JOHN H. COON, one of Newton Township's most prominent citizens, the owner of a valuable farm of sixty-eight acres situated in Sections 19 and 30, is also proprietor of the famous artesian well, which is on his farm and is located two and one-half miles south of Pleasant Hill and one mile west of the Dayton, Covington and Piqua traction line. Mr. Coon was born October 4, 1851, in Bethel Township, Miami County, Ohio, and is a son of William Harrison and Elizabeth (Hawn) Coon.

William Harrison Coon was born in Virginia. After marriage he moved to Allen County, Ohio, where he worked as a blacksmith until be enlisted for service in the Civil War, going out as a member of Company E, Thirteenth O. Vol. Inf., and continued in the service for four years. He survived all the dangers and hardships of war, meeting with but one injury, in the battle having the point of his ear shot off. He returned to Ohio and settled in Bethel Township, Miami County, near New Carlisle, following farming to some extent and also working at his trade. He then moved to a place southwest of Troy, where he worked as a blacksmith for three years, moving then to within one mile west of Troy, remaining there for three years, when he sold out and bought the farm located one and one- half miles east of his son's farm, on which he lived for the seven years preceding his death. In politics he was a Democrat, and fraternally he was a Mason. He belonged also to the local Grange and was a consistent member of the Christian Church. He married Elizabeth Hawn, a daughter of Jonathan Hawn, and they had five children, John H., Mary, George, William and Rebecca. Both parents were buried in the Riverside Cemetery at Troy.

John H. Coon was educated in the country schools, after which, with the help of his brothers, he did a large part of the work on his father's farm, the latter being engaged at his trade. In farming, hauling wood and attending to stock, Mr. Coon worked at home until he was twenty-two years of age, after which he worked as a farm hand for about four years. After his marriage he resided for one year on his father-in-law's farm, three miles west of Troy, moving from there to a rented farm on the edge of Bradford, and one year later moved to a farm in Union Township. Two years afterward he moved on the Harter farm, situated one and one-half miles west of Troy, and in 1907 he purchased a sixty acre farm in Newton Township and operated it for two years. Mr. Coon then moved to Pleasant Hill, and during the two years he lived there was engaged in a plumbing business, and then moved back to his present farm. He cleared about twenty acres and put in 300 rods of tile, which gives the land excellent drainage. Later he purchased eight acres additional, and on this tract is situated the notable artesian spring mentioned above. The improvements on the farm Mr. Coon has placed here. He is not actively interested in farming, having a tenant who is a practical agriculturist, thus relieving Mr. Coon and giving him time to perfect his plans in connection with the artesian well.

Two miles southwest of Pleasant Hill was once located an Indian fort, and the almost perpendicular bank of the Stillwater River on the east and the deep, narrow gully on the north, made it an ideal spot for such a structure. A few rods above the fort, in the bottom of the gully is a small island, and in the center of this little tract is the medicated spring, now the property of Mr. Coon. The curative effects of this water have long been known in this section, but its value has not been exploited to any extent until recently. In November, 1907, Mr. Coon, with commendable business enterprise, drilled a well near the spring and later had the water analyzed by a leading chemist. The value of this water in the cure of many of the most distressing diseases was proved by this analysis. With this encouragement, Mr. Coon is making preparations to make heavy investments, and if his plans are perfected, all this section will profit by the presence of visitors who will come from every point. It is confidently believed that those who come sick will return home well, and Mr. Coon intends to provide comfortable accommodations for these guests. Nature has done much to make such an enterprise here successful, the well being situated in the picturesque Miami Valley, famed in song and story.

Mr. Coon was married to Miss Rachel Correy, a daughter of Robert and Rebecca Correy, and they have five children: Robert, who is engaged in business at Chicago, Illinois; Jennie, who resides at Piqua; Mary and Goldie, both of whom reside at home; and Lillie, who is a member of the class of 1913, in the High School at Pleasant Hill. Mr. Coon and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pleasant Hill, of which he has been a trustee for a number of years. He is a Democrat in politics.