Clark County Ohio Biographies

J. H. PAGE, farmer; P. O. Catawba. Was born April 10, 1827, in Moorefield Township, Clark Co., Ohio. Was raised and educated a tiller of the soil, and has always been engaged in that pursuit, with the exception of three years that he taught school when a young man. He was married, March 25, 1852, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of George Runyan, of Catawba. They were blessed with four children—Joseph W., Charles B., Isaac C. and John W. Mr. Page owns a splendid farm of 120 acres, with good farm buildings upon it. He held the office of Trustee for three terms. He is a son of James C. Page, native of Kentucky, who came to Ohio in an early day and located in Moorefield Township, this county.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 978

ALGERON I. PAIGE, farmer; P. O. Springfield. Mr. P. was born in Springfield May 18, 1817. At the age of 16, he entered his father’s store as a clerk, and followed clerking until 24 years old, when he began his present occupation—farming. He was married, in 1842, to Jane, daughter of Levi and Isabella (Swartz) Anderson. They have had seven children—Laura E. (deceased), Isabella, Sarah J., Mary A., Ira A., John B. and William H. Mr. Paige’s father was a native of Massachusetts, and came to this county and settled in Springfield in 1812. Mrs. Paige was born June 19, 1819, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her father was born in Virginia in 1790, and came with his parents to Ohio and settled in Chillicothe about the year 1800.

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

ADAM BURROUGHS PARKER, now living retired at 235 Greenmount Avenue in Springfield, has had a busy career, beginning with his service when little more than a boy as a Union soldier, and continuing through many years after the war as a farmer and later as a contractor and builder.

Mr. Parker was born in Highland County, Ohio, in April, 1846, son of Samuel and Mary (Kinzer) Parker, both natives of Highland County. His grandparents, Jonathan and Margaret (Burroughs) Parker and Adam and Christina (Deardorff) Kinzer, were all natives of Virginia. Jonathan Parker served as a soldier in the War of the Revolution. These families were Quakers in religion, and Adam B. Parker has been loyal to the same faith.

Mr. Parker attended the common schools during his boyhood, and in the fall of 1863, when he was only seventeen, he ran away from home to enlist in the heavy artillery. His regiment was part of the reserves, and was on duty in a number of campaigns in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. His regiment was stationed with the Union forces before Atlanta. Mr. Parker was discharged in August, 1865, several months after the close of the war, and then returned to Highland County. On September 10, 1868, he married Miss Lydia Ann Burgiss, a native of Highland County and daughter of Beverly Burgiss.

After his marriage Mr. Parker sold the old home place of his parents and bought other land in the same community. He built a modern house, but three years later sold out and came to Springfield, where he erected a substantial residence at 235 South Greenmount Avenue. During his active years at Springfield, Mr. Parker was a successful contractor and builder for about twelve years, until ill health caused by his army service compelled him to give up a regular routine of duties. He was for many years a member of the Grand Army Post of Springfield, and is a republican in politics.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Parker are: Walter F., of Cleveland; Beverly, who died in 1905; Charles, Otis and Clyde, all residents of Springfield; and Robert, who died at the age of twenty years.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 363

JOHN W. PARSONS, Treasurer, Springfield.  Mr. Parsons is a native of Springfield.  His father, Israel Parsons, removed from Harper’s Ferry, Va., in 1831, and settled in Springfield.  He still resides here, being now in the 81st year of his age.  The subject of this sketch was born July 25, 1838, and has been a resident of this city all his life.  When 14 years of age, he engaged as “message boy,” and subsequently learned telegraphy, and continued as operator until 1864, when he became manager of the Western Union office in Springfield, which position he still holds.  He served in the United States Telegraph Corps from May, 1861, to the spring of 1863; was a member of the City Council in 1868.  In October, 1876, he was elected Treasurer of Clark County, and was re-elected in 1878.  He is a member of Clark Lodge, No. 101, Springfield Chapter, No. 48, and Springfield Council, No. 17; also of the Palestine Commandery, No. 33; in each of which he has been the presiding officer and is now presiding in the Commandery.  He was married, in 1869, to Miss Lida, daughter of William Enoch.  his residence is No. 106 Yellow Spring street.  They have two children.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 895 - Transcribed by Sharon Wick

ROBERT STEVENSON PARSONS is giving specially effective and progressive administration of the office of superintendent of the public schools of the thriving little City of New Carlisle, and is doing much to advance the standard of educational work in Clark County.

Mr. Parsons was born in Greene County, this state, on the 28th of November, 1863, the place of his nativity having been the parental home farm near Fairfield. His father, James Parsons, was born in Virginia, was six years of age at the time of the family removal to Ohio in 1840, and was a resident of Miami County at the time of his death, in 1921, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years.

Robert S. Parsons continued his studies in the public schools of his native county until he had completed a course in the high school, and thereafter he devoted five years to successful work as a teacher in the schools of Greene County. In the furtherance of his higher education he entered Wittenberg College, at Springfield, and in this excellent institution he was graduated in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, his alma mater having conferred upon him, in 1897, the supplemental degree of Master of Arts, after he had taken an effective post-graduate course. Thereafter he was for two years a member of the faculty of Wartburg College at Waverly, Iowa, where he held the chair of mathematics. For the ensuing four years he was superintendent of the public schools of Bethel Township, Miami County, Ohio, and he next taught one year in the high school at Miamisburg. From 1900 to 1902 he was engaged in successful professional work in Porto Rico, where for the first year he was principal of the schools at Maricao and the second year was at the head of the high school in the seaport Town of Mayaquez. He then returned to the United States, and for eleven years he continued his able services as superintendent of the public schools of Beaver Creek Township, Greene County, Ohio. He was for the ensuing year principal of the High School at New Vienna, Clinton County, and the next three years found him giving characteristically effective administration as superintendent of the public schools of Jeffersonville, Fayette County, from which post he came in 1917 to that of superintendent of the schools at New Carlisle. Here he has brought to bear earnest work in systematizing the schools and introducing and carrying forward progressive executive and scholastic policies. Under his regime have been added the manual arts high school, the departments of drawing and home economics, and the establishing of junior and senior orchestras in the high school. His love of music has prompted him to develop its cultural work in this community, and in this and many other ways has he shown his fine sense of civic loyalty. He is an enthusiast in his profession and takes deep satisfaction in being helpful to aspiring youth. Thus he is found making the best of provisions for encouraging athletic sports in connection with the schools under his jurisdiction, the while his efforts are always bent to the adopting of the most modern and advanced methods and facilities in school work. Mr. Parsons is actively identified with the Ohio State Teachers Association, the Central Ohio Teachers Association and the National Teachers Association. He is affiliated with the Alpha Tau college fraternity.

The fine new public school building at New Carlisle was completed in 1921 at a cost of $170,000 and is attractively situated on a five-acre tract that was formerly the site of the old Snyder Hall Academy. In the schools are retained nine teachers, the total enrollment of pupils in 1922 was 254, fifty-four being in the high school and fifty-one in the junior high school. All departments are maintained in the modern building which is a credit and honor to the citizens of New Carlisle and in which they take justifiable pride.

