GEORGE CARROTHERS. As a veteran of the Civil war, farmer and later a real estate dealer of enterprise and prominence, the subject of this sketch has made so creditable a record as to enjoy high standing in Findlay. He comes of Scotch-Irish stock and at every crisis of his life has displayed the courage and persistence characteristic of that historic race. His grandfather, John Carrothers, was born in Scotland, went from there to the North of Ireland and about the year 1813 crossed the Atlantic to the United States, where he died when near his forty-fifth year. John Carrothers, son of the last mentioned, was born in North Ireland in 1807 and came to America with his parents in childhood, the vessel in which they sailed being wrecked and causing a loss of all the family belongings. They made their way to Guernsey county, Ohio, where the fa ther of our subject grew up and later made his way to Crawford county, where he died in 1883. In 1833 he was married to Elizabeth Laird, by whom he had eight children. John W., the eldest of these, was a non-commissioned officer in the First Regiment of Nebraska Volunteer Infantry and died some time after the war. Margaret E. and Robert are deceased; George was the fourth child, and James B., the next in order of birth, was a private in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, from which he received an honorable discharge in 1863 for disability. William is dead and Dr. Moses M. served with the troops called out in 1864 to meet Morgan's raid. Mary J., the youngest child, has departed this life, as has also the mother, whose death occurred in 1891. George Carrothers was born in 1839 while his parents were living on their farm in Crawford county, Ohio, and he re mained in that neighborhood until seventeen years of age. Having earned money enough to pay his own way, he entered Oberlin College and there obtained most of his literary education. In June, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served as a private for three months and then veteranized in the same command for the three rears' service. He took part with his regiment in the battles at Cross Lane, West Virginia, the first engagement at Winchester and the bloody struggle at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862. He was so badly wounded in the last mentioned battle as to necessitate his transference to a hospital, the one selected being Davids Island, New York. After confinement there until May, 1863, he was honorably discharged from the service for serious disability and returned to his home in Crawford county, Ohio. For three years he was incapacitated for labor, but in 1867 engaged in the fire insurance business, which constituted his employment until 1869. On March 9 of that year he was married in Richland county, Ohio, to Lucina M., daughter of Rev. Philo and Clarinda (Rogers) Blackman, by whom he has had five children: Clara E. ; Minnie M., wife of George B. Landis; Lulu D., wife of R. B. Myers; Georgia M., and James G. The family of Mrs. Carrothers is of ancient origin and many of its members have made creditable records both in civic and military life. Rev. Adam Blackman, the founder of the family in America, was born in England in 1598 and came to this country as far back as 1639. He settled in Stratford, Connecticut, where he organized the first Congregational church, of which he was pastor for twenty-five years, and died there in 1665. John Blackman, one of his descendants, became the fa ther of Ebenezer Blackman, the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Carrothers. Her great-grandfather was Enoch Blackman, who served at different times in the Revolutionary army, his last enlistment being August 1, 1780, and his dis charge December 9, in the same year. Rev. Philo Blackman, father of Mrs. Carrothers, served as a private in the Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in 1877. The mother of Mrs. Carrothers was born at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, and died at Columbus Grove, Ohio, when eighty- one years of age.
After his marriage, Mr. Carrothers located on a farm in Crawford county, which he cultivated until 1882, when he came to Findlay, where he has since made his home. He engaged in the real estate business, which by good judgment and energy he has made quite remunerative. From 1887 until the fall of 1902 he was extensively engaged in the oil and gas business. He was one of the first men to engage in these industries in this district and in the main was successful. He has been a director of the American National Bank of Findlay ever since its founding.. He increased the corporate limits of Findlay by an addition called after his name, containing eighty-four lots, and has erected forty houses on this land. He has been an active figure in the business affairs and industrial development of Findlay and served one term as gas trustee of the city. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Republican in politics and belongs to Henry Lincoln Post, No. 343, Grand Army of the Republic, at Oberlin, Ohio.
