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John F. Burer is claimed by Fairfield township, Butler county, as one of its progressive farmers and loyal and public-spirited citizens, and he is a scion of one of the old and honored families of the beautiful Miami valley, as may be seen by reference to the family data appearing on other pages, in the sketch of the career of his brother William, who likewise is a resident of Fairfield township. John F. Burer was born at Reading, Hamilton county, Ohio, November 10, 1877, and in the public schools of the locality he gained his early education, which included the discipline of the high school at Shandon. After his school days he continued to be associated with his father in farm enterprise until he was duly fortified for the initiating of independent operations. Shortly after his marriage he and his wife established their residence on their present farm, which comprises 205 acres and which is familiarly known as the old Dingfelder farm, the original homestead being occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Burer and the same being one of the attractive rural houses of Fairfield township. In his vigorous activities along the lines of diversified agriculture and stock growing Mr. Burer is meeting with unequivocal success, and his energy and good judgment are in consonance with his progressive policies. During the progress of the grea t World war he gave loyal support to all agencies and movements through which the government applied for such civic cooperation, and the same loyalty characterizes his attitude as a public-spirited citizen. His political convictions place him in the ranks of the Democratic party. Mr. Burer is a communicant of St. Mary's Catholic church at Hamilton, while his wife worships with the Bethel church. In the year 1909, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Burer to Miss Catherine Hoffman, daughter of George and Laura (Dingfelder) Hoffman, whose farm home was in the same neighborhood as the old Dingfelder place now occupied, and owned in part, by the subject of this review. Of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman Mrs. Burer was the second in order of birth;

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Clara, the eldest, is the widow of Daniel Hayes, and Mary is the wife of Dr. Glenn Rothenbush, of Cincinnati. Mr. and Mrs. Burer have two children, George and Robert, aged respectively eight and two years, in 1919.

William C. Burer, a successful farmer of Fairfield township, Butler county, Ohio, was born in New Baltimore, Colerain township, Hamilton county, Ohio, on March 15, 1885. He was the son of John N. and Christine (Hoffman) Burer, the former of whom was born in Baden, Germany, and the latter in Linwood, Hamilton county, Ohio. John N. Burer came to this country at the age of fifteen and settled in Virginia, living there three years, then moving to Cincinnati, thence to Butler county where he engaged in farming. After his marriage, he and his wife settled in Hamilton county, and about thirty-five years ago came to Butler county, Fairfield township, where he now lives. Twelve children were born to them and grew to maturity: Mary, Mrs. William Hann; Anna; Joseph, married Jessie Duncan; John, married Catherine Hoffman; Rosa, Mrs. Jacob Smith; Bertha, Mrs. John Walther; William, the subject of this review; Helen, Mrs. Wolfgang J. Besler; Genevieve, Mrs. Bert Dinsler; Martha, Mrs. Joseph Jones; Lawrence, deceased; Mark; and Paul, married Julia Wahl. Paul served in the regular army three years and three months, was in France with the United States Infantry, and went over the top seven times. Our subject was educated at Shandon and Stockton, and was married November 6, 1907, to Lucy Beiser, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Druck) Beiser, of Hanover township, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Beiser had eight children: Jacob, married Ida Zilrox; Charles, married Emma Stumpf; Valentine; William, married Grace Hawthorn; Mary, married John Stahlheber; Minnie, married William Simes; Lucy, married William C. Burer; and Edna, married Claude King. After their marriage, our subject and wife lived in Fairfield township, coming to their present home in 1917, a place of one hundred and two acres, part of the Bramble farm. They have five children: Catherine, William, Raymond, Charles, and Mary Rose. Mr. Burer and his family are members of the Catholic church. He took a large part in all war activities, Red cross drives, and movements of National interest.

August W. Burkhardt. The representatives of the agricultural industry in Butler county, classified by their efficiency, industry and progressiveness, measure up in their standards to an equal position with the farmers of any section of the Miami valley. Among them there are leaders, who, in their work and their citizenship, are entitled to more than passing mention, and among these is found August W. Burkhardt, of Hanover township, the owner of what is known as the old Smiley place, of 209 acres. Mr. Burkhardt was born on a farm in Lemon township, Butler county, Ohio, near the town of Monroe, January 8, 1865, being a son of Mathias and Kate (Lutz) Burkhardt. The parents were natives of Germany, but were single when they emigrated to the United States, meeting and being married at Hamilton, Ohio. After their union they removed to a farm in Lemon township, where they resided for several years, then going

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to Lesourdsville, where they lived nineteen years. Eventually they located at their present home, in St. Clair township, this county, where they are living in comfortable circumstances, as a reward for their long years of faithful and industrious agricultural work. They are the parents of the following children: August W.; Christian, and Edward, who reside with their parents; Louisa, the wife of George Brotzman, of Hamilton; Catherine, the wife of William Phillips; Ernest and Fred, residing with their parents; Jacob, who married Emeline Manrod, also at home; and Amelia, the wife of William Hentzlemann, of Hamilton county. August W. Burkhardt attended the country schools of Butler county and remained under the parental roof, assisting his father with his agricultural operations, until he was twenty-six years of age, at which time he was united in marriage with Mary Betz, of Reily, Ohio, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Snider) Betz, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Betz was for some years a Butler county farmer, and in later life removed to Preble county, where he and his wife passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Burkhardt became the parents of four children: Louisa, who married Cecil Keller, a farmer of Oxford township; Edward, associated in farming with his father, who married Elsie Beckmire; Eleanora, the wife of Roy Beckmire, of Hamilton, with one son, Robert; and Elsie, the wife of Henry Brandly, with one son, Earl, living near Kitchell, Ind. After his marriage, Mr. Burkhardt located on a farm in St. Clair township, where he resided for several years, then going to Fairfield township which was his home until 1911. In that year he purchased the farm upon which he now resides, in Hanover township, a tract of 209 acres known as the old Smiley place. He has made numerous valuable improvements on this property, upon which he carries on general farming and stock raising. His progressive methods and capable management of his affairs have given him the well-merited reputation of being one of the skilled farmers of his region, and his high business principles have been ample proof of his integrity. He has taken some interest in politics, and is a Democratic voter, and he and his family are members of St. John's church, at Hamilton.

Walter M. Butler. Among the men who compose the units in the human machinery that operate the great plant of the American Rolling mill, at Middletown, one who has seen more than eight years of service with this concern, and who has attained through industry and fidelity a position of responsibility, is Walter M. Butler. Mr. Butler was born at Pittsburg, Pa., January 9, 1873, and is a son of Patrick Michael and Anna (Coyne) Butler. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Butler was James Patrick Butler, an Irish patriot of Galway, whose labors in endeavoring to work for the liberty of his native Erin kept him continually embroiled in political disturbances. Eventually he left Ireland and went to England, but after some years of residence in that country went to Australia and then came to America, where his death occurred. Patrick Michael was born in Ireland, and Anna Butler in Pittsburg, Pa., where they were married, and while in Pittsburg, the father secured employment in the steel mills. In that city Walter M. Butler received a

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public school education and grew to manhood, and there also secured his introduction to the business which he has since made his life-work. He moved to Middletown in 1911, accepting; a position in the plant of the American Rolling mill, with which big enterprise he has since been connected. He has been faithful, painstaking and punctual in his work, and has gained promotion in recognition of his services. June 12, 1906, Mr. Butler was married to Mrs. Mary (Neyer) Schneider, daughter of Henry and Louisa (Hackman) Neyer, natives of Gemany. Mr. Neyer died December 3, 1878, Mrs. Neyer surviving him till May 9, 1919, dying at the age of eighty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Butler reside in their own pleasant home at 1113 E. North street, where wholesouled hospitality prevails, and where they are always pleased to make welcome their numerous friends. They have recently erected a beautiful and modern residence on King avenue in Dell park. They are attendants of the Holy Trinity Parish Catholic church and take a keen and helpful interest in the various movements, civic, educational, social and religious, which affect the welfare of their community. While Mr. Butler is a Republican in political matters, he only has a good citizen’s part in public affairs. The great war touched his family, not lightly, for his brother, Arthur Butler, while serving in France, was gassed by the enemy and for two days lay on the field unattended in Belleau Woods, without water or food. He subsequently spent five months in a base hospital, but eventually recovered and received his honorable discharge.

John A. Butterfield, the wide-awake and progressive president of the First National bank, of Okeana, was born near Venice, Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1859, a son of Jeremiah and Sarah (Willey) Butterfield, who had four other children: Mrs. Josephine Brown of Okeana; H. W. of that place; Mrs. Eliza Whipple of Hamilton and Mrs. Jennie Whipple of Venice, Ohio. John A. Butterfield attended the graded and high schools of Venice and an advanced school at Lebanon, following which he adopted the vocation of educator and for several years divided his time between teaching school in the intervals between the farming seasons. Through industry and well-directed effort he became successful as an agriculturist, and at the time of the organization of the First National bank of Okeana he became one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors. Since that time he has advanced to his present position of president, his fellow-officials being George Jeffries of Okeana, vice-president; Edwin Heap, of Franklin county, Ind., second vice-president; Mrs. R. E. Earnshaw, cashier; and W. R. Wagner, assistant-cashier; while G. E. Hanley of Okeana and Fred Walther of Shandon complete the board of directors. R. E. Earnshaw and Charles Wagner, who are deceased, were members of the original board. The First National bank of Okeana is one of the stable and flourishing institutions of Butler county and one that holds and merits in full degree the confidence of the public and of other banking houses. Mr. Butterfield has proved a wise and careful, chief executive, and under his able direction the bank has prospered. As an agriculturist, Mr. Butterfield is still the owner of a handsome and valuable farm of

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140 acres located in Morgan township. In politics he is a Democrat. Since early manhood he has been foremost in the public enterprises which have proved advantageous to his home locality, and is considered one of the most influential men in this section of Butler county. In 1897, Mr. Butterfield married Lillian, daughter of Israel and Jane Atherton, of Hamilton county, Ohio, and they are the parents of one daughter, Helen, a young lady of unusual attainments, and a graduate of Miami university, Oxford, class of 1919, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Robert Lincoln Byrum. Among the far-seeing and alert young business citizens of Middletown, one who has been prominent among the activities which have brought prestige to this thriving city of Butler county is Robert Lincoln Byrum. A resident of Middletown since 1901, he has passed his entire career as an employee of the American Rolling mill, but has found time from his duties in that big plant to devote to other activities. Mr Byrum was born July 19, 1882, at Newport, Ky., a son of John and Lydia (Taral) Byrum, of Greensburg, Ind. About the time of the breaking out of the war between the forces of the North and the South, the Byrum family moved to Kentucky from the Hoosier State, and John Byrum fought as a soldier throughout that struggle. He died in 1912. Mrs. Byrum, who survives her husband, and is a resident of Newport, Ky., was the daughter of Oscar Simonton, a man well respected by all who knew him. He brought his family to Middletown, and being a business man engaged himself in the grocery business. There were six children in the Byrum family: Robert Lincoln; James, a resident of Middletown; Alice, who is the wife of Benjamin Good, of Dayton; Jane, who is the wife of Henry Koerdel, of Newport; Elizabeth, who married Jacob Weber, of Newport; and Flora, the wife of William Nabor, of Cincinnati. Robert L. Byrum attended the public schools of Newport, Ky. When ready to enter upon his career, he chose his trade as an ironworker, and after his decision was once made passed through the various stages of preparation until placed in his present position at the plant as a roller. He has been successful in establishing himself in the good graces and confidence of his employers and his fellow-employees recognize in him a sincerity and integrity that make him a general favorite. He is a wide-awake young man as regards business opportunities, and as a result holds stock in several paying business concerns, with the result that he is able to give his family luxuries that the less alert cannot afford. From boyhood he has been a friend of athletics, baseball being his favorite sport, and at present he is manager of the Middletown Baseball club, a snappy, fast fielding and hard hitting aggregation which has better than held its own among the fast clubs of the Miami valley. Mr. Byrum is a Republican and a member of the Methodist church. As a fraternalist, he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Masons, holding membership in the Jefferson Blue Lodge, No. 20; Middletown Chapter, No. 87, R. A. M., and the Hamilton Commandery, No. 41, K. T. His support is given to all beneficial movements, whether

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educational, civic or charitable. Mr. Byrum was married April 2, 1902, at Newport, Ky., to Laura, daughter of Oscar and Isabel (Ramsey) Simonton, of that city, and to this union there have been born five children: Ruth, Robert, Gladys, Luella and Jack. Mr. and Mrs. Byrum and their family reside in a handsome home on Linden avenue, which was purchased by Mr. Byrum in 1917.

Charles Cadwallader, who for nineteen years has carried on general farming in Union township but is now practically retired, is well known in different sections of Ohio, not only as a competent farmer but as an educator and minister in the Methodist Protestant church body. Mr. Cadwallader was born in Clark county, Ohio, September 8, 1850, son of Charles and Catherine (Pyle) Cadwallader. The father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania and grew to manhood there, married Jemima Search of the same state. They moved to New York and later he bought land in Clark county, Ohio, on which he passed the rest of his life. His second marriage was to Catherine Pyle, who was born in Virginia, and mother of subject of this sketch. Six children were born to his first union and two to the second, these being Charles and Eliza Catherine. While growing up on his father's farm in Clark county, Charles Cadwallader attended school until he qualified as a teacher, following which he taught school in order to provide for a college education, having in mind a ministerial career. After spending one year at Wittenberg college in Ohio, he went to a similar institution at Adrian, Mich., from which he was graduated in 1877. For the following five years he filled Methodist pastorates and was acceptable wherever the church officials located him, faithfully and conscientiously performing every known duty. In the meanwhile, however, an affection of the ears developed into partial loss of hearing and this caused Mr. Cadwallader to retire from the ministry and interest himself in agricultural pursuits. He then located in Union county, Ohio, where he carried on general farming for sixteen years, coming from there to Butler county in 1900 and renting a farm of 144 acres situated in Union township. He married Rachel Jane Whetsel and they have the following children: Flora Catherine, John M., Charles, deceased; Edward, Paul, Mary, Edith and Anna. While never active in political affairs, Mr. Cadwallader as a man of enlightened understanding, has exercised influence as a citizen, and this influence has always been in support of law, order and morality.

