CHARLES CLIFFORD TAYLOR.     As a community grows in importance so do its men and institutions.  In some cases the business in which a man is engaged, his environment as it were, becomes the dominant feature in his development.  In other cases his own inherent strength of character forms the mainspring that leads him from one field of activity to that of others in which nearly all the people of a community in one way or another must place great confidence.  Undoubtedly such is the case of Charles Clifford Taylor, the present cashier of the First National Bank of Arcanum.
     Coming to that place in 1896 as station agent for the Big Four railway, in the short time of two years he had won the confidence of the people to such an extent that his services were sought to fill the position to which he was then elected and has since held.
     A bank cashier fills a peculiar position.  He must be faithful to the stockholders of the bank, guarding well their interests, and at the same time he must be a man of great genial good nature, so that those to whom he feels compelled to refuse financial accommodation will not go away offended, but that they will go away feeling that he has really their welfare at heart and will long to come to the bank time and again with their deposits when fortune shall smile upon them in the future.  While not a man of great fortune financially, Mr. Taylor has great wealth of character, and has the gratification of seeing the result of his efforts and those with whom he has been so happily associated cause the First National Bank of Arcanum to become an influential factor in the affairs not only of Arcanum, but of the wealthy country with which it is surrounded.  The whole community has reason to be grateful to the influences that brought Mr. Taylor into its midst.
     He is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born at New Carlisle, Ohio, Sept. 10, 1870, a son of Horace N. and Clara (Garver) Taylor, and grandson of Ezra and Eleanor (Neeley) Taylor, and John and Catharine (Fuller) Garver.
     Ezra G. Taylor was born in Virginia.  His parents following the example of many of the neighbors, decided to strike out for the then undeveloped regions in Ohio, locating in New Carlisle, where they found opportunities, as he owned and conducted the first bank of that place, known as the Exchange Bank of New Carlisle, and also developed an excellent general merchandise business, conducting it for a long period.  After many years of useful endeavor, during which he gave a healthful impetus to many movements looking towards progress, he retired, and died a few years later.  He married Eleanor Neeley, daughter of Major Neeley.  His wife died in young womanhood, having borne him two children:  Horace N. and Milton Corwin.  John Garver came from Maryland, his native state, to Ohio, and married Catharine Fuller, becoming an early settler on a farm three miles east of New Carlisle.  They died at the latter place, he when ninety-two years old, and she when eighty-two years old.  Their children were as follows:  Ezra; Ella, who married D. O. Myers; Sarah, who married John Fenner; Susan, who married James Harr; Mary, who married J. N. Cory; Clara and Laura.
     Horace N. Taylor, father of Charles Clifford Taylor was born in New Carlisle, Clarke county, as was his wife.  He was reared in the vicinity of New Carlisle, and during his younger years was a merchant of New Carlisle, later becoming its postmaster, which position he held for some years.  Failing health compelled him to retire, and he died in November, 1904, aged fifty-eight years.  His widow survives, making her home at Dayton, Ohio.  Mr. Taylor was reared a Quaker, and his wife was a Methodist.  During the civil war, he served faithfully and gallantly as a soldier, enlisting three times, as his periods of enlistment expired, his longest service being with the Sixteenth Ohio Battery.  A man of stable character, he was chosen upon many occasions to hold public office, serving for twenty-five years as township clerk, was city clerk a number of times, and for years was a justice of the peace and a notary public.  He and his wife had four children, namely: Charles C.; Mary G., who married C. K. McConnaughey, of Dayton, Ohio; J. Garver Taylor, who resides at Dayton, and Bert C., who also resides at Dayton, Ohio.
     It is so often found that the men who achieve much, grow to manhood amid natural surroundings, passing their boyhood as normal human beings.  Such was the case with Charles Clifford Taylor.  Nothing exciting occurred during the years that he attended the public schools of New Carlisle, but during that period he was learning the lessons of honest endeavor and adherence to duty which were to be of so much assistance to him in his later life.  After leaving school, he became a telegrapher for the Big Four Railroad Company, being stationed at different points, developing into station agent for the same company.  In 1896 he was sent to Arcanum, Ohio, as station agent for the company, but in September 1898, severed his connection with his old concern to become cashier of the First National Bank of Arcanum.  this bank was organized in 1893 with a capital stock of $50,000 and Daniel Francis as president and C. F. Parks as cashier, who served until September, 1898, when Mr. Taylor succeeded him.  The man who is now president is M. M. Smith.  Needless to say that this bank stands high in financial circles, for it is a self-evident fact that its strength is admitted over the wide territory in which it operates.  It now has a capital stock of $50,000, surplus and profits $35,000 and assets over $400,000.  It has just completed a handsome three-story bank building of gray pressed brick on the corner of George and High streets.
