My Genealogy Hound

JOHN DEVOR, lawyer, Greenville, was born in Darke Co. in 1831. His grandfather, John Devor, was born in Pennsylvania, and came to Darke Co. in 1808; he entered the first half-section of land in the present limits of the county, and laid out the town of Greenville in 1810; in 1816, he moved his family to the county, they having, for eight years previously, lived in Montgomery Co., Ohio. Upon the organization of the county, in 1817, he was appointed Treasurer, and served as such three years. He followed the business of surveying for some years. His son, James Devor, was born near Maysville, Ky., while the family were on their way from Pennsylvania, in 1795; he learned surveying from his father, and, for a number of years, was County Surveyor. He was the first Auditor of Darke Co.; from May, 1844, to October, 1847, he was County Treasurer, and, for a number of years, he was a Justice of the Peace; he died October, 1855. His wife, Patience Dean, was a daughter of Aaron Dean, one of the early settlers of the county; they were married March 1, 1828, and ten children were born to them, of whom the second son is our subject. He received a common-school education, and acquired a knowledge of surveying under his father’s instruction; at the age of 19, he commenced the study of law with the late Hiram Bell, Esq., of Greenville, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1852, and at once opened an office in Greenville. In 1855, he was elected County Surveyor, and was re-elected in 1858, serving six years; from 1854 to 1867, he was a law partner of the late Michael Spayd, of Greenville; in the fall of that year, he formed a law partnership with Hon. William Allen, which continued eleven years. For four years, he was Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fourth District of Ohio; he was also Registrar in Bankruptcy for the same district during the existence of the bankrupt law, which went into effect March, 1867, and terminated September, 1878. July 29, 1856, he married Miss Elizabeth Travis, daughter of John Travis, of Butler Co., Ohio; Mrs. Devor died Oct. 22, 1878. Formerly a Whig, Mr. Devor naturally became a Republican, and, for many years has been Chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Darke Co. Mr. Devor is eminently social, and is an industrious and energetic business man. He is at present a law partner of M. T. Allen, and the firm is one of the strongest of the Darke Co. bar.