In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1897) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1821, Butler Township
From The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; (1882), Centennial portrait and biographical record of the city of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with the biographi (1897)
JOSEPH L. ENSLEY, farmer, P. O. Dayton, was born in Butler Township, Montgomery Co., Ohio, May 18, 1821. He is the son of James and Susanna (Lodge) Ensley. His father was born in Pennsylvania, in 1785; came to Ohio in 1818, and located on 160 acres of land in Butler Township. His mother was born in Virginia, in 1789, and went to Pennsylvania, where she married Mr. Ensley. Mr. Ensley was a Justice of the Peace for eighteen or twenty years in Butler Township, where be died. His wife is still living in Darke County, Ohio, with one of her daughters, Mrs. John Eichleman. Our subject’s grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. Our subject lived with his parents until twenty-five years of age, when he came to Harrison Township and commenced farming on his father’s farm, where he remained four years, and then married Miss Ann R. Drill, daughter of George and Jemima Drill, of Montgomery County, who were married in 1813. Her father and mother both came from Maryland about 1827. He was born in 1787, and she in 1791. After marriage our subject farmer in the neighborhood until 1865, when Ire bought his present place, and now owns about 100 acres in all. He has had six children, four girls and two boys, two girls being married and one dead. Mr. Ensley, his wife and four children are members of the Methodist Church, in which Mr. Ensley was Steward and is Trustee. In politics, he is a Republican.
As printed in The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; (1882). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
OSEPH L. ENSLEY, a prominent farmer of Harrison township, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in Butler township, this county, near Stillwater, May 18, 1821. His parents were James and Susan (Lodge) Ensley, both natives of Pennsylvania. To them there were born seven children, three of whom are now living, as follows: Mary, wife of Thomas Huffman, of Des Moines, Iowa, Joseph L. and James.
James Ensley, the father of Joseph L.,was one of the old-fashioned pioneer settlers of the southern part of Ohio. By occupation he was a farmer, and had to contend with the difficulties and hardships that were inseparably connected with his vocation in the early days of the century. Moving to Ohio in 1818, he settled in Butler township, Montgomery county, built a log cabin and lived there until 1849, when he died, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife survived him until 1888, dying at the great age of ninety-three. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Ensley served as justice of the peace for a number of years, and also held other township offices, showing that he was a man of prominence and that he was held in honor by his fellow-men. Upon arriving in Butler township, as above related, he purchased 160 acres of land, to which he added other tracts from time to time until at his death he owned about 300 acres. Beside this large quantity of land he owned a grist-mill, which he leased to others.
George Ensley, the father of James Ensley, was a native of Bedford county, Pa., and was of German descent. He and his wife, who survived him some years, reared a family of seven children. He died in his native county at an advanced age. The maternal grandfather of Joseph L. Ensley, William Lodge, was a farmer by occupation and died in Pennsylvania, while yet in middle life.
Joseph L. Ensley received the rudiments of his education in the district schools, and has supplemented the education there obtained by close observation and wide reading, until now he is one of the best informed men of his community. Remaining at home until he was twenty-four years of age, he then began the active duties of a farmer’s life on his own behalf, and was soon afterward married to Ann Rebecca Drill, daughter of George and Jemima (Lakin) Drill. This marriage occurred December 18, 1849, and has resulted in the birth of six children, two sons and four daughters, as follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Martha, James,
Benjamin Franklin and Rosa Ann. Mary married Ezra Jones, of Harrison township; Elizabeth died in infancy; Martha married William Brentlinger, and has nine children, as follows: Franklin, Ira, Burt, Arthur, Annie,
Mary, Wilbur, Charles and Elizabeth. James married Melissa Deaton, and has one child living, Lawrence. Rosa Ann married William Kerns, and has one child, Joseph.
Mr. and Mrs. Ensley are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, as are all of the children, their wives and husbands. Mr. Ensley is trustee of his church. Politically he is a republican.
Mr. Ensley began life for himself by renting 160 acres of land of his father in Harrison township, upon which he lived four or five years, and then purchased it in partnership with his brother, George W. Later he sold his interest to his brother, and purchased 200 acres near the Miami river and not far from the city of Dayton. Upon this 200-acre farm he lived for thirteen years, and then purchased the farm upon which he now resides. This farm then contained seventy-two acres, to which he has added at different times, becoming the owner of several farms, and also of five or six houses and lots in Dayton. To his children he has given largely of his property, and now retains only 130 acres of farm land, his home being two and a half miles from the Dayton court house. He also owns one-third of Idylwild park.
Mr. Ensley has been one of the principal factors in the development of Montgomery county, and has seen Dayton grow from a village into a large and prosperous manufacturing city. As a representative farmer, and as an upright and useful citizen, he enjoys the sincere esteem of a large circle of acquaintances and friends.
As printed in Centennial portrait and biographical record of the city of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with the biographi (1897). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1882. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.