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with eminent success, and he was also one of the commissioners.
Albert McFadden is the oldest pioneer member of the Lutheran Church at Wooster, except his wife, who became identified with it one year before he did, having joined in 1840. Politically he was originally an Abolitionist, and has since been a strong Republican, having voted for both of the Harrisons—in 1840 and 1888, respectively. He is a strong advocate of the temperance cause, though not a member of the Prohibition party. His mind has ever been as active as his body, and since passing the age of three score and ten he has learned to play the flute, not by any means the simplest of musical instruments. He was one of the organizers of the Pioneer Association, having written the first notice; was four years president of the same, and at present is corresponding secretary and treasurer. In his leisure hours Mr. McFadden has designed a genealogical tree, giving the family data for one hundred years back, by which we find that grandfather McFadden came to America in 1774, and that our subject's parents both died on the old homestead, the father in 1849, at the age of seventy-five years, the mother April 7, 1874, when ninety-six years old; she had lived on the homestead sixty years, and for over eighty years was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
SAMUEL SNYDER was born in Washington County, Md., October 9, 1820, a son of Anthony and Rebecca (Newman) Snyder, who were natives of Franklin County, Penn. They moved from Washington County, Md., in 1836 to Stark County, Ohio, thence in 1844 to Knox County, Ohio, where the father died April 10, 1867, and the mother in March, 1875. They reared nine children, eight of whom are still living: Samuel ; Daniel, in Allen County, Ind. ; Elizabeth, unmarried, residing in Champaign County, Ohio; Rebecca, wife of Dr. Ayres, of Horner, Knox Co., Ohio; Jonathan, in Mount Liberty, Knox Co., Ohio; David C., in Kansas City, Mo.; and William B. and Franklin, in Knox County, Ohio.
Of these, Samuel was reared on the farm and attended the district schools of Stark County, Ohio. At an early ago he learned the trade of a carriage maker, which occupation he has since followed. He has lived in West Lebanon since 1838, and in 1842 he established his present carriage manufacturing business. In 1841 Mr. Snyder married Miss Catherine, daughter of Robert Thompson, of Stark County, Ohio, and six children have been born to them, viz. : William H., of Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County ; Mary R., deceased wife of Eli Braden; Martha Jane and Francis, at home; Sarah E., wife
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of Lewis Brenner, of Brookfield, Ohio; and Letitia C., wife of Jacob Eby, in Michigan. Mr. Snyder has always voted the Democratic ticket, and has served his township as school director for several years, and as justice of the peace since 1864.
JOHN W. McVICKER was born February 2, 1816, in Bedford County, Penn., a son of David and Eve (Wortze) McVicker, former of whom was a native of Bedford County, Penn,, and died in his sixty-first year; latter died at the age of seventy-four years, eleven months and twenty-two days, and is buried in the old cemetery grounds near Congress Village, in Wayne County, Ohio. John W., their son, can truthfully be classed among the old settlers of Wayne County, coming here as he did with his widowed mother October 14, 1832. They first resided in Chester Township, but in the following spring moved onto a farm near Congress Village, in Congress Township, where was quite a settlement of pioneers living in the primitive log cabins of the times, and enduring all the hardships and privations incidental to early life in the then comparative wilderness. At that time nearly all the land subject to entry had been taken up, but large quantities of school land were still in the market. Here in the vicinity of Congress our subject grew to manhood, working on the farm throughout the year, with the exception of two or three months' schooling in winter time.
September 18, 1838, he was married to Miss Catherine Garver, daughter of David Garver, who beyond doubt was one of the first settlers of Wayne County, and in 1815 one of the pioneers of Congress Township. To Mr. and Mrs. McVicker were born the following-named children: Martha Jane, born May 9, 1839, died November 4, 1875; Sarah, born June 6, 1840, married Henry Houma'', of Congress Township; Eve, born November 16, 1841, now the wife of Thomas Henderson, an old soldier and industrious blacksmith, living in West Salem, Ohio; Jasper, born January 16, 1842, married, and living four miles south of West Salem on a farm ; Marion, born September 12, 1844, died August 4, 1845; Elizabeth Ann, born January 15, 1846, now the wife of Barton Ginter, and living on the old homestead, five miles south of West Salem, in Congress Township; William C., born March 27, 1847, died March 28, 1876; Catherine, born November 14, 1848, now the wife of William Rumbaugh, also living near West Salem; John, twin brother of Catherine, died September 19, 1858; Mary Ann, born March 17, 1851,
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died May 16, 1873; Lydia, born March 16, 1853, died July 4, 1873; Jesse, born April 1, 1855, is married, and living on a farm in Medina County, Ohio; Harmon, born November 7, 1856, is married, and is at present the courteous and popular landlord of the McVicker Hotel, in West Salem (they had four children that died in infancy). Thus is to be found a large family reared and cared for, clothed and educated, and now industrious and useful citizens, all living in the immediate neighborhood of where they were born and brought up. The mother of this family died September 18, 1858, and in the fall of 1877 Mr. McVicker married Lavina Bitzer Lemon, a native of Lancaster County, Penn., born April 9, 1811, and who came to Ohio with her parents in 1836. She died January 20, 1887, in her seventy-sixth year.
