and invariably he was successful. He was principally engaged, however, in farming and stock dealing during his residence in Stock, where he lived until 1845, when he removed to Sarahsville, where he engaged quite largely in merchandising and the tobacco trade. In the latter he was very successful. He was a man of sound judgment and keen perception, with confidence in his own ability, and all his undertakings were financial successes. In a few years he found himself possessed of a competency, which afforded him an opportunity for relieving the wants of his less fortunate neighbors, and for a time he did an extensive business as a broker, and it can be said to his credit that he never took an advantage of a distressed debtor. Shortly after the erection of the county he began to take quite an active interest in political matters, and soon became one of the leading members of the Whig element of the county. Upon the formation of the Republican party he joined its ranks, but in 1861 he became a pronounced Democrat, and was an influential member of that organization until his decease. He was not a politician, however, in the present definition of the term; he did not court political preferment, his efforts were solely for what he deemed to be for the best interests of the people. He was one of the leading spirits in what is now known as the People's Convention, held in Sarahsville, in 1851, which was the first political movement of promi

the convention to revise the State constitution. As a member of this convention he evidenced that tact, judgment and sterling good sense which were the salient features in everything he undertook. Judge L. D. Campbell, of Hamilton, Ohio, one of the prominent members of that convention, spoke of him as "one of the useful and efficient members of that body." Mr. Young was married, in 1836, to Miss Jane McCann. The result of this union was a family of thirteen children, of whom ten are living: Simon K., Martha (Dudley), Elizabeth (Danford), Mary (Ijams), Sarah (McGuire), Nancy (Berry), Jane (Finley), Ella (Ijams), Charles and Maria (Brown).

William J. Young was in many respects a remarkable man, physically as well as mentally, and had he had the advantages of education and the adventitious aids accessible in an old country, would have made his name illustrious in almost any calling. He was possessed of a large amount of versatility. While he never studied law, he was a lawyer. He never had the benefit of a basiness education, either theoretical or

practical; still, he was a business man in all that the word implies. Uneducated, still but few men had a larger share of general information. He was finely poised; his brain was as massive as his body. He was a man of powerful physique and fine presence. Socially he was extremely affable and agreeable, and never failed to interest a large circle of listeners. He had a large personal following, which was attributable largely to his broad charity and kindness of heart, and his death, which occurred May 25, 1882, was everywhere regarded as an irreparable loss. Henry J. Young was born at Lippet's Factory, R. I., October 12, 1819, and came to what is now Noble County with his father's family in 1825. His youth and early manhood were spent in the wilds of the new county. His father was in limited circumstances, and he learned to rely upon his own resources at an early age. By dint of energy and economy he acquired a sum sufficient to purchase forty acres of new land, and soon after (1842) he married Miss Mary A. Davidson, who is a native of Washington County, Pa.

In 1846 he removed to the farm, where he now resides. Mr. Young has been engaged in farming and dealing in tobacco, and is one of the most successful men in the county. In his religious affiliations he is a Methodist, and for a time was a local preacher. He has reared a family of ten children, seven of whom are living; all have received liberal educa

tions, three of the sons being collegiates.

Thomas J. Young was born at Lippet's Mills, R. I., in 1813. He was the eldest of the family of William Young, and immigrated with the family, in 1825, to what is now Noble County. In 1835 he married Miss Mary Stotsburg, and commenced life on a small piece of new land, which he improved. He was successful in business as a stock dealer, merchant, and in the tobacco trade; in the latter he was quite largely engaged. He was in trade in Sarahsville until 1876. In 1857, through the perfidy of a partner, he lost heavily. He died on his farm, in Center, in 1885. He was a kind father, a generous friend, and a worthy citizen. His children were: Adaline (Spriggs), Mary A. (Alexander), Margaret (Teeters), Isabella (Michaels), Ellen (Young), Thomas H., Arnold, Edmund, and Dora.

THE BROWN FAMILY.

was

Jeremiah Bateman Brown one of the prominent early settlers. He was born in New York State, of Scotch-Irish parentage. He served in the War of 1812, and after its close removed to Pennsylvania and thence to Ohio, locating at Zanesville, where he worked in the first glass factory ever established west of the Alleghanies. About 1820 he settled within the present limits of Center Township, Noble County, on a piece of unimproved land which he entered from the government. He married Miss Nancy Gillotte, and reared a large and respectable family.