     On Oct. 16, 1905, Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Lovella Gilbert, a daughter of Reuben and Viola (Zuck) Gilbert.  Mrs. Taylor was born in the vicinity of Arcanum, and was one of six children, namely: Edward, Lovella, Sarepta, Opal, Harry and Chalmer.  Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert were born in Maryland and Ohio, respectively, but they now reside in Twin township, this county.  Mr. and Mrs. Taylor became the parents of three children: Howard E., Florence and Catherine.  Mrs. Taylor belongs to the Methodist church.  Fraternally Mr. Taylor is affiliated with Ithaca Lodge No. 295, F. & A. M., and Juniata Lodge No. 162, K. of P., in which he has held all the chairs, and enjoys his associations with these orders.  A Republican, he has not only give his support to the candidates of his party, but has served it as city clerk for fifteen years.  As a banker and citizen, Mr. Taylor has lived up to high ideals, and is one whose interests are directed towards securing a betterment of existing conditions and a continuance of those worthy of preservation.
Source: History of Darke County, Ohio - From its earliest Settlement to the Present Time - Vol. II - Milford, Ohio - The Hobart Publ. Co. - 1914 - pg. 405

GEORGE FARRAR TAYLOR.     It is not an easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an active and busy life and who has attained a position of relative distinction in the community with which his interests are allied.  But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history.  It is, then, with an appreciation of these requirements and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of such a record as has been that of the honored subject whose life now comes under review.
     George Farrar Taylor was born in Greenville, Ohio, on June 12, 1868, and is the son of the John B. and Martha (Farrar) Taylor, the former of whom was a native of Lancashire, England.  These parents became early settlers in Greenville, where Mr. Taylor became prominent in business and industrial circles, being the owner of the car shops of Taylor & Brother, which for many years was a well-known manufacturing concern here.  However, he suffered a paralytic stroke, from the effects of which he died a few years later.  His wife, who survived him, is also deceased.  In their religious faith they were Episcopalians and were folk of sterling character and strictest integrity of word and action.  They were the parents of nine children, namely: Virginia, now the widow of Henry Amann; Nellie, the widow of Harry Lawton; Gertrude, the wife of M. P. Simison of Richmond, Ind.; Clarence, of San Francisco, Cal.; Robert, of Seattle, Wash.; Morris, who is manager for the Standard Oil Company at Greenville; George F., of Greenville; Sadie, who is bookkeeper and stenographer for the Kuntz & Wright Lumber Company; Maude, wife of George M. McClure, of Sidney, Ohio.
     George F. Taylor was reared in Greenville, and is indebted to the public schools of his city for his education.  At the early age of about twelve years he began earning money for himself by collecting and sending laundry to Dayton, in which he was successful and in which minor business affair he secured some insight into business methods.  In 1885 he began driving a grocery wagon for Barnhard Blottman, with whom he remained about five and a half years, when his employer sold out to C. C. Stoltz Company, with whom he remained, as he did also with their successors, Lockwood & Company, and later Lockwood, Parsons & Gott, Mr. Taylor remaining in that business about sixteen consecutive years.  He then went to Marion, Ohio, and was employed in the wholesale establishment of C. C. Stoltz for about a year and a half.  Returning then to Greenville, he soon afterwards went to Cincinnati and engaged in the hotel and restaurant business, but in 1903 he again returned to Greenville and entered the employ of the Ross Supply Company in the capacity of shipping clerk.  He was faithful to the duties assigned him, gained the confidence of the firm and, as opportunity offered he was promoted from time to time until in 1908, he became secretary and treasurer of the company, which positions he holds today, enjoying to marked degree the confidence and good will of his business associates, but also the respect and esteem of all who have business dealings with him.  The Ross Supply Company was established in Greenville in 1903 by J. H. A. Ross and Peter Verneer, who ran the business as partners about two years, when they sold their interests to the Ross Supply Company.   The latter company was incorporated with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, but so rapidly has the business grown that it has become necessary to enlarge the capital stock, until today it stands at one hundred and ninety thousand dollars.  This concern manufactures all kinds of stoves, pumps, plumbers’ supplies, street castings, etc., and do a general business in plumbing and heating supplies.  The present officers of the company are as follows: President, C. E. Breaden; vice-president, Chas. J. Herr, of the P. Kuntz & Wright Lumber Company, and secretary and treasurer, George F. Taylor.  Their business extends through a number of the neighboring States and their goods are also shipped to Europe.  They manufacture a high grade of goods and have gained an enviable reputation in the trade.  They employ between fifty and seventy people.
     On the 4th day of November, 1897, George F. Taylor was married to May Summerville, who was born in Greenville, Ohio, the daughter of James and Emaline (Holt) Summerville, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New Jersey.  Her father is now deceased, and is survived by his widow, who now lives in Greenville.  they were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Taylor is the only one now living.
     Politically, Mr. Taylor is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, but has no aspirations in the way of office holding or public preferment.  Fraternally, he is a member of Greenville Lodge No. 143, Free and Accepted Masons.  Religiously he and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a member of the board of stewards.  One of the strongest facts in Mr. Taylors favor is that his warmest friends are among those who have known him from boyhood.  No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed, and his loyalty to truth and the right are among his strongest characteristics, so that he has honestly earned the high standing which he has long enjoyed in this community.
