USA > Ohio > Highland County > The County of Highland : a history of Highland County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapters on the bench and bar, medical profession educational development, industry and agriculture and biographical sketches > Part 28
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John Crawford Caldwell, a prominent live stock dealer and one of the commissioners of Highland county for several years, comes of a family long identified with the county's industrial development, The founder of the Ohio branch was Crawford Caldwell, a native of Ireland, who was brought across the ocean by his parents when about eight years old. He served as a soldier during the war of 1812 and was among the earliest of the settlers of Ross county. He left a son named Allen, who was born and married in Ross county and lived there some years, but in 1857 transferred his home to Highland county, where he died in 1896. His wife was Eleanor Jane Wine- gar, member of a well known family of Rockbridge county, Virginia, which had representatives in the Scioto valley at what is now called
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"an early day." Mrs. Allen Caldwell, who is still living at Green- field, became the mother of fourteen children, of whom John Craw- ford Caldwell is the oldest. His birth occurred in Ross county, Ohio, in 1839, and there his early training was obtained before the removal of his parents heretofore mentioned. December 31, 1861, he was married to Effie Ann, daughter of William S. Town, deceased, and member of one of the oldest families in Highland county. Mrs. Caldwell died in 1872, leaving four children: Addie, wife of Will- iam Crooks of Highland county ; William A., also of Highland, and James M., of Fayette county ; John S., superintendent of the South- side school in Greenfield. In 1872 Mr. Caldwell took a second wife in the person of Effie Lawson, by whom he has five children: Clara, wife of Fred Marks; Mary, wife of George Conner of Fayette county ; Austie, Donald and Cora, wife of Frank Snarrenberger. Throughout his life Mr. Caldwell has been more or less closely con- nected with the live stock industry, chiefly as a shipper, in which line he has done a large amount of business and become well known to the trade. He finds time also to take part in all the local politi- cal contests in Highland county and has been recognized for years as one of his party's leaders. In 1891 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners and by re-elections held that important position nearly seven years. He is a member of the first Presbyterian church at Greenfield and of the order of Odd Fellows, and is recognized in all the relations of life as a clever man and good citizen.
Lafayette Callaway, of Union township, has worked his way up from poverty to a position as one of the representative farmers of Highland county. On the side of his paternal grandfather, he is of North Carolina origin, John Callaway having come from the old North State to Adams county many years ago and married a widow McCoy, whose son by her first husband was one of the wealthiest men in that part of the state. This marriage resulted in the birth of a son named William, who married Margaret Toler, a native of Ken- tucky, and a few years afterward enlisted in the Sixty-first Ohio regiment, was captured and died a prisoner at Andersonville. His widow, who is living at Mineral Springs, Ohio, was left with five children, of whom three survive. One of the latter is Lafayette Callaway, who was born in Adams county, Ohio, September 19, 1859. So early as his ninth year he was forced to realize that a life of hardship lay before him and that he would be compelled to earn his daily bread by unremitting labor. For eleven years con- secutively he worked by the month and several years for daily wages, but he did not lose heart, persevered and eventually found himself on the road to independence. In 1877 he came to Highland county and in 1887 bought the farm of 62 acres, which he now owns and
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resides on. As a general farmer and successful stockraiser he occu- pies a position in strong contrast to the enforced toil of his earlier years. Mr. Callaway also finds time to help out in the public busi- ness and has served as constable and supervisor in Union township. November 26, 1886, he was married to Sarah E., widow of James Sharp, who has a son by her first husband named James B., and a daughter by Mr. Callaway called Susie. The family attend the Christian church, of which Mrs. Callaway is a member.
