Lydia J. Doty

As printed in 1905

This estimable and popular lady is second in a family of four children. Her father was Hugh Vail, whose ancestors were among the early settlers of New Jersey, and the maiden name of her mother was Jane Porter. The Vails came to Butler county during the. pioneer period and settled on the site of Middletown. Stephen Vail, grandfather of Mrs. Doty, made the original plat of the town in the year 1802, placed the first lots on the market and was the real founder of what has since become one of the most important industrial and general business centers in the county of Butler, also one of the most beautiful and flourishing cities in the southern part of Ohio.

Hugh Vail accompanied his father to the new home in the wilderness of Butler county about the year 1800, and a little later entered a large tract of land north of Middletown, which he cleared and on which he made a number of substantial improvements. He was active in promoting the growth and development of the town, took the lead in directing its various business interests and for many years was a man of wide influence in the community. He erected and for some years resided in a fine brick dwelling at the corner of Third and Clark streets, now owned by Mrs. Hiet, and later occupied the house on the corner of Curtis avenue and Fourth streets, now owned by Mr. Harwood.

Miss Lydia J. Vail was born in Middletown, November 15, 1833, and spent her childhood amid surroundings and under influences conducive to the “best possible physical and mental development. Her early home life was exceptionally exemplary, and in the schools of her native place she enjoyed the best educational advantages which the part of the state at that time afforded. Being naturally studious and ambitious to excel, she spent several years in a high-grade academy conducted by Professor Nathaniel Furman, one of the leading educators in this part of the state fifty and sixty years ago. In addition to a pretty thorough intellectual training in the above institution, Miss Vail spent a number of years under the direction of the old-fashioned singing teachers, and was a member of the glee club directed by Stephen Vail, this with her general education making her one of the cultured and refined young ladies of Middletown. She moved in the best social circles of the place, enjoyed wide personal popularity among the large number of friends and acquaintances with whom she associated and stood high in the esteem of all with whom she came in contact. On April n, x850, was solemnized her marriage with L. D. Doty, a native of Butler county and a representative of one of the oldest families of Middletown, his grandfather settling on or near the site of the city about the beginning of the nineteenth century, or perhaps a little earlier. Like the Vails, the Dotys came from New Jersey and were among the intelligent, substantial and progressive people of Butler county, the name from an early ii;r i

I;1 date to the present time being synonymous with all that is honorable and upright in manhood and citizenship. L. D. Doty was reared to agricultural pursuits, but in his young manhood took up the legal profession and after graduating from the law school at Cincinnati opened an office in Middletown, where he soon built up an extensive and very successful practice. He rose to a conspicuous place among the leading members of the Butler county bar, enjoyed the reputation of an eminently honorable as well as able practitioner and achieved marked prestige in the profession to which his life and energies were devoted.

In addition to his chosen calling. Mr. Doty always manifested an enthusiastic interest in the cause of education and religion and for many years was an influential member of the Baptist church of Middletown and a leader of the various auxiliaries under the auspices of the same. He was active in promoting missions both at home and abroad; was a great Sunday school worker and long the efficient superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school. Few theologians were as profound and critical and few excelled him in his knowledge of religious subjects in general. Mr. Doty was for many years a power in public affairs and until the breaking out of the great Civil war he stood high in political circles as a leader of the Democratic party in the county of Butler. Being a strong friend of the Union and an uncompromising foe of any agency tending to its dissolution, he became dissatisfied with the policy of his party and severed his connection therewith, threw his aid and influence with the Republican party, of which he continued a strong and zealous supporter to the day of his death. The life of Mr. Doty was a strenuous one, also successful in a material way and sufficient has been said to indicate the stand he always took in relation to public issues and moral questions. He lived as nearly as possible according to his conception of right, exemplified in his relations with his fellow men the spirit of truth and righteousness by which he was ever animated and as a. public-spirited citizen, keenly alive to the best interests of the community, state and nation, was easily the peer of any of his contemporaries. This good man was called to his final reward on the 5th of October. 1902, and his memory is gratefully cherished by the people among whom he lived so long and so nobly and to whom he was largely indebted for much of the success he so signally achieved.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Doty resulted in the birth of six children, namely: Annie, wife of Dr. T. E. Reed, of Middletown: Frank, a civil engineer of this city; Ida. who married Frank Marshall and resides in Atlanta, Georgia; Edna, now Mrs. E. H. Edson, of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles, who is connected with the United States mail service, and Lucile, who is still with her mother at the old home.

Little of interest can be said of a woman wholly devoted to her home and domestic duties, whose life is a ceaseless round of activity, doing through all the best years of her life the humble work that lies before her. And yet the labors and far-reaching influence of such a woman is impossible to measure by any worldly standard, for to her has been committed the high and holy office of making and presiding over the home; of bringing children into the world and of forming characters that are destined to live through the countless ages of time and eternity yet to be. The noble tasks peculiar to wifehood and motherhood have been ably and unselfishly performed by the worthy lady of whom the biographer has essayed to write in the preceding paragraphs, and throughout a long and useful career she has well sustained the character and reputation which have won her the love and gratitude of her immediate family circle and the unbounded esteem of the community in which her life has so long been an influence for good and an inspiration to noble aims and ideals. Hers has indeed been a full life, true to the highest conception of right, and thoroughly consecrated to the good of others, hence all who know her call her blessed and are proud to be numbered among her friends.

As printed in Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.