BIOGRAPHIES

The following biographies are extracted from:
Source #1 - The County of Ross: a history of Ross County, Ohio
By Henry Holcomb Bennett
Published by S. A. Brant, Madison, Wis., 1902
Source #2 - A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio
Vol. II.
Published by The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York 1917

A - B - C - D - EF - G - H - IJ - K - L - M - N - OPQ
R - S - T - UV - W - XYZ

Biographies will be added upon request.
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IRVINE, C. Seymour ISEMAN, Charles Edgar ----- JACK Arthur JACK, William R., D. D. S. JACOB, Jacob JACOB, Charles L. JAMES Family JAMISON, Robert W.

JANES, Thomas JONES, Irvin T. JONES, Jesse M. JONES, Robert J., M. D. JONES, Thomas Corwin JORDAN, Isaac M. JUNK Family JUNK, Albert W.

C. SEYMOUR IRVINE, a prosperous young farmer residing in the vicinity of Lyndon, Ohio, is a native of Danville, Ky.  His father, Robert Irvine, was a Kentuckian, and lived in the state of his nativity until 1878.  In that year he came to Ross county, located in Concord township and afterward became quite prominent in political and business circles.  He was elected as a representative of Ross county in the lower house of the Ohio state legislature and served two years in this capacity.  His present resident is Frankfort, his time being specially devoted to the breeding of fancy road horses.  He married Anna, daughter of Aaron W. Seymour, member of the old family of that name long established in Paxton township.  C. Seymour Irvine was quite a small boy when brought to Ross county by his parents.  He was brought up and educated in Concord township and spent three years at the old Salem academy.  In December, 1898, Mr. Irvine was married to Hannah Mains, member of a family long and favorably known in Ross county.  Her ancestry dates well back towards the first settlement of the county and the descendants, widely ramified, have made themselves felt in the social and industrial development of that part of the great Scioto valley.  Mr. Irvine has been engaged in general farming, paying especial attention to raising stock and fattening the same for market.  He is a steady and industrious young man, member of the Presbyterian church at Pisgah, and enjoys the universal esteem of his neighbors. CHARLES EDGAR ISEMAN ARTHUR JACK, postmaster of Kingston, Ohio, was born at that place June 4, 1849.  His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Lennox) Jack, natives of Hampshire county, Va., where they were married.  They had nine children, two of whom died in infancy and  but four are now living, whose names are Mary E., Thomas, Joseph and Arthur.  Thomas is a clerk of Green township and resides at Kingston.  Arthur Jack received his education in the schools of Kingston.  Arthur Jack received his education in the schools of Kingston and in boyhood learned the harness-maker's trade, which he followed for about twelve years.  For several years he was engaged in general merchandising.  In 1887, he purchased the Kingston Blade, a weekly newspaper, which he conducted for twelve years, making a success as a journalist.  Jan. 1, 1898, he was commissioned postmaster of Kingston, which is a fourth-class postoffice, and he is still serving in that capacity.  Apr. 21, 1872, he was married to Sarah Bitler, a native of Fairfield county, and daughter of Joseph and Catherine Bitler.  Mr. and Mrs. Jack are the parents of two sons and three daughters, of whom Edgar is employed on the Scioto Gazette; Mary  is in the postoffice with her father; Thomas is working on the Columbus Citizen, and Grace is at home attending the high school, from which Katheryn was graduated in the spring of 1902.  Mr. Jack has been an active and influential politician, recognized as a leader in local politics.  He has always been an ardent Republican, defending the principles of his party with vote, voice and pen.  He has served as a member of the Kingston city council, and the school board and in other positions of responsibility. WILLIAM R. JACK, D. D. S. JACOB JACOB         IRVIN T. JONES, the leading merchant of Hallsville, was born in Kingston, Ross County, Ohio, Jan. 24, 1836.  His parents were John and Dorothy (Powers) Jones, the former a native of Maryland, where he was reared, and the latter a native of Delaware county, Ohio.  Irvin T. Jones was reared in Ross county, attending the district schools, and engaged in mercantile pursuits until Feb. 13, 1862, when he enlisted in Company H, Sixty-ninth regiment, Ohio veteran volunteer infantry.  His regiment first saw duty at Nashville, Tenn., and participated in the following noted engagements: Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and the historic campaign of Sherman against Johnston up to and including the battle of Atlanta.  After the surrender of Atlanta he accompanied Sherman in his famous march to the sea and on up through the Carolinas until Johnston's surrender, then to Richmond, Va., and from there to Washington, where he participated in the Grand Review, one of the most noted military pageants of modern times.  From Washington his regiment was order to Louisville, Ky., and there mustered out of the service.  During his entire military service, although in many of the hottest engagements of the war, he never received a wound and never lost a day's service on account of sickness.  