Mr, John W. McVicker has by his frugality, industry and good management accumulated a handsome competency, and he is now owner of 500 acres of land, highly cultivated and well improved. For twenty years he was identified with the business interests of West Salem, and successfully conducted the hotel business of the place, erecting for that purpose a commodious and excellently appointed building, costing upward of $5,000. Although retired from active life, Mr. McVicker is not an idler, and he seems to retain all the keen vigor of his youth in business affairs, taking a deep interest in politics and the general topics of the day. He is a veterinary surgeon of excellent ability, and has successfully practiced since 1853, having performed many surgical operations of a very difficult nature; has never failed in removing tumor, curing ringbone or removing spavin. He is proprietor and manufacturer of the Green Mountain Liniment.
JOHN VAN NOSTRAN. Among the most widely known and highly esteemed citizens of Wayne County ranks the subject of this sketch. He was born upon a farm in Wayne County, Ohio,
September 14, 1847, and continued as a farmer boy until about twenty years of age, receiving the advantages of the common country schools until about nineteen, when for two summers he attended the academy at Smithville, Wayne County. The winters he spent in teaching, while
fall and spring found him laboring by the month on the farm. In 1871 he determined to turn his attention to the study of law, in which direction, he felt, lay the field of his usefulness. Accordingly he entered the office of L. R. Critchfield, and for one year studiously applied himself to his
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chosen work. But the path of a poor young lawyer is not strewn with roses, and, feeling himself financially in need of a change, he, in 1873, formed a partnership, under the name of Bowman & Van Nostran, in the insurance business in Wooster. This he continued until January 1, 1876, when he entered the county clerk's office as deputy clerk, and there remained until October, 1880, when he was elected clerk of the courts, to which, for efficient services, he was re-elected in 1883, retiring from said office in 1887. On October 20, 1880, he left the state of single blessedness and became one of the vast army of benedicts by marrying Miss Linda M. Atkins, daughter of David Atkins and a native of Wooster, Ohio, where her life has all been spent and where her parents still reside. Two children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Van Nostran, viz. : Lillian Ruth, born December 20, 1881, and Ethel, born July 20, 1885. Politically Mr. Van Nostran is an active worker in the Democratic ranks, and has displayed such marked ability that he has been chosen repeat' edly to represent his party ; for three years he has been chairman of the County Democratic Committee; is also a member of the State Central Democratic Committee for the Twentieth Senatorial District. In the city council of the spring and summer of 1884 he was an active worker, ever firmly standing for his convictions, and often fighting against overpowering opposition. His popularity was shown by his re-election, in the spring of 1888, as a member for the third term by the largest majority he had as yet received. He still continues a member of that honorable body, and doubtless will be therein retained as long as his ward needs an earnest and reliable representative. Mr. Van Nostran is a member of the Royal Arcanum, Knights of Honor and the Improved Order of Red Men. In the latter order he ranks as past great sachem of Ohio.
J. P. VAN NEST. Success in any of the pursuits of life usually challenges the world's admiration. It was the motto of the first Bonaparte that " nothing succeeds like success." It matters not whether in the profession of law or medicine, or in the theological domain, in the military or civil life, or mercantile pursuits, it is the one distinguishing and distinctive characteristic of all business transactions, and which, above all things, the world emphatically recognizes. The subject of this biography, while not a member of any of the acknowledged professions, has, nevertheless, in his sphere of labor and activity distinguished himself as an active, energetic business man,
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and demonstrated the fact that to the man of merit belongs the full measure of success and worldly prosperity.