Charles Newton Carey, who resides in the village which derives its name from his father and is one of the most progressive citizens of Penn township, is connected both by descent and marriage with strong pioneer families. His grandfather, Samuel Carey, was born in Virginia, December 2, 1785, married Anna McPherson, and in 1834 purchased 100 acres of land where the village of Careytown was subsequently built and named. He died in Clinton county in February, 1878, and his wife December 19, 1866. Jonathan Carey, one of their children, who died February 14, 1873, was the village blacksmith for thirty years, and his son Gurney B. now resides on the old homestead. David McPherson Carey, another of the sons of Samuel, was born in Highland county, May 6, 1822, and subse- quently became one of the leading farmers in Penn township. It was to him the community was indebted for the little village which bears his name and constitutes a convenient center for the transac- tion of neighborhood business. He married Rebecca Hiatt, who was born February 11, 1827, and died January 5, 1887. Her great- grandfather came to Penn township in 1816 and her father, Thomas Hiatt, spent most of his life at Samantha engaged in the milling business. The children of David and Rebecca Carey were Thomas L., Amos H., S. Albert; Annie E., wife of Taylor Hixson; David F .; Hattie E .; wife of Milburn Himiller; Elwood O., James E., Charles N., Matthew, Minnie, Thaddeus L. and Irvin. Charles Newton Carey, who appears ninth in the above list, was born near where he now resides in Highland county, Ohio, March 27, 1859, and grew up to the life of a farmer. At the present time he owns 121 acres of land, which is well improved and equipped with a fine barn, besides the cosy dwelling house in Careytown in which the fam- ily make their home. Mr. Carey was the leading spirit in organiz- ing the Careytown Telephone company, whose lines extend from Leesburg to New Vienna through the first mentioned place and con- stitute an improvement which adds much to the social enjoyments, as well as business convenience of the neighbors. This company opened for business June 15, 1901, with twenty-six subscribers, and now has about eighty regular patrons. Its officers are Charles N. Carey, president ; Henry Sanders, secretary and treasurer ; who, with Joseph Bailey, Thomas H. Smith and R. H. Ockerman constitute
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the board of directors. February 28, 1889, Mr. Carey was married to Cornelia Edwards, descended on both sides of the house from early pioneers who exercised great influence in their respective com- munities. Her great-grandfather, Robert Edwards, was born Decem- ber 28, 1775, married Abigail Barnes, and among his children had a son named after himself. This son was born in Chester county, Pa., June 6, 1803, and married Elizabeth Conard, a native of the same state, with whom he afterward located in Highland county. He died near New Lexington, June 27, 1883, and his wife passed away in 1888 at the age of eighty-six years. Their son, Charles B. Edwards, married Mary, daughter of Gilbert and Anna (Hussey) Holmes, and they became the parents of the following named chil- dren : Anna, wife of Salkeld Larkin; Florence, wife of Elwood Carey ; Horace D., of Penn township; Cornelia, who became Mrs. Charles Newton Carey ; Edgar Holmes, a farmer of Penn township ; Gilbert H., a dentist at Greenfield; Robert Carl, recently returned from twenty-two months' service in the Philippines, where he was promoted to a sergeantcy; Elizabeth, at home; Henry Charles, a teacher in Penn township. Mrs. Carey's mother was reared by her grandfather, Stephen Hussey, who came to Highland county from North Carolina in 1805 and has many descendants. The children of Charles Newton and Cornelia (Edwards) Carey are Ethel, born August 16, 1890; Bernice, born November 19, 1891; Donald M., born December 19, 1893; Ruby and Reba (twins) born January 9, 1896; Ralph, born June 1, 1898; and Helen, born January 27, 1902.
James Beason Carlisle, the efficient and popular superintendent of the Highland county infirmary, is connected with one of the old and substantial families. His grandfather, Rynard Carlisle, was born in Pennsylvania in 1788 and was married in May, 1815, to Ellen Simmons, born in Maryland in 1794. Some years subsequent to their marriage they removed to Highland county, where he died in February, 1851, and she in December, 1873. Their children were James S., born December 7, 1817; Betsey, who married John L. Hughes, of Marshall, in 1840, and died in February, 1901; Sarah, who was married January 20, 1848, to John Lucas of Marshall town- ship; and Siana, married October 5, 1848, to Jonathan Spargur of Marshall. James S. Carlisle, the eldest of the family, was married January 8, 1852, to Emily Jane, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Lowman) Hill, and this union resulted in the birth of ten children. Of these William R. is farming near Carmel church; Hamer H. resides in Xenia, Ohio; Sarah E. is the wife of John Burnett of Marshall; John S. lives at Denton, Tex. ; Nannie V. married J. M. Williams of Mt. Sterling, Ohio; Carrie L. is living with her mother at Marshall; James B. died when two years old; James Beason is
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further mentioned below; Donn W. and Grace D. are at home. James Beason Carlisle was born at Marshall, Highland county, Ohio, April 2, 1870, and received his education in the township schools. After he grew up he was engaged for some years in farming and the life insurance business, which continued until the early months of 1900. March 1st of that year he was appointed by the board of commissioners to the responsible position of superintendent of the Highland county infirmary, a place which he has since filled in a manner entirely acceptable to all concerned. March 3, 1896, he was married to Stella, daughter of Ambrose R. and Nancy Alice (Rob- erts) Setty, scions of old and honored families of Highland county. The Settys, as well as Lewis Roberts, the father of Mrs. Nancy A. Setty, came from Virginia and were among those who earned the honored name of being early settlers of the county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle are Carshall Carter, born January 23, 1897; Grace Genevieve, born July 20, 1898; and H. Beason, born Janu- ary 20, 1901.