Robert Brown Carnahan, Jr. The announcement of the sudden and untimely death of Robert Brown Carnahan, jr., On June 23, 1918, came as a shock to everyone who knew him, and this shock was accentuated by appreciation of the sterling qualities of the man, not less than by that of his splendid talents and the great worth of his practical achievement. He had been for eighteen years actively associated with the American Rolling Mill company, of Middletown, Ohio. On account of Mr. Carnahan's unbounded generosity, his warmth of manner and disposition, and his democratic ways, he had endeared himself to a host of loyal friends and co-workers, who sorrowfully deplore the unseasonable termination of his noble career as one of the world's productive workers. Mr. Carnahan, who stood

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denitely as one of the representative men of Middletown at the time of his demise, was born in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., March 17, 1870, and was a son of Robert Brown Carnahan, sr., and Kate Ann (Ducknall) Carnahan, the latter of whom was reared and educated at Batavia, Ohio. Robert B. Carnahan, sr., became a prominent and distinguished member of the bar of Pennsylvania and was influential in public affairs in the old Keystone state. He was a personal friend of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, and under the administration of this martyred president he served as district attorney of the district of western Pennsylvania. He was a man of the highest professional attainments and achieved specially notable reputation as a corporation lawyer. The family name is one that has stood as an exponent of the loftiest patriotism in connection with the annals of American history, and it should be specially recorded in this connection that David Carnahan, great-grandfather of the subject of this memoir, served in the War of the Revolution, as a member of what was known as the American Flying Artillery, with which he took part in many of the important engagements marking the progress of the great conflict which brought the boon of national independence. Robert B. Carnahan, jr., acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Pittsburg and then entered the University of Pittsburg, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891. He received from this institution the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, and later the honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred upon him by his alma mater, in recognition of his valuable inventions in connection with the steel industry. After his graduation in the University of Pittsburg, Mr. Carnahan became associated with the owners of the W. Dewees-Woods plant at McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and at the request of Mr. Wood, sr., he was sent south in connection with gold mining prospects. From 1883 to 1899 he was engaged in the open-hearth department of the McKeesport plant of the same company, and later for a short period he was associated with the Homestead works of the Carnegie Steel company, with which he did special work in connection with the manufacture of open-hearth steel. Mr. Carnahan was the first member of the present working organization of the American Rolling Mill company, by which he was employed early in the year 1900, shortly after the organization of this corporation. The plant which the company then proposed to build was to consist of a thirty-ton open-hearth furnace, a twenty-inch bar mill, four sheet mills, and a galvanizing plant and factory for fabricating sheet-metal products. This was the first time all of these operations had been brought together in one plant where the process was to be continuous from the open-hearth department through to the factory, and it marked a new era in steel-works development. Mr. Carnahan designed and constructed the company's first open-hearth furnace. At that time the open-hearth process of making steel was a comparatively new development, as it had not previously been generally employed in making steel for the production of sheet metal. Consequently there was much to be worked out along both scientific and productive lines, and Mr. Carnahan gave his undivided attention

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to the development of this important feature of the business. For several years he lived and slept in the company's main office, in close proximity to the works, and during much of this period he applied himself both day and night. His first position with the American Rolling Mill company was that of superintendent of the open-hearth department, an office which he assumed in August, 1900. In August, 1903, he was advanced to the office of general superintendent, as successor of James B. Strawbridge, who was the first man to hold that position. In October, 1911, Mr. Carnahan was elected vice-president, with full charge of the research division, as well as the company's large patent interests, and he retained this important incumbency until the time of his death. Mr. Carnahan was one of the early believers and advocates of the pure-iron theory, which had been suggested by the Agricultural Department of the United States Government at Washington, and through his many successful activities and achievements he became a metallurgist of national repute. He was an indefatigable worker, and the actual production of commercially pure iron, now generally known as "Armco" iron, and its successful working into sheet metal, was due to his metallurgical knowledge, his indomitable determination to accomplish any task assigned to him, his untiring energy, and his great devotion to his work in the company's interests. It was in recognition of his invention of the Armco iron that he received the honorary collegiate degree of Doctor of Science, as previously noted in this context. He furnished all the data involved in the obtaining of the various patents issued to the American Rolling Mill company, and personally supervised the introduction of his patents in England and France, all his patents being duly recorded in the archives of the United States Patent Office, at Washington. In 1915 Mr. Carnahan received from the Panama-Pacific International exposition the first-class gold medal for his Armco patents. Although he was deeply absorbed in his business affairs, with his exacting executive duties, Mr. Carnahan found time and opportunity to participate in civic activities, as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. His efforts in the days following the 1913 flood, in which he raised a large fund for relief work, will long be remembered by Middletown people. He took also a prominent part in the campaign by which were raised funds to complete the Middletown hospital, and as treasurer and chairman of directors of that institution, he aided greatly in placing it upon a firm foundation. He was active also in church affairs, and he held for several years the office of treasurer of the First Presbyterian church of Middletown, a post which he eventually felt constrained to resign, owing to the manifold other demands upon his time and attention. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party and he affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. The year 1903, after he had located permanently at Middletown, recorded the marriage of Mr. Carnahan to Miss Frances P. Mills, of Hastings-on-the-Hudson, New York, the hymeneal ceremony having been performed in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., and the home of the young couple having been forthwith established at Middletown, where Mrs. Carnahan continues to reside since the

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death of her husband. The one child of their union died within a few days after birth, Ideal relations marked the companionship of Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan, and he was never happier than when he was within the portals of his own home, the hospitality of which was most graciously extended by its popular chatelaine. Mrs. Carnahan is a daughter of the late Edmund S. Mills, of the state of New York, and the maiden name of her mother was Euphemia Morton Paton. In connection with his professional and industrial activities Mr. Carnahan held membership in the American Iron & Steel institute, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American Society for Testing Materials, and the British Iron & Steel institute, besides which he was a member of the Business Men's club of Cincinnati, and the Queen City and University clubs of Cincinnati and Chamber of Commerce of Middletown, Ohio. Mr. Carnahan will always be remembered for his generous impulses and for the single-minded and enthusiastic manner in which he met every problem, as well as for the kindly and affectionate way in which he greeted everyone. Untiring in his good works, he ever manifested toward all mankind the spirit that was shown by the little boy who, when asked if the child he was carrying were not too heavy for him, replied: "He's not heavy; you see, he's my brother." The indomitable, but generous, kindly, optimistic spirit of Robert B. Carnahan will live forever in the minds and hearts of the Armco men. In conclusion of this memoir it is pleasing to reproduce the following estimate, which bears its own lesson and significance: "Mr. Carnahan was rarely gifted with a capacity for personal relationships, and he never failed to make these a means of happiness and helpfulness to his fellows in business affairs, as well as in his more intimate friendships. The broad charity that 'thinketh no ill,' the passion for service that never failed, the generous spirit that loved fair play, as well as his intuitive knowledge of all classes of men, drew to him many a man who needed a helper, and caused him to be much sought as personal counselor and advisor. In this gracious service he never betrayed the confidence of those who trusted him, but always brought new inspiration and hope for the work of life."

William Barton Carr, who is known chiefly as a mill operator at Hamilton and near-by communities, is also recognized as a citizen who has lent his influence to worthy movements of a nature calculated to develop and strengthen commercial, civic and educational standards. Mr. Carr was born on a farm in Hanover township, Butler county, Ohio, September 15, 1848, a son of John W. and Elizabeth (James) Carr, also natives of this county. The family was founded here by the grandfather of Mr. Carr, a Revolutionary soldier from the state of Vermont, who took up land from the United States Government in Hanover township and there passed the remaining years of his life in agricultural pursuits. John W. Carr was also a life-long farmer, although during the early days his career was frequently interrupted by periods of public service and for some time he acted in the capacity of clerk of Butler county. He died in 1851, when his son was but three years of age. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Mary Ellen, who is deceased

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Hannah; Louise, deceased; William Barton; and Wilmina E., of El Paso, Texas. By a second marriage, to Emmeline Sample, John W. Carr had two children: Bessie a resident of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Fred, who is deceased. William B. Carr was given good educational advantages in his youth, attending the public schools of Cincinnati and Oxford and Audubon university near Columbus. As a young man, when he entered upon his career, he chose milling as his business, and in connection with his mill for many years conducted a bakery. He built up a large and profitable business, and was not only highly esteemed by the people of his own community, but by those as well of the Cambridge City and Milton, Ind., where he also built mills. As a citizen he has been a supporter of all worthy movements, and during the war period his mill cooperated with the Government in conservation of food supplies. Mr. Carr married Clara, daughter of William E. Brown, and they had four children: Bessie, Maynard, Everett and Mary, all deceased. His second marriage was to Jessie, daughter of Doctor Brown, also of Hamilton.

Andrew Jackson Carson, now deceased, was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in Butler county, where he was widely known and universally respected. He was born in Lemon township, Butler county, O., May 25, 1828, a son of James and Margaret (Potts) Carson. James Carson and his wife were natives of Pennsylvania, who came at a very early day to Butler county, O., and securing wild land in Lemon township from the government, went to work to clear it off and place it under cultivation. They died two miles south of Monroe, O., many years ago. The children born to them were as follows: John, who was a farmer of Lemon township; Mary Ann and Leah, who were twins; Andrew J., whose name heads this review; and Nancy, who is deceased. Andrew Jackson Carson received such educational training as was offered by the common schools of his day and neighborhood, and was reared on his father's farm, where he assisted in the work of operating it until his marriage, in 1856, following which event he and his wife located one and one-half miles south of Monroe, and lived on that farm for six years, and then spent the succeeding five years on another farm east of Monroe. In 1867, Mr. Carson bought the home-stead now occupied by his widow and eldest child, which is north of Monroe in Lemon township. Here he carried on general farming until his death September 5, 1910. Practically all the improvements on the place were made by him, and he added very materially to its value by the work he expended on it and the care he exercised over all the details. February 21, 1856, Mr. Carson was united in marriage with Eliza J. Davis, born February 22, 1836, a daughter of Samuel and Narcisa (Howard) Davis, and granddaughter of Samuel Davis, and great-granddaughter of Samuel and Susan (Boyd) Davis, who died at Monroe, O., having had the following children: Sarah, Nancy, Elizabeth, Maria, Ruth, James, Samuel, Rebecca, Reuben, John and Nathan. Samuel and Narcisa (Howard) Davis had the following children: Eliza J., who is Mrs. Carson; John, who is deceased, served as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, for three years, died at the home of his brother-in-law, Mr. Carson;

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Thomas Benton, who is deceased, also served as a Union soldier during the Civil war; James B., who is now living with Mrs. Carson; Martha, who is the widow of Martin Lee, lives at Marysville, O.; William, who is deceased; and George Washington who died at Muncie, Ind. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Carson who attained to maturity are as follows: John, who is a farmer, has always lived at home; James, who was in a hardware business at Hamilton, O., for ten years, was engaged in several undertakings prior to moving to Dayton, O., where he is now secretary of the Ohio Hardware association, and he married Ella Harkrader and they have one child; and Charlie, who was in the hardware business with his brother at Hamilton, is now with the Niles Tool works of Hamilton, O., married Catherine Braner, and they have one son, Robert. Mrs. Carson is a member of the United Presbyterian church of Monroe, and one of the oldest members of its missionary society as well as being the oldest member of the Red Cross of Monroe. Mr. Carson was a Democrat and was trustee of his township, and held other offices. He was a man who early learned the value of time and the wisdom of economy, and made all of his work count for something, and once he had earned money, took good care to lay some of it away, for he knew it was poor business policy to live up to his income. While acquiring material prosperity, he did not forget to develop those characteristics which make for good citizenship and personal regard, and when he died his community realized that one of its representative men had passed away, and that its loss was heavy.

Capt. John D. Gary, an honored Civil war veteran and now deceased, was born in Jacksonboro, Ohio, August 22, 1841, a son of James D. and Amy (Phares) Gary, the former of Hamilton county, Ohio, and the latter of Wayne township, Butler county. James D. Gary was a merchant all of his life at Jacksonboro and Seven Mile, at which place both he and his wife passed away, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of six children: Eleanor, deceased, who was the wife of Harry Turner; John D.; Joseph H., formerly a merchant and hotel keeper at Seven Mile; Martha J., of Hamilton, widow of Smith Hamrich; Elizabeth, who died at the age of one year; and George W., who is engaged in merchandising at Sheridan, Ind. John D. Gary attended the home schools of Jacksonboro, and was an excellent penman and bookkeeper. In the latter capacity he was employed in his father's store until the outbreak of the Civil war, when, at the age of twenty-one years he enlisted at Hamilton in Company G, 83d Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His regiment was organized at Camp Dennison, where it remained during August and September, 1862, and subsequently took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Port Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hill, Big Black River, Siege of Vicksburg, second assault of Vicksburg, Jackson, Chateau, Sabine Cross Roads, Cane River and Fort Blakeley. At the last place Captain Gary led his command and was the first to enter the famous stronghold. Early during his service he was made sergeant; in April, 1863, was promoted first lieutenant, and February 18, 1864, received his captain's commission. January 17, 1865, he was transferred to

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Company I of the same regiment, with which he served until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged July 5, 1865. Following the close of his military career, Captain Gary located at Seven Mile, where December 10, 1867, he married Theresa D., daughter of Felix and Caroline (Thomas) Strother, natives respectively of Virginia and New York, and residents of Dayton for some years where Mr. Strother was engaged as a wagon maker. His death occurred in 1847, while his widow survived him until 1895, their five children being: Lyman T., of Nowata, Okla.; Martha, deceased, who was the wife of the late S. J. B. Bryant; Mary E., the widow of Henry Howe, of Fulda, Minn.; Nancy Bell, the widow of John Thomas, of Seven Mile; and Mrs. Gary. To Captain and Mrs. Gary there were born six children: Florence A., the wife of Walter Gerard, a merchant at West Carrollton, Ohio; James D., connected with an aeroplane factory: at Dayton; Lyman T., a machinist at Cincinnati; Fred B., a blacksmith and machinist at Hamilton; Carrie Belle, who died at the age of two years; and Albert B., connected with the National Cash Register company, of Dayton. After his discharge from the war, Captain Gary was connected with merchandising at Seven Mile for a time and then went to Marshall county, Kan., where for three years he acted as bookkeeper for a concern. Returning to Seven Mile, he was variously employed for a time and was then appointed storekeeper at the Soldiers' Home, Sandusky. When the term of his appointment expired, he returned to Seven Mile, where he was a notary public and pension attorney until his death, in January, 1898. He was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his widow also belongs. She resides at Seven Mile, where she is surrounded by numerous sincere friends.

Jerome Cates, is one of the progressive farmers of Ross township, Butler county, Ohio, whose success has been due to their own individual efforts. He is the son of William and Elizabeth (Turner) Cates, and was born in Fayette county, Ky., July 13, 1860. After his marriage, William Cates moved to Butler county, Ohio, locating in Ross township, but later the family returned to Kentucky, where the death of both father and mother occurred. The children were Jerome, William, Charles, Joseph and Agnes. Jerome, the oldest child, and subject of this sketch, was brought with other members of the family to Ross township where he attended public schools until the return to Kentucky. He remained in Kentucky until 1872, when he again went to Ross township and settled on a farm where Ellsworth Lacey now lives. In 1887, he married Sallie Cobb, daughter of M. T. and Anna (Sanders) Cobb, who is a native of Jessamine county, Ky. Two children were born to this union: Shirley, Mrs. Llewelyn Pickens has two children, Beulah and Leroy; Robert, who graduated from the Ohio State university in veterinary surgery and served a long period with the Army in France as a veterinarian. For the past eighteen years, Mr. Cates has been in charge of the Solmyer farm, and looks after the cultivation of 225 acres of land. Notwithstanding the large demands made upon him, he finds time to assist and take part in public affairs such as

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Red Cross and other war activities. In politics, Mr. Cates is a Republican; in church affiliation, a Presbyterian.

Cavalaris Brothers. Notable among the successful business enterprises of Hamilton, Ohio, is The New York Restaurant, the founders, owners and proprietors of which are three brothers, Louis, John and James Cavalaris, all of whom were born and educated in northern Greece. When John Cavalaris was seventeen years old, James sixteen, and Louis fourteen, they went together to Constantinople, Turkey, but their ambition was to come to America and a year and a half later they accomplished their object. After landing in New York City, they looked about them for a suitable business opening, but not finding it there, they proceeded to Knoxville, Tenn. While New York had not afforded them the business opening they were looking for, the magnitude of the city so impressed them that when, in 1909, they opened their fine eating place at Knoxville, they gave it the title of The New York Restaurant, which they have adopted as a trade name. In 1910, Louis and John Cavalaris left the Knoxville business in charge of James, while they came on to Hamilton, Ohio, where they established the first restaurant at No. 221 Court street, where business was carried on for seven years. Rapid expansion then demanded larger quarters and in 1917 removal was made to No. 225 Court street, where their accommodations are three times larger than at the first location. The New York Restaurant is the leading concern of its kind at Hamilton, and its success is due to the enterprise and honorable business methods of its proprietors. On March 7, 1918, James Cavalaris was called to the colors and entered the medical corps of the army stationed at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, five months later was sent to France, his work there being assisting surgeons in operations. He returned to the United States April 27, 1919, and was honorably discharged at Camp Sherman on May 16, 1919. When James entered military service, John Cavalaris took charge of the restaurant at Knoxville, which the brothers still operate, and after his discharge he came to Hamilton and joined Louis in the management of the business here. The brothers as a firm belong to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, and James and John Cavalaris are members of the Fraternal order of Eagles.

