HENRY P, BREHM, [page 944] a well-known and popular citizen of Miamisburg, and foreman of David Groby's planing mill, was born in Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio, February 10, 1848. He is a son of Henry and Mary (Leis) Brehm, natives of Womelsdorf, Berks county, Pa., but who came to Ohio in 1837, settling in Miami township, Montgomery county, where Mr. Brehm engaged in farming. This occupation he followed until 1884, when he removed to Miamisburg, where he died April 21, 189 5, in his eighty-ninth year. His parents were Henry and Christiana (Bumgardner) Brehm, who were both of German parentage. Henry and Mary (Leis) Brehm were the parents of fourteen children, ten of whom grew to mature years, as follows: Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Anspach; Rebecca, wife of Henry Paff; George; Catherine, wife of Joshua Null; Mary, wife of John P. Weaver; Wilhelmina, wife of Jacob Baver; Sarah, wife of Henry Leis; Margaret, wife of Jacob Miller; Henry P., the subject of this sketch, and John W.

Henry P. Brehm was reared in Miami township and was educated in the common schools of the township, and in the public schools at Miamisburg. When he was twenty-eight years of age he left the farm and has since resided in Miamisburg, where he has been employed in the planing mill of David Groby and has been foreman since 1877. In 1869 he married Sarah C. Groby, daughter of David and Eliza (Warner) Groby, of Miamisburg, and has one son, Howard B.

Mr. Brehm is a member of the First Reformed church, and has occupied high positions in the various fraternal organizations of which he is a member.  He is past grand of Marion lodge, I. 0. 0. F., and past chief patriarch of the Odd Fellows encampment. He is past chancellor of Miamisburg lodge, Knights of Pythias, is a member of canton Groby, and of the Daughters of Rebekah, and is also a thirty-second degree Mason. In politics he is a republican, and as such was elected to the city council of Miamisburg in 1894, showing himself in the service of the public to be greatly and effectively interested in the welfare of the place. Mr. Brehm has won the confidence and esteem of men of all parties by his faithful discharge of his official duties.

JOSEPH ALFRED BROWN, M. D., [pages 944-945] a successful physician and surgeon of A J  Germantown, was born in Camden, Preble county, Ohio, January 19, 1855, a son of William and Mary A. (Beall) Brown, and comes of Quaker stock. On the paternal side he is of English extraction, his ancestors having settled in New Jersey prior to the Revolution. On the maternal side he is of Scotch-Irish decent, his ancestor, the Rev. Gideon Beall, a distinguished Covenanter, having left Scotland on account of religious persecution, and settled near Washington, D. C., in the adjacent suburb of Georgetown, which was named in honor of his son, George Beall.

Dr. Joseph A. Brown was reared and educated in his native county, and in 1873 began the study of medicine; he was graduated from the Medical college of Ohio at Cincinnati, in 1878, and at once located at Germantown, Ohio, where he has attained a large and lucrative practice. He married March 5, 1878, Mary L., daughter of Solomon and Sarah (Zitzer) Singer, of Lewisburg, Ohio, and has two children, Edna and Helen.

Dr. Brown is a member of the American Medical association, the Ohio state Medical society, the Mississippi valley Medical society, and the Montgomery county Medical society. He was a delegate from the state of Ohio to the American Medical association in 1892, is a Scottish rite Mason, a member of the I. 0. 0. F. encampment, patriarchs militant, and K. of P. Politically, he is a republican.

The doctor has contributed many papers of value to the various medical fraternities to which he belongs, and some of his professional essays have met with decided approbation for their originality and strength.

ORVON GRAFF BROWN, [pages 945-946] president of Twin Valley college and Miami Military institute, Germantown, Ohio, was, at the time of his election, the youngest college president in the country. He was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Penn., July 1, 1863, within sound of the cannons at Gettysburg. His father, Rev. W. Kennedy Brown, D. D., of Fayette county, Penn., is a descendant of the Chester county (Penn.) George Brown (Gentleman), of colonial times. His grandmother Brown is a lineal descendant of Adam de Saltsburg, of Bavaria, who joined with William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings. His mother, Martha McClellan Brown, LL. D., of Baltimore, Md., is a direct descendant of the Scotch Clan McClellan. She founded the National Woman's Christian Temperance union at Chautauqua, in August, 1874—a movement of historic interest and moment. Orvon Graft Brown was well taught at an early age, although he was not placed in school until nine years old. At thirteen he began to evince a decided talent for scientific experiment, and to take great interest in collecting in his own room practical appliances in chemistry, physics and electricity.   His parents encouraged his tastes, giving him, in succession, the advantages of Mount Union college; special school, Pittsburg; university of Cincinnati; and Denver university, as well as private instructions under specialists in the east.  At the age of nineteen he was elected professor of science in the Cincinnati Wesleyan college, where he made a successful record as instructor, and as inventor of apparatus for class experiments.  He had always taken great interest in the sciences of geology and conchology, and made at this time a very large and valuable collection of specimens. When about twenty-two years of age he projected the Twin Valley college (so named from its location in the Twin valley, an arm of the Miami valley), and on February 4, 1886, five months after his twenty-third birthday, he was elected its president, which position he still holds.

