Source:  Memorial Record of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. 1894 - Page 313

DAVID EDWARDS.    A public-spirited citizen and retired farmer is to be found in the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch.  Butler County has been his home since 1852, when he settled near Seven Mile and embarked upon the busy career of a farmer.  He was prospered from the first, both in general farming and stock-raising, and continued to conduct agricultural pursuits upon a constantly increasing scale till 1874, when he rented his farm property and removed to the village of Seven Mile, where he has since enjoyed all the comforts of life, undisturbed by the harassing influence of heavy business cares.
     In Green Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, the subject of this sketch was born, Apr. 25, 1827.  His parents, Curtis and Priscilla (Riley) Edwards, moved from New Jersey westward to Cincinnati in 1812.  The father was by trade a blacksmith, but during the last twenty years of his life owned and operated a farm in Hamilton County.  His death occurred in Butler County at the age of eighty years, in 1858.  His wife, who died the following year, was sixty-seven years of age at the time of her demise.
     The paternal grandfather of our subject, David Edwards, was a native of England, whence be emigrated to America about the time of the Revolutionary War and settled in New Jersey, where he remained until his death.  He left four children, namely: Mrs. Sarah Thompson, of New Jersey; Charles, whose home was near Crawfordsville, Ind.; Curtis, father of our subject, who was three years of age when his father died; and David, who lived in New Albany, Ind.
     The first wife of Curtis Edwards was Mary Newcomb, who died leaving one child, also deceased. By his second wife, Mary Wescott, he had four children, namely: Mary, who married Levi Wills, and died in St. Joseph County, Ind.; Elizabeth, Mrs. Philip Sodders, who died in New Jersey; Sarah, who died unmarried; and James W., deceased, formerly a grocer of Cincinnati.  The third wife of Curtis Edwards was Priscilla Riley, who became the mother of twelve children.  Eleven attained years of maturity, viz.: John, a farmer, who died in Hamilton County; Lydia, who married Tobias Miller, and lives in Jackson County, Oregon; Daniel, a druggist, who died in Aurora, Ind.; Deborah, Mrs. Theophilus Rork, who died in Chesterville, Ill.; Hannah, who married Isaac Garrison, and died in Cheviot, Ohio; Ann, wife of John Hyatt, and a resident of Pana, Ill.; David, of this sketch; Charles, whose death occurred at the age of twenty-two; Priscilla, who was married was married to James Wymond, of Aurora, Ind.; Curtis J., deceased; and Martha J., Mrs. Isaiah Poffenberter, who died in Lodi, Iroquois, Ill.
     The boyhood of our subject was passed on the home farm.  In 1852 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Cornthwaite, a native of Butler County, whither her grandparents emigrated from England in 1818.  After his marriage Mr. Edwards purchased a sixty-five-acre tract near Seven Mile, but later removed to a larger farm, where he conducted agricultural operations upon a large scale.  Both as a general farmer and as a stock-raiser he met with unusual success, and was recognized as one of the foremost agriculturists of the township.  After removing to Seven Mile he was engaged as a dealer in grain, but is not now actively connected with any business, his attention being given to the superintendence of his real-estate interests.  In 1879 he disposed of his property in Butler County and invested in Douglas County, Ill., where he owns four hundred and eighty acres of improved land near Areola.  The rental of this farm proves to be a valuable addition to his income.
     Of eleven children born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, only three are living.  They are, Clara, wife of Lewis Winkler, of Columbus, Ohio; Hattie, who married John E. Miller, of Seven Mile; and Barton J., who resides with his parents.  For many years Mr. Edwards was active in local affairs as a member of the Republican party, and still adheres to the policy and platform of that organization.  In his religious views he is liberal.  Whatever success he has met with in life (and it has been not a little) is due to his own efforts.  His industry, good management and perseverance have won for him a handsome competence that numbers him among the substantial citizens of Seven Mile.
Source:  Memorial Record of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. 1894 - Page 352

