The Compton Families of Butler County, Ohio

FREEMAN COMPTON, a leading business man of Hamilton, is a native of Ohio, born in Hamilton County on the 21st of May, 1831. The family of which he is a member was first represented in this state by his grandfather, Jacob Compton, who was reared and married in New Jersey and thence removed to Ohio, locating in Cincinnati as early as 179(1. At that time this now prosperous city was thinly populated, with few indications of its present prosperity. There he followed the cooper’s trade until his death.

While the family were in Kentucky, en route from New Jersey to Ohio, Abraham Compton, the father of Freeman, was born, February 29, 179(1. He grew to manhood in Cincinnati, where he learned the trade of a carpenter. After his marriage to Miss Abigail Phillips he settled on a small farm in Hamilton County, which he cultivated, and at the same time devoted some attention to his trade. He died at his home near Mt. Pleasant, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife survived him, passing away at the age of ninety. In religious belief they were members of the Old-school Baptist Church.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

The subject of this sketch was born on a farm near Pleasant Run, Hamilton county, Ohio, on the 16th of July, 1833. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of southern Ohio, as appears more fully in the sketch of his brother, Freeman Compton, in this volume. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the reader is referred as above indicated.

Alfred Compton was the seventh child in a family of ten born to Abraham and Abigail (Phillips) Compton. His education was acquired in the district schools of his native locality in the well-remembered old school house at Pleasant Run. At the age of about sixteen years he became an apprentice to the carpenter’s trade in Hamilton. Later he worked at the business for a time in Piqua, Ohio, and from the latter place he went to Iowa, which state was then rapidly developing with the impetus of westward emigration. Mr. Compton located at Columbus City, in the Hawkeye state, and there began his career as a contractor and builder. After ten years thus spent, he returned to Ohio and in 1864 located at Symmes Corners, a village four miles south of Hamilton, and, from that point as headquarters, he continued the work of contracting and building for ten years. He then moved to Hamilton and for a short time he was in partnership with his brother Freeman. On the 1 st of June, 1875, the brothers dissolved their business relations, since which time Alfred Compton has given his entire attention to the lumber business. He has occupied a very desirable and convenient location at the southwest corner of Third and Sycamore streets for nearly thirty years and enjoys a fine trade in all kinds of lumber and building materials. Mr. Compton has been phenomenally successful in a financial way and stands in the front rank of Hamilton’s corps of able business men. The site upon which his yards are located represents quite a fortune in market value, while he carries a heavy stock of goods at

Google all times. In addition to this his rentals from numerous residences in the city yield him a handsome income. His possessions are wholly the result of his own well-directed energies and business sagacity.

While a resident of Iowa, Mr. Compton was married to Miss Nancy Jane Luckey, a native of Piqua, Ohio, born on the 4th of February, 1835. This union was solemnized at Columbus City, Iowa, on the 30th of March, 1854, and proved a most happy marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Compton have had six children born to them, two of whom died in infancy. Francis, a prominent young man of eighteen, lost his life as an employe of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company. The living children are Lester and Thomas L., engaged in business with their father, and John A., a transfer man in Hamilton. Lester is unmarried and lives at home with his parents. Thomas married Martha Jane Green, and their three children are named Mary Jane, Thomas Alfred and Paul Dewitt. John married Miss Laura Frazier and their only living child is Alfred. Thus the ancestral name Alfred is to be perpetuated through succeeding generations.

The subject of this review and his estimable wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the 30th of March. 1904. It is a pleasant duty to record the fact that this event, which is of seldom occurrence in these days of “divorces for trivial cause,” only emphasized the wisdom of their first choice, and shows that in spite of the lapse of half a century, the “old, old story” of love, trust and confidence was reaffirmed and intensified at the nuptial altar of 1904.

