The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 87

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081

USA > Ohio > Warren County > The History of Warren County, Ohio > Part 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ELI F. IRONS, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Warren Co., Ohio, Nov. 20, 1830; his father, John Irons, emigrated from New Jersey to Ohio with his parents, Samuel and Rebecca (Gibbs) Irons, in 1816, and located in Warren County about two miles southeast of Lebanon, on the farm now occu- pied by Samuel Irons, Esq. He here married Abiah Foster, also a native of New Jersey, who emigrated to Ohio with her parents subsequent to 1816. Our subject received his education in the schools of Warren County; he was mar- ried, in Warren Co., Iowa, Jan. 29, 1857, to Miss Martha Bovey, a native of Morrow Co., Ohio, by whom he had two children -- Abiah, deceased, and Amanda M., who lives on the farm with her parents. In 1875, Mr. Irons was appointed Superintendent of the County Infirmary, and.served in this capacity to the entire satisfaction of the directors and people until 1881, when he ten- dered his resignation of the office. With the exception of the six years thus spent, he has passed the whole of his life as a farmer, in which he has been eminently successful; he and his wife are members of the Christian Church, in which he is a Deacon.

N. S. IORNS, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Union Township, Warren Co., Ohio, Jan, 6, 1834; he is the son of Joshua and Eliza (Foster) Iorns, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Warren County. Our subject attended the schools of his township, after which he completed his education in Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. He has spent his life on the farm, with the exception of five years, in which he was engaged in business in Lebanon. In connection with farming, Mr. Iorns was, for a period of twelve years, engaged with his brother Samuel in buying and shipping hogs, and at intervals dealt in mess pork, at which he lost everything he had. He was mar- ried, in 1857, to Miss Sarah Dunham, daughter of Moses Dunham. She was born in Union Township in 1839; they have had eight children, three boys and five girls. The parents are both members of the Christian Church. Mr. Iorns is a Republican in politics.

G. W. IUTZI, farmer; P. O. Blue Ball, Butler Co .; born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, June 13, 1839; he is the son of Jacob and Merie (Holly) Iutzi, natives of Germany, who emigrated to America in 1832, and settled in Butler Co., Ohio; they were married in 1836, and had nine children, of whom three now survive, viz, G. W., Emelie L and Otto, all following the occupation of their father, that is, farming. Their father died April 8, 1858, leaving a farm of 220 acres

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in Turtle Creek Township; he was a Democrat until 1856, when Fremont ran for the Presidency, after which, until his death, he was a stanch and enthu- siastic Republican. He was a chosen preacher for the Mennonite Church for many years. Our subject received a fair education; he received his education in the academy at Monroe. Ohio; he is now conducting a farm with good suc- cess.

JOSEPH JAMESON. retired farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born near Xenia, Greene Co., Ohio, Feb. 13, 1812; when 8 years old, his father, John Jameson, died, leaving three sons and three daughters with their widowed mother; our subject was the eldest son and next to the eldest child; his boy- hood was spent at hard labor, assisting his mother in the support of the family. In 1832, he removed to Warren County and located on the farm now owned by Ephraim K. Snook, one mile below Lebanon, but which was then owned by his uncle, Samuel Jameson, for whom he then engaged to work by the month. There he met and wedded Sarah Ann Brown, still living, who also then lived with his uncle. By this union, five girls and three boys were born, all of whom are now living, the oldest at 41 and the youngest at 19 years of age. Their names and the order of their birth are as follows, viz., Mary E., who married James M. Cook Dec. 21, 1858, and now lives near Morrow; John A., who was married Nov. 4, 1869, to Emma, the eldest daughter of James D. McCain; he has been employed as telegraph operator and agent of the P., C. & St. L. R. R. Co. for sixteen years at their offices at London, Pendleton and South Leba- non; Letitia Dow, who married John E. Dunham, of Warren County, March 13, 1864; Martin A .. the present Treasurer of Warren County, who was mar- ried Aug. 20, 1868, to Kate M., daughter of John H. Evans (deceased), of Lebanon; five years later, she and his only two children died, and, on the 25th of December, 1877, he was again married to Mrs. Sarah M. Benedict, daughter of Asa Coleman, of Mason, Ohio. Newton, the third son, is a farmer in the vicinity of Lebanon; he married Miss Eva McCain, daughter of J. D. McCain; of the remaining three children, Adda, Kittie and Ella, the second-named was married, on New Year's Eve, 1879, to R. B. Lawler, of Warren County; the other two are living at home with their parents; they have been for some years identified with the teachers of Warren County. Our subject has now living in Warren County all of his eight children and eleven grandchildren, one of the latter having recently married Miss Emma Greely. Mr. Jameson was elected Superintendent of the County Infirmary in 1854, and served in this ca- pacity four successive years; in 1858, he removed to Union Township, near South Lebanon, where he lived seven years, removing, in 1865, from there to Lebanon, where he has since lived. He was a Director of the County Agricult- ural Society for several years, and has been a member of the Republican party since its inception; he bears a reputation for honesty and integrity second to none in the community.