In the year 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Parsons and Miss Emily J. Allen, of Miami County, and they have one son, James Allen, who graduates from the senior high school, class of 1923, at New Carlisle.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 221

MALCOMB H. PATTERSON, farmer; P. O. Vienna Cross Roads; he was born in Montgomery Co., Ohio, Nov. 2, 1839. His father, Charles C., was one of the leading carpenters of Dayton, Ohio. Malcomb went to Illinois in 1859, and Aug. 10, 1861, he enlisted in Co. D, 123d I. (mounted) V. I., having served in the famous Wilder’s Brigade, which, according to history, was never whipped. He was discharged at the close of the war at Springfield, Ill. He was one of the few who came out without a “scar,” but he had a bullet to go through his boot-leg, one through the top of his hat, and one to glance and strike him over the left eye. In 1865, he went to Missouri. There he was married to Miss Anna Beales, of Virginia. While in Missouri Mr. P. was engaged in farming. Nov. 18, 1869, he returned to Clark Co., Ohio, and located in Springfield, Ohio. In 1870, he settled in Harmony Township. As the result of his marriage to Miss Beales, four children have been born to them—Carrie, born in Missouri May 23, 1868; Nettie was born in Harmony Township July 23, 1870; Charles was born in Harmony Township Oct. 1, 1873, and Howard Lee was born in Springfield April 28, 1875. He is situated on a beautiful farm one mile west of Vienna—a man of fine social qualities; in politics, a “stalwart” Republican.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 966

JOHN B. PATTON, farmer, stock-grower and feeder; P. O. Springfield; was born at Donnelsville, this county, Dec. 24, 1846. He is the son of John and Christina A. (Bates) Patton, both natives of this State. His father was a physician, and died when our subject was 10 months old, leaving three helpless boys to the care of his mother; but his maternal grandfather, Henry Bates, afforded him, his mother and brothers that aid and protection in life of which they had been deprived by death. A common-school education and a commercial term, were his scholastic preparations for the stern duties of life. At the age of 18 or 19, he commenced business for himself, and rented his grandfather’s farm of 125 acres, paying his rent in a share of the crop. In 1878, he purchased his present farm of 160 acres, which he is bringing to a fine state of cultivation by the most approved methods of fertilization. He was married to Miss Carrie L. Brentlinger, daughter of Andrew Brentlinger of Montgomery Co., this State, March 2, 1871. To them four children have been given. Almost as soon as he attained his majority, he was honored and trusted by his people with office, and among others, he has honorably discharged the duties of Township Clerk and Assessor, and is at present Township Trustee and Justice of the Peace.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1053

RICHARD D. PATTON has been a resident of Springfield since 1904, and was here associated with railroad service until 1916, when he became traffic manager for the Ansted & Burk Company, the important milling concern that has contributed much to the commercial prestige of the city. He is now vice president and general manager of this important industrial corporation and is one of the vital and progressive business men of the city.

Mr. Patton was born at Morgantown, judicial center of Monongalia County, West Virginia, and the date of his nativity was March 11, 1873. He is a member of a family of eight children, of whom five are living. He is a son of Dr. Frederick H. and Eliza C. (Dorsey) Patton. Dr. Patton was major of a West Virginia regiment in the Union service in the Civil war, and after being captured by the enemy it was his to endure the hardships of both Libby and Andersonville Prisons, the names of which are odious in the history of the great conflict between the states of the North and the South. Dr. Patton, a physician and surgeon of exceptional ability, was chief surgeon of the Soldiers Home at Dayton, Ohio, at the time of his death.

Richard D. Patton was an infant at the time of the family removal from West Virginia to West Newton, Pennsylvania, where he gained his rudimentary education. He was about twelve years old when the family home was established at Dayton, Ohio, where he continued his studies in the public schools until he entered the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, a most excellent institution, the organization of which was later permitted to lapse, greatly to the regret of all familiar with its splendid record. In this academy Mr. Patton continued his studies three years, and he then found employment in a paper factory at Dayton, Ohio. Thereafter he was in railway service for somewhat more than ten years, and it was in this connection that he came to Springfield in 1904, as noted in a preceding paragraph.

Mr. Patton is a loyal member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the local Rotary Club, and is a staunch supporter of the progressive policies of these organizations. He is a republican, he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church, he is a member of the Lagonda and Country Clubs of Springfield, and in the Masonic fraternity his maximum York Rite affiliation is with the Springfield Commandery of Knights Templars, he having received also the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine.

In 1906 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Patton and Miss Mabel Burk, daughter of the late John W. Burk, to whom a memoir is dedicated in the preceding sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Patton have no children.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 195

N. T. PAULLIN, deceased. Uriah and Rebecca Paullin, his parents, were natives of Pennsylvania. They emigrated from Pennsylvania to Kentucky at a very early day, and in 1809 or 1810, to Greene Co., Ohio. It is said that Uriah Paullin made the first barrel of salt that was made at the Scioto Salt Works. He died in a few years after locating in Greene Co., having been the father of nine children. Newcomb T., the youngest child, was born in Greene Co., Jan. 18, 1811. He was raised to agricultural pursuits, and, after starting in life for himself, resided on the old homestead for about five years, when he moved to Clark Co. and located on a grazing farm, the greater part of which was in Greene Co. He was an enterprising man, and dealt extensively in stock. In 1854, he left the farm and moved to South Charleston, but continued the stock trade to the last. He had served his township as Trustee for a number of years, and was identified with the orders of Odd Fellows and Freemasons; was one of the charter members of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, of South Charleston. His marriage with Mary Ann Harpole was solemnized Dec. 20, 1832. To this union nine children were given—Jessie H., Joanna, Matilda, Cerelda, Elizabeth, infant daughter (deceased), Ann Amelia, Melissa and Emma. Mr. Paullin departed this life July 25, 1880. His widow survives him. She was born in Greene Co. June 21, 1816, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Harpole. They were natives of Virginia, he born May 8, 1786, and she Nov. 1, 1792. They settled in Greene Co. in 1812, having lived a short time in Ross Co. Nine children were born to them—Jesse, Mary Ann, John, Matilda, Phebe, William, Mellissa, Elizabeth and Peter. Mr. William Harpole departed this life in February of 1853, and his wife in June of 1866.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1072

JOHN PEARSON, farmer, P. O. Springfield. Mr. P. was born in Yorkshire, England, July 23, 1827, and is the son of John and Mary Pearson. He emigrated to America in 1850; landed in New York, and came direct to Springfield. Mr. Pearson not belonging to the aristocracy of England, his opportunities for attending school were very much limited. Therefore he appreciates very highly the “free school system” of the United States. He lived with his parents until 14 years old, when he hired out to work on a farm at 50 shillings (about $12 in United States money) per year. He continued to work on the farm until he came to America. About one year after his arrival here, he kept a boarding house for the men who were making the Columbus & Springfield Railroad, now a branch of the C., S. & C. After running the boarding house about one year, he rented a farm for a term of four year’s. When his lease expired, he moved to Illinois and purchased a farm, but, not liking the climate there, sold out and came back to Clark Co., Ohio, and bought a farm of 82 acres. He added to it until now he owns some 1,400 acres of splendid land. He was married, in England, Dec. 15, 1849, to Sarah, daughter of John and Anna Burnley. Of their eight children, five are still living, viz., Martha Ann, Mary Ellen, Eliza Ann, George E. and James B. Mr.’s. Pearson’s mother and one sister died on the ocean while coming to America. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson started in life with no fortune except good characters and good health, and have accumulated a part of their present fortune by their own labor, and a part they have inherited, Mr. Pearson and daughter Mollie visited his native home this last summer. They enjoyed their trip very much, and was well entertained, but Mr. P. prefers America to England. Two of the daughters are at present attending school at the “Springfield Female Seminary.” Mr. and Mrs. Pearson in their younger days worked very hard, but now they take the world easier. They have a beautiful home where they live, situated one mile east of Springfield, on the Charleston Pike.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 895

