Clark County Ohio Biographies

J. C. OLDHAM, dentist, Springfield. The name of Oldham has been associated with the dental profession of Springfield for more than a quarter of a century. Mr. Oldham’s father, M. M. Oldham, whose wife was Calista Taft, removed to Springfield from Cambridge, this State, in 1853, and successfully practiced here until within the past few years, his health failing, he has spent the most of his time in the South, leaving the business almost entirely to his son J. C., who has been a partner with him since 1874. The subject of this sketch was born in Cambridge in 1846, and came with his parents to Springfield in 1853. Having a natural taste for the profession, he improved the opportunities afforded by his father’s office and practice, and, when but 15 years of age, was able to make artificial sets. In 1864, although but 17 years of age, he enlisted in the 153d O. N. G., and experienced the hardships of army life in the field. After which, in addition to the instructions received from his father, he took a regular course and graduated at the Ohio Dental College, at Cincinnati, and subsequently practiced for a time in the office of his cousin William Taft, a well-known and successful dentist of the Queen City. Since 1874, he has been a partner with his father. Having the advantage of a thorough knowledge of his profession, and the latest and best improvements in tools and material, and having a natural taste for and pride in his work, he has now a valuable reputation for first-class work, and, being well and favorably known, enjoys a liberal patronage. He is a member of the State Dental Association, and also of the Mississippi Valley Dental Society. He married, in 1877, Miss Josephine, daughter of Joseph L. Morris, who is closely related to the Longworths, of Cincinnati, and formerly resided there, but is now a resident of Springfield.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 893

GEORGE W. OLINGER, merchant; was born in Harmony Township, Clark Co., Ohio, May 27, 1857, near Brighton; his father, Joseph C. Olinger is one of the large land owners in Harmony Township, owning over 700 acres of land. His father came to Ohio in 1846, from the State of Virginia. His father was born in 1819. George was raised on the farm and continued to be a farmer until Oct. 1, 1880, when he gave up farming and commenced a mercantile life. He purchased the stock of groceries, etc., owned by Mr. A. T. Wilson, of Brighton, Ohio. Mr. O. keeps quite a stock of goods such as is usually kept in a country store. Mr. Olinger is a young man of industry and energy; should he follow in the footsteps of his father, in the way of economy, he will be one of the wealthy men of the township. He is a young man of steady habits, and is much respected in the community in which he lives.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 964

JASPER W. OLINGER. The Olingers as a family have been identified with Clark County since pioneer days as farmers and developers of the land and the life of the rural district. Some of the choicest bodies of land in the county have been owned by them. A representative in the present generation is Jasper W. Olinger, who is proprietor of one of of the largest individually owned farms in the county, located at Brighton in Harmony Township.

He was born just a mile east of his present home on April 11, 1861, son of Joseph C. and Mary (Smith) Olinger. His father, who was born in old Virginia, May 25, 1815, and died May 18, 1894, was bound out when a boy to a man in Virginia and remained in his home and employ for eleven years and then continued to work for him ten years more. He came to Ohio in company with William Troxell on horseback. For a time he worked with his brother Peter in a blacksmith shop and subsequently, while working in the woods, he broke his right leg. He finally settled down to farming near Brooks Station and later he bought a place of 480 acres, all of which he improved by clearing, ditching and building. At the time of his death Joseph Olinger left a farm estate of 900 acres. He united with the Baptist Church in Virginia when he was ten years of age, but subsequently became a member of the Christian Church and for many years was an elder in his home church. He was a republican in politics. Joseph Olinger married Mary Smith, and six of their children are living: Jacob M., of Springfield; George W., a farmer in Harmony Township; William H., who occupies the old homestead; Jasper W.; C. S., an attorney at the Springfield bar; and Joseph C., of London, Ohio.