THOMAS KEEVER, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Warren Co., Ohio. Sept. 2, 1802; his parents were Abraham Keever, a native of Pennsyl- vania, of German descent, and Margaret (Irons) Keever, a native of Pennsyl- vania, of Scotch descent; they were among the early settlers of Warren County, whither they emigrated in the year 1802 and settled in what is now Clear Creek Township, and later, the husband served in the war of 1812. Our subject re- ceived such education as could be obtained in the pioneer schools of Warren and Clark Counties and early commenced working on a farm, at which employ- ment he has since continued. In 1827, he was married to Mary Ann Perrine, a native of Kentucky, by whom he had nine children, six of whom are now living, viz., John P., Mary E., James M., Margaret Ann, Alvira W. and Martha L. Mrs. Keever died in 1851, and our subject afterward went to live with his

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daughter, Martha L., who married James A. Thompson, of Warren County, in 1866; the latter was born in Warren County and is a farmer. In the second year of the late war, he enlisted in Company B, 79th O. V. I .; he has had, by this marriage, two children-Clifford and Charley.

GEORGE KEEVER (deceased) was the son of Abraham Keever, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Ohio in an early day and located in Warren County, where our subject was born May 26, 1812; he received his education in the country schools of Warren County, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1869; he was a man of much natural ability. and. though a farmer by occupation, could "turn his hand " to almost any kind of work re- quiring mechanical skill; he was a good Republican in politics, and in religion a member of the Methodist Church. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Eliza A. Lawrence, a native of Butler County, who bore him the five fol- lowing children: J. E., George E., Warren L., Franz Seigle and William E. Mr. Keever stood high in the esteem of his fellows, and at his death left a record unspotted.

NATHAN KEEVER (deceased) was born in Turtle Creek Township, War- ren Co., Ohio, Aug. 6, 1818; he was a son of John and Elizabeth (Rogers) Keever, natives of Pennsylvania, of German descent; he received a limited education and spent his life on the farm, where he died Oct. 30, 1880; having been injured in the left arm when quite young, he was unable to do but little of the labor of the farm, but, by his counsel and foresight, the work was prose- cuted with considerable success. He was a stanch Republican and held several offices of trust in the county, among which were County Commissioner six years, and Justice of the Peace several years. In the year of his death, he was appointed Receiver of the Miami Valley Narrow-Gauge Railway. He was a man of intelligence and good business qualifications. He was married, Nov. 2, 1858, to Mary J. Monfort, a native of Warren County, and daughter of Ar- thur Monfort, of New Jersey; they had five children, viz., Elbert M. (deceased), Merrilla (deceased), Hattie L., Clarence W. and Nellie E.

