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 30
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James B. Davis, member of the board of commissioners of High- land county and well known as a breeder of fine stock, is a represen- tative farmer and popular citizen. He was born and reared on a farm and all his life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which he has achieved a flattering measure of success. Mr. Davis was born in Paint township, Highland county, Ohio, October 9, 1856, and when twenty years old the responsibility of managing the home farm devolved upon his youthful shoulders. He attended closely to this laborious task and during the nine years he had charge managed the estate with entire satisfaction to all concerned. In 1885 he went to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he assisted his brother in a grocery store and took advantage of his leisure time by attending school for the purpose of perfecting his education, which had been somewhat neglected on account of the exigencies of busi- ness. Eventually he returned to his old duties as manager of his father's farm and in a year or two became sole owner by purchasing. the interests of the other heirs. At present Mr. Davis owns a fine body of land, consisting of 220 acres, well located and well improved.
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He cultivates this farm by modern methods and pays especial atten- tion to breeding Shorthorn cattle and other stock of the best grades. In 1900 Mr. Davis held the important position of land appraiser, and in the fall of 1901 was elected commissioner of Highland county on the Democratic ticket. He is a member of Paint lodge, No. 453, Knights of Pythias, at Rainsboro, and for five years has held the position of supreme master of exchequer. He also had the honor of being the first representative of the local body in the grand lodge of the fraternity. October 20, 1880, he was married to Cora M., the accomplished daughter of Capt. David M. Barrett, the well known mill owner and business man. The children resulting from this union are Birdie E., who is attending Earlham college at Richmond, Ind .; Grace, whose promising life was cut short at the age of six- teen ; Georgia, and James, Jr. Mr. Davis is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church at Rainsboro and holds the positions of steward, trustee and Sunday school superintendent.
Thomas D. Davis, of Mowrystown, who has been prominent for many years as a township official and business man, is descended from a Quaker family established in Paint township at an early date in the settlement of the county. His grandfather, William Davis, à native of South Carolina, came to Ohio from that southern state with his wife and family to Highland county, located near New Petersburg, and was well known among the early settlers as a skill- ful shoemaker in the days when that trade was one of importance and profit. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-five years, and reared a family of six children : John, Thomas, William, Tristram, Jane and Elizabeth. William, Jr., was born near New Petersburg, in Paint township, February 22, 1797, and was reared on the farm. Very early in his manhood he rented a small saw mill, which he conducted with considerable success, and afterward purchased a small farm on Rattlesnake creek, where he made his home, and took his young wife, Elizabeth Elliott, whom he married April 15, 1824, and who was a native of Pike county, and daughter of Burgess Elli- ott, a native of Kentucky. Some years later he bought the farm of two hundred acres in Concord township, upon which he afterward lived, and which is now known as the William Davis farm. There he reared a family of twelve children-Elliott, now living in Mis- souri ; Elvina and Alonzo, deceased; Ellen, whose home is in Con- cord township; Jane, deceased; Elizabeth, residing in Missouri ; John, who was a soldier of the Union and died at the Andersonville (Ga.) military prison; Thomas D., the subject of this sketch, and Melissa, Joseph A., Sarah and Mary, deceased. The father of these children was a devoted member of the Society of Friends, or Quak- ers, prospered in his worldly affairs, and had the high esteem of his neighbors. He died November 21, 1870, at the age of seventy-three
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years, and his wife died March 7, 1891, at the age of seventy-four years. Thomas D. Davis was born October 22, 1844, on the home farm in Concord township, near Sugartree Ridge, and was educated in the district school. He was a boy of sixteen years when the war of the rebellion began, and as has been noted, an older brother went into the army and lost his life. After he reached the age of eighteen years he also offered his services to his State and the Union, becoming a private soldier, July 23, 1863, in Company E of the Sixty-sixth regiment Ohio National Guard. On May 1, 1864, he was made a corporal in Company A of the Hundred and Sixty- eighth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, a regiment that was formed by uniting the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh National Guard. His regiment was ordered on duty in Kentucky, and he was a participant in the following summer in the famous battle of Cynthiana, in which the Ohio troops were surprised and over- whelmed by the noted rebel raider, John H. Morgan. He and his comrades were made prisoners but released on parole next day, and returning to Cincinnati, he was honorably discharged September 8, 1864. This was the end of his hoyhood experience as a soldier. Returning to Concord township, he resumed farming, and on Octo- ber 14, 1868, was married to Martha J. Collins, a native of Adams county, O. They lived for twenty-six years on the farm where they began housekeeping, until 1900, when Mr. Davis bought his present home. Three children were born by his first marriage: Ivah, liv- ing at the old home place; Olin E., at Greenfield, O., and Edward, who died in childhood. The first wife died in 1896, and in 1897 he married Mary E. Gailey, who was born an reared in Brown county. In addition to farming Mr. Davis has had success in a business way as agent of a Dayton fertilizing manufactory and as agent and director of the Farmers Mutual insurance company, of Winchester, O. He has served many years as a member of the school board, and several terms as township trustee. In religious matters he is a member of the Methodist church; in politics a Republican. In association with his comrades he has been active as adjutant, chap- lain and two terms commander of Lewis Bunn post, No. 724, Grand Army of the Republic, at Sugartree Ridge, and he is now adjutant of the John Ball post, No. 943, of the same patriotic order, at Mow- rystown.
