USA > Ohio > Logan County > The historical review of Logan County, Ohio > Part 87
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Since his marriage Mr. Gregory has engaged in farming on his own account. For one year he made his home in Meso- potamia. Trumbull county, Ohio, and from there removed to Somerset. Pulaski county,
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Kentucky, where he purchased a farm of drop of liquor. He is thoroughly temperate one hundred and thirty acres payng for the in all things, and is a man highly respected and esteemed by those with whom he has been brought in contact either in business or social life .. same eleven hundred dollars. As this was just before the Civil war and the people down there were not friendly to northern men he was unable to sell his products or even his farm. and at length at the end of eighteen months he gave the place away and returned to Ohio. This time he located in GEORGE H. CLAYTON. Logan county and bought what was known as the Lyman Kerr farm, north of Bellefon- taine, but during the three years spent there crops were poor and he was unable to pay for the place, losing $1.500 on this deal. He next purchased a farm of seventy-five acres in Rush Creek township. where the follow- ing four years were passed, and on selling out he bought another farm of one hundred and thirty acres on Goose creek, it being his home for eleven years. His next farm con- sisted of fifty acres, the Cossin place. on which he lived ten years, when he sold out. and at the end of that period he bought an adjoining farm of fifteen acres where he now resides.
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory have four chil- dren, namely : John M., born March 24. 1857, married Martha Marks and they have three children, Charley. Emmet and Kenna. Mary C., born April 18, 1860, wedded Wil- liam Kaylor and they have two children. Gertrude and Roy. Aaron R., born July 15. 1863. married Etta Dowell and they have three children, Eva, Pearl and Ray. Charles, born October 15. 1866. married Mattie Harper.
In his political affiliations Mr. Gregory is a Republican. He is an active and con- sistent member of the Christian church and is a man of exemplary habits, having never entered a saloon during the long years of his residence in Logan county, or drank a
George H. Clayton follows farming and stock-raising in Bloomfield township about a mile and a half east of Maplewood, Shel- by county. He was born in Jackson town- ship. Shelby county. Ohio, on the 18th of August, 1858, his parents being William and Jane ( Bland) Clayton. Reuben Clay- ton. the grandfather, was on of the pioneers of Shelby county, at a time when the land was well covered with timber. He was unique in having a double row of teeth all around. all of which were perfect at the time of his death, at the age of eighty-four years. William Clayton was born near Troy, Miami county, Ohio in 1821. and he and the lady whom he wedded were residents of Jackson township. Shelby county, at the time of their marriage. There the father became the owner of a good farm upon which he and his wife spent the greater part of their lives. She died January 17. 1864. at the age of forty-four years and he passed away April 29. 1876, at the age of fifty-five years. They were devoted members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and in his political views Mr. Clayton was a Republican. He made his own way in the world. prosper- ing as the years passed as the outcome of his earnest labor and well directed efforts, and at the time of his death he was the owner of about four hundred acres of land.
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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In 1876 the house was destroyed by fire and while working to save some of its contents he became so overheated that an attack of brain fever was thus brought on and re- sulted in his demise. Unto him and his wife were born thirteen children of whom our subject is the tenth in order of birth and eight are now living. Lewis, who weddled Mary Wise, died in Jackson township leaving one son, John Logan. Martha is the wife of Willoughby Stewart, by whom she has three children. William. Emery N. and Mary Jane, and her home is in Sidney. Reuben married Rosa Williams and died in Jackson township. Shelby county, leaving three children. Harry Lee, Edith and Carl. Mary is the wife of Lewis Wren of King- man county, Kansas, and has four children. Josie, Jennie. Dorothy and Clarence. John married Libbie Reed and died in Jackson township, Shelby county. Frances is the wife of Jefferson Piper of Salem township. Shelby county, and they have four children. Osie, Alberta, Harley and Roscoe. Harvey W. married Viva Grable by whom he has two children, Otis and Merritt, and their home is in Jackson township. Shelby coun- ty. Jesse died single at the age of twenty- four years. William Hibbard, who mar- ried Belle Hill, lives in Jackson township and has three children, Arthur, Cleo and Alta. George H. is the next of the family. James L. married Susan Wooley, by whom he has four children, Nettie. Everett. Her- man and Marie, and lives in Champaign county, Ohio. Dorothy Ann was the wife of John Kemp and died in Jackson town- ship, leaving three children, Clarence, Roy and Lorain. Laura, who completes the family, is living in Jackson township.