ABE KEEVER, grocer, Lebanon, was born in Turtle Creek Township, Warren Co., Ohio, Sept. 10, 1830; he is the son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Swanger) Keever, he a native of Clark Co., Ohio, where he was born in Feb- ruary. 1805, and she a native of Warren County, born Oct. 20, 1807. Our subject received his education in Warren County; his life was spent on the farm mostly, until 1864, when he embarked in the grocery and bakery busi- ness, in Lebanon, where he is still engaged in the grocery occupation, having discontinued his bakery. He was married, Feb. 15, 1860, to Miss Sarah E. Lamb, a native of Turtle Creek Township, and a daughter of Thompson and Ann (Benham) Lamb, the former an early settler of Warren County. By this union, six children were born, of whom three-Solon, Leonidas and Ruth- are the only survivors. Mr. Keever was a Democrat in politics until the forma- tion of the Greenback party, since which he has been identified with the latter party. Mr. Keever's father, Anthony, died in Turtle Creek Township May 14, 1856; he was married in Turtle Creek Township and had nine children, of whom the following three are the only survivors: Abe, our subject; Isaac, a carpenter, of Union City, Ind., and Samuel W., a prominent farmer of Union Township, Warren Co. Our subject's wife's father, Thompson Lamb, was born in New Jersey Sept. 21, 1794, and emigrated to Turtle Creek Township in 1801; he was the son of Joseph Lamb, born in New Jersey Oct. 20, 1756, and died in Turtle Creek Township Aug. 8, 1828. Thompson was twice married, first, on April 18, 1816, to Caroline Stevenson, who was born July 18, 1798, and died Nov. 19, 1826, and the second time, Jan, 22, 1828, to Ann Benham, who was born in Washington Co., Penn., June 12, 1793, moved to Newport,

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Ky,, in 1794, and to Warren County in 1799, where she still lives. Her hus- band first settled on a farm on Muddy Creek, where he lived until his death, July 22, 1849; he was an Old-Line Whig and a Deacon in the Old-School Baptist Church.

JAMES M. KEEVER, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Turtle Creek Township, Warren Co., Ohio, Jan. 20, 1835; he is the son of Thomas and Mary A. (Perrine) Keever, whose sketches appear elsewhere in this work; he was reared on a farm and has always followed farming as an occupation. He was married, in 1857, to Rhoda Bunnell, a native of Warren County, where she was born Aug. 29, 1838; they have seven children living, viz., Edward C., Carrie B., Lincoln, Marion, Lida E., Walter and Clarence Hayes. Mr. Keever owns a fine farm of 160 acres in Section 22; he is a Republican and has served a term of fourteen years as a School Director, and was, for some time, one of the Board of Directors ot the Warren County Agricultural Society.

WILLIAM OSCAR KEEVER, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Ohio Aug. 20, 1847; he is the son of Milton and Lydia (Murphy) Keever, natives of Ohio, she of Irish and he of German descent; they were the parents of six children, viz., Ellen (the deceased wife of John Monfort, Esq.), Elizabeth, wife of Peter Monfort, Eliza W., George (deceased), William O. (our subject), and Albert, all the survivors being citizens of Warren County. William O. at- tended the Normal School at Lebanon, where he completed his education and then returned to farming; he was married, in 1869, to Miss Ella Monfort, daughter of Stout Monfort, of Warren County; they have four children-Pearl, Milton S., Emma Maud and John M. Mr. Keever is one of Warren County's successful farmers; he owns a farm of 173 acres of land well improved, lying near Lebanon. He is a Republican in politics, but confines himself to simply voting the ticket of his party, never aspiring to any of its official honors.

ALBERT KEEVER, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Turtle Creek Township, Warren Co., Ohio, Dec. 28, 1849; his father, Milton Keever, was an early settler of Warren, where he followed farming very successfully until his death, in 1869, at that time owning 408 acres of land, which he had ac- quired by his own industry, aided by the frugality of his wife, Lydia (Murphy) Keever; his son, our subject, has chosen farming for his life occupation and promises to soon reach the degree of excellence in it that his father occupied before him; he now owns 96 acres of good arable land, worth fully $100 per acre. He was married, Oct. 8, 1872, to Ella Snook, daughter of E. K. Snook; to this union were born four children, viz., George Raymond, Lesley, Flora and Elva. Mr. Keever is a Republican in politics, and, for four years, served as School Director of his district.

