ELEANOR JANE, born July 9, 1808, and named after her Aunt Eleanor Cherry, was hardly a year old when the strenuous trip over the mountains from Virginia was made. She obtained a good elementary education, largely at the hewed log church-schoolhouse near her home, and was well trained in all the numerous domestic duties of that period.
On November 2, 1826, she married George Villars, born April 2, 1806. He and an older brother, James, had come to Ohio from their native state, Pennsylvania, and together had purchased several hundred acres of land lying some miles from Clarksville, towards Cuba.
James Villars, the elder brother, born 1800, was one of those active, energetic men who never seem to grow weary. He entered the ministry at the age of 19, and in addition to working early and late on the farm and operating successfully his large landholdings, was very active in his ministerial duties; almost to the last he preached regularly at various charges in Clinton and adjoining counties. Some years before his death he erected a large two story brick church known as “Villars Chapel,” not far from his home. He was affiliated with the Methodist Protestant Church and there is still a thriving congregation of that kind worshipping at the Chapel.
George Villars and his wife, Eleanor, went to housekeeping on his share of the land purchased by the brothers and there the couple raised their large family and spent the remainder of their lives. Eleanor was not as successful in rearing to maturity all her offspring as was her older sister, Mary. They had the following children:
I Susan, September 3, 1827. She married first, James Cast; second, his brother, John. From the first marriage were the following:
1 George, September 4, 1843. He never married. Died October 1, 1860.
2 Francis A., _____ 16, 1845. [ed: No month was printed for birth in the original book, just the day and year.] Died July 14, 1850.
3 John W., May 9, 1847. He married Almarinda Collins of Clarksville. Children: a Walter, February 14, 1869, married Henrietta McPherson. One child, 1’ Mabel, who married Charles Zimmerman. Two children: a’ Lucille, b’ Robert.
b Arthur William, October 6, 1871, married Alice Wilcox. Children: 1’ Ernest, married Julia Tilton. They live in Illinois; have one child, a’ Phyllis. 2’ John Everett, married Margaret Jones. Two sons. a’ Ralph, b’ Fred
c Erma, August 23, 1872, married Alfred States. They had four children: 1’ Earl, a teacher. He married Grace Dumford. One child, a’ Phyllis. 2’ Aletha, married Ralph Thompson. They have a daughter, a’ Barbara. 3’ Leo, married Marie Brandenburg. No children. 4’ Lester, married, ? Price. One girl. ?
d Carrie May, April 25, 1874, married Alonzo Titus. Issue, 1’ Nellie, who married William Phillips. One child, a’ Ruth.
e Edna Estelle, April 28, 1876, married R. M. Brandenburg. Children: 1’ Grazie, married ?. 2’ Howard, dead. 3’ Arthur, married ?. 4’ Helen, unmarried.
f Della December 18, 1879, married E. M. Villars. Children: 1’ Ora, married James Luthrell. Two sons: a’ Richard, b’ Edward. 2’ Nora, married Clifton Hamilton. No children. 3’ James, unmarried.
g Redway, November 4, 1885. Unmarried. [ed: Note that Redway's and Ada's birthdates conflict, as printed in the original book. Probably Redway's should be 4 Nov 1882 or 1883, instead of 1885.]
h Ada, May 4, 1885, married Frank Balshizer. Two sons: 1 Willard, 2’ Harold. Both are married and live in Kentucky.
i Refius, July 18, 1889. Deceased.
j Frank, July 22, 1891. Enlisted in World War, Company 3, 328th Infantry. He died at Le Mons Hospital, France; later his remains were brought home and buried with military honors.
4 Sara R., February 17, 1849. She married George Batton. Two children: a Florence, March 14, 1871. She became the second wife of Dr. Z. T. Garland, and had a son, Carl. He studied medicine but tiring of a doctor’s life became a lawyer and entered politics. He married a woman named ? Gatch. After the death of her first husband Florence married D. J. Smith.
b Francis Andrew, August 16, 1875. He became a physician. Died December 18, 1920. He had married Ottie W. Smith, but there were no children.
5 Mary J., February 17, 1852, married Chester Breech and had a son, a Bernard, March 4, 1880. He married Augusta Turner. No children.
6 James A., February 9, 1855, married Amanda McKibben. Children: a James Everett, September 17, 1876. He married Chlora Turner. No children. b Bertha, April 10, 1878. Unmarried. c Herman Josiah, November 18, 1879, married first Elizabeth Shields. Issue: 1’ Wiona Mae, August 23, 1900. 2’ James Robert, September 27, 1901. Robert married first, Goldie Wolfrum and had a daughter, a’ Anna Belle, 1922. He married second, Ruby Hessler, and had two children: b’ Roberta Dawn, c’ Hazel Catherine. Herman Josiah married a second time, Nellie Moomaw. To this second union were born: 3’ Opal Louise, November 12, 1910. She married John McFadden, January 21, 1922. 4’ Wilbur Lewis, July 30, 1913.
