Adam Adrion. In the period of more than a quarter of a century, the grocery business owned by Adam Adrion, at Ninth street and Yankee road, Middletown, has grown into what is considered one of the community's commercial necessities. The proprietor of this establishment, now one of the leading and successful men of the community, has built up the business from modest proportions, and has had the necessity of making his own way in the world, having arrived in this city with little save his ambition and his knowledge of a useful trade. He was born in 1857, in Germany, and was but fifteen years of age, a youth with a common school education, when he arrived in the United States. His first place of residence was at Indianapolis, Ind., where he learned the blacksmith business and resided for about three years, then coming to Middletown, which has continued to be his home. For three years after his arrival at Middletown, he worked in the blacksmith shop of Charles Greter, and after leaving his employ was associated for eleven years with Martin Sheets. It had always been Mr. Adrion's ambition to become proprietor of a business of his own, and when he left Mr. Sheets it was to embark in the grocery business, a line with which he had had little experience, but in which he soon showed his worth. His business was founded at the corner of Ninth street and Yankee road, with a small but well-selected stock of staple and fancy groceries. It was several years before he was firmly established as one of the merchants of the community, but this object once attained and the fact recognized by the people, his business began to grow and develop, and under his care and watchful management has continued to do so. This is now one of the most prosperous business stands of its kind in the city and the credit for its well-being all rests with Mr. Adrion, who has never been compelled to call for outside assistance, but he has relied upon his own abilities and resource. In 1880 Mr. Adrion was married to Miss Louise Schulze, daughter of William Schulze, a native of Germany, who immigrated to America at an early age and subsequently came to Middletown, where he was engaged in business until his death. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Adrion: Leona and Herman, who are both now deceased; and Mrs. John T. Williamson, formerly Minnie Adrion, who died September 9, 1919, leaving father, mother, husband and a little daughter, Martha Jane, aged five, to mourn her loss. Mrs. Williamson was an exemplary Christian woman, a devoted daughter, wife and mother and was loved by all who knew her. She was buried from her home, B. J. Brinkema, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, of which Mrs. Williamson was a most devout member, officiated at the burial and Mrs. Williamson was

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laid to rest amid sorrowing family and friends. Mr. Adrion is fraternally affiliated with the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Foresters. He is a Democrat, and he and Mrs. Adrion belong to St. Paul's German church. It was in this church Mrs. Adrion was confirmed and has been a consistent member of it for forty-seven years. Her father, William Schulze, was one of its founders and a member of the choir till his death. Mrs. John T. Williamson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adrion was baptized, confirmed and married in this church.

Perry Akers. One of the most highly honored residents of Butler county of whom this volume furnishes a record is the cordially esteemed Perry Akers, who is now living in honest retirement at Oxford. It can also be truthfully said of him that, during his active career, he was a typical representative of the best and highest class in the agricultural element of the population of the Miami valley. Intelligent, practical, systematic, diligent, persevering and provident in his farming operations, he was absolutely just in his dealings with all who had transactions with him, and his career as a farmer reflected credit upon that vocation. Mr. Akers was born on a farm in Oxford township, Butler county, Ohio, December 31, 1851, a son of James and Hannah (Hansel) Akers, the former a native of Franklin county, Ind., where his family had been pioneers and where for many years they followed the pursuits of the soil as husbandmen. They had four children: Lucinda, Asa, William and James. Hannah (Hansel) Akers was also born in Franklin county, Ind., where her parents had been early settlers, and she had two brothers and three sisters. James Akers was educated in the public schools of Franklin county, Ind., and was reared in Bath township, where he married Miss Hansel. After a few years devoted to farming there they moved to a property situated west of Oxford, in Oxford township, Butler county, and there continued to do general farming and stock raising until they passed away, being laid to their last rest in the vicinity to the north of the College Corner graveyard, in Preble county. Their children were as follows: Mary, who died in Oxford township, was the wife of John Dukes, of Randolph County, Ind., a farmer by vocation; Armanella, who died in infancy; William Riley, who married Emma Van Ausdall, deceased, and resides at College Corner; and Perry. Perry Akers' educational training was confined to the common schools of his native community, and when he laid aside his school books it was to take up the tools and instruments of the home farm, in assisting his father to cultivate the tract and develop the property. At the age of twenty-three years he was united in marriage with Sarah Adeline, daughter of Mahlon Flint, of Union county, Ind., and after their marriage located in that county and engaged in farming. Later he returned to Butler county and bought 105 acres of land in Oxford township, to which he subsequently added fifty-five acres by purchase. He became one of the successful and substantial farmers of his community, but at the time of his retirement sold out and moved to the city of Oxford, where he bought a handsome brick residence at No. 815 S. College avenue, his present home. Mr. and Mrs. Akers have

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been the parents of five children: two who died in infancy; Clifford, educated in the public schools, married Edith Bourne of Franklin county, Ind., moved to that community, and died one year later; Wilfred, who taught in the country schools and the Danville Normal school, and died at the age of twenty-six; years; Daisy, the wife of Omer Dare of Franklin county, Ind., with four children, Herbert, Ralph, Melvin and Loren. Herbert Dare married Bessie White, of Franklin county, Ind. Mr. Ak:ers is a Republican and a substantial man of his community. Calmly resting now in the evening of life he is thrice fortunate in being able to look back: upon an honorable and useful career, and, conscious of the affectionate regard of relatives and friends, to gaze forward in serene expectation to the reward of the future.

Ernest J. Alexander has been a resident of Middletown, Butler county, since he was a youth of eighteen years, and as an employee of the American Rolling Mills company he holds a responsible position, that of heater. He is a skilled and valued artisan, with an accurate technical knowledge of the work to which he gives his attention, and he owns and occupies one of the fine modern residences of Middletown, attractively situated at 638 Garfield avenue. Ernest James Alexander was born in Indiana, and is a son of John Jones Alexander and Belle (Wynkoop) Alexander, the latter of whom died, at Middletown, in 1909, and the former of whom still resides in this city, where he is employed by the American Rolling Mills company. John J. Alexander is a native of the state of Virginia, but prior to his removal to Middletown, Ohio, he had been for a number of years a resident of Indiana. His seven children all reside at Middletown, and of the number the eldest is Lena, who is the wife of Clarence Speidel; Ernest J., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Florence is the wife of Harry Moore; Ruth is the wife of James Snody; Elsie is the wife of Albert John; and Clarence is the youngest of the number. Ernest J. Alexander is indebted to the public schools of Indiana for his early educational advantages, and, he was a youth of eighteen years when he became a resident of Middletown, Ohio, where he found employment with the American Rolling Mills company, one of the prominent corporations of the Iron and steel manufacturing enterprises in the state of Ohio. His ability has gained him advancement and he is one of its valued employees. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, and both he and his wife hold the faith of the Baptist church. On account of impaired health Mr. Alexander went to the state of Maryland, and there, on the 8th of November, 1891, he wedded Miss Edith Bauckman, daughter of George W. and Mary Catherine (Moran) Bauckman, of Ashburn, Virginia, where they still maintain their home their children being six in number: Carroll, Thomas, Nettie, Mrs Harry Cookney; Belle, Mrs. Ernest Trail; Edith, wife of the subject of this review, and Hattie, wife of Elmer Lewis, of Washington, D. C. Mrs. Alexander continued her studies in the public schools of Ashburn, Virginia, until she had been graduated in the high school, and thereafter she pursued a higher course of study in college at Washington, D. C. She is a popular factor in the social

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activities of Middletown and is the gracious chatelaine of the attractive family home. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have four children: Malcolm and Milford (twins), Milan and Olga. It may be stated that the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Alexander served as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war.

Erhard Allen. Since his arrival at Hamilton, Erhard Allen has been identified with several important concerns at this place, the duties of which have been discharged with credit to himself. He is a native of Sweden, born January 8, 1883, a son of Erik Tolf, who died in Sweden, in which country Mr. Allen's mother still makes her home. Erhard Allen was given a good education, both literary and mechanical, in his native land, for after leaving his school books he was trained as a machinist, tool maker and mechanical draughtsman. He was seventeen years of age when he emigrated to the United States and first located in New York city, where he remained for six years during which he was identified with a number of concerns, gradually gaining practical experience in his trade and fitting himself for a career of further advancement. Upon leaving the metropolis, Mr. Allen went to Wisconsin and for the next few years traveled through that state, and eventually came to Ohio and found employment with the National Cash Register company, with which great concern he spent five years. While at Dayton, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Helen Agnes Grave of that city, and not long after their union came to Hamilton, where he joined the working forces of the Republic Motor Car company. During the period that he remained with that company he received several promotions, finally being made assistant superintendent, a position which he resigned in 1915 to become associated with the Bonham Recorder company, of which firm he is now superintendent. Mr. Allen is a thorough master of his trade in all its particulars and is also possessed of marked executive ability which makes him valuable in the handling of large working forces of men. He is fraternally affiliated with the local lodge of the Order of Elks, and his political support is given to the candidates of the Democratic party.

Leslie Allison, heater at the American Rolling Mills plant at Middletown, has been engaged with this plant ever since he entered upon his independent career. He belongs to the enterprising, progressive class of young men who have made their own way, and has made excellent progress in establishing himself as a substantial citizen of his community. Mr. Allison was born at Portsmouth, Ohio, a son of Henry Allison, who still resides at Cleveland, Ohio, the mother of Mr. Allison also surviving. After attending the public schools of Portsmouth, Leslie Allison took up steel work as his vocation, and in 1912 came to Middletown to accept the position of heater's helper at the plant of the American Rolling Mills company, a post from which he was advanced to heater which position he now holds. He is a reliable, steady and industrious workman, who has the confidence of his employers and the friendship of his fellows. His thrift is evidenced in the ownership of an attractive and comfortable home on Sutphin avenue. In politics he maintains a liberal stand, and he and Mrs. Allison are members of the Methodist church.

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September 20, 1911, Mr. Allison married Dora E. Rankin, who was born November 25, 1890, near Pans, Ky., a daughter of Henry and Anna (Hollar) Rankin. There were four other children in the family namely: Fletcher M., born November 27,1886; Walter Cray, born March 7, 1893; Georgie, born October 28, 1895; and Russell Harvey, born November 29, 1898. Henry Rankin, who fought as a soldier during the Civil war, died at .Millersburg, Ky., March 8, 1902 and following his death the family removed to Portsmouth, Ohio where the children were reared. Mrs. Rankin still survives and resides at Middletown with her daughter and son-in-law, at the Sutphin avenue home. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Allison: one who died in infancy; and Dorothy Louise, who died when seven months of age.

Clinton Alston, the village blacksmith with a well equipped shop at Symmes Corner, in Fairfield township, Butler county has applied himself so vigorously and with such marked skill to his trade that he ably controls a substantial and profitable business. Mr. Alston is a representative of the third generation of the family in Butler county, and this statement implies that he comes of fine old pioneer stock. He was born in Fairfield township, the place of his birth having been the farm of his father, who long held vantage-place as one of the representative agriculturists of Fairfield township, where he was born and reared, his wife also having been born in Butler county. Clinton Alston, who is associated with his brother Cassius in the blacksmith business, is junior member of the firm, both members of which are skilled artisans and well known and popular citizens. They are sons of M. P. and Elizabeth (Herr) Alston, and grandsons of Wallace Alston and Henry Herr, both of whom were pioneer settlers in this county, whither they came from Pennsylvania. The children of M. P. and Elizabeth Alston are: Montgomery P., a prosperous farmer in Butler county; Cassius who is a bachelor, and is associated with his brother Clinton in the blacksmith establishment at Symmes Corner; Clinton, the subject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; and Minnie and Albert. Clinton Alston is indebted to the public schools of Butler county for his education, and as a young man he served a practical apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith, which has gained him reputation and success in his chosen vocation. He and his brother have been conducting the business for some years, and their prowess as artisans does not obscure their loyalty and liberality as citizen, in which connection it may be stated that during the late World war they gave liberal support to the various agencies that upheld the government in its war activities. The utmost fraternal and business harmony marks the relations of the two brothers, but in politics their are divided in sentiment, Clinton being affiliated with the Republican party and Cassius with the Democratic party. Clinton Alston was united in marriage to Miss Alice Van Natta, who was born and reared in Butler county, and they have two sons: Gordon and Clinton, jr. Gordon was one of the gallant young American who went forth as a soldier with the American Expeditionary Force in France, where he was a member of the 83d Division, 322d Field

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Artillery, with which he was in the great campaigns and terrific conflicts at Argonne and Chateau Thierry, France.

Henry Anderson is well and favorably known at Middletown, where for some years he has been employed in the plant of the American Rolling mill. He was born at Mount Sterling, Ky., February 23, 1886, a son of Newton Anderson, who still survives and resides at Mount Sterling, where the mother died in 1908. The parents had a family of five sons and three daughters: Henry, of this review; Newton, jr. I, who died as a small lad; James, Lee and Newton, jr. II, residents of Lexington, Ky.; Joseph, of Middletown; Lillie, the wife of Walter Reffitt, of Mount Sterling, Ky.; Rettie, the wife of Herbert Baker, of Kokomo, Ind.; Mollie, the wife of Sim Curran, of Lexington, Ky. Newton Anderson the elder enlisted from Kentucky in the Civil war, through which struggle he fought bravely, receiving his honorable discharge when peace was declared. Henry Anderson was educated in the public schools of Mount Sterling, Ky., where he received the training that fitted him for work at his present vocation. For some years he was variously employed in mills at different places, but eventually settled at Middletown, where he has since been employed as a heater in the American Rolling mill. Mr. Anderson is liberal in his political views and a member of the United Brethren church. He was married August 8, 1907, at Indianapolis, Ind., to Bessie Hamilton, born September 12, 1887, daughter of Andrew and Emma (England) Hamilton, the former of whom still resides at Middletown, while the latter died at this place, June 12, 1907. Mrs. Anderson had two sisters: Maud, who died as the wife of Dee May; and Gay, who is now Mrs. Lee Wolff, of Middletown. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have one son, Stanley Woodford Anderson, born June 4, 1908, and now attending the Middletown public schools. A daughter, Gladys May, died at Kokomo, Ind., at the age of sixteen months. The pleasant family home of the Andersons is situated at No. 537-1-2 Young street.

