CASSIUS M. JOLLEY

CASSIUS M. JOLLEY, one of Lima's most esteemed
residents and older business men and also an honored veteran of the
Civil War, was born in Marion County, Ohio, in 1844, and is a son of
Elisha and Achsa (Davis) Jolley.
    Elisha Jolley was a pioneer at Lima, coming here first from
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1833.  He remained but a short time,
locating then in Marion County, but in 1845 he returned to Lima and
engaged in a merchant tailoring business during the remainder of his
active life.  His wife was born in Ohio.
    Cassius M. Jolley was only one year old when his parents came to
Lima, and this city has been his settled home ever since, his absence
form it being only during the years in which he was at the front as a
soldier of the Civil War.  He was one of the earliest to enlist after
the first call for troops; during this term of three months he suffered
so severe an injury to his foot that he was obliged to return home.
About two years passed before the member was sufficiently strong to
enable him a second time accepted and became identified with Company F,
32nd Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., being mustered into the service at Columbus.
   The 32nd Ohio immediately joined Sherman's army in the historic
campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, taking part in the seige of the
latter city.  Mr. Jolley witnessed the mortal wounding of the brave and
beloved General McPerson, and, as the regiment was under almost daily
fire, saw many of his comrades fall.  He was engaged with his company in
the battles at Jonesboro and Bentonville, and participated in the Grand
Review at Washington.  He was mustered out at Louisville Kentucky, July
5, 1865.
    Upon his return to Lima, Mr. Jolley immediately entered into
business.  For the first 12 years he engaged in making boots and shoes,
then was interested in a grocery, and later in the manufacture of
nitro-glycerin and in shooting oil-wells.  For about 15 years he
engaged in the manufacture, handling and use of that explosive without
any accidents, but since October, 1904, he has carried on a safer
business.  He is now engaged in the cigar, tobacco and periodical
business, with his son, Erle E., under the firm name of Jolley & Jolley,
having excellent quarters in the Lima House Block, on East Market
street.  He is one of the substantial business men of the city, and owns
some valuable property, including five acres of land, situated in German
township, adjacent to the city.
    Mr. Jolley was married, in 1873, to Grace Weiler, who is a daughter
of William and Ann E. (Filson) Weiler, both natives of Pennsylvania.
Forerly Mr. Weiler was a farmer in Wayne County, Ohio.  Mr. and Mrs.
Jolley have five children, namely: James L., connected with the Michael
Clothing & Shoe Company at Lima; Erle E., of the firm of Jolley &
Jolley; Ralph C., engaged in a milk business at Lima; Lena Dot, wife of
Bert Wilson, of the L. E. & W. Railroad shops; and Iva, living at home.
Mr. Jolley and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He is
an active member of Mart Armstrong Post, No, 202, G. A. R.

L. W. PAGE

L. W. PAGE, assistant superintendent of the South Lima
Division of The Buckeye Pipe Line Company, is a native of Nova Scotia.
He is a son of James M. Page, who was engaged in handling monuments for
many years, but is now retired from business and residing at Rothesay,
New Brunswick.  Mr. Page was educated in Nova Scotia, taking an academic
course and then locating in Boston Massachusetts, where he conducted a
drug-store for about five years.  From 1890 to 1895 he was engaged in
the same business in Brooklyn, and then accepted a place on the
construction gang of the Eureka Pipe Line Company, which was stationed
at Sistersville, West Virginia.  He was made assistant foreman of the
company and sent to Marietta Ohio, later going to Kentucky as foreman of
the Cumberland Pipe Line Company.  For a time he was located at
VanBuren, Indiana, as foreman of the Indiana Pipe Line Compan, and
thence came to Lima, on July 1, 1905, as assistant superintendent.
   Mr. Page was married, in 1896, to Zaidee Fullerton, of Montclair, New
Jersey, a lady of many pleasing qualities.  They have four children,
namely: Florence Virginia, Lawson Fullerton Elvena and Daniel.  Mr. and
Mrs. Page are prominent and popular members of the First Baptist Church
of Lima. Mr. Page was made an Elk in the Marietta Lodge, and still
retains his membership in that body.

M. C. RICKETTS

M. C. RICKETTS, locomotive engineer on the Lake Erie &
Western Railroad, with a passenger run between Lima and Tipton
(Indiana), is one of the well-known and valued citizens of the former
place, whose residence here covers a period of 25 years.  He is also an
honored survivor of the Civil War.  Mr. Ricketts was born near Morrow,
Warren County, Ohio in 1843, and is a son of Zadock Ricketts.
   The Ricketts family is one of the age and distinction of old
Virginia, and there the father of Mr. Ricketts was born in 1803, at
Fairfax Court house, Culpeper County.   He came to Ohio about 1830 and
settled in Warren County, where he became a man of substance and a
leading agriculturist.
    M. C. Ricketts attended school in Warren County until he was 15
years of age, and then assisted on the homestead for two years longer.
At the age of 18 years he enlisted for service in the Civil War, joining
Company , 35th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., entering the service at Hamilton,
Ohio, and being mustered out at Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The years
intervening were filled with the hardships which attend a soldier's
life, and that his service was one of constant activity and danger may
be inferred by recalling the battles in which he participated.  The list
includes: Perryville, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca,
Buzzaard's Roost, Corinth, Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree
Creek, the fall of Atlanta and the "March to the Sea."
    Upon his return from the army, Mr. Ricketts resumed work on the home
farm until January 19, 1872, when he began railroading.  For four years
he served as fireman and for one year as engineer, on the Cincinnati &
Muskingum Valley Railroad, and then became an engineer on the Cincinnati
Southern Railroad.  In 1881 he located at Lima, becoming connected with
the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, of which he is a trustworthy passenger
engineer running between Lima and Tipton, Indiana.
    On October 26, 1871, Mr. Ricketts was married to Cynthia Brant, who
died October 10, 1899, leaving one son, F. B., who is employed in the
drug-store of Harold Cunningham in Lima.  Mr. Ricketts was married on
August 28,1903, to Jennie R. Conrath, who is a daughter of Israel
Conrath, of Lima.  Mr. Conrath is now 80 years of age, while his wife is
76; they have long been residents of Ohio.
    In political sentiment, Mr. Ricketts is a Republican.  He cast his
first presidential vote on the occasion of the second election of
Abraham Lincoln, and has consistently supported the party candidates and
measures ever since. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and of the Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities.  In religious
views he is a Methodist, while Mrs. Ricketts is a member of the
Christian Church.  The pleasant family home is located at No. 514 South
Pine street, Lima.
 