JOHN KNOX (deceased) was born in Ireland in 1809, and emigrated to America in 1818 with his parents, who settled in Turtle Creek Township in the section where they now live; he obtained his education in the village of Lebanon and followed farming until his death; he was a very industrious and hard- working man, full of the vigor and energy that characterizes the people of his nativity. He was married, in December, 1836, to Miss Mary Jane Cowan, a native of Turtle Creek Township, and a sister of David Cowan, of Warren County; they had four children, three girls and one boy, viz., Margaret J., the wife of James Brown, of Lebanon; Martha, the wife of Dr. Rush Carley, of Butler Co., Ohio; Mary E., the wife of Boyd Forman, a farmer of Turtle Creek Township, and Charles C., who has attended to the home farm since his father's death. Mr. and Mrs. Knox were both members of the Presbyterian Church.

G. L. KRIEGER, M. D., physician, Lebanon, was born in Ban Alsace June 15, 1850, and came to America in 1867, landing in New York, where he

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remained a short time. He then came to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained three years, and then, after six years spent in Philadelphia, Boston and New York, he came to Lebanon, Nov. 13, 1877; his primary education was received in the public schools and academies of his native country. In 1871, he com- menced reading medicine with Dr. Boylston, of Boston, where he remained two years, after which he attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical College of New York; he then took a course of one year under the tutelage of Dr. Robert S. Newton, of New York, and three years under Luis F. Sass, of the same city. On the 10th of February, 1876, he graduated at the "University of the City of New York," and, for one year, practiced his profession in that city. Since his removal, he has established an extensive and lucrative practice, which he is conducting with the best possible success. In 1880, he purchased the drug store and stock of W. H. Florer, Lebanon, and has since conducted that business in connection with his practice. On the 24th of October, 1878, he married Miss Fannie Babbitt, of Lebanon. Dr. Krieger is a wiry, energetic, sociable gentleman, well posted in his business, indefatigable in his profession and very social in his manners; he is making rapid strides toward success and promises soon to outstrip many a man much older in the profession.

ENOS LACKEY, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Clear Creek Town- ship, Warren Co., Ohio, Oct. 21, 1802; he is the son of Richard and Sarah (Harlan) Lackey, the latter being a native of South Carolina; his father emi- grated to Ohio in 1796, and settled in Clear Creek Township, where he remained until the breaking-out of the war of 1812, when he enlisted and soon afterward rendered up his life-a sacrifice to his country. Our subject received no other education than was afforded by the log schoolhouse and country schoolmaster of pioneer days. He has been a farmer from his earliest days until recently, when he retired from active labor; he commenced life by working out, and was soon enabled to rent a farm, after which he bought a small farm and con- tinued adding to it until he owned 400 acres; he has amassed a comfortable competency, which he is fully enjoying in his advanced age. He was married, in 1823, to Martha Irvin, who was born in Hamilton Co., Ohio, Sept. 9, 1806; her father was also a soldier in the war of 1812. They have had fourteen chil- dren, who were, at one time, all alive and married, but of whom only nine now survive. Mr. and Mrs. Lackey are both members of the M. E. Church, in which he has for some time been an officer; they are both models of the honest, open-hearted and hospitable pioneer farmers, whose record for Christian in- tegrity is above question.