7 Minnie E., January 23, 1872, the only child of the second marriage to John E. She married Frank H. Brandenburg, May 12, 1893. To the union were born:
a Cecil Ray, May 21, 1894. He married first, Zola Sewell. To this marriage stillborn twins (1’ and 2’) were born, the mother dying. Later Cecil married a widow, Elma J. Patton. To the couple were born twins: May 12, 1922. 3’ Donald Fay, and 4’ Donald Ray. 5’ Daris G., August 15, 1927.
b Roy J., May 22, 1896, married Clara Ulzalda Huffey, September 15, 1915. Their first two children, first a boy and then a girl were stillborn. 3’ Maxine Virginia, October 4, 1920. 4’ Roy, August 31, 1925. 5’ Marilyn La Verne, June 21, 1927.
c Frank G., June 29, 1897. He married Myra F. Bevan. Children: 1’ Betty Lucille, June 29, 1923. 2’ June Marie, June 12, 1927.
d Rebecca Marie, June 18, 1901, married Leo T. States. No children.
e Madge S., October 20, 1903, married Benton H. Sheldon. No children.
f Faye Effie, June 14, 1905, married Ed. H. Ellis, now deceased. They had one child, 1’ Harold Leroy, March 12, 1925.
g Fred L., January 29, 1907, married Hazel Bryan. One child, 1’ Delbert Eugene.
II Mary, July 6, 1830.
III John, July 4, 1832.
IV Louisa, October 9, 1834. All three of these died early, two of whooping cough, close together.
V Rebecca J., March 26, 1827, married Samuel Smith, in 1856. [ed: Rebecca's birth year was printed as 1827 in the original book, which conflicts with the birth year given for Susan. A more likely date for Rebecca is 1837, which maintains the sequence, placing her midway between Louisa (October 1834) and Isaiah (March 1839).] Descendants: 1 _______ , married ________, and had four children. [ed: In the original book the first child of Samuel and Rebecca Smith was evidently omitted. Could have been either male or female; married and had four children: a Samuel, b Ida, c Cora, d Sherman..] a Samuel, married Maud Statler and had two children: 1’ Dorothy, 2’ Chester. (See also the Statler posterity). b Ida, died young, c Cora, married a man named Grove. Children: 1’ Beulah, married Elmer Grove. No children. 2’ Lucille, 3’ Lena, 4’ Esther. d Sherman, married Mary Sharp. The couple both died, but left a son 1’ Robert, born 1917, living with his grandfather Smith.
2 Granville Homer, November 3, 1858. He married Cora Miller, April 5, 1887. (Cora owns the old C. C. Miller homestead, a part of the original Ephraim Kibbey farm, on East Fork, Clinton county). They have two children: a Zenas, September 27, 1892. He married Anna Sharp, April 26, 1917. They have a son, 1’ Richard, born in 1919. The couple own and operate a fine dairy farm near Wilmington, Ohio. b Goldie E., September 27, 1902. She married Lawrence B. Minnich. They have a beautiful home on Spring Street, Wilmington, Ohio, where the husband operates a grocery.
3 Charles E., October 7, 1862. In 1902 he married Susan Kays. The couple went to Illinois to live. They have no children.
4 Warren F., April 12, 1863, married Harriet Palmerton, 1893. They have one child, a Carrie.
5 Ulysses Grant, November 30, 1885, married Daisy Greenwood, now deceased, in 1903. [ed: The original book states 1885 as the birth year of Ulysses, but it should most likely be 1865, which maintains the sequence between Warren (1863) and Alfred (1867).] They had one son, Clarence, who married.
6 Alfred V., October 26, 1867, married Lillian Holiday; they have a daughter, a Mary Alice.
7 Alice R., June 22, 1869. Unmarried, lives in Wilmington, Ohio.
8 Egbert Leroy, August 19, 1871, dead.
9 Della, August 19, 1877, dead.
VI Isaiah M., March 5, 1839. At the age of 19 he went to Illinois and there enlisted as a volunteer when the south rebelled, and served all through the Civil War. In 1865 he joined the Illinois Conference of the M. E. Church and served various charges till 1886 when he was made president of the McKendree College at Lebanon, Ill. In 1889 he returned to pastoral work and continued in that till his death in 1911. For four years he was Chaplain of the Illinois State Penitentiary. In 1858 he married Mary Helen Thompson. After her death in 1888 he married a widow, Mrs. Narzilla Dickson. By his first marriage he had a son,
1 Ulysses Sumner, September 22, 1865. He attended De Pauw University, Class of 1882, and later took a two year course in the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston, Ill. He entered the ministry in 1887, joined the Nebraska Conference the next year and served churches in Nebraska and other states. When the United States entered the World War he joined the Red Cross in hospital service at Camp Grant, Illinois. Later he served the Fitzsimon’s General Hospital at Denver, Colorado, and at Fort Lyon Hospital, same state. From 1922 to 1926 he served as Supervisor of Disaster Relief and Junior Red Cross, leaving with the rank of Major.
Among other prominent offices he has held all the following: 1. Grand Chief Templar, I. O. G. T. of Illinois; 2. Department Chaplain, Sons of Veterans, of Illinois. 3. Department Commander of Minnesota. 4. Vice President of New Mexico Society S. A. R.