David T. Deck, one of the thrifty and enterprising farmers of Penn township, has spent his entire life in agricultural pursuits and been identified during all his adult years with the development of Highland county. The founder of the family was Jonathan Deck, born in West Virginia about 1813 of German parentage. In 1835 he came to Clinton county, Ohio, where he married Sarah, daughter of James and Martha Colvin, a Kentucky family who had settled
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in that vicinity some years previously. The children of Jonathan and Sarah Deck were James C., who served about three years in the civil war, married Angel Conner and died at the age of thirty years ; John C., a farmer in Warren county, Indiana, married Kate Bloom ; Hannah Lizzie, wife of George Jenks, farming in Clinton county near Ogden Station; Henry, a farmer of Union township, married Rachel Fenner; Nancy J., wife of William Robaugh of Green county ; Samuel, married Louisa Dennis and farming near New Vienna ; Sarah Margaret, wife of Seneca Dennis, a farmer of Clin- ton county ; David, further noticed below; Mary, wife of William Hogue, grocery clerk in New Vienna; Mattie, housekeeper for her brother David; George C., married Minnie Hixson and farming in Penn township; Thomas works for his uncle David, and George C., a brother, is also a member of the same hospitable household. David T. Deck, the kind and fatherly head of this family of brothers and sisters, manages a farm of 150 acres belonging to Mary Woodman- see and is what is called a "cash renter." He has lived twenty years on this place, which is situated one mile west of Careytown, and has gathered around him all the necessary requirements of a good home. Being industrious and a careful manager, Mr. Deck obtains a sat- isfactory remuneration from the sale of his crops of wheat and corn, besides hogs and other stock to the raising of which he pays consid- erable attention.
John F. Dollinger, a retired farmer of Dodson township residing near Lynchburg, is a German contribution to the citizenship of High- land county. He was born in Germany May 14, 1831, his parents being Sixtus and Christine B. (Ueberreuther) Dollinger, who ended their lives in the land of their nativity. They had six children, and John F. Dollinger is one of the four living. He received a good education in his native land, acquiring a fair knowledge of French and Latin, besides the more practical branches usually taught in the German schools. The rule of that country requiring all of its citi- zens to give up a part of their lives to the military service operated to make young Dollinger a soldier when eighteen years old. He gave up six years of his life to the regular army and during that time got to see some active service as he participated in two small wars. The first of these was the Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark contro- versy in 1849 and the other the Hessen-Cassel, or Kur Hessen affair in 1851. Mr. Dollinger received two slight wounds during the fighting in which he participated and made a very creditable record, going in as corporal and coming out as second lieutenant. It was in 1861 that he turned his face westward for the long journey to the United States and he arrived rather disqualified for business in the new country, as he could not speak a word of English. This, however, and other difficulties were soon overcome by German per-
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sistence and quickness to learn, and Mr. Dollinger in time acquired a full knowledge of the American language. His first venture was made in Cincinnati, where he turned his attention to such jobs as he could get, and later he secured employment on a farm. Eventu- ally he made his way to Highland county, where his industry enabled him to accumulate considerable property and he now owns over 104 acres near Lynchburg and 125 acres in Clinton county. He spent three years in Kansas and became the owner of a farm in that state which he disposed of and returned to Ohio in 1879, since which time he has lived retired on his property near Lynchburg. Mr. Dollinger is a member of the Lutheran church, and of Lynch- burg lodge, No. 178, in the Masonic order, and lodge No. 151, of the Odd Fellows. June 26, 1864, he was married to Amelia Sinning of Webertown, Ohio, by whom he has had six children : Anna B., J. Nicholas, J. Leonard, George (deceased), Dora, and Leo H.