George H. Clayton remained at home until he was about seventeen years of age.
After his father's death he started ont in life for himself, having in the meantime ac- quired a good common school education. He had one dollar and fifty cents and when the father's property was placed on sale he purchased two horses for which he went in debt. He and two of his brothers also bought sixty acres of the old homestead which they farmed for some time and later extended its boundaries by the additional purchase of sixty acres, both tracts being a part of the old home place. Later they bought the homestead tract of one hundred acres and continued their farming opera- tions together until George H. Clayton was twenty-seven years of age .
Our subject was married in Bloomfield township. January 17. 1886, to Miss Mary Matilda Sherer, who was born near Montra, Shelby county, on the 22d of November. 1866, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine ( Barnhart ) Sherer. Her father was born in Alsace. Germany, July 17, 1838. and died April 29. 1896, while his wife, whose birth occurred in Alsace. December 3. 1838. passed away on the 14th of August. 1897. Both came to America with their respective parents when but eight years of age and the Sherers settled in Stark county, while the mother's people took up their abode in Carroll county. The marriage of Mrs. Clayton's parents, however. occurred in Stark county and they lived on the Sherer farm until their removal to Shelby county in 1863. In 1869 they came to Logan coun- ty and settled on a farm north of the Rum Creek church. In the year of his marriage Mr. Clayton traded his place in Shelby county for his farm of one hundred and thirty acres in Bloomfield township, Logan county. He has remodeled his house and has since purchased two farms in Shelby coun-
43
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ty, one of sixty-eight and a half acres and of Ohio the family was established within the other of sixty-seven and a half acres. His wife had inherited two hundred and eleven acres of her father's farm and he has another tract of land of seventy acres. so that their realty possessions are extensive and valuable.
Four children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Clayton : Clara C., who was born on the home farm in Bloomfield township. October 30, 1886; Ivan Sherer, born Sep- tember 29. 1889: Lloyd D., born June 20. 1892; and Forest Deverve. horn January 29, 1901. Mrs. Clayton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and to the support of its work Mr. Clayton contrib- utes. He votes with the Republican party. but gives his time and attention not to office seeking, preferring that his energies be de- voted to farm work and when we remember that he had to go in debt for the first two horses he owned and note that he is now the possessor of extensive and valuable landed interests, we know that his life has been one of industry and enterprise. He has always lived in this section of the state and has a wide acquaintance, his friends esteeming him for his gemine worth.
SAMUEL COVINGTON.
Samuel Covington, who was long con- nected with agricultural interests in Logan county and was one of the honored and representative citizens of this portion of the state, was born in this county, Septem- ber, 22, 1819, and died April 7, 1901. He was known as one of the most intelligent and respected citizens of Richland town- ship. At a very early period in the history
its borders by Edward Covington, the grandfather of our subject, who settled in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio. and after- ward took up his abode near West Liberty about 1812. Two of his sons, Henry and Samuel, were the builders of the first flour- ing mill in Logan county. it being located near DeGraff. In 1819. Samuel Coving- ton. an uncle of our subject, served on the first grand jury impaneled in Logan coun- ty. Eli, the youngest son of Edward Cov- ington, lived in the vicinity of West Liberty for sometime and he and James Kavanagh killed the last panther ever killed in that neighborhood. He was always a frontiers- man, moving westward with the tide of civilization, and after residing for a time in Indiana, he became a resident of Iowa, where he died at the age of ninety years.
Henry Covington, the father of our sub- ect. was born in Maryland in 1788. and in 1804 came with his parents to Ohio, set- tling first in Montgomery county. He serv- ed in the war of 1812, and after his return from the scene of hostilities he was mar- ried in Champaign county, Ohio, in Jan- uary. 1815. to Miss Anna Kavanagh, a daughter of Mathew Kavanagh, who was educated for the ministry in Dublin, Ire- land, but came to America, preferring fron- tier life. It was about the year 1790 that Mathew Kavanagh crossed the Atlantic, locating first in Nova Scotia and afterward removing to Kentucky, whence he came to Ohio. Mrs. Anna Covington. the mother of our subjeet, was born in Kentucky and with her parents came to Ohio in 1805. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Henry Covington lived for a short time in Logan county, after which they returned to Cham- paign county, there residing until the year
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1832. when they again came to Logan and later he lived upon the third farm county. The father then purchased a farm near Lewistown but soon afterward traded that property to Judge Shelby. re- ceiving in return a farm in Liberty town- ship. upon which he lived until his death. which occurred in 1850.