Allen Andrews was born in Delaware county, Ind., August 11, 1849. He was educated in the common schools of that state and at the National Normal at Lebanon, Ohio, and at Liber college, Liber, Ind. When he was eighteen years of age he became a teacher and taught in the common schools and was superintendent of the schools at New Madison and a teacher in the high school at Greenville. He afterwards studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1874 and commenced the practice of law in Greenville, Ohio, the junior member of the firm of Riffel & Andrews. Disposing of his interests in that law firm under a contract not to practice in that county for three years he .came to the city of Hamilton in March, 1876, and has been a resident of that city ever since. He was the junior member of the firm of McKemy & Andrews for four years and then a member of the firm of Morey, Andrews & Morey for twenty-two years until the death of the Hon. H. L. Morey dissolved the partnership. Shortly afterwards the partnership of Andrews, Harlan & Andrews was formed and remained in existence until Hon. Walter S. Harlan was elected to the common pleas bench in 1912. Since then the business

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has been continued by Andrews & Andrews, a partnership consisting of the subject of this sketch and his two sons, John D. Andrews, who was admitted to the bar in January, 1905, and Allen Andrews, jr., who was admitted to the bar in 1914. Mr. Andrews has devoted his time and talent exclusively to the practice of law for forty-five years and has been connected with much of the important litigations in Butler county and in the adjoining counties and in the Federal court of the Southern District of Ohio. His paternal ancestry came from Scotland and his maternal from Germany. There were five sons in his father's family, three of whom were in the Federal Army of the Civil war, the other two being under the military age; and in the World war, Mr. Andrews had two sons and one son-in-law in the service. In 1879 he married Miss Belle Davis, the daughter of J. P. Davis, a prominent citizen of Hamilton, who died in his ninety-first year in February, 1917. On her mother's side Mrs. Andrews descended from old Revolutionary stock and Thomas Blair, one of the pioneer settlers of Hamilton was her great-great-grandfather. They have five children, all of whom have reached the years of maturity and are now married, besides the two sons associated with him in his business he has one son, Stanley, in the medical profession living in Toledo. His daughter Ruth, lives in Los Angeles, Calif., and is the wife of H. Ellis Reed, who is in the service of the Los Angeles Times and his other daughter, Elizabeth is the wife of J. P. Rogers, who was in the Aviation Service during the war and now resides in Columbus. Mr. Andrews has never served in public life but has taken great interest in politics and public affairs notwithstanding his close application to his professional duties. He is a member of the American and Ohio Bar associations, and was president of the latter in 1911 and 1912. He has found diversion such as he has been able to take outside of his profession in fraternal societies. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for forty-seven years. Is a thirty-third degree Mason and was Grand Master of the Ohio Masons for two years in 1893 and 1894. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his family are members and attendants of the First M. E. church of Hamilton.

Sylvester Andrews. The annals of Butler county show many records of the lives of farmers who have rounded out the duties connected with agricultural pursuits, and have amassed considerable fortunes gathered from the fertile soil. One who has met with considerable success in this direction, which is well merited, is Sylvester Andrews, who has been a lifelong resident of Milford township, and who was born north of the place he now occupies, September 11, 1846, a son of Felty and Ruth (Jones) Andrews, natives of Columbia, near Cincinnati. The paternal grandparents passed their entire lives near Cincinnati, while the maternal grandparents, Benjamin Jones and his wife, came from Pennsylvania. After their marriage, Felty and Ruth Andrews settled in Butler county, Ohio, on a farm located north of the one on which their son now lives, but in 1859 bought the latter place and there rounded out the remainder of their useful and honorable lives. They were the parents of the

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following children: Wesley, deceased, who was a soldier of the Union during the Civil war; Benjamin, a resident of Dayton; Sylvester, of this notice; William, deceased; and Esom, who lives in California. Sylvester Andrews received his education in the country schools of Butler county and was reared on the home farm, where he assisted his father. He was married in 1873 to Lucy, daughter of Jackson and Lucinda Watt, who resided in the same township, and both of whom are now deceased. They were the parents of six children. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Andrews lived west of Oxford on a rented farm for some time, and then moved to the old homestead of 103 acres, which is still their abode. The house in which they make their residence was built by Mr. Andrew's father, but the present owner has made numerous improvements and has installed much new equipment, and the property is now one of the handsome, valuable and productive estates of its part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews are highly esteemed in their community for their many excellencies of mind and heart, are faithful members of the Methodist church, and during the war period were generous contributors to the various enterprises which assisted in winning the war. Mr. Andrews is a Democrat, but has never cared for public office, being content to center his activities in his farm and his home, where he finds enjoyment and interest. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews: Clem, Allen, Laura and Irma. Clem, an energetic farmer of Butler county, married Irma Wright, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and they have two children, Donald and Grace; Allen, who went with the American Expeditionary Forces to France, where he served with the hospital corps until his return to the United States in 1919; Laura married Fred Hewitt, a contractor of Butler county, and has two children, Lucy and Treva; and Irma married George Moss, of Richmond, Ind., and has one child - Louise.

Albert Handon Antrobus, son of John Butler Antrobus, was born near Falmouth, Ky., June 26, 1857. His father, whose paternal ancestors were from France and England, was a native of Virginia but early settled in Kentucky and followed the vocation of cooper and firmer. While working on a house in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1882, he fell therefrom, sustaining injuries which caused his death. His mother died in 1878. There were twelve children in the family: Samuel, deceased; James, now living in Georgetown, Ky.; George, in Pan Handle, Texas; Jefferson Coleman, in Falmouth, Ky.; Jane, deceased; Elizabeth, in Cincinnati; Nancy, in Illinois; Catharine, in Falmouth, Ky.; Ann, deceased; Hattie, deceased; Sallie, in Cincinnati; and Albert Handon, the subject of this sketch, who married Miss Mattie Courtney, daughter of J. and Martha (Bishop) Courtney. To this couple were born nine children: Grover; Clarence, died December 6, 1916; Clara Bell, and Ella, died in infancy; Lillian, Mrs. John Lawrence; Mabel, Mrs. Jacob Root; Harry, Nellie and Catharine. The deaths from influenza, November, 1919, of the eight-months-old twin babies of Mrs. John Lawrence darkened with grief the home of the grandparents. Mr. Antrobus is possessed of executive ability and is an energetic worker along many

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lines. He organized a Baptist church, starting with fourteen members in his old home-town in Kentucky and still retains his membership there. His son, Harry, a most estimable young man, belongs to the Nazarene church and takes a very active part in church work. Mr. Antrobus is a contractor and with his family lives in his own comfortable home on Lefferson street, Middletown, Ohio. In politics he is a Democrat.

A. J. Antrobus. The contribution of A. J. Antrobus to the development of Butler county has included the clearing of a fine farm and the development of a valuable property. When he arrived in this county, the land was covered with timber, but the passing of twelve years has seen great changes take place in this part of the Miami valley, and the Antrobus farm is now one of the highly developed and valuable tracts of the locality. Mr. Antrobus was born February 25,1866, in Pendleton county, Ky., a son of Samuel L. and Susan Millie (Luckett) Antrobus. The family originated in England, whence the paternal great-grandfather came to this country at an early day, taking up his residence among the pioneers of Kentucky. In that state was born John Antrobus, the grandfather of A. J., who followed carpentry and contracting all his life in the Blue Grass region. Samuel L. Antrobus was also born in Kentucky, and as a young man adopted the vocation of cooper, to which business he devoted the active years of his life, never leaving his native state. He was a man of industry and integrity, and one who possessed in full degree the esteem and confidence of his fellows. His wife, one year his junior, was born in 1840, in Kentucky, to which state her father, William Luckett, had journeyed at an early date from Maryland. The boyhood and youth of A. J. Antrobus were passed in Kentucky, where he attended the district schools and grew up in a rural community in which the chief occupation was farming. This fact probably decided his career, and although his father and grandfather before him had been artisans, following established trades all their lives, he chose for his lifework the tilling of the soil and his attention has been devoted thereto throughout his career. In 1907 Mr. Antrobus removed from Kentucky to Butler county and bought a tract of land on the Franklin road. Timber covered a part of this section, even at that late date, but Mr. Antrobus, ambitious and energetic, cleared the wooded portion and soon had the entire property under a high state of cultivation. While in a broad sense he may be termed a general farmer, most of his interest centers in tobacco growing, a field in which he has won marked and in disputed success. His property has been improved by the erection of substantial buildings and the installment of modern improvements, and he is looked upon as being up-to-date in every respect. Mr. Antrobus was married in 1896 to Miss Viva Courtney, daughter of William and Clara (Phillips) Courtney, natives of Kentucky, and to this union there have been born three children: Mattie, who is now Mrs. Carl McGraw; and Alma and Frank, who reside with their parents. Mr. Antrobus is a member of the local lodge of the I. O. O. F., and is popular among his fellow-members. He and his family belong to the Nazarene church, and he has always been liberal in his contribu

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tions to worthy causes, civic, educational or religious. His political beliefs cause him to support the Democratic party.

Valentine Apple. That the occupation of farming can be made one of the most agreeable and satisfying vocations known, that industry, good management and persistent combine to result in the attainment of one's ambitions, and that straightforward dealing and integrity are among the most valuable of human assets, are facts exemplified in the life of Valentine Apple, whose career has been identified with Butler county for twenty-eight years, and who, as a farmer and good citizen, has exerted a splendid influence in the development of his community. Mr. Apple was born near Farmersville, Montgomery county, Ohio, December 16, 1868, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Stacksbarger) Apple, the former a native of Montgomery county and the latter of Maryland. They were married in Montgomery county, where they followed agricultural pursuits for a long period, but eventually moved to Warren county, settling one and one-half miles west of Franklin, where Mrs. Apple died in 1890, aged sixty-eight years, and Mr. Apple in 1899, when seventy-one years of age. They were consistent members of the Lutheran church, were highly respected in the communities in which they resided, and were the parents of fifteen children. Valentine Apple was given only a limited education in the district schools of his native locality. His boyhood and youth were filled with hard work, as he labored on the home place until he was twenty-two years of age. At that time he was married, and one year later removed to his present farm, in Lemon township, Butler county, known as the Reed place, a tract of ninety-three acres. On this he has since erected all the buildings, and made many valuable improvements, including the installation of 1,500 rods of tile. He has seen the district rise from somewhat primitive conditions to wonderful prosperity; has seen homes established and their owners pass beyond the ken of those who knew them; and has witnessed the departure of the old-time implements and the installment of those which obliterate the grinding drudgery of an earlier day. He is a skilled and extensive breeder of Poland China hogs and Shorthorn cattle, and also raises many horses for general purposes. His crops consist of all kinds of grain. True to the traditions of his family, Mr. Apple is a Democrat, but has never asked for any office or preferment at the hands of either his party or his fellow-citizens. With his family, he belongs to the United Presbyterian church, at Monroe. During his active career Mr. Apple has lived close to high ideals, and his citizenship has imparted strength and substantiality to all undertakings in which his ability and worth have been enlisted. He was married in 1890 to Miss Lona Mullendore, of Preble county, O., who died five years later, leaving two children: Harold, chief clerk of the Big Four railroad freight offices, who married Lillian Schroeder and has one daughter; and Lona, a graduate of the Gratis High school and a teacher before her marriage to A. Brubaker, of Preble county. Mr. Apple's second marriage was to May Coover, of Montgomery county, daughter of Samuel and Laura Coover, of that county. Mr. Coover was a miller, and both he and his wife are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs.

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Apple there have been born two children: Arthur C. and Harvey, both graduates of the Monroe High school. Arthur after completing his studies remained at home assisting his father, while Harvey became a student at Muskingum college. Mr. Apple has supported in a practical manner all educational and worthy civic enterprises.

Leander Ardery as a farmer, citizen and business man stands high in the respect of the citizens of Oxford township, where he has resided for a quarter of a century. He was born on a farm in Franklin county, Ind., October 14, 1854, a son of James and Margaret (Goff) Ardery, natives of the same county. The maternal grand-parents of Mr. Ardery were pioneers of that region, and his paternal ancestors, natives of Kentucky, also went to the Hoosier state at an early day. James B. Goff, an uncle of Mr. Ardery, fought as a soldier of the Union during the war between the states, and was a member of an Indiana Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. James and Margaret (Goff) Ardery resided on the old Goff place in Franklin county for nine years after their marriage, and then moved to Union county, in the same state, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the mother passing away in 1895 and the father four years later. They were the parents of the following children: John, deceased; Leander; James; Albert; Anna, deceased; C. E.; Mary A., deceased; Laura; W. F. and O. M. Leander Ardery was educated in the public schools of Bath township, Franklin county, Ind., and in Union county, and in the latter community grew to stalwart manhood as a farmer's son. He was married there in 1890 to Alice, daughter of David B. and Martha (Haskell) Howarth, of Union county, the latter of whom belonged to one of the pioneer families of Cincinnati, the Haskells, who came originally from Massachusetts. David B. and Martha A. Howarth were the parents of the following children: Henry E., Eliza Ann, William, Alice B., Josie M., Charles E. and Daisy. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Leander Ardery lived on the farm of Mr. Howarth, near Cottage Grove, for five years, and in 1894 purchased their present place, a tract of 101 acres lying in Oxford township. Here Mr. Ardery has made numerous improvements, including the erection of substantial and modern buildings and the installing of modern machinery and the latest conveniences. Modern in his views, and energetic and capable in his operations, Mr. Ardery has brought good judgment into play in the management of his property. He is one of the public-spirited men of his locality, and no worthy movement passes him by, as was shown during the period of the great World war when he was a generous contributor to the various war activities. He and his wife are the parents of one son, Edward G., born in 1900, who is a graduate of high school and his father's capable assistant on the home place.

Andrew J. Arent, a prominent carpenter contractor of Hamilton whose good workmanship has contributed to the city's architectural attractiveness, was born at Hamilton, Ohio, January 31 1866 a son of Mathias and Mary Arent, both of whom are now deceased. His father was born in the east and there educated and as a youth learned the trade of carpentry, which he followed at Jacksonboro Butler county, to which place he removed in young manhood. There

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he was married, his wife being a native of the state of New York, and subsequently they came to Hamilton, where Mathias Arent developed into a carpenter contractor and lumber dealer, business ventures with which he was successfully identified until his death. Of his eight children, three sons and one daughter survive: Jean, a contractor of Hamilton, who married Belle Wamsley and has two children; Mathias, of Hamilton, who married Christine McGehan; Annie, of Canada, the widow of Philip Stillwaugh; and Andrew J. Andrew J. Arent was educated in the graded schools of Hamilton and was well trained in the trade of carpentry under the skilled and capable preceptorship of his father. He continued to work in association with the elder man until 1907, at which time he formed a partnership with his brother, Jean, in the contracting and lumber business. In 1911 Andrew J. Arent sold his interest in the lumber enterprise to his brother, and since that time has continued alone as a contractor. He has built up an excellent business and has taken his place as one of the leaders in his field at Hamilton. Mr. Arent was married in 1886 to Miss Kate Fath, daughter of Jacob and Anna Fath, early residents of Hamilton, and they became the parents of seven children: Van Lou, formerly in the carpenter business, and a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Modern Woodmen of America, who died at Hamilton at the age of thirty-one years, leaving a widow and four children; Vernon, thirty years of age, educated in the public schools, learned the machinist's trade and is now a draughtsman and superintendent at the Cullen & Vaughn Planing mills, resides at Hamilton and is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, married Hilda Alexander, and has two children; Murray, aged twenty-eight years, educated in the public schools, learned the carpenter trade under his father and worked with him until December 11, 1917, when he enlisted in the Motor Mechanics Signal Corps, later was transferred to the Air Service Mechanics, and after about two months of intensive training in this country was sent across the Atlantic, to France; Naomi, a high school graduate, who is unmarried and resides with her parents; Orville, aged twenty-two years, a high school graduate, who is engaged in the automobile business; and Carol, aged nineteen years, and Olive, aged sixteen years, high school graduates, who reside with their parents. After his first marriage, Mr. Arent built his first home at No. 220 Wayne avenue, but subsequently built another at No. 711 Ross avenue, into which he moved, this being followed by homes at No. 709 Ross avenue and No. 219 North C street. The present home, at No. 825 Park avenue, was erected by Mr. Arent. He is a member of the lodges of the Fraternal Order of Eagles arid the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and the members of his family belong to the Baptist church.

