Leondis Baughn
There are several families in Fayette county, Ohio, who are descendants of the pioneers who settled here more than a century ago. One of the sturdy Virginian families to come to this county in 1811 was the Baughn family. Lester Baughn was the first member of the family to locate in Fayette county, and he came with his wife, Margaret, and his three brothers a year or so after the county was organized. One of the children born to Lester and Margaret Baughn was James, the grandfather of Leondis Baughn, with whom this narrative deals. James was born in this county, grew to manhood and married Elizabeth Bush. William Baughn, the father of Leondis, was one of the children born to James and Elizabeth (Bush) Baughn. He grew to manhood in Union township, where he was born, and enlisted on August 9, 1862, in Company C, Ninetieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of the war. His regiment was in twenty-six battles of that memorable struggle, and he was never found missing from roll call when duty demanded that he should be there. After the close of the war he returned to Fayette county and began farming in Union township, where he is still living today. His wife died February 28, 1911, and is buried at the Sugar Creek Baptist church. Three children were born to William and Mary C. (Hines) Baughn, Jesse, Leondis and Pearl. Jesse married Etta Hidy and has three children, Floyd, Inez and Loren ; Pearl married Stella Wilson.
Leondis Baughn, the fourth in direct descent from the first member of the family to come to this county, was born in Jefferson township. January 30, 1872. He received such schooling as was given in the district schools of his neighborhood and later attended the graded schools in Bloomingburg. As a youth he was studious and. being interested in educational matters, it was natural that he should turn to the teaching profession after leaving school as a student. He taught very successfully in Madison county for four years, but upon his marriage decided to leave the school room and engage in farming. He bought a highly improved farm of eighty acres three miles south of Bloomingburg in 1896, and has made a pronounced success along agricultural lines. He is a man of wide reading and is thoroughly in touch with all of the latest methods in farming.
Mr. Baughn was married July 30, 1896, to Eva M. Thornton, the daughter of Anderson and Rachel (Snook) Thornton, and to this union has been born one child, who died in infancy.
Politically, Mr. Baughn is a member of the new Progressive party, having joined it upon its organization in the summer of 1912. He believes that the Progressive party is the expression of the people's aspirations for a larger, freer and better political, economic and social life. Being a man of broad education, it is but natural that he should be deeply interested in political matters, although he has never been an aspirant for a political office. He and his wife are affiliated with the Baptist church, in whose welfare they are interested and to whose support they are contributors.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)