History of Chillicothe, (Ross County) Ohio United States of America

Marha Finley, author, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, April 26, 1828; daughter of Dr. James Brown and Maria Theresa (Brown) Finley; granddaughter of Major Samuel and Mary (Brown) Finley and of James and Eleanor (Butler) Brown; and a descendant of John and Martha (Berkley) Finley, James and Mary (McClelland) Brown, and Thomas and Eleanor (Parker) Butler. Her maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Butler, great-grandson of the Duke of Ormond, came over to America before the Revolution and settled in Pennsylvania. Martha was taken to Circleville, Ohio, in 1829, and to South Bend, Ind., in 1836, acquiring her education chiefly in the latter place. In 1851-53 she taught school in Indiana, removing in the latter year to Philadelphia, then to Ph?nixville, Pa., where she taught for a time, and later devoting her entire attention to literary work, adopting as a pen name "Martha Farquharson." She removed to Elkton, Md., in 1876. Her published works include: the Elsie Dinsmore series (23 vols., 1868-98); Casella, or, The Children of the Valleys (1869) ;An Old-Fashioned Boy (1871); Wanted, a Pedigree (1872); Our Fred: or, Seminary Life at Thurston (1874); The Mildred Series (7 vols., 1878-86); Signing the Contract (1879); The Thorn in the Nest (1886); The Tragedy of Wild River Valley (1893); Twiddletewit, A Fairy Tale (1898); besides a long list of Sunday-school books.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Sarah (Worthington) King Peter, philanthropist, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, May 16, 1800; daughter of Gov. Thomas and Eleanor (Swearingen) Worthington, and granddaughter of Robert Worthington of Berkeley county, Va. She was married in 1816 to Edward, son of the Hon. Rufus King , and made her borne in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her husband died and she was married secondly, in 1844, to William Peter, British consul at Philadelphia, Pa., and during her residence in that city, she established the School of Design for Women, which was opened, Dec. 2, 1850. She returned to Cincinnati after the death of Mr. Peter in 1853, and established the Ladies' Academy of Art, which became the Art School of Cincinnati. She was converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1856, making nine pilgrimages to Rome, on special visits to the Holy Father, and founded at least twenty sisterhoods and convents in the archdioceses of Philadelphia and Cincinnati. She purchased paintings and other works of art in Europe for the Cincinnati art school, and statues of saints which she presented to different Catholic churches. She bequeathed her wealth to charitable institutions and died at Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 6, 1877.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Lucy Ware Webb Hayes, wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, nineteenth President of the United States, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, Aug. 28, 1831; daughter of Dr. James and Maria (Cook) Webb. Her father, a prominent physician of Chillicothe, was a native of North Carolina where with his father he owned a number of slaves whom they liberated and sent to Liberia in 1833. Her mother was a daughter of Judge Isaac Cook of Connecticut. She was graduated at Wesleyan female college, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1852, and was married to Rutherford B. Hayes, Dec. 30, 1852. When her husband was in the Union army in West Virginia, she was with him in camp in the care of the sick and wounded. As wife of the governor of Ohio, of a U.S. representative in congress at Washington, and as mistress of the White House, she entertained with much grace, and her success as hostess was marked by the fact that she would not allow wine to be served at the table even on state occasions. This, while it caused some adverse comment, was applauded by advocates of temperance, and the prohibitionists presented her with various testimonials. Her independence was in marked contrast to usage and brought her in favor with a new element in the social life of the national capital. She was an organizer of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' home and one of its directors; was connected with the Woman's Relief Corps; president of the Woman's Home Missionary society of the M.E. church; and an honorary member of the Society of the Army of West Virginia, and of various temperance organizations throughout the world. She died in Fremont, Ohio, June 25. 1859.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Edwin Dun, diplomatist, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in July, 1848. He was a nephew of Allan G. Thurman, U.S. senator. He was chief of the agricultural bureau colonization department, Japan, 1873-84. In 1884 President Cleveland appointed him second secretary of the U.S. legation in Japan, and in 1885 first secretary. His popularity with the Mikado, the court and the diplomatic officials constrained President Harrison to continue him in the office and in 1893 President Cleveland promoted him U.S. minister to Japan. He cooperated with the United States minister to China, Charles Denby, in an amicable settlement of the issues between China and Japan arising out of the war of 1894-95. In 1897 he opened large mercantile houses in Yokohama.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Chillicothe, (Ross County) Ohio

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