John W. Chamberlin. Two and one-half miles east of Middletown, on the Coles road, is situated what is known as the Hetzler farm, but which is now owned and operated by John W, Chamberlin. This Lemon township farmer is one of the progressive and enterprising men of his locality, and during the period that he has resided here has become well and favorably known to the people of the community. He was born on a farm in Turtle Creek township, Warren county, O., October 22, 1867, and is a son of William Chamberlin. His maternal grandfather, George Bergen, was a native of New Jersey who became an early settler of Lemon township, Butler county, where he passed the rest of his life in farming ventures. William Chamberlin grew up in his native state of New Jersey, where he was born March 5, 1825, and was there married February 5, 1851, to Mary J. Bergen, also a native of that

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state, born March 21, 1834. They resided there only a short time after their union, however, and then came to Butler county as early settlers of the vicinity of Poast Town. Subsequently they were residents of Warren county, where the father carried on agricultural pursuits in Turtle Creek township until his death, which occurred September 11, 1871, when he was but forty-five years of age. Mr. Chamberlin was a Republican voter and a man who was esteemed in his community as a good citizen. His widow survived him for many years, and passed away in Kansas, when seventy years of age. She as a woman of many estimable qualities and for a number of years was a member of the Presbyterian church at Blue Ball, O. She and her husband were the parents of eight children; Elizabeth, born June 9, 1852, who married Landon Day, and died August 15, 1915, at Portland, Ore.; Mary Rebecca, born May 13, 1853, who died March 5, 1856; Hezekiah, born May 10, 1859, who died in Kansas; Mary Ann, the third daughter, who married William Williams, of Kansas; Hannah, born March 14, 1862, who is the widow of Frank Burke and lives in New Mexico; George B., born November 19, 1865, who died July 20, 1866; John W., of this notice; and Nannie, born December 22, 1869, the wife of George E. Kingen, of Mount Washington, Kans. John W. Chamberlin was but three years of age when his father died, and as a result his education was somewhat prescribed, although the mother not only managed to keep her little brood together, but also to care for her own parents until their deaths. For three and one-half years he lived near Spring Hill, in Johnson county, Kans., and subsequently made his home with his grandmother, but eventually removed to Franklin, O. In the meantime he was acquiring such education as was possible in the home schools, and growing to young manhood, and December 10, 1891, was married near Franklin to Sarah D. Chamberlin, daughter of Daniel and Amanda (DuBois) Chamberlin, born near Carlisle, O., whose parents were both natives of New Jersey. During the active portion of his career Daniel Chamberlin was a farmer, but he and his wife have now retired and are living in comfort at Franklin, where they have a modern home. Following their marriage, John W. Chamberlin and his wife resided on a farm east of Franklin, but later moved to another property south of that city, where they made their home for six years. They next became residents of Blue Ball, where they lived for two years, and for the following seven years had the old Cook place. In 1907 Mr. Chamberlin bought the Hetzler place on the Coles road, two and one-half miles east of Middletown, a tract of fifty-seven acres, on which he has since made numerous valuable and attractive improvements. He uses modern methods and highly improved machinery in his work, and is accounted one of the skilled agriculturists of his community whose work is attended by satisfying results in the way of emoluments. He is a general farmer, and in addition does some dairying, and his business reputation is of the best, Mr. Chamberlin votes the Republican ticket, but is not active in political affairs and has not chosen to allow his name to be used

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as a candidate for public office in the past. He and Mrs. Chamberlin are members of the Presbyterian church at Blue Ball, and both are well and favorably known in both Butler and Warren counties, where they have many warm friends. They are the parents of two daughters: Dorothy and Florence L., the former of whom was married January 15, 1918, to Fred W. Helsinger, jr., a farmer west of Middletown.

Joseph J. Clair, who holds a position as heater in the American Rolling Mills company, at Middletown, Butler county, has been a resident of this city only a few years. Mr. Clair was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, May 8, 1889, and is a son of Henry and Marie (Devanney) Clair, who still reside in that city, as do also the other three children - Catherine, Rose and Anna, the last mentioned being the wife of Henry Luebke. Joseph J. Clair acquired his early education in the parochial school of St. Edward's Catholic church in his native city, and thereafter he served an apprenticeship to the printer's trade, in which he became a skilled workman. He followed his trade in Cincinnati for a time, when he came to Middletown, to accept a position with the Naegle-Auer Printing company, with which he continued for some time. In 1915, he abandoned the work of the printer's trade to accept the position, of which he has since continued the incumbent, as an employee of the American Rolling Mills company. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, and he and his wife are communicants of St. John's Catholic church. On June 3, 1913, he married Leona Agatha Fabing, who was born in Middletown, July 3, 1889, and who is a daughter of William and Catherine (Hart) Fabing, well-known citizens of Middletown, where the father is a representative business man, with a well equipped establishment on Main street. Mr. and Mrs. Clair have two sons - John W. and William, and the family home is at 921 Yankee road.

Curtis A. Clark, D. V. M., who is engaged in the successful practice of veterinary surgery at College Corner, has been a practitioner of this calling since 1903, and during this time has built up a reputation as one of the leaders in his locality in this field of endeavor. He is a native son of Butler county, having been born at College Corner, April 26, 1874, his parents being G. W. and Cynthia (Welliver) Clark, who still reside here. G. W. Clark, who for many years was a blacksmith at College Corner, is now living in comfortable retirement at the age of eighty years, and is highly respected in the community as is also his worthy and estimable wife, who is a member of the old-settled and honored family of Welliver, pioneers of Butler county. There were five children in the family: Robert, Myrtie, an infant, Charles and Curtis A., all of whom are deceased with the exception of Doctor Clark. Curtis A. Clark was educated in the graded and high schools at College Corner, and when he completed his studies took up the trade of barber, which he followed as a journeyman and proprietor for fifteen years. As a boy and youth he had been interested in horses and had learned much of their diseases while passing spare time around his father's blacksmith shop, and eventually decided to take

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up the work of a veterinarian. However he knew that the advancements in this line of endeavor had been great since his youth, and in order to prepare himself for his career he took a course in the Indiana Veterinary college, at Indianapolis, from which he was duly graduated in 1903. At that time he returned to College Corner and established himself in practice, and since then has built up a large and lucrative professional business, not alone in the immediate community of his home, but in the surrounding countryside and in the counties adjacent. He is a great friend of dumb animals, understands them thoroughly, and has had extraordinary success in treating their ills. He is a humane man, full of sympathy for his patients, and this, perhaps, has been one of the chief reasons for his success. In the various communities to which he has traveled, Doctor Clark has made many friendships, while in his home locality he is known as a good and public-spirited citizen. He was married in 1896 to Ada B., daughter of Alexander and Ada Kennedy, of Cottage Grove, Ohio, the father a farmer and plasterer. To this union there have come two children: Caryl, born in 1901, and a graduate of high school; and Edna, born in 1907, attending the graded school.

James Marshall Clark. Among the employees of the American Rolling Mill, at Middletown, who can boast of the possession of a fifteen-year pin, designating fifteen years of faithful and continuous service, is James Marshall Clark, who occupies the position of heater. Mr. Clark, who has passed his entire career in this line of work, was born in Ligonier valley, Pa., January 28, 1871, a son of Joseph P. and Jane Agnes (Reed) Clark. The American history of the Reed family, of which Mr. Clark's mother is a member, began with the early settlement of Pennsylvania when in 1753 people bearing the name located in the Cumberland valley. Since that time the family has produced a distinguished line of people, among them noted physicians, lawyers and clergymen. Mrs. Jane Agnes (Reed) Clark was born September 27, 1845, at Ligonier, Pa., a daughter of Marshall and Sarah (McKelvey) Reed. Her father, the youngest of a family of twelve children, was born on the original Reed homestead, May 15, 1819, and married Sarah McKelvey, and their descendants still retain the farm of their ancestors. There were seven children born to their union: Jane Agnes, Asenath, Rebecca A., James McKelvey, Sarah Mary, Robert Buchanan and Lavinia Elizabeth, of whom three died in childhood. June 17, 1863, Marshall Reed enlisted in Company B, 1st Batallion, Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. In his declining years he applied for a pension, but a voucher from the United States Government came a few hours late for his signature, he having died March 20, 1892. His wife, Sarah, died September 6, 1875. Jane Agnes, the oldest of their children, married Joseph P. Clark, who was born August 16, 1841. He enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war September 12, 1861, and served until the close of the war, being credited with having participated in twenty-five battles, and receiving his honorable discharge July 1, 1865. He and his wife were the parents of nine children: Sarah Alice, Matilda

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J., James Marshall, Asenath A., Frank. M., McKinley Patterson, Charles Vincent, Addie Reed and Irvin Ross. James Marshall Clark received a public school education and about the year 1904 entered the Zanesville plant of the American Rolling Mill company. In 1911 he came to Middletown, where he has since been employed in the capacity of a heater, and is considered one of the company's reliable, skilled and trustworthy workmen. He is a liberal Republican in politics, and he and his family are members of the Methodist church and reside in their own pretty home on Grand avenue. Mr. Clark was married at Apollo, Pa., November 25, 1897, to Miss Lottie Snyder, who was born January 29, 1878, and they have had six children: an infant, born May 14, 1899, who died two days later; and Mildred, Violet, Freda, Mary and Jimmie, who reside with their parents.

William E. Clark. After spending more than four decades in the hard and unceasing work of the agriculturist and accumulating a competence sufficient to relinquish active labor, the average man would feel satisfied to retire to a life of comfort and ease, untroubled by business cares. Such has not, however, been the nature of William E. Clark, of Oxford. For more than forty years this highly respected citizen was a tiller of the soil, after which he engaged in business of another character for several years, and today, when past the Psalmist's three-score-and-ten, he still has large and important interests to demand the constant use of his active body and fertile brain. Mr. Clark was born on a farm in Morgan township, Butler county, Ohio, March 6, 1849, a son of Salem and Susan (Ragdale) Clark, also natives of that county, the former of Reily township and the latter of Morgan township. After their marriage, the parents located in the former township, where the mother died, the father removing to Oxford two years prior to his own death. Both were laid to rest at Scipio. They were the parents of four children: Mary Louise, who married Jesse Beard; Alfred, who is deceased; William E., of this review; and Henry W., a Hamilton real estate dealer with an office in the Rentschler building. William E. Clark secured his education in the country schools, after leaving which he worked on the home farm for a time and then engaged in farming on his own account. For more than forty-three years he was connected with matters of an agricultural character and through his industrious, painstaking and well-directed work accumulated a competency and established himself in a position where he was known as a thoroughly capable, substantial and result-producing agriculturist. Leaving the farm at the end of that long period, he took up his residence at Hamilton, where his well-known business ability placed him at the head of the firm of Clark Brothers, carriage and harness dealers, and this business he followed until 1905, when he came to Oxford and bought his present home, a handsome, attractive and comfortable residence at No. 112 Campus avenue, which he remodeled. From the time of his arrival to the present he has engaged successfully and extensively in the buying and selling of farms, and at this time has holdings both locally and in the State of Wisconsin. As a citizen he

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has always been worthily and honorably interested in civic affairs, and the high respect and confidence in which he is universally held has led to his election as president of the village council of Oxford, a position in which he has worked energetically for the betterment of his community. He is a staunch Democrat in politics. Mr. Clark was married January 2, 1872, to Mary, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Fye) Beard, of Reily township, who had two other children: William A., of Dublin, Ind.; and George deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Clark there have been born five children: John E. and Jessie H., both deceased; Grace, the wife of W. B. Cullen, of Dayton, who owns a foundry at Miamisburg; and Clifford and Perley, deceased.

Daniel L. Clear, of Fairfield township, Butler county, is one of the progressive farmers of this county and is proving successful as an agriculturist and breeder and grower of live stock, to which department of his farm enterprise he gives special attention, the major part of the forage crops on his farm being used for the feeding of his cattle and hogs. He rents and carries on operations on what is known as the Burns farm, and he is one of the substantial and popular citizens of his native county. Mr. Clear was born near Jones station, in Fairfield township, Butler county, December 11, 1875. In Ireland were born his parents, James and Elizabeth (Kelly) Clear, the latter of whom was a girl of eleven years at the time of her parents' immigration to America. James Clear was reared and educated in the Emerald Isle and was an ambitious youth of eighteen years when he came to the United States, the sailing vessel on which he crossed the Atlantic ocean being three months upon the ocean. Upon his arrival in Butler county, Ohio, James Clear first found employment in shoveling corn at the old Dodsworth distillery, a flourishing industrial institution of the county at that time, and later he served for a short time as a driver of mules along the old-time canal in this section of the state. For a number of years he was employed at farm work in Butler county, and after his marriage he rented the old Wormester farm, but a year later he removed to the Taylor farm. The succeeding year found him operating a farm of forty acres in Hamilton county, and he then returned to Butler county and rented the Jones farm at Jones station, where he continued his farming enterprise for twenty-six years, within which time his son Daniel L., of this review, was there born. At the expiration of this time Mr. Clear purchased a farm of eighty acres in Union township, and there both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, secure in the confidence and esteem of all who knew them, and both earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Of their eight children seven are living - Thomas, John, Daniel L., Martin, Mary, Margaret and Elizabeth. Daniel L. Clear has continuously resided in Butler county from the time of his birth, and here he has effectively upheld the honors of the family name, both as a loyal citizen and as a successful farmer. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Fairfield township and thereafter assisted his father in the work of the home farm until he assumed full control, by the purchase of the

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homestead, in Union township. There he remained until 1915 when he rented and removed to the Burns farm, upon which he has since continued as an agriculturist and stock raiser. Mr. Clear has always taken lively interest in community affairs and has been influential in the local councils of the Democratic party. He represented Union township as a member of the Democratic central committee of Butler county, and for seven years served as trustee of that township. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and he and his wife are active communicants of the Catholic church at Hamilton. June 7, 1914, he was married to Catherine Clark, whose widowed mother, Mrs. Ellen Clark, is a well known resident of Butler county. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Clear had been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Clear have two children: Ellen Elizabeth and Mary Catherine.

Thomas Clear is known as one of the successful and popular representative farmers of Fairfield township. He is the owner of a well improved farm of 115 acres, where he has been successfully carrying forward operations as an agriculturist and stock grower since 1914, prior to which year he had here farmed on rented land. He is of pioneer stock in Butler county and was here born, in Fairfield township, December 11, 1861, a son of James and Elizabeth (Kelly) Clear, both of whom were born on the fair old Emerald Island, the father having been a youth of eighteen years when he came to America, and the mother having accompanied her parents to this country when she was a girl of eleven years. Animated by the spirited buoyancy and ambition characteristic of the people of his native land, James Clear crossed the Atlantic on one of the old-time sailing vessels, the voyage having been of three months duration. He soon made his way to Butler county, Ohio, and here his first employment was that of shoveling corn at the old Dodsworth distillery, which represented one of the pioneer industrial enterprises of the county. Later he was employed as driver of mules on the old canal towpath, which he followed but a short time. He then found employment at farm work, in Fairfield township, and his compensation at the time averaged $11 a month, while the pioneer conditions made the work exceedingly hard. After his marriage Mr. Clear rented the old Wormester farm, but about a year later removed to the old Taylor farm, and remained here for one year. He next established himself on a farm of forty acres in Hamilton county, but a year later he returned to Butler county and rented the Jones farm at Jones station. There he continued operations twenty-six years, at the expiration of which he purchased eighty acres in Union township, and operated it during the remainder of his life and here both he and his wife died. Of their eight children seven are living: Thomas, John, Daniel, Martin, Mary, Margaret and Elizabeth. The parents were folk of sterling character and possessed of those genial and generous attributes that foster enduring friendships. Both were earnest communicants of the Catholic church, in whose faith they carefully reared their children. Thomas Clear gained the major part of his early education in the old schoolhouse at Jones station, and after leaving

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school he assisted his father in farming operations until his marriage. He and his young wife then established themselves on a small farm which he rented, but two years later they removed to a larger farm, of 150 acres, upon which he conducted operations five years. For nineteen years thereafter Mr. Clear rented the Patrick Burns farm, and at the expiration of this period he purchased and located upon his present farm, which he is maintaining at a high standard of productivity and which has received numerous and substantial improvements at his hands. His political views proclaim him as an adherent of the Democratic party, and he has been called upon to serve in various local offices of trust, having held the position of township trustee for two years, and for seven years was the incumbent of the office of Justice of the peace, and he served for some time as road superintendent in his township. He is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. On June 8, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Clear to Mary Jacquermin, daughter of John Jacquermin, and of the six children of this union three are living - James, John and Paul. James married Miss Uste and they have two children. John married Miss Blanche Fry and they have one child, Elsie. Paul wedded Miss Lillian Arlinghouse and they have one son, Thomas, named in honor of his paternal grandfather.