MADISON L. BOWYER

MADISON L. BOWYER,  a venerable and esteemed farmer of
German township, has been a resident of Allen County for almost three
quarters of a century.  An only child of Isaac and Elizabeth (McMullen)
Bowyer, he was born in Monroe County, Virginia, January 12, 1826.  His
father was a son of Adam Bowyer and was born in Monroe County, Virginia,
in 1802. The mother was born in Bedford County, Virginia, and was a
daughter of Matthew McMullen.  When our subject was a child of four
years, his parents decided to try their fortunes on the broad and
fertile prairie lands of Illinois, the new territory which was alluring
so many settlers to the then far West.  Accordingly all their household
goods and farming implements were loaded into wagons and the journey
begun.  It was a tedious trip, through an almost trackless forest with
the houses of the settlers sometimes miles apart, but as no quicker mode
of transportation was then known in the section of the country traversed
the travelers doubtless thought they were completing their journey in
very good time.  Winter found them still on the road and, as the weather
was severe, it was thought best to stop over until spring.  The halting
place was in Ross County, Ohio, where the winter of 1830 was spent.
When they resumed their journey the following year, they came only so
far as what is now Allen County, settling on a farm near Elida.  This
property is still owned by our subject and was the home of the family
for over 60 years.
    Madison L. Bowyer has been twice married, his first wife being
Elizabeth Priddy, a native of Ohio and daughter of William Priddy.  They
had the following children: Josephine, who married James Leech of Lima
and has two sons, Guy and Dale, both of whom are married, the former
having four children of whom one is dead; Martha Jane, who married
Anderson Llewellyn; Clara Linda, wife of Lon Bower, of Lima and the
mother of four children, three of whom are living; Amanda Ellen, wife of
Albert Busha, of Cleveland; Isaac; John; Charles; Mary; Annie Eliza; and
Georgia, the three last named having passed to the higher life.  About
28 years ago Mr. Bowyer was married to his present wife who was then
Delia Strayer, daughter of Daniel Strayer, of Fairfield County, Ohio.
The one child born to this union was with them here but a brief space,
before it was taken to the home above.  Mr. Bowyer has been a
hard-working, industrious man and has richly earned the prosperity which
has attended him and enables him and his estimable wife to spend their
declining years in ease amid the scores of warm friends by whom they are
surrounded.  Mr. Bowyer is a Republican and for a number of years was a
school director in German township, an office he accepted on account of
his deep interest in all educational matters.  He is a consistent member
of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, of Lima, and a man of the
strictest integrity.

LEVI  BALSBAUGH

LEVI  BALSBAUGH, Superintendent of the boiler
department of the Lima Locomotive and Machine Works, the largest
manufacturing plant at Lima, efficiently fills a very responsible
postion.  He was born at Harrisburg, Pennsyvania, and is a son of Henry
Balsbaugh, also of that city.
    Mr. Balsbaugh was reared and educated in his native city.  When a
lad he began to take an interest in machinery, with the result that when
he was only 20 years old he had so thoroughly mastered the boiler-makers
trade that he was sent to Roanoke, Virginia, to take the position of
assistant foreman of the Norfolk & Western Railway shops.  This position
he filled for five years, learning every practical detail in connection
with the complicated machinery used in the geat plant.  From this
responsible position in Roanoke, he entered the Richmond, Virginia,
Locomotive Works as a journeyman worker, and served in every capacity
until he became foreman, remaining with that company for 10 years.  His
next place of employment was with the Baldwin Locomotive Works, at
Philadelphia, which are the largest in the United States, and he
remained there for five years as assistant foreman  With this record
behind him he came to Lima, in 1903, to become superintendent of the
boiler department of the Lima Locomotive & Machine Works.  He is a
skilled artisan and a man thoroughly competent to also exercise
executive authority.
    In 1887 Mr. Balsbaugh was married to Rosa Hoover, who is a daughter
of Alexander Hoover, of Wytheville, Virginia.
    Mr. Balsbaugh has associated himself with the Young Men's Christian
Association since coming to Lima and has won the esteem and friendship
of those with whom he has come in contact.  He belongs also to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows (both the subordinate lodge and the
encampment).  He is largely a self-made man and the success he has won
has been secured through his own efforts, persistently and intelligently
directed.