Isaac Waples
Immediately after the Revolutionary War the government undertook to organize the Northwest Territory and open it for settlement. Three years after the war had closed Virginia had ceded her claims over the Northwest Territory to the government, and six years after the close of that war the first settlers arrived in what is now Ohio. In 1803 Ohio was admitted to the Union and seven years later Fayette county was organized. In those early days Ohio was a tempting field for the energetic, ambitious and strongminded men of New England. Hundreds of old Revolutionary soldiers came to this state and their descendants are to be found everywhere in the state at the present time. There was a certain fascination in the broad fields which this new region presented, and the fertile valleys induced men to brave the discomforts of early life here for the purpose of gratifying their desire to find homes for themselves and their posterity. It is an axiom of history that only the strong willed and most energetic men flock to a new and unsettled community, and this accounts for the sturdiness exhibited by our fore fathers.
The Waples family were among the early settlers of Fayette county. Ohio. William and Mary Waples were among the first of the family name to locate in Ohio. They were born in the state of Delaware and came to this state after their marriage and carved a home for themselves in the virgin forests of Paint township, this county.
One of the many children of William and Mary Waples was Burton, the father of Isaac Waples. with whom this narrative deals. Burton Waples was born in Fayette county and spent his entire life within its precincts He married Elizabeth Moore and reared a family of five children, Mary, Anthony, William, Isaac and Catherine. Mary and Anthony are deceased, while the other three are still living. Catherine was twice married, her first marriage being to James Haam. After the death of her first husband she married William Shelpman. To her first marriage two sons, Ray and Earl, were born.
Isaac Waples. the proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres on the State road in Paint township, was born October 14. 1860, on the farm where he is now living. His boyhood days followed the usual routine and consisted of a few months of schooling during the winter seasons and hard work on the home farm during the summers. At the age of eighteen he commenced working for himself and continued working for the next eighteen years before he located on a farm of his own. He married in 1896 and then took charge of his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he has placed many improvements of all kinds.
Mr. Waples was married April 15, 1896. to Jeannette (Boone) Montgomery, the daughter of Thomas and Ellen (Inskip) Montgomery. Thomas Montgomery was a native of Brown county, Ohio, as also was his wife. On her mother's side Mrs. Waples was related to Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman of Kentucky. Thomas Montgomerv and wife were the parents of six children: Mary E., Mrs. Catherine Edwards, Mrs. Jeannette Waples, Nancy A., Ella M. and Mrs. Minnie B. Brown.
Politically. Mr. Waples has always been affiliated with the Republican party and has been active in local matters. At the present time he is serving with credit on the school board of his township.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)