JOSEPH PEARSON, hotel and merchant, Catawba; son of William Pearson, a native of England, who came to America in the year 1832, and located in Catawba. At that time there were only two cabins here, Mr. Pearson erecting the third on the site where the M. E. Church stands. When young he learned the carpenter and cabinet trades, serving seven years as apprentice. He followed his business in the town until death. Joseph was born Feb. 12, 1827, in England; came to America with his parents when small; was raised in Catawba. When 16 years old, he engaged in carrying the United States mail between La Fayette and Urbana, and also several other long routes for two years. He then went to Cincinnati, Ohio; was employed as clerk on a merchant boat that run from Cincinnati to New Orleans; was engaged in that business three years. After he began for himself, he learned the cooper trade, and worked at it twenty-three years in Catawba. When the late rebellion broke out, he enlisted in the 44th O. V. I. He held the office of Sergeant; re-enlisted in the 8th O. V. C. as veterans at Knoxville, Tenn. He was engaged in some of the hardest battles of the war. He was four times married; first, April 8, 1848, to Miss Nancy Golden. His second marriage occurred Jan. 30, 1849, to Miss Mary Pliner. From this union they had six children—Joseph W., F. B., Elizabeth J., George F. and Charles L. Mrs. P. died Dec. 10, 1862. Her death was caused by her clothes catching fire and burning her so severely that death soon followed. His third marriage was celebrated Feb. 11, 1864, with Mrs. Elizabeth A. Palmer. From this union they had two children—Ettie May and Elizabeth A. Mrs. Palmer had three children by her first marriage—Jonathan C., Charles and Laura E. Palmer. Mrs. Pearson died Dec. 24, 1868. Mr. Pearson was married the last time Sept. 30, 1869, to Miss Sarah E., daughter of Benjamin Porter. They have one child—Levi Thomas. Mr. Pearson embarked in the hotel and mercantile business in 1875. He is doing a good business in both branches of his occupation. He has held several public offices, such as Trustee, Corporation Treasurer, Council, and member of the Republican Central Committee for the last nine years. He owns a nice farm a short distance north of Catawba, and also the hotel and business room in Catawba.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 978

WILLIAM C. PEEL, of the firm of Peel & Elster, manufacturers of dash moldings, neck yokes, clothes wringers, etc., Springfield.  Mr. Peel is a native of Germany, born Feb. 21, 1843.  His parents came to the United States in 1846, and located in Dayton, where they still reside.  The subject of this sketch learned the trade of carriage trimmer, and followed that as a business some sixteen years.  He came to Springfield in the fall of 1864, and has resided here, with the exception of the years 1870 and 1871, when he was engaged with Mr. Elster, his present partner, at Hillsboro, Highland Co.  The present firm was formed in 1873, and has since continued, now being located at 78 South Limestone street.  Mr. Peel is the inventor of the form of moldings which they manufacture, and which has a very large and general sale, not being confined even to this continent.  This firm also has a half interest in the Springfield Novelty Works, whose work is done in the same building with Peel & Elster.  They manufacture “Way’s eccentric mill pick,” and the “Universal tap wrench.”  It will thus be seen that Mr. Peel is the head of a kind of novelty machine-shop where a variety of small but important articles of universal use are manufactured.  The success of this firm but confirms what any observing visitor will see at once, that Mr. Peel possesses the peculiar q1ualifications so necessary to secure success in such an establishment.  With quick perception, rapidity of thought and action, and a natural mechanical mind, he gives the same attention to the perfection of details in the construction of a “wringer” or “wrench” that a master mechanic would in constructing a locomotive.  Mr. Peel’s residence is at the southwest corner of Factory and Pleasant streets.  He married, in 1866, Miss Viola L., daughter of John A. Shannon, deceased, who was formerly a carriage manufacturer of this city.  They have one child living—a daughter—Ida May.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 895

REV. JOHN PENCE, retired minister; P. O. Tremont City; was born in Rockingham Co., Va., Dec. 13, 1799; is a son of Henry and Catharine (Monger) Pence, natives of Virginia, the grandparents natives of Germany. Adam Pence, the grandfather, emigrated to America at a very early day. He served in the war of the Revolution at intervals during the entire seven years’ duration. An incident in the life of this early pioneer and patriot may be of interest to present and future generations. Near the close of the war, while he and several others of his companions and messmates were returning home from a campaign under Gen. Wayne, against the Indians, in the then “Northwest,” they came to the Ohio River, which was swollen to great dimensions by a freshet, and, having no means of crossing, they constructed a raft capable of carrying two persons across at one time. Mr. Pence and one other companion were the only swimmers, and they had to swim and pilot the raft across by means of a rope, and thus they proceeded, crossing and re-crossing five times, taking two persons each time, until the party of ten persons were safely landed on the opposite shore. This was a very hazardous undertaking, but, by these brave men and patriots, the crossing was safely effected. But, from this exposure and hardship, Mr. Pence contracted a rheumatic disease, which, seven years after, resulted in his death. Thus ended the life of one of America’s patriots, sacrificed for the benefit of future generations. Henry and family emigrated to Ohio and located in Warren Co. in 1810, residing there until 1823, when he became a resident of Montgomery Co., where he remained until his death; he died in 1861. His wife lived two months after his death, when she, too, fell asleep in the embrace of death. They were parents of six children; three now survive—John, Elizabeth and Julian. Politically, Mr. Pence was a stanch Democrat; religiously, a Lutheran, and an active member for many years, while his wife was an earnest member of the Reformed Church, but without any selfishness, and with a remarkable liberality and love, they always went together to each other’s church on Sacrament days, and communed together; this course they pursued during their entire lives. Our subject was brought up to farm labor till his majority, then he proceeded to study and prepare for the ministry. He studied three years with Rev. Thomas Winters; at the expiration of this time, on the 16th of June, 1824, he passed an examination at New Philadelphia, Ohio, and was ordained for the ministry and entered upon the work, first locating in Clark Co., and has continued in this and adjoining counties till five years ago, when he retired from active work and became a superannuate, having been actively engaged in ministerial work for half a century. He was married, June 27, 1827, to Miss Margaret, daughter of David and Margaret (Bruner) Jones, he a native of Pennsylvania and she of Maryland; their issue has been nine children; five now survive—Mary Jane, Martha, Margaret Ann, James H. and William A. Mr. Pence has had a long and active life, and has had the pleasure to extend the hand of fellowship to many a traveling mortal, some of whom have already passed on to the “golden shore;” and we trust that when Mr. Pence’s life’s journey shall be o’er, he will pass triumphantly and receive on the other shore “a crown of rejoicing.”

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1007

VALENTINE PENCE, farmer and millwright; P. O. New Carlisle. This gentleman was born in Rockingham Co., Va., June 28, 1819. He is the son of George and Christina (Crowbarger) Pence. The father was a native of Virginia, where he died in 1825. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania. She moved to Clinton Co., Ind., in 1836, where she died two years later. Valentine went to Indiana with his mother, and stayed with her until the spring of 1838, when he came to Clark County and commenced laboring as a millwright with his brother and Samuel Sprinkle, and continuing in this business for twelve years. He was married Oct. 4, 1842, to Catharine F., daughter of George and Catharine (Fair) Stafford, who were both natives of Ireland. Mr. Pence bought his present farm in Section 26, of Samuel Arnold, Aug. 16, 1845, since which time he has devoted his attention principally to farming. By his marriage with Miss Stafford he became father of two children—Caroline Elizabeth, born May 28, 1844, and Margaret Almira, born May 4, 1847. Caroline was married Nov. 6, 1872, by Rev. J. G. Black, to Thomas Swanger. Margaret was married Dec. 13, 1867, by Rev. L. G. Edgar, to Antony Stafford. Mr. Pence and wife are both energetic members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they have zealously labored for some time. Mr. P. was raised a Democrat, but has always voted the Whig and Republican ticket. He has served as Township Trustee for two terms with great credit to himself and constituents.