In January, 1894, Prof. Brown organized the Miami Military institute, as a preparatory school of Twin Valley college. This school practically demonstrates his theory that individual instruction is essential to the building of manhood.  Class-work and group instructions are necessarily mechanical and inefficient. No two students' powers are alike and like results should not be sought from diverse powers or gifts.  He recognizes four sides to every manly structure, the moral, physical, mental and social; and erecting these according to their original strength, he develops a scientific manhood. Like a scientific work, his method ap peals to common sense.   Hence his experiment, which has been so successful, is now being adopted by other teachers and schools. This method, however, cannot be applied in very large schools, as in them it is manifestly impossible to study each student separately and to cultivate him personally—and the ultimate personality is the measure of his individual manhood.

Prof. Brown married, April 5, 1887, Miss Lulu Reed, of Germantown, Ohio.   She is a granddaughter of the late Samuel Reed, a pioneer of Montgomery county, and through her mother (Martha Zeiler) she is a lineal descendant of Capt. John C. Negley, and also of Bishop Andrew Zeiler (of the United Brethren church), both of whom have contributed to the history of Montgomery county. The children of Orvon Graft Brown and wife are Reed McClellan (born January 28, 1888), Samuel Kennedy (born December 2, 1890), and Mildred (born May 28, 1894).

Prof. Brown is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has served as an official member and lay delegate to the annual and the lay conferences of his denomination ever since he has resided in the community.

REV. JESSE K. BRUMBAUGH, [pages 946-947] a leading minister of the German Baptist church, with which he united in about 1865, and became a minister in 1880, is a native of Randolph township, Montgomery county, Ohio, and a grandson of one of its original pioneers.

Jacob Brumbaugh, great-grandfather of subject, it is surmised, came from Germany, and William Brumbaugh, grandfather of Rev. Jesse K., was a native of Pennsylvania, was a farmer, married a Miss Martin, and of his children the names of the following are remembered: John, William, David, Daniel, Jacob and Mrs. Elizabeth Cripe, of Clinton county, Ind.  He came to Ohio with his family about 1805, and settled near Amity, Montgomery county, being one of the first pioneers and settlers in this section, where he cleared up a farm and passed the remainder of his life in its cultivation, dying in the faith of the German Baptist church.

Jacob Brumbaugh, father of the Rev. Jesse K., was born in Pennsylvania in 1794, being eleven years of age when brought to Ohio by his father. He was reared on the pioneer farm, and developed marked mechanical ingenuity, being a good carpenter, blacksmith, shoemaker and tailor. He was a most valuable man in a new settlement, being physically very strong, and, at the raising of the log cabins of that day, was always placed at the corner, as he was able to form a straight joint and a true right angle and was very expert with the ax, that most indispensable tool of the pioneer.

Jacob Brumbaugh married Miss Catherine Wogaman, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1794, and after marriage settled on land now owned by Rev. Jesse K., but adjoining the present residence of the latter on the south. This farm contained eighty-six acres, all in forest, and had been entered by John Brumbaugh, brother of Jacob. This tract Jacob Brumbaugh cleared up thoroughly, improving it at first with a log dwelling, and finally converting it into a fertile farm, upon which he erected a more comfortable residence. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brumbaugh were ten in number and were named Elizabeth, John, Jacob, Samuel, Mary, David, Noah, Abraham, Jesse K., and Daniel—the last named dying at the age of seven years.

Jacob Brumbaugh was a member of the German Baptist church and was possessed of strong religious convictions. Highly intelligent and of an observing and contemplative temperament, he won the respect of all with whom he had either personal or business relations. His reputation for integrity was without a blemish, and it was well said of him that "his word was as good as his bond." With a foresight inherent in his nature, he bought at an early day 400 acres of land in Elkhart county, Ind., near Goshen, and this property he gave to his sons; he also owned 240 acres on the Plymouth road, in the same county, and at his death, May n, 1881, was well able to provide for all his children, who remember him with a well-deserved affection and regret.

