Robert W. Sorrell
One of the pioneer farmers of Fayette county, Ohio, is R. W. Sorrell, who has been a resident of Wayne township for the past seventy-four years. He has seen this county emerge from a primitive forest to its present prosperous condition, w'ith good roads, well-tilled fields, handsome homes and thriving towns and villages. In this transformation Mr. Sorrell has taken an active part and has been no inconsiderable factor in making his township one of the best agricultural sections of the county. While primarily devoted to his own interests, he has not neglected to mingle in the civic life of his community and his support has always been given to measures of general welfare.
R. W. Sorrell, the son of Robert Lee and Eliza (Sharp) Sorrell, was born December 20. 1840. in Wayne township. His father was a native of Virginia, as was his mother, and after their marriage they came to Ohio and located in Fayette county. Eliza Sharp was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Sharp, natives of France. Robert L. Sorrell and wife reared a family of eleven children, Edwin, Belle, R. W., Anna, Jane and six who died in infancy.
The limited education of Mr. Sorrell was received in the rude log school house of his immediate neighborhood in Wayne township and in the graded schools oi the county seat. At an early age he began to work on the farms in his township and after his marriage he worked and rented for about twenty-two years. His present farm comprises forty acres where he now lives. By a system of careful farming he has made a very comfortable living and reared a family of several children to lives of usefulness and honor.
Mr. Sorrell was married in 1865 to Mrs. Martha Sorrell, who was the widow of the subject's brother and had three children. To this union there have been born eight children, Frank. Alvin, Minnie. Robert, Ida, Grace, Jesse and one died in infancy. Three of the children are married, Alvin, Minnie and Ida. Politically, Mr. Sorrell is independent.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)