Jean Arent. General contracting and building interests at Hamilton, Ohio, have a skilled and progressive representative in the person of Jean Arent, who belongs to a family the members of which have long been prominent in this connection, and whose own contributions to the upbuilding of his native city have been important. Mr. Arent was born at Hamilton. February 28, 1876 a son of Mathias

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and Mary Arent, both of whom have now passed away. Mathias Arent was a native of the East, where he was reared and received an ordinary education, and as a young man came to Jacksonboro, Butler county, Ohio, where he followed the vocation of a carpenter, having learned that trade in his youth. At New Brunswick, New Jersey he met and was married to a young lady who had been born and reared in that state, and not long thereafter the young couple came to Hamilton where they spent the remaining years of their lives. Mathias Arent developed a good business as a carpenter contractor and also dealt in lumber and became one of Hamilton's substantial citizens. He and his wife became the parents of eight children, of whom four survive: Jean; Mathias, of Hamilton, who married Christine McGehan; Annie, of Canada, the widow of Philip Stillwaugh, and Andrew J., a carpenter contractor of Hamilton, who married Kate Fath, and has seven children. Jean Arent was educated in the graded schools, and upon reaching years of maturity chose his father's vocation as his own. He learned the trade of carpenter under the elder man, and worked at it until l907, in which year he and his brother Andrew J. embarked in business as their father's successors, engaging both in carpenter contracting and in the lumber business. Later Jean Arent bought the lumber interests from Andrew J. and carried on the business until 1911, when he sold out and again established himself in the carpenter contracting business. In 1915 Mr. Arent went to Los Angeles, Cal., where he became associated with the New York Motion Picture corporation, as superintendent of building construction. This contract was in connection with the erection of the buildings used in photographing the motion picture plays for future presentation on the screen, and entailed wide and diversified knowledge and constant and unremitting labor, as the company's "studio" covered some twenty-two acres of ground. While there Mr. Arent erected a two-story home of his own, but in April, 1916, resigned his position, sold his residence and returned to Hamilton, where he built his present artistically designed residence at No. 20 Elvin avenue. Mr. Arent is one of Hamilton's self-made men and has gained what he at present owns solely through the medium of his own efforts. He has been face to face with discouraging conditions in his career notably during the flood of 1913 when he lost about $8,000 in property, but at no time has he lost faith in his own ability, and this confidence he has imparted to those who have been associated with him in any business transactions, whether as business associates or as customers. His contracts are now all of large and important proportions and he is recognized as one of the leading operators in his field. Mr. Arent was married December 20, 1910, to Miss Belle Wamsley, daughter of George and Lydia (Gebhart) Wamsley, of Indiana. To this union there have been born two children: Helen, aged seven years, and now attending the Hamilton graded schools; and Herbert, aged three years. Mr. Arent has a number of business connections, is popular in club life, and as a good citizen has allied himself with movements that have had the welfare and advancement of Hamilton and its citizens as their object.

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Martin Arnold. Steady application to the development of an idea has been the medium through which Martin Arnold has advanced himself from the position of employee to that of employer and which has brought him into possession of one of the best-paying and most important enterprises of its kind at Hamilton. As a plumbing contractor he now controls a large number of important, projects, and has established a permanent place for himself in business circles through his energetic, progressive and industrious application to his enterprise. Mr. Arnold was born at St. Martin, Brown county, Ohio, in 1882, and received his early education in the public schools of that place, later attending St. Mary's institute, at Dayton. When he left school he secured a position as clerk, and after several years became connected with the Pettibone Manufacturing company, of Cincinnati, a concern with which he remained for two years. About this time Mr. Arnold decided that he was not making as rapid advancement as he should and decided that what he needed was the knowledge of a useful trade. Accordingly, he became a helper with the concern of William Donahue & Company, of Cincinnati, where he remained several years, then coming to Hamilton, where he first worked with Lou Schaub and later with L. Bertscher. In 1909 Mr. Arnold embarked in business on his own account, and from that time to the present his career has been one of constantly increasing success. He is now the proprietor of an establishment on East avenue, where he receives contracts for plumbing to be done in all parts of the country, for his work is not localized merely to the confines of Hamilton, but has spread and extended all over the surrounding country as the quality and expedition of his service have been recognized and appreciated. He bears an excellent reputation in business circles, where he is known as a man who keeps his engagements and contracts to the letter. In his political tendencies he is a Democrat, but is inclined to be independent in his actions. With his family he belongs to St. Stephen's Catholic church, and his fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Arnold married Miss Jeannette Meyers, and they have two children: Betty Jane and Martin jr.

Albert Auberle, son of August Auberle, was born in McKeesport, Pa., where his parents passed the years of useful and well-spent lives, the father dying December 24, 1908 and the mother January 15, 1912. Thirteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Auberle, and a rather unusual condition obtains in that all reached maturity and were engaged in active pursuits: Augusta, Mrs. W. Wyer, at McKeesport; Barbara, Mrs. C. Callahan, at McKeesport; Joseph, at McKeesport; William, at McKeesport; Fred, at Woodlawn, Pa.; Cleos, at New Castle, Pa.; August, at Parkersburg, W. Va.; Bibianna Mains, at McKeesport; Leopold, John, Otmar, Mary, deceased; Albert, the subject of this sketch, has been a resident of Middletown since 1911, when he came from Newport, Ky., to take a position as roller with the American Rolling Mill company. Thirty-two years ago, in Pennsylvania, he married Miss Nancy Jane Dodds, daughter of James and Abigail (Sarver) Dodds, whose parents came from Iowa. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Auberle:

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Ethel, deceased; Herbert, deceased; Frank, now in Middletown; Floyd, now a doctor practicing in the west. In the death of Herbert at Cincinnati by drowning, July 1, 1911, a great sorrow which has not yet been entirely dispelled, settled upon the home. Frank heard the call of his country and enlisted August 5, 1918, with the Marines. He was at Paris Island, S. C., and Quantico, Va., until February 11, 1919, when he was discharged. Dr. Floyd is a graduate of the Middletown High school and the Kirksville School of Osteopathy. He is the youngest student ever graduated from that institution. After graduation, he enlisted March 9, 1918, with the Medical Corps and August 8, 1918, sailed for overseas duty in Germany. He received his discharge July 5, 1919. Mr. Auberle has built a beautiful house in the Highlands in Middletown, where the family finds pleasure and happiness in the comforts of a well-ordered home. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and in politics is liberal.

Charles A. Aufranc, farmer, stockman and dairyman of Union township, and president of the Butler county board of education, was born in the township in which he now resides, February 8, 1875, a son of Augustus and Caroline (Daniels) Aufranc. Augustus Aufranc was one of the most prominent stockmen in Ohio during his day. A breeder of English Coach horses and Jersey thoroughbred cattle, he was also a charter member of the Poland China Record association, and served efficiently as judge at all stock fairs held within a radius of many miles of his Butler county home. He was a man of the highest honor and integrity and was universally respected and esteemed by the many who had the pleasure of coming in contact with him. Charles A. Aufranc received his education in the public schools of Union township and grew up on the home farm, where he came under the instruction of his father. It was but natural that he should assimilate the elder man's knowledge of live stock, and all his life he has been attracted thereto and has been accounted an authority upon cattle, horses and hogs. He remained as an associate of his father until the time of his marriage, when he embarked upon an agricultural venture of his own, locating on a farm of forty-two acres which he had purchased near West Chester. This he has since increased to sixty-two acres, and on it has made numerous improvements of a modern character. While he carries on general farming, he is best known as a breeder of thoroughbred spotted Poland China hogs, and feeds about 100 of these animals annually. His success has been well-merited, as he has been a hard and energetic worker, and has applied his knowledge intelligently in the promoting of his business interests. In 1903, Mr. Aufranc was united in Marriage with Rosa, daughter of Mahlon and Hattie (Jones) Conover, and to this union there have been born two children: Garrett and Beulah. For a number of years Mr. Aufranc has interested himself in educational matters, and much of the credit for the high standard of the Butler county schools is due to his efforts. After serving eleven years as president of the local board of education in Union township, he was made vice-president of the Butler County Board of Education, and from that post advanced to the presidency, which he now occupies. Politically he prefers to

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vote independently and will not allow himself to be confined by party lines. He is fraternally affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, of which he is a member of the council and his religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church: of which he is president of the official board of trustees.

William H. Aufranc, proprietor of the Homestead Stock farm, situated in Union township, Butler county, bears a family name that has been held in high esteem in this section for many years. The family was established here by his grandfather, his father, the late Augustus Aufranc, being then a young man. William H. Aufranc was born in Union township, December 27, 1887, son of Augustus and Caroline (Daniel) Aufranc, both of whom were born in Hamilton county, Ohio. The father grew to manhood on the homestead of his father and passed his life here, his death occurring May 13, 1913. He was an extensive farmer and a pioneer in the thoroughbred stock industry, Butler county being much indebted to him for efforts to raise stock standards. He was an upright, worthy man in every relation of life and his death was a loss to Butler county. The mother of William H. Aufranc survives and is a member of his household. Of the family of five children there are four living, namely: Luella, Mertie, Charles and William H. With his brother and sisters, William H. Aufranc attended the public schools of Union township. While many other youths of the neighborhood made plans for the future that would take them to town or city, William H. had no such ambition, always finding enough to hold his interest on his father's farm and was his most useful assistant until the father's death. By that time he was qualified for the responsibilities that fell upon him in taking over the farm of 111 acres and continuing the industries that have made the Homestead Stock farm known all over Ohio. In addition to general farming he breeds Shropshire Down sheep and big type Poland China hogs, all thoroughbred, and through experience and success has become an authority on stock although yet a young man. November 8, 1911, he married Miss Martha Muchmore, and they have one child, Myron Augustus. Mr. and Mrs. Aufranc are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tylerville, of which he is a trustee, and formerly was superintendent of the Sunday school. Fraternally he is a Blue Lodge Mason, and politically has always cast his vote with the Republican party.

August K. Augspurger. The substantial element of the business citizenship of Trenton, Ohio, has a capable and worthy representative in the person of August K. Augspurger who has been identified with the business interests of the village since 1900, and is recognized as one of the progressive and enterprising citizens of the community. He was born on a farm in Madison township, Butler county, May 8, 1865, a son of Moses and Fannie (Kinsinger) Augspurger, the former a native of near Seven Mile, Ohio, and the latter of Baden, Germany. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Augspurger, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, emigrated to the United States as a young man and settled first at Seven Mile, but in later years moved to south of Trenton, where he engaged in farming and

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also operated a distillery. He was the father of the following children: David, Moses, Catherine, now Mrs. Peter Imhoff,and Josephine, now Mrs. Joseph Meyers. Moses Augspurrger received a country school education, and as a young man applied his energies to the vocation of agriculture, an occupation which interested his best efforts until the death of his second wile, at which time he retired from active affairs and removed to Trenton, where his death occurred in November, 1906. His first wife bore the name of Fannie Fry, and they were the parents of four children: Moses; Jacob, deceased. Joseph; and John, deceased. Joseph is a resident of Trenton and Moses lives in Idaho. After the death of his first wife Mr. Augspurger married Fannie Kinsinger, and they became the parents of two children: Catherine and August K., the former of whom is single and makes her home at Trenton. The parents of these children were all members of the Mennonite faith. August K. Augspurger is indebted to the public schools of Madison township for his educational instruction and to the home farm for his vocational training. After he had laid aside his school books he turned his attention unreservedly to farming, which he continued until 1900, at that time embarking in commercial affairs as the proprietor of a hardware store at Trenton, which he still conducts. In 1912 he associated himself with the Trenton Grain & Coal company, of which he is president and manager. In the meantime, he has interested himself also in financial affairs, and in the capacity of vice-president lends strength and individual ability and industry to the affairs of the Bank of Trenton. In 1915 Mr. Augspurger organized the Miami Valley Real Estate agency, of which he is president, and is conducting an extensive business in this field of activity. Although essentially a business man, he has not given up his interest in agricultural affairs, as he is still the owner of eighty acres of land, highly cultivated and very valuable, the old home place which lies one mile south of Trenton. While he is not a public man or politician, he is a good citizen, conversant with all leading topics of the day, and a supporter of worthy movements, as was shown during the great war, when he contributed generously. Mr. Augspurger was married in 1891 to Ida E., daughter of Joseph and Helen (Kennel) Kinsinger, of Madison township, Butler county, and they are the parents of one son: Herbert J., born October 14, 1894, who is a graduate of high school and his father's capable and enterprising assistant. The elder Augspurger is a thirty-second degree Mason and is popular in the various branches of his order. With his wife and son, he belongs to the Mennonite church.

Julius Bachmann. As a resident of Middletown for a period of thirty-seven years, Julius Bachmann was successful in business matters and in the making of many warm friendships, and in the evening of life had much to look at in retrospect, over the years of a prosperous career. Mr. Bachmann, now deceased October 21, 1919, was born in Germany, in 1846, and there received his education in the public schools. With the idea of preparing himself for competition in the business world, he learned the business of brewing, and

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when he came to the United States, in September, 1867, having just passed his majority, he was fully skilled in his art and had no trouble in finding employment at Baltimore, where he remained for three years. In 1870 he removed to Cincinnati, where he continued to work at the brewing business and which was his home until May, 1882, the date that noted his advent in Middletown. Upon his arrival here he entered the employ of the Seybold Brewing company, but after four years decided to embark in business on his own account, and accordingly opened a retail liquor establishment, secured the agency for the Lion brand of beer. He also retailed wines, liquors and cigars and conducted his establishment upon straightforward business methods and had a well equipped house. He was an affable, genial man, courteous and obliging, and never had trouble in making friends or in keeping them.