J. P. Van Nest, the subject of these lines, was born in Rowsburg, Ashland Co., Ohio, August 6, 1841. His father, John Van Nest, who is living to-day, was one of the early settlers in that section of Northern Ohio; has held many offices of public responsibility and trust, and is highly esteemed by all who know him for his business capacity, integrity, honesty and sound judgment. His son received the benefits of the ordinary country and village school education, of which facilities he availed himself, and these, combined with the practical supervisory tutorage of his father, developed him into a methodical, intelligent, successful man of business. His grandfather, John Van Nest, died in Millbrook, Ohio, in the fall of 1862, at the age of eighty-seven years, and is buried at Moorland, Wayne County; his wife, the grandmother of our subject, died at Tiffin, Seneca Co., Ohio, when seventy-five years old. The subject of this sketch was married October 3, 1861, to Miss Mary E. Gardner, of his native village, a lady of fine accomplishments, who bore him eight children, seven of whom are yet living, all at home except three. August 22, 1862, Mr. Van Nest, disregarding the Mosaic prerogative of one year's exclusion from military service, after the union of wedlock, enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was soon thereafter promoted to orderly sergeant, and soon after the consolidation of the One Hundred and Twentieth and One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Regiments, November 27, 1864, was commissioned second lieutenant of Company D, and was with his regiments in all the vicissitudes of their numerous campaigns—during the long and perilous siege at Vicksburg, participating in the battles of Arkansas Post, Thompson's Hills, the storming of Fort Blakely, opposite the City of Mobile, etc., etc.
After his return from the army, in the summer of 1865, he engaged in the general insurance business, which vocation he persistently and lucratively pursues. During this period he has traveled about eleven years as special agent for two prominent fire insurance companies, and was recognized as one of the most courteous, industrious and efficient agents on the road. Having bestowed upon the subject the proper reflection and consideration, and having the fullest faith in the purity of the objects and beneficent results of all well-ordered secret societies, in the autumn of 1870 he resolved to identify himself in membership with some standard organization, which he did in
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that year by uniting with Ashland Lodge, No. 151, F. & A. M., located at Ashland, Ohio. Upon his removal to Wooster, Ohio, he united with Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., and also joined Wooster Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M., Wooster Council, No. 13, R. & S. M., all of Wooster, Ohio, and Wooster Commandery, No. —, Knights Templar, also of Wooster, Ohio, of all of which he is an active member. In September, 1877, he became a member of Irene Lodge, No. 64, K. of H., and soon thereafter united with Wayne Council, No. 13, Royal Arcanum, as a charter member. He occupied the chairs of regent and past regent, and was elected a representative to the Grand Council meeting held in Columbus, Ohio, in March, 1879. In 1879 he became a charter member of Ohio Council, No. 1, Order of Chosen Friends, located in Wooster, Ohio, and has the distinguished honor of being the first Chosen Friend in the State of Ohio. He has been a member of the Supreme Council ever since its organization, and at each session has been placed upon its most important committees, those of laws and supervision and finance and accounts. He has held the positions of supreme trustee two years, supreme warden two years, and supreme marshal six years, which position he still holds.
At the organization of the Supreme Sitting of the Order of the Iron Hall, March 28, 1881, he was commissioned a deputy supreme justice, and on the evening of May 8, 1881, organized Local Branch No. 2 of that order in Wooster, with seventy-five charter members. He was also a member of the Supreme Sitting for a period of six years, during which time he held the offices of supreme watchman and chairman of the Board of Supreme Trustees. In September, 1881, he assisted in organizing Given Post, No. 133, G. A. R., of Wooster, Ohio, and was elected past post commander, and represented the post at the Department Encampment held in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 17 and 18, 1882. In the spring of 1879 he was chosen a member of the city council of Wooster, Ohio, for two years, and in 1881 was re-elected for a corresponding period, when he was unanimously elected president of the council, the duties of which responsible position he discharged with executive and parliamentary ability and skill. He served as chairman of the fire and finance committees and several others of commensurate importance. His present and permanent home is Wooster, Ohio. whither he removed in 1874. In politics he is a Democrat of the Jacksonian stripe, and has always taken an interest in all the campaigns since he has been a voter.
From what is above written it must be apparent that Mr. Van Nest is not only a
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society man, a worthy, honorable and intelligent member of many of the most noble orders of the country, possessing the confidence to that extent of their bestowal of honors and dignities upon him, but a man of public enterprise, comprehensive and liberal views, exemplifying character, position and influence in the great, jostling thoroughfare of the world.