IRA R. EDWARDS is one of the oldest settlers and most respected inhabitants of Butler County.  During his entire life his home has been on his father’s old farm, where his birth occurred.  This place is located in Fairfield Township, and is a well improved farm, comprising eighty-four acres, and situated only five miles distant from Hamilton, the county seat.  Mr. Edwards has been a witness of a large share of the progress and development of this vicinity, where his residence covers a period of seventy-two years.  The muddy, almost impassable, roads of former years have been supplanted by well kept turnpikes and railroads, and other nineteenth-century ideas of progress have made locomotion comfortable and life much easier than in the old days.
     Mr. Edwards is a son of Uzal and Mary (Crane) Edwards, natives of New Jersey.  They were the parents of nine children, six of whom grew to mature years, but of this large family circle only our subject now survives.  Uzal Edwards, in early life, was a shoemaker, but afterwards became an agriculturist exclusively.  In 1805 he came to Ohio, and in this township bought a tract of thirty-five acres, to which he gradually added until his possessions numbered about one hundred acres.  He died in January, 1832, at the age of fifty-one years.  His devoted wife survived him for over forty years, her death occurring in January, 1874, at the extreme old age of ninety years and six months.  They were members of the Regular Baptist Church, which in the early settlement of the county was the most prominent denomination.  In the War of 1812 Mr. Edwards enlisted, but peace was proclaimed a day or two before his company started for the front.  He was never an aspirant for political office, but for many years was Township Trustee.  His father, Moses Edwards, a native of New Jersey, was of Welsh descent, and had a family of twelve children.  He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was called “the fighting minister.”  The grandfather on the maternal side Elias Crane by name, was also born in New Jersey and was of English and French ancestry.  He was a farmer by occupation, and at a very early day went West, but later returned to the East, where it is supposed that he died, when between sixty and seventy years.
     The birth of Ira R. Edwards occurred Aug. 10, 1822. His boyhood was passed on the farm which he now owns and carries on, and here he received his first lessons in agriculture.  His education was such as the district schools of that early day afforded, supplemented by a wise and extensive course of reading, which he pursues up to the present time.  During the long years which he has devoted to farm duties, Mr. Edwards has always taken up with the most practical ideas of work, and the result is seen in his fertile acres, neat buildings, fences and other improvements.  There is now in progress a plan for building an electric road in this locality, which will materially increase the value of property, on account of better transportation facilities.
     May 30, 1847, Mr. Edwards was united in marriage with Margaret Davison.  Mrs. Edward is a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Beadle) Davison, and by her marriage has become the mother of three children.   Floretta, the eldest, married James L. Havens, and they have two children, May and Elsie.  At this writing the family are making their home with our subject and wife.  Mary Eliza, the second daughter, married Stephen Kirk, of Hamilton.  They have live children: Jessie Maud, Ina Gertrude, Harry Edwards, John and Clara Jane.  Phoebe Jane, the other daughter, lives at home.  Our subject and his wife are members of the Methodist Church, in which the former holds the offices of Steward and Trustee.  In his political principles he supports the Prohibition party.  As a man interested in the cause of education, he has been connected with the School Board for many years, and has also served, to the entire satisfaction of all, in the responsible positions of Town Clerk and Township Treasurer.
Source:  Memorial Record of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. 1894 - Page 377

ROBERT M. ELLIOTT, who as a representative and capable business man of Hamilton has become well known through the adjacent country, was born in this city May 14, 1855.  He is a son of William A. and Elizabeth G. (Millikin) Elliott, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Hamilton.  The family of which he is a member consisted of four daughters and three sons, of whom, besides himself, two sisters survive, viz.: Anna, wife of George W. St. Clair, of Lexington, Ky.; and Mary E., who married Taylor Murphy, of Hamilton.
     The father of this family came to Ohio, and purchasing a farm one and one-half miles north of Hamilton, there engaged as a tiller of the soil until his death, in 1881, at the age of seventy-two.  His wife survived him until 1887, when she died, at the age of sixty-eight.  Our subject’s paternal grandfather, Arthur W. Elliott, was a native of Maryland, and became one of the early settlers of Butler County.  He was an uncle of the well known statesman, Dan Voorhees, and was himself a man of much more than ordinary ability.  He was not only well posted upon current events, but also a fluent speaker and gifted orator.  He was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and traveled on horseback on his circuits in Ohio and Illinois.  For some time he preached regularly in Paris, Ill., and that part of the state.  In addition to his ministerial work, he carried on a farm, and as an agriculturist also displayed considerable skill and ability.  During the famous “log cabin campaign” he was an ardent supporter of the Whig party, and when General Harrison was a candidate for President he traveled with the hero of Tippecanoe, driving him in his own carriage, which was worn out before he reached home at the close of the successful campaign.
     The subject of this sketch was reared in Hamilton and upon his father’s farm near the city.  In youth he received a practical education, which fitted him for an honorable and useful career.  He remained with his parents as long as they lived, and upon leaving the farm was engaged in the insurance business for ex-Gov. James E. Campbell for eighteen months.  Later he was elected County Recorder and served one term, retiring in 1887.  He was then appointed Assistant Postmaster under D. H. Hensley, in which position he was employed for two years.  Later he embarked in the hardware business as a member of the firm of Elliott & Kennedy, but after one year he bought out his partner’s interest and has since conducted the business alone.  He carries a full line of hardware, tinware, stoves, etc., and through reliable dealings has built up a large trade.
     On the 10th of December, 1885, occurred the marriage of Robert M. Elliott and Miss Ella, daughter of David and Rebecca (Freeman) Brant, the former of whom served as Treasurer of Butler County for one term.  The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott has been named Brant.  The family attends the Episcopal Church, in which the father is a Trustee.  Politically he is an advocate of Republican principles.  He is a warm friend of the public school system, and in 1894 was elected a member of the Board of Education.  Socially he holds membership in Hamilton Commandery of the Masonic fraternity.  In addition to his business, he owns, with his sisters, the old home farm.  He is a man of genial disposition, popular with all classes, capable in business and sound in judgment, and is recognized as one of Hamilton's progressive citizens.
Source:  Memorial Record of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. 1894 - Page 120