At Cincinnati, in 1872, Mr. Bachmann was united in marriage with Miss Helena Koepff, daughter of George Frederick and Dorothea (Noldna) Koepff, natives of Germany. On coming to the United States Mr. Koepff first settled in business at Indianapolis, Ind., where he opened a large pork packing plant, but later went to Cincinnati, where he embarked in the brush manufacturing business, with which he continued to be identified until his death. While a very young woman, residing at Cincinnati, Mrs. Bachmann had the distinction and privilege of meeting President Abraham Lincoln on two occasions. To Mr. and Mrs. Bachmann the following children were born: Ferdinand Lewis; Helen Christina; August; Julius, who is deceased; Dora, now Mrs. C. Miller, of Kokomo, Ind.; Elsie Minnie, now Mrs. Frank Simpson; Koepff Harrison, of Cambridge, Ind.; and John George Garfield, who crossed the seas to France with the American army. Mr. Bachmann was well known fraternally, belonging to Schiller Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Cincinnati; Middletown Lodge, No. 528, of the order of Eagles; the Improved Order of Red Men; and Haymakers, and was, with Mrs. Bachmann, an attendant at the St. Paul's church. Politically he supported the principles of the Republican party and was quite influential in his community, but this was extended to his friends and never exerted in his personal behalf. His support was never withheld from worthy movements and he was always an advocate of progressiveness in civic enterprises.

Harry R. Bacon, who owns and operates a modern and sanitary bakery at 29� High street, Hamilton, Ohio, is one of the business men of Butler county who is deserving of special commendation, for in spite of losses and obstacles which would have utterly discouraged the average man, he has gone steadily ahead and today is on the road leading towards a prosperity greater than that which he lost through misfortunes not of his own causing. Mr. Bacon was born at Oxford, Ohio, September 22, 1871, a son of Mahlon P. and Catherine (Fowler) Bacon. The paternal grandfather was born in England, but came to the United States, and located in Maryland, when still a lad. His educational training was confined to that offered by the common schools of his day and neighborhood, and he early became self-supporting, working first at logging, and later at farming.

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He later moved to Oxford, Ohio, and was interested there in logging and farming until his retirement. His death occurred in 1875, when he had reached the unusual age of ninety-four years. The paternal grandmother bore the maiden name of Mary Cameron, and she was born in Scotland. There were nine children in the grand-parents' family, all of whom are now deceased. Mahlon P. Bacon was born at Oxford, Ohio, February 5, 1822, and after he completed his attendance at the common schools of his locality, he embarked in farming, and was so engaged in Oxford township, until he attained his majority, when he bought a farm of his own, married a Philadelphia lady, Catherine Fowler, and settled down on his property. For one term he served as trustee of Oxford township, being elected on the Republican ticket, and he always gave the candidates of that party a faithful support. He and his wife had the following children: George, who married Mary Lintner, they have five children and own a farm at Somerville, Ohio; Edward, who married Anna Spivey, is in a transfer business at Lindenwald, Ohio; Frank, who married Bridget Leonard, has eleven children, and is a general contractor of East Hamilton, Ohio; John, who married Mary Withrow, has six children, and is engaged in farming near Somerville, Ohio; Sadie, who married S. M. Holbrook, is now a widow and lives at San Francisco, Cal.; Stella, who married Thomas Hicks, has no children, and lives at Louisville, Ky.; and Harry R., who was the fifth in order of birth. Harry R. Bacon attended the common schools of Oxford, Ohio, and for two years the Jacksonboro High school, having for a fellow student a lad who afterwards became governor of Ohio, James Cox. After leaving school, Harry R. Bacon was engaged in farming near Seven Mile, Ohio, until he reached the age of twenty-three years, when he moved to Hamilton, Ohio, and was in a bicycle business for three years. In 1897, Mr. Bacon began canvassing from house to house for orders for a tea, coffee and extract house, and not only was very successful in his work, but learned the business so thoroughly and the requirements of the trade, coming as he did in direct contact with it, that in 1900, he opened a store of his own, on Front and High streets, Hamilton, Ohio. The knowledge and experience he had gained as a solicitor stood him in such good stead, that by 1913 he had branched out to such an extent that he had four tea and coffee stores, one bakery, and owned three lots, two residences and one stable. All of his holdings were entirely wiped out by the destructive flood of 1913, his loss amounting to $20,000.00. As though this were not enough discouragement, hardly had Mr. Bacon begun to get upon his feet, than on Christmas night, 1913, he suffered another loss, this time from fire, his bakery and the stable in the rear, together with four horses in the stable were burned, and he was only partly protected by insurance. Once more Mr. Bacon began at the bottom and worked his way up, and his efforts were rewarded, so that in May, 1918, he was able to open his new bakery at 29� High street, where he has since continued. In 1896 Mr. Bacon was united in marriage with the daughter of Jacob and Magdelena Young, natives of Germany and Cincinnati, Ohio, respectively. Jacob Young came to the United States

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in 1855, and lived for a time at Chicago, Ill. When he was forty-five years old, he was married, and they later moved to Hamilton, Ohio. They had five children born to them, of whom two now survive, one being Mrs. Bacon, and the other, Mrs. Anna Johnson, who lives in Hamilton. One daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Bacon, Fern Catherine, in 1897, on October 27, the same day of the month as Theodore Roosevelt, a fact of which the young lady is very proud. She is exceptionally gifted, her high soprano voice gaining for her the title of Hamilton's "sweetest singer." She was graduated from the Notre Dame Academy at the age of sixteen years, one year earlier than the usual course allows, on account of her hard work and exceptional capabilities. At the time of her graduation, she was awarded a silver medal on account of her progress in music, and she is an accomplished pianist, while her voice, of exceptional tone and quality, is still being carefully trained. The fame of this beautiful voice is not a local one, and those who understand its value from a professional standpoint, predict a wonderful future for this gifted girl in the musical world. During the administration of Mayor Fred A. Hinkle, Mr. Bacon served as a member of the civil service commission, and was a careful and efficient official. His fraternal affiliations are with the Elks, Moose and Foresters. Mr. Bacon is well known as one who has always been alert and vigilant in behalf of his customers, and served them so well that they have ever been ready to follow him in his undertakings, and render him support when he met with those overwhelming losses, from which he is now recovering through his praiseworthy exertions.

John Bailey. While many years have passed since the death of John Bailey, mention is due his memory, as he had been one of the early residents and highly respected citizens of Preble county, where for some years, prior to his early demise in 1875, he had been engaged in agricultural pursuits. The family is still well represented in the Miami valley, and his widow, Mrs. Lydia Bailey, and son, William H. Bailey, now live on a valuable and well-cultivated farm in Madison township, Butler county. John Bailey was born near Eldorado, Preble county, O., in 1839, a son of John and Mary (Clark) Bailey, natives of Pennsylvania. From the Keystone state they made their way as a young married couple to Preble county, where they took up the hard duties connected with the development of a farm from the wilderness, a task which was accomplished after years of faithful and persevering labor. They contributed materially to the early progress and development of their community and were highly esteemed as belonging to that class of sturdy, self-reliant people who paved the way for future settlement and civilization. John Bailey the elder died on his farm in Preble county, following which his widow went to Darke county, where her demise occurred. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom but three are living: Samuel, of New Madison, Ohio; James, of Winchester, Ind.; and Hiram, of Benton Harbor, Mich. John Bailey the younger grew up at his home in Preble county, O., where he attended the public schools, and was his father's assistant until his marriage, in the spring of 1860, to Lydia Weikel. She was born in Madison township,

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Butler county, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Buck) Weikel, and a history of her family will be found elsewhere in this work in the sketch of J. C. Weikel. After his marriage Mr. Bailey settled on a farm near New Paris, Preble county, where he was encouraged in agricultural operations during the remainder of his life, and where he died at the age of thirty-six years, March 10, 1875. In politics Mr. Bailey was a Republican, but never cared for office, although a good and valued citizen. Had he not been called by death so early in his career he would have doubtless achieved a marked success. As it was he displayed ability that accomplished excellent results. His religious faith was that of the Universalists. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey became the parents of six children: William H., born August 9, 1860, at New Paris; Elizabeth, the wife of James Shafer, a merchant of Jacksonboro, Ohio; Simon, an operator of Benton Harbor, Mich., married Kate Weir; John, a farmer in Illinois; Kate, the wife of William Keiser, of Douglas county, Ill.; and Horace, manager of a business in Camden, O., who married Ebbie Overholt. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Bailey lived at Camden, O., until 1892, at which time she moved to a farm of 180 acres, in Madison township, Butler county, where she still makes her home, being one of the highly esteemed ladies of her community. Her son, William H. Bailey, was educated in the public schools of Camden and Eldorado, O., and has always resided at home, where he has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. While he is a general farmer, he has been successful in his specialty of raising Shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, and as a progressive man, uses modern methods and keeps abreast of the advancements in his vocation. He has always been a great reader and is well posted on current events, and while his connection with politics is limited to his casting his vote on the Republican ticket, he takes much interest in township affairs. His fraternal connection is with the Modern Woodmen of America, at Middletown, and his contributions to religious movements are numerous and generous.

Leroy Bailey, son of Arley W. and Alice (Summerton) Bailey, was born June 20, 1895, in Middletown, Ohio, where he attended the public schools, graduating from the high school with the class of 1911. He also attended the Spencerian college at Cincinnati and after leaving this school accepted a position with the American Rolling mill where he was up to the time of his enlistment. He enlisted in the U. S. Marines, April 19, 1917, was sent at once to France; was gassed at Verdun, from the effects of which he was blind for over two months and confined to the hospital for a period of eleven months. He returned from France December 9, 1918, and received his discharge June 30, 1919. On April 21, 1919, Mr. Bailey married Gertrude DuErmit, daughter of Joseph F. and Margaret (Kuderer) DuErmit, of Blue Ash, Ohio. Her parents are living and she has a sister and three brothers: Helen, J. Warren, Edward and Lester. J. Warren enlisted with the U. S. Marines, April 1, 1917, and served in France until the signing of the Armistice and received his discharge in August, 1919. Mr. Bailey's parents now live in Oklahoma, and he has two brothers, Arthur and Wilson, the

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latter in the U. S. Navy after a period of service in the late war. Mr. Bailey is a first-class young man and merits success. He is a member of United Brethren church; in politics, liberal.

Thomas Bailey, Sr. One of the oldest employees of the American Rolling mill, at Middletown, is Thomas Bailey, sr., whose service with this company began in 1901 and whose work has been characterized by fidelity, industry and skilled performance of duty. Like many others who are engaged in steel work, he entered upon his career as a railroad man, but early developed a liking for his present calling, in which he has found contentment and success. Mr. Bailey was born at Pittsburg, Pa., November 24, 1851, a son of Thomas and Anna (Thompson) Bailey. His parents, natives of England, emigrated to the United States during the '40s, settling at Pittsburg, where the following six children were born: Martha, who is the wife of James A. Hunter and lives at the old home place at Latrobe, Pa.; John, who joined the regular army before the Civil war and was wounded during that conflict; Will and David, who are deceased; Anna, who is the widow of Don Nale; and Thomas. Thomas Bailey, sr., received a public school education and was reared on the home farm in the vicinity of Latrobe, Pa., where he followed farming until he was eighteen years of age. At that time he was lured from the parental roof by the attraction and glamour of railroad life, but the better remuneration and chance for advancement led him into the steel industry, with which he has since been identified. For some years he was located in the big plant at Muncie, Ind., but in 1901 came to the American Rolling mill at Middletown, where he has since been employed in the capacity of roller. During his nineteen years of service he has performed his duties so faithfully and efficiently that he has won and held the confidence and esteem of his employers, while among his fellows he is popular because of his good comradeship and many sterling qualities of character. Mr. Bailey is a Republican and a member of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His religious connection is with the Lutheran church. He married Carrie L., daughter of Bryan and Mary A. Wolf, and she died February 5, 1905, having been the mother of these children: Thomas and Will, of Middletown; Mary A., who is the wife of A. Woods, of Middletown, and has a little son, Samuel Shaylor, born in September, 1917; LeRoy, of Detroit, Mich. ; Carrie, the wife of Carl Sixt, of Middletown; Berenice, the wife of Morris Baker, of Detroit; Walter, also of that city; David, who is a sailor in the United States Navy; and Lorella, twin of David, deceased, and Robert and Kenneth. After the death of the mother, the eldest daughter, Mary, took upon her young shoulders the duties of bringing up the younger children, and performed her part ably and well. She has hosts of friends at Middletown who will attest her lovable qualities, and has been constant and self-sacrificing in her care of her father who now makes his home with her and her husband at the pleasant and comfortable Woods home, located on 1016 Crawford street, Middletown, Thomas Bailey, sr., is the grandparent of twelve grandchildren: Samuel S. Woods, son of Mrs. Woods;

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William and Dale, sons of William E.; Ruth, Davis and Leroy, sons of Carrie N.; John and Harold, sons of Berenice; and four, mention of whom will be found in the sketch of Thomas Bailey, Jr.

Thomas B. Bailey, jr., who occupies the position of sheet roller at the plant of the American Rolling mill, at Middletown, has exemplified in his career the value of industry and diligence when combined to natural ability, as applied to the following of a useful trade. From young manhood he has been employed in the industry of which he is now a member and in its persistent and careful prosecution he has found not only contentment and prosperity but the medium through which he has been able to gain an acknowledged position among his fellow citizens. Mr. Bailey was born at Scottdale, Pa., November 4, 1880, a son of Thomas and the late Carrie (Wolf) Bailey. The family originated in England, but became early settlers of Pennsylvania, from which state Thomas Bailey the elder took his wife and children to Muncie, Ind. In 1901 he became a resident of Middletown, where he was one of the first employees of the American Rolling mill, with which he is still identified. Mrs. Bailey died February 2, 1906, at Middletown. She had been the mother of the following children: William, a resident of Middletown; May, the wife of Albert Wood; Roy, a resident of Detroit; Carrie, the wife of Carl Sixt of Kyles, Ohio; Bernice, who married Maurice Baker, of Detroit; Thomas B. jr.; Walter of Detroit; David, in the United States Navy; and Kenneth, of Middletown. Thomas B. Bailey, jr., received his education in the public schools of Scottdale, Pa., and Muncie, Ind., and in the latter city first applied himself to the learning of his trade. Having successfully passed his apprenticeship, he became a journeyman and worked in several mills prior to coming to Middletown in 1901. At that time he had just about reached his majority and entered the American Rolling mill as one of its first employees, with which plant he has been connected ever since, being now the incumbent of a position as sheet roller. He is one of the reliable and trustworthy men of his department and in his work is accurate and expeditious. Mr. Bailey was married at Middletown, August 16, 1905, to Mary, daughter of William and Joanna (Durbin) Weaver, who reside at Middletown. Mrs. Bailey has three sisters: Edith, the wife of Wendell Butterfield, of Rochester, N. Y.; Bessie, the wife of Orville Dorman, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Helen, the wife of Rev. J. A. Hoffman, of Marysville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are the parents of four children: Louise, born June 7, 1906; Paul David, born June 9, 1908; Martha Jane, born June 27,1910; and Thomas III, born October 12, 1911. Mr. Bailey has built one of the most beautiful residences on Yankee road. He is a Republican in politics, but is liberal in local affairs, and takes only a good citizen's part and interest in matters of a public character. His religious connection and that of Mrs. Bailey is with the Methodist church.