Samuel Covington remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage and in his boyhood days he pursued his edu- cation in the public schools, and in farm work also received ample training. On the 27th of January. 1842, he wedded Ruth Watson. a daughter of William Watson. who came to America from Ireland and set- tled in Adams county, Ohio, coming thence to near Cherokee. Logan county. about 1826. He had two sons. William W. and the late Dr. David Watson, of Bellefon- taine. On the 7th of January. 1849. Samuel Covington was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who died on that date, leaving four children, two of whom still survive: Perry D., who is a physician of Bellefontaine : and William H., a farmer living near Belle Center. On the 7th of January. 1850, Mr. Covington was again married. his second union being with Margaret Beacom, who died on the 21st of December. 1850, leaving an infant child. Sarah A. On the 31st of March, 1853. he married Sarah Watson, who died Septem- ber 17. 1902. By this marriage there were four daughters, three of whom are living : Lida, now the wife of O. L. Mclaughlin. of Bellefontaine: Fannie Belle. the wife of William Ketcham, of Toledo, Ohio: and Laura A., the wife of George Windham. of Huntsville, Ohio.
Samuel Covington became a prosperous and prominent farmer. He owned two hun- dred acres of land which he himself cleared.
cleared by himself. He was always practi- cal and systematie in his work. and his energy and diligence resulted in making him a prosperous agriculturist. Moreover, his life was honorable and upright and all who knew him esteemed him highly for his gen- urine worth.
P. D. COVINGTON. M. D.
One of the oldest representatives of the medical profession in Bellefontaine is Dr. P. D. Covington. He was born Decem- ber 27. 1842. in Logan county and is a son of Samuel and Ruth ( Watson) Covington, who are represented on another page of this work. He obtained a common school education and then began teaching school. which profession he abandoned at the end of two years to enter the Union army as a private soldier. He served nearly four years, during the last year and a half of which time he held the rank of captain. During the siege of Richmond. Captain Covington, for a time, commanded the in- fantry which held the nearest Union works in the James valley-Fort Brady.
After the close of the Civil war he stud- ied medicine under Dr. Watson, of Belle- fontaine, and was graduated at the Med- ical College of Ohio in the spring of 1869. He practiced for four years at Roundhead. Hardin county, this state, and in the spring of 1873 he returned to Bellefontaine, where he has since carried on the practice of medi- cine and surgery. He has given some special attention to the study of surgery in the hospitals of New York and other cities.
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On the 15th of May. 1866. Dr. Coving- ton was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. McClain, of Lima, Ohio. a daughter of James McClain. The Doctor has held a number of offices in the medical societies to which he belongs and is now one of the vice presidents of the Ohio State Medical Society.
DAVID D. SMUCKER.
The subject of this review is a self-made man who, without any extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commence- ment of life. has battled earnestly and energetically and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. By sheer force of will and un- tiring effort he has worked his way upward and is numbered among the leading busi- ness men of West Liberty.
Mr. Smucker was born March 3. 1851. in Wayne county, three miles west of Woos- ter, Ohio, a son of Jonathan and Catherine (Ashleman ) Smucker. The ancestry of the family can be traced back to John George Smucker, who came to America in 1736 and from him are descended the repre- sentatives of the name in this country. He first located in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, and later members of the family re- moved to Mifflin county, that state, while in 1800 the family was established in Wayne county, Ohio. Christian Smucker. the grandfather of our subject. was united in marriage to Veronica Levangute and both lived to a ripe old age. The first of the name to establish a home in Logan county was Gideon Smucker, a second cousin of our subject, who located east of Bellefon- taine.
