Excerpt from History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens We seldom forget the dreams of our youth - they are too dear to be forgotten. One of the youthful dreams of the author was the writing of this history. He longed for the time when he might tell the story of his native county - the county he loves so well. That dream has been realized, and here is offered, for the con sideration of the public, the work, imperfect as it is, not of youthful years, but of the calm, sober period of life. It is offered with the hope that it will give the reader as much real pleasure in the reading as it has brought the author in the writing. To write the history of a people, and to interpret the full meaning of events, is not an easy task. An earnest attempt has been made to record the facts, and to render due appreciation unto the humblest actor in the drama of this life-story. It is said we live in the century of achievements, and this is certainly true. But the Twentieth Century will produce nothing so great as its men and women. This volume is the history of men and women who have built a Commonwealth out of Nature's own material - and they builded wiser than they knew. No historian can write history unaided and alone, he must depend upon those who have made the records, or upon those who were a part of the events nar rated. He must consult the living and the dead - must weigh in the balance, impartially, the statements from whatever source, accepting or rejecting as the evidence warrants. Hence the author of this History has consulted many rec ords, and has been the recipient of much help from many sources. In all cases his requests have been honored and for this he feels especially grateful. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.