John R. Hutchison
The life of a farmer is the most enjoyable life a man can lead. In no other occupation or profession is a man his master as he is in the farming profession. He always has fresh eggs and meat and never wants for anything good to eat. With the introduction of labor-saving machinery the life of the farmer has lost practically all of the drudgery which formerly handicapped it. One of the prosperous farmers of Fayette county who started at the foot of the ladder and climbed to a position where he commands the respect of his neighbors is John R. Huchison, of Wayne township. Starting in life on his own responsibility at the early age of seventeen years, he has been a hard and conscientious worker all his life and well merits the success which has attended his carefully planned career.
John R. Huchison, the son of Richard and Zipporah (Hanna) Huchison, was born August 7, 1861, in Union township, this county. His father was a native of Virginia and came here when a lad as an orphan. He came alone and first located in Ross county, this state, where he found work with a kind-hearted farmer. He grew to manhood in that county, married and in 1856 located in Fayette county, where he began on a rented farm. He enlisted at the opening of the Civil War in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was killed in the siege of Vicksburg, May 22, 1863, and is buried on the battlefield, and the beautiful monument dedicated to this regiment by the state of Ohio now adorns the battlefield.
John R. Hutchison was less than a year old when his father went to the front and was less than two years old when he died. Consequently he has never known a father's care. Five children were born to Richard Huchison and wife, William, James M., Mary, Eliza and John R. The two daughters are deceased, while the three sons are still living.
John R. Huchison was reared by his good mother, who kept her little flock together and gave all of them a good, common school education. John R. attended the Brock school in his home neighborhood and later completed his education in the Chaffin school. When he reached the age of seventeen he began to rent part of the home farm from his mother, and after his marriage came to his present farm of one hundred and thirty acres six miles from Washington C. H. He has improved this farm in many ways by the erection of new buildings, fencing, drainage and the planting of all kinds of fruit trees.
Mr. Huchison was married February 4, 1886, to Delia Davis, who was born November 26, 1866, in this township. Mrs. Huchison is the daughter of Nelson and Maranda (Anderson) Davis, natives of Fayette county, Ohio. Mrs. Huchison was born in Wayne township and raised in Union township by Robert Hanse and wife. Nelson Davis and his wnfe both died when Mrs. Huchison was only three years of age. Nelson Davis, who was the son of Benjainin R. and Jane (Compton) Davis, had a large family of children, only two of whom are now living, Martha and Delia, the wife of Mr. Huchison. Martha has been twice married, her first husband being Isaac Lorrimer, and to this union two children were born, Hazel, and Isaac W., deceased. After the death of her first husband, Martha Davis was married to Benjamin F. Johnson, and to her second union two sons were born, Henry and Benjamin F. Mr. and Mrs. Huchison are the parents of three children: Harry L., who married Orpha Dennis, and has two children, Pauline E. and Delbert; Elmer T. and Mabel G.. both of whom are unmarried and still living at home with their parents.
Mr. Huchison and his wife are consistent members of tlie Methodist Episcopal church, while, fraternally, Mr. Huchison is a member of the Sons of Veterans, an organization which includes the sons of those who fought in the Civil War. Politically, he is a Democrat, but has never been inclined to take an active part in political matters. Mr. Huchison is a man who has lived a clean life and has always so conducted himself as to merit the hearty approbation of those with whom he has been associated.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)