Rev. Timothy A. Bailey. Father Bailey, who has been pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church of Oxford since 1913, was born at Springfield, Ohio, April 20, 1879, a son of John and Bridget (Nolan) Bailey, who passed their entire married life at Springfield, where John Bailey

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died about 1899, while his widow still survives him and makes her home there. There were six children in the family, namely: Stephen, James, John, Ellen, Sarah and Timothy. As a lad, Timothy A. Bailey attended the parochial schools of Springfield. At a very early period in his life he evidenced a predilection for study, and whatever leisure could be found when his home tasks were done was turned to the acquisition of knowledge. He had the power of concentration and therefore the gift of memory, qualities which have converted his brain into a veritable storehouse of profound and useful knowledge. He pursued his theological studies at Mount St. Mary's seminary, Cincinnati, and in 1904 was ordained at St. Peter's cathedral, by Archbishop Henry Moeller. After ordination he was stationed at the cathedral at Cincinnati for two years, and thereafter maintained his research along theological lines until entering upon his active ministerial career at Loveland, Ohio, where for five years he was pastor of St. Columbianna's church. In 1913 he came to Oxford as pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church, where his labors have entitled his name to be enrolled among those who have deepened and broadened the channels of human brotherhood. St. Mary's church has 300 souls in Oxford and the surrounding community, and in addition Father Bailey makes mission trips to College Corner and Somerville. February 17, 1917, St. Mary's church was destroyed by tire, but since that time, through the zealous and persistent work of Father Bailey, funds have been raised, and the erection of a new and handsome edifice is now under way. He was appointed irremovable pastor of St. Edward church, Cincinnati, Ohio, September 6, 1919.

Joseph H. Baird, who during his life was known as one of Lemon township's most successful farmers and after his retirement from farm life became a resident of Middletown, died July 15, 1919, at the home of his son-in-law, F. W. Compton, near Monroe. He was born on a farm in Lemon township, east of Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, February 22, 1847, a son of James and Mary (Weaver) Baird. The family was founded in Ohio by his grandfather, Joseph Weaver, who migrated from New York at an early day. He was a tailor by trade, with little save book knowledge of farming conditions or methods, but having the courageous spirit of the pioneers he faced unafraid the hardships and perils of settlement in a new country. The locality in which he settled, near Jacksonboro, was all a wilderness, but he put up his log cabin, and cleared his land, and before he died had made appreciable progress in the development of a good farm. He was the father of seven sons and three daughters. James Baird, the father of Joseph H. Baird, was born in the state of New York and was still a child when brought by his parents to the wilderness near Jacksonboro. The schools at that time being of the most primitive kind, difficult to reach and with but short sessions, the lad was given only a limited education, although he made the most of his opportunities. After several years of residence near Jacksonboro, he bought a home at Middletown, but eventually purchased a farm in Lemon township, which he continued to operate during the remainder of his life. He died on his valuable property

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when eighty years of age, and Mrs. Baird has also long since passed away. They were members of the old school Baptist church, and were people who were widely and well known in their community and highly respected and esteemed. Mr. Baird was originally a Whig in his political views, and later, with the formality of the Republican party, joined that movement. Mr. and Mrs. Baird were the parents of two children: Jane, deceased, who was the wife of David Quinn; and Joseph H. Joseph H. Baird enjoyed such educational advantages as were to be gained through attendance at the district school of his native community, and, being the only son of his parents remained on the homestead and assisted his father. He was first married October 26, 1870, to Miss Sarah L. Lucas, of Butler county, Ohio, who died in 1902, having been the mother of two children: Mary, who married Frank W. Compton, an elevator owner and stockman of Lemon township; and James W., conducting operations on his father's old farm, who married Effie Hendrickson, and has four sons, Elmer, Joseph, Raymond and Arthur. Mr. Baird was again married to Sarah L. Banker, of Butler county, Ohio, who died July 27, 1917. In 1872 Mr. Baird located on a farm north of Middletown, a tract of 218 acres, on which he resided for a period of seventeen years, and in 1889 bought another property, of 186 acres, on Dix creek, Lemon township. There he made many valuable improvements and carried on a general farming business, in addition to raising all kinds of stock, until 1902, when he retired and turned the active work of the farm over to his son. When he laid aside active labor, Mr. Baird moved to his modern and handsome home at No. 913 E. Third street, Middletown. Mr. Baird was always a public-spirited citizen and at all times ready to carry out in full the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. In 1910 he was elected the first mayor of the thriving little town of Monroe, and during his administration his splendid business and executive ability was brought into play in securing a number of needed reforms and civic improvements for that place. He was also a staunch friend of education and for twelve y-ears was a member of the local board of school directors. He voted the Republican ticket. His religious connection was with the old school Baptist church, of which both his wives were members.

Henry L. Bake. The true standard by which to judge a community is the character of its prominent citizens. Progress is rarely, if ever, a result of chance, but always the execution of well-laid plans based on a thorough comprehension of the laws of business and finance. It is only by keeping in view the lives of men who are ever associated in the busy marts of commerce that we can judge of the importance of development, and the possibilities of progress. Thus it is that from the commercial, more than the literary or political, side that the most valuable lessons of life are to be extracted. In this connection, as a gentleman whose business and financial qualifications are of the best, it is eminently fitting to mention the career of Henry L. Bake, president of the Farmers State bank of College Corner, Ohio, who has been engaged in general merchandising here since 1873 and is one of the community's most

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highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Bake belongs to an old and honored family, and traces his ancestry to Christian Bake, of Switzerland, born 1713, the first of the name in America, who came to this country in 1727 and located in Hunterdon county, N. J., where he died in 1783. His oldest son, John, was born in New Jersey, in 1748, and came to Ohio in 1807, settling for a time at Cincinnati, and then moving on to Fountain county, Ind., in 1838. His oldest son, Jacob, was the great-grandfather of Henry L. Bake, and his son, William Bake, also a native of Hunterdon county, N. J., came to Fountain county, Ind. in 1806, and died in October, 1849. He was a justice of the peace in Union county, Ind., and eventually settled on Indian creek, having a farm and gristmill four and one-half miles west of Oxford, Ohio. His eldest son was William Bake, and the father of fourteen children. He was born October 5, 1797, in New Jersey, and removed to Indiana in 1806, settling in Union county, but died in Franklin county, that state, June 15, 1852. He was a farmer and also owned a grist and saw mill on Indian creek. His children were: Perry, born in Franklin county, Ind., June 27, 1827, a farmer on Indian creek. The oldest son of Perry Bake was James A. Bake, of Hamilton, Ohio. The father of Henry L. Bake was Peter Bake, who was born in Union county, Ind., February 11, 1804. He was educated in the common schools, securing what was considered a good education for those days, and was long engaged in agricultural pursuits, also being the owner of a distillery, the product of which was sold at Cincinnati. He died September 4, 1868, after a long and honorable career. In politics he was a Democrat, and he and his wife were Universalists. She bore the maiden name of Tobitha Phems, and was born in North Carolina, and died July 20, 1888. They were the parents of William, born July 20, 1828, was a sawmill man, and died August 29, 1914; Eliza, born October 29, 1829, married John Hannah, and resided at Des Moines, Iowa, where she died; Franklin, born November 16, 1835, and passed his life as a farmer; Lorinda M., born in November, 1839, married William Murphy, and died October 11, 1866. Henry L. Bake was born in Union county, Ind., July 8, 1847, and was educated in the rural schools, residing at home until 1868, when he secured a position as clerk in a store at Contreras, Butler county, where he remained something more than three years. In 1873 he came to College Corner, where he built a general store, and conducted it six years, and during that time so developed his business that he needed larger quarters and accordingly built, in 1879, his present establishment, which has continued to be the leading enterprise of its kind at this live and thriving locality. He has made his establishment modern in every respect, and has shown marked ability as a merchant, carefully studying the needs and wants of his patrons and employing up-to-date methods in the handling of his large, well-arranged and carefully selected stock of goods. In 1895 Mr. Bake assisted in the establishment of the Farmers State bank of College Corner, of which he has since been president, a position in which he has been the principal factor in making it one of the sound and well established financial institutions of Butler county. Mr. Bake has never aspired to public office, and his only

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connection with politics has been as a Democratic voter. He has taken a leading part, however, in movements which have benefited the locality, and has always stood for progress and advancement and for good citizenship. He was married October 26, 1870, to Sallie A. Ridenour, who was born in Preble county, Ohio, a daughter of Isaac Ridenour. Mrs. Bake died May 9, 1917, leaving one son: Murry, born May 4, 1880, in Union county, Ind., a graduate of the College Corner High school, who has always been associated in business with his father. He married Grace L. Earhart, of Butler county, Ohio, and they have a daughter, Neva. Murry Bake is a member of the Knights of Pythias. The daughter of Henry L. Bake, Daisy C., was born in December, 1871, and died April 22, 1908, as the wife of Arthur H. Jones, by whom she had two children: Nellie E. and Harry L. Harry L. Jones, born in 1895, served for three years as first lieutanent in the World war overseas, during which time he filled several important positions.

W. E. Bake, prominent auctioneer and well known farmer of College Corner, was born in Franklin county, Ind., January 12, 1869, a son of Perry and Mary Elizabeth (Stevenson) Bake. Perry Bake was born in Franklin county, and his wife in Union county, Ind. The parents of Mrs. Bake, the Stevensons, came from the east to Union county some years before. William Edward Bake, the paternal grandparent of W. E. Bake, bought land in Franklin county from the government. To him and his wife were born fourteen children, twelve of whom reached maturity. They were: James, Sam, John, Henry, Jacob, and Perry; Betsy, who married P. Farr; Catherine, who married Freeman Kimble; Sarah, who married Philip Mericle; Julia, who married Francis Mericle; Clarissa, who married Abraham Jones; and Phoebe. Of the twelve children, James is the only one living. Perry and Mary Bake, the parents of W. E. Bake, were residents of Franklin county, Ind., where Mr. Bake was a farmer. To them were born the following children: Clara, James, O. M. Bake, a former bank president, and now deceased; Charles, and W. E. Bake. Perry Bake and wife were members of the Universalist church, and the remains of both lie buried in the Universalist cemetery in Union county. W. E. Bake was educated in the common schools of Franklin county, and in later years was married to Emma Ardery, who became the mother of one son, Oakley, now, a farmer of Union county, Ind. Mrs. Bake passed away a few years after her marriage, and W. E. Bake later married Edith Pentecost, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pentecost, of Union county, Ind. To them was born one daughter, Gertrude. About 1900, W. E. Bake moved to the Indiana side of College Corner, and today devotes most of his time to auctioneering, at which he is greatly successful. He is the owner of the farm occupied by his son, Oakley, in Union township. For a number of years W. E. Bake was trustee of Union township, Union county, and is a member of the Republican party. He is also prominent in K. of P. circles. During the recent war, Mr. Bake gave unsparingly of time and effort to the many causes of America and her Allies, and achieved a great amount of work in all lines.

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Albert Milton Baker, subject of this sketch, and son of Andrew B. and Hannah (Kline) Baker, was born in Armstrong county, Pa., February 11, 1883, and married Rose Bletzacher, born January 25, 1880, a daughter of Martin and Catharine Stalter, of Somerset Ohio, June 25, 1905. Five children were born to this union; Louella, Bernadine, Albert, jr., Agnes and Edward. Mr. Baker had ten sisters and brothers: William and Carrie, deceased; Ira, of Hyde Park, Pa.; Merle, in France; Kate, Mrs. Jack Cunningham, of LaPorte, Ind.; Lola, Mrs. Irving Blystone, deceased; Sadie, Mrs. William Bahmith, of Vandergrift, Pa.; Mildred, of Leechburg, Pa.; Ora, Mrs. E. McLane, in Canton, Ohio; Wilda, of Hyde Park, Pa. The parents live in Hyde Park. Mrs. Baker has four sisters: Florence, Mrs. John Dittoe, of Somerset, Ohio; Lizzie, Mrs. Jess Green, of Columbus, Ohio; Mary, Mrs. William Carney, and Clara, Mrs. Omar Schneider, both in Somerset. Mrs. Baker's parents came from Alsace-Lorraine. Her father died March 12, 1908, at Somerset, Ohio. He was a miner, but also owned a farm on which the mother now lives. For a number of years, Mr. Baker was employed in the Rolling mills in his home place. He next went to the mills in Zanesville for a short period and September 21, 1905, took a position as shearman in the plant of the American Rolling Mill company at Middletown. Mr. Baker has substantial interests in Middletown, and owns a splendid property on Woodland avenue, which is the home of the family. He is a member of Holy Trinity church and also a member of the order of Eagles, and politically votes the Democratic ticket.

Isaac C. Baker. Among the men elected to official position in Butler county, November 8, 1918, one whose previous record, general qualifications for ability and character gave every ground for his successful career as prosecuting attorney, was Isaac C. Baker. Mr. Baker has the reputation of being an indefatigable worker, combining scholarship with an active energy and forceful personality. These qualities have been much esteemed in his new position, where, at the outset, the citizens of Butler county hoped to place a man who would lend thorough integrity and practical efficiency to the administration. Mr. Baker was born at Hamilton, October 9, 1888, a son of Benjamin and Jennie (Mee) Baker. He belongs to a family which settled at an early date in this country's history in New Jersey, from which state his great-great-grandfather, Daniel Baker, enlisted for service in the Revolutionary war, in which he acted as an aide-de-camp to General Washington. The family later became pioneers of Milford township, Butler county, where was born Benjamin Baker. The latter entered upon his career as a farmer, but subsequently turned his attention to the profession of law, and after studying at Miami university and the Cincinnati Law school, was admitted to the state bar, and for a number of years practiced at Hamilton and Somerville, at which latter place his death occurred, and he was buried there. They had three children: John, is single; Isaac C.; and Benjamin, who is still attending school. Isaac C. Baker attended the public school of Hamilton, and in 1911 was graduated with his degree of Bachelor

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of Law from the law department of Ohio State university. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession, at first with his father at Hamilton and Somerville, at which place he resides. When he was twenty-one years of age he was elected mayor of Somerville, and this position he retained until November 5, 1918, when he was elected prosecuting attorney of Butler county. He has had practice in all of the courts and experience in divers and many important cases. A strong and forceful speaker, he has been active on the stump during political campaigns, and in the war period was most effective as a "Four Minute Man." Fraternally, he holds membership in the local lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Loyal Order of Moose. Mr. Baker married Ruth, daughter of E. C. Muff, of Somerville, and they have one child: Carlyle, born May 25, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Methodist church.