J. R. LAWLER, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born March 2, 1838; his pa- ternal grandparents were David and Phebe Lawler, the former born Dec. 15, 1767, and the latter Nov. 19, 1770; his maternal grandparents, Isaiah and Rebecca Ross, were natives of Wales; his father, Moses Lawler, was born in New Jer- sey Nov. 12, 1797, and, in. 1800, emigrated to Ohio, where he married Elizabeth Ross. Our subject was married May 6, 1844, to Adrian Dill, a daughter of William F. Dill; she was born May 6, 1844, and died April 17, 1880; they had three children, viz., Lizzie E., Mary B. and Gracie. Mr. Lawler owns a farm, northwest of Lebanon, from which he gains a livelihood; he is a Republican in politics, and a member (as well as his wife) of the M. P. Church.

WILLIAM C. LEWIS, retired merchant, Lebanon. This well-known gen- tleman is the descendant of a family who came to Warren County in the begin- ning of the nineteenth century; his grandfather, Paul Lewis, emigrated from Burlington County, near Mt. Holly, N. J., in 1809, and located in Wayne Town- ship, about three miles southwest of Waynesville. He brought with him his wife and a family of four children, named as follows: Nancy, William, Paul, Jr., and John; his wife dying after he settled here, he married a second wife,

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Miss Johanna Hunt, by whom he had two children, only one of them now surviving, viz., Jackson, a citizen of Waynesville. Mr. Lewis moved to Waynes- ville in 1825, and, seven years thereafter, died; he belonged to the Society of Friends, and, for several years, served the citizens of Clear Creek Township as a Justice of the Peace. He was a man of more than ordinary natural ability, and was held in the highest esteem by the people of his community; his son, Paul Lewis, Jr., our subject's father, was born in New Jersey in 1797, and was about 12 years of age when his father came to Ohio; he was reared on the farm and continued farming the homestead place until his death, Sept. 6, 1832; in addition to his farm operations, he teamed between Cincinnati and Sandus- ky, a distance of over 200 miles, and, owing to the exposures and hardships he thereby had to endure, he contracted a disease which culminated in paralysis, which carried him off in early manhood. He was married, in 1820, to Miss Mary Thatcher, a native of Hunterdon County, near Morristown, N. J., and a daughter of Evan and Nancy Thatcher, who emigrated from New Jersey in 1814, bringing their family of five children -Mary, Naomi, Sarah, David and Amos-and their household effects on a two-horse wagon. By his marriage to Miss Thatcher, Mr. Lewis had four children, viz .: William C., Sarah A., Charles A. and John V. H. After his death, his widow retained the farm until her children were all grown and married. She died Sept. 13, 1877, aged 77 years. William C., our subject was born April 20, 1821, on the old homestead, and, until the 25th year of his age, he remained on the farm, in the meantime attending the common schools of his township. On the 26th of August, 1846, he engaged as a clerk in a dry goods store in Lebanon; in September, 1848, he married Caroline Noble, a daughter of Edward Noble, of Lebanon; she died Dec. 30, 1850, and, in 1853, he was again married, to Miss Abigail Morris, daughter of Adam B. and Lydia (Matthews) Morris, natives of New Jersey, from where they emigrated in 1810. By this union, Mr. Lewis had two chil- dren, viz., Mary L., the wife of Dr. W. S. Goodhue, of Lebanon, where they reside with their two children, Bessie and an infant son; and Emma G., who lived to be 18 years of age, when she died, Feb. 3, 1878, after an illness of two years. She was an estimable young lady, a general favorite, and, for a long time, a patient sufferer. In 1851, Mr. Lewis engaged in the dry goods business in Lebanon with Edward Noble, under the firm name of Noble & Lewis. This firm continued for four years, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Noble re- tiring and Mr. Lewis' brother John entering the firm, the name being changed to Lewis & Bro., under which title they continued business for several years; afterward, the name as changed to Lewis & Co., and so continued until 1878, when Mr. Lewis retired from business. With a fine physique and perfect health, he is now prepared to enjoy the competency he has accumulated through a life of industry and frugality. He lost his wife on the 28th of June, 1881, after twenty-eight years of married life. He has always been a stanch though liberal Republican, and has served his township and village as Treasurer for a period of ten years, and as a member of the Lebanon Council eight years. He is a member of no church, but liberal in his religious opinions, with a kindly feeling for all Christian denominations and a will to uphold and quicken the interests of temperance, morality and education in his native county. As a business man, he has been quite successful, as is made manifest by the large property he now possesses. As a citizen, he has always stood in the front rank. Every work of reform finds in him a warm advocate and earnest supporter. We present his portrait on another page of this work.