Jasper W. Olinger grew up on the home of his father, attended the common schools, and had a careful discipline in the tasks of farming. For over thirty years his efforts have been applied to farming as a business of his own. Mr. Olinger is the enviable possessor of a farm of 567 acres in one body, lying partly in Pleasant and partly in Harmony townships. This farm is noted for its good live stock, cattle, sheep, hogs and horses.

Mr. Olinger remained at home with his parents until he was thirty-two. November 29, 1893, he married Alta D. Wilson. They have two children: Ralph J., born August 14, 1897, who married Mary Frazier; and Raymond H., born February 2, 1904. The family are members of the Wilson Chapel Christian Church, in which he is a deacon. He is a member of the Grange and a republican in politics.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 213

GRANVILLE L. ORT holds the office of cashier of the First National Bank of New Carlisle, which was founded more than twenty years ago and which has a record of most excellent service to its constituent community and which is one of the substantial and important financial institutions of Clark County.

Mr. Ort was born in Greene County, Ohio, November 1, 1862, and is a son of the Rev. George B. Ort, who was born and reared in Pennsylvania and who was a young man when he came to Ohio and engaged in teaching school in Montgomery County. Later he completed a theological course in Wittenberg College, at Springfield, and after his ordination to the ministry of the Lutheran Church he became pastor of the church of this denomination at Osborn, Greene County, where he continued his earnest and effective pastoral service fourteen years and where he remained until his death, at the age of forty-seven years.

He whose name initiates this review received excellent educational advantages, including those of Wittenberg College, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1889 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, which later was supplemented by that of Master of Arts. In 1890-91 he was a successful teacher in the public schools of New Carlisle, and for six years thereafter he was cashier in the general passenger agent office of the Big Four Railroad in the City of Cincinnati, his activities in this connection having covered a period of six years. He then became assistant cashier in a bank at Osborn, Greene County, and on the 1st day of January, 1918, he assumed his present office, that of cashier of the First National Bank of New Carlisle, an institution that has been most carefully and ably managed and that is in impregnable financial condition, with deposits of fully $100,000 and with its stock above par and none for sale, a substantial surplus fund adding further to its solidity. This bank was organized twenty years ago, and bases its operations on a capital stock of $30,000. Among its stockholders and directors have been numbered representative men of Clark County, and its officials have been able and faithful in the discharge of their executive functions. The bank owns the well equipped building in which its business is conducted.

Mr. Ort married Miss Hettie A. Monk, daughter of the late John Monk, who was long numbered among the honored citizens and extensive and representative farmers of Clark County. Mr. and Mrs. Ort have one son, John M., who graduated from the Ohio State University and was a former instructor in chemistry at the Case School of Applied Sciences, in the City of Cleveland. He is now holding the same position in the Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 90

DANIEL OTSTOT, retired farmer; P. O. Springfield. Mr. Daniel Otstot is one of the oldest of Clark’s old citizens, hailing from the last century born Aug. 27, 1795, in York Co., Penn.; four years after which, his parents moved to Lancaster, Penn., where he was raised. From 1811 to 1835, he worked at the trade of wagon-making; then farmed eighteen months, coming to Ohio in the fall of 1836; to Columbus, where he visited his brother, and, in the spring of 1837, came to Clark County. In 1818, he married Hannah Dushane, who died in 1861. Of their ten children (five of either sex), five sons and two daughters are living, two having died in infancy, and one, Mrs. William Bunyan, Sept. 23, 1877. Of the two surviving daughters, Mrs. J. W. Randall was so unfortunate as to lose all five of her children, and Miss Sallie C. Otstot resides with her father. Of his five sons, the first, John Dushane is a pattern-maker here; Adam Hunter, a carpenter; Alfred Walraven, a packer and shipper in Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly’s shops; Thomas Miller, a farmer in Butler County; and William Torbert, a farmer on the home place, in this county, which Mr. O. cleared up and established in 1837, working it until 1866, when he moved to Springfield, having since then lived in retirement at his quiet home, No. 81 South Center street, with his daughter, Miss Sallie C. Otstot, who is the loved companion of his declining years. Notwithstanding his advanced years, Mr. Otstot is in full possession of his faculties, and some physical feebleness is the only indication of his accumulated years, and no observer or acquaintance would think of taking him for over 65 or 70 at the farthest. His family is a Methodist one, and Mr. O. and daughter are earnest and devoted members of the Central and High Street Methodist Churches respectively. Having done his full part in life and full of honorable years, Mr. Otstot is now ready for the call of the Master, with those cheering words, “well done, good and faithful servant,” etc., etc. William Torbert Otstot was three years a member of Co. I, 44th O. V. I., and returning home, re-enlisted in the 8th Cavalry, remaining in this service until the close of the war.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 894

