Wilson M. Compton

As printed in 1894

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 Memorial record of Butler County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of representative citizens of the county together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.