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

JOHN PERRIN, farmer; P. O. Springfield. John Perrin is the son of John Perrin, and was born on April 15, 1812, on the site of his present pretty home, which was then occupied by much ruder and plainer quarters; he had four brothers and two sisters, of whom only one brother and sister survive. Of his brothers, Ed and Joseph are no more, and William is a farmer in this neighborhood. In March, 1853, he married Miss Mary D. Roush, a native of Virginia. John Perrin, Sr., died in December, 1848, only surviving his wife eighteen months. Mr. Perrin has no uncles living; his family consists of five daughters and one son, all yet single and living at the paternal home; he has always been a farmer, and is one of those frank, open, plain, upright men, the best samples of which are found among the tillers of the soil; he supported the war freely financially, and in this, as in other matters, never shirked what he supposed to be his duty; he built his present handsome two-story brick residence in 1870, and is in very comfortable circumstances in life, and hale and hearty at 69 years.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 896

WILLIAM PERRIN, farmer; P. O., Springfield. This well-known and respected farmer was born in a log cabin in Springfield Township, Jan. 22, 1815, and is the son of John and Amelia (Ingram) Perrin, natives of Washington Co., Md., both of whom were born in the year 1778, and were the parents of six children, as follows: Edward (deceased), Joseph I. (deceased), John, William, Minerva E., and Emery (deceased). In 1806, he and family came to Springfield, and he bought the whole of Sec. 3, upon which was a log cabin and a small clearing, but by constant industry he added much to his first purchase, and at his death owned over 1,200 acres of land; he died Dec. 16, 1848, his wife having passed away June 8, 1847. William grew up under the parental roof, receiving but a limited education and making farming his life vocation; he was married March 25, 1849, to Dorothy Sturgeon, daughter of Jeremiah and Phoebe Sturgeon, natives of Ireland, where Mrs. Perrin was also born, coming to America when she was about 20 years of age. Of this union was born one son, John E., Oct. 4, 1850, who graduated in 1868 at Gundry & Hollingsworth’s Commercial College of Springfield, and who now resides at the homestead. Mrs. Perrin was a member of the United Presbyterian Church all her life, and died firm in that faith Oct. 27, 1878, dying as she had lived, an humble and devoted follower of Christ. Mr. Perrin lived in the cabin of his birth until about 1849, at which time he moved to the place where he now resides, and, having remodeled the house, has now one of the handsomest houses of Springfield Township; he has always been industrious and saving, and is the owner of 550 acres of first-class land; to public benefits and improvements he has ever been friendly, and in the affairs of his native county has always taken a deep interest; politically a Republican, he was a stanch upholder of the Union in the rebellion, and has ever been known as an obliging neighbor, an honest man, and a useful, enterprising citizen.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 896

MELVIN PETERS, tin-smith; P. O. South Charleston. Samuel J. Peters, his father, was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, in 1829. He was reared a farmer, and followed that occupation till about 21 years of age, when he began the trade of blacksmith. Shortly after completing his trade he removed to Springfield, Clark Co.; thence in a few years to Vienna, of the same county, and finally, in 1848, to South Charleston. Here, as well as at Springfield and Vienna, he prosecuted his trade. In August of 1862, he enlisted in Co. C, 110th O. V. I., and served till the close of the war. He was captured at the battle of Winchester, but escaped imprisonment by being a member of the order of F. & A. M. On receiving an honorable discharge at the close of the war, he returned to his family, but his health was so impaired that he was obliged to retire from business. His marriage with Nancy Weaver had been celebrated in Springfield in 1844. To them five children were given—Oliver K., Melvin, Charles B., Flora and Edwin. Samuel J. Peters departed this life Nov. 17, 1875. Mrs. Nancy Peters is still living, and resides in South Charleston. She was born in West Virginia, January, 1825. Melvin, the subject of this sketch, was born at Vienna, Clark Co., Ohio, Dec. 22, 1846. He was engaged in various ways until he became of age. He then went to learn the tinner’s trade. In February of 1873, he started in the business for himself and now commands a good trade in stoves and tinware of all kinds. On the 29th of January, 1868, he was united in marriage with Luvenia Barratt. She was born in Clark Co., Ohio, but raised in La Salle Co., Ill. June 7, 1845, is the date of her birth. Four children have been born to them. Two died in infancy, and Jessie M. at the age of 8, of diphtheria, Oct. 25, 1879. Frank W., the oldest, is the survivor.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1072

NATHANIEL F. PETERS. There is no doubt but that many of the most useful citizens have been produced in the rural regions, and that farm work prepares a man for almost any walk of life. The farmer is of necessity somewhat independent, and early learns to use his wits to provide himself with many of the necessities of life. He not only knows how to till the soil and raise stock, but is also a fair machinist and handy man, and on going from the farm into the city can turn his hand to many different kinds of work. Nathaniel F. Peters, of Springfield, is one of the farm-born-and-bred men of Clark County, who, after a successful career as a farmer, is now profitably engaged with the Kelly Auto Truck Company.

Nathaniel F. Peters was born in Franklin County, Virginia, October 2, 1844, a son of Samuel and Hannah (Flora) Peters, both of whom were born, reared, married and died in Virginia. Nathaniel F. Peters was reared in his native county and was brought up on his father’s homestead, where he was early taught to perform the work of the farm. The outbreak of war between the North and the South fired his young blood and, ardently espousing the Southern cause, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, became a member of Longstreet’s Corps, Pickett’s Division, General Lee’s command, and for three years was color bearer for his company. During his service he received three gunshot wounds. His period of service was terminated by the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, and following that event he returned home and resumed farming. However, conditions were so changed by the war that he sought new surroundings, and in 1867 came to Springfield, where he spent one year, and then went to Delaware County, Indiana, and there continued to farm and work in sawmills for two years. Returning to Virginia he became an agent for a company selling washing compounds, and traveled about selling this product for two years. Following his marriage in 1869 he was engaged in farming in Franklin County, Virginia, for four years, but was not contented there for he felt that conditions were too hard during the Reconstruction period, and, having liked Clark County during the year he had lived in it, he returned to Ohio and for a year was engaged in farming in Clark County. Then, for a time, he was employed in a sawmill in the country regions, and later in one at Springfield. For some years he was a watchman for the Big Four Railroad Company, and now holds the same position with the Kelly Auto Truck Company.

On January 5, 1869, Mr. Peters was married in Franklin County, Virginia, to Julia A. Childress, who was born at Blackwater, Franklin County, Virginia. They became the parents of the following children: Mary, who is Mrs. Lewis Overhultzer, of North Manchester, Indiana; Theodore, who lives at Springfield, Ohio; Daisy, who is Mrs. John Socker, of Springfield; Myrtle, who is Mrs. William Myers, of Live Oak, Florida; and Harry, who lives at Springfield. Mr. Peters is a democrat, but while always giving the candidates and principles of his party a faithful support, he has not been active in politics. As a soldier Mr. Peters did what he considered his duty, offering his strength and life in defense of the cause he loved, but when it lost, he just as bravely returned to civil life and has since performed its obligations with equal courage. While his business interests have taken him away from the place of his nativity he has never lost his love for the Old Dominion, nor his pride in her history, and he is proud to be numbered as one of her sons. Always dependable, the Kelly Auto Truck Company place implicit trust in him, and feel that they have in him one of the most faithful of their employes, and they appreciate him and his work. Among his associates Mr. Peters is held in high regard, and he has many warm, personal friends in the city and throughout the county.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 421