After his return home he again turned his attention to merchandising and in 1883 permanently located in Hallsville where he opened up a completely stocked general store, and today we find him, after yeras of perseverance and energy, enjoying not only a successful business but also in the prime of his activities.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Maxwell post, G. A. R., at Kingston.  Mr. Jones is a Republican in politics, is a postmaster at Hallsville and a highly esteemed citizen. JESSE M. JONES, the well-known blacksmith and wagon-maker of Clarksburg, was one of the worthiest of the civil war soldiers contributed to the Union army by Ross county and the first man to enlist from Deerfield township.  The family has had representatives in Ohio for nearly a century, the first ones being Benjamin and Susan Jones, who settled at Waynesville, in Warren county, as far back as 1808.  They brought with them a son named Jesse, who was born in Virginia July 1, 1799, and after he grew up removed to Ross county, obtained employment at the Peterson works in Concord township and there learned the blacksmith's trade.  Some time later he built a shop at Frankfort, conducted business there for several years and then located at Clarksburg for permanent residence.  He continued to work in his blacksmith shop, enjoying a fair amount of prosperity, until a few years before his death, which took place in 1883, when he was about eighty-five years old.  He married Sarah Gum, a native of Virginia, and had ten children:  David, Catherine and John D., deceased; William M., of London, Ohio; Jesse M., Ethan A. and Norton G., of Indiana, Clara and Effie, of Clarksburg, and Milton E., of Circleville, Ohio.  Jesse M. Jones was born at Clarksburg, Ross county, Ohio, August 7, 1838, and in youth was taught the blacksmith trade in his father's shop.  This employment was rather rudely interrupted by the opening discord of the civil war and few heeded the country's call for assistance more promptly than Jesse M. Jones.  He hastened to enroll his name as a member of Company A, Twenty-seventh regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and has the reputation of being the first man to enlist from Deerfield township.  This command, after a short stay at Camp Chase, was sent to St. Louis, thence to Chillicothe, Lexington and Kansas City, Mo., doing guard duty for a while at the latter place; next to Springfield and from there back to Sedalia, then a march of 350 miles to St. Louis, and on down the river to join General Pope's division.   Such is a brief summary of the regiment's earliest campaigning.  Subsequently Mr. Jones took part, with his command, in the engagements at Island No. 10 and New Madrid, the bloody battle of Pittsburg Landing and the siege of Corinth.  During the fighting around the latter city, Mr. Jones was wounded and sent to the hospital at Mound City where he was later discharged on account of disability.  After six months' rest at home, he re-enlisted in Company C, First Ohio heavy artillery, which was sent to Knoxville, Tenn., and did guard duty there until mustered out in 1865 at the close of the war.  Returning home, Mr. Jones remained a while at Clarksburg and then went to Indiana, where he had the misfortune to break his leg.  This made him an invalid for some time but as soon as able he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-seventh United States regiment, with which he was sent successively to Governor's Island, N.Y., from there to Fort Leavenworth and Fort Lyons, Kansas, and Fort Garland, Col.  While serving at the latter place his term of enlistment expired and he returned directly to his home in Clarksburg, where he has since resided.  His business has been that of blacksmithing and wagon-making in connection with the management of his farm in Deerfield township.  July 25, 1880, Mr. Jones was married to Laura E. Goldsberry, who died August 31, 1892, after becoming the mother of the following named children:  John D., Luella, Jessie, Gracey, Sarah and Irene. ROBERT J. JONES, M. D., one of the popular and successful physicians of Greenfield, Ohio, is a native of Wales, from which county he emigrated to America in 1884.  Though he attended school to some extent in the old country, his literary education was mainly received from coming to the United States.  After this was achieved satisfactorily he entered the Cincinnati Medical college, from which he was graduated in 1895, with the degree of M. D.  During the following year he held the position of interne in the Cincinnati hospital, which is regarded as a valuable post-graduate experience for young practitioners.  In 1896 Dr. Jones located at Greenfield from practice of his profession, where he speedily rose into notice and met with unusual success.  He was built up as extensive a practice, both in medicine and surgery, as is enjoyed by any physician in that section of Ohio, his business embracing the town, as well as a broad scope of the surrounding country.  Dr. Jones  is a member of the Highland county Medical society and often prepares papers for its edification, which exhibit learning and advanced knowledge on his part in all branches of the profession.  In 1898, he was married to Daisy Bowser, of Ross county.  