James Norman Douglass, one of the leading agriculturists in Highland county and owner of one of the choicest stock farms in Madison township, belongs to a family with an ancient and honor- able lineage. George Douglass, who died in Pennsylvania at the age of sixty-five, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and his son William, though a boy at the time, also helped in the great struggle as a teamster. When William Douglass grew to manhood he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Samuel Scott, also a veteran of the war for independence. The latter migrated from Pennsylvania to Ken- tucky and took part in the border warfare with the Indians which was quite frequent in those days. His wife, whose maiden name was Fisher, fell a victim in one of the numerous massacres perpe- trated by the Indians on the white settlers of Kentucky. In 1810, William and Mary (Scott) Douglass came to Ohio and, after a short halt at Pickaway Plains, moved on to Highland county and settled permanently in the vicinity of Greenfield. He had brought with him $8,000 in silver, which enabled him to purchase a large body of land which subsequently became of great value. He resided on his place a short distance south of Greenfield until his death, which occurred December 23, 1852, when he was about eighty-eight years old. William and Mary (Scott) Douglass became the parents of ten children, including a son named James, who was born in Penn- sylvania but came as a very youthful immigrant to Highland county. When he grew up he married Mary Mackerly, member of a pioneer family who settled in Paint township. As the result of this union there were five children: Mary S., widow of J. W. Quinn, residing at Greenfield ; Martha Lucinda, wife of Cyrus F. Wilson of the same city ; William H. Douglass, of Greenfield, and Ariadne, wife of Rob- ert Dill, of Missouri. James Norman Douglass, who completes the list, was born on the old homestead near Greenfield, Ohio, Novem-
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ber 29, 1849. In addition to the ordinary common school education which he received, he for nearly a year attended the private school taught by Professor Blair some three miles from the Douglass home. In October, 1873, he entered the employment of Col. Jacob Hyer, at that time engaged extensively in the grain business at Greenfield. Though the compensation was not large, the training was valuable for a young farmer as it taught him the ins and outs of the grain trade, the buying, storing, shipping and selling. In May, 1874, he returned to the home farm and took full charge with a view of dis- charging financial obligations and getting the estate in better order. At the time of his father's death, the farm comprised 365 acres of land, but it was considerably involved in security debts. Mr. Doug- lass by good management discharged about $6,000 of the indebted- ness, and then, in association with his brother, William H. Douglass, purchased the entire farm. The former now owns 340 acres, most of which belonged to the original estate, and this is one of the most valuable stock farms in that part of the state. The brick house on the farm was erected in 1848, being one of the first of the kind built in Madison township, and at the time was regarded as something extra fine for that section. For many years Mr. Douglass has been extensively engaged in the stock business in its various branches, as a breeder, feeder, buyer and shipper. On December 25, 1884, he was married to Rose, daughter of Peter and Rachel Porter, of Ross county. Peter Porter is now living in Concord township and is one of the oldest residents of the county, more than ninety years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass have two children living, Mary C. and Laura Lucile. Mr. Douglass has been a member of the Masonic order over twenty years and has reached the Royal Arch degrees.