Doc Iris Cochran, M. D. - The first personal name of Doctor Cochran must have been given with parental prevision of the professional activities that were eventually to engage his attention, and today he has secure vantage-place as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of his native county, where he is established in successful general practice at Millville. In his popularity and professional success he has effectually set at naught any application of the scriptural statement that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country", and he further has the prestige of being a representative of one of the old and honored families of Butler county. He was born on his father's farm in Hanover township, this county, February 12, 1878, and is a son of Taylor and Hannah (Gillespie) Cochran. Taylor Cochran was a brother of J. S. Cochran, of Ross township, and in the review of the career of the latter, on other pages of this work, is given due record concerning the family history while this publication likewise offers elsewhere detailed record concerning the Gillespie family of which the mother of Doctor Cochran was a representative. Taylor Cochran long held rank among the successful exponents of agricultural industry in Butler county, where he developed one of the fine farms of Hanover township. Of his two children the subject of this review is the younger, and the elder is Albertus, who now maintains his residence at Hamilton, Butler county. To the public schools of his native county Doctor Cochran is indebted for his early educational discipline, which was conjoined with that involved in the work of the home farm. He continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school at Hamilton, and in the meanwhile he had formulated definite plans for his future career. In consonance with these plans and ambitions he entered the medical

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department of the University of Ohio, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903 and with the degree of M. D. Shortly after thus receiving his degree he established himself in practice at Millville, and here his recognized professional ability, his close and faithful application and his personal popularity have conspired to the developing for him of a large and representative general practice. He is identified with the Butler County Medical society and the Ohio State Medical society, and at the time of this writing he is a valued member of the board of health of Butler county. During the period of the nation's participation in the World war Dr. Cochran served as a member of the Medical Reserve Corps, besides having been chairman of the committee that had in charge the various campaigns for war support - Victory Loans, War-Savings Stamps, etc. - in his county, the while his wife took an active and prominent part in Red Cross activities in the county. He is a Republican in his political proclivities, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian church in their home village, as are they also popular factors in the representative social life of the community. The year 1904 recorded the marriage of Doctor Cochran to Miss Sadie Elizabeth Henry, a daughter of Halsey and Elizabeth Henry, well-known citizens of Riley township, Butler county. Doctor and Mrs. Cochran have three children: Hugh W., Faye Elizabeth and John W.

J. S. Cochran is one of the wide awake and energetic agriculturists of Ross township, Butler county, Ohio. Not only has he labored industriously and conscientiously to advance his own material interests, but he has always shown a kindly feeling for his neighbors. The Cochran family of Butler county is one of the oldest and most respected of the long-time residents of that section and has played an important part in furthering the agricultural importance of the community. This family descended from William and Rebecca (Morrow) Cochran, who came from Adams county, Pa., in 1814, with their three small children, locating first in Warren county, Ohio, near the Little Miami river, where they joined Jeremiah Morrow, who had established himself some years previously. Later William Cochran and family came to Millville, where the parents passed the remainder of their days. James W. Cochran, the father of J. S. Cochran, was the son of William and Rebecca (Morrow) Cochran. He married Mary June Hill, daughter of James Hill, who came to Millville about 1811 and had seven children, J. S. being the youngest son. Rebecca Morrow was the daughter of John and Mary (Lockhart) Morrow, who also lived in Adams county, Pa. They were the parents of six children, of whom one, Jeremiah, became famous as governor of Ohio. The Cochran family on both sides was known for the rugged honesty of its members and it is gratifying to know that the later descendants have perpetuated the admirable distinction attained. J. S. Cochran married Mary L. Minton, daughter of Harvey and Florence (Parker) Minton. Three children have been born to them - Mary V.; Elizabeth G.,

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and Rebecca Morrow. He is a Presbyterian in religion and a Republican in politics. As an agriculturist he has always kept apace with the times and the success which he has had has been well merited.

William Cochran was born in Ross township, Butler county, November 19, 1835, a son of James and Hannah (Wilson) Cochran, the former of whom came to Butler county from Pennsylvania. His brother, William Cochran, after whom was named the subject of this review was one of the early judges of Butler county and was known to the district as a man of probity and acumen. William Cochran, subject of sketch, married April 21, 1864, Miss Susan Whipple, a daughter of James and Susan (Timmerman) Whipple. After their marriage the young couple resided for a time on the old Whipple farm and then built the present homestead which was designed by the wife. Five children were born to them: Maud, Martha, Guereldelene, Bertha and Charles. Maud was married to John Behl and now lives in Oxford township, having three children, Hugh, Margery and Dorothy; Martha married William Beard, and also lives in Oxford township and has two children, Lorena and Donald; Guereldelene married James Beard and lives in Hamilton, Ohio, and has three children, Mark, Susan and Gladys; Bertha, who married Charles Snively, lives in Oxford, and has two children, Eleanor and Ruth; Charles married Hazel Minton, lives with his mother on the home farm, and has one son, James William, born February 1, 1919. Mention may here fittingly be made of the third generation: Margery, was married to Arthur Myers, lives in Oxford township and has two children, Pearl and Arthur; Hugh Behl served his country as an assistant-surgeon in the Navy. Lorena Beard was married to Troy Junk and has two children, Janet and William. Donald Beard married Virginia Gillespie; Mark Beard, son of Guereldelene (Cochran) Beard, married Rebecca Dick, and lives in Morgan township.

George D. C. Coddington. Inventive genius is a divine gift, and its exercise, along useful and humanitarian lines, has done much to add to the comfort and happiness of the world. In connection with utilitarian inventions, the name of Coddington is one which has long been prominent. The late George W. Coddington, whose name and memory preserved in the firm of George W. Coddington heirs, at West Middletown, was a man of rare genius, and his son, George D. C. Coddington, is one whose natural talents and practical application of expert knowledge have placed him beyond ordinary characterization, in several instances having practically revolutionized mechanical methods. Mr. Coddington was born at Middletown, Ohio, February 13, 1869, a son of George W. and Ruth J. (Doty) Coddington, and is a direct descendant of Daniel Doty, the first white settler of Butler county. His paternal grandfather, Stephen Coddington, came from Maryland down the Ohio river and settled at what is now Cincinnati, then Fort Washington, where he followed the trade of mason and also did some freighting down the Ohio river. His son, George W. Coddington, was born at Cincinnati, and as a young man went to Missouri, but about the close of the Civil war came to Middletown and settled on Clinton

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street. During his residence in Missouri his eyesight had become impaired, but upon his recovery he applied himself to the trade of mason, and later took up photography. He was likewise skilled in the art of violin making, and numerous fine instruments came from his little shop, several of which are still in the family possession. He easily displayed inventive genius, his first practical article of value being a patent truck for holding logs in a sawmill. Following this came a steam turbine, which also attracted favorable attention. His principal invention, however, was a waxed string for fruit jars and the machinery to manufacture same, and out of this he made a large fortune, following it with a glass fruit jar which bears his name. Among his other accomplishments, Mr. Coddington was a fancy skater of note and retained his skill in this direction until he had passed his seventieth year. He married Ruth J. Doty, who was born and reared southeast of Middletown, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Vail) Doty, the former of whom was the first proprietor of Middletown and laid out the streets of that city. Daniel Doty, the grandfather of Mrs. Coddington, was the first settler of Butler county, where he arrived in 1796. He commenced his improvements in a dense forest, and built his primitive log cabin on the banks of the Big Miami, but when it was finished had to make his household effects of every kind with which to furnish it. This cabin, which was long a landmark of the community, had wooden pegs for nails and a clapboard roof. In later life, this pioneer had a more comfortable and commodious home, and was one of the respected and influential men of his locality. He and his wife were the parents of twelve children, of whom the ninth in order of birth was Joseph, who was born at Middletown, January 8, 1808. He married Mary Vail, daughter of Samuel Vail, who was a brother of Stephen Vail, the first proprietor of Middletown. In the family of George W. Coddington, there were five children, of whom two survive: George D. C.; and Pearl, the wife of William Rosscopf, of Imperial valley, Calif. George D. C. Coddington was educated in the public schools of Middletown, and in his youth showed flashes of genius. As he grew to maturity his talents developed and he was soon the bearer of a reputation which was not confined to his immediate home community. As a youth he assisted his father in perfecting the machinery for the manufacture of the standard wax strings for sealing fruit cans, jars, etc., and the capacity of this machine is now 300,000 daily. Later he turned his attention to the invention of a submarine vessel, for which he made drawings, specifications and a working model. He was then a lad of but twenty years, but had faith in his invention, which he brought before government officials, only to be treated with the indifference that is given a crank or visionary. Returning from the east, where he had met with this setback, he decided that his machine needed further improvements. Later these ideas were incorporated in the models of the submarines built by J. P. Holland, the "Peacemaker" and the "Holland." Next, Mr. Coddington produced a wax-coated paper ring, to take the place of a rubber ring on Mason fruit jars, and this he subsequently sold to Ball Brothers,

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glass manufacturers, for the sum of $20,000. Another utilitarian article invented by him is the "helping hand," so named by his son, Earl, a device for lifting hot pans or kettles from the stove without injury to the hand. Mr. Coddington also invented the rocker washing machine and a sealing wax machine for sealing fruit cans. This latter moulded the wax cakes, weighed them and threw out the light-weights, removed the cakes from the mold and automatically put the cakes in cartons, in fact doing everything except put them in a shipping case, at the rate of 10,000 per day. This patent he sold at a good figure. Mr. Coddington is also a talented artist in oil colors, is an expert photographer and a skilled wood carver. He is very fond of travel and has visited many of the large cities of interest in this and other countries, where he has indulged his love of art in some of the famous galleries and his penchant for literature in noted libraries. He is a Democrat, but has not cared for public life, his greatest pleasure being found in his beautiful home at West Middletown, which he built several years ago on coming to this community from Middletown. October 13, 1889, Mr. Coddington married Mary F. B., daughter of John and Mary (Saybaugh) Link, and to this union there have been born three children: Myrtle R. A., Earl L. and Inez E. Myrtle, who is living at Los Angeles, Calif., at the home of her aged grandmother, was for five years a teacher at Middletown, two years at Fairfield and one year at Dayton. She is at present engaged in the study of Osteopathy. Earl L., of Middletown, is an expert automobilist and graduate electrician, and the proprietor of the East End Garage. He is known as the third inventive genius in the Coddington family, his time and mind being applied to the invention of a new type of engine, automatic gear shifting and engine starter, all for the improvement of automobiles; in conjunction with these are several other inventions underway. He is also a talented musician and artist. He married Theresa Ankill, of Middletown. Inez E. was a nurse in the Deaconess hospital, Cincinnati, but contemplates taking up the study of Osteopathy as a profession. She has inherited her father's artistic tastes, and has received commendation and honors upon her work in oils. With her parents, she belongs to the Baptist church, while Myrtle belongs to the Presbyterian faith and Earl L. and wife to the United Brethren denomination.

Robert K. Coddington. It is not within the capability of every man to be successful both as an employee and an employer. Certain characteristics are necessary in order that a man may faithfully represent capital and labor. He must be fair in his judgments, upright in his actions, and open to argument, and cautious in making decisions until all sides of every question have been presented. It is the possession of these qualities that has made Robert K. Coddington successful in the discharge of his duties in the traffic department of the American Rolling Mill company, at Middletown. He is a native of Amanda, Ohio, born December 12, 1868, a son of James and Nancy (Edwards) Coddington, and a descendant of the family to which belonged William Coddington, the founder of the colony of Rhode Island. His paternal grandfather was Robert

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Coddington, who married a Miss Sinkey, and his maternal grandfather was Samuel Edwards, who came from Maryland to Cincinnati, Ohio, at an early date in the latter city's history. There were seven children in the family of Mr. Coddington's parents: Robert K., Samuel, Charles, Rowena, Clinton, William and Charles, of whom William is deceased. The father passed away in 1888, and the mother survives as a resident of Amanda. Robert K. Coddington attended the public schools of his native place, and after his graduation from the high school began to teach in the country schools. From that occupation he went to become agent of the C. H. & D. railroad, at West Middletown, but resigned to accept one with the Decatur Buggy company. From that concern he transferred his services to the American Tobacco company, and subsequently joined the American Rolling Mill, at Middletown, Ohio. Mr. Coddington is liberal in his political views, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist church. December 25, 1894, he married Miss Jennie Gillespie, who is still a woman of striking beauty and of lovely personality. She was born at Franklin, Ohio, October 22, 1869, a daughter of the late Capt. J. W. A. and Henrietta (Wilkinson) Gillespie. Captain Gillespie was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, February 19, 1837, a son of James and Catherine Gillespie, and was married at Franklin to Henrietta Wilkinson, who was born April 26, 1842, at Franklin, daughter of Richard and Mary Jane Wilkinson. He was in the Union service from April 19, 1861, to January 1, 1865, served as storekeeper for the United States Government for six months in 1868, and was sergeant-at-arms of the G. A. R. Post at Columbus, Ohio, for a number of years. His death occurred at Middletown. He and his wife were the parents of five children: Edwin P., Frank, Jennie T., William F. and Robert Y. An elder brother of Captain Gillespie, William C. B. Gillespie, was captain and later major of the 41st Illinois Volunteers, and was subsequently on staff duty with Generals Pugh and Custer. George, another brother, fought with the 9th Ohio Cavalry. Mr. and Mrs. Coddington have reared a most interesting family of children. Paul Edward fought as a member of the United States Marines for two years and four months and while in France, June 8, 1918, was wounded by a machine-gun bullet in the head and right arm, while in the engagement of Belleau Wood. His cousin, Frohman Gillespie and Uncle Charles Coddington, also were in the U. S. service. Thelma, the elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Coddington, is a graduate of the Middletown High school, and volunteered as a Red Cross nurse. Marian Loeta, the younger daughter, is also a graduate of Middletown High school and also attended Monmouth college. She is splendidly gifted with dramatic talent, and while she has never trod the professional boards her services are constantly in demand in amateur entertainments and home talent theatricals. She is self-supporting, being employed in the office of the American Rolling Mill company. Kyle, the younger son and youngest child, is a member of the sophomore class at the Middletown High school.

Robert Coman Cogswell has been identified with lumber interests since the commencement of his career in business affairs and

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for some years has been a resident of Hamilton, where he is a member of the firm and secretary of the Vaughn Building company. Mr. Cogswell was born at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, April 28, 1887, a son of C. E. and Zarina E. (Coman) Cogswell. The Cogswell family originated in England, whence they emigrated to the United States in 1635, the founder here being Sir John Cogswell who secured a grant of land in Massachusetts. Members of this family were prominent in the affairs of the nation in the early days, both political and military, and those bearing the name have been honorable men and women in the various professions and vocations of life. G. E. Cogswell was born in Pennsylvania, but subsequently went to LeRoy, N. Y., where he was married, and later moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He and his wife were the parents of three children: Robert C. George O., president and manager of the Cogswell Building company of Springfield, Ohio; and E. R., district manager for the Bell Telephone company, of Springfield, Ill. Robert C. Cogswell attended the graded school at Waukegan, Ill., and the high school at Champaign, that state, and then entered the University of Illinois, from which he was duly graduated. Following his graduation he went to Lafayette, Ill., where he became assistant manager for the Henry Taylor Lumber company, and when he resigned from that firm it was to come to Hamilton, here he became manager of the yard of the West Side Lumber company. Subsequently he was with the Cullen-Vaughn company, constructors, and finally formed a partnership with Mr. Vaughn of that concern, and became secretary of the Vaughn Building company, which post he still retains. This concern has been one of the most successful of its kind at Hamilton and has engaged in a number of large construction works, prominent among which is the erection of the mammoth Ford plant at Hamilton. April 8, 1916, Mr. Cogswell was united in marriage with Louise, daughter of W. M. Dingfelder, of Hamilton, and to this union there has come one son: Robert Coman, jr., born March 22, 1917. The pleasant family home is situated at No. 110 Elvin avenue.

