Findley David Torrence
One of the most prominent business men of a past generation in Xenia was the late Findley D. Torrence, a resident of Xenia from the time of his birth, August 1, 1842, until his death, June 24, 1916. His whole career of seventy-four years was spent in the city, and for half a century he was connected with its business, social, religious and political life in such a way as to stamp him as a man of more than ordinary ability. It is to such substantial men that Xenia owes its present growth in all lines of civic activity, in all avenues of business endeavor, in the various phases of community life which go to make up the life of a city. Hence it seems fitting to present in this history of the county, the place where his whole life was spent, the main facts concerning his career. A brief summary of his ancestry is first given. He was born of parents who had been residents of the county for nearly forty years; his father, David Torrence, was born in Kentucky in 1804 and came to Greene county with his parents the following year. His mother was born in 1816 in Clark county, Ohio.
David Torrence was a son of John Torrence, who was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1758. John Torrence, a son of Aaron Torrence, came to America as a British soldier during the Revolutionary War. At the age of twenty (1778) John Torrence enhsted in a Pennsylvania regiment and served until the close of the war in the cause of the revolution he had been brought over to help quell. He had an uncle, a brother of his father - Joseph Torrence by name - who rose to the rank of a colonel in the Revolutionary War and who later settled in Cincinnati and there lived the remainder of his days. One of Joseph Torrence's sons, George Paul Torrence, subsequently became mayor of Cincinnati. This son married one of the daughters of President William Henry Harrison. The Torrence family were Irish Covenanters, and because they desired greater religious freedom than was accorded them in Ireland they came to this country. Aaron, the first of the family to come to America, was accompanied by three of his brothers. After the Revolutionary War the four brothers left Pennsylvania and located near Lexington, in Kentucky. Here the family resided for a number of years, John Torrence, the grandfather of Findley David, being the first member of the family to locate in Greene county, Ohio.
John Torrence was married in Kentucky, his wife being Jane Jolly, the widow of Captain Jolly, a soldier of the Revolutionary War. She was noted for her courage and upon one occasion exhibited her bravery in a most striking manner. During the siege of a fort in Kentucky by the Indians, some time before 1800, she and her family and a number of others, were gathered in the fort for protection. The besieged became exhausted for lack of water and it was imperative that water be obtained in some manner. It was at this juncture that Jane Jolly volunteered to get some water outside of the stockade. She crawled from the stockade to a spring in the immediate vicinity one night, with the Indians surrounding the place and on the alert all the time, and returned with a pail of water. John and Jane Torrence were the parents of ten children: Susan, William, Jane, Betsey, Mary, Aaron, Ann, John, David (father of Findley D.), and Clarissa. Of these children it is recorded that William, Aaron, Ann and David were long residents of Greene county. When John and Jane Torrence came to Greene county from Kentucky in 1805 they bought a farm three miles west of Xenia in what was known as the McClellan neighborhood. This farm, now owned by W. G. Taylor, lies in the northern part of Sugarcreek township. After coming to the county he was granted a pension for his services in the Revolutionary War, and continued to draw a pension until his death in 1840. He was buried in the Associate church cemetery, but his descendants had his remains removed to Woodland cemetery at Xenia in later years.
David, one of the ten children of John and Jane Torrence, was only about a year old when his parents came to the county from Kentucky. He grew to manhood on his father's farm west of Xenia, and so applied himself in school that before reaching his majority he was teaching in his home neighborhood. Later in life he located in Xenia, where he engaged in the mercantile business for several years before his death in 1851. David Torrence was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Finney, and to this first marriage one son was born. Walker Torrence, who lived most of his life in Marysville, and whose one daughter, Mrs. Emma Torrence Gordon, is living in Columbus at the date of this writing. His second wife was Ann Ingram Stewart. She was born in Clark county, Ohio, in 1816, and died in 1906 at the age of ninety. To the second marriage were born six children: Elder, who died at the age of twenty; Findley David; Samuel Wilson, who was killed during the Civil War at Beverly, West Virginia; Jane Eliza, who died unmarried at the age of sixty-five; Sarah Ella, who died in infancy; Anna Mary, who died in her early girlhood. There was also in this family a half-brother, James Cowan, a son of Ann Ingram Stewart by a former marriage.
Findley David Torrence, as before stated, was born in Xenia on August I, 1842. He received his education in the public schools of Xenia, and at Wittenberg College at Springfield. On August 20, 1861, he enlisted in the Sixteenth Ohio Battery, and served three years; then re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer for the remainder of the war, being mustered out in August, 1865. In this four years and three months he participated in twenty-seven battles, among which was the siege of Vicksburg during the summer of 1863. He was mustered out with the rank of a sergeant. After the close of the war he returned to his home in Xenia and clerked in the Millen dry-goods store for six years. In 1873 he became a partner of Austin McDowell, under the firm name of McDowell & Torrence, in the lumber business. Their yards and ofiice were located at the southeast corner of Detroit and Third streets, and here Mr. Torrence was in business until his death—a period of forty-three years. The firm prospered and became one of the most widely-known retail lumber firms in this section of the state. Mr. Torrence was one of the organizers of the Ohio Association of Retail Lumber Dealers and of the Lumbermen's Mutual Insurance Company. He was interested in other enterprises, but it was to the lumber business that he gave practically all of his attention. He was stockholder and director in the Xenia National Bank, and also in the Home Building and Loan Company of Xenia, being president of the latter institution for about twenty years until the time of his death. In politics he was a Republican and was always keenly interested in local political matters. He was a member of the city council and served as its president for several terms.
Mr. Torrence was married on January 29, 1874, to Mary Ridgely, who was born at Clearspring, Washington county, Maryland, the daughter of Richard and Louise (Snyder) Ridgely. She became an orphan when a small girl, and when twelve years of age, came to Xenia to make her home with Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Baughman, Mrs. Baughman being a relative. She remained with the Baughman family until her marriage and now resides in the old Baughman homestead at 220 North King street, the house having been erected in the '40s. Findley D. Torrence and wife were the parents of three children: Frederick Ridgely, Mary Pauline, and Findley McDowell. The daughter makes her home with her mother in Xenia. Frederick Ridgely Torrence married Olivia Howard Dunbar, of Boston. Findley M. Torrence married Patricia Broadstone, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. M. A. Broadstone, and have one daughter, Jean Broadstone Torrence.
Findley D. Torrence was active in business until a short time before his death on June 24, 1916. He was an active worker in the First United Presbyterian church of Xenia, served as a deacon and also as a trustee of the church for many years, and in every way furthered the interests of the congregation. He was interested in the work of the Xenia Theological Seminary and served as a member of its board of trustees for several years. In his everyday life he exemplified the teachings of the church to which he was so devotedly attached, and thus lived in such a way as to merit the high esteem in which he was universally held by his fellow citizens.
Such in brief was the life of Findley David Torrence, a citizen of Xenia for nearly three-quarters of a century, a man whom to know was to honor. With his passing the city lost one of the men who helped in every way to make the city in which he lived a better city for his having lived in it.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918