LEWIS PETRE, farmer; P. O. Springfield; he is the son of Ludwick and Elizabeth (Summers) Petre, and was born in Boonsboro, August 20, 1808, at the foot of South Mountain, Md.; his father and mother died when he (Lewis) was but 4 years old, when he was placed under the care of a guardian; said guardian, in accordance with the law of Maryland at that time, sent him to learn a trade; his boss being a tyrannical man, and not liking the trade (that of cabinet-making), at the end of six months, with the aid of his uncle and sisters, he ran off and went to Virginia, but soon returned and began the trade of boot making, at which he worked until he came to Ohio, and to Springfield traveling all the way on foot, arriving here Nov. 6, 1830; he worked at his trade here until 1842, when he moved to his present home, having bought the farm some years previous. Mr. Petre started for himself without a cent of money, and has, by his own exertions, risen to his present condition; he was married April 17, 1851, to Angeline Printz; six children have been born to them, viz.: Andrew J., Frances E. (deceased), Mollie E., Lewis D., Laird V. and Charles H. Mr. Petre’s father was born Jan. 13, 1765, and died April 15, 1811; his mother was born Nov. 22, 1775, and died Dec. 16, 1812. Mrs. Petre is the daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Printz, and was born Sept. 22, 1820; her parents were among the early settlers of this county; her mother died Jan. 19, 1862, and her father May 18, 1864. We should have stated before that Lewis, in 1832, sold out here and went back to Maryland with the intention of remaining, but not liking his native home as well as this county, he returned here the same year.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 899

CHARLES L. PETTICREW. Well known in mercantile circles of Springfield is Charles L. Petticrew, the proprietor of the “Walk-Over” Boot Shop at Nos. 3 and 5 East Main Street. He has carried on this business for about ten years, during which time he has built up a large and successful enterprise, and at the same time has established himself favorably in the confidence and esteem of his fellow-merchants and patrons. He is a native of Springfield and was born June 28, 1863, a son of the late John L. and Columbia (Harris) Petticrew, and a member of a family of Scotch and Irish origin.

The Petticrew family settled at an early date in the wilds of Michigan, where the great-grandfather of Charles L. Petticrew met his death at the hands of the Indians. His son, David Petticrew, the grandfather of Charles L., migrated to Ohio in 1823 and settled first at Springfield. Subsequently he went to near Dayton, but later returned to Springfield, where he died August 30, 1856. For a number of years he was engaged in the wagon-making business, having his shop and residence at the corner of West Main and Wittenberg streets, which shop and home were for many years landmarks in that part of the city. He became a prominent citizen, served in the City Council and was a member of the old volunteer fire department, and his funeral was attended by the City Council and by “Neptune” and “Rover” fire companies in a body. He was a member of the first English Lutheran Church established at Springfield. Mr. Petticrew married Mary Lehman, who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1797, and died at Springfield, March 12, 1875. She was a daughter of David Lehman, who came to Ohio from Maryland in 1805, and lived for a time on the Cox farm near Dayton, but later removed to Clark County.

John L. Petticrew, father of Charles L., was born at Springfield, February 2, 1827. He was for many years engaged in the quarry business with his brother Ambrose at the foot of Plum Street, and was a man of well-known business integrity. He also took an active part in civic affairs and served as a member of the City Council for several terms. His religious connection was with the First Lutheran Church. His wife, Columbia, was born August 25, 1828, in a log house at the corner of West Main and Wittenberg streets, a daughter of William Morrison Harris, who with his family left Maryland for Ohio between 1816 and 1820 and located at Springfield. He married Lydia Ann Mayne, who was born September 6, 1807, a daughter of John Mayne, of South Mountain, five miles from Frederick City, Maryland. John Mayne served as a soldier during the War of 1812, as a member of President Madison’s body-guard, his wife having been a personal friend of “Dollie” Madison, and having, with the President’s family, watched the burning of the national capital by the British. John L. Petticrew and Columbia Harris were married in Clark County, Ohio, June 14, 1847, and became the parents of the following children: Albert E., born June 29, 1848, died May 3, 1915, married Louisa Stockford; Orin L., born March 26, 1853, died in January, 1921; Ella A., born April 6, 1858, died September 13, 1921, married Rev. Samuel Schwarm; John W., born November 15, 1860, now a resident of Dayton; Charles L., of this review; Lydia M., born December 4, 1865, died October 28, 1917, married W. W. Wittmeyer; and Flora, born March 29, 1869, unmarried.

Mr. Petticrew married Miss Elizabeth M. Petot, the daughter of Charles and Catherine (Speck) Petot, of Londonville, Ohio, both natives of France. Mr. and Mrs. Petticrew have one son, Ralph A., born September 14, 1890, who was educated in the public schools and at Nelson’s Business College, and is now associated with his father in the shoe business.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 42

QUINCY A. PETTS, County Auditor, Springfield; is a son of Dr. John and Phoebe (Howe) Petts; he was a native of Massachusetts and she of New Hampshire; they came from Kansas to Clark County in 1860, and he has since resided in Springfield, being retired, and now in the 86th year of his age, his wife having died here in 1877. The subject of this sketch was born in Nichols, Tioga Co., N. Y., April 25, 1841; located in Springfield in the spring of 1860; served three months in the 2d O. V. I., during which he partook in the famous first Bull Run battle; he was a member of the Champion Hotel Company which built the Lagonda House, of which company he was for several years President, and is now a director; he was also connected with the Agricultural Society as director; was associate editor of the Daily Republic from 1864 to 1871; was editor of Leffel’s Mechanical News from 1871 to November, 1875; was elected Auditor of Clark County in October, 1875, re-elected in 1877, and is a candidate on the Republican ticket for the same office in the approaching election; is a member of Springfield Lodge I. O. O. F., and also of the Royal Arcanum order. He was married in 1863 to Miss Lavinia, daughter of William Grant, an old resident of Springfield. From this union have been born three daughters, two of whom are living.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 899

JOHN PFEIFER, who is vice president and factory manager of the Springfield Auto Lock Company, has the further distinction of being the inventor of the modern and valuable device for the manufacturing of which this company was organized. He has exceptional inventive talent, has taken out sixty patents on cash registers, five on changemakers, and various patents on grave vaults, dictaphones, morgue tables, automatic curtain-hangers, signal devices, and locks for automobiles.

Mr. Pfeifer was born at Springfield, Ohio, on the 9th of June, 1866, and is a son of the late Charles and Elizabeth (Berg) Pfeifer, who were born in Germany, whose marriage was solemnized in Pennsylvania, and who established their home at Springfield, Ohio, in the early ’60s. Charles Pfeifer, a skilled blacksmith, here entered the employ of the Mast & Foos Company, in the large manufacturing plant of which he held a position as foreman for many years. He was fifty-one years of age at the time of his death, in 1895, and his widow passed away in 1920, at the age of seventy-three years.

In addition to receiving the discipline of the public schools of his native city, John Pfeifer took courses in bookkeeping and mechanical drawing, under the direction of private instructors. In 1881, at the age of fifteen years, he entered upon an apprenticeship in the tool-making department of the St. John Machine Company, at Springfield. Four years later he went to Cincinnati and entered the employ of the Eclipse Sewing Machine Company, but within a few months he transferred his services to the Dueber Watch Works at Newport, Kentucky. In 1887 he took a position with the Fay Watch Case Company, at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, where he won his first assignment as a foreman in the tool department when he was in his nineteenth year.