Case Brothers .- Isaiah Case, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Greenfield in 1870 and purchased the property known as the Model Mills, built in 1849 by a man named Knox. He conducted the establishment for several years, then sold it and engaged in the planing-mill business. In a short time, however, he resumed charge of the mills and retained control until his death. He married Han- nah Owens, by whom he had a family of four children, consisting of two sons and two daughters. Their names are John W., Charles, Maud and Saturah A., the latter wife of Charles, son of Hon. H. L. Dickey, who is cashier of the Commercial bank. In 1898, under the firm name of Case Brothers, the two sons took charge of the Model Mills. John W. Case, the elder of these brothers, though born in Jackson county, Ohio, was brought to Greenfield when an infant two years old. After finishing school he worked for some time in the mills with Edwin I. Brown and in 1890 entered the Com- mercial bank as individual bookkeeper. He retained this position five years and in 1898, in partnership with his brother, Charles, assumed control of the mill property which they have jointly man- aged since that time. Aside from his business, Mr. Case has been identified in a prominent way with the official and social life of the city. In 1898 he was elected treasurer of Greenfield and held that office four years. He is a member of the First Baptist church and of the order of Odd Fellows.
Wilson Chaney, a substantial farmer of New Market township, has a pioneer ancestry running back to the days when all was still chaos in central Ohio, with a few straggling settlers fighting against great odds the battle of civilization. The great-grandfather came
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from Maryland to Highland county about 1804, bringing with him a son named Amos, who was born in 1786, and inherited the home place in New Market township. Amos followed farming and remained all his life on the property left by his father, being ninety- six years old when he died. Of his ten children, three died in infancy, the others being Amos, Jesse, Charles, Nathan, Sarah and Mary. Charles Chaney, third in age of the family, was born Feb- ruary 6, 1820, and married Catherine, daughter of Samuel and Rachel Lemon of Highland county. They lived continuously on their farm until their respective deaths, the ages recorded on the stones in the New Market cemetery being sixty-six for Mrs. Chaney and eighty years for her husband. Their children were two, a son, and a daughter named Olive J., now wife of John Clark and resid- ing at New Vienna, Ohio. Wilson Chaney, the only son and eld- est child, was born in New Market township, Highland county, Ohio, July 21, 1846. His first marriage was to Elizabeth A. Keys, a native of Highland county, and immediately after this event he located on the farm adjoining the one now constituting his home place. Here, however, he remained only a short time, when his present place was selected as a residence and there he has spent most of his subsequent days. The children by the first marriage are Clin- ton, of Steubenville; Pearl, of New Vienna; Hardin, and Basil, of Perry county. After a residence of ten years, Mr. Chaney removed to Nebraska, where his wife died, and shortly afterward he returned to the old place in Highland county. Some time subsequently he married Sally McAdam, of Ross county, who died about eleven years later. His third matrimonial alliance was with Emma J. Moler, of Highland county, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Moler. By this marriage there has been one child, Leo. Mr. Chaney has served as school director and supervisor, and is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry at Hillsboro. His wife is a member of the Christian church, and the family enjoy the general esteem of their neighbors.