Rev. Jesse K. Brumbaugh was born August 26, 1837, on the old Randolph township homestead, and has passed all his days on this farm and the one adjoining. He was educated in the common school of his district and at a normal school in Dayton, and began teaching school in 1858. He taught in Phillipsburg, Montgomery county, for about six years, in his own township seven years, and also in Miami county, his entire experience in this work covering the period of fourteen years. December 4, 1862, he married Miss Mary K. Hocker, who was born two miles east of Salem, February 18, 1841, a daughter of Rev. John and Catherine (Sterling) Hocker. Her father was a native of Dauphin county, Pa., of German descent, was a farmer, came to Ohio in 1839, and settled on 230 acres of land in Montgomery county, and died in 1867, aged over seventy-nine years, a member and minister of the River Brethren church, and greatly respected as a pioneer and useful citizen. His children, born in the following order, were Adam, Anna, Catherine, Christian, John and Mary K.

After marriage Rev. Jesse K. Brumbaugh lived on the old homestead until 1867, when he moved to a farm of his own, which he had purchased in the previous year. This farm then contained sixty acres, to which he added twenty-one, also purchasing the interest of the heirs in the old homestead, so that today he owns and cultivates a farm of 166 acres. Thrift and industry have brought to him a generous measure of prosperity and success.

To Mr. and Mrs. Brumbaugh have been born ten children: Granville W., Noah J., Emma, Jennie and Alice, all now living, and five who died young. Politically Mr. Brumbaugh, while not an active partisan, is in sympathy with and supports the republican party. His children are all well educated: Noah J. is a graduate of Harvard university, is now at Hillsboro, Ohio, a teacher; Granville W., who is a teacher in Dayton, Ohio, district, is a young man of high culture, having been graduated from Huntingdon, Pa., college, has been superintendent of the Randolph schools and principal of the Brookville schools, married Lizzie M. Miller, and is the father of three children: Glenn M., Paul N. and Emerson Webster. Miss Jennie Brumbaugh graduated from the Huntingdon, Pa., college, June 18, 1896.

The grandfather of Mrs. Jesse K. Brumbaugh was a farmer of Pennsylvania, lived in Harrisburg, and reared a family of six children, named Adam, George, Jacob, Benjamin, John and Anna, all of whom reached maturity and became useful members of society.

JOHN BUEHNER (deceased), [pages 947-948] formerly a well-known contractor and builder of Miamisburg, Ohio, was born in Muehlheim, Wurtemberg, Germany, November 29, 1807, and was one of a family of seventeen children. He passed through the course of study of the public schools of his native place with honor and credit, and afterward served an apprenticeship of several years at the stonecutter's and mason's trades in the city of Sulz. On May 26, 1832, he emigrated to America, having traveled on foot from his old home to the seaport of Bremen, where he was detained almost a month waiting to obtain passage on board a ship for the new world. After a rough voyage of seventy-one days, he landed at Baltimore, Md., Septembers, where he found the Asiatic cholera prevailing to such an extent that business was at a standstill, and he at once started on foot for Cincinnati, Ohio, only to find that the dread disease had made its appearance before his arrival.  Being unable to obtain a night's lodging on account of the unwillingness of the people to receive a stranger, he made his way to Germantown, Montgomery county, where he secured employment, remaining there until the spring of 1834. He then removed to Miamisburg, where he was actively engaged in business as a stone-mason, and in brick-laying, contracting and building, up to 1870, when he retired, turning over his business to his eldest and youngest sons, John and Frank.  Mr. Buehner was also for many years engaged in the manufacture of brick, and during his business career erected nearly all the principal buildings in Miamisburg and vicinity. His wife, Louisa, was a daughter of Rev. Peter Dechant, a German Reformed minister, and to her he was married November 18, 1835 ; she bore him eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity: John M., George H., Catherine (Mrs. John Pressler), Charles, Peter D., Franklin P., Candle (Mrs. George Loesch), Oletta (Mrs. Albert Zimmerman), and Anna. In politics Mr. Buehner was originally a democrat, but, on the breaking out of the late Civil war, joined the republican party, with whom he affiliated up to the time of his death.  He was born and bred in the Lutheran faith, and died February 14, 1896, in his eighty-ninth year.

Charles Buehner, son of John and Louisa (Dechant) Buehner, was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, January 3, 1847, and here he grew to manhood and received a public school education. He served an apprenticeship of two and a half years at the machinist's trade with D. H. Hoover & Son, and in 1866 went to Centralia, Ill., where he was employed by the Illinois Central railroad company for six years. In 1872 he returned to Miamisburg and worked for Hoover & Gamble, and the Miamisburg Cutlery company, up to 1878; from 1878 to 1880 he was with the Woodsdale Paper company, Woodsdale, Ohio, having charge of their engine and machine department; in 1880 he located at Franklin, where he was employed four years by the Franklin Paper company, and in 1884 embarked in business for himself in general job work as a machinist, in which he has since successfully continued.

He married December 13, 1868, Fannie Craig, of Centralia, Ill., and has six children living: Grace, Minnie, Carl, Edna, Robb, and Fannie. Mr. Buehner is a member of the Lutheran church, is a R. A. M., and a member of the A. 0. U. W. In politics he is a republican, and has served one term as a member of the city council of Franklin, and one term as a member of the school board. As a business man his name stands without a blemish, and as a citizen he holds the respect of the entire community in which he resides.