Nicholas Baker, founder of the Baker family, was born and grew to manhood in Hesse Cassel, Germany. There he met and married Christina Eckhart. Shortly thereafter he sold his patrimony and on receiving that money he and his young wife sailed for America. They landed in Philadelphia 150 years ago, and traveled from there to the Moravian settlement, in Northampton county, where both lived and died, and they had there born to them sons and daughters. The son Jacob was the father of George Baker, sr., and he removed to the Iron bridge, on Jacob's creek, in Fayette county, Pa., where he died. His sons were Nicholas Daniel, Peter, David, George and Jacob. At Iron Bridge, the elder Baker married a second time, his wife being Nancy Howell McCauley, daughter of John and Nancy (Howell) McCauley. She was the daughter of Griffith Howell, of Baltimore, and sister of John Howell, said to be the architect of the old Baltimore courthouse destroyed in a riot in that city. Her sister married David Cannon, founder of Cannonsburg, Washington county, Pa. George Baker, great-grandfather of our subject, and his brother, Jacob, removed to Armstrong county, Pa., about the year 1838. Jacob, who was married to Elizabeth Klingensmith, was a soldier in the war of 1812. George Baker bought 600 acres of land in Armstrong county, Pa., on the site now known as Cochran's mills and lived and died there. His sons and daughters were: Griffith born July 16, 1809; married Christene Klingensmith; they had three sons and four daughters; David, born March 14,1811, married Jane Rutherford Query, they had two sons and one daughter; by his second marriage to Anna Myers, he had one son and one daughter Jane, born January 9, 1814, married George Martz, left no children; Priscilla, born March 23, 1816, married Armour Speer, they had five sons and four daughters; John, born April 1, 1818, married Catherine Grinder, they had five sons and three daughters; George, born March 26, 1820, married Mary Willburn, they had one son and eight daughters; Mary Ann, born March 19, 1822, married George Miller, they had one daughter; Jacob, born March, 1824, married Jane Kirkland, they had two sons and three daughters; Lovina born March 13, 1827, died, May 27, 1864; Jehu Howell, born January 14,

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1829, married Sarah McCutcheon, had three sons and three daughters.

John Clark Barkley, a prominent druggist and influential citizen of Oxford, is a son of Thomas Benton Barkley and Emma (Sutton) Barkley. He was born on a farm in Bath township, Franklin county Ind., May 15, 1871, whither his father had removed from Pennsylvania two years prior to the birth of his son John. The paternal grandparents of John Clark Barkley were natives of Indiana county, Pa., and his paternal great-grandparents had settled in the same county years before after emigrating from county Antrim, Ireland. In his youth, John C. Barkley attended schools at Lebanon and Oxford. Upon leaving school, he entered the employ of S. T. Ramsey of College Corner, and in 1892 he left Ramsey and engaged in the drug business by himself, in the same place. The years of close application to work along pharmaceutical lines now stood him in excellent stead, and his success grew with the years. February 1, 1919, he purchased the drug store of C. C. Neal, which he still operates in connection with his business at Oxford. During the same year of his opening his own drug store, he was married, March, 1892, to Anna R. Ramsey, daughter of his former employer, S. R. Ramsey, and Mary A. (Wilson) Ramsey. S. R. Ramsey, a general merchant of College Corner, was a veteran of the civil war and is deceased, and his widow lives at College Corner. To them were born the following children: Bena R. Hamley, the wife of Dr. W. M. Hamley, of College Corner; Anna R. Barkley, wife of the subject of this sketch. After his marriage, John Clark Barkley lived in College Corner until June 1, 1919, when he moved to Oxford. For a number of years he was a member of the College Corner school board. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark Barkley: Harry Millikan Barkley; Robert Sutton Barkley; Harry Millikan was educated at Indiana university, at Bloomington, Ind., and at Miami university at Oxford. Soon after America declared war upon the Central Powers, he entered the officers' training school at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, near Indianapolis, and here won his commission of second lieutenant. His commission of first lieutenant was awarded him later at Camp Meade, Maryland. Prior to his military experience, he had been engaged in the drug business with his father at College Corner, and with the Fuller Brush company of Connecticut as commercial traveler, in which he was very successful in both. He was married to Miss Betty Hutchins, of Cincinnati, Ohio, a student of Miami university, Oxford. Robert Sutton Barkley is a student in the Oxford High school, and is employed by his father in the latter's pharmacy. The Barkley family are members of the Presbyterian church. John Clark Barkley is a member of the Knights of Pythias, is an Odd Fellow, and is also a member of the Independent order of Foresters.

Thomas Benton Barkley, of Oxford, is typifying the true character of the energetic, public-spirited, high-minded American. No citizen of the United States ever labored more faithfully for the ideals of his country than he. He was born in 1845, in Indiana county, Pa., a son of John and Anna (Clark) Barkley. His paternal grand-

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parents, Alexander Barkley and Ann Barkley, came from their home in County Antrim, Ireland, to this country, years before, and settled in Indiana county, Pa., and were married .there. Alexander Barkley was a weaver by trade, and it is said of him that he was a master in his calling. To him and his wife were born the following children: James, Alexander, Jane, and John, the father of the subject of this biography. In early life, John Barkley, Thomas Barkley's father, was a farmer in the county of his birth. Upon reaching manhood, he married his first wife, Elizabeth Rankin, of the same county, and to them were born the following children: Martha, married William Earhart; Mary Ann, married William Bracken; Alexander, married Elizabeth Colasier; James, married Elizabeth Ray; Caroline, married John Lang; William, married Elizabeth Miller. Elizabeth Rankin Barkley, first wife of John Barkley, passed away some years after her marriage, and he married Anna Clark. The family remained in Pennsylvania, on the homestead in Indiana county. To the second union were born four children. Two reached maturity. They were: John, jr., and Thomas, the subject of this sketch. John jr., was anxious to become a merchant, and after finishing school became a coffee merchant, first in Johnstown, Pa., and later of Baltimore, Md., and finally of Wheeling, W. Va. He married Adelaide Millikin, daughter of James Millikin, of Allegheny county, Pa. To him and his wife were born four children: Millikin, Harry, Anne and Bessie. Harry today is a real estate dealer of New York, and Millikin is a salesman in the same city. Anna was married to Thomas Lindsay of Baltimore; and Bessie became the wife of Thomas Wright, of Newark, Ohio. Thomas Benton Barkley received his early education in the schools of Indiana county, Pa., and after leaving school, became a traveling salesman for Bush-Bunnat company, of Philadelphia. He continued successfully in this line of endeavor for a year, and at about this time, was married, in February, 1865, to Emma J. Sutton, daughter of Sylvanus and Mary Sutton, of Indiana county, Pa. During the civil war, Thomas Barkley served under Colonel Porter, in the Pennsylvania 57th Regiment of Infantry. His brother John also served with the 11th Pennsylvania Reserves, and was taken prisoner by the Confederates in a seven-days' battle, and was sent to Libby prison. A half-brother, Alexander, also served in the war, and the three were held in high regard by their officers, being men of intrepid courage, great resource, and the type of men that are leaders among other men. After his marriage to Emma Sutton, Thomas Benton Barkley with his wife, remained on the Sutton farm, and in 1869 came to Franklin county, Ind., settling on a farm in Bath township. To this happy union were born the following children: Sylvanus, who was drowned at the age of eighteen years; John Clark, now a druggist of Oxford; Benton F., of Chicago; Josephine, deceased; and Mary. Mary Barkley was married to Riley I. Miller, of College Corner, and is the mother of two children: Harold W., and Thomas S. Benton F. Barkley resides in Chicago Heights, Ill., and is married to Cora Weidner. They have one child, Frieda. John C. Barkley married Anna Ramsey, and is the father of two children, Harry M., and Robert S. Thomas

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Barkley's first wife, the mother of the aforementioned children died a number of years ago, and burial was made in the Oxford cemetery. Mr. Barkley was married later, in 1880, to Ida Pike, the daughter of Perley French Pike and Mary (Reed) Pike. Perley Pike was born near Boston, Mass., and his wife in Athens, Ohio. They lived in Athens county, Ohio, and were the parents of the following children: Sophronia Bullfinch, Azro, Manville T., Granville R., Charles Reed and Ida. Perley French Pike, their father, served in the War of 1812, and the family was identified in active service in the Revolutionary war. Perley Pike and his wife died at Athens, Ohio. One child was born to Thomas Barkley and Ida Pike Barkley: Ellis Blake Barkley, who married Ina M. Munns, daughter of James and Ida Munns of College Corner. To Ellis and Ina Barkley has been born one child, Ida Janice. Thomas Benton lived for forty years on his farm in Franklin county, Ind., and was also actively engaged in the mercantile business, in which he was well known and gained great success, at Bath station, on the C. & O. railway. In Franklin county, he was an ardent and active Democrat, and was elected state representative from Franklin and Union counties to the Indiana Assembly, serving at the sixty-fourth, sixty-fifth and sixty-sixth assemblies. Here he stood sponsor for any number of excellent laws, laboring for the ideals of his party, clinging steadfastly to his own highminded and upright principles. The laws failed in some instances only for the reason that his party was in the minority. Among the acts of legislature for which he labored and stood sponsor was a measure for revision of the "county commissioner law," calling for the individual voter's right to vote for the commissioner in his district alone. The bill for revision introduced the proposal to divide each county into three districts, and to elect a commissioner for each district. He also proposed a bill providing that the tax assessor take the school enumeration, thereby to effect a great saving. Mr. Barkley also served as chief doorkeeper during a session of the Indiana State Legislature. He is a faithful Presbyterian, doing much for his church. He was active in Masonic circles, and was also a loyal Odd Fellow. In the recent activities anent the World war, Thomas Benton Barkley was particularly active, helping in every way possible, and keeping high the ideals of his patriot forbears, and adding to the record of loyal service already gained by him. It was in 1917 that Thomas Benton Barkley came to Oxford, and here he purchased a residence at 15 S. Beech street, where he now resides. He is regarded by his fellow-citizens as a man whose good works and good name will ever flourish in the memory of w whatever community in which he lives, and is heartily welcomed to Oxford.

Fred Sull Barr. At the age of sixty years, Fred Sull Barr is practically retired from active affairs, but still occupies the farm of 296 acres in Madison township upon which a large part of his career has been spent. He was born at Dedham, Mass., August 9, 1859, a son of Henry H. and Frances (Fisher) Barr, and is descended from French stock, the name having originally been De Barr. His grand-father was Harry Barr, a native of France, who married an Irish girl and became an early emigrant to the United States, where he

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secured employment in the service of the United States Government. Locating in Northern Ohio, he passed his entire life there, and died near St. Mary's Ohio. Henry H. Barr had only a common school education in Northern Ohio, where he was born, and he and his brother Samuel became prominent and successful contractors of Cincinnati where they owned a large lumber yard, as well as one in the south. In 1871 they came to Butler county, settling in the north-west corner of Madison township, where they took up 132 acres of land, and here Henry Barr died in 1915 at the age of seventy-nine years. He was a Republican in politics and fraternally was a charter member of a Cincinnati lodge of Odd Fellows, with which he was identified for half a century. Mr. Barr married Frances Fisher, who was born in Maine and died on the Madison township farm in 1882, aged forty-five years. She was a daughter of Albert and Orvilla (Gray) Fisher, of Maine, early settlers of Cincinnati where Mr. Fisher was a railroad engineer, but in later life returned to Massachusetts, where he bought land and passed the closing years of his life. Mrs. Barr's brother, Albert, is a flour commissioner of New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Barr had seven children, as follows: Frances, deceased, who was the wife of George Kilbourn and later of Abe Cummings; Fred Sull, of this notice; Hattie, who married L. Webber, a farmer of Madison township; Samuel, a retired farmer of Dayton; George, a grocer for eighteen years, and now public safety inspector of Middletown; May, who died at twenty-five years of age as the wife of Lee Webber; and Ella, who died in infancy. Fred Sull Barr attended the graded schools of Cincinnati and the high school at Middletown for one year, and for a short period followed teaching in the rural schools of Hamilton county. He next learned the moulders' trade, at Cincinnati, and after working in the Irving & Green foundry for a time, in that city, traveled extensively for three years. In 1885 he was married and shortly thereafter bought the old Barr place in Madison township, on which he lived and carried on operations for upwards of twenty years. Selling this property he bought a tract of 296 acres in section 4, Madison township, which he brought to a high state of development. He carried on a general farming business, raised all kinds of grain and tobacco, and bred Jersey cattle and Poland China hogs, which won him a number of blue ribbons and prizes at county fairs, where he was an annual exhibitor for some years. At present he leases his land. Mr. Barr is a Republican in politics. For many years he has staunchly supported the cause of education, and his children have been given a chance to acquire practical training under the best possible country conditions. He was formerly for some years affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and he and Mrs. Barr belong to the United Brethren church. September 15, 1885, Mr. Barr was married to Elizabeth Phillips, of Astoria, Ohio, daughter of Plummer Phillips, a blacksmith by vocation. Mrs. Barr died in 1899, leaving five daughters: Elsie, who was a teacher for twelve years, and is now the wife, of Charles Plessinger, of West Carrollton, Ohio, with one son, Robert; May, deceased, who was the wife of Ed Linville and had two children, William and Martha; Myrtle, a teacher in the schools of

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Middletown; Mazie, a teacher of West Carrollton; and Grace a teacher of French in the high school at West Carrollton. February 15, 1903, Mr. Barr was again married, being united with Elizabeth Thomas, of Trenton, Ohio, a daughter of John and Marion (Miller) Thomas, who were born near Trenton and were well known and highly respected farming people, and were the parents of six children. Mr. Thomas died at Seven Mile, Ohio, January 21, 1916, Mrs. Thomas having passed away in March, 1882.

Carl Bartels. A record of thirty years of conscientious labor in the service of one concern has characterized the career of Carl Bartels, who, since his arrival at Hamilton in 1889, has been in the employ of the Mosler Safe company. During this long period of time he has advanced steadily in position and in the confidence of his concern and for the past ten years has acted in the capacity of superintendent, with full charge of the entire plant. Mr. Bartels was born April 14, 1863, in Germany. One of a family of ten children, he was given a public school education, supplemented by a high school education in his native land. His ambitions caused him to look beyond the narrow confines of his native community, where there seemed little in the future for him but to work hard without much chance of gaining independence from financial worries, and accordingly, at the age of twenty-four years, he gathered together his small earnings and made the trip to the United States. About two years later, in March, 1889, he came to Hamilton and secured a position at contracting on vault work for the Mosler Safe company, one of the oldest and best known concerns of its kind in the country. He was employed in this line for about ten years, when he was made foreman of one of the departments, and several subsequent transfers made him thoroughly familiar with every department and detail of the business. His competence, reliability, industry and ability in handling men made him the logical choice for the superintendency when a vacancy occurred, and when he was given that post he was placed in entire charge of the plant. He has continued to occupy this important and responsible position to the present time and has proven himself one of the most valuable employees his company has ever had. Mr. Bartels was married in 1891 to Elizabeth, the daughter of Philip Reuter, of Minersville, Ohio, she being one of a family of twelve children. They now reside in their comfortable home, built by Mr. Bartels at No. 906 Central avenue. Four sons have been born to them: Carl P., born in 1892, a graduate of the graded schools, and now a department foreman in the employ of the Mosler Safe company, married Ellen Crittenden and has one son, and is a resident of Hamilton and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Leo F., born in 1896, a graduate of the graded and high schools, who studied business administration in the Illinois State university at Champaign, and left that institution at the outbreak of the war to work in the gun carriage division of the Ordnance Department, at the Mosler Safe company, but is now president of the Leabarjan Manufacturing company of Hamilton, single and an Elk, and makes his home with his parents; Edwin J., born in 1900, who is attending high school; and Elmer, born in

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1902, also a high school student. The father of these sons is a member of the Elks, in which he has numerous friends, as he has also in business circles.

