My Genealogy Hound

JOHN HESS, Agent C., C., C. & I. R. R, and Manager of Western Union Telegraph Company, Versailles, Ohio. Mathias, the father of John, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Fayette Co. in about 1818. Hesther, his wife, whose maiden name was Stevenson, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Fayette Co. in about 1828; they reside near Brownsville, Penn., and are the parents of fourteen children, of whom thirteen are living, viz., Elizabeth, William, John, Nancy J., Rosanah, Enoch, Caroline, Aaron, Freeman, Eliza, George, Mary and Isabell. John, the subject of this memoir, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Fayette Co. on the 12th of November, 1848; lived at home till he was 21 years old, assisting his father in the cultivation of the soil during the summer, and attending the district school in the winter months, thereby obtaining a good common-school education. In February, 1869, he came to Darke Co., Ohio, locating in Greenville, where he obtained a position as clerk in the post office, where he remained about sixteen months, after which he entered the office of the D. & U. R. R., at Union City, Ind., with R. T. Johnson, but only remained there three months, when he obtained a position as night-operator in Versailles, Ohio, which office he filled for two and a half months, when he was appointed ticket and freight agent, also manager of the Western Union Telegraph, which gave him control of the station. Mr. Hess is a young man, and is well qualified for the position he fills, and is held in high esteem by the officials of the C. C. C. & I. Ry. Co. He celebrated his marriage on the 14th of October, 1873, with Miss Laura A. Wentworth, daughter of Egbert N. and Cynthia A. Wentworth, who was born in Darke Co. March 3, 1854. Three children have been born to this union, viz.: Emma Pearle, born Aug. 3, 1874; Harry Gordon, Nov. 15, 1875; Bessie L., Jan. 5, 1880.