MRS. SARAH OTSTOT, who resides in Springfield Township, on the old Columbus Road, was born in this township, not far distant from the City of Springfield, August 29, 1855, and is a daughter of William A. and Ellen (Way) Kershner, whose marriage was solemnized in this county. Jacob Kershner, grandfather of Mrs. Otstot, came with his young wife from Maryland to Clark County in the year 1825, and on their pioneer farm in Springfield Township their son William A. was born in the year 1828. Jacob Kershner was sixty-five years of age at the time of his death, and his widow, whose maiden name was Sarah Marble, was venerable in years at the time of her death, passing away at the age of seventy-nine years. The father of Jacob Kershner likewise came to Clark County, where he conducted a blacksmith shop for a number of years, he having been a skilled workman at his trade. He was also a large farmer and a veteran of the War of 1812. William A. Kershner here gave his entire active career to constructive farm enterprise, reclaimed much of his land from the forest and continued as one of the substantial farmers of Springfield Township until the death of his wife, at the age of sixty-nine years, when he left the farm and finally removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he died in 1900, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a veteran of the Civil war. Of their two surviving children Mrs. Otstot of this review is the elder, and Anna is the widow of Frederick Kurtz, of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Sarah Kershner was reared on the home farm and was afforded the advantages of the public schools. In 1876 was solemnized her marriage to John Otstot, who was born in Springfield Township, this county, near the old home of his wife, the date of his birth having been March 27, 1847. He was a son of William and Rebecca (Knaub) Otstot, who were born in Pennsylvania, but whose marriage occurred in Clark County. Ohio. William Otstot came from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his wife from York County, Pennsylvania. The mother of Mrs. Sarah Otstot was likewise born in Lancaster County of the old Keystone State.

After his marriage John Otstot farmed on rented land for seven years, and he then purchased a farm in the northeast part of Springfield Township, on Grant Road, this old homestead of 104 acres being still owned by his widow. He improved this place into one of the model farms of the township and gained reputation as one of the most progressive and successful farmers of his native county, where he ever held inviolable place in popular confidence and good will. Eventually he purchased the old home farm on which he had been reared, south of Springfield, and he acquired also a farm near his residence homestead. In his active farm operation he gave much attention to the breeding and raising of excellent types of livestock. He was one of the original stockholders in the Farmers Bank at Springfield, and his stock in that institution is still held by his widow, who has augmented the same by the purchase of additional stock. As a citizen Mr. Otstot was liberal and public-spirited, took a loyal and helpful interest in community affairs, served for many years as a member of the School Board of his district and was a staunch republican in politics, he having been a member of its township committee in Springfield Township for a number of years. The death of Mr. Otstot occurred April 23, 1911, and his remains rest in beautiful Ferncliff Cemetery at Springfield. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Otstot has retired to a small place near the old farm, and her pleasant home continues a center of gracious hospitality of much of the representative social activitv of the community. She is a zealous member of the Sinking Creek Baptist Church, as was also her husband. Of her four children the eldest is William: Frederick, who had been in charge of the old home farm, died at the age of thirty-six years; Mabel is the wife of August Getz, a successful farmer near the home of her mother; and Harry operates the home farm.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 157