JACOB FREDERICK BUEHNER, [pages 948-949] who is a prominent citizen and business man of Miamisburg, was born on the Atlantic ocean, May 20, 1847. He is a son of John Martin and Christiana (Guhl) Buehner, who came to the United States in 1847, landing at New York June 27, from Muehlheim, ober amt Suiz, Wurtemberg.  They arrived in Toledo, Ohio, July 4, having journeyed from Albany, N. Y., by railroad and by boat on Lake Erie, reaching Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, on July 8, 1847.

John Martin Buehner was a son of John Frederick Buehner and Anna Catherine Zeiler, his wife. The former came to the United States in 1858, located in Miamisburg, and died while on a visit to Preble county, Ohio, September 2, 1859.  He was born May 15, 1778, and was at his death in his eighty-first year. He was the father of seventeen children, four of whom came to the United States, viz: John (now deceased), in 1832; Mary, deceased wife of John Schlotterbeck, who came in 1847; John Martin, father of the subject, who, as related above, came to this country in 1847, and is now deceased; and Annie, now deceased, who came to the United States in 1858. John M. Buehner was a carpenter, and followed that trade and also tobacco raising up to the time of his death. His wife was a daughter of Jacob and Christiana (Meyer) Guhl, of Germany, and bore him eleven children, of whom eight grew to mature years, as follows: Ann E., wife of Frederick Gunter; Mary M., wife of John Schneider; Jacob F.; Mary L., wife of Henry Betz; Catherine, wife of Henry Schneider; Christiana, wife of Charles 0. Schuster; Amanda M. and Otto.

Jacob Frederick Buehner was reared in Miamisburg, was educated in the public schools .and began life for himself, on attaining his majority, as a molder, learning his trade with D. H. Hoover & Son. He served an apprenticeship of two and a half years, and continued to follow the trade until December 28, 1874. On January 3, 1876, he embarked in the restaurant business, and has ever since then been thus successfully engaged.   His property is one of the finest in Miamisburg. Mr. Buehner was one of the incorporators and stockholders of the Miamisburg Mowing Machine company, and he has been a member of the firm of Mays & Buehner, dealers in shoes, in Miamisburg, since 1892.

Mr. Buehner was married August 19, 1869, to Catherine Schneider, daughter of Henry and Dorothea (Schmerz) Schneider, of the province of Hesse-Cassel, Germany. To this marriage there have been born six children, as follows: John Henry; John F., deceased; Mary M., deceased; Amanda C.; Katie E., deceased; and Otto M. Mr. Buehner is a member of the Lutheran church, of the German order of Harugari, of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has served as district deputy and representative to the grand lodge of the state of Ohio of the latter order. Politically he is a democrat, and is a citizen of most excellent and admirable qualities.

OTTO BUEHNER, [pages 949-950] the well-known shoe dealer of Miamisburg, Ohio, is a native of that place, and was born January 12, 1861, a son of John Martin and Christiana (Guhl) Buehner, whose genealogy will be found in the biography of J. F. Buehner elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Buehner was educated in the public schools of Miamisburg, and here served an apprenticeship of three years at the shoemaker's trade, which he has followed since 1876. He became manager for Mr. Mays in the shoe business in 1892, and in 1894 bought an interest in the concern, and since that date the firm name has been Mays & Buehner.

Mr. Buehner was united in marriage, December 31, 1889, with Miss Charlotte L. Wachter, daughter of John C. and Hannah (Scheible) Wachter, of Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, but formerly of Germany. One child, named John F. Buehner, has been born to this marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Buehner are devoted members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Buehner is a Knight of Pythias and also a member of the D. 0. H. and A. 0. U. W. In politics he is a democrat.             

Mr. Buehner has always been an industrious man and upright in all his dealings; he is a skillful workman and possessed of excellent business qualities.  In all the walks of life he has been discreet and conservative and has thereby won the esteem of his fellow-citizens. Although thrifty he is yet liberal in all things, and is prompt in his aid to school and church and to the fraternities to which he gives adherence, as well as to all projects designed to benefit the people of his city and township.

Mrs. Buehner's father, John C. Wachter, was born in Rodendorf, Bavaria, Germany, April 25, 1817; came to America in 1846, locating in New York city, and in May, 1853, settled in Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, where he worked at the shoemaker's trade. He died there November 26, 1891. His wife died March 19, 1893.