Charles E. Bauer. A number of the agriculturists of Butler county, and particularly the younger element, are engaged in operating the properties upon which they were born and which they have obtained from their fathers either through purchase or inheritance. This, however, has not been the case with Charles E. Bauer, who, while he is now the proprietor of the farm of his birth, has had somewhat extensive experience on other properties, both in Butler and Preble counties. Mr. Bauer was born in Milford township, Butler county, Ohio, May 19, 1889, a son of George Bauer, also a native of this township. The first of the family to come to the United States was Conrad Bauer, grandfather of Charles E., who emigrated from Germany and became an early settler of Milford township, where he passed the balance of his life in agricultural pursuits. George Bauer grew up in his native township, where he attended the district schools, and on reaching manhood married Adda, daughter of Daniel and Julia Young, farming people of Preble county. Mrs. Bauer had two brothers, Lewis and Edgar, both of whom are now deceased. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bauer located on the old Young farm in Milford township now occupied by their son Charles E., and here the father died May 16, 1894, while the mother passed away in February, 1915, aged fifty-two years. Mrs. Bauer was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and she and her husband were the parents of three children: Mae L., who married Daniel L. Unsicker, a farmer of Milford township, and has two children, Helen and Fred; Charles E.; and Ethel, who married Arthur Somers, of Jonesboro, Ind., and has four children, Elmo, Lincoln, Virgil and Velma Louise. To the district schools of Milford township, Charles E. Bauer is indebted for his educational training. He remained at home and assisted his father and later his widowed mother until his marriage, May 24, 1911, to Helen, daughter of Martin and Catherine Farrell, of Monroe, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Farrell were natives of Ireland, who, upon their emigration to the United States, first settled at Middletown, Ohio, where Mr. Farrell became the proprietor of a meat market. Later they moved to Monroe, where they still make their home. They are the parents of four children: James, of Tiro, Ohio; Edward, who resides with his parents; Florence, a resident of Cincinnati: and Mrs. Bauer. After his marriage, Mr. Bauer resided in Milford township and followed farming for two years, but later went to Preble county for a time and subsequently moved to Somerville. Finally, in January, 1919, he returned to the old home place, where he has since been successfully engaged in general farming, and in raising cattle, hogs, sheep and horses. He has a well-cultivated and valuable property, and is considered one of the leading young agriculturists of his township, and votes the Democratic ticket. Mrs. Bauer is a member of the Catholic church at Oxford, and she and her husband are among the most popular young people in their locality.

John T. Bausch, M. D., is engaged in the successful practice of

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his profession at Venice, Butler county, with the village of Ross as his post office address. His practice is largely of rural order and his visitations extend over a wide area of the fine farming country tributary to the village in which he resides. Dr. Bausch claims the Buckeye state as the place of his nativity. He was born m the city of Cincinnati, and is a son of John A. and Sophia (Armstrong) Bausch, both of whom were born in Cincinnati. John A. Bausch was reared and educated in his native city, where his marriage was solemnized and there he was for half a century actively associated with the Queen City Varnish company, of which he was manager for many years prior to his death. His widow there continued her residence until she too passed away, her death having occurred in 1909. Both were zealous members of the Presbyterian church, and of their four children three are living. Of the children the eldest was Harry, who was graduated in the law school of the Y. M. C. A. at Cincinnati, as a member of the class of 1901, and who met a tragic death, in a street-car accident, in the same year, he having been at the time assistant city solicitor of Cincinnati; Dr. John T., of this review, is the next younger; and Olive, who received excellent educational advantages in her home city, has for the past several years been a successful and popular teacher in the public schools; Walter, youngest of the children, completed his education by a two-years' course in the University of Ohio, and for three years he was engaged in teaching in the public schools. Dr. John T. Bausch continued his studies in the public schools of Cincinnati until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, after which he entered the Miami Medical university, in Cincinnati, where he continued his technical studies from 1903 until 1907, in which latter year he was duly graduated, with degree of M. D. For two years thereafter he was engaged in hospital service at Sandusky, Ohio, where he gained valuable clinical experience, and for the ensuing two years he was established in practice in his native city. He then removed to Venice, Butler county, where he has since continued his professional labors and built up a substantial practice. He is one of the valued members of the Butler County Medical society and is identified also with the Ohio State Medical society. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian church at Venice. In the autumn of 1909 Dr. Bausch was married to Sylvia Blair, of Price Hill, Ohio, she being a daughter of Herman and Amanda Blair, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of the city of Cincinnati, where Mr. Blair was for many years superintendent of a leading distillery, both he and his wife being now deceased. Of their four children the first born, Albert, is deceased; Mrs. Bausch was the next in order of birth; Helen is the wife of Walter Schradin, of Venice, Butler county; and Leo is a photographer in the city of Chicago. Dr. and Mrs. Bausch have two children, Robert Blair and Sylvia Olive.

John Calvin Beach. Among the farmers of moral and material worth whose labors have largely helped to develop the agricultural interests of Madison township county, is John Calvin Beach, Mr.

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Beach is not of that type who has had fortune and property thrust upon him by inheritance and, perhaps, increased it by careful management. His large competence, his valuable properties in Madison township and his high and substantial standing as a citizen, have been acquired by individual force of character, by industry, perseverance and intelligent effort, founded upon the strictest honor. He was born June 22, 1865, in Madison township, Butler county, O., a son of Robert K. and Eleanor (Weidner) Beach , the former a native of near Amanda, this state, and the latter of Madison township. The grandfather of Mr. Beach was John Beach, born in the East, who came to Butler county as a pioneer, as did also John Weidner, the maternal grandfather. Robert K. Beach grew up near Amanda, O., where the home schools furnished him with his education, and where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout a long and useful career. He was a staunch Democrat in politics, and a member of the United Brethren church, in the faith of which he died in 1910, at the age of seventy-one years. His widow survived him until 1916, and was seventy-three years old at the time of her demise. They were the parents of five children, all of whom are deceased with the exception of John Calvin. The educational advantages of John Calvin Beach were the same as those of other farmers' sons of his day and locality, being confined to attendance at the district schools. His boyhood was divided between the winter terms of school and the long summers of work on the home farm, and thus he was brought up to sturdy and self-reliant young manhood, trained alike in body and mind for the exacting tasks which life was to ask him to perform. December 27, 1888, he was married to Miss Mary Florence Yost, of Preble county, O., born near Eaton, a daughter of Harvey and Sarah Jane (Manchester) Yost, the former a native of Preble county, and the latter of Michigan. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Yost settled near Eaton, where Mrs. Yost died in 1875, at the age of thirty years, her husband then marrying Elizabeth Baer, of Preble county. Mr. Yost died at the home of his son-in-law, Mr. Beach, when sixty-eight years of age. He was the father of five children all by his first wife: Durbin, a resident of Alberta, Canada; Charles, of Middletown, Ohio; Mary Florence, now Mrs. Beach; Medford, of Lockland, Ohio; and Ida, the wife of Ernest Linden of Hamilton, this state. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beach: Wilbur Evans and Durbin Ellsworth. Wilber Evans Beach was born January 7, 1890, and after attending the public schools of Madison township and the high school at Middletown took a two-year medical course at Cincinnati and spent two years in medical schools at Cleveland and after his graduation, began the practice of his profession at Gratis, Ohio, and later moved to Somerville, and continued in practice there until joining the United States Army Medical Corps at Fort Riley, from which he was assigned to Camp Harry J. Johns, Douglas, Ariz. He married Bessie Thompson, of Brown county, Ohio, a daughter of Felix and Sarah (Simkins) Thompson, of that county, the latter of whom died in 1907, while the former is a prominent jeweler. Doctor and Mrs. Beach have two children: Viola Florence and Sarah Gertrude, who, with their

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mother, made their home temporarily with Doctor Beach's parents while the Doctor was located at the above camps, but later joined him at Naco, Ariz., where he is now still in the service of the U. S. The latter, in addition to the various organizations of his profession, belongs to the K. of P., at Somerville, the Order of Odd Fellows, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and the United Brethren church. Durbin Ellsworth Beach was born August 30, 1893, and was educated in the public schools, being unable to pursue his studies further because of poor eyesight. He is now his father's assistant in operating the home farm. He married Maude Schooly, of Middletown, daughter of Hezekiah and Laura Schooly. Following their marriage, John Calvin Beach and his wife rented land for two years, and then bought the Weidner farm of sixty-seven acres, located in Madison township. Mr. Beach has since added to his holdings, and now has 102 acres, all in a good state of cultivation, and with modern improvements, all of which have been made by Mr. Beach. In addition, he also erected and installed all the improvements on the farm occupied by his son. Mr. Beach carries on general farming in a modern way, along the most highly approved scientific lines, and also raises mixed stock, and in each department has shown himself thoroughly qualified for his work and with a splendid knowledge of the details of agriculture. As a side line, he handles Buckeye State Mutual Fire insurance, of Covington, O., as well as business for the Ohio Mutual Tornado Insurance company. In political matters, he is independent, and prefers to choose his own candidates rather than to be guided by party mandates. He is a member of the United Brethren church and has been active in church work, and at present is serving as steward and a member of the board of trustees. Starting as a simple renter of land about thirty years ago, he has advanced steadily to the ownership of a handsome property. Notwithstanding this noteworthy success, he has the modesty and the fairness, prompted by gratitude and affection, to attribute much of his good fortune to the inspiring love and unselfish assistance of his wife. Into their home and hearts Mr. and Mrs. Beach took Beulah Beach, a cousin of Mr. Beach, who married Osle Zellors, of Dayton. She died in 1909, leaving two children: Mildred Ardella, who makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Beach; and Ermal, who was adopted by Walter Cass of Madison township.

James E. Beard (deceased) was born in Morgan township, Butler county, January 26,1868, a son of Alfred Beard, a native Ohioan, born at Scipio. James attended school in Morgan township, and upon reaching manhood, married Guerel Cochran. She was born at Millville, and was a daughter of William and Susan Cochran. Her father is dead, and her mother resides at Millville. After their marriage, Mr. James Beard and his wife lived on the farm originally cleared and settled by Mr. Beard's grandfather. This is a farm of 204 acres, of fine soil, and beautiful appearance. Here Mr. Beard carried on farming successfully, and raised some very fine livestock. To him and his wife were born three children: Marcus W. Beard, born November 2, 1892; Susie Bell, born May 16, 1895; Gladys V., born August 31, J898. Marcus W. Beard received his education in

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the schools of Morgan township and has always resided on the Beard homestead. On October 16, 1918, he was married to Rebecca B. Dick, daughter of Isaac and Martha (Gillespie) Dick. Mrs. Beard's parents are natives of Butler county. Mr. Dick is a farmer of Ross township. Mrs. Beard is their only child, and attended school at Western college, Oxford, Ohio. Marcus W. Beard is on of the successful farmers of this section, maintaining a splendid, modern farm, upon which he raises a large number of fine hogs each year in politics he follows his father, and is a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Beard are members of the Presbyterian church of Millville, and are prominent citizens of their township.

John E. Beard. Among the agriculturists of Ohio who ha won a most enviable distinction because of the fact that he is truly representative of the enterprising tillers of the soil is Mr. John E. Beard of Oxford township, Butler county, and the success that he has had in operating his own farm has been in keeping with the conscientious labor entailed in developing the land to the highest point of productivity. Born in Springfield township, Franklin county, Ind., he is the son of William S. and Martha E. (Waldorf) Beard. He was educated at the Bartlow district school and Reiley High school. He engaged in the carriage business a Second and Market streets in Hamilton, Ohio, after leaving school and also gave some attention to live stock and the livery business. In these ventures he met with success and added considerable to his reputation as a man of keen business judgment who was always alive to the best interests of customers. Inherently he was fond of farm life, and accordingly, took up his abode on his present farm about six years ago and from the outset was welcomed as a most desirable neighbor by the other farmers in his section. This land which is owned by his father, William S. Beard, unquestionably is one of the most productive tracts of its area in Butler county. The good fortune which has attended the efforts of Mr. Beard in operating this farm has been even beyond his most sanguine hopes an( there is every reason to believe that the future will show more encouraging results than the past. The parents of Mr. Beard are both living in Springfield township, and had two sons, John and Francis the latter died in infancy. The father is a substantial landowner and also manifests an active interest in matters agricultural. John married Nettie, daughter of Frank and Anna (Wilkinson) Hazeltine, of Hamilton county. He has one son, Franklin S., who is ten years old. Like so many other progressive farmers of Butler county he took an active interest in the various World war activities and gave his time unsparingly to all movements which placed Butler county in the fore in the matter of results achieved. His loyalty to the cause of Uncle Sam and the allies was such that he was looked upon as one of the most desirable workers to be had in furthering Liberty Loan campaigns and arousing enthusiasm among the other farmers of the community. He has membership in the Elks and Moose and socially is popular.

