Clifton Melvin Nichols

As printed in 1902

CLIFTON M. NICHOLS.

Clifton Melvin Nichols was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York. He was a son of Wiseman C. and Fivilla (Cass) Nichols, the former born in Vermont and the latter in New Hampshire. He is a grandson of Jonathan Nichols, who was one of General Stark’s men in the Revolutionary war and was wounded at the battle of Bennington. He was born in Bolton, Massachusetts, and married Triphena Sackett, whose birth occurred in Kent, Litchfield county, Connecticut.

C. M. Nichols came to Ohio in 1848 and removed from Cincinnati to Springfield in 1854. He married Francis Henrietta Keith, of Elyria, Ohio, October 1, 1855. In April, 1854, he engaged in the newspaper business, being connected with the Daily Nonpareil. He edited the Daily Nonpareil and afterward various other journals, successors of that paper, finally closing his newspaper career on the Republic, thus ending thirty-five years’ service in journalism. He next became secretary and superintendent of the board of trade. He was a Republican from the birth of the party and for a few months served as a private in the Union army during the Civil war.

Daniel LeFevre has for a number of years filled the office of trustee of Springfield township, and is a worthy incumbent with a full realization of the obligations and duties devolving upon him. These he faithfully meets and has therefore won the commendation of all concerned.

Mr. LeFevre is a native of Maryland, his birth having occurred on the ı2th of August, 1842, his parents being Henry and Catherine (Sterling) LeFevre, who were also natives of the same state. There they were reared and married and spent their remaining, days. The paternal grandfather, George LeFevre, was a prosperous farmer, who belonged to one of the old families of Maryland that was established in the country at an early day.

Daniel LeFevre of this review passed his boyhood days upon the home farm, working in field and meadow through the summer months. He also attended the public schools until his eighteenth year, and subsequently began clerking in a general store for Charles Downs, of Downsville, Maryland. Six months later he went to Martinsburg, West Virginia, where he was employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for twelve months. The year 1875 witnessed the arrival of Mr. LeFevre in Springfield, Ohio, and soon afterward he secured a situation in the employ of the P. P. Mast

& Company in the wood and set-up department, acting in this capacity for a period of eighteen years. During the last year of his connection with the house Mr. LeFevre, in 1893, was elected township trustee, and by re-elections has held this office continuously since, being elected each time by an increased majority, a fact that shows that he enjoys in an unusual degree the confidence and support of the public. It also: indicates that his service has been efficient, because popular suffrage is only bestowed in case of merit after the test has been made of a person in official life for one term. He affiliates with the Republican party, taking an active interest in the success of his party and of his friends and is recognized as a leader in the Republican ranks.

In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr. LeFevre and Miss Ann E. Snyder, a daughter of William and Margaret (Cunningham) Snyder, who was born in Maryland, and in 1875, with her husband, came to Ohio, where her remaining days were passed. She died in 1885, leaving six children: Fannie M., the wife of William Hick; Alice T., the wife of William Bell, of Springfield; George W., a machinist, who is employed by the P. P. Mast & Company; Daniel W., of Springfield; Albert L., who is a railway postal clerk; and James E., at home. For his second wife Mr. LeFevre those Annie LaForce, of Xenia, Ohio, the wedding being celebrated in 1889. The lady is a native of Kentucky, but spent the greater part of her girlhood in Ohio, and by her marriage she has become the mother of one daughter, Abbie F. Mr. LeFevre is one whose patriotism and fidelity to the duties of citizenship are an important part of his nature and his loyalty to all that is best in promoting the general good has oftentimes been manifested in the discharge of his duties.

As printed in A Biographical Record of Clark County Ohio (1902). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.