ROBERT W. BURNS, [page 950] the affable and energetic secretary of the Friend Paper & Tablet company, of West Carrollton, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., March 1, 1861, a son of Robert and Angeline (Major) Burns. The paternal grandfather, Hugh Burns, was of Scotch-Irish descent and was a farmer near Lewistown; the maternal grandfather, Peacock Major, was a hotel-keeper at Lewistown during the Revolutionary war and in the war of 1812 took part in the battle of Lake Erie, under Corn. Perry.

Robert W. Burns, whose name opens this biography, was reared to manhood in his native city and educated in its public schools. In 1881 he came to Ohio, and for seven years filled the position of correspondent for S. J. Patterson, coal dealer at Dayton. In 1888 he formed a partnership in West Carrollton with Samuel Johnson, under the style of the American Tablet company, and did a successful business until 1894, when the American Tablet company was consolidated with the George H. Friend Paper & Tablet company. Since then the concern has maintained a prosperous trade under its present title, and in this Mr. Burns, as its secretary, has been no small factor.

Mr. Burns was united in wedlock October 12,, 1886, with Miss Sarah J. Williamson, daughter of George and Sarah A. (Jacobs) Williamson, well known residents of Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio, and to this union four children have been born, namely: James F., Angeline, Robert and Elizabeth.   Mr. and Mrs. Burns are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are liberal in their contributions toward its support, as well as to the support of all worthy institutions designed for the public good.  In politics Mr. Burns is a republican, but has never been an office seeker. Fraternally he is a royal arch Mason, and is also a member of the Independent. Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Burns is quite prominent as a citizen of West Carrollton, and is foremost in every enterprise promising to advance the prosperity of his adopted town, which has become, largely through his push and energy, one of the prettiest, as well as most thriving, little hamlets of Montgomery county.

ABRAHAM K. BURTNER, [pages 950-951] a retired farmer of Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in Mad River township, in the same county, June 8, 1839, a son of Jacob and Catherine (Kemp) Burtner, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively. His paternal grandparents, George and Catherine (Hoke) Burtner, originally of Lancaster county, Pa., settled in Mad River township in 1828, and engaged in farming.  Their children were Henry, George, John, Jacob, Joseph, Catherine (Mrs. Joseph Peffler) and Fanny (Mrs. Jacob Kumler).

Jacob Burtner of the above family, and father of Abraham K., was born in Cumberland county, Pa., in 1808, and came with his parents to Mad River township in 1828. He was a farmer, and in 1845 removed to Preble county, and thence to Germantown in 1868, where he died May 7, 1886. His children were Julia (Mrs. Matthew Coffman), Lucinda (Mrs. William Zehring), Sarah (Mrs. Aaron Zehring), Abraham K,, Joseph, Jacob, Joshua, and Francis.

Abraham K. Burtner was reared in Preble county, Ohio, from eight years of age, was educated in the common schools, and in 1861 began the work of life as a farmer in Jefferson township, Montgomery county, where he lived two and one-half years, then removed to German township and engaged in farming until 1868, since which time he has been a resident of Germantown. He married, August 8, 1861, Sarah C., daughter of John and Rebecca (Bruner) Zeiler, of Germantown, and has five children—Emma, Ida (Mrs. Rev. W. C. Mickey), Carrie (Mrs. Dr. F. M. Pottinger), Edward and Myrta. During the late Civil war Mr. Burtner was a member of company F, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and served 100 days, when he was honorably discharged. Mr. Burtner and wife are members of the United Brethren church. Politically Mr. Burtner is a republican.

Mr. Burtner has prospered in life through his own industry and skill, and is well deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by his neighbors.

AMOS KENDALL CLAY (deceased), [pages 951-952] a prominent member of the Montgomery county bar, was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, May 9, 1847, a son of Adam and Sophia (Dubbs) Clay, natives, respectively, of Cumberland and Lehigh counties, Pa. His paternal grandfather was one of the pioneers of Wayne county, Ohio, in which county he lived until his death. Afterward his family removed to Saint Mary's, Mercer county, Ohio.   His maternal grandfather, Daniel Dubbs, was a native of Lehigh county, Pa., was of Swiss descent, and settled in Miami township, Montgomery county, in 1836. In this county he engaged in farming, and here he passed the remainder of his life.

Adam Clay was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., November 12, 1819. He was a shoemaker by trade, and in 1832 removed to Ohio, locating in Wooster, with his father. In 1839 he went to Saint Mary's, Mercer county, Ohio; in 1841 removed to Dayton, and in 1842 to Miamisburg, where he carried on the shoe business until 1852, when he was admitted to the bar. From this time on until 1885 he continued in the active practice of his profession, his death occurring June 25 in that year. When the state was keeping up a militia organization he was captain of a company. In 1865 he was admitted to practice in the courts of the United States, and was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1873. By his marriage he was the father of the following children: Amos K., whose name opens this sketch, and Agnes, now Mrs. Frances M. Deardorff.

