Washington Lough
No profession has made greater advancement during the last century than the agricultural profession, and practically all of the disadvantages which surrounded the pioneer farmer have disappeared with the introduction of labor-saving machinery. It now takes less labor to operate a farm of fifty acres than it did to operate a farm of ten acres fifty years ago, and inventions are coming into use every year which are helping the farmer to increase his efficiency. Ohio is recognized as one of the best farming states in the Union and no county in this state has better or more progressive farmers than has Fayette county. Among the hundreds of farmers who have made this county famous as an agricultural section there is no one more worthy of a place in this volume than Washington Lough, the proprietor of two hundred and twenty-two acres of fine land in Wayne township.
Washington Lough, the son of John W. and Mary E. (Mains) Lough, was born February 16, 1879, in Buckskin township, Ross county, this state. His father was a native of Franklin county, Virginia, and after serving throughout the Civil War in the Confederate army under Gen. Robert E. Lee, came to Ohio and located in Ross county. John W. Lough and wife reared a family of six children to maturity, Bert, George, Ada. Washington, Charles and Margaret. Bert, who is deceased, married Medora Rogers, and left his widow with one daughter, Dorothy B. ; Ada, deceased, was the wife of Arthur Parrett; George married Elizabeth Lavery. and has two sons, Richard and Weldon, and a daughter, Mildred E.; Charles married Mary Beatty; Margaret is the wife of Arthur Kline and has two children, Louise and Harold.
Washington Lough received part of his education in the district schools of Ross county and completed it in the Salem school in the same county. He spent the summer seasons of his boyhood days working for his father on the home farm and remained under the parental roof until he was married, at the age of twenty-nine. He came to Fayette county in 1894 and located on his present farm of two hundred and twenty-two acres in Wayne township, where he has since resided. He is a progressive farmer, believes in introducing modern methods of tilling the soil and has met with marked success in his efforts. He handles a large amount of live stock each year and has been very successful as a stock raiser.
Mr. Lough was married September 2. 1898, to Mary C. Douglas, the daughter of James M. and Rose (Porter) Douglas. Mr. Douglas was born in Highland county, Ohio, where he is now living the retired life of the farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were the parents of two children, Laura L., and Mary C, the wife of Mr. Lough. The one child of Mr, and Mrs. Lough, James Norman, is deceased and is buried at Greenfield. Ohio.
Politically, Mr. Lough is an independent and has never taken an active part in political matters. He and his wife are loyal and consistent members of the Presbyterian church, in whose welfare they take a deep and abiding interest and to whose support they are liberal contributors. Fraternally, he is a member of the Greenfield lodge of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)