Mr. Compton has been an active member of the Church of Christ for many years and is a zealous and conscientious worker in the cause of Christianity. Nearly all the years of his membership have been spent in some official capacity in the church, but mostly as a member of the official board. Mrs. Compton is also a member of the same religious organization, a devout Christian lady and an active member of the various ladies’ societies connected with the church. In political affiliations Mr. Compton has been a lifelong Democrat, but has never allowed his name to go before the people as a candidate for any public office. He regards politics as a “necessary evil,” as the affairs of the political parties are usually conducted, and has no place in his make-up for the chronic office seeker. Social orders, or lodges, he classes in the same category as politics, withholding the word “necessary.” But he is not aggressive in forcing his views upon others, giving to all the same privileges which he claims for himself.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WILSON M. COMPTON, a representative farmer and a successful sheep breeder, resides in section 7, of Lemon Township, where he has a good farm of one hundred and sixty-two and one-half acres. lie is one of those men who can enjoy the freedom and independence of a rural life, and believes that in farming there is use for the brain as well as the hands. He has thus brought to his work that sagacity and good judgment which enable him to eliminate all ideas of drudgery, and amid the bounteous supply of nature’s gifts to enjoy a happy rural home.

He was born at Mt. Pleasant, Hamilton County, Ohio, February 27, 1828, and is the son of Eli and Bashaba (Hill) Compton, who were both natives of New Jersey, and who came to Ohio in 1817, thus becoming early settlers in Mt. Pleasant.

They continued to live in Hamilton County, where Eli died in 1864. Of his family, Wilson M. and Enoch D. settled in Butler County, where the latter married Martha McClellan, and soon afterward moved over the line into Warren County, there improving a farm of one hundred and forty acres, where his widow still lives. Wilson M. remained on the old homestead until the time he came to Butler County, leaving at the old place another brother, whose family still occupy the farm. Our subject was married, February 27, 1855, to Elizabeth Hunt, of Hamilton County, and in 1862 came to his present farm in this county. Mrs. Compton died at the age of fifty-seven years, nine months and thirty days, April 6, 1892. Of their children, Elias is now Professor of Mental Science and English at Wooster University, and has been successful in his chosen calling. He attended school at Lebanon one year, and then taught in the district schools for two years, when he entered Wooster University and graduated with highest honors in the Class of ’81. He then entered the Western Theological School at Allegheny, Pa., but before graduation was called to fill a position in the University. He is active in both church and college work, a valued member of the faculty, and a Christian gentleman of scholarly attainments. His wife was Miss Atilea Augspurger, of Woodsdale, Butler County. They have four children: Karl

T., Mary E., Wilson M. and Arthur H. The next child was William H., who is engaged in farming on the home place. His wife was Miss Anna Van Dyke, of Warren County. They have two children, Bertha May and Harry Leroy. Then came Charles R., a Presbyterian minister. He is a graduate of Wooster University in the Class of ’86, in which he was valedictorian. The following year he entered Lane Seminary, and then, finishing his theological course at Princeton, was regularly ordained and commenced active work in the ministry in Montana, subsequently removing to Minden, Neb., his present charge. His wife was Miss Lizzie Belle White, a classmate at Wooster. They have three children: Martha Elizabeth, Lula Anna and William Campbell. The next child was Annie, who married Charles E. Griesmer, a grocer and undertaker of Hamilton.

Wilson M. Compton has been a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church for twenty-five years, and for twenty years has been an Elder in that organization. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and has been quite an influential member of that organization, attending conventions, and being interested in the work generally. For some years he paid particular attention to the breeding of South Down sheep, and has, with his son, been a prominent exhibitor at various fairs and expositions, taking many prizes and establishing a reputation in the business. His son William has naturally been interested in the same breed of sheep and has given the matter much attention and study, having now one of the best herds in the state. For breeding purposes he made selection of some of the best specimens exhibited at the World’s Fair, and now lias a carefully bred herd of fifty head, in which are preserved and improved the characteristic features and individual excellence of the South Down sheep. He has accomplished much in this part of the state in bringing to the knowledge of breeders generally the excellence of this superior breed, and has been quite active in producing the very best specimens.

Socially he is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, and he has a host of friends who can testify to his moral worth and influence. He believes in the social, moral and intellectual well being of the community, and has done his full share in the development of all which makes the individual and the community wiser and better.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.