The full biographical sketch as printed, transcribed from the public-domain book. Spelling and wording are the original author’s; a few scanning errors may remain.
ELI PENCE.
Eli Pence, a farmer of Johnson township. Champaign county, was born two miles north of St. Paris, Ohio, January 20, 1842. He is a representative of one of the old families of this county, where he has spent practically all of his life of seventy-five years during which he has seen many important changes in a material way. He is a veteran of the Civil War in which he fought gallantly for the Union.
Mr. Pence is a son of Samuel and Mary A. (Howard) Pence, and a grandson of Daniel and Elizabeth Pence, who came to Champaign county from Virginia in early pioneer times, settling in Jackson township, where they carved a home from the wilderness and spent the rest of their li\^es. They were parents of the following children : Elizabeth, who married Jacob Kib- binger; Susan, who married David Gump; William, who married Zenella McDaniel; Amos, who married Clarinda Browning; Eli, who married Marv
Grove; Sarah, who married WilHam Rusk; Samuel, father of the subject of this sketch.
Samuel Pence devoted his active hfe to farming in Champaign county. His family consisted of the follov^'ing children: B. F. died in childhood; Isaiah was a soldier in the Civil War; Sarah J. married John Apple; Susan married Daniel Poorman ; Elizabeth married Samuel Heck; Samuel. Ji"-. died when a boy.
Eli Pence spent his boyhood days on the home farm in Johnson township, and there he attended the rural schools, but only for a short time, in fact, he had little opportunity to obtain an education. On August 5, 1862, he enlisted in Company H. Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he saw considerable hard service in the Fourth Army Corps, later being transferred to the Twenty- third Army Corps. He was in the Atlanta campaign and under General Sher- man on his march to the sea. He was wounded in the right shoulder at the battle of Resaca, Georgia, and was away from his regiment three months thereafter, and he still carries the bullet. He rejoined his regiment at Nash- \ille, Tennessee, and was under General Thomas until the close of the war. Although wounded he was never in the hospital. He was mustered out and honorably discharged in June, 1865. He had been a very faithful and loyal soldier according to his officers and comrades.
x^fter his army career Mr. Pence returned to Champaign county and has since resided on a farm in Johnson township. He has lived on his present farm, five miles northwest of St. Paris, since 1867. He has been very success- ful as a general farmer and stock raiser. He is now living in retirement.
Mr. Pence was married on March 4, 1866, to Rachel Srofe, who was born on the farm where they now live, her parents being early settlers in John- son township, and here she has spent her life. She is a daughter of George W. and Isabelle (Grimes) Srofe. Her maternal grandfather, Benjamin Grimes, was a soldier in the War of 18 12. He lived to the advanced age of one hun- dred and thirteen years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Pence six children have been born, named as follow : Orlando married Dora Apple and they live in Johnson township ; William F. married Flora Hamilton ; Samuel, now deceased, married Clara Maxin ; Mary is the wife of Perry E. Apple ; Emma E. is deceased ; Mrs. Thursa Hobbins is deceased. There are six grandchildren.
Politically, Mr. Pence is a Democrat. He has served as school director and supervisor. He has been a member of the Baptist church at Mt. Pleasant since 1868, and is a deacon and trustee in the same, and at one time served
as treasurer, and was a member of the building committee. He has always been active in tlie church, in fact, has been one of the pillars of the same for nearly fifty years. For a period of eleven years he was treasurer of the Mad River Association.
Source: Biographical Record of Champaign County, Ohio. See the original pages at the Internet Archive.
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