Elmer J. Combs. During the past sixteen years one of the industrious and reliable citizens of Middletown has been Elmer J. Combs, who is successfully engaged in business as a carpenter contractor. He was born at Washington Court House, Ohio, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Nichols) Combs. The Combs family of this branch was founded in America by the great-grandfather of Mr. Combs, who emigrated from Scotland to the colony of Virginia, and in 1721 moved to the frontier of Kentucky. There, in 1779, was born the grandfather of Elmer J. Combs, a fact which was discovered by the latter's son, Carl E., who while on a visit to Union Hall, Ky., found an old Family Bible, in which was entered the date of his great-grandfather's birth. The maternal grandparents of Elmer J. Combs came from Maryland and settled near Frankfort, Ross county, Ohio, at an early day. His father died in 1882, and his mother June 2, 1918, aged eighty-four years. Elmer J. Combs received a public school education and as a youth applied himself to learning the carpenter's trade. He was a resident of Washington

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Court House until 1903, in which year he came to Middletown, and here is now the owner of a pretty, modern home on Baltimore street. For some years he was employed by the Middletown Lumber company and Caldwell & Iseminger, but eventually embarked in business on his own account as a carpenter contractor, and since that time has met with excellent success. He is a skilled and reliable workman, able in his calling and trustworthy in living up to the letter of his contracts, and has won and held the confidence of his associates and the public at large. January 30, 1887, Mr. Combs married at Washington Court House, Rose Etta, daughter of John and Cynthia Ellen (Brown) Shierer, and granddaughter of Isaiah and Elizabeth Shierer, who came from Virginia after the close of the Civil war and in 1877 settled in Preble county, Ohio. Two of Mrs. Combs' uncles were killed while fighting as soldiers during the Civil war. In the family of John and Cynthia E. Shierer there were nine children: Willie; Cora Jane, now Mrs. Frank Wade, of Pennsylvania; Ida May, the widow of Robert Pierce, of Oxford, Ohio; Mary Sylvia, now Mrs. C. DuVal, of Middletown; Rose Etta, the wife of Elmer J. Combs; Myrtle Elizabeth, the wife of R. Stewart, of Middletown; Eunice, the wife of Daniel Doty, of Franklin; Bessie, the wife of Henry Johnson, of Middletown; and Charles, of this city. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Combs: Carl Edward, of whom more later; Earl, deceased; Harry Cleveland; Francis Clyde, who married Margaret Root; Charles; Elizabeth Ellen, deceased; Leslie, who married Grace Sharritt; Nora Pauline, deceased; and Philip LeRoy, who died in infancy. Carl Edward Combs was educated in the public schools of Frankfort, Ohio, and came to Middletown from Washington Court House with his parents in 1903. Here he successfully passed the U. S. Civil Service examination, and for the past several years has been employed as a clerk at the Middletown post office. He is a young man of studious habits and patriotic impulses, and is very popular in his home city. He was married September 1, 1906, to Lillian, daughter of David and Anna (Esselman) Rodgers, of Clermont county, Ohio, and they have three children: Veatrice, Ruth and Elmer. Mr. Combs is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Charles Combs enlisted in the United States Marines, May 7, 1917, and was sent to Paris Island, S. C., where he was subsequently attached to the 44th U. S. Marine Corps, and sent to Santo Domingo as a gunner. He was granted a furlough and visited his parents' home at Middletown, and shortly after his return to Santo Domingo was stricken with Spanish influenza and died February 24, 1919. The following token of kindly consideration from one associated with him in his country's service, shows the high esteem in which this brave and valiant young soldier was held by those who knew him: "Marine Barracks, Hato Mayor, D. R., February 25, 1919. My Dear Mr. Combs: I regret exceedingly to inform you, unofficially, of the death of your son Charles. As the medical officer of the command here it was my privilege to know Charles very well, and I assure you of my heartfelt sympathy, as I feel that I, too, have suffered a personal loss. It might not be

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amiss to tell you that among the men of his company he was one of the best liked and most popular and was known as being a good chum, a man to be depended on. Charles was brought to the hospital to me on the 18th of February with a high temperature and the usual symptoms of Spanish influenza. He became progressively worse, and although we gave him, as you will understand, the best of care and never left him alone for a moment, despite all our efforts, he died yesterday at 4:45 p. m. He was conscious up to the last moment and suffered no pain, his passing away being very tranquil. Again assuring you of my heartfelt sympathy, I am, Sincerely yours, Walter L. Deemer, Lieutenant, M. C. U. S. Navy." Followmg this tribute came another from "We, the fellows of the 44th Company," in which they expressed over their signatures "our deepest sorrow over the death of your beloved son." The young soldier's remains were brought back to Middletown, in March, 1919, where they were given burial with full military honors.

Frank Wilson Compton. Four generations of the Compton family have tilled the soil of the Miami valley and the properties favored by their occupancy invariably have borne the stamp of thoroughness, method and success. A worthy representative of the family name, and one who has maintained its best traditions, is Frank Wilson Compton, owner of the Loyal Stock farm in Lemon township, Butler county, who has not only been successful as an agriculturist but is also prominently known in the grain trade, with an elevator at Oakland Station. Mr. Compton was born on a farm in Turtle Creek township, Warren county, O., September 8, 1875, a son of James E. Compton. His paternal grandfather, Enoch D. Compton, was born at Mount Healthy, Hamilton county, and following his marriage to Martha P. McClellan of Butler county became an early settler of Franklin township, Warren county, where he bought a new farm. This he cleared and cultivated, made many improvements, and continued to occupy as an agriculturist during the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, as follows: Sarah E., who is unmarried and makes her residence on the old home place in Warren county; Ann, who is deceased; Jane, deceased, who was the wife of E. B. Harkrader; James E.; Charles, who prior to his death was a Butler county farmer; Catherine, of Lemon township, the widow of William Lackens; John W., a resident of Trinidad, Colorado; and Frank M., an attorney of Dayton. James. E. Compton was given the advantages of only a common school education, as his youth and boyhood were passed in a new country where almost primitive conditions as to education still existed. Following his marriage he located on a farm in Warren county, and through his natural industry, his fine ability and his good business management became one of the large farmers and stock growers of his locality, having a splendidly cultivated and highly improved farm in Turtle Creek township. He raised Clydesdale horses for the market and exhibited them at fairs, and his judgment in regard to all kinds of live stock was considered so sound that he was frequently called upon for advice and counsel in matters pertaining to that industry.

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He was a voter of the Republican persuasion, was active in church work, and for many years was an elder in the United Presbyterian church at Monroe. He died in 1906 at the age of fifty-two years, his widow surviving him until 1918, when she passed away at the age of sixty-seven years. They were the parents of three children, namely: Frank Wilson, of this notice; Henrietta, who married W, D. Ralston, a farmer of Lemon township, Butler county; and Harry J., an attorney of Dayton, who died in 1912 at the age of thirty-two years. Frank Wilson Compton was educated in the public schools of Warren county, where he was reared as a farmer's son and taught all the principles of agriculture, He was married in 1894 and in that same year located in Lemon township, where he farmed one property for seven years, then, in 1912, buying what was then known as the Alexander farm, but now known as the Loyal Stock Farm, a tract of 101 acres lying at Oakland Station. While Mr. Compton has done some general farming, he has concentrated the greater part of his industrious energies in stock breeding, his favorites being Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and Percheron horses, He is widely known throughout his part of Butler county, and wherever his acquaintance extends is regarded as an upright and worthy man, and one of the foremost representatives of the agricultural element in his section, He commands the esteem and confidence of all who come in contact with him in the daily walks of life. In 1912 Mr. Compton embarked in the grain business, handling all kinds of grain, coal and fencing, and in 1917 built his present elevator, of 6,000 bushels capacity, at Oakland. The high confidence in which Mr. Compton is held is shown in the fact that he is trustee for the J. E. Compton estate and agent for the E. D. Compton estate. He takes only a voter's interest in political affairs, his support being given to the Republican party. September 4, 1894, Mr. Compton was married to Miss Mary Baird, of Lemon township, a daughter of Joseph H. and Sarah (Banker) Baird, the latter of whom is deceased, while the former, a retired farmer, is a resident of Middletown, Mrs. Compton is a Baptist of the old school, while Mr. Compton belongs to the United Presbyterian church at Monroe and actively interested in church work.

William H. Compton. By reason of the quality and broad extent of his community helpfulness, his business and financial enterprise, acumen and soundness and his closeness to the fundamental requirements of good citizenship, William H. Compton, in his career, has furnished an encouraging example of success attained through the proper application of ordinary opportunities. Mr. Compton, who is president of the Monroe National bank, prominently connected with other large enterprises, and an extensive farmer and stock breeder in Butler county, was born at Glendale, Hamilton county, O., June 28, 1859, a son of Wilson M, and Elizabeth (Hunt) Compton. Elias Compton, the grandfather of William H., was born in New Jersey, where he was married to Bershabe Hill, also a native of that state, They were early settlers in Hamilton county, O., locating near Glendale, where the grandfather secured land and developed a farm. There he and his worthy wife passed

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the remainder of their lives in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. They were the parents of the following children: Enoch, Ezeriah, Joseph, Charles, Samuel, Wilson M., Mary Ann and Phoebe. Wilson M. Compton was born at Mount Healthy, O., and grew up in Hamilton county, where he received a common school education. In his native community he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Hunt, who was born near Trenton, N. J., a daughter of Randolph and Martha Hunt, natives of New Jersey and early settlers of Hamilton county where they passed their lives as tillers of the soil. There were the following children in the Hunt family: Noah, Israel, Henry, Charles, Rachel, Elizabeth and Martha. In 1860 Wilson M. Compton came to Butler county and settled on the farm now occupied by his son. An arduous task confronted him, for the land was practically a swamp and the house located thereon was set upon stilts. He at first secured eighty acres, and with characteristic industry started about draining and clearing it, his labors eventuating in the development of a valuable and productive property. To his original holdings he added over 100 acres, and as the years passed he built a comfortable and commodious home, a substantial barn and good outbuildings, and made numerous other improvements which added to the value and attractiveness of the farm. During the rest of his life he carried on general farming, and at the time of his death in 1908, when he was eighty-one years of age, he was one of the well-to-do men of his locality. He was a public-spirited citizen and a man of high moral principles, and for some years was an elder in the Presbyterian church at Monroe, of which his wife, who died in 1895, at the age of fifty-six years, was also a member. They were the parents of four children: Elias, educated in the home schools, the normal school at Lebanon, Princeton university, and Wooster (Ohio) university, from which he was graduated, and for many years dean of the last-named instiution, married Ottillia Augsperger, and had four children - Karl, Mary, Wilson and Arthur; William H., of this review; Charles, educated in the home schools and at Princeton university, and now corresponding secretary of Wooster University, married Elizabeth White and has five children - Martha, Lelia, William, Mary and Charles; and Anna, the wife of Charles E. Greismer, of Hamilton. William H. Compton received his education in the home schools of the Monroe community, and throughout his career has been identified with agricultural pursuits and has made his home in the country. During the past twenty years he has been a breeder of thoroughbred Southdown sheep, which have won fame, prizes and ribbons at various fairs, having been exhibited in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, New York and elsewhere. For the past ten years Mr. Compton has also been a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, mixed hogs and Percheron horses, and few men are conceded to be better informed as to all kinds of livestock. Mr. Compton is a student of his vocation, keeping fully abreast of all developing movements, and is an enthusiastic Granger and a member of the Franklin Farmers' club. While he has been prominent as a breeder of stock, he has likewise been active and prominent in business and

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financial affairs and is accounted by his associates to be possessed of high ability in these directions. He was one of the organizers of the Monroe National bank, of Monroe, O., which was founded in 1905 with a capital of $25,000, and of which Mr. Compton has been president for fourteen years, the other officials being at this time: William M. Stewart, vice-president; H. Q. Galahar, second vice-president; and S. K. Hughes, F. M. Hughes, C. S. Longstreet, W. P. Henderson and A. T. Smith, directors. Mr. Compton was also one of the organizers of the Butler County Canning company, of Monroe, organized and incorporated in 1914, the following officials now governing its affairs: William M. Stewart, president; and A. T. Smith, C. S. Longstreet, Freeman Smith and William H. Compton, directors and sole owners. Of Mr. Compton it may be said that his life work is a response to both his early teachings and to the needs of his environment. From the time that he entered upon his independent career, he has laboriously climbed every rung of the ladder of success, and in his various capacities invests his occupations with good judgment and unquestioned integrity, which far-sighted qualities have insured him a permanent place among the substantial upbuilders of his community. He is an elder in the United Presbyterian church, and votes the Republican ticket. Mrs. Compton, who is also prominent and popular in the locality, has been active in all manner of religious and charitable work, particularly as a member of the Missionary society and the Red Cross. Mr. Compton was married January 5, 1881, to Miss Ann M. Van Dyke, who was born at Middletown, O., daughter of I. N. and Caroline Van Dyke, the former a native of Warren county, O., and the latter of New Jersey. Mr. Van Dyke was a carpenter and farmer and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Compton are the parents of three children: Bertha, the wife of E. D. Curryer, living one mile east of Middletown; Harry L., superintendent of the A. R. M. Co., married Cecelia Mulford; and W. Elmer, at home, a graduate of the agricultural department of Ohio State university, and married to Miss Helen Roberts of Franklin township, Warren county, O.

George Conrad, one of the successful farmers of Fairfield township, Butler county, Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, December 25, 1868, son of John and Elizabeth (Meerman) Conrad. John Conrad and wife were born in Germany and were married in that country. Upon coming to the United States, they settled first in Cincinnati, then came to Butler county and located near St. Charles, later removing to Fairfield township. John Conrad is still living in Fairfield township and makes his home with one of his children, his wife being deceased. Their children were: Joseph, George, subject of this sketch; Jacob, Andrew, Mary, Mrs. William Konrad of Hamilton; Fred, Catherine, Mrs. George Groh, of Fairfield township; and John. John Conrad, wife and children were devout Catholics, and for many years worshiped in St. Joseph's church at Hamilton. George Conrad, our subject, was educated in the common schools of Butler county, and as boy and young man, worked on the farm. He was married September 14, 1898, to Mary Streit, the daughter of John and Amelia (Haberman) Streit, of Cincinnati.

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John and Amelia Streit moved to Butler county and located in Hamilton. They had six children: .Mary, wife of subject; Pauline, Mrs. Anthony Duellman; John, Michael, Edward, George. M. Streit is deceased and Mrs. Streit is living in Hamilton. After their marriage Mr. Conrad and wife lived in Hamilton, where he worked at the carpenter trade, a knowledge of which he had acquired in his youth but the call of the farm was too pronounced, and he soon returned to the country. In 1914, he came into possession of the place known as the Len Jones farm, in Fairfield township, which has since been his family home. The farm consists of 100 acres, and the soil is fertile and productive, and under careful, intelligent and systematic management, has become a very valuable property. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad had five children, one of whom died in infancy. The others: Hilda, Sylvester, Andrew and George. Mr. Conrad gave cordial support to the various war activities and cheerfully "did his bit." He and his entire family are Catholics and worship at St. Ann's church. Mr. Conrad belongs to the Knights of St. John and the Moose order, and votes with the Democratic party.

William P. Cope, now deceased was for many years prominently associated with educational work in Butler county, and for nearly a quarter of a century was principal of the Hamilton High school, where the results of his elevated ideals and excellent methods are still felt. He was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in March, 1850, a son of Simon and Rachel (Prithett) Cope, and their only child, his mother being the second wife of his father. Simon Cope was born in Pennsylvania, and his wife was a native of New Jersey, and both were of Quaker stock. At a very early day they came to Columbiana county, O., where he engaged in farming, and there they both died. William P. Cope attended the schools of Alliance, O., and then secured his A. B. and A. M. degrees from Hiram college, and his Ph. D. degree from the college at Wooster, O. The first experience of Mr. Cope as an educator was secured at Burton, in Monroe county, O., at Woodsfield, and at Cleveland, O. Then, in 1885, he came to Hamilton, and was elected principal of the high school, and held that position for twenty-four years, during that period making a magnificant record which will stand as a lasting monument to his scholarly attainments and his fidelity to the responsibilities laid on his shoulders. He was a man who expanded with his times. Never content to rest upon the laurels already gained, he sought in every way to inaugurate new methods and include extra studies which would tend to better fit his young charges for their life work. A man of sympathetic tendencies, he easily gained the confidence of his pupils, while his dignity and knowledge won and held their absolute respect, so that his influence over their plastic minds was exceedingly strong, and very beneficial. When he died, January 1, 1915, the rising generation of Hamilton lost one who would have assisted very efficiently in guiding and training the as yet unformed characters of those who in the natural course of events would have been placed in his charge. While at Hiram, O., Mr. Cope was united in marriage, in 1878, to Miss Rose

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Tilden, a daughter of D. C. and Catherine (Vroman) Tilden of Herkimer county, N. Y., who came west to Hiram, O. in 1854 and here engaged as farming people in developing a valuable property in the vicinity of Hiram. Mr. Tilden died in 1868, his widow surviving him for many years, passing away when she had attained the venerable age of eighty-five years. Mr. Tilden was very active in p politics, supporting the candidates and principles of the Democratic party, and he was a well-known man throughout his county. Mr. and Mrs. Tilden had three children, namely: Rose, who is Mrs. Cope; Ella, who is Mrs. Mark Davis of Cincinnati, Ohio; and George, who is a business man of Hiram, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Cope became the parents of two children, namely: De Witt and Ella Mae. The son after attending Amherst college and Harvard university, was admitted to the bar, and is engaged in the practice of his profession at Boston, Mass. He was married to Gertrude Qunio, and they have one son, William. The daughter attended Mt. Holyoke college, from which she was graduated in 1907, following which she became a teacher in the Hamilton High school, where she has remained ever since, specializing in history. She is highly educated, and an active and appreciated member of the Teachers' Club of Hamilton. Mr. Cope was a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason, and was treasurer of the Hamilton Chapter for many years. His social connections were with the Unity club, of which he was a member for twenty-five years. Like his father-in-law, the Democratic party held his allegiance, and, although he did not desire office, he always was active in local affairs. While he was so useful a man in his community, Mr. Cope's best characteristics were after all displayed in his home, and he gave to his wife and children a devotion that was ideal, also eminently practical. Taking him from every viewpoint, Mr. Cope measured up to the highest standards of American manhood, and many of the leading citizens of Hamilton, and other communities, who had the good fortune to attend the schools over which he presided, owe much of their present material advancement and mental development to his fostering care and upright example.