John F. Chaplin, who is descended from an old pioneer family of Highland county, is strictly a selfmade man, as he started with noth- ing and has been the architect of his own fortunes. The family springs from William Chaplin, who was with the advance guard that invaded Highland county in the first decade of the century. He lived to an advanced age and brought up his children in White Oak township, among the number being Jeremiah Chaplin who married Sarah, daughter of John Fouch of Hamer township. In 1852, he moved to Schuyler county, Illinois, where he died in August, 1863, leaving a wife and four children in poor circumstances. In the spring of 1864 the widow returned with her boys to the house of her father in Hamer township and four years afterward located in New Market township where they grew to manhood under her fostering
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care. The names of these children, all of whom are still living, are Roland and John F. of New Market township; George, of Liberty township, and Aaron of Lyons county, Missouri. John F. Chap- lin, second in age of this quartet, was born in White Oak township, Highland county, Ohio, September 20, 1850. After his father's death, though only thirteen years old, he was compelled to work out for wages to assist in the support of the family and all he earned was dutifully turned over to his mother. May 21, 1874, he was mar- ried to Henrietta Duckwall, descendant of one of the earliest and best known of Highland county pioneers. He took his bride to a small place he had purchased in Liberty township where he spent eight years and removed to another farm in the same township. After remaining there about three years he came to his present resi- dence in New Market township where he owns eighty acres of land and carries on general farming. Mr. Chaplin can justly claim to be a selfmade man as he has made all he possesses from most discour- aging beginnings and depressing poverty. For his good home and comfortable surroundings he is indebted altogether to his own hard labor and determination to conquer adverse circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. Chaplin have had two children, both of whom died in infancy, but they adopted Grover Store when three years of age and have reared him as a member of the household. Mr. Chaplin is a member of the Christian Union and at one time held the position of elder in that denomination.
Philip W. Charles, as a general farmer and stockbreeder and pro- prietor of various kinds of machinery, is one of the busiest as well as one of the most enterprising citizens of New Market township. For more than three quarters of a century his immediate relatives have been influentially identified with the industrial interests of that part of Highland county. His grandfather, who became a set- tler there as far back as 1825, married twice and had two children by each union, by the first Minor and William A., both now dead, and by the second, William and Thomas. William A. Charles, who was his father's namesake, was born in Virginia in 1822 and was only three years old when his parents reached New Market town- ship. In his fifteenth year he decided to "weed his own row," and commenced by securing farm work by the month for wages that were by no means princely. This laborious life he kept up some five or six years, when he married Lydia, daughter of Philip and Polly Wil- kin, an esteemed pioneer family, and took his bride to the old home place, where he spent his subsequent life in farming and buying and selling stock, for a while also filling the office of justice of the peace. He died at the comparatively early age of thirty-seven years, and is buried by the side of his wife in the cemetery of the Reformed Church, of which both, during life, were consistent and attentive
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members. Their eight children were Harriet, Rachel A., Philip W., Sarah C., Mary, George, Polly, and Louisa. Of these, all are dead except Philip W., who was born in New Market township, Highland county, Ohio, on the farm where he now lives, December 20, 1846. He was still a boy at home when the civil war opened, but enlisted February 11, 1864, in Company H of the famous First regiment Ohio volunteer cavalry with which he served during the stirring campaigns that marked the year of his entrance into the service. Mr. Charles took part with his regiment in the movements of Sherman's army preceding the fall of Atlanta. Besides innum- erable skirmishes and minor engagements, he was in the following battles : Atlanta, Franklin (Tenn.), Montgomery and Selma (Ala.), Columbus and Macon, (Ga.). He was mustered out at Hilton Head, S. C., and came home by way of New York and Columbus, after
which he resumed his work on the farm with a consciousness that he had performed his full duty to his country. He married Sarah J., daughter of Philip and Elizabeth Trop, of New Market town- ship, and began housekeeping at the place of his nativity. From the date of his return from the army to the present time he has been a very busy man, with many "irons in the fire" but all well handled. Besides general farming and stockbreeding which he conducts on an extensive scale, he manages a saw mill, a threshing machine and a corn-shredder. In 1900 he held the important position of land appraiser, extended to him in acknowledgment of his ability as a business man and knowledge of real estate values. He is a member of the National Protective Association and master of Golden Ridge grange, No. 230, Patrons of Husbandry. Mr. and Mrs. Charles have five children: Orissa, at home; Nellie, wife of L. W. Warson of Westerville, Ohio; Oscar, Bertha and William A., at home. The family are communicants of the Reformed Church in which Mr. Charles holds the position of elder.
