PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM 

pg 818, 819, 820 

FRANK C. RUNYAN, a worthy member of the dental profession of Springfield, has been a life-long resident of Clark County, which is the county of his birth, this event taking place in Pleasant Township, May 5, 1838.  He comes of substantial stock, being the son of John RUNYAN who was born near Clarksburg, W. Va., July 4, 1812.  His paternal grandfather, George RUNYAN, it is believed, was a native of the same State, where he was reared and married. 

Grandfather RUNYAN remained a resident of Virginia until 1814, then removed with his family to Ohio, locating in what is now Pleasant Township, Clark County.  The country was thinly settled and Indians were frequently to be seen prowling around, deer, bear, wild turkeys and other animals were plentiful.  Grandfather RUNYAN bought a tract of land upon which he built a log house, commenced clearing the forests around him and in due time built up a comfortable home in the wilderness.  No railroads were built for many years afterward and the farm products of the pioneers were drawn to Cincinnati overland with teams. 

Upon the farm which he thus opened up, Grandfather RUNYAN spent the remainder of his life.  He was married in early manhood to Miss Susanah LYNCH, a native of his own State and who also died at the old farm.  Both the grandparents were devout Christians and religious meetings were often held at their house.  In politics, Grandfather RUNYAN was a stanch Whig.  He was a man respected in his community, honest and upright in his dealings and made for himself a record of which his descendants may be justly proud. 

John RUNYAN, the father of our subject spent his early years amid the quiet pursuits of farm life in the new country and when reaching man’s estate was married April 13, 1837, to Miss. America M. SKILLMAN.  They located on a part of the father’s farm to which he added by subsequent purchase and resided there until his death, November 4, 1886.  Mrs. RUNYAN is still living at the old homestead.  Her father, David SKILLMAN was born in New Jersey where he attended the public schools and later became a student at Princeton College.  When leaving the college he learned the trade of a tailor, and was a pioneer at this business at Springfield, being in fact one of the first men pursuing this calling in the town.  He finally removed to Indiana, locating in Connorsville where he resided a few years, then returned to Springfield and about 1835 purchased a farm in Pleasant Township.  He operated this a few years, then removed to Catawba where he spent the remainder of his life. 

The paternal grandmother of our subject bore the maiden name of Sarah C. CARY.  She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a daughter of Abraham CARY, an uncle of Alice and Phoebe Cary, who will be remembered as literary women of more than ordinary talent and who died a few years since.  Abraham CARY was a pioneer of Hamilton County, this State, and its first Sheriff.  He owned a farm at Walnut Hill.  In 1804, he removed to what is now Clark County, and purchased a large tract of land, a part of which is now included in the city limits and the balance is the well-known PERREN farm.  He there spent his last days.  Grandmother CARY died a short time later.  Mrs. SKILLMAN was quite young upon coming to Clark County, and after the deaths of her parents lived with an older sister, Mrs. SHIPMAN, until her marriage at the age of fifteen years.  She spent her last years with her children. 

The subject of this sketch was reared on the farm and attended the district school during his boyhood days, after which he pursued his studies at Wittenberg College.  When nineteen years old he went to Sparta, Wis., with his uncle, James SKILLMAN, a photographer, and engaged in that business with him until 1864.  Then returning to Springfield, he, in 1865, commenced the study of dentistry under the instructions of Dr. PHILLIPS.  Subsequently he entered the Ohio College of Dentistry at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1872.  In the meantime he purchased the office of Dr. PHILLIPS of which he took charge immediately after his graduation and of which he has since retained possession. 

Dr. RUNYAN was married November 5, 1873, to Miss Georgia V. DRURY.  Mrs. RUNYAN was born July 20, 1844, in Aroostook County, Me., and is a daughter of the late well-known Jonas DRURY, who was a native of Temple, Me.  Mr. DRURY is duly represented on another page in this work.  He was a son of the Hon. John DRURY, a native of Massachusetts, and the grandson of William DRURY who was also born in that State and was of English parentage.  William DRURY spent his entire life in the Bay State.  His son John, the grandfather of Mrs. RUNYAN, was a non-commissioned officer and commanded a company in the War of 1812.  He served in the Maine Legislature and was for many years a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preaching in different parts of the Pine Tree State; he died at Jay, that State. 

The maiden name of Grandmother DRURY was Annie MITCHELL.  She was a native of Massachusetts, and died at Wilton, Me.  Her son, Jonas, was reared in his native State and became a civil engineer.  Later he went to Rhode Island and taught school in and around Providence three or four years.  We next find him in Aroostook County, Me., where he purchased a large tract of land which he named “Crystal Plantation” and was the means of having the post-office located on his farm, this also being named Crystal.  He was stirring and enterprising and in company with others surveyed a large portion of that section of the State. 

In 1856, Jonas DRURY emigrated to Ohio and settling in Springfield commenced acting as agent and traveling in the interest of various machine companies until the outbreak of the Civil War.  He enlisted as a Union soldier under one of the early calls for troops and participated in the chase after MORGAN.  Later he was engaged in the civil service and assisted in disinterring over ten thousand bodies of Union soldiers who had perished on Southern battle fields having them removed to a permanent place of sepulture.  Mr. DRURY was one of the most remarkable weather prophets of the age.  He kept a diary for the long period of sixty-five years and, with the exception of a few papers which were accidentally burned, his observations have been carefully preserved, furnishing meteorological  records which have proved of inestimable value to history and science.  Among other predictions was that of a destructive tornado at Xenia which occurred several days after his prediction. 

Mr. and Mrs. RUNYAN are the parents of two children—Edith L. and Frank E.  Mrs. RUNYAN is a finely educated lady, having attended the high school at Springfield and being graduated from the Ohio Female College in 1862.  She possesses more than ordinary talents as a writer, beginning her literary labors in 1879, in the columns of that popular fashion journal Andrew’s Bazaar.  She subsequently began writing for the Ladies Home Journal of Philadelphia, Pa.  She has been editorially and otherwise connected with the Ladies Home Companion, the Woman’s News, the New Era, the Beacon, and other leading journals.  She is the author of “Penny Feathers” which was published in the Daily Republic and other papers and which attracted much attention.  Mrs. RUNYAN has two sisters, one of whom, Josie, is the wife of Albert Williams, now deceased.  Mary married Ed B. REIFSNIDER and lives in this city. 

Dr. RUNYAN belongs to Clark Lodge No. 101, F & A. M.; Springfield Council, No. 17, R & S. M.; Springfield Chapter, No 48, R. A. M.; Palestine Commandery, No. 33, K. T.; Protective and Benevolent Order of Elks and the Mystic Circle.  Professionally, he is a member of the Mad River Valley Dental Society and Vice-President of the Ohio State Dental Association.