Amos K. Clay was reared in his native town and received the rudiments of his education there.   Afterward he attended Notre Dame university at Notre Dame, Ind.; studied law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1868. After that time he was in the active practice of his profession in Miamisburg; met with unusual success, took high rank at the bar of his native county, and acquired a handsome competency through his known ability and careful attention to the interests of his clients. On February 10, 1890, he married Etta M. Weaver, daughter of Henry and Barbara (Kauffman) Weaver, of Miamisburg. To this marriage there was born one son, Amos W.

Amos Kendall Clay was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in politics a democrat, and by appointment served as city attorney of Miamisburg for many years.  In all his relations with his fellow-men he observed the rules of propriety and integrity, and as a result was thoroughly trusted by all who needed the services of a member of the legal profession. Mr. Clay was called from earth in the prime of life and in the midst of usefuluess. Although up to nearly his final hour he was in full enjoyment of perfect health and bade fair to live out the alotted "three score and ten years," on the 14th of June, 1896, he died very suddenly.  His untimely demise cast a gloom over the whole community, and his death was mourned by all who knew him.

In early manhood Mr. Clay had assumed an enviable place among the members of his calling. As a lawyer and counselor, he was recognized as capable, faithful, conscientious and reliable. As a man and citizen none stood higher in public esteem and honor.  He was unostentatious, reserved and dignified—a gentleman in the fullest sense of that term.  He was exact and thoroughly trustworthy in all his business and professional transactions.

Mr. Clay was baptized in his youth. In his religious convictions he was a believer in evangelical Christianity and paid his annual stipend toward the support of the church of his parents. A few years since he placed a memorial window in the Reformed church in Miamisburg in memory of his father and mother.

The Montgomery county bar association, at his decease, met in the court room at Dayton and held a memorial service at which were passed resolutions of commendation and condolence. The pall bearers, selected from the bar of Montgomery county, were as follows: Judge Dennis Dwyer, Judge W. D. McKemy, Oscar M. Gottschall and Judge J. W. Kreitzer. The chairman of the committee on resolutions was Judge Elihu Thompson. The Masonic fraternity, through their committee, consisting of Brothers L. H. Zehring, N. J. Catrow and M. G. Bohn, also submitted appropriate resolutions, couched in tender and feeling terms indicative of the high esteem in which their departed brother was held.

NEWTON J. CATROW. [pages 952-953] The progenitor of the Catrow family in America was Charles Catrow. He was a native of Holland, .but of French descent, and in early manhood came to this country.  Settling in Frederick county, Md., he there reared a family of eleven children, as follows : Charles, George, Jacob, Joseph, Michael, Peter, Sallie, Elizabeth, Mary, Hannan and Ann. He lived in that county until his death in 1793.

Peter Catrow, the sixth child, was born March 1, 1781, and December 25, 1803, settled in Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. Marrying in 1805, he, the same year, settled in Madison township, Butler county, where he purchased 160 acres of land in what was then an unbroken wilderness. This land he cleared and improved and lived upon it until within a few years of his death, which occurred at Sunbury, Ohio, July 4, 1852. His family consisted of five children, as follows: Zephaniah, George C., Middleton, Catherine and Nancy. All of the brothers and sisters of Peter Catrow were pioneers of Butler and Montgomery counties, Ohio, and all lived to a ripe old age in the two counties mentioned.

George C. Catrow, second son of Peter and Christiania (Loy) Catrow, and their only surviving child, was born on the old homestead in Butler county, Ohio, October 10, 1814, and there he was reared to manhood and resided until 1856, in the meantime teaching school for many years. In the last-named year he removed to Dayton, where he was employed as clerk in the offices of the county clerk and county recorder for several years. In 1886 he removed to Miamisburg, where he has since resided. He married Mary A. Crider, daughter of Philip Crider, of German township, Montgomery county, and their children were born in the following order: Silas P., deceased; William R.; Newton J.; and Sarah, wife of John Selby.

Newton Jason Catrow, third child of George C. and Mary A. (Crider) Catrow, was born on the old Catrow homestead in Butler county, April 24, 1845.  He attained to manhood in his native county, and was educated in the common schools, and afterward in Greer's Commercial college, from which he was graduated in 1866. Locating in Miamisburg in 1858, he was there employed as clerk in the dry-goods store of William Huff & Son for seven years. In 1866 he entered the bank of H. Groby & Co., and filled the position of clerk in that institution until 1882, when he purchased a one-third interest in the bank. In 1886, with H. Groby, he purchased another third interest, and the bank was continued under the same name until 1888, when the First National bank of Miamisburg was organized, the bank of H. Groby & Co. merged into it, and Mr. Catrow elected cashier of the new bank. This position he held until the death of Mr. Groby, April 19, 1891, when he was elected president of the bank, which position he still occupies.

