Lucien J. Fenton
was born on his father's farm near Winchester, May 7, 1844. The family were of English ancestry. Mr. Fenton's great-grandfather, Jeremiah Fenton, emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in the early part of the eighteenth century. He was a prominent and active patriot during the Revolutionary period. His son, also named Jeremiah Fenton, was born in Frederick County, Virginia, and died in Adams County, in 1841, at the age of seventy-seven years. Benjamin Fenton, the father of our subject, was born near Winchester, August 31, 1810, and died Aug ust 13, 1870. His wife, Elizabeth Smith, was born in Pennsylvania, December 19, 1813, and died at Winchester, Ohio, November 5, 1892.
Mr. Fenton was a student at Winchester when the war broke out. On the eleventh of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment until September 19, 1864. He was wounded at the battle of Opequan Creek, Virginia, the ball lodging in his shoulder. He was sent to the hospital at York, Pennsylvania, and was not discharged until May, 1865. He returned home in the fall and began a normal course at the Lebanon school, where he remained for three terms. He taught school for several years. In 1869, he entered the Ohio University at Athens, and took a Latin-Scientific course, leaving that institution one year before he would have graduated in order to accept the principalship of the Winchester schools, which position he held for two years. He then conducted the West Union schools for one year and the Manchester schools for five years, but he resigned in 1880 and was appointed clerk in the custom house at New Orleans. He was transferred, at his own request, from the custom house of New Orleans to the treasury department in Washington, D. C., March 15, 1881, in the office of the supervising architect. He remained in government service until October 18, 1884, when he resigned and returned home. The Winchester Bank was organized at that time, and its original officers were as follows: George Baird, president, J. W. Rothrock, vice president, and L. J. Fenton, cashier. Mr. Fenton is still cashier of the bank.
Mr. Fenton is a trustee of the Ohio University at Athens. In 1892, he was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Minneapolis. In 1894, he was elected to the fifty-fourth congress and in 1896 was re-elected to the fifty-fifth congress by over 10,000 plurality. He was a member of the house committee on military affairs during the Spanish American War.
On May 22, 1872, he was married to Miss Sarah B. Manker. They have three children, Alberta F., Clifton L., who was a captain in the Spanish-American War, and Mary E.
He served on the staff of the Ohio Department Commander of the G. A. R. in 1893, and on the staff of the National Commander of the G. A. R. in 1896.
As a soldier and patriot Mr. Fenton has an honorable record. As a teacher he won and held the high esteem of all the teachers of this county; as a banker and business man he has shown a high degree of ability and has the confidence of the community; as a citizen he has the respect of all who know him. He is an excellent example or what the ambitious young American may attain.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900