17, 1849, being the fourth son and sixth child of the Rev. John J. and Lucretia (De Witt) Workman. His childhood and youth were passed upon the home farm, and the district schools of the neighborhood af- forded him his educational privileges. Through the summer months he worked in
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A CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
the fields and thus became familiar with farm labor in all of its departments. He re- mained with his parents until his marriage, which important event in his life was cele- brated June 12, 1878, the lady of his choice being Mary C. Pryor, a native of Brown township, and a daughter of Hammond and Elizabeth (Lydic) Pryor, who came from Belmont county, Ohio, to Knox county, the ancestry, however, being Irish. Mrs. Work- man is the eldest daughter in her parents' family, and the second among nine children, all of whom were born in this county. She was reared in Brown township and educated in the district schools. After their marriage our subject and his wife began their domes- tic life on the old homestead where they still reside, and their union has been blessed with three children : Charlie H., who died at the age of one year and five days; Ada G. and Ora D., both at home.
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