William M. Cleveland, the popular manager of the large distill- ing plant of Freiburg & Workum, at Lynchburg, is a first-class busi- ness man and one of the leading citizens of his community. His grandparents were Moses and Catherine (Greene) Cleveland, the former from Virginia and the latter a native of Kentucky, who closed their lives as residents of Indiana. Their son, John D. Cleve- land, was born in 1835, and after he grew up followed the calling of an engineer on steamboats and railroads. In 1874 he located at Lynchburg where he secured employment as engineer for the distill- ing plant and remained until his death, which occurred in May, 1890. His wife was Rachel, daughter of William Piercy, an Eng- lishman who came to America in 1839 and married Elizabeth Dods- worth, a native of Cincinnati of English descent, with whom he sub- sequently resided at Louisville. Mrs. Rachel (Piercy) Cleveland,
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who still resides at Lynchburg, has three children. The youngest two are Minnie, wife of Charles B. Russell, of New York; and Harry F., superintendent of the Louisiana Distilling company, of New Orleans. William M. Cleveland, eldest of the children, was born near Jeffersonville, Ind., May 18, 1857, and shortly after the family moved to Louisville, Ky., where he received his education in the city schools. He remained until 1874, when he came to Lynchburg and became connected with the distillery of Freiburg & Workum. Later he removed to Petersburg, Ky., where he took charge of a large establishment for the same firm. After remaining there four years he returned to Lynchburg and assumed control of the distillery there. This plant was purchased by its present owners in 1857 and was partly destroyed by fire in 1893, but was rebuilt on a more substantial basis. It has nine large warehouses, uses an aver- age of 1,250 bushels of grain per day and produces about a million gallons of whiskies per year, giving employment to about eighty hands. With the exception of two years, Mr. Cleveland has devoted all of his time since 1874 to this business and is regarded as an expert in that kind of work. As superintendent of the entire plant, great responsibilities rest upon him, and his long continued service with the same firm is sufficient proof of the satisfactory manner in which his manifold duties are performed. He is a selfmade man in the best sense of that term and recognized as one of the leading as well as most popular citizens in the community where he resides. He was elected a member of the board of water works, reelected for a second term and is now serving as president of the board. In Feb- ruary, 1882, Mr. Cleveland was married to Sadie C. Montgomery, descendant. of a worthy family of early settlers in this part of Ohio. Her father, William Montgomery, who was an iron-moulder in New York, married Mary Ann Extel and in 1838 brought his family west in a covered wagon, locating in Highland county, where he died in 1868. His wife, who was born in 1809, survived until 1890, her children being John, Samuel, David, Thomas (of Lynchburg), Mary, Susannah, William E., Joseph S., Edward, and Mrs. C'leve- land.
Joseph W. Clouser, of Greenfield, has a family connection with Ross county which extends back almost a full century. It was in 1803 that his grandfather moved in, along with that straggling line of immigrants which was making its way by slow stages over the Alleghanies to the land of promise in the valley of the Scioto. The first settler left a son named George Clouser, who prospered as a farmer and stockraiser and became one of the substantial men of his community. He married Jane Bell, daughter of William Bell of Adams county, Ohio, by whom he had three children. The eld- est is Joseph W., subject of this sketch. John A. Clouser, the sec-
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ond son, lives at Berne, Ind., and Tobitha, the youngest child and only daughter, is the wife of C. C. Allemang, of Greenfield. Joseph W. Clouser was born in Ross county, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1850, and was reared and educated on the farm. In 1872 he married Martha J., daughter of George and Jane Allemang. She died in March, 1885, leaving four children, of whom Carl S. is in business with his father, Frank is married and residing in Greenfield, Jesse is with the Price machine works, and Elsie is the wife of Earl Patterson. Mr. Clouser took for his second wife, on March 23, 1887, Nettie, daugh- ter of Philip Shingle. Two daughters, Lyndall and Daisy, have been the fruits of the second marriage. In 1872, Mr. Clouser located at Greenfield, where he was employed awhile in the Murray & Lunbeck planing mill, then learned the cabinet-maker's trade and engaged in the furniture business with John M. Murray. Later he spent four years in contracting, after which he embarked in the undertaking business which he has since followed continuously. In 1896 he patented the faultless truck and for several years was engaged in its manufacture with Mr. Price, eventually disposing of his interest to the latter and confining himself entirely to embalm- ing and undertaking. Having spent sixteen years in the undertak- ing business, he has mastered it in all of its details and has equipped himself with all the modern appliances for successful business. For twelve years past he has held the position of trustee of Greenfield cemetery. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Greenfield, of the Improved Order of Red Men and the Odd Fellows.
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