In 1900 Mr. Pfeifer returned to Springfield and became foreman of the tool room of the St. John Sewing Machine Company, but two and one-half years later he went to Dayton and entered the employ of the great National Cash Register Company, in the tool department of the plant of which he spent the next five years. He then re-entered the employ of the St. John Sewing Machine Company, and a year later he returned to Dayton with the National Cash Register Company, for which corporation he thereafter did important research and experimental work. On his return to his native city he organized a company for the manufacturing of the Champion Cash Register, which was invented and patented by him, but three years later he sold these interests to the Mast & Foos Company and joined this corporation in the capacity of superintendent of its cash-register department. Two years later the company sold its cash-register business to the Toledo Computing Scales Company, and with the latter company Mr. Pfeifer continued his connection for the ensuing nine months. From Toledo he then returned to Springfield, and after here being in charge of the tool room of the Foos Gas Engine Company two years he became superintendent of the Standard Trimmer Company of this city. A year later he resumed his alliance with the Foos Gas Engine Company, as foreman of the tool room, and he was advanced to the office of general superintendent of the plant, a position which he retained five years. He then, in July, 1920, organized the Springfield Auto Lock Company, which is developing an important industrial enterprise in the manufacturing of automatic automobile locks and other devices likewise invented and patented by him. He is an active and valued member of the Springfield Engineers Club and is one of the progressive and representative business men of his native city. He and his wife are communicants of St. John’s Lutheran Church.

In 1889 Mr. Pfeifer wedded Miss Lillian Bauer, who was born in the City of Cincinnati, a daughter of Frederick Bauer. They have one child. Hazel, who married Arthur Desher, of Springfield, and who now reside at Ford City, Pennsylvania, and have two children, Bettie and Helen.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 412

CHARLES H. PIERCE, news depot, books, stationery and wall paper, Springfield. Mr. Charles Pierce cast his lot with the people of this city just a quarter of a century ago, and his life and present honorable position here in business and public esteem are an apt illustration of what industry, energy and honest effort will do. Commencing as a paper carrier, Mr. Pierce has advanced steadily in business to his present position of leading bookseller and stationer. Mr. Pierce was a participant in the late unpleasantness—taking part in the Tennessee campaign under Burnside, as Orderly Sergeant, in the 129th O.V. I., serving for a period of nine months, of which service the siege of Cumberland Gap was a prominent event. Mr. Pierce at once impresses you as being an earnest, sincere man, genuine in his feelings and sentiments, and his excellent reputation in the community fully bears out this favorable impression. Mr. Pierce married Miss Maria T. French sixteen years ago, and his family consists of two boys and one girl, and he is yet in the prime of vigorous manhood, with excellent prospects ahead.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 900

S. L. PIERCE, retired woolen manufacturer, Springfield; one of the oldest living residents of Clark County; his father, Gilbert Pierce, was one of the pioneers of this county, having removed here from New Hampshire about 1810, settled in the vicinity of South Charleston, and subsequently became a large land owner, and continued to reside in this county until his decease. The subject of this sketch remained on the farm with his parents during his youth, and in early manhood learned the trade of tanner, but followed it only a short time; then became connected with his brother Rufus in a fulling and carding mill, which gradually developed into a manufactory of woolens; his brother died a few years after their partnership was formed, and S. L. purchased the widow’s interest and continued the business, until failing health compelled him to withdraw from active business. Mr. Pierce has been a resident of Clark County seventy years, forty of which he was actively identified with the business of Springfield; his residence property, at the southeast corner of High and East streets, he purchased about forty years ago. It then contained about 30 acres and included the woolen mill; it now contains about 6 acres. About ten years since, he built his present handsome residence on the site of the previous dwelling, so he has resided on the same site for nearly forty years, and is now in feeble health, spending the remnant of his days amid the scenes and surroundings which remind him of the memories of a half-century gone by. He has been twice married; his first wife was Margaret, daughter of Robison Fletcher, who was also one of the early residents of Madison Township; she died in 1862, having borne him nine children, six of whom are now living. Two sons, Jefferson and Madison, are residents of Indiana; another son, Franklin M., and Mrs. N. T. Sprague are residents of Vermont; another daughter, Mrs. George Canfield, resides in London, Madison Co., this State, and Sallie C. is a grown daughter at home. Mr. Pierce’s present wife, nee Emaline Benedict, of Cincinnati, is a native of Maine, a cheerful, kind-hearted lady, and remarkably active for her age (70).

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 900

WILLIAM PIMLOTT, coal dealer, Springfield. William Pimlott was born in Derbyshire, Eng., Jan. 22, 1843; emigrated to America in 1863, and located in Syracuse, N. Y., where he lived some three years, when he removed to Brockport, N.Y., to take charge of the large reaper and mowing manufacturing establishment of Johnson, Untley & Co., as foreman. After superintending said establishment some two years, he came to Springfield, Ohio, and engaged with Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly as foreman of the cutter-bar department, with whom he remained ten years. He then established a paint factory on South Limestone street, which he carried on one year and then sold out; he then opened a coal office on High street in connection with his interests in the mines; at the end of eighteen months he sold his interest in the coal trade in Springfield to E. S. Kelly, whom he had taken into partnership; he then opened his present office on Limestone street. When Mr. Pimlott first engaged in the coal trade in Springfield, his sales were about two car loads per week; his trade has increased until now it amounts to one hundred car loads per week; for the year 1880 his sales aggregated $100,000; he owns a one-half interest in two coal mines in Jackson Co., Ohio, one on the Ohio Southern (formerly Springfield Southern) railroad, and the other on the Dayton & Southeastern. The aggregate capacity of these mines is about twenty-five carloads daily. While Mr. Pimlott had charge of the Brockport establishment, he invented an automatic governor for self-raking reapers, which proved to be very useful for Johnson, Untley & Co.’s machines, but they refusing to pay for the benefit derived from this improvement, Mr. Pimlott sold the patent to Whiteley, Fassler & Kelly. He also invented an improvement which was applied to self-raking reapers, that enables the driver to change the position of the rake to suit either tall or short grain, without stopping the machine. This he sold to Whiteley & Co. also. Mr. Pimlott is a member of Clark Lodge, F. & A. M. and a member of Springfield Lodge, No. 33, I. O. O. F.; he was married in 1862 to Mary Ann Taylor, to whom three children were born. This wife died June, 1870. He was again married in 1871, this time to Ada M. Gardner, daughter of Robert Gardner, of Springfield, Ohio. With this union there are four children. Mr. Pimlott’s parents came to America in 1865; his father died in 1870; his mother is still living. While Mr. Pimlott is yet a young man, he ranks among the most active businessmen of Springfield.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 900

JOHN L. PLUMMER has been established in the practice of law at Springfield since 1886, and has long held secure vantage-place as one of the representative members of the bar of Clark County. A splendid achievement that stands to his enduring honor is that of having organized the Merchants & Mechanics Savings & Loan Association, of which he has been official attorney from its inception and of which he has been the president for the past several years. This organization, through its liberal and well ordered functioning, has done much to further the industrial advancement and general civic prosperity of Springfield.

Mr. Plummer was born on a farm near Kewanee, Illinois, September 27, 1857, and is a son of Levi M. and Cynthia Ann (Bayless) Plummer. Nathan Plummer, grandfather of the subject of this review, was a native of Maryland, and the family home was established in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the pioneer days, removal later being made to Adams County. Shortly after his marriage Levi M. Plummer removed to Illinois, but about eight years later he returned with his family to Ohio and re-established his home in Adams County. His entire active career was marked by close association with farm enterprise, of which his father had been a pioneer representative in the old Buckeye State. Both he and his wife continued to reside in Adams County until their deaths.

The boyhood of John L. Plummer was passed in Logan and Adams counties, Ohio, and he early became inured to the sturdy discipline of farm life. After having profited by the advantages of the district schools he was for one year a student at Geneva College, Northwood. Later he graduated from the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he received the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts. He largely defrayed the expenses of his higher education by teaching school, he having taught two years in the district schools and one year in Warren County. While at Lebanon he began the study of law, in the office and under the effective preceptorship of James M. and John E. Smith. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1885, and in April of the following year he opened an office at Springfield, where he has since been engaged in active and successful practice and where he has been concerned in much important litigation, with enviable reputation as a resourceful trial lawyer and well fortified counselor. A stalwart advocate of the cause of the republican party, Mr. Plummer was elected in 1890 to the State Senate, in which he gave characteristically loyal and effective service during his term of two years. He declined to become a candidate for re-election and has preferred to confine his activities to the work of his profession and to his business interests rather than to hold public office. He was president of the Springfield Commercial Club, which was later reorganized as the Chamber of Commerce, and he has served also as president of the Clark County Bar Association. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church.