CHARLES A. LEWIS, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Warren Co., Ohio, Oct. 28, 1826, of parents, Paul and Mary (Thatcher) Lewis, natives of the State of New Jersey, a full account of whom is given in this work in the

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sketch of William C. Lewis. Our subject was but 6 years of age when his father died, but, by the thrift and good management of his mother, the family was kept together and Charles given an opportunity to attend school; he was reared on a farm, and has, for the greater part of his life, been a tiller of the soil. In 1852, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Margaret E. Jeffrey, who, too, is a native of Warren County, where she was born in 1833, and to them were born children as follows: Sylvan A., Mary A., Ada V., Jennie M. (de- ceased), William B., Charles K. and Horace W. Mr. Lewis and wife are mem- bers of the United Brethren Church; in politics, he is a Republican. He owns over 300 acres of land in the county.

JOHN V. H. LEWIS, farmer; P. O. Lebanon; was born in Clear Creek Township, Warren Co., Feb. 1, 1833; his father, Paul Lewis, was born in New Jersey about 1796, and came to Ohio with his parents about 1812; is fully men- tioned in the sketch of William C. Lewis; his mother, Mary (Thatcher) Lewis. was born in New Jersey about 1800. Our subject was reared on a farm, re- ceived a limited education in his native township, and, at 20 years of age, went into the dry goods business at Lebanon, which he followed for sixteen years, after which he returned to the farm, where he has since continued. He was married, in 1858, to Sarah Evans, a daughter of Isaac Evans, of Warren County; she was born Dec. 25, 1836, on the farm adjoining where they now live; they have had seven children, viz., Charles E., Eva E .. Frank, William. Hattie, Stanley J. and Laura Ethel.

REV. L. H. LONG, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Leba- non, was born July 1, 1826, near Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., Penn., and was the son of Thomas and Rebecca (Fletcher) Long, both of American descent; his father, while he owned a farm, was at the same time a master blacksmith and conducted a large business in that line, working journeymen and always a number of apprentices. There was then no more profitable business than that of blacksmithing. Our subject in his young boyhood spent a great deal of his time in and about his father's shop and acquired a taste for the business, and now, when passing a blacksmith shop is very apt to drop in and spend some time in it. The only common-school education received by him was limited to reading. writing and arithmetic, but he entered, in 1841, the Western University of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, and graduated from it in 1846, being, in his col- legiate course, characterized for application in study and thoroughness in schol- arship. Upon his graduation, he entered the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, at Allegheny City, Penn., and, after taking a full course in the seminary, was licensed to preach the Gospel and ordained and installed pastor of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Urbana, Ohio. He continued pastor of this church until 1854, when he changed his ecclesiastical connection and connected himself with the then Old-School Gen- eral Assembly Presbyterian Church, when he was called to and settled 88 pastor in the First Presbyterian Church of Urbana. In 1861, when the war began, the church voted him a leave of absence for one year, that he might serve as Chaplain of the 26th O. V. I., to which he had been unanimously chosen by the regiment. In 1862, he returned to his pastoral work in the church at Urbana, and, in the fall of the same year, was unanimously nominated by the Republicans of Champaign County and elected by them to represent the county in the State Legislature. In this capacity, he served with entire acceptance to the people of Champaign County until 1865, and, during his legislative term, he continued as pastor of the church and occupied the pulpit regularly every Sab- bath. In the spring of 1865, he resigned his pastoral charge, and, not being inclined to settle again as a pastor for a time, he applied to the Supreme Court of the State for admission to the bar, and, having read a course of law while

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The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 87

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1081

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081