William Henry Douglass, a prominent resident of Greenfield, and owner of one of the choice Highland county stock farms, possesses an honorable ancestral lineage of which much is said in the preced- ing sketch. His grandfathers, maternal and paternal, first assisted to fight the British and then joined the army engaged in the still harder contest involved in settling the western wilderness. Will- iam Douglass, born in Cumberland (now Perry) county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1765, at the age of sixteen served as a teamster with Gen- eral Washington, later married Mary, daughter of Samuel Scott, also a revolutionary veteran who moved to Kentucky and took part in those stirring scenes which gave that state the name of "the dark and bloody ground." In 1810, as has been stated, William Doug- lass started for Ohio, somewhat better equipped than the average emigrants, and, in 1811, purchased a large body of land, estimated at twelve or fifteen hundred acres, lying mostly in the survey of Gen. Duncan McArthur near Greenfield. William Douglass cleared, improved and cultivated this property until it became one of the
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finest landed estates in Highland county and most of it is still in the hands of the descendants. James, son of William, born in Penn- sylvania in 1807, married Mary, daughter of Michael Mackerly, a pioneer from New Jersey, and the subject of this sketch is one of their children, as above stated. William H. Douglass was born on the old Douglass homestead near Greenfield, Highland county, Ohio, June 22, 1845. He passed his boyhood on the farm, with the usual intermixture of work and school attendance until April, 1864, when he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth regi- ment Ohio volunteer infantry and served with the same until the expiration of the term of enlistment in the following September. The command spent six weeks in Kentucky looking after Morgan and two months in charge of prisoners at Cincinnati. In 1865 Mr. Douglass became a pupil of the South Salem academy and spent two years at that institution. This was followed by three years attend- ance at Miami university, Oxford, which he left before obtaining a degree for the purpose of engaging in educational work. The next eight years were devoted to teaching in the public schools of Ross, Fayette and Highland counties. Subsequently, he went through a course of law study and was admitted to the bar at Chillicothe, but abandoned the intention of entering the profession in order to fol- low the more congenial occupation of farming and stock raising. He owns a handsome estate near Greenfield which is largely devoted to breeding and feeding cattle, sheep and swine, and holds a leading position in the livestock industry of Highland county. June 19, 1884, he was married to Susan W., daughter of Samuel and Eliza- beth Wyant, of Jackson county, Ohio. Several years ago, Mr. Douglass built a handsome residence on Lyndon avenue in Green- field and in 1897 removed to that city for the purpose of better edu- cating his only daughter, Lizzie Mackerly Douglass. He is a mem- ber of the United Veterans Union and the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. The family are communicants of the Presbyterian church and occupy a worthy place in the social circles of Greenfield and vicinity.
Thomas J. Driskill, of Clay township, a prominent citizen and veteran soldier of the Union, is a grandson of John and Catherine Driskill, natives of Maryland, who came to Ohio in 1808, with their. children, and bought and cleared two hundred acres of land in Fair- field township, Highland county, living there until eighty years or more of age. Their eight children, most of whom are now deceased, were George, Lewis (living at Vienna, Ohio), Allen (living in Indi- ana), William, Henry, John, Nancy, and Sarah. John, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Maryland in the year 1800, was reared in Ohio from eight years of age, and from eighteen years of age lived at Lexington, Ohio, until his marriage there to Phoebe (Woodmansee) Conway. He was engaged in hotel keeping at Lex-
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ington for several years, after which he bought a farm of 112 acres in Fairfield township, Highland county, where he resided until his death at fifty years of age. He was a man of influence and popu- larity, and was honored by his fellow citizens with a number of local offices. His wife survived him, dying at the age of eighty-five years. Four children they reared : Charles C., who lives at the old home- stead; John W., of Vienna; Ivans D., deceased, and Thomas J. The latter, whose name begins this sketch, was born December 28, 1835, at Lexington, Highland county, and remained at the home of his parents until, in early manhood, he enlisted as a soldier in defense of the Union. He became a member of Company D, Forty- eighth regiment Ohio infantry December 27, 1861, being mustered in at New Vienna, and in the following spring he had his first exper- ience, in the great battle of Shiloh April 6th and 7th, 1862. After- ward he was on duty with the army in Mississippi and Louisiana, fighting under Grant and Sherman at Vicksburg and Jackson, and in March, 1864, while taking part in the Red River campaign, under General Banks he was one of the prisoners taken by the Con- federates in the unfortunate battle of Mansfield, La. Being sent to Texas, he was held in prison camp for six months, after which he was exchanged and permitted to rejoin his comrades at Natchez, Miss. After various minor engagements he took part finally in the battle and capture of Blakeley, an outpost of Mobile, in the spring of 1865. Then they were sent to Texas to occupy that state and menace the French in Mexico, and Mr. Driskill was mustered out at Galveston, at the close of over four years' service. He was a faithful and gallant soldier, making a record which will be treas- ured by his descendants. After his return to the Highland county home he resumed farming and was married to Sarah C. Barker, a native of the same county. They first made their home in Adams county, moved thence to Illinois, and from there to Iowa, where they resided for eleven years. Finally they came back to Highland county, and Mr. Driskill bought the farm he now occupies. Nine children have been born to them : Ivins D., deceased ; John, of Price- ton, Ohio; Laura A., at home; Cynthia A., of Salem township; Charles W., at home; Mary E., of Cincinnati ; and Rosa, Clara B., and Eva M., at home. Mr. Driskill is successful in his enterprises as a farmer and stock raiser, in politics is a Republican, and is highly regarded by his fellow citizens.