October 23, 1889, recorded the marriage of Mr. Plummer and Miss Anna Willard Brain, of Springfield. They have no children.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 30

SAMUEL POWELL, farmer; P. O. Tremont City; born in Chester Co., Penn., Feb. 20, 1823; is a son of Thomas and Catharine (Wright) Powell, natives of Pennsylvania; the grandparents also supposed to be natives of Pennsylvania; Thomas and wife and also the grandparents always resided in Pennsylvania, and died there; Thomas died about 1873 or 1874; his wife died some thirty years previous; they were parents of eight children; five now survive—Samuel, Thomas, Lewis, Jane and Allen. Mr. Powell was a farmer by occupation. Was drafted in the war of 1812, in which he served for a short time. He was an active church member most of his life, first in the Episcopal Church and afterward in the Presbyterian. Mr. Powell, our subject, was raised to farm labor. In 1845, he became a resident of Ohio, locating in Springfield, remaining there some six months; thence located nine miles above Columbus, where he farmed one year; thence back near Springfield, and farmed two years; thence into Springfield and became a fireman on the Little Miami R. R.; thence became engineer, which position he held for more than eight years; thence he run a stationary engine for an alcohol manufactory for five years, and continued as an engineer in the city of Springfield a greater part of the time till spring of 1879, when he bought and located upon the farm where he now resides; his farm consists of 99 acres of land, about 75 of which are in cultivation, with good improvements. Mr. Powell was married in the fall of 1844, just before coming to Ohio, to Miss Hannah, daughter of John and Eleanor (Lewis) Dushane, natives of Wilmington, Del.; issue, five children—Susie, Ellie, John, Kittie and Hattie. His wife and most of his children are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Powell started in life with no capital; followed engineering twenty-seven years, and farming the balance of his life; has now a good farm, and although not entirely out of debt, yet is in a position to live comfortably the balance of his life.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1008

W. H. PRETZMAN, baker and confectioner, Springfield. Mr. Pretzman is truly a unique character, and of a type rarely met with, and if “Charity covereth a multitude of sins,” Mr. W. H. Pretzman’s election is sure. He was born in Hagerstown, Md., and came to Springfield twenty-five years ago and established himself in the bakery business, which he has followed through various vicissitudes up to the present time, now doing the leading business in that line. Mr. Pretzman married Miss Anna T. Barcafer in 1829; he has a family of one boy and three girls, all bright children, but one of his daughters, little Fannie, is particularly interesting and unusually intelligent and universally beloved. Mr. Pretzman was the baker for four regiments of Banks’ Brigade in 1862, and went through the Shenandoah Valley campaign, having vivid recollections of some of the hot contests with “Stonewall Jackson;” he was taken prisoner in battle, thrown into Libby Prison, where he dragged out five weary months; then he again plied his vocation with the army in the neighborhood of Harper’s Ferry. In 1865, he established a bakery on the site of the present Black’s Opera House, removing in 1867 to his present location, in which he has done thirteen years’ of thriving business, assisted by his excellent wife, and from an humble commencement on borrowed money, Mr. and Mrs. Pretzman have advanced to a most comfortable position in life, having acquired among several other nice properties, a charming home, and their business is a permanent and assured success. This worthy couple are both conspicuous for their unostentatious charities. Mr. Pretzman is known by all as a prominent temperance reformer, being one of the Executive Committee of the Murphy Club. None needing food, pecuniary assistance, or encouragement ever appeal in vain to him; he is a member in good standing of Springfield Lodge, No. 33, I. O. O. F., of the Lutheran Church, and takes a leading part in all charitable enterprises.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 901

EVAN C. PRICE has devoted nearly thirty years to one of Springfield’s prominent industries, the Indianapolis Switch & Frog Company, entering the service of that corporation in a minor capacity and is now its vice president, secretary and treasurer. He is also president and treasurer of the Auto Signal Company.

Mr. Price was born in Champaign County, Ohio, at Powhattan, February 26, 1870. His father, Evan R. Price, as a young man was a clerk in the Baldwin stores in Clark County. He enlisted and served as a Union soldier with the Sixty-sixth Ohio Infantry, and after the war was in the implement business at Circleville and still later was a farmer. He married Mary Jane Wilson, a relative of the pioneer Baldwin family of Clark County.

Evan C. Price was two years of age when his father died, and after that he was reared in Clark County in the home of his grandfather Wilson. He attended the common schools, had two years in the Ohio State University, and for a time was in the laundry business at Cleveland. He lost all his accumulations there during the panic of 1893, and somewhat later returned to Clark County and in 1894 went with the Indianapolis Switch and Frog Company.

Mr. Price has been very active in civic as well as business circles, and has particularly devoted time and means to the Y. M. C. A. He is a Presbyterian. For two years he was chairman of the committee handling the War Savings Stamps in Clark County. He is a member and director of the Chamber of Commerce.

On November 25, 1896, Mr. Price married Miss Sarah L. Hodge, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 166

BENJAMIN F. PRINCE, Professor, Springfield. Benjamin F. Prince, A.M. Professor in Wittenberg College, was born Dec. 12, 1840, in Champaign Co., Ohio. His ancestors came to this country about the middle of the last century, and were settlers in Eastern Pennsylvania; his grandfathers, Christian Norman and Adam Prince, with their wives, settled in the forests of Champaign County, the one in 1805, the other in 1809. Both were prosperous farmers and succeeded in gaining a competency for themselves and their children. His father was William Prince, born in Kentucky in 1807, and his mother, Sarah Nauman, born in Ohio in 1809; they were married June 29, 1827. William Prince became a successful farmer and a man of influence in the community in which he lived; he died in 1848; his widow departed this life Jan. 12, 1881. Benjamin F. was the fifth of six children who grew to maturity; he was brought up to the labors of the farm, and received his early education in the district school; in 1860, he entered the Preparatory Department of Wittenberg College; he graduated from this institution in 1865, and at the opening of the next session he proceeded to the study of theology; in the spring of 1866, he was appointed Tutor in said institution; in 1869, Principal of Preparatory Department and Assistant Professor of Greek; in 1873, Professor of Natural History, and in 1878, Professor of Greek and History, which position he now holds. In 1869, he was married to Ella Sanderson, of Springfield, Ohio. Miss Sanderson was the daughter of T. P. Sanderson, a lawyer of Philadelphia, editor of the Daily News of that city; in 1861, chief clerk to Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, and afterward Colonel in the regular army. Miss Sanderson received her education in the schools of Philadelphia, and in the Springfield Seminary, from which she graduated in 1866.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 901

BENJAMIN F. PRINCE, editor of this history of Springfield and Clark County, is president of the Clark County Historical Society, and for many years has been a recognized authority on local history.

Doctor Prince was born at Westville, Champaign County, Ohio, December 12, 1840, son of William and Sarah (Nauman) Prince. Much the greater part of his life’s associations and work have identified him with Springfield’s great institution of higher education, Wittenberg College. He graduated A. B. there in 1865, received his Master of Arts degree in 1868, and in 1891 Wittenberg awarded him the Doctor of Philosophy Degree. While Doctor Prince was a student of theology for a time, his life work has been education, and he has held a chair in the faculty of Wittenberg College since 1866. Doctor Prince was editor of the book “Centennial of Springfield,” published in 1901, and has contributed many articles on historical topics. He is a member of the American Historical Association, the American Economics Association, and is a director of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. Doctor Prince is a republican, is a member of the Lutheran Church, and belongs to the Men’s Literary and Lutheran Clubs at Springfield.