Jonathan Smucker. the father of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania and when a lad of five years accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, the family belonging to a sect called the Amish Men- nonites, who made their way into the wild regions of Ohio and cleared land and founded a settlement in Wayne county. Jonathan Smucker became a minister of the Amish Mennonite church and located near Orville. Wayne county, where he spent the greater part of his life. He led the indus- triotis frugal life of a farmer in a manner becoming to his religions sect and his in- fluence for good was widely felt. He mar- ried Catherine Ashleman, a native of Basil. Switzerland, and they became the parents of six children, namely : Elizabeth, the wife of Jacoby Troyer, of Logan county: Amos. who is living of the okl homestead farm in Wayne county ; David D., of this review ; Ruth Fannie, the wife of Rudolph Yoder of Monroe township. Logan county: Christo- pher, who makes his home in Neely. Ore- gon; and Lydia, the wife of Frank Plank of Wayne county. The father died August 15. 1885. at the age of sixty-five years. and the mother reached the age of sixty- three years.
David D. Smucker attended the public schools to a limited extent in his boyhood days, but by the time he had attained the age of sixteen years he had cut sixteen hun- dred ties for the railroad company. a fact which shows that manual labor as well as intellectual training occupied his attention. In his youth he learned the carpenter's trade and manifested such capability and judgment in matters relating to the builder's art that by the time he was twenty-one years of age he had charge of a force of seven men, of whom he was the youngest.
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These men were largely engaged in house and barn building. making a specialty of bank barns.
On the 22d of March. 1880. Mr. Smuck- er came to Logan county, locating in Liber- ty township, five miles north of West Liber- ty, where he continued to work at his trade. In 1883. however, he took up his abode in the town and began cabinet-making and undertaking. following that dual pursuit for two years. In 1885 he embarked in the furniture business and has since carried on trade as a furniture dealer and undertaker. being to-day the oldest in his line in the county. It is now twenty-six years since he began operations in this department of labor and he has established a very large and profitable business. In 1888 he pur- chased the Ordway block, containing double store rooms which he has since occupied for business purposes. He carries a large and well selected stock of furniture of both high and cheaper grades in order to meet the varied demands of the public, and a characteristic of his business career is that when once he secures a customer he never loses his trade, a fact which is indicative of honorable business methods.
On the 12th of November, 1874. Mr. Smucker was married to Miss Lydia Troyer a daughter of Jacob Troyer, one of the pioneer settlers of Wayne county. Their children are Fannie, Katherine, Sylvanus, J. Oliver, Emma May. Laura Belle, Cora, William and May Edith. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smucker hold membership in the Amish Mennonite church and their lives are in consistent harmony with their Christian faith. The success which our subject has achieved has come to him through persever- ance, determination and honorable effort. He has overthrown the obstacles which
barred his path to prosperity and has reach- ed the goal of success, while his genuine worth, broad mind and public spirit have made him an influential and leading citi- . zen of West Liberty.
EDWARD HIGGINS.
One of the most successful and energetic farmers of Rush Creek township is Edward Higgins, who owns and operates a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres, whose neat and thrifty appearance well in- dicates his careful management. Substan- tial improvements are surrounded by well tilled fields, and all the accessories and con- veniences of a model farm are there found.
Mr. Higgins was born in Ashville. Pickaway county, Ohio, March 23. 1840, his parents being Edward and Maria ( Bluett ) Higgins, both of whom were na- tives of England. the former born in White House, Herefordshire, August 25, ISTO, and the latter in Ashton. Stafford- shire. May 3, 1810. They were married in their native land and the following year crossed the Atlantic to America. They located in Piekaway county. Ohio, and for many years the father was engaged in mer- chandising in England but his last days were spent in retirement from active busi- ness. Politically he was identified with the Whig party. Both he and his wife were faithful and consistent members of the Episcopal church. In his family were the following children: Mary, born July 31. 1832: Elizabeth. September 17. 1834; Ann E., October 20, 1836: Edward, March 23. 1840; Clement, March 21. 1842: Lu- eretia. March 8, 1844; and George, July 10, 1846.
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From the time he was old enough to enter school until he was seventeen years of age the subject of this sketch pursued his . education in the common schools of this state, and on laying aside his text-books turned his attention to farming. At the opening of the Civil war in 1861 he was serving as guard in the Ohio state prison but resigned his position in order to enter the navy, enlisting August 7, 1864. and was assigned to the West Gulf Squadron, on the Monitor Milwaukee. After serving for one year he was honorably discharged, August 18, 1865, the war having ended.
