Martin Luther Dickey
It is always pleasant and profitable to contemplate the career of a man who has won a definite goal in life, whose career has been such as to command the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Such, in brief, is the record of the well-known agriculturist and stock raiser whose name heads this brief sketch, than whom a more popular or whole-souled man it would be difficult to find within the limits of Fayette county, where his entire life has been passed and where he has labored not only for his own individual advancement and that of his immediate family, but also for the improvement of the entire community, whose interests he has ever at heart.
Luther Dickey, owner of eighty-five acres of excellent land and now living in practical retirement after a busy life, was born on October 31, 1855, in this county, on the old Peterson farm in Madison township. He is a son of the Rev. John Parson Alexander Dickey and Hannah Caroline (Peterson) Dickey, the latter of whom was born on June 4, 1828. The Rev. John Dickey was a native of this state, born near South Salem, in Ross county, on May 4, 1828, the son of Alexander and Jane (Henry) Dickey. When a youth he attended the schools of Ross cotmty, such as they were in that day, later receiving a higher education at the old academy in South Salem. He was a minister of the Presbyterian church and was accounted a well educated man, having been an earnest student throughout his life. He was a man of broad sympathies and kindly heart whose influence for the better things of life was far-reaching. To him and his good wife was born a family of six children, the subject being the second of the family, and he and his brother John are the sole surviving members thereof. Those who have passed from this life are Jennie, Hattie, Nellie and Edith. Hattie died in Delaware while attending college and is buried in Bloomingburg. Nellie's first husband was Charles Sturgeon, by whom she became the mother of four children, Marie, Edith, Ephraim and Josephine. Her second husband was Charles McQuay and by him she had one son, Forrest. This family of children were young at the beginning of the Civil War, but in spite of that fact the Rev. John Dickey felt constrained to join the forces fighting for the preservation of the Union and, with that thought in mind, marched to the front as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his regiment being assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. Previous to going to the front, the family had moved to this county, but during the absence of the husband and father they returned to their former home in Ross county. After the close of the war and the return of the Reverend Dickey, the family again came to this county, where they continued to make their home.
Luther Dickey first attended the schools of this county and later those of Ross county while his father was in the army, finishing his studies at Bloomingburg. He was an ambitious young man and was most devoted to his books, his desire being to become a teacher. He succeeded so well that when but sixteen years of age he was placed in charge of one of the schools of this county. From his early boyhood he had been familiar with the work about a farm and by the time he was twenty-one years old he had decided that agriculture and not school teaching would be his life vocation. To that end he commenced renting land for farming purposes, his first venture being on the old Peterson farm, and in that line of work he has been ever since engaged. While he owns but eighty-five acres, he, in company with his son Ernest, manages about three hundred acres, a great deal of their effort being expended on the raising of live stock. As a producer of hogs, Mr. Dickey has an enviable reputation and has liad for many years. While he has very largely given over the management of the business to his son and calls himself retired, he still is closely connected with every phase of his business
In politics, Mr. Dickey is a Democrat, keenly interested in party affairs, although he has never aspired to public office for himself. However, for a time he was a school director, filling his chair with satisfaction to all concerned. His fraternal affiliation is with the Modern Woodmen of America and he is also one of the foremost Grangers of this section.
Mr. Dickey chose as his wife Eliza A. Larrimer, with whom he was united in matrimony on March 10, 1880. She is a daughter of John and Esther (Edward) Larrimer and was born in Paint township, Fayette county. Mr. and Mrs. Dickey are considered amongst the foremost citizens of this district, both being anxious to advance in every way within their power the interests of their friends and neighbors. Into the home have come two children : Ernest, associated with the father and who lives in Bloomingburg. Ernest has one child, a son Max, his wife before her marriage being Bess Olinger. Albert William, the youngest son of the subject, is still attending school.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)