In addition to his banking interests, Mr. Catrow has an interest in the lumber and coal firm of Grove & Catrow, is president of the Miamisburg Twine & Cordage company, treasurer of the Miamisburg Paper company, and is connected with the Bookwalter Wheel company, beside being concerned in various other enterprises.

In 1865 Mr. Catrow was married to Melissa Groby, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Beck) Groby, of Miamisburg. He has two sons, viz: Herbert Groby, a graduate of the Pennsylvania Military college, and a member of the firm of Bartlett & Catrow, of Philadelphia, agents for European steamships and directors of foreign tours; and Henry, a student of the Pennsylvania Military college. Mr. Catrow is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, a Knight Templar, and a thirty-second degree Mason. Politically, he is a republican, and in religious affiliation he is a member of the Lutheran church.

HENRY CRAUDER, [pages 953-954] the well-known farmer and tile manufacturer of German township, Montgomery county, Ohio, is a native of Hamilton county, and was born October 15, 1848, of German parentage.

Jacob Crauder, his father, was born February 10, 1810, was a blacksmith by trade, and came from his native Germany to the United States in 1831.   For a few years he made his home in the eastern states, but later came to Ohio and located near Cincinnati, where he followed his trade for twenty years, and in 1855 came to Montgomery county and settled in German township, purchased a farm, and here passed the remainder of his life, dying April 12, 1891. He had married Miss Elizabeth Dubler, also a native of Germany, and to this union were born seven children, of whom six grew to maturity, viz: Mary, who became the wife of John Myers; Sophia, now Mrs. Cornelius Michaels; William F., Jacob, Rebecca and Henry.

Henry Crauder was but a boy of some seven years of age when brought to Montgomery county, and here, from that age, until the present time, he has passed his life. He was educated in the public schools of German township, and began life as a farmer in Jefferson township, where he lived for eighteen years. He then returned to German township, and in 1885 purchased the farm of twenty-three acres on which he now resides, engaged in cultivating the soil and in the manufacture of tile.  In this latter industry he has been quite prosperous, and is equally successful in his farming operations.

The marriage of Mr. Crauder took place in 1871, with Miss Ada Hunter, daughter of Jacob and Matilda (Boyer) Hunter, of Jefferson township, and to this union have been born twelve children, in the order here given: Lillie, Theodore, Clifford, Annie, Grigsby, Maud, Chester, Dona, Victor, Tillie, Willie H. and Claude.  The children are reared in the faith of the United Brethren church, of which the parents have long been members.

Mr. Crauder, now in the prime of life, has had a gratifying business career, and has been a useful and industrious citizen. His success is of his own making, and his standing in the community in which he lives, and which is an enviable one, has been reached through his own personal qualities and merits.

MAJ. ELIJAH CULBERT, [pages 954-955] one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Madison township, Montgomery county, Ohio, is paternally of Scotch descent and maternally springs from Pennsylvania-German ancestry.

Elijah Culbert, father of the major, was a native of New York state, but when a young man went to Pennsylvania, where he was clerk in the Washington furnace, at Laurel Hill, in the Alleghany mountains.   He married, in Somerset county, Miss Eva Hicks, a native of the county named, who bore him one child, the subject of this biography. Mr. Culbert, at the early age of twenty-two years, and when his son was but fifteen months old, met with an untimely fate, being killed by a falling timber in the furnace while superintending some repairs. He was a well-educated and scholarly man, and his death was deeply deplored, not only by his young widow, but by his employers and a large circle of friends.

Maj. Culbert was born in Somerset, Pa., March 1, 1814, and the log house in which he was born is still standing. He received a rudimentary education in the common schools, early learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 1836, when a young man of twenty-three years, came to Ohio, settled in Madison township, Montgomery county, and voted for Gen. William Henry Harrison for the presidency of the United States in the famous log cabin and hard cider campaign, September 25, 1838, he married Miss Mary Olinger, of Jefferson township, born August 13, 1816, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Olinger. Mr. Olinger was of German descent, was born in Pennsylvania, and was one of the original pioneers of Jefferson township, where he cleared up a farm from the forest, on which he ended his days. He died a member of the Dunkard church and a respected citizen, and there were left, to mourn his sad loss, the following children: John, Jacob, David, Elizabeth, Barbara, Mary, Nancy and Catherine.

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Culbert lived a year with the wife's father, and then, in 1839, settled in Poast Town, where Mr. Culbert engaged in blacksmithing on his own account, prospered and erected a fine residence, in which he still resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Culbert were born five children, but two of whom are living—William H. and Amanda. Of the younger children, Elijah died at the age of thirty-nine years; Jacob at ten, and Elizabeth at the age of six; and on January 3, 1884, Mr. Culbert lost his beloved wife, she dying a devoted member of the German Baptist church.