He was a warm Union man during

the late war, and at the time when the Morgan raiders were spreading terror through Ohio, though then over seventy years of age, he shouldered his squirrel rifle and joined in the pursuit of the guerrilla band. Mr. Brown died in 1864. His widow reached the advanced age of ninety years, and died in 1885. The sons were G. W., Admiral N., Jeremiah B. (deceased), and Jason Whitney. The daughters were Sarah A., Eliza J. (deceased), Margaret A. and Mary A. (deceased). The oldest son, G. W., served in the late war in Lanphere's Michigan Battery, and was wounded at Chickasaw Bayou. The fourth son, Jason W., served in an Indiana regiment during the war.

Jeremiah Byron Brown, third son of Jeremiah Bateman Brown, was born in Zanesville. He married Miss Isabella C. Harris, and reared six children: Mary E. (Smith), John H., better known as Judge Brown, of Caldwell; LeRoy D., of Alliance, Ohio, late State school commissioner; Orra A. (Lamley), Amanda (Grim), and Warren B.-the latter a student at the Cincinnati College of Medicine. The father, like his father before him, was a most earnest and zealous friend of schools, and gave his children the best educational advantages that his means afforded. The sons and daughters have been successful teachers, following that useful vocation for many years, and one of the sons has filled in a highly creditable manner the highest educational office within the gift of the people of Ohio.

Jeremiah Bateman Brown died in 1880, while on a visit to his former home. He was a farmer and lived the greater part of his life in Center Township, removing thence to West Virginia in his later years. His widow is still living.

LEROY D. BROWN, A. M., PH. D. Among the many prominent educators whom Noble County has furnished to the State and country, the gentleman whose name heads this article, stands pre eminent. LeRoy D. Brown was born in Center Township, Noble County, November 3, 1848, and his boyhood was passed amid the rugged but beneficial influences of farm life. At the early age of fifteen years, in the darkest days of the Rebellion, he became a volunteer soldier, and for two years bravely bore his part in the stern discipline of civil warfare. He took part in many engagements, serving under Crook, Sheridan and Grant, and was wounded while with Sheridan in the valley of Virginia. At the close of the war he returned to the farm, and by teaching one year and attending school the next, managed to fit himself for the Ohio Wesleyan University, which he entered in 1869. From this institution, after several intervals of teaching, he was graduated in the regular classical course. Having decided to make teaching his life-work, he devoted himself closely to his pursuit and gained an excellent reputation as a teacher in eastern Ohio. In due time he was called to the Miami Valley, and became distinguished as a teacher and organizer. He held

the position of superintendent of schools in the city of Hamilton, and proved both popular and efficient in that capacity. He is a close observer and a hard student. His characteristic energy is shown by the fact that he studied law and was admitted to the bar in the midst of his professional duties.

Since 1873 Mr. Brown has visited many of the best schools in various parts of the United States and Canada, and in 1882 he traveled in Europe, visiting schools and study ing the educational systems of Great Britain, Germany, France and Austria. He has been styled "the best travelled schoolmaster in Ohio." In 1853 he was nominated by the Democratic party, and elected State commissioner of common schools, by a handsome majority. His labors to improve the educational institutions of the State have been indefatigable and have brought good results. The excellent educational exhibit, sent to the New Orleans Exposition, was prepared under his direction, and won for him the highest praise. In recognition of his scholarship he has received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He has contributed many valuable articles to prominent educational journals.

In a published sketch of Mr. Brown* occur these remarks:

"As the head of the Ohio school system he has proved an efficient officer, and the schools of Ohio were never in a better condition than they are to-day. **** At various times

*Cincinnati Graphic, July 4, 1885.

1

he has been honored with important offices in educational conventions and organizations, and he is now the president of the department of superintendence of the National Educational Association. As a vocation, he holds that teaching should be so well remunerated as to induce the noblest young men and young women to adopt it as a life-work. Only thus, he thinks, can the new profession assume its true place among the callings of men; and to the end that it may assume such a place, he is willing to give to it the greatest energy and the best thought of his life."

Governor Joseph B. Foraker, as a mark of his confidence in the integrity, capacity and public spirit of Mr. Brown, appointed him as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors' Orphans' Home, on the 10th day of February, 1887. This appointment, coming as it did from a chief executive of the State, of opposite political views, near the close of Mr. Brown's official term as school commissioner, attests the fidelity and ability with which he has discharged the important duties of his high office at the head of the public school system of his native State.

In 1878 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Esther Emma Gabel, of | Eaton, Ohio. Three children have blessed this union. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their home is always open to their friends, and their hands are always ready to do any good

| work for family, church or state."