While serving his fourth year as minister of the Federated Community Church of Belen, New Mexico he was taken sick and after little more than a week’s illness passed away April 8, 1933. Following are extracts from the “In Memoriam” published in The Messenger — the church paper:
| In Memoriam |
| Citizens of Belen and vicinity turned
out en masse, Sunday, April 9th, to pay a last tribute to their beloved pastor.
The church was filled to overflowing at each of the two services held: one
for a young peoples service and a second for adults. Four hundred of the latter
crowded the church edifice.
The secret of his wide influence was his transparent sincerity. His leadership was untainted by a selfish thought. ;He was never too busy to help an ambitious boy or girl seeking guidance or listen to the story of a widow trying to make her way. Patriotism partook for him of the nature of religion. He believed in America and for nine years was chaplain in the Red Cross, with the boys during the World War. |
| The
Messenger Federated Community Church Belen, New Mexico |
In August, 1885, he married Annie Eliza Denton, born at Bath, England, in 1865. They had the following children:
a Helen Mary, July 29, 1886. She married Baron Frederick Albert Von Torner, February 11, 1913. The husband was lost in the World War and in 1920 the widow married Owen E. MacBride. From the first union was born: 1’ Barbara, November, 1913. From the second: 2 Patricia Villars, October 3, 1923. They reside at Ojai, Calif.
b Sumner Isaiah, November 15, 1889. Died, October, 1891.
c Horace Sumner, June 28, 1891. Graduated University of Minnesota, A. B., 1912. M. D. Degree, same college, 1916. Served as Lieutenant in Medical Corps, Mexican Border, 1st Field Artillery, 1916-1917. Medical Corps, U. S. Army in the World War, 1917. Was over seas in Evacuation Hospital No. 2, in France; with the Army of Occupation at Coblentz, 1918-1921, returning with the rank of Major. He has since served four years at the Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D. C., and at the Letterman U. S. General Hospital six years. Was then “loaned” to the Gorgas at Ancon, Panama Canal Zone; returned to the “states” in 1934 and was assigned to Fort Hoachuca, Arizona. In 1928 he was elected to Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons on nomination of the Surgeon General of the U. S. Army. In 1921 he married Alice H. Stacey and to them have been born: 1’ Emily Louise, 1922.2’ Horace Sumner, Jr., 1931.
d Wendell Denton, August 15, 1892. Graduated from Agricultural School, University of Minnesota. Served as First Sergeant on Mexican Border, 1916-1917. Rejected in the draft and as an attempted volunteer in World War till 1918, and was then sent over seas, 1918-1919. In 1920 he married Clara Murphy. They have no children and live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
e Esther Florence, June 7, 1895. Unmarried, lives in San Francisco, California.
VII James H., April 28, 1841, died April 30, 1870. He married Catherine Ellen Austin, October 19, 1862. She died March 16, 1884. Children:
1 George Benj., October 6, 1863, married Elma Eliza Hatton. Children: a Bessie, December 17, 1893, married Henry V. Tumlin. Children: 1’ Victor, February 17, 1915. 2’ John, November 12, 1917. 3’ Richard, 1922, dead. 4’ Albert, March 18, 1920. 5’ Robert, 1928, dead. 6’ Lee, July 3, 1931. 7’ Betty Edna, November 24, 1933.
b Daisy Edna, May 26, 1896, married Glenn E. Brown. Children: 1’ Glenn E., Jr., August 16, 1915. 2’ Doris Nidine, November 17, 1916. 3’ Bobby Jo., June 11, 1918. 4’ Frances Ferrell, April 11, 1920. 5’ Lucile D., August 18, 1920. 6’ Elmer, March 14, 1930. 7’ Daisy Edna, December 13, 1932.
c Quinella Eleanor (Nellie) December 29, 1901, married William I. Essry. Children: 1’ William Jr., February 13, 1918. 2’ Geraldine L., March 2, 1921. 3’ Geole Samuel, March 28, 1924, dead.
d Susie, July 12, 1904, married.
e Virginia, March 25, 1909, married Donald C. Sherwood, December 8, 1929.
f Pauline Beatrice, July 25, 1911, married and has a child.
2 Anna, June 12, 1865, married Joseph P. Leverett in 1883. One child, a Rhea Ella, June 2, 1890, married Otis Millikan. Children: a Mildred Catherine, November 28, 1907, married Rufus Fenney. Two sons: 1’ Donald, 2’ Robert. b Jeannette Ione, December 20, 1909, dead. c Jonathan Carl, February 4, 1912, dead.
3 Ella, born about 1869, died July 9, 1887, married Monroe Banks. No issue.
VIII Alfred J. In May, 1865, he married Harriet Smith, who was born in 1844. There were no children.
IX Eli H., January 17, 1845. He married Kate Thatcher. They had three children, two living: 1 May, in Wilmington. 2 Charles, a business man in Denver, Col.
X Martha C., July 26, 1847. Never married; is now dead.
XI Frances C., June 26, 1852, married Frank Losh. Three children: 1 Charles, November 20, 1872, died early. 2 Stillborn. 3 George, October 24, 1875, married Nellie Worley. One child, Clara Belle, June 12, 1912. They live in Blanchester, Ohio.