Daniel P. Beaton. Foremost among the qualities which have made the life of Daniel P. Beaton of practical use to his fellow men

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are courage and faithfulness, evidenced in many ways, and noticeable in his military service during the Civil war. In the city of Oxford where he is a highly esteemed citizen, indebtedness is felt for his excellent management of the post office department from 1865 to 1888 for his splendid administration of the city's affairs in the office of mayor for twelve years, and for his conscientious and capable services rendered in his present position of city clerk. Mr. Beaton was born at No. 19 Beech street, Oxford, Ohio, September 16, 1843, a son of Alexander and Mary (McMillan) Beaton, natives of Glasgow, Scotland, who were there educated, reared and married. In his native land, Alexander Beaton followed the trade of tailor with only indifferent success, and eventually decided to try his fortune in the United States. Accordingly, in 1838, he embarked with his family for this country and after a trip pf eight weeks arrived at his destination, Pittsburg, Pa. A short time later he removed by boat to Cincinnati and then came on to Oxford, where he opened a tailor shop. During the rush of the gold-seekers to California in 1849, he started for that state, going to New York and there boarding a vessel for Panama. Sickness soon broke out on board and Mr. Beaton was one of the twenty passengers who died. The mother managed to keep her family together, and lived until 1896, being eighty years of age at the time of her death and passing away in the faith of the United Presbyterian church, of which she had been a life-long member. Of the children born to these parents, Isabelle is the widow of W. S. Crawford and resides at Redlands, Calif.; Daniel P. is the city clerk of Oxford; Mary died as the wife of W. P. McMillen; William M. was a merchant of Oxford for thirty-two years and died January 13, 1919, at the home of Daniel P., his brother, with whom he had lived; and Elizabeth married William A. Charles of San Pedro, Calif. After attending the home schools, Daniel P. Beaton was a student at Miami university during 1859 and 1860, and then took up the carpenter trade to which he applied himself for one year. At this time the Civil war came on to interrupt his career, as it did those of so many other young men and youths, and March 16, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, 86th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which organization he was sent to West Virginia. At that time he belonged to the 100-day men, and at the end of his term of service, when he was honorably discharged, he enlisted again as a veteran, in October, 1862, and served until wounded June 9, 1863, when he was shot through the right ankle joint, necessitating the amputation of his foot. For six months he lay in Somerset hospital, Kentucky, but by March, 1864, was able to make his way home, and in June, 1865, was chosen postmaster of Oxford, a position which he retained and filled with the utmost ability until March 8, 1888. Subsequently, he was elected mayor of Oxford, an office in which he was able to secure many benefits for his native city during the twelve years of his administration, and later he acted in the capacity of express agent until elected to his present office of city clerk. Throughout the period of his public service his record has been one of unswerving integrity, and conscientious performance of every duty, in which he has won and held the unqualified confidence of his

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fellow-citizens. Mr. Beaton has always been a staunch Republican but his public record and his personal qualities have served to win him friends among men of all parties and beliefs. He was married September 13, 1866, to Harriet .Miller, of Oxford township, a daughter of Daniel and Johanna (Rail) Miller, who were born near Hamilton where Mr. Miller carried on agricultural operations. They were members of the Lutheran church, in the faith of which Mr. Miller died in 1874 and her husband one year before. Of their thirteen children, four survive: Mary, who married John Burke, of Mead, Wash.; Harriet, who became Mrs. Beaton; Samantha, the widow of John Faber, living with Mr. and Mrs. Beaton; and Frank J. a farmer of Sedalia, Kans. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beaton: William M., engineer at the waterworks at Oxford for the past twenty-two years, who married Anna Farris and has five children - Monroe and Marie (twins), Daniel B., James, Harry and Harriet; Isabelle, who married Raymond Sheard, of Hamilton, and has one child - Mary E.; Mary, who died unmarried at the age of twenty years; Elizabeth, the first girl to graduate from Miami university, in 1900, who was a teacher in the public schools until her marriage to Dr. H. M. Moore, a practicing physician Oxford; and Daniel Scott, formerly a draughtsman for the Mosler Safe company, now foreman of a safe works at Galt, Ontario, was married Lucile Schram. Mr. Beaton is an interested, valued and popular comrade of Milliken Post No. 128, G. A. R., at Oxford, he and the members of his family belong to the United Presbyterian church.

James Beatty, deceased, came to America from Ireland at the age of twelve years. In early life he was a lover of horses and his first position after his arrival in this country, was that of �jockey� later on and prior to the abolishment of slavery, he became superintendent of the slaves on plantations in Delaware, Maryland and other states. In Maryland, he met and married Emily Craig, of Cecil county, and then moved to Butler county, Ohio, and engaged in the contracting business. Many if not all the turnpike road this vicinity at that time were constructed by him. Later, he secured a contract for the construction of the Miami and Erie canal through this section, subsequently equipping and operating a line of boats plying between Cincinnati and Toledo, the only means afforded at that time for the transportation of products. In connection with this, he operated warehouses located along the canal route for facilitating shipping. He cleared a large acreage of land in Fairfield and Union townships and vicinity, in which work he had at time more than one hundred woodchoppers engaged. With others he organized the First National bank of Hamilton, Ohio, and for many years served as vice-president and director, during which time he also began to improve and develop the farm land he had purchased and cleared. When thirty-six years of age he suffered a paralytic stroke and also met disastrous financial reverses, involving his entire fortune and depleting his resources. About this time, Archibald Trowbridge, he entered the pork-packing business in Cincinnati, under the company name, "The Beatty-Trowbridge

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company." This was one of the largest establishments of its kind at that time, and during the Civil war the concern did a large and prosperous business. This venture was developed entirely by Mr. Beatty after he became paralyzed. Trips to and from Cincinnati and his home, were made by Mr. Beatty in his buggy, and business transactions with members of the Board of Trade and Exchange were conducted from his seat in the vehicle. To Mr. Beatty and wife were born seven children: Mary Ann, Mrs. Freeman Thompson, had seven children; Alexander, married Mary Mulholland, died from illness contracted while a soldier of the Civil war; Eliza; James, married Frances Petry, had three daughters; William, married Blanch Wasson, have three daughters; Margaret, married Ayres L. Bramble, son of A. L. Bramble, pork packer, of Madisonville, Ohio. After the marriage of Ayres L. Bramble and Margaret Beatty, they made their home on a part of the Beatty farm, apportioned to Mrs. Bramble by her father, James Beatty, and they are still living on this place. Mr. Bramble had been operating a large abattoir at Plainsville, Ohio, but since his marriage he has given his attention to the farming interests of himself and his wife, and together they now hold 1,000 acres, all under the management of Mr. Bramble. To Mr. and Mrs. Bramble have been born seven children: Alice, died in infancy; Ayres B., who married Bertha Smith, of Middletown, Ohio, is superintendent of construction at the American Rolling mill; has 300 employees. He was educated at Danville, (Ky.) Military school, also Technical school; has two children, Agnes Smith and Edna Jean; Edna May, a graduate at Bartholomew's English Classical school, married James Lovett, farmer; Edwin B., died when twenty-two years of age; Geneva, a graduate of St. Joseph's academy, married Campbell Cissel, superintendent of the Occident Baking company; Alfred S., who attended the Ohio State university, married Grace Gerard, has a daughter, Dorothy; Eva, a graduate of St. Joseph's academy, married Myron Johnson, has a son, Myron G., jr.

James J. Beatty. The occupation of farming has always claimed the attention of James J. Beatty, who is now an extensive raiser of general produce and tobacco on the Yankee road, near Middletown. This progressive Butler county farmer belongs to the class of men who make a study of their vocations, and who treat them more as professions than as mere money-making occupations, and for this reason is the occupant of an influential position in his community. Also, he has interested himself in local affairs, which gives him an added hold upon the confidence of his fellow-citizens. Mr. Beatty was born on a farm in Preble county, Ohio, January 5, 1865, a son of John and Elizabeth (Flenner) Beatty. While his maternal grandmother was a native of Ohio, Andrew Flenner, his maternal grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania and came to the Buckeye state when a young man. John Beatty was born in Butler county, and passed his entire life in agricultural pursuits. As a man of industry he made a success of his ventures, while his integrity gave him high standing in the confidence of his fellow-men and his good citizenship ensured his position as a valuable member of his community. His wife was born at Four Mile, Butler county, and was a woman of

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many excellencies of mind and heart and a great help to him in the attainment of his success. James J. Beatty was reared under excellent home influences on the farm, and was early taught the lessons of industry and honesty. As he grew up he attended the district school and the Overpeck school, and had no other thought than to become a farmer when he entered upon his lifework. With this end in view he familiarized himself with all matters pertaining to the successful management of a modern property, being aided therein by the kind and accurate counsel of his father, so that when he was ready to take up his independent career he had already mastered the rudiments of his chosen calling and was prepared to put them into practical demonstration. The results which he has been able to attain from his labors have fully justified all the preparation he put into perfecting himself, for he is now accounted one of the progressive agriculturists of his locality whose success has increased each season with the passing of the years. He is likewise widely known for his untiring and industrious spirit, for his strict integrity in all matters pertaining to the transactions of business life and for his hospitality in his home circle. Mr. Beatty was married March 6, 1899, to Miss Minnie Kieser, daughter of Charles P. and Frances (Mierch) Kieser, who came from Germany in 1855. On their arrival in the United States the parents of Mrs. Kieser went at once to Cincinnati, and then removed to Hamilton. At the latter place Mr. Kieser secured a position with Long & Alstatter, and by 1860 had arisen to the post of foreman. He worked for this concern for fifty-two years and was considered one of the company's most trusted employees. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beatty: Ellsworth, who is assisting his father in the work of the home place and who married Miss Laura Slonecker, of Dayton; they have one son, Robert; and Lovena, now Mrs. Samuel Brandenburg, who resides near West Elkton. Mr. Beatty's interest in public affairs in his community has been expressed in a number of practical and constructive ways, and his friendship for education is exemplified in the excellent services he has rendered for over twelve years as a member of the school board.

William Beaver. The monotony which often ensues from the continuous following of a certain line of work has never been a feature in the career of William Beaver, of Trenton. Gifted with talents of a versatile nature, this well-known and highly esteemed resident of Trenton has, at different times, followed the vocation of farmer, baker, mechanic and hotelkeeper, and at the present time is successfully acting as a traveling salesman. Mr. Beaver also has the distinction of belonging to one of the pioneer families of the Miami valley. His grandfather, a native of Pennsylvania, was but seventeen years of age when he and another youth of like years walked from their home in the Keystone state and located in Montgomery county, Ohio, south of Dayton, and for a number of years thereafter this pioneer followed the trade of carpenter. He died in middle life when his son John B. was but a lad. The grandfather married Mary Gephart, and they had five children: Jacob, deceased; John B.; David; George, deceased; and Barbara Ann, deceased.

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John B. Beaver, the father of William, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 17, 1842, and received his education in the common schools. He grew up as a farmer and adopted that vocation as his life work, following it until 1900, when he retired from active pursuits and since that time has been making his home with his son William. He was married in 1872 to Mary J. Gephart, who was born near Branch, Ohio, a daughter of William and Catherine Gephart, both deceased, the former of whom was a blacksmith at Fishburg, Ohio, for many years, two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver: William, of this review; and Frank P., who is proprietor of the Strand Hotel at Dayton, although his home is located at Miamisburg. Frank P. Beaver married Clara Rath, and they have had six children: Hazel; Ruby, deceased; Ernest, Mildred, Lawrence and Paul. William Beaver was born on a farm near Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, May 23, 1874, and spent his boyhood and youth much the same as other sons of farmers, attending school during the school terms and assisting his father in the work of the home place. When he completed his studies he learned the trade of baker, at Middletown, where he purchased the shop and conducted it for about two years. Selling out, he went to Illinois, where he was employed by the Western Wheel works, but returned eventually to Middletown and for a time was engaged in various forms of employment. In 1900 he bought a hotel in Trenton and took up his residence in this city, but in 1911 sold out in order to give all of his attention to his new vocation of traveling salesman. Among other activities in which Mr. Beaver has been engaged, he was for eleven years proprietor of a cigar factory. He is widely and favorably known, as are also the members of his family, and all are held in the warmest regard and friendship by those with whom they have come in contact. March 27, 1897, Mr. Beaver was united in marriage with Pearl Ingham, of Farmersville, Ohio, a daughter of Frank and Ellen (Taylor) Ingham. Mr. Ingham, who was a farmer, died in 1909, since which time his widow has made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. There are three children in the Beaver family: Jessie Irene, wife of James W. Quigley, general superintendent of the twelve great plants of the Patent Vulcanite Roofing company, of Chicago, one of the largest concerns in the world; Mr. and Mrs. Quigley have one son, James Watson, jr., born December 9, 1918; and Clarence C. and Robert, who reside with their parents and are attending high school. Mr. Beaver is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Improved Order of Red Men, and is a Democrat in his political faith. Both he and Mrs. Beaver are faithful members of the St. John's Evangelical church of Trenton, and have been generous in their support of religious, charitable and educational movements.

Clifford C. Becker. Among the well-known farmers of St. Clair township, Butler county, whose industry, energy and good management have placed them in comfortable circumstances and gained for them a reputable standing among their fellow-townsmen, is Clifford C. Becker, who is carrying on his vocation on what is known as the old Flickinger place. The Becker family has been identified with

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Butler county since 1856, in which year it was founded here by John Peter Becker the grandfather of Clifford C. He was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, November 6, 1828, and by his first marriage had two children one of whom is William Becker, a resident of California. For his second wife he married, in 1856, Mrs. Henrietta Arnbold Miller, widow of William Miller, and they had three children: Henrietta, who died single, born September 6, 1858; Matilda, born July 11, 1863, the widow of John Kurzega of Cincinnati, with three children - Alma, Ella and Otto; and John R., the father of Clifford C. Shortly after his second marriage, in 1856, John Peter Becker emigrated to the United States and started work at the wagon making trade in Fairfield township, Butler county. He also occupied himself at the blacksmith's trade, and had an interest in canal-boat venture, but in 1863 turned his attention to agricultural pursuits on the William B. Smalley farm, and in 1865 bought 165 acres of land, to which he subsequently added by purchase until he had 240 acres. He was sixty-nine years of age at the time of his death in 1896, and one of the highly respected men of the community, and a faithful member of the German Lutheran church. His widow survived him until some years later and was eighty-one years old at the time of her demise, at Cincinnati. John R. Becker, father of Clifford C., was born August 6, 1865, on the Middletown pike in Butler county, and was educated in the common schools. As a youth he learned the machinist's trade, at which he was employed both in his own community, on Staten Island and in Pennsylvania. February 26, 1896, he married Amelia Rapp, of Cincinnati, Ohio, daughter of Christian and Ida (Huelsen) Rapp, the former of whom was born at Birbach, Germany, in 1838, and the latter in Riesenburgh, Prussia. They met and were married at Cincinnati, where Mr. Rapp was in the retail liquor business until his death in 1891, and his widow now makes her home with her children. They belonged to the Lutheran church and had six children: Bertha, who lives at Cincinnati; Fred, connected with the Chamber of Commerce at Connersville, Ind.; Amelia, who became Mrs. Becker; George, a coal dealer of Cincinnati; Ida, the wife of Robert Hiltbrand, a Butler county farmer; and Emma, who married John L. Becker, a tinsmith of Hamilton. At the time of his marriage, John R. Becker located on the present family home in St. Clair township, known as the old Flickinger place, and here died September 1, 1915. He was an independent voter and a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 459, at Seven Mile, which he joined at the time of its organization as a charter member. He was a man of high character and marked integrity and well merited the respect and .confidence in which he was universally held. The only child of his parents, Clifford C. Becker was born November 30, 1896, and received his education in the home schools at Seven Mile. He has always lived on the home place and followed farming, although his natural mechanical ability, doubtless inherited from his father and grandfather, has led him to pay some attention to this line, and for several years he has operated a threshing outfit. Although still a young man, he has made marked progress, and has shown splendid

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ability in carrying on general farming and stock raising operations on the home place, which is a splendidly improved tract of 184 acres. He is well known in his party, and his popularity is evidenced by his host of friends. Mr. Becker was married April 9, 1919, to Sallie Walker, of Harrison, Ohio, daughter of J. P. and Nancy Walker, retired agricultural people of Hamilton.

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