D. C. Eylar
D. C. Eylar was born at Locust Grove, Adams County, September 26, 1846. His father's name was Alfred A. Eylar. a son of Judge Eylar, one of the Associate Judges of Adams County. His mother's maiden name was Rebecca A. Cockerill, daughter of Gen. Daniel Cockerill, who formerly resided at what is now Seaman Station, on the C. P. & V. Railroad. She was a sister of Col. Joseph Randolph Cockerill, whose portrait and sketch appears in this work. His parents removed to Illinois in the Fall of 1856, and settled on a farm near Pontiac. Our subject had the advantages of a common school education until he was about twenty years of age, when he attended a commercial college at Peoria, Illinois, and graduated from there. On his return to Pontiac, he was employed by Duff & Cowen, bankers, and remained in their employ about a year. He was then tendered the position of Deputy County Clerk of Livingstone County, which position he accepted and served for about two years, when he again returned to the employment of Duff & Cowen, bankers, and remained with them until the Fall of 1870. In 1871, the Livingstone County National Bank was organized, and he remained with that institution for over seventeen years. His health becoming poor, he resigned as cashier of the Bank in October, 1878, and went to the Pacific coast, locating at Fair Haven, about one hundred miles north of Seattle on Puget Sound. While there he was engaged in the mortgage loan business. He remained there three years and returned to Pontiac, his old position as cashier of the bank having been previously tendered him, and he at once assumed it on his return. The former president of the bank, J. M. Greenbaum, having died in February, 1887, he was soon afterwards elected president, which position he has continued to hold. This bank has been very successful. It has weathered all financial storms in times of depression. It has at all times enjoyed the confidence of the people of the community in which it is located.
Our subject was one of four children, three boys and one girl. The eldest, a son, died in infancy, before his parents left Ohio; a brother A. W. Eylar, a resident of Arizona, died about thirteen years ago; a sister, Alverda, was married to Mr. Filmore, formerly of Pontiac. They removed to California and for several years have resided at Los Angeles.
He was married to Miss Alice Hombeys. of Pontiac, Illinois, in 1870. They had one child, a daughter, who died at the age of six months in June, 1873, and in May, 1874, his wife died of consumption. He has never remarried. A friend thus writes of him:
"Mr. Eylar is a man of the strictest integrity, a warm and sympathetic friend, a good citizen, having decided political opinions, but seldom expressing them and with no desire for office, a capital business man as attested by his long connection with and now at the head of one of our strongest financial institutions, the Livingstone County National Bank. He is highly respected by our people and loved by his intimates."
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