August 3, 1869. he married Miss Ellen Sanderson, of Springfield. She died February 17, 1911.

Source: A Standard History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Benjamin F. Prince, 1922, page 433

JAMES PRINGLE, farmer; P. O. South Charleston. Among the pioneer families of Madison Township, the Pringles deserve mention. In 1810, Thomas Pringle, with his son, James, and family, emigrated from Kentucky and settled in the township above mentioned. Thomas was of English birth; was in the British Army when it was defeated by the French at Quebec. He did not return to his native land but located in Pennsylvania, where he married, and where his son James (the only one of whom we have any account) was born Dec. 26, 1782. They soon moved to Kentucky. Susannah, wife of Thomas Pringle, died Sept. 21, 1807. He survived till Dec. 21, 1823, and was about 90 years of age. The marriage of James Pringle with Sarah Vance was consummated April 11, 1805. She was of Scotch descent—born in Kentucky, May 20, 1788. On coming to Ohio they purchased 87½ acres of land, and in the course of time, by hard labor, coupled with economy and integrity, obtained a handsome competency. They were members of the Presbyterian Church, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of all who knew them. He was Ruling Elder in the church for nearly forty years. His earthly career closed Aug. 1, 1867, when be fell asleep in Jesus. His wife followed April 20, nine years later. Their children were four in number, and named as follows: Thomas, David V., William D. and James, the subject of this memoir. He was born in Madison Township, Clark Co., Ohio, Feb. 6, 1815, and was raised to agricultural pursuits, which, in connection with stock-dealing, has been his principal occupation. He was united in marriage with Miss Susan A. Bales Feb. 5, 1835. Susan A. was born in Frederick Co., Va., March 5, 1815. James and Susan A. Pringle are the parents of eight children. Sarah Jane, the only survivor, was born April 16, 1846. She is now the wife of J. M. Jones, whose sketch appears in this work.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 1073

T. J. PRINGLE, attorney at law, Springfield. T. J. Pringle is a native of Clark County, being born one mile west of South Charleston in 1838, coming from a family of old pioneers; his grandfather was among the early settlers of Ohio from Kentucky; both of his parents are living, each of them having almost reached threescore and ten. In 1856, he entered Oberlin College, leaving after reaching the senior class, in 1857; returning to Springfield he read law with Messrs. Shellabarger & Goode, and in 1864 was admitted to the bar; in 1870, he improved his condition in life by sharing his name and fortunes with Miss Poague, of Greene County. Their family consists of two daughters and one son. Mr. Pringle was Prosecuting Attorney for a period of over seven years, just prior to 1873, during which incumbency he prosecuted two important and memorable cases; first, that of the burglars’ thus terminating what was known as the “burglars’ reign” here, to which the people had been subjected for some four years, by a sworn band of twenty-five or thirty men, comprising on its infamous roll the names of the scions of some of Springfield’s best families; the second case alluded to was that of a defaulting Treasurer in 1873, who was short to the city nearly $100,000, about $40,000 of which was recovered. On July 12, 1875, Mr. Pringle formed a law copartnership with Mr. Shellabarger (with whom he commenced reading law ten years previous), under the name of Shellabarger & Pringle, which partnership continued until Mr. Shellabarger left Springfield four years later. Mr. Pringle is an urbane gentleman of rather distinguished appearance and dignified bearing; speaks tersely and to the point, vigorous in debate, and is what might be termed a solid lawyer in the sense that one would say a solid business man; he would impress a jury less by brilliant oratory and pathos than by clean-cut, sledge-hammer argument, and a confidence in the integrity of the man. His practice has been successful, and is large and profitable. Mr. Pringle is a hale man, with superior powers of endurance, and his and Mrs. Pringle’s ancestors were rather remarkable for longevity. Mr. Pringle’s home on High street (No. 344) is a handsome one, and his well-directed professional efforts have been substantially rewarded by exceedingly comfortable (if not luxurious) circumstances in life. In 1879, he was elected a member of the Ohio Senate, and is at present a member of that body.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 902

MRS. ATHALINDA PRINTZ, Springfield. Mrs. Printz is the widow of Peter Printz, deceased; she lives in a fine large brick house on the old homestead farm, located four miles south of Springfield, between the Clifton and Yellow Spring Pikes; she is the daughter of John and Margaret (McBeth) Kelly, and was born in this county Aug. 23, 1822. Mr. Printz was born in Hagerstown, Md., Sept. 7, 1811; he came to Ohio and to Clark County with his parents in 1815 and settled on the above-mentioned farm. Peter and Athalinda were married March 23, 1841; eleven children were born to them, viz., Isaiah C., Mary M., Sarah O. (deceased), Silas W., William G., Oliver K. (deceased), Daniel L. (deceased), Ruth Ann, P. Franklin, Emma J. and J. Eugene. Isaiah was married, May 22, 1866, to Harriet Courson; Mary was married, April 9, 1879, to Fletcher Rine; Silas was married, April 3, 1879, to Charlotte Jenkins; Ruth was married, Oct. 14, 1880, to Samuel Bollman. Mr. Printz lived with his parents on the home farm during their life-time, and after their death retained the farm, paying the rest of the heirs their share in money. Mrs. Printz’s father was a native of Kentucky and her mother of Ohio; Athalinda was left an orphan when 3 years old by the death of her father. The Kellys were among the first settlers of this county. Mrs. Printz is one of those good, motherly women, who never ceases to look after the cares of her children; her sons, Frank and John, carry on the farm.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 903

DANIEL C. PUTNAM, of the firm of Andrews, Wise & Putnam. Mr. Putnam, like the other members of this firm, is a native of Massachusetts; he was born in Fitchburg March 10, 1844; his youth was spent on a farm and in attending school. On his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the army (his father having objected to his enlisting previously), and, leaving the high school, joined the 25th Mass. V. I., of which his uncle, Edwin Upton, was Colonel, and he served as a member of that regiment until the regiment was mustered out in August, 1865. After returning from the army, he went to Keene, N. H., where his father owned a tract of timber land, and he was engaged in lumbering there until the spring of 1867, when he came West. After prospecting considerable and finding nothing in particular, and being determined to stay in the West, he engaged with a contractor then building a gravel road into this city, and shoveled gravel about three months; in the meantime, having become acquainted with Rice & Co., he came into Springfield the fall of 1868, and was in the employ of that firm about a year, after which he determined to complete the education which his enlistment had broken off; by teaching and attending school as opportunity offered, he graduated at Worthington in June, 1874; he was Superintendent of the Yellow Springs Schools, at the same time teacher of the high school, and was engaged in teaching and study until January, 1876, when he became a member of the firm of Wilson, Wise & Putnam, and he has since been connected with this establishment as a member of the different firms who have succeeded each other, and he now has special charge of the accounting department. Mr. Putnam married, Dec. 15, 1875, Miss Kate E. Urner; she was born in Cincinnati, and came with her parents to this city in 1867. The issue of this union has been three children, only one of whom, Helen Clifford, is living. It will be seen Mr. Putnam has come to his present circumstances by persevering through severe experiences, and is therefore a self-made man; he is now in the prime of life—thorough and competent in business, and affable and respected in society; he is a member of the High Street M. E. Church, in which he is a Steward, and is identified with the different departments of church activities; he is also identified with the educational interests of the city, being a member of the Board of Education; he is also a member of the lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity, his membership being at Yellow Springs.

Source: The History of Clark County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., 1881, page 903