John F. Locke
Hon. John F. Locke, attorney at law, London, and Representative to the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Sessions of the Ohio Legislature from Madison County, was born in Somerford Township August 12, 1848. His father, John B. Locke, is a native of West Virginia, and located in Madison County in 1836. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits through life, and now resides on the old homestead in Somerford Township, consisting of 300 acres of valuable land. He was married in this county to Louise Morris, a native of Adams County, Ohio. They are the parents of six children, all living. Both parents are living, father sixty-eight years of age and mother fifty-four. Our subject is the eldest child, and resided on the farm till eighteen years of age. In 1865, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, graduating in the class of '70. He immediately commenced the study of law with R. A. Harrison, of London, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1873. He commenced the practice of his profession alone, and has continued successfully, with one exception, to the present time. Mr. Locke has always been an advocate of Republican principles, and in 1873 was elected City Solicitor of London, serving two years. In 1875, he was elected Mayor of the village to fill a vacancy. In 1876, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Madison County, and re-elected in 1878. In 1879, he was the Republican nominee from this county, for Representative, and though the county was close on party votes, yet he was elected. His services were well appreciated, and in 1881 his constituents once more elected him to the same position. In his official duties, Mr. Locke has been governed by no partisan views, but has endeavored to assist in creating and voting for those measures which he believed would tend to promote the best interests and prosperity, both in a moral and financial way, of his constituents and the State at large. He is a member of Chandler Lodge, No. 138 (Masonic), of London, and a Master Mason. He was united in marriage, in 1876, to Sally E. Waite, a native of New York. There was one child given them, a daughter named Gertrude. Mrs. Locke departed this life, June 29, 1877. Mr. Locke is a suave, pleasant gentleman, who by his genial manners has won hosts of warm friends.
From History of Madison County - W. H. Beers [Chicago, 1883]