My Genealogy Hound

LEONARD MARKER, furniture dealer and undertaker, Versailles. Raymon J., the father of Leonard, was a native of Ohio, born in Montgomery Co. on the 29th of August, 1824. He was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Backman, in Dayton, Ohio, in April, 1845; in 1850, he with his little family, moved to Darke Co., locating on the west bank of Swamp Creek, opposite Bower’s old mill, where he resided till his death, which occurred in 1855, being only 31 years old; his wife preceded him about ten months, being only 29 years of age; Mr. Marker, although a young man when he died, had accumulated considerable amount of property, and was known as being strictly honest, industrious and a square-dealing citizen, filling several offices of trust, being Justice of the Peace of the township in which he lived; he was one of a little band of about twenty who organized Versailles Lodge, No. 286, I. O. O. F., being a charter member and one of the principal officers of the lodge when he died; he was buried by the order in the beautiful little cemetery just south of Brock, in this county, where a handsome monument marks the resting-place of himself and wife; he sank peacefully to rest beloved and honored by all who knew him. Leonard, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Ohio, born in Montgomery Co. on the 9th of June, 1846, and at the age of 4 years was taken with his parents to Darke Co., and at the age of 9 he, with two brothers and a sister, all younger than himself, were left orphans, thrust upon the cold charities of the world; but here the fraternity which had watched over and cared for their father was at hand, and good homes were provided for them all, and Leonard was taken by an uncle to Montgomery Co., with whom he lived until he was 19 years old, when he commenced the furniture trade in Versailles, Ohio, as an apprentice boy, and at the age of 21, in 1868, launched out in the furniture and undertaking business on his own resources; for several years adversity stared him in the face, but with an indomitable will and that stern, “never give up” which characterizes him, he pressed on and surmounted many difficulties, and is now doing a good, lucrative business; in connection with his increasing furniture trade, he has a fine hearse, and, with all the modern appliances he is continually coming in possession of for the taking care and putting away the dead, he is becoming the leading undertaker of northern Darke Co.; he is comfortably located in his new and commodious rooms on East Main street; in the spring of 1869, he celebrated his marriage with Miss E. Gertie Reed, daughter of James H. Reed, of Versailles; they have a family of three children, viz., Eugenie Grace, James Reed, Maud. Mr. Marker has filled several offices of trust in community; he is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, also of Versailles Lodge, No. 286, I. O. O. F., of which his father was a charter member; he has taken all the higher degrees of the encampment, and has several times filled the honorable office of the D. D. Grand Patriarch of the Encampment.