As early as 1860, Mr. Culbert was enrolled in the Second regiment, Ohio state militia, and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but this regiment was shortly afterward consolidated with the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio national guard, and when mustered into the United States service at the opening of the Civil war, Col. Culbert was reduced in rank to major, in which capacity he served 100 days, being stationed at Baltimore and Washington, and receiving his discharge at Camp Chase, August 25, 1861. The major, however, had two sons who also served in the Civil war—William H. and Elijah. William H. was a sergeant in company E, Seventy-first volunteer infantry, became a veteran and served four years; he was twice wounded, once at Lovejoy's station and once at Nashville. Elijah was a sergeant in the One Hundred and Thirty-first (his father's regiment, and served 100 days. William H., who has been on the Dayton fire department for about eighteen years, married Miss Eliza Shafer, and is the father of one child—Clarence. Amanda C., the major's eldest daughter, was married to David B. Mumma, now deceased, and became the mother of two children—Harry C, and Willis, the latter of whom died at the age of seventeen years. Harry C. Mumma married Miss Rosie Arnold, and this union has been blessed with one child, Corinne.

In politics Maj. Culbert is a republican. He is at present engaged in the tile business in Post Town and probably no man in the township or county is more widely known or more respected than he.   His progressiveness is proverbial, and his readiness to assist in the promotion of every movement designed for the public weal and his liberal contributions to such purposes are as household words in the

community in which he has so long lived and the prosperity of which he has so strenuously striven to advance.

JOHN J. DETRICK, [pages 955-956] one of the well-known farmers of Randolph township, and a deacon in the German Baptist church, sprang from Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. John Detrick, his grandfather, was the descendant of one of three brothers of the name who came at an early day from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania.   John Detrick removed to Rockingham county, Va., and had children as follows: Abraham, John, Elizabeth, Mary and Susan—all whose names can now recalled. The above were the children of his first wife. After her death Mr. Detrick married a Miss Snell, by whom he had the following children: Jacob, Daniel, Benjamin and Lydia.   John Detrick, who was an extensive farmer and a most prosperous man, died in Rockingham county, Va., aged about fifty years.

Abraham Detrick, father of John J., was born in Rockingham county, Va., July 5, 1818, was reared a farmer's boy, and naturally adopted that vocation as his own. In Hardy county, Va., he married Mahala Judy, who was born in Hardy county, March 1, 1816. Mr. Detrick lived in Rockingham county for about six years after he was married; then removed to Hampshire county, where he lived for about twelve years, coming in 1856 to Ohio and settling in Montgomery county on a farm adjoining that now occupied by his son. After residing in Randolph township for about twenty years, he lived in Darke, Auglaize and Allen counties the remainder of his life, dying in the latter county, in 1892, at seventy-eight years of age.  He was a devout member of the German Baptist church, and was an elder therein for many years. He was a man in whom all placed the utmost confidence and trust, standing high in the estimation of the entire community in which he lived.

John J. Detrick was born September 11, 1847, in Hampshire county, Va., and came with his parents to Montgomery county, Ohio, when he was eleven years old. Here he attended school in the country, and received a good common-school education. Brought up as a farmer, he learned the lessons of that calling from his father, beginning work on his own account when he was twenty-one years of age. On February 27, 1873, he married, in Madison township, Miss Catherine Smith, who was born October 6, 1851, in the same township. His wife is a daughter of Rev. John Smith, who was born and reared on his father's farm in Madison township, Montgomery county. Rev. John Smith was a son of Abraham Smith, of Pennsylvania, a well-known pioneer, whose wife was a Bowman. John was the only child of this union, his mother dying while yet young. Mr. Smith lived to be eighty-four years of age and was a quite prosperous farmer, owning 200 acres of land. In religious belief he was a Dunkard, or German Baptist, and stood high in the estimation of all that knew him.

Rev. John Smith married for his .first wife, Susan Wolf; by whom he had the following children: Catherine, Andrew, Lucinda, Hattie, Oliver, Emma and Elizabeth. He married again Margaret Garber.   He has been for many years a devout member of the German Baptist church and an elder of the church, and for several years has been an acceptable and successful preacher.

John J. Detrick, the subject of this sketch, settled on the Smith homestead and lived thereon several years, when he purchased the farm on which he now lives, and which contains 100 acres of land. By careful attention to correct methods and by constant industry, he has brought this farm up to a high state of cultivation, improving it in many ways, and has added to it sixteen acres. Mr. Detrick has been a devout member of the German Baptist church for the past fifteen years, and has reared his family in the same faith with himself. To him and his good wife there has been born one son, Perry Oliver. Mr. Detrick has that quality of thrift and habit of industry that made good citizens of his Pennsylvania ancestry. Ever since he was twenty-two years of age he has been identified with the church and with religious work. He is well known in the community as a man of integrity and moral worth.

 
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