Source: History of Darke County, Ohio - From its earliest Settlement to the Present Time - Vol. II - Milford, Ohio - The Hobart Publ. Co. - 1914 - pg. 76

GEORGE W. TEEGARDEN.   The rich agricultural resources of Darke county have afforded to George W. Teegarden, the opportunities for success in life, and for the past forty-five years he has been engaged in cultivating the Teegarden farm, a tract of one hundred acres of fine land in Brown township, on the Fort Recovery road, about three miles west of Annsonia and about nine miles north of Greenville.  He was born on this property, January 23, 1849, and is a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Stephenson) Teegarden.
     In 1688, in Prussia, was born Abraham Teegarden, Sr., and to him was born a son who was also named Abraham Teegarden, Jr.  He was born in 1718.  These two came to the United Sates in 1736 and located in Philadelphia, Pa., where they "qualified,' or, as we would now say, became naturalized citizens.  Later in life both did military duty and it has been said in Revolutionary war, but it would seem that Abraham Teegarden, Sr., would have been almost too old to have seen active service at that time.
     In that State was born Moses Teegarden in 1762, a son of Abraham, Jr.  As his father and grandfather had been the founders of the family in America so he became the founder of the family in Butler County, Ohio.  He settled near Oxford.  He was grandfather of our subject, George W. Teegarden and to him was born a son Abraham in Butler county, Sept. 5, 1797.  His mother's maiden name was Mary Huston.  This was the father of George W. and was reared in Butler county and in young manhood moved to Darke county in 1819 being about twenty-two yeas of age.  On October 4, 1827, he was married to Elizabeth K. Stephenson, who was born in Boone county, Kentucky Mar. 4, 1808.  She came to Darke county, Ohio, with her parents in 1816.  These two spent the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits in Brown township.  They were both members in the Presbyterian church and as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus they were always ready to help the poor and needy and to lend a helping hand to those who were sick.  They became the owners of nine hundred and twenty acres of land in Brown and Jackson townships.  They were the parents of the following children:  David H., born Dec. 7, 1828, now deceased; Mary Ellen, deceased; James M., who served as a Union soldier, in Company K, Ninety-fourth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry during the war and died in the service; Moses, born Apr. 9, 1836, and died Jan. 22, 1914; Andrew P., born Sept. 13, 1838, served in the Civil War and is now deceased; Matilda, born Mar. 11, 1841, now deceased; John W., born Jan. 5, 1844, served as a Union soldier during the war and died Aug. 9, 1904; Elizabeth Ellen, born Sep. 7, 1846, now deceased; George W., of this review, and Jasper, born Mar. 23, 1852, now deceased.
     George Teegarden received his education in Brown township school district No. 3 in winter and on the home farm during the summer months, where the lessons he learned while assisting the father and brothers in cultivating the farm were of no less importance than the ones he learned at school.  When about nineteen years of age he spent a year in the west in the two States of Illinois and Iowa.  He then returned to the home farm and has since then made his home and has met with a fair degree of success cultivating the farm where he now lives.
     On Mar. 19, 1885, he was married to Miss Rhoda Rants, daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Knapp) Rants.  Her father was born Apr. 30, 1815.  He served in Union army and died June 12, 1895.  Her mother was born Jan. 23, 1820, and died Nov. 25, 1878.  Mr. Rants was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and when a youth of eighteen years came to Fort Recovery, Ohio, and there learned the trade of tailor.  At the time of his death he was one of the honored citizens and successful business business men of Collett, Indiana.  He and his wife were the parents of nine children: Marietta, Babe and John, all deceased; Emeline married James Macy; David married Margaret Cunningham; Sarah married Rev. Thomas Beaber; Rhoda married George W. Teegarden; Lorinda married Jackson Adkins, and Susan married Joel Pickard.  Mr and Mrs. George W. Teegarden have one daughter, Zona, born on home farm on Aug. 11, 1887.  She first attended the school where her father had attended in his boyhood days after she took the Patterson examination she received a diploma June 10, 1905.  Later she took a one-year course at the Ansonia, Ohio, high school.  On Aug. 10, 1912, she was married to George H. Jenkinson, a farmer, who is managing the Teegarden farm.  Mr. and Mrs. Jenkinson have one son, Abraham Teegarden Jenkinson, born Jun. 26, 1913, on the Teegarden farm, which his great grandfather, Abraham Teegarden, entered from United States government in 1819.  In politics Mr. Teegarden is a Republican and in all of life's relations he stands for those things which work for upright manhood, for loyalty in citizenship and for fidelity in friendship.
History of Darke County, Ohio - From its earliest Settlement to the Present Time - Vols. I & II - Milford, Ohio - The Hobart Publ. Co. - 1914 - Page 484