James Harvey Connor
James Harvey Connor, of West Union, Ohio, was born December 27, 1842, on the old Connor farm in Sprigg Township. He is of Irish lineage, his father, James Connor, being a son of Peter O'Connor, who emigrated from the South of Ireland to America in 1786, and shortly thereafter came West to the "dark and bloody ground," stopping in the vicinity of Kenton's Station near the old town of Washington. Peter O'Connor had been reared in the Catholic Church, and upon his leaving for America the Parish Priest gave him a certificate of character, of which the following is a copy of the original now in the possession of our subject, J. H. Connor:
" I do hereby certify that Peter O'Connor, the bearer hereof, is a parishioner of mine in the parish of Clone these some years—is a young man descended of honest parents, and has behaved virtuously, soberly and regularly, and from every thing I could learn his character has been irreproachable. Given under my hand this third day of April, 1786. "David Cuixum, P.P."
In May, Peter O'Connor sailed from Dublin for America, as the following receipt for his passage aboard the Tristam shows:
"Received from Peter Connor four guineas in full for steerage passage in the Tristam to America. Dublin, May 13, 1786. "George Crawford."
"This is to certify that Peter Connor comes as passenger on board of the Tristam, and this is his final discharge from the ship. Dated this first day of August, 1786. "Geo. Crawford, Com'r.
" We hereby certify that Peter Connor came passenger in the ship Tristam, Capt. Crawford, from Dublin; he paid his passage and is a free man and at liberty to go about his lawful business. " Clarke & Mann, Assng. " Aug. 2, 1786."
Peter O'Connor, or Connor as he was now called, arrived in Baltimore in August, 1786, and after getting from the proper authorities a permit to travel across the State, went to New York City and thence to Philadelphia. Afterwards he went on a prospecting trip over the mountains to the frontier of Kentucky, and in 1796 bought of Andrew Ellison, "two hundred acres of land lying between Big Three Mile Creek and the Ohio River, it being a part of a tract of five hundred acres entered in the name of said Andrew Ellison and adjoining a tract now belonging to William Brady on the North." This title bond gives the place of residence of Andrew Ellison as Hamilton County, Territory Northwest of the River Ohio (this was a year previous to the organization of Adams County), and the place of residence of Peter Connor, as Washington, Mason County, Kentucky.
The date of his marriage to Elizabeth Roebuck is not known, but it is presumed to be about the time of the purchase of this tract of land in 1796. It is also supposed that it was previous to his marriage that he paid a visit to his old home in Ireland, as disclosed by the following:
"March 11, received from Peter Connor the sum of four guineas, passage money on board the Hamburg from Philadelphia to Cork. "Stephen Moore."
The father of the subject of this sketch was James Connor, son of Peter Connor, and was born November 2, 1802. He was christened in the Catholic faith, although his mother was a Protestant. James Connor married Margaret Boyle, a daughter of Thomas Boyle, for many years an elder in the Presbyterian Church at Manchester. James Connor died May 4, 1896.
Our subject, James H. Connor, attended the common schools and the academy at North Liberty under Prof. Chase. He resided on the farm till 1874, when he moved to Manchester and entered the dry goods store of W. L. Vance as a clerk. The following year he was elected on the Democratic ticket Treasurer of Adams County, and re-elected in 1877. In 1881, he became a member of the dry goods establishment of Connor, Boyles and Pollard, in West Union, which firm was changed to Connor and Boyles in 1889. In 1895, on the retirement of Mr. Boyles, the firm name was changed to J. H. Connor. The first six years in business, the firm of Connor, Boyles & Pollard handled annually over $50,000 worth of goods. With close competition, the house now does a business of over $30,000 annually.
In 1891, Mr. Connor was nominated by the Democrats in the Adams- Pike District for Representative in the Ohio Legislature, and although the district is largely Republican, was defeated by only thirty-nine votes. July 21, 1893, President Cleveland commissioned him postmaster of West Union, which position he held to the entire satisfaction of the community for four years and six months.
Mr. Connor is a member of West Union Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 43; of DeKalb Lodge, I. O. O. F., Manchester; Crystal Lodge, K. of P., West Union, and a charter member of Royal Arcanum, Adams Council, No. 830. He is also a member of the M. E. Church, West Union.
He married Jennie Frame, daughter of James and Nancy Frame, July 22, 1868. To this union has been born William Allen, May 1, 1871; Katie B., November 5, 1875, now married to Harley Dunlap; and Charles E., born June 7, 1877, died August, 1878.
In 1864. July 27, Mr. Connor enlisted in the 182d O. V. I., and was honorably discharged July 7, 1865, under Col. Lewis Butler. And it is a fact worthy of notice that not until every other man of his company had applied for and received a pension did our subject do so.
In all matters pertaining to the public good, Harvey Connor, as he is familiarly known, is always found in the foremost ranks. He has done well, accumulated a competency, not from parsimony, but from liberal and honest dealing with his fellow men.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900