Returning to Ohio. Mr. Higgins located in Rush Creek township, Logan county. and has since successfully engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. As previously stated he owns a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres in that township, but is now living in his elegant new residence in Rush- sylvania, which possesses all modern im- provements and was built in 1903. He is a man of good business and executive ability and has met with excellent success in his undertakings.
In 1866 Mr. Higgins married Miss Elizabeth Pace, of Delaware county, Ohio, who was born January 13, 1842, in the town of Rhobeth. Perry county. Ohio. Her father, David Pace, was born in Fairfield county, this state, on the 27th of January . 1814. and is still living. being now ninety years of age. At the age of nineteen he commenced farming on his own account and continued to follow that oc- cupation throughout his active business life. He married Sarah Cooper and for fifty- five years they traveled life's journey to- gether, sharing its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity, but the wife was called to her final rest October 8, 1894.
Their children were Abraham, born July 20, 1835; Asia, January 17, 1837; Jacob, July 14. 1839: Elizabeth P., Janu- ary 13, 1842; David C., November 14, 1843: Nathan, February 10. 1845; Jane, February 5. 1848; and Francis M., Septem- ber 4. 1849.
In poiltics Mr. Pace was first a Whig and later a Republican, and is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins are people of prominence in the community where they reside and are held in the highest es- teem by all who know them. The Re- publican party has always found in Mr. Higgins a stanch supporter of its princi- ples, for which he fought during the Civil war. and he has always been found true and faithful to every duty that has de- veloped upon him. He has served most ac- ceptably in the offices of assessor one year. and commissioner six years. Fraternally he is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
D. F. SMITH.
D. F. Smith, a resident farmer of Mon- roe township who has spent his entire life in Logan county, was born in Zanesfield, on the Ioth of October, 1856. His father, Brad Smith. was also a native of this coun- ty, born in Zanesfield, October 13. 1831. This fact indicates that the Smith family was established here at an early day when pioneer times existed and when the devel- opment of the county largely lay in the future. He was reared to farm life and, having obtained a good education, he later engaged in teaching in the public schools
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and also conducted a writing school. He was an excellent penman himself and very capable of instructing others in the art. On the 25th of January. 1855. he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Thrasher. whose birth occurred in Zanesfield. in 1836, so she was but nineteen years of age at the time of her marriage. This union was blessed with four children: D. F., of this review : Cora, now deceased : Benjamin II .. born October 25, 1860; and Carrie .A., born July 19. 1868. The wife and mother was called to her final rest. and Mr. Smith later married again. his second wife being Miss Rose Perry, by whom he had one son. E. Perry, born November 25. 1877. Benja- min Smith, the hiother of our subject, is living in California and is married and has two children, while Carrie A .. the sister. is now the wife of Harry L. Rose, and with one daughter resides in Webb City. Missouri.
In taking up the personal history of D. F. Smith, we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favor- ably known in Logan county. In his early youth he assisted his father in the store, and attended the public schools until sixteen years of age. He then began learning the tailor's trade, at which he worked with his father for sixteen years and on the expi- ration of that period he took up his abode on a farm near Pickrelltown in which locality he has since carried on farm work. His early experience served him in good stead at this time and throughout the intervening years he has kept in touch with progressive methods in all departments of farm work. He uses good improved machinery in car- rying on his labors and he has a rich and arable tract of land which annually returns good harvests.
In 1876 was celebrated the marriage of D. F. Smith and Miss Amanda L. Outland. who was born in Monroe township. May 9. 1854. Her father, James Outland, was born in Perry township. Logan county, No- vember 18. 1821. and having acquired a common-school education. he afterward followed agricultural pursuits. His politi- cal support was given to the Republican party and his religious faith was that of the Society of Friends. He married Rebecca Stratton, who was born April 6. 1819. in Perry township. Logan county. The four children of this household are Charlotte, born April 12, 1846, now deceased: Ora, born May 12. 1849: Elizabeth A., born March 19. 1852, now deceased : and Aman- da. L .. born May 9, 1854.
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