John W. Duncan, one of the representative farmers of Highland county, comes of a family whose ancestors settled in Madison town- ship as far back as 1806. The Ohio branch originated from Robert and Esther Duncan, who emigrated from Scotland to York county, Pennsylvania, where the former died in 1838, when ninety-five years old, and his wife in 1840 after reaching the advanced age of ninety-
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eight. Among their large family of children was a son named Rob- ert, who was born in York county, Pa., in 1777, and in 1806 came to Ohio with a cash capital of $270, which was expended for land near Greenfield at $1.25 an acre. This land is still in possession of the descendants, but it is hardly necessary to add that the purchase price has increased at a ratio that would startle the original buyer. In 1800 James Mann had emigrated from Ireland, bringing along with him his daughter Mary, then about four years old, and found a permanent home in Highland county. April 20, 1817, Mary Mann became the wife of Robert Duncan, thus making that combination of Scotch and Irish which ethnologists regard as one of the most vig- orous of all racial offshoots. The marriage proved fruitful, as from it sprang a family of ten children, all of whom grew to maturity and eventually became heads of households. The parents long since passed away, the father dying in September, 1843, and the mother January 7, 1870. John C. Duncan, third in age of the ten children above mentioned, was born on his father's homestead near Greenfield, Ohio, March 4, 1822, and throughout life this has been his place of residence. October 12, 1847, he was married to Catherine Elizabeth Lumbeck, born in 1830 of pioneer parents whose names were Daniel and Rachel (McCoy) Lumbeck. They came from New Jersey, married in 1816 and had a family of nine children, the father dying in 1853 and the mother in 1879. Mr. and Mrs. John C. Duncan have reared nine children, the youngest being twenty-eight years old, and there has never been a death in the family. Samuel Q., the eld- est of the children, married Caroline F. Dunlap, and resides at Greenfield ; Daniel O. married Mary E. McElroy and is farming in Fayette county ; Mary Ellen became the wife of Daniel A. Kline and they live on a farm in Ross county; Robert W. married Laura F. Adams and is a resident of Fayette county ; Emma J. is the wife of Hugh Nevin McElroy, who lives near Ottumwa, Iowa; Lizzie Bell is at home, James J. and Curtis Wirt are in Fayette county. John Wiseman Duncan, fifth in the list of the above enumerated children, was born on the paternal homestead near Greenfield, May 4, 1861. February 14, 1889, he was married to Nannie Ruth Anderson, by whom he has four children: Ruth, Robert, Rachel and Mabel. He settled on a farm in Madison township and has been engaged ever since in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, ranking as one of the representative farmers and model citizens of Highland county, a worthy member of one of the most substantial and highly esteemed family connections in the county. He has been a life-long member of the First Presbyterian church at Greenfield and for some years has held the position of deacon.
M. Irvin Dunlap, a popular attorney of Greenfield and regarded as one of the most promising of the younger members of the bar,
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comes of a family long prominent in Highland county. He is a son of William and grandson of Milton Dunlap, M. D., for many years a physician of high standing at Greenfield. The latter's brother, Dr. Alexander Dunlap, was one of the most prominent surgeons in southern Ohio. After finishing the sophomore year at Wooster col- lege, Irvin Dunlap matriculated at Cornell university and received the degree of Ph. B. with the class of 1891. Having made up his mind to enter the legal profession he became a student in the Cincin- nati law school, where he was graduated as bachelor of law in 1894. Immediately thereafter he began the practice of his profession at Greenfield and has continued it to the present time. He is regarded by his friends as a young man of fine promise and one of the best lawyers of his age in southern Ohio. He served a term as city solici- tor of Greenfield with entire satisfaction to all concerned and is looked upon as in the line of promotion to much higher honors. He is a young man of studious and exemplary habits, a member of the Presbyterian church and connected with the Masonic fraternity.
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