Robert B Elder

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM 

pg 133, 134 

     ROBERT B. ELDER.  Among the many solid citizens of Green Township, Clark County, none are held in higher respect than Mr. ELDER, of Clifton, who is a member of a very numerous family that figured prominently in the early history of this part of the State.  The Elders from first to last have been people of eminent respectability, careful, conscientious in their dealings with their fellow-men, honest, upright, intelligent, industrious, and, in fact possessing all the qualities of good citizenship.  Robert B. has been a most worthy representative of an honorable ancestry, and after years spent in industrious toil, was successful in accumulating a competence, and now, retired from active labor, is spending his declining years in a pleasant home at Clifton.  He has watched with warm interest the growth and development of the Buckeye State, wherein his progenitors settled at an early day and which has been the scene of his labors his entire life.  He was born July 31, 1824, at his father’s old homestead in Green Township, and has thus far spent his entire life in his native State.

     In reverting to the antecedents of Mr. ELDER, we find that he is the son of Thomas ELDER, who was born in 1796, in Dauphin County, Pa.  The paternal grandfather, also name Robert, was likewise a native of Pennsylvania, and emigrated to the young State of Ohio in 1813.  He purchased a tract of land which was all of section 10, in Green Township, Clark County, whereon he settled with his family and from which he opened up a good farm.  To him and his estimable wife there was born a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, and all the daughters married men by the name of Stewart.  Grandfather ELDER was one of the earliest pioneers of Green Township, and spent the closing years of his life upon the farm which he had opened up from the wilderness.  He lived to a ripe old age, and passed away over sixty years ago.

     The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Margery ANDERSON.  She was a native of Glenisla, Scotland, and came of substantial Scotch ancestry.  She emigrated to America in 1820, and in 1823 married in Green Township, Clark County, this State, to Thomas ELDER, and they settled on a farm comprising a part of section 10, where they constructed a comfortable home.  The father of our subject occupied himself in farming pursuits, and departed this life in 1872.  The mother survived her husband for a period of fifteen years, her death taking place at the old homestead in 1887.  There were born to them a family of thirteen children, seven of whom are living and are residents of this State.

     Mr. ELDER, of whom we write, acquired a practical education in the common school, and at an early age was taught to make himself useful around the homestead.  Later he learned the trade of a carpenter, at which he worked a number of years, while at the same time assisting in the labors of the farm as required.  He remained a bachelor until over thirty years old, and was then married, October 19, 1855, to Miss Ruth FUNSTON.  The newly wedded pair removed to Marion County, this State, and settled on a tract of land included in what was known as Sandusky Plain, where they sojourned for a period of eight years.  Then returning to Green Township, they located on a part of the old Funston farm, and there spent another eight years.

     In the meantime Mr. and Mrs. ELDER had lived economically and labored with a mutual purpose in view of securing a competency for their later years.  They now wisely retired from active labor, and renting their farm, removed to Clifton, of which they have now been residents for sixteen years.  They have become widely and favorably known to the people of their community, and are held by them in universal respect.  There were born to them two children only, one of whom, Ella May, died in infancy.  The only surviving child, Effie Kate, is the wife of Henry R. Corey; they live on the Wilberforce Pike, and are the parents of one child, Elder R.

     Mr. and Mrs. ELDER identified themselves with the Presbyterian Church early in life, and Mr. ELDER for the past twelve years has officiated as a Trustee.  He has always been warmly interested in the training of the young, and is a regular attendant at the Sunday-school, whose progress he watches with more than ordinary interest.  In politics he has declined to be governed by the opinion of other men, but has down his own thinking and aims to support those principles which commend themselves to his conscience, and those men whom he considers best qualified to be entrusted with the interests of the people.  When first becoming a voting citizen, he identified himself with the Free-Soilers, and after the abandonment of the old party wheeled into the Republican ranks.  In the days gone by he and his father frequently visited the polls together, the latter casting his vote with the Democratic party, while Robert B. steadily maintained his principles by polling a Republican ticket.

     Mr. Elder has always enjoyed in a marked degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, who have entrusted him with most of the offices within their gift.  He has been a member of the District School Board, was Treasurer of Green Township for two years.  Township Clerk the same length of time, and also Township Trustee.  He keeps himself posted upon current events, is in full sympathy with the laboring man and farmer, and for a time was a member of the Grange.  His lauded possessions include one hundred and eleven acres under a good state of cultivation and improved with substantial buildings.  He also has three acres of ground at his home in Clifton.

     Mrs. ELDER was born in Green Township, Clark County, Ohio, and is a daughter of John and Keziah (SCOTT) FUNSTON, the former of whom was a native of Ireland, and who emigrated to America early in life.  The mother was a native of Kentucky, in which State the parents were married, and whence they came to Ohio in the pioneer days.  The mother died when comparatively a young woman.  Mr. FUNSTON survived his wife many years, and spent his last days in Green Township, passing away at the age of sixty-four.  The parental household included ten children, seven of whom are living and all residents of this State but two, who reside in Kansas.