He is a master Mason and member of the First Presbyterian church in Greenfield. THOMAS CORWIN JONES, an extensive land owners and dealer in stock, is altogether one of the most substantial farmers of Ross county, of which he is a native and highly honored citizen.  He was born in Liberty township, Feb. 21, 1850, his parents being Mason and Clarissa (Corwin) Jones, the former of Ross and the latter a native of Pike county.  The grandparents were William and Jane (Corken) Jones the former's father being Thomas Jones, who settled in Ross county as far back as 1803.  William Jones  was a good business man and farmed on a rather extensive scale, being the owner of the 500 acres of land.  He went to Missouri in 1870 and died in Nodaway county of that state at the age of eighty-four, having long outlived his wife, whose death occurred in 1855.  They were the parents of nine children, whose names in order of birth were, Austin, Sarah, Eliza, MAson, Fletcher, Collins, Mary Ann, Wesley and Watson.  All of these are dead except Fletcher and Watson.  Mason Jones the fourth child, was born in Ross county, May 1, 1821.  After he grew up he taught school for a while, but soon abandoned this for agricultural pursuits in which he achieved decided success.  He conducted farming operations in a large way, paying much attention to raising and dealing in stock.  He became rather noted in his neighborhood as the owner of the first scales used in that part of the county, and was regarded as a benefactor for introducing a machine of such convenience to the farming class.  He was a strong advocate of the temperance cause, so much so that he abandoned his former association with the Republican party and joined the Prohibitionists.  His active and useful life was terminated by death in 1895, but his wife survives at the age of seventy-two years.  The children of this estimable couple number ten, of whom George, Jennie E. and Mary E. are dead.  Those living are Thomas C., William A., Jacob E#., Eugene R. John F., Samuel W., and Luellaq M.  Thomas Corwin Jones was the eldest of his father's family.  He was brought up on a farm and at an early age taught the industry and care so necessary to success in that business.  That he was an apt pupil was shown by his subsequent career.  During the winter days when there was no out-door work to be done on the farm, he joined the other neighborhood children at the district school and before he was grown had obtained a fair education.  He then turned teacher himself and for a while played the pedagogue in one of the township schools.  This, however, did not last long, as Mr. Jones realized his capacity for much larger things.  In due time he embarked in the business of farming and stock-raising, in which he achieved prosperity, his real estate holdings amounting to 680 acres of land.  For years he has dealt in stock on a large scale and ranks as one of the best judges and buyers in this branch of the agricultural industry.  In politics, Mr. Jones is decidedly independent and while by no means a seeker of office he served for eight years as township treasurer.  January 13, 1875, he was married to Martha Rittenour, a native of Ross county and daughter of James and Ellen (Hemphill) Rittenour. This union resulted in the birth of three sons, Boyton G., Arsene J. and Rei E. ISAAC M. JORDAN THE JUNK FAMILY ALBERT W. JUNK, one of Concord township's well-to-do farmers, is a scion of one of the old-time Boss county families, described in the preceding sketch, his great-grandfather making his appearance on the banks of the Scioto several years before the close of the eighteenth century. The ancestors originated in Ireland, came from there to New Jersey and afterward to what was then the border state of Pennsylvania. Thomas Junk, the eldest son of John and Susan (Shields) Junk, and grandson of the pioneer Thomas Junk, was born in Ross county and educated in the old cabin schools, learned farm work and had all the other experiences common to country boys in those days. In the course of time, like most young man; he bethought himself of matrimony and the outcome of his reflections was a marital union with Phoebe Peterson. This lady was the daughter of Martin and Elizabeth (Coyner) Peterson, who were a part of the large body of Virginians that settled in the Scioto valley. After rearing a family of eleven children, Thomas Junk passed away in 1875, his wife surviving until 1897. Seven of their off-spring are still living: Martin L., a farmer of Concord township; Maria J., wife of John T. Cline of Frankfort; Thomas J., of Fayette county; Charles, of Frankfort, Ohio; Martha and Mary (twins)/and Albert W. Junk. The latter, youngest member of the family, was born in Concord township, Ross county, April 26, 1863. After the usual time spent in the schools of the district and at Frankfort, Mr. Junk entered upon his calling as a farmer and has adhered closely thereto since he reached the age of maturity. In September, 1886, he was married to Sadie, daughter of Franklin and Sarah (Bush) Finch, old residents of Ross county. She died February 8, 1894, leaving two children, Frank and Fay. March 10, 1898, Mr. Junk contracted a second marriage, with Nannie Finch, sister of his first wife, who has no children. The religious affiliations of the family are with the Presbyterian church.