Vine Hill Farm

I wasn't born yet, or even 'thought' of when the 'real' Vine Hill Farm located in Tiffin, OH was in existance and thriving. My ancestors of Vine Hill were of German and Scotch descent. They raised beef and dairy cattle and some of everthing else. The home was considered a 'mansion' and was stately adorned by white pillars and the front veranzza was hand laid tile. They had many servants. The estate was a total of 400 acres. This was sold many years ago for a grand total of 22,000.00 dollars and included the cattle. The home is still there today but I do not know who the owners are.

According to VMI (Virginia Military Institute) archived records, Thomas Jetson Frazier, the proprietor and my great-greatgrandfather graduated from the institute on July 4, 1871 ranking 8th in a class of 46. He was born March 31, 1849 and lived in Summit Point Jefferson Co. VA.

His father-Samuel Harvey Frazier; Mother- Mary Ann Waters.

T.J. Frazier, my G.G grandfather married-Mary Catherine Kagey, daughter of Issac Kagey of Tiffin, OH. 

Their children- 1) Mary Kagey Frazier, who married Dr. C.M. Lenhart; 2)- Henry Clinton Frazier, who married Anne Wilson; 3) Nannie Estelle Frazier, who married E.R Strohm; 4) Edith Lee Frazier.

My great grandfather's career was Civil Engineer; Railway Official for B&O Railway: Director of the following Railroad Corporations: The Sandusky, Mansfield, & Newark R.R. Co.; The Ohio Midland R.R. Co.; The Columbus & Cincinnati Midland R.R.Co.; The Ohio & Little Kanawha R.R.Co.; The Eastern Ohi R.R.Co.; The Snow Fork & Hocking R.R.co.; The Central Ohio R.R.Co.

He also held positions in the following industrial enterprises: The Mosaic Tile Co. located in Zanesville, OH; President of Home Electrical supply co. Tiffin, OH; President of Syracuse Water Supply Co. Syracuse, IN.

:He was a farmer in his later years.

He died August 27, 1929.

The institute was kind enough to send me copies of his records, some photos as well as copies of his pesonal letters. I have posted some of the information below but it is difficult to read.

In one of the letters he writes that he has been with the United States Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio, for 48 years. He mentions that his wife, Mrs. Frazier is involved with the Daughters of America and entertains "in our country home, at which many ladies of prominence will be present."

His children- My great-grandmother- Mary, married Dr C.M. Lenhart. They had two daughters and one son, Charles Frazier, who was in the United States Navy. One daughter had a son. She died unexpectedly at a young age from choking. The other daughter, Mary Catherine is my paternal grandmother. She married Samuel C. Warner. He lived on the farm across from hers in Tiffin, Oh.

My grandfather- Warner, Samuel C., was a teacher of math and graduated from Heidelberg College.

Below is my grandmother, Mary Catherine. Her friends called her "Kitty". She is pictured here at Vine Hill holding her dog that looks VERY much like what we call English Shepherds. I do not remember any stories about the dog. I don't know his/her name or where it came from. But,  do remember grandma saying they used to have an "old scotch collie" and I have photos of her with the dog. My father, Robert C. Warner, retired air force and graduate of Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, is now in his late 70's,  and I calculate the pictures to have been taken when his mother, my grandmother (Catherine Lenhart Warner) was late teens/early 20's which would have been around 1915. My mother, Janice J. Warner ,  was secretary at the Cambridge Jr. High School located in Cambridge, OH  for about 20 years.

Here are the photos of her with her dog-                                  

I took pictures of the old black and white photos so the photography is not the best :) However, I can clearly see the 'stop' , the white blaze and scotch collie markings. The dog appears to be a sable and white. I notice the snout looks larger than my English Shepherds and wonder if this was the way they were almost 100 years ago? More history of the ES here- 

http://izebug.syr.edu/~gsbisco/collie.htm

http://izebug.syr.edu/~gsbisco/hist.htm

http://izebug.syr.edu/~gsbisco/bewick.htm

But this page is not about English Shepherds ;) This is about the history of Vine Hill Farm and its inhabitants, my ancestors. I have some information like the number of children born, their names, dates of birth and death. I have a little history about the type of work they did, like my great-great grandfather was a surveyer for the B&O and did make a trip to CA. I also have some military records and information of the family grave in Tiffin.

 I know my grandfather, also maternal side, was a physician who began his practice as the Doctor for the town of Chandlersville, OH then on to Zanesville, OH where he was also a highly respected surgeon. I have the articles and a photo of him.

So, this page is a work in progress as I continue to gather more information. I will scan all I have and post it here soon.

Thank you for visiting. If you feel you might have something to contribute to this page, about Vine Hill, my ancestors or the unknown line of my grandmother's ES please do write! citysplitter@yahoo.com

Below are some documents that were given to me regarding the family history. The first is a photo of my great-grandfather:

Dr. C.M. Lenhart

The official 'address' for the Lenhart mansion located in Zanesville, OH was: 1108 Maple Ave.