WILLIAM T. OTSTOT, farmer; P. O. Springfield. Mr. O. is the son of Daniel and Hannah (Dushane) Otstot, and was born Dec. 16, 1837, on the farm where he now lives, in the old house which stood near his present residence. He has always lived on the farm excepting while in the army. He enlisted, in 1861, in the 44th O. V. I., and served in said regiment until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged. He was in every battle in which said regiment was engaged, and never received a wound. He was married, Jan. 2, 1868, to Mary A. Willis, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Shanks) Willis. They had born unto them three children—Nellie Willis, born Feb. 9, 1870; Walter W., Dec. 16, 1873; Harry M., Dec. 15, 1877; Walter, died Jan 20, 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Otstot are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and live consistent lives in accordance with the teachings of said church. Mr. O. is a man of true gentlemanly principles, and Mrs. O. is a noble-hearted lady, who knows well how to make home cheerful and pleasant. Mr. O.’s parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 1837 and located in this county. Mrs. O.’s father was born in England, and emigrated to America in 1837. Her mother was born in Pennsylvania.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 894

MADISON OVER, North Hampton; hotel and Justice.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1020

HENRY OXTOBY, retired farmer; P. O. Springfield. This old and respected citizen belongs to another generation, having been permitted by Divine Providence to live longer than is usually allotted to man; but while he has grown old in years, he has also grown honored and reverenced; and while his hair has been whitened by the frosts of many winters, it is but emblematical of the pure life which he has lived. He was born in Yorkshire, England, Nov. 24, 1801, and is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Cook) Oxtoby, natives of the same place. In 1803, his parents embarked at Liverpool for the United States, and settled close to Geneva, N. Y., afterward removing to a farm on the Genesee River, where they were living during the war of 1812, also owning at the same time 30 acres on which the city of Rochester has since been built. In the fall of 1814, they sold the land and came to Clark Co., Ohio, whither Henry’s father had previously been, to look at the country. He entered 160 acres of land in Sec. 33, Harmony Township, upon which he and family settled, and where his wife died April 11, 1836, aged 67, and himself Oct. 23, 1838, at the same age, both dying, as they had lived, faithful adherents of the M. E. Church. There were four children in the family, three daughters and one son, and Henry was but 18 months old when his parents came to America, and but 13 years of age when they settled in Clark Co., Ohio. He grew to maturity on the old homestead, attending school at the early log schoolhouse four or five winter terms of three months each, which completed his education. He was married, in December, 1825, in Harmony Township, to Harriet Newlove, daughter of Joseph and Ann (Brown) Newlove, natives of England, who settled in the county in 1821. Mrs. Oxtoby was born in England May 2, 1799, and had the following children: Marianna, the deceased wife of William J. Hudson; Robert and John, who reside with their father. Mrs. Oxtoby died March 10, 1848, a sincere believer in the truths of the Gospel. He was again married, Dec. 12, 1858, to Ann B. Newlove, a sister of his first wife, also a native of England, born Sept. 10, 1804. She joined the M. E. Church in 1817, and remained a true and consistent member until her death, Aug. 24, 1875. She was a kind, charitable woman, and Mr. Oxtoby was fortunate in his married life, as both wives were ever faithful helpmeets. In 1848, Mr. Oxtoby joined the M. E. Church, and has been sexton of “Fletcher Chapel” for twenty-seven years, giving his services, and “would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the palaces of kings.” He has now retired from active life, and, with his sons, resides on a farm of 200 acres. Robert is engaged in sheep-raising as a specialty, having now 300 ewes on the farm, some of which are thoroughbred merinos. John is at present engaged in the lumber business in Ross Co. Politically, Mr. Oxtoby was a Whig, and afterward a Republican, and has always been in favor of all classes of public improvements, lending his influence and means to the support of schools, churches, and everything the object of which was the benefitting of the community of which he has been so long an honest, upright, worthy and respected member.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 964