The following series of posts will be centered on a well-known family of Elizabeth Township. The Sutherly family have been an integral part of the agricultural heritage of Elizabeth Township for over one hundred years. Their dedication to excellence in the science and labor of farming is a tradition that has passed from generation to generation. Let’s look back at where this story from Elizabeth Township started:
Luther and Maude Sutherly moved to Southwest Ohio in the early 1910s from the West Virginia/Virginia border for better work opportunities, with their very young sons Melvin (1910-1996) and Ralph (1911-1981) in tow. In 1913, a third son, Wesley was born in Springfield, Ohio. The Sutherlys lived in Pike Township in Clark County for a time, then moved to Elizabeth Township sometime between 1920 and September 1925, when records show Melvin enrolled in high school at the Elizabeth Centralized School Luther was a carpenter by trade and also farmed. Maude was known for her baking and use of natural remedies for healing.
For several years in the 1920s and 1930s, Luther was the tenant on 120 acres at 5474 E. State Route 41, where his and Maude’s three sons grew into adulthood. This farm, owned at the time by Ben and Rosie Miller, is a mile north of the Elizabeth Centralized School, and as high school students, the brothers would cross the fields early in the morning and drive bus routes to pick up students before and after their studies. During the Depression, money was tight for many families, and the boys would often fan out and work at other farms in the vicinity.
Tragedy struck the family in the summer of 1933 when Maude Sutherly died of a heart attack at age 45. While her three sons had graduated from the Elizabeth Centralized School by this time – Melvin in 1929, Ralph in 1930, and Wes in 1932 – all were still living at home at the time of her passing.
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