William Eesley Obituary (College Corner, Ohio), c. 1916

Why this document matters

This is the single most detailed surviving biographical sketch of Albert Robert Eesley in this archive — preserved not on its own but as the first paragraph of his son William Eesley’s longer obituary in a Butler County, Ohio memoirs collection. The original publication appears to be a county-history “Memorial Edition” of the kind produced widely across the U.S. Midwest c. 1900–1920, in which prominent local businessmen were given biographical paragraphs of varying length. William, by then a successful miller at College Corner, qualified for the longer treatment, and the biographer began the entry with his father’s story.

The obituary surfaces several facts not otherwise in this archive’s structured record:

1. Albert Robert taught school in the house in which Shakespeare was born — Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. The single most striking biographical detail on the Eesley side of the family.
2. The migration route was Stratford-on-Avon → Newark, New Jersey → Ayr, Canada (Ontario) → Detroit, Michigan → Toronto. The Newark stop and the building-mills-around-Michigan period are not otherwise recorded.
3. Albert and Jennie had ten children, six of whom became millers. The obituary’s list: John R., William (the obituary’s subject), Robert, A. R. Jr., Charles Leonard, Garfield, Dr. George (physician of Toronto), Anna (Mrs. J. B. Scoon), Mrs. Jennie Baxter, Mrs. George Sinclair. Three of these names are now reconciled against Dale Eesley’s GEDCOM: “John R.” is the same person as John Franklin the Plainwell mill founder (the J. R. / J. F. is a transcription variant); “Robert” is Alfred Robert “Alf” — the obituary used his middle name as a shorthand; “Mrs. George Sinclair” was Bessie Easley before her 1899 marriage to George Alexander Sinclair in Toronto.
4. The Peel descent. William’s wife Clara Peel of Topeka, Kansas is described as “a lineal descendant of the eminent English statesman, Sir Robert Peel.” If true, this connects the family to the British Prime Minister (1788–1850); the claim is so far not corroborated and is queued for research.

The text

The obituary opens with what reads as the standard biographer’s flourish of the era, then moves into the family-history paragraph — the most valuable material in the piece for this archive.

William Eesley. Upon one of the oldest vocations known to mankind, that of milling, the Eesley family has indelibly inscribed its name, and a worthy representative of both the family and the honored vocation is found in William Eesley, a miller at College Corner, who is also interested as an owner in the Oxford mills.

Mr. Eesley was born at Detroit, Mich., a son of A. R. and Jennie (Goldie) [Eesley — the original printed text reads “Miller,” apparently a transcription or typesetting error for “Eesley”], the latter a native of Scotland and the former of Stratford-on-Avon, England. A. R. Eesley came of a long line of millers, but in young manhood adopted the vocation of school teaching which he followed for several years in his native place and for a time taught school in the house in which the famous Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare, was born. School teaching, however, was not to his liking. He had the family predilection for milling, and, finding that circumstances were not such as to encourage him in his inclinations in his native land, he emigrated to the United States and for a time lived at Newark, N. J. Later, he went to Ayr, Canada, where he secured employment as a miller, and while living there met Jennie Goldie, who belonged to a family of millers who owned a mill at that place. They were married there and two children were born to them, J. R., who follows milling, and Mrs. J. B. Scoon, of Toronto. After the birth of these children, Mr. Eesley started traveling from place to place, building mills in various parts of Michigan and operating them, and after living for a time at Detroit finally located permanently at Toronto, Canada, where he operated a mill until his death and where his wife also passed away. Their children were: John R., William, Robert, A. R., C. L., and Garfield, all of whom became millers; Dr. George, a physician of Toronto; Anna, who married J. B. Scoon, of Toronto; and Mrs. Jennie Baxter and Mrs. George Sinclair, also of that city.

William Eesley received his education in the public schools of Detroit, and upon the completion of his studies traveled for a number of years as a journeyman miller. In 1909, he took up his residence at College Corner, where he has since made his home and achieved his success, being the owner of a prosperous milling property on the Indiana side of the state line, although his residence is in Ohio. He has made a success of this venture and is accounted one of the substantial business men of his locality, and is likewise a third owner in the Oxford mills. He has various businesses, and civic connections, and is a popular member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Mr. Eesley married Clara Peel, of Topeka, Kans., a lineal descendant of the eminent English statesman, Sir Robert Peel, and a daughter of James and Ella Peel, of Mount Sterling, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Eesley are the parents of one child: Frances, born in 1901, who married H. Toney, a farmer near College Corner, and has one child, William E.

Editorial notes

• The phrase “A. R. and Jennie (Goldie) Miller” in the first sentence is almost certainly a printing or transcription error for “A. R. and Jennie (Goldie) Eesley” — the obituary subject is named “William Eesley,” not “William Miller,” and the rest of the obituary consistently uses Eesley. (Alternatively, this could be a transcription that misread Eesley as Miller in a county-history index; in either case, the family name is Eesley.)
• The phrase “and for a time taught school in the house in which the famous Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare, was born” is the single most extraordinary biographical detail. Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street, Stratford-on-Avon was already in use as a museum from 1847, but parts of the property were variously rented out across the mid-19th century; a young schoolteacher using rooms there for instruction in the 1850s or early 1860s is plausible and is consistent with Albert Robert’s documented birth year (1837).
• The Peel descent through Clara Peel is the kind of family-history claim that often turned out, on later genealogical research, to be folk-genealogy rather than documented descent. It is worth noting as the obituary records it; it is also worth verifying.

Pending follow-ups

• Find the print original. The obituary as printed in the Butler County memoirs volume can probably be located in the Butler County Historical Society archives (Hamilton, OH) or in the Cincinnati / Oxford area university libraries’ local-history collections.
• Dates for William and Clara Eesley. The obituary does not give William’s birth or death years; the death year is bracketed only by the publication year of the volume (c. 1916–1920).
• The Peel lineage. Source the Sir Robert Peel claim, ideally in 19th-century Kansas Peel family records or in a published Peel family genealogy.
• The Shakespeare’s Birthplace history circa 1855–1860, when Albert Robert would have been teaching there. The Trust archives at Stratford-upon-Avon are the right resource.
• Person pages for the seven other Eesley siblings (John R., Robert, A. R. Jr., Garfield, Dr. George, Anna Scoon, Jennie Baxter, Mrs. Sinclair) — this obituary is the single most consequential lead on each of them.

Provenance

Contributed to RootsWeb by Dale Eesley — the contemporary family genealogist who also maintains the FamilySearch tree this archive’s structured record draws on. The RootsWeb page at http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/memoirs/150-199.html is the source URL.