Fred W. Cormier, who for more than a quarter of a century has been one of the leading and well known undertakers of Oxford, was born at Oxford, August 12, 1876, a son of Frederick and Odella (Courtemanche) Cormier, natives of Canada, who came to College Corner, Ohio, in 1860, and to Oxford in 1862. Frederick Cormier was a cabinet maker by trade and conducted a shop at Oxford until 1887, in which year he engaged in the retail liquor business, with which he was identified until 1905. He then retired from active affairs and died February 14, 1914, at the age of seventy-four years. He was a business man of marked good judgment, and invested to a considerable extent in realty in Oxford, among his holdings being the building at the corner of High and Beech streets, of which he was the builder. He was a staunch Democrat and a faithful member of St. Mary's Catholic church. Mr. and Mrs. Cormier were the parents of four children: Odella, who died April 1, 1892, as the wife of Jacob Berry; Horace D., who was a wagon maker and undertaker

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and died November 20 1910; Amanda who died October 10, 1910, as the wife of George Free ; and Fred W. Fred W. Cormier obtained his early education in the Oxford graded and high schools and after his graduation from the latter enrolled as a student at Miami university, where he completed his course in 1894. In that year he embarked in business with his father, with whom he continued until the latter's retirement, and then for two years was variously employed. In 1907 he started his present business as a funeral director, and since then has built up a patronage among the best families of the city, who have come to regard him as a man of much sympathy and exceedingly painstaking in his care for their dead. For a time Mr. Cormier was also engaged in the grocery business at Oxford, but has since disposed of his interests in this direction. As a citizen he has been a ready supporter of good and progressive movements, and as a politician votes with the Democrat party, and in his various civic connections and business interests and in every avenue of life has shown himself a man of high principles. With Mrs. Cormier, he belongs to St. Mary's Catholic church of Oxford, and has contributed to its moral and charitable enterprises. May 14, 1902, Mr. Cormier was united in marriage with Miss Rosa A. Van Ness, a former resident of Shelbyville, Ind. They have no children.

Harry Edson Cornthwaite, whose ownership of 240 acres of productive Butler county farming land places him in the substantial agricultural class of his community, has been a resident of Wayne township throughout his life, and both as a progressive farmer and a public-spirited citizen has contributed to the growth of the locality interests. Mr. Cornthwaite was born in St. Clair township, at Overpeck Station, December 22, 1869, a son of Frank Cornthwaite. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Cornthwaite, Frank Cornthwaite the elder, was born in England, and as a small boy came from the family home at Kendal to the United States, with his parents, the family settling at Trenton, Ohio, among the first settlers of that community. Letters written from friends in England, bearing the date of 1789, and with the regular 25 cents postage fee attached, are now in the possession of Harry E. Cornthwaite, and are in a good state of preservation. Locating west of Trenton, the family secured Government land, on which they erected a brick house which remains as one of the landmarks of the locality, and there the grandfather continued to follow the pursuits of agriculture until his death, April 27, 1867. He was first married April 13, 1820, to Mary Cowgill, who was born January 6, 1798, and died June 28, 1828, and his second wife, with whom he was united June 25, 1829, was Peggy Bone, born July 16, 1805, who died May 1, 1883. There were six children in the family of Frank and Mary Cornthwaite, namely: Jane, born January 30, 1821, who married Israel Carr and died September 23, 1841; Isabelle, born, August 4, 1822, who married Stephen Carr and died April 19, 1842; Thomas, born March 1, 1824, married Rhoda Kerr; Elizabeth, born October 10, 1825; Sarah Ann, born February 14; 1827, married a Mr. Peck; and Mary, born June 21, 1828, married Reading Busenbark. By his second marriage, Mr. Cornthwaite had eight children: Robert Lytle, born November 8, 1830, married a

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Miss Good; Samuel Elander, born October 2, 1834; William Henry, born September 13, 1837, married Tabitha Williams, and died November 23, 1861, his wife dying December 2, 1864; Francis father of Harry E., born April 11, 1840; David, born February 26, 1842 at Somerville, Ohio, a farmer, married a Miss Judy; Augustus, born September 17, 1844; John, who died at the age of fifty-seven years; and Edward, who died aged eighty-one years. The father of Harry E. Cornthwaite, Francis Cornthwaite, was born April 11, 1840, and was educated at Trenton. He was married February 11, 1869, to Rebecca Isabelle Patten, who was born October 30, 1848, and following their union located at Overpeck, in which community he was engaged in farming for nine years. Removing then to Wayne township, he settled on the farm now occupied by his son, the old Thomas place, in section 23, where he secured eighty acres and continued to apply himself to the pursuits of tilling the soil and reaping the harvests. He carried on general farming, operated a threshing outfit, and also bought and sold stock, being remarkably successful in all his undertakings, due no doubt to his great industry, his good management, and the confidence which he inspired in his associates through his strict integrity. He died August 31, 1885, on his farm, which was occupied by his widow until March, 1899, when she located at Seven Mile, subsequently moving to her present home at Trenton, Ohio, where she died May 1, 1919. She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church. While Mr. Cornthwaite was a stalwart Republican he never desired public office. The only child of his parents, Harry E. Cornthwaite received his education in the local public schools, and has always lived at home, having been the occupant of his present farm for forty-one years. He now has a property of 240 acres, which he is operating in a skilled and successful manner, and this property has been highly cultivated and made greatly valuable through the erection of substantial and attractive buildings and the installment of modern improvements. In addition to carrying on general farming, he raises all kinds of live stock, including horses, cattle and hogs, and operates a threshing outfit during the season, in addition to which he was for eight years engaged in the butchering business. He is an energetic and progressive man, always ready to give a trial to any innovation which promises to make a step forward in agricultural standards. His political beliefs make him a Republican, and for two terms he served capably in the office of assessor. Formerly he was a member of the Knights of Pythias at Seven Mile. Mr. Cornthwaite was married September 15, 1891, to Emma Elisa, daughter of Martin and Ann (Schull) Goebel, farming people of Madison township, Butler county, who lived southeast of Hamilton, where both died. To Mr. and Mrs. Cornthwaite there have been born seven children: Frank, born March 7, 1894, who married Anna Marie King, and is a farmer in Wayne township, and also follows the occupation of threshing; Gordon, born October 21, 1896, in the United States Army, Eighteenth Regiment, F. A. R. D., Battery F, Camp Jackson, S. C.; Lee G., born May 21, 1899, now with the Rock Island Plow company as an expert on plowing; Mildred, born August

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9, 1901, attended a commercial college at Hamilton and is now with the First National bank of Hamilton; Wilbur G., born September 9, 1903; George G., born January 20, 1907; and Glenn, born December 26, 1910. The children have all been given good educational advantages in the home schools.

Joseph Pitman Cory. Among the highly respected retired Citizens of Seven Mile, none is held in higher esteem than Joseph Pitman Cory. A veteran of the Civil war, in which he rendered his country brave and faithful service, he was subsequently for many years one of the leading agriculturists of Butler county, and during his active years a promoter of his community's best interests. Mr. Cory was born at New Carlisle, O., November 2, 1840, a son of Aaron H. and Lucy Ann (Pitman) Cory, a grandson of Thomas Cory, also born at New Carlisle, and a member of a family of English and Scotch extraction. On the maternal side he is a grandson of Joseph Pitman, of New Jersey, who was an early settler of New Carlisle, Ohio in which community he spent many years as a farmer. Joseph Pitman's children were: Daniel, George, Aaron, Samuel, William, Lydia M., Joseph, John, Lucy Ann and Maria. Aaron H. Cory was born at New Carlisle, and was given only a limited education, but was a man of natural gifts, intelligent, shrewd and of good judgment. He was a young man when he changed his residence to Carlisle, whence, in 1849, upon the discovery of gold in California, he went to the Pacific coast, working his way via the Isthmus of Panama. Soon discerning that only a small minority could hope to gain their fortunes through mining, he joined his brother, David, in the stock business, first at Jamaica and later at the gold fields in California, and during the two years that he carried on trading with the mining camps managed to accumulate the sum of $10,000. Returning via Cape Horn, he located again at Carlisle, but soon went to Muncie, Ind., where he purchased 400 acres of land. After residing in that community for six years he sold out and again located at Carlisle, where he purchased a farm, and a saw and gristmill, but after several years disposed of his interests and again went to Muncie, where he continued to be engaged in the hotel business until his death in 1873, his widow surviving him seven years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics, Mr. Cory was originally a Whig and later a Republican. There were four children in the family: Joseph Pitman; Winfield Scott, who enlisted in the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the Army of the Potomac, under General Kiefer, served three years, was taken prisoner at Cedar Creek and after confinement in prison of over a year was so weakened that it was necessary to carry him out to the Union lines, but subsequently recovered and located at Indianapolis, Ind., where his death occurred in 1917; William, an awning manufacturer of Carlisle, O., and Muncie, Ind., and died November 3, 1916; and Laura, who resides at Union, Ind. Joseph Pitman Cory attended the public schools of Muncie, Ind., and Linden Hill academy, and at the outbreak of the Civil war, in April, 1861, enlisted at Carlisle in the Sixteenth Ohio Battery. Sent to St. Louis, his battery was then transferred to Jefferson City, Mo., where it remained from September

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5 to December 25, and later took part in the Vicksburg campaign under General Grant, in the Army of the Tennessee. Later the battery went to New Orleans and on nearly to Brownsville, Tex., whence Mr. Cory returned to his home on a furlough, and in the spring of 1864 Mr. Cory and three comrades were sent to Carlisle on recruiting duty, Mr. Cory succeeding in securing forty new men for the battery. Later he returned to New Orleans and rejoined his command, with which he served until the close of the war, being mustered out at Columbus after a service of four years and five months, and receiving his honorable discharge at Camp Chase, September 5, 1865. His service was one characterized by faithful performance of duty and the utmost bravery in action, and during the last two years he acted as orderly sergeant. Following the close of his military service, Mr. Cory located at Miltonville, O., where his father owned land, and remained three years. During this time, September 26, 1866, he married Susie K., daughter of Henry and Catherine (Husk) Snively, natives of Pennsylvania who had come to Butler county as young people, and after their marriage located on a farm in section 26, Wayne township. There the first wife died at the age of forty-five years, and Mr. Snively took for his second wife a Mrs. Wells, who died in 1871, Mr. Snively surviving until 1878, and being seventy-four years of age at the time of his demise. He was the father of eight children, all by his first union, and of these three survive: Samuel, of Elwood, Ind.; Mrs. Cory; and Maria E., the wife of H. H. Long, of Hamilton, O. For about three years after his marriage, Mr. Cory was engaged in the flour and sawmill business at Miltonville, and then engaged in farming for three years on a property of his own. Eventually he located on the old Snively farm in Wayne township, on which he carried on successful operations for a period of twenty-nine years, retiring to Seven Mile in 1914. During his active years, Mr. Cory was known as one of the most progressive agriculturists of his county and was always ready to try new inventions and innovations. He purchased the first cream separator in his neighborhood, at one time owned one of the finest herds of Jersey cattle in the Miami valley, and in various other ways demonstrated his modern spirit. His reputation throughout life has been that of an honorable business man and a patriotic and public-spirited citizen. He still takes interest in the Grand Army of the Republic and the Union Veterans' League, and is a contributor to religious and charitable work as a member of the Missionary society of the Presbyterian church. Both he and Mrs. Cory are greatly esteemed in their community, where they have hosts of warm friends.

Elmer H. Coulter. Butler county has many skilled farmers who treat their vocation more as a profession than as an occupation and take a justifiable pride in their accomplishments, and among these may be mentioned Elmer H. Coulter, one of the prominent agriculturists of Oxford township. Mr. Coulter was born at College Corner, Ohio, May 14, 1866, a son of Charles S. Coulter. His grandfather was William Coulter, who was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, March 25, 1783, a member of a family of Scotch Presbyterian

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stock, the members of which had fled Scotland in 1686 to avoid religious persecution. He passed his entire life in his native Erin, where his death occurred March 20, 1865. Charles S. Coulter was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, July 16, 1830, and at the age of sixteen years left his father's home and came to the United States in search of his fortune. Upon his arrival he secured employment on the old Thomas Coulter place, and later worked at Fairhaven and Morning Sun, and when still a young man was employed by the month by Doctor Porter for a period of five or six years, and on a farm near College Corner. Eventually he purchased a farm in Oxford township known as the Joseph Booth place, where he has resided since 1884 with his son. In 1914 they built the fine brick home, which came as a finishing touch to the various other modern improvements which were made. Mr. Coulter is a country gentleman of the old school and one who has made and held numerous friendships. He is a staunch Democrat in his political affiliation and a faithful member of the United Presbyterian church at Oxford, to which also belonged his wife who passed away in 1914. She bore the maiden name of Catherine Herron, was of Milford township, Butler county, and a member of a family of English stock, being reared as an Episcopalian and married Mr. Coulter December 6, 1853, at which time she adopted the Presbyterian faith. They became the parents of seven children: Margaret B., born October 10, 1854, who died in infancy William L., born September 15, 1856, who married Maggie Douglass; John T., born August 24, 1858, who married Elizabeth Clark and has had the following children: Wilbur, a commission man at the Denver (Col.) stock yards; Jennie, the wife of Joseph Jewell of Oxford township; Howard in the transfer business at Oxford; Edwin who met a hero's death as a member of the A. E. F. in the late war; Arthur, who married Ella Doty and lives on the home place; Marjorie, a teacher at Morning Sun, and John, at home attending the university at Oxford; Emma J., born April 19, 1861, who married David Johnson of Pueblo, Colo., and had two sons, Charles, an engineer engaged in construction work on a railroad in Idaho, and Thomas, who is deceased; George E., born July 22, 1863, and now retired at Hamilton; Lizzie M., born April 28, 1868, who married George Roll; and Elmer H. Elmer H. Coulter attended the home schools and spent one year at Miami university, and passed his boyhood and youth in much the same manner as other farmers' sons of his day and community. He was married October 19, 1893, to Dora Krebs of Milford township, a daughter of Charles Krebs, whose life review will be found on another page of this work. To this union there have been born four children. The eldest, Harold Krebs, was born November 4, 1894, in Oxford township, and attended High school and the Miami university. He joined the National Guards in June 1916, as a member of Company E, 3d Ohio, and was sent to the Mexican border. January 28, 1918, he received his commission in the regular army and was sent to Fort Leavenworth, where he spent three months in the officers' training camp. He was then commissioned first lieutenant and sent to Fort Bliss and after further preparation his company went to Waco, Texas, whence it went to Camp Merritt. In August, 1918, it sailed for overseas, and after

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landing at Bordeaux went to Toul and was in training for two weeks. He took part in the engagement at St. Mihiel and was at Metz, and was then transferred to the air service, continuing with that branch of the service until his honorable discharge, with the exception of the time that he spent in the hospital. He was married August 17, 1914, to Nora M. Smith, of Cleveland, Ohio, a daughter of Fred C. and Elizabeth (Meredith) Smith, the former of Cleveland and the latter of Philadelphia, Mr. Smith having been in transportation service on the Great Lakes. Lieutenant and Mrs. Coulter have one son, Harold Meredith, born July 21, 1916. Marion Coulter, the second son of Elmer H. Coulter, was born November 28, 1895. He attended the High school from which he graduated and Miami university. He enlisted in the United States service in January, 1917, and received his commission as first lieutenant, subsequently seeing much active service overseas. Catherine Elizabeth, the elder daughter of Elmer H. Coulter, was born January 26, 1899, and is a graduate of Oxford High school and Miami university, and later became a student in a young ladies' finishing school in Virginia. Dorothea Emma, the youngest child of Elmer H. Coulter, was born March 8, 1902, and received her education at Oxford High school and Oxford college. With the exception of six years which he spent in Kansas while his wife was recovering her health, and in which he engaged in farming there, Elmer H. Coulter has always been associated with his father in farming and stock raising operations. He is now the owner of a handsome property of 200 acres, and is a shipper of cattle and hogs. He is considered one of the best judges of stock in his part of the county, and his judgment is frequently sought upon questions relating to agricultural matters. He is a Republican in politics and he and the members of his family belong to the United Brethren church. Mr. Coulter is entitled to membership in the Sons of Veterans, as his father served as a member of the 167th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war.

Howard S. Coulter, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Coulter, was born in Oxford township, May 24, 1889. It was in the district schools of his native township that he received his education, and after leaving school, he became active in the milk business. Later he went to Colorado, where he was a cow-puncher, and stage-driver. When, in later years, he returned to Butler county, he engaged in the transfer business in Oxford, and became the president of the H. S. Coulter Transfer company, which, operating ten auto trucks, is engaged principally in hauling overland live stock to Cincinnati. From the Ohio river city the trucks return with shipments of hardware, groceries, and other heavy freight, to Oxford, College Corner, and other localities. Other officers of the company are: S. B. Douglass, secretary; J. A. Douglass, treasurer; and Homer Dare, vice-president. Some years ago, Mr. Coulter married Edna C. Doty, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sam L. Doty, of Oxford. They have one child, Leon, who is seven years old. During the days of America's part in the war, Mr. Coulter gave much of his time and earnest effort to war activities, aiding in the various drives, and evidencing the keen, patriotic spirit of the red-blooded American.

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John R. Coulter. A career of sturdy industry and signal usefulness, eventuating in well-merited success has been that of John R. Coulter, who is now one of the representative agriculturists of Oxford township and the owner of a valuable property and modern home. His earlier years were passed in vocations other than that of agriculture, but eventually he returned to the occupation of his fore-fathers, which he has found to be the medium through which to gain success and the satisfying things of life. Mr. Coulter was born near Fairhaven, Ohio, August 24, 1858, a son of Charles S. and Catherine (Herron) Coulter, a review of whose careers will be found elsewhere in this work in the sketch of William L. Coulter. Educated primarily in the public schools, he secured further advantages by attending Miami university, and after his graduation from that institution of learning became a traveling man and for two years sold clothing as a representative of large Ohio establishments. When he left that occupation it was to take up butchering, which he followed for seven years, and also had some experience in the live stock business at Oxford, but finally turned his attention to farming in Oxford township, and in 1908 located on his present ninety-acre farm. During his residence in this community he has been connected with the best interests of Butler county, and is accounted one of the progressive men of his locality. Mr. Coulter was married in 1882 to Sarah E., daughter of Richard A. and Rebeca Clark, of Oxford township, and to this union there have been born seven children: Jennie, who married Joseph Jewell of Oxford township and has six children; George Wilbur, who married Maxine Hinon; Howard S., who married Edna Doty; Edwin, who met a hero's death in France; Arthur, who married Ella Doty; Marjorie E., who is engaged in teaching school; and John R., jr., residing on the home farm. Edwin Coulter was twenty-seven years of age when, in 1917, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He received his training at Quantico, Va., and in August, 1918, was sent overseas to France. Placed in command of a squadron of "Eight Automatics," French guns, he led a gallant charge in the Champagne sector, October 4, 1918, and while his command reached its objective he was among those found dead on the brilliantly won field. He was a youth who was extremely popular in his home community as well as among his comrades in the Marines, and his death caused widespread sorrow.

Thomas W. Coulter. While Butler county has its full quota of merchants, financiers, manufacturers and professional men, it has been particularly noted for the high standards set by its agriculturists, whose energy and enterprise during the past half a century have served to make this part of the Miami valley one of the garden spots of Ohio. A contributor to this work of agricultural development has been Thomas W. Coulter, of Milford township, the owner of a splendid farm and a citizen of importance and influence in his home community. He was born in Milford township, Butler county, Ohio, February 11, 1853, a son of John and Margaret (Coulter) Coulter. On the maternal side, Mr. Coulter's grandparents were

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Thomas and Isabella Coulter, natives of County Tyrone, Ireland, who were married in their native Erin, and after coming to this country settled first in Pennsylvania, from where they removed to Hamilton, and finally to Milford township, buying Government land. There they passed their remaining years, building a home from the wilderness and rearing the following children: Martha, who married William McClelland, who was born in the old stockade at Fort Hamilton, and lived near Hamilton; Eliza, who married William Douglass; Thomas, who married Lucinda Clendening; Margaret, who became the wife of John Coulter and the mother of Thomas W.; and Jane, who married Samuel Douglass. The paternal grandparents of Thomas W. Coulter, William and Matilda Coulter, were also born in County Tyrone, Ireland, and never came to the United States. Their son, John Coulter, was twenty-three years of age when he came to the United States, his sister Matilda and brother Charles also coming here. There were five other children: Robert, William, Margaret, Thomas and Catherine. Charles, at the age of ninety-one years, is still living in Butler county, residing with his son, Elmer, in Oxford township. This veteran of the Civil war married Catherine Herron. John Coulter, upon his arrival in the United States, settled first in Illinois for two years and then came to Butler county, where he was married about three years later. He at that time settled on the farm adjoining that upon which his son now lives, but later moved to the latter place, where he still lives at a very advanced age, his wife having passed away some years ago. Thomas W. Coulter was educated in the public schools, after leaving which he was engaged in farming as an associate of his father. He was married in October, 1878, to Caroline Cooper, of New Brunswick, N. J., who came to Oxford township with her grandparents, her mother having died. Later she went back to New Jersey to live with her father, Jacob Cooper, who was a professor in Rutgers college, N. J., and who had served as a chaplain in the Union army during the Civil war. He was at one time connected with Danville (Ky.) college, and was a man of great learning and intellectuality. Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coulter moved to a property near their present home, and at the time of Mr. Coulter's father's retirement, the younger man took over the management of the home place, which has been brought to a high state of cultivation and improvement, the property responding splendidly to his enthusiastic and well-managed labors. Mr. and Mrs. Coulter are the parents of five children: Charles Robert, Margaret Elizabeth, James Abraham, Helen E. and Mary Estelle. Charles Robert, a graduate of Miami university and the University of Michigan, is now a New York attorney, is married, and has two children: Caroline and Janet. Margaret Elizabeth, after graduating from Miami university and Cornell university, taught school until her marriage to Henry Stevenson, of Portland, Ore.; James Abraham, a graduate in chemistry of Miami university, is now superintendent of Port Ivory, Staten Island, N. Y. He married Pearl Smith and has one child: Mary Louise. Mary Estelle, a graduate of Oxford Female

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college, married O. Van Sickle, of Akron, Ohio, and has four children: Thomas, John, Mary and Helen Margaret; Helen, a graduate of Oxford Female college, taught school until her marriage to Harold Ronderbush, of Akron. She died in March, 1919, leaving one child: Allen T. Mr. Coulter is one of the successful agriculturists of his community, being the owner of 166 acres in his home tract and 480 acres in Kansas, and having varied and important interests. Always a hard worker, intelligently applying the training of a lifetime of experience to his calling, he has developed a fine property and has something to show for his efforts. He and the members of his family are Presbyterians. The Coulter family is one which is widely known and has many important connections, as well as being a very numerous one, as in this branch there are 184 direct descendants from his grandfather, of whom 134 are living. He has always been a public-spirited citizen, as have others bearing the name, and all have contributed materially to the welfare of their community, county, state and country. During the late war Mr. Coulter was generous in his subscriptions to war activities, and many of the Coulter name bore arms in the great struggle. One of his close relatives, Edwin Coulter, met a hero's death on a battlefield in Flanders, and Philip and Allen Coulter, of Fort Worth, Texas, sons of John Coulter, a cousin of Mr. Coulter of this review, saw active service overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces.

William L. Coulter. Butler county is noted for the excellence of its farms, as well as for the public spirit and enterprise of those who till them. One of these successful farmers, a resident of the county for many years, and still engaged in active pursuits, is William L. Coulter, who operates a fine tract of 151 acres in Milford township. Mr. Coulter was born near Darrtown Ohio, in 1856, a son of Charles and Catherine (Herron) Coulter, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Butler county, Ohio. In young manhood Charles Coulter emigrated to the United States, and after being variously employed several years settled on a Butler county farm. While living there he met and married Catherine, daughter of Hugh and Margaret (Kramer) Herron, the latter of whom had two brothers, Thomas and William, who were soldiers during the Civil war. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Coulter settled on a farm in Milford township, subsequently moved to Oxford township, and finally retired from active affairs and located at Oxford, where Mrs. Coulter died. They were the parents of the following children: Emma, who is the wife of David Johnson; Lizzie, who is the wife of George Roll; William L., of this review; John, of Oxford township; George, of Hamilton; and Elmer, of Oxford township. William L. Coulter was educated in the public schools of his native community and at Miami university, although he did not complete his course at the latter, leaving school at the age of twenty-two years in order to begin assisting his father in the work of the home place. He was married in 1882 to Maggie, daughter of Samuel and Isabella (Coulter) Douglass, who resided at Oxford, where the father died in 1895 and the mother in 1901. They were the parents of two children: Martha,

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who married David Stewart; and Maggie, who became Mrs. Coulter. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coulter resided on the former's father's farm for eight years, then moved to their present farm of 151 acres in Milford township, in addition to which Mr. Coulter owns another farm, of seventy-seven acres, in Oxford township. In his general farming and stock raising work, Mr. Coulter makes use of modern machinery and up-to-date methods, and in every way shows himself to be a practical and scientific farmer. He is not a politician nor does he seek public office, but takes a keen interest in public affairs and is intelligently informed upon questions of importance. With his family, he belongs to the United Presbyterian church. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Coulter: Charles, of Jamestown, Ohio, who married Louise Barber and has three children, Robert, Eleanor and Mary Louise; Alvin, residing in Oxford township, who married Grace Bryant, and has one child, a daughter, Helen Lucile; Elsie, who married Marion McQuiston, of near Morning Sun, and has two children, Dorothea and Elizabeth; and Alice, who married George Gravitt, and has one child, Emmet Charles.

David Cox, son of John H. and Sara A. Cox, was born in Sharon, Pa., September 24, 1896. His parents, both of Southampton, England, were married April 7, 1866, and, coming to this country, located in Sharon, where the father became connected with the rolling mill. With his family, Mr. Cox moved to Middletown, Ohio, about fourteen years ago, and took a position as heater with the American Rolling Mill company. He is an adept in the rolling mill business, and one of the best informed among the men at the local plant, and many who now occupy the best positions in the mill were under his tutelage. There were eight children in the Cox family, one of whom, Eunice, born in England, died in infancy in that country; the others, all in Middletown: Flora, now Mrs. Earl Brate; John Henry, David, Omar, Raymond, Clarice and Norman. David, the subject of this sketch, graduated from the Middletown High school in 1914, after which he was for two years connected with the office of the rolling mill in a clerical capacity, when he enlisted in U. S. Aero Squadron No. 227. He was sent to France and there passed a year in active service before receiving a discharge. The young man is a splendid type of true American manhood, and his friends predict for him a most successful career. The Coxes own a splendid home on Crawford street. In religion he is an Episcopalian and in politics, liberal.

John C. F. Craig, D. D. S. The dental surgeons of Butler county include as fine a body of men as are to be found anywhere in the Miami valley. They have taken the present exhaustive course which has reduced the care, preservation and restoration of the teeth and the treatment of the various disorders attendant upon them to an exact and unfailing science. Among those and one who has built up a large practice and firmly established himself in the confidence of the community is Dr. John C. F. Craig, of Venice. Doctor Craig was born in Crosby township, Hamilton county, Ohio, February 12, 1884, a son of John C. F. and Sarah Jane (Wood) Craig. The former was born near New Baltimore, Ohio, a son of Aaron Craig, the latter's wife having been Mary Francis Scull. Sarah Jane (Wood)

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Craig was a daughter of James and Sarah (Vincent) Wood, who came from England. After their marriage the parents of Doctor Craig lived for a time at Cliptown, Ohio, then went to New Baltimore, and eventually settled in Colerain township, Hamilton county where they still reside on their valuable farm near Bowling Green. Their children were as follows: Aaron J.; Dr. John C. F., of this notice; Carrie Belle, the wife of George Gausmann; and Edith, a school teacher. Dr. J. C. F. Craig received his early education in the public schools of Colerain township, and following his graduation from the Hamilton High school in 1904, took a business course at Joiner's Business college, Columbus, Ohio. He then began his dental studies as an attendant of the Cincinnati Dental college, where he was graduated in 1908, and in addition to this completed a course in the Cincinnati College of Embalming and a course at the National Institute of Pharmacy, at Chicago. Doctor Craig began the practice of his profession at Venice in 1908, and has continued therein with constantly growing success, having attracted a large and representative clientele and succeeding in establishing himself firmly in the confidence of the public and of his fellow-practitioners. He belongs to the various organizations of his profession, is a Republican in politics, holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and, with Mrs. Craig, belongs to the United Brethren church. During the period of the war, he was a member of the Dental Reserve Corps, and contributed a great deal of professional service free of charge in preparing enlisted men for proper service. He was also a generous supporter of all war activities, and showed himself a thoroughly loyal and public-spirited citizen. Doctor Craig was united in marriage October 5, 1915, at Hamilton, Ohio, to Hazel, the estimable daughter of Charles and Ora (Hughes) Emrick, of Colerain township, Hamilton county, well-known and highly respected agricultural people of that community. Like her husband, Mrs. Craig has entered actively into the life of Venice, and also like him has a wide circle of friends here.

N. A. Cramer. Investigation reveals that a large percentage of the prosperous farmers of Ohio today started as farm hands and by close application to duties at all times and practicing economies which the average city-bred young man would not care to experience, saved sufficient money in the course of years to place them in position to either lease or purchase outright a farm. Also it might be stated that those who found it more convenient for their pocketbook to undertake a lease showed that they were of the mettle of which the agricultural interests of the country have good reason to be proud and it did not require operation of leased farm by these energetic young men very long before they were prepared to purchase outright. In this respect we have the spectacle of the self-made prosperous farmer as well as the self-made city man. And it is interesting to note that the reason each gives for his success is that he never neglected to take advantage of all opportunities which might present to better his position in life and also was aware of the fact that hard work is a determining factor in making for the goal of success. N. A. Cramer of Liberty township, Butler county, Ohio,

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affords admirable example of what can be accomplished by the young man who takes up agriculture as a pursuit with the determination to climb to the top in this field of endeavor. Starting as a farm hand at the age of twenty years, today at the age of sixty years he owns a 104-acre farm in Liberty township, which is fully improved and which is increasing in value encouragingly each year. Born in New Jersey, in 1861, he was the son of John and Ellen Cramer. He migrated to Clermont county, Ohio, when a youngster and received his schooling in the public schools of that county. He remained in that community until he reached his twentieth year when he moved to Liberty township and obtained employment as a farm hand at $18 per month. He worked as a farm hand for a number of years. During these years that he was serving his novitiate for the more responsible duties of owner and overseer of a farm to come in future days he was recognized as a young man who was always prepared to give the best that was in him in order to further the interests of his employer. No work on the farm was too humble for him to perform and he went about the duties allotted him with the same feeling of responsibility as though he were looking after his personal affairs solely. It is also interesting to note that the same self-prescribed rules of conduct which characterized his activities when he was an unassuming farm hand govern him today in the operation of his own farm. After working on the farm of Frank Hughes for some time the opportunity to purchase the 104-acre farm which he is at present operating arose in 1906. In the meantime he married Miss Hannah Hazleton, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Hazleton of Clermont county, Ohio, and four children were the result of this union: Virgil, who married Miss Nell Brate, and who is the father of two children, Myron and Gerald; Owen, who married Mary Brate, and is the father of two children, Darrell and Eugene; Harry, who married Louise McCleary, and is the father of one child, Don; and Herbert, who is single and lives with his parents. Besides general farming, Mr. Cramer is engaged quite extensively in stock raising. Improvements have been made on his farm from time to time which have represented a large outlay of money. He is a Democrat and at one time was road supervisor of Liberty township. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.

Mrs. Mary Crane. No family in the country can present a more honorable record than that which bears the name of Crane. This is an old English family which can trace its history back through an unbroken line to the year 1637, at which time Jasper Crane and his wife Alice came to America and settled at New Haven, N. J., where they reared a family. Among their children was a son, Jasper, who became prominent in the affairs of the colony and was a member of the committee of safety to protect the New Haven colony against DeRuyter, the Dutch admiral. Jasper Crane also served with distinction in the colonial legislature and left the impress of his strong individuality upon the material growth of the town in which his home was made. Any person who can worthily claim a Crane as an ancestor will have no trouble in proving eligibility to membership in the Society of Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the American

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Revolution or the Sons of the American Revolution. Stephen Crane, son of Jasper Crane, jr., was born and reared in New Jersey, and like his father became influential in matters of public import and a leader among his fellow-citizens. He married and reared a family, the eldest of his children being John Crane. John Crane, jr., second son of the above John Crane, was the father of a number of children, the third of whom was given his own name. Like him, he stood high in the confidence and esteem of the public. He married and became the head of a well-known and influential family, and it was through his son, Elijah, that the branch in Ohio came into being. Stephen Crane, son of Elijah, spent his life in New Jersey as a tiller of the soil and two of his sons, Isaac and Joseph, also became agriculturists, the former owning for many years a fine estate of 178 acres near the city of New Haven.

In the year 1837, William B. [or C ?] Crane moved his family from New Jersey to Butler county and settled on a farm near Middletown, where he remained until his death in August, 1854, his wife following him in death three years later. William Conklin Crane, the eldest son of Mulford and Rhoda (Potter) Crane, was born December 19, 1857, and spent his entire life at Middletown, with the exception of nine years, 1865 to 1874, during which time he was a resident of Kossuth, Ia. In February, 1882, he entered the employ of the P. J. Sorg Tobacco company, and in 1884 was promoted to the position of foreman of the pressroom. In January, 1890, he was appointed assistant to the superintendent of the plant and in 1906, was appointed manager of the American Tobacco company for the State of Ohio. Mr. Crane was married December 5, 1883, to Mary L., daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth F. Blackburn, her father being an Englishman and her mother a direct descendant of the old Bullock family of Virginia. To this union there were born four children: Roy, born June 11, 1885; Paul J., born April 5, 1887; William Ross, born February 27, 1893; and Mary Elizabeth, born May 28, 1894. The death of the father of these children, which occurred June 17, 1913, was greatly deplored by all the citizens of Middletown, for he was a citizen who had done much for the public good and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. William Ross Crane was educated at the Miami Military college, at Germantown, where he received the highest rank, that of cadet major, and subsequently attended Yale university. He entered the United States service during the great war and was sent to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, where he received his commission, and went overseas with the 83d Division, later being transferred to the 4th Division. He went "over the top" three times, and October 4, 1918, was wounded. He married Margaret, daughter of Mark Thomas, and they have one son: William Ross, jr. Paul J. Crane was educated at Middletown High school and Ohio State university, and entered the United States army, being sent to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, where he received his commission. He was made training officer at Camp Grant, Rockford, Ill., where he remained during the period of the war. Roy Crane, who is connected with the Hup Motor Car company, at Detroit, Mich., married Edith Muthert, of Middletown. Mary Elizabeth Crane, who was educated at Notre Dame,

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Center and Byrn Mawr, is the wife of C. E. McCoy, metallurgical chemist at the American Rolling Mill company, Middletown. The mother of these children is a woman of very brilliant attainments belongs to several literary clubs, and takes a very active part in the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of which she is a member. Recently she sold her beautiful home on Fourth street to the Knights of Columbus, to be used for a clubhouse, the consideration being $30,000, and is contemplating the erection of a smaller home.

Which Crist family ???

Allie Crist. Among the men of the Miami valley whose progressive spirit and large ideas have given them prominence and prestige, Allie Crist is a noteworthy example. This well-known resident of the Hamilton district of Butler county is one of the largest landholders and stock growers in his part of the Miami valley, and is likewise prominent as a man of much benevolence and public spirit. He was born in what is known as the Crist district, near Seven Mile, Butler county, a son of Allison B. and Phoebe C. (Maddox) Crist, and is of Revolutionary descent, his great-grandfather, John Crist, having fought as a soldier of the patriot army, was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, and which wound later caused his death. During the early 1800's this soldier immigrated to Brookville, Ind., whence the family came to Ohio.

Allison B. Crist, the father of Allie Crist, who was born in Brookville, Ind., was one of the large landholders of Butler county, and an extensive farmer, and his son was reared to prepare himself for an agricultural career. His education was secured in the public schools, and he has followed in the footsteps of his father, both as a progressive farmer and as an accumulator of property. At this time he is the owner of 2,200 acres of land, of which 825 acres are located in the original Symmes' purchase south of Hamilton. Mr. Crist is a general farmer, but has made a specialty of raising stock, and in this department is one of the leaders of the Miami valley. Annually he raises 1,000 head of hogs and from 500 to 600 head of cattle. In various directions he has shown his progressive spirit, which is reflected in all matters pertaining to his farm, and in the fact that he was the man to introduce the high silo in Ohio.

His home is one of the palatial country residences of the valley, and his various other buildings are proportionate in value and attractiveness, while his equipment of all kinds is of the latest and most highly improved manufacture. In all his business relations, his reputation for integrity has remained inviolate, and his public spirit has never been questioned, his support being given to all worthy civic movements. He is known as a man of great benevolence, and recently was the donator of a valuable piece of property for church purposes. His personal aspirations have never included a desire for public office. Mr. Crist married Miss Beulah Early, of West Elkton, and they are the parents of seven children: Cecelia, deceased; and Thelma, Roy, Ray, Hazel, Marie and Elwood, who reside with their parents.

Francis M. Crist. The vocation of agriculture has always claimed the attention of Francis M. Crist, of Wayne township, Butler county, and through many years of industry and intelligently

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applied methods of procedure he has become one of the substantial citizens and large landholders of his locality. Mr. Crist was born on his father's farm in Wayne township, October 17, 1864, a son of Allison B. and Phoebe Crist, the former born near Brookville, Ind., and the latter in Wayne township. John Crist, the grandfather of Francis M was an early settler of Franklin county, Ind., and for many years carried on farming in the vicinity of Brookville. A. B. Crist grew up on his father’s farm, and at the outbreak of the Civil war left his wife and family in Ohio, to which he had removed and enlisted in an Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment and served with the 100-day men. His name will be found on the roster of soldiers at Hamilton. At the expiration of service with Uncle Sam he took up his residence at Somerville, Butler county, Ohio, where he entered into partnership with a Mr. Davis in the pork packing business. Through this business he received sufficient funds to make his first payment on an eighty-acre farm in Wayne township and later added to this by purchase until he was the owner of nearly 1,000 acres. This included the home farm and land owned in Butler and Preble counties. He was one of the progressive men of his section, and in 1878 erected what was at that time one of the largest and finest brick residences in this part of the country. The 200,000 bricks used in its construction were all burned on the home premises, and the residence throughout is finished in white walnut. Mr. Crist was one of the highly esteemed men of his community and when he died, in 1908, his locality lost one of its valuable and public-spirited men. Both he and his wife, who died in 1898, were members of the Friends church, and were laid to rest at West Elkton. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom eight are living at this time: John, a resident of Middletown; Mrs. Luella Collom, of West Elkton; Francis M.; Martha, who is unmarried and a resident of West Elkton; Emma, also single and a resident of Pittsburg, Pa.; Eva, the wife of Thomas Hicks; Rev. Elwood, a minister at Defiance, Ohio; and Allie B., who is engaged in farming four miles south of Hamilton. Francis M. Crist was educated at the Pleasant Grove school, after leaving which he took up farming as one of his father's assistants. He was married in 1886 to Nora M., daughter of Nathan Mendenhall of Wayne township, and following his marriage took up his residence one-half mile from his present place in Wayne township. After two years he bought of his father 128 acres which is his present home and in 1909 bought of the heirs 261 acres, which is in a magnificent state of cultivation, and the equipment of which includes all modern conveniences, improvements and facilities of country life. Mr. Crist has been very successful in the conduct of his operations, and in addition to the home place is the owner of 177 acres where his son lives, ninety-seven acres just south of the home place, 235 acres on the West Elkton pike in Wayne township and 240 acres in Preble county. His standing as a man of integrity is assured and during his long residence in this part of Ohio he has gained and held many friends. His contributions to war activities were generous and his public spirit has been evidenced by his support of constructive movements. Politically Mr. Crist is a Republican,

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and his religion and that of his family is the Quaker faith. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Crist: Homer a graduate of the West Elkton High school and of a commercial college and a farmer on the West Elkton pike, who married Myrtle Lane and has one child, Vera Louise; Arthur, who attended high school and is now a farmer in Wayne township, married Pearl Cook and has one child, Beatrice P.; Grace, the wife of Rev. James Ervin, a Methodist minister and evangelist, with two sons, Wesley and Paul; she having spent two years at Oxford seminary and Wesleyan one year; Florence, who attended Oberlin college, and is the widow of Dr. William Cumson, a dental practitioner, who died in October, 1918, with one daughter, Theo; and Alma, a high school graduate, who married Raymond Southern, a farmer near West Elkton. Mrs. Crist's parents, Nathan and Elizabeth Mendenhall, with their family lived in Butler county. The family consisted of four boys and two girls: Louise, Harriett, Carie, Edwin, Curtis and Mrs. Crist. Mr. and Mrs. Mendenhall are deceased, the mother dying in 1911; the father in 1917.

John H. Crout, a prominent, substantial and worthy farmer of Madison township, has been a resident of this community all of his life, and has established himself firmly in an enviable position as to material things, while in public confidence he stands high because of a straightforward and convincing integrity which has characterized his entire career. He belongs to one of the old and honored families of Butler county, and was born in Madison township, May 8, 1856, a son of Henry and Rachael (Bake) Crout, the former born in the same township, December 27,1825, and the latter here also February 17, 1829. The father grew up in the vicinity of Middletown, where he was reared amid pioneer surroundings, and was one of the men who assisted in the early development of the county, having cleared the farm where his son, William, now resides, and having made a comfortable home for his family. Doubtless he would have achieved a large amount of success, for he was a very capable and intelligent man, but he was called by death when most men are still at their prime, passing away November 6, 1866, when less than forty-one years of age. He was a Democrat in his political views, but cared little for politics aside from supporting the candidates of his party. His religious faith was that of the United Brethren church, to which Mrs. Crout, who survived him until April 3, 1894, also belonged. They were the parents of three sons: Leander, who died December 26, 1853; John H., of this notice; and William H., a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work. John H. Crout's advantages for an education were somewhat limited, owing to the fact that he was but ten years of age at the time of his father's death, and that from that time forward he was expected to work hard in order that he might contribute his share to the family income. However, he managed from time to time to attend the district school, and, being quick and intelligent, with a retentive mind, succeeded in gaining even a better schooling than many of his comrades who had much better opportunities. He lived at home until his marriage, in 1900, to Lydia A. Gephart, of Madison township, a daughter of

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William and Hannah (Schlobig) Gephart, the former of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Gephart are farming people and still make their home in Madison township. Their children were: Valentine, who met an accidental death September 28, 1883; Lydia A., now Mrs. Crout; Mrs. Catherine, who married John Berg; Margaret, who married William Van Holt; Hannah, who is deceased; Clara, who married David Bell; Lizzie, who married Harry Hoffman; and Willie, who died at the age of ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Crout are the parents of one son: Grover, working the farm and a well known young man of Madison township, who married Bessie Thompson, a daughter of William and Mary Thompson of Miltonville. Mrs. Crout had two children: John, born in Warren county, December 27, 1887; and Jake, born in the same county, July 22, 1889, married in 1916, Edith Stultz of Knox county, Ind., and has one son, Jacob G. Mr. Crout has always engaged in farming, has always worried industriously and faithfully, and has always managed to make his labors pay him well in the gaining of prosperity. He bought his present farm of eighty acres in Madison township not long after his marriage, this being the old Jacob Bake place. It is in a good state of cultivation, yielding large crops of grain and tobacco, and Mr. Crout has also been successful in the breeding of mixed live stock. In addition to his home place he farms rented land. He votes the Democratic ticket and attends the United Brethren church. He is widely known in the county, where his friends are numbered by the list of his acquaintances.

William H. Crout. The career of William H. Crout adds another to the many illustrations Butler county has furnished of the results obtained by intelligence, industry and perseverance when applied to the securing of agricultural prosperity under the favoring conditions which have, for many years, existed in this part of the Miami valley. Mr. Crout was born on the old Crout homestead, which he now occupies, in section 10, Madison township, and is a son of Henry and Rachael (Bake) Crout. Peter Crout, the paternal grandfather of William H., was born in Pennsylvania and became an early settler of Butler county, where he built the old gristmill at Amanda and followed the trades of millwright and carpenter. Both he and his wife died near Middletown. Henry Crout was born in Highland county, Ohio, was educated in the home schools, and followed farming all his life. As a young man he located in Madison township, in section 10, and for some years engaged in farming the property now owned by his son, although he was not given the opportunity of achieving marked success, as he was called by death in 1866, when still comparatively a young man. He was a member of the United Brethren church as was also his wife who survived him until the spring of 1894. She was a daughter of Jacob and Mary Bake, natives of Pennsylvania who came early to Butler county, where .Mr. Bake cleared a great deal of land. He was also widely famed in the neighborhood as a hunter in the early days, and one of his favorite pastimes was the shooting of deer by moonlight. He died at the age of ninety-three years and his wife, aged eighty-seven, at West Middletown, they having reared a large

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family, of whom four are now living: Eliza, Emma, William and Alice. The educational advantages of William H. Crout were limited to the public schools. His elder brother, Leander, had died when he was six years of age, and his other brother, John, now a farmer of Madison township, and himself assisted their father in the work of development, during their spare hours. After the elder man's death, there was little chance for schooling, .and. when he was only twelve years of age Mr. Crout began working in the woods at clearing, for which his wages were twenty-five cents per day. He remained with his mother, caring for her and contributing to her support, until her death, in the spring of 1894, and October 2 of the same year was married to Miss Della Bell, of Darke county, Ohio a daughter of Henry and Mary (Barnhart) Bell, the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. Mr. Bell was a carpenter by trade and followed that vocation in Darke county until his death in February, 1912, his wife passing away in 1914. They were members of the Albright church and the parents of ten children: Levi, of Darke county; Emanuel, unmarried; William, a farmer near Springfield; Mollie, of Michigan City, Ind.; David, a farmer near Seven Mile; Fina, married Charles Hetzler, of Miamisburg; Ella, of Montgomery county, Ohio; Flora, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Clara, who died when young; and Della, now Mrs. Crout. Four sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Crout: James, an inspector at the American Rolling Mill company, Middletown; and Jesse, Clarence and Roy, all at home on the farm. Mr. Crout has always been a farmer on the old home place, where he now has fifty-two acres under a high state of cultivation, and carries on a general farming business, making somewhat of a specialty of grain and tobacco. He has never aspired for office, although he is a good and public-spirited citizen, but is a staunch Democrat and supports the candidates of his party loyally. With Mrs. Crout and his sons, he belongs to the United Brethren church, with the members of which he has numerous warm ties of friendship.

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