JOHN B. ODELL. Lorenzo D. Odell was born in Adams County, Ohio, October 29, 1810. His father removing to Wayne County the ensuing year, he became a citizen of the county in infancy. The earlier years of his life were spent upon the farm and assisting his father in the mill. His opportunities for procuring an education were of a limited character, consisting chiefly in self- instruction in spare hours. When quite a boy he visited Michigan, and became associated with the corps of surveyors who were running off government lands, and with them he remained a period of six months. After his return, in the fall of 1829, he began teaching, an occupation be continued until 1832, and in 1833 he purchased a part of his father's farm, where he devoted himself to agriculture and surveying. Mr. Odell was justice of the peace in 1836, and held the position for twelve years, being elected the last two terms without opposition. He acted in the capacity of county surveyor from 1847 to 1850, and was elected to the Legislature of the State of Ohio from Wayne County, serving in that honorable body two terms, from January 7, 1856, to January 2, 1860. He took an active part in the construction of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and was instrumental in procuring the station at Big Prairie. Mr. Odell had been a member of the Baptist Church since 1841. He was married July 12, 1832, to Annie Gibbon, of Lycoming County, Penn., by whom he became the father of five children: Ophelia, deceased wife of Robert C. Jones, of Shreve; Tobias G., who married Martha J. Bell, and they are now residents of Lakeville, Holmes Co., Ohio; Therrissa ; Pemptos R., who married Mary Haslen (now deceased), and is now a resident of Richmond, Ind. ; and John B., whose name heads this sketch. The father died April 6, 1883.
John B. Odell was reared and educated in the schools of the county, and has assumed general management of business affairs since the decease of his father, occupying the old homestead. He has been justice of the peace for the last twelve years, and is engaged in agricultural pursuits. Mr. Odell is a member of
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the Baptist Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and is prominent and enterprising in all local public matters,
O. K. GRIFFITH, banker and miller, Orrville, Ohio, comes of Welsh ancestors on his father's side, who immigrated to America at an early day, settling in York County, Penn., where the family lived for several generations. His grandfather, Joseph Griffith, was born in that county, living all of his lifetime on his birthplace, dying at the age of eighty- seven. He was a Quaker in religion. There his son, Mode, father of O. K., was born in 1805. He learned the trade of a plasterer, which became his lifelong occupation. He lived in his native county until 1839, when he removed to Indiana County, Penn., remaining there four years, when he went to Boiling Springs, Cumberland Co., Penn., where he and his wife both died, he at the age of seventy- seven, and she aged sixty-two. Mr. Griffith was an industrious man, of a remarkably upright and conscientious character, who regarded a promise as sacred; outspoken in the expression of his opinions; an ardent advocate of protective tariff, and an Abolitionist, when to be one was to be unpopular, and an agent for the " underground railroad," who often helped runaway slaves. He was married in 1830 to Eliza Kaufman, a native of Boiling Springs, of a well-known family. One of her brothers, D. S. Kaufman, was for many years a Congressman from Texas, elected several times without opposition; another, Abram Kaufman, was a prominent minister of the Episcopal Church of Charleston, S. C., who was honored at his death by interment in the body of the church. Mode and Eliza Griffith were parents of ten children : D. S., who is now living in Colorado; -Milian(' C., A. K. and Levi, in Lincoln, Neb. ; O. K., our subject, and Jennie, at Boiling Springs, Penn. ; four are deceased, viz. : Harriet, Benjamin, Joseph and an infant.
O. K. Griffith, the subject of this sketch, was born at Dilistown, York Co., Penn., April 28,1831. Through the influence of his uncle from Texas, he secured a clerkship in the United States Treasury Department, which he held until a change of administration threw him out. He then stayed at home for awhile, and in 1853 came to Wayne County, where he had several acquaintances. Here for three years he worked at plastering in summer and taught school in winter, and in the winter of 1856-57 taught in Illinois, going to Kansas the following spring, and taking up some land there. In 1858 he returned to Wayne County, and getting
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married bought some timber land between Wooster and Smithville, which he cleared. On this place he lived until 1873, when he removed to Smithville, where he stayed for a year and a half. In October, 1874, he removed to Orrville and bought the Orrville Mill, in co-partnership with John Willaman. This firm existed until 1880, when new partners were taken into the concern, and the name changed to the Orrville Milling Company. Great improvements were at once begun, a fine new mill being built while the old one was running, and when the new mill was running the old one was moved into it. To-day the mill runs night and day, except Sundays, and has a daily capacity of 500 barrels. The mill is operated solely by Mr. Griffith, its product being all engaged beforehand, the flour having a high reputation. This result is due to its being located in a first-class wheat-raising section ; to their having their own warehouses, and being able to select their wheat, and in an eminent degree to the able and careful management of Mr. Griffith. In addition to his milling business Mr. Griffith is engaged in banking, being president of the Orrville Banking Company, started by him and some other gentlemen, and of which he was and is the leading spirit. This is an individual liability bank, the stockholders each being responsible to the full amount of their property, giving ample security to customers. During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Griffith enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteers.
Mr. Griffith has been twice married; first in March, 1858, to Miss Jane Wasson, daughter of David and Margaret (Beale) Wasson, old settlers of Wayne Township, in this county, where she was born in 1836. To this union five children were born: Frank, who is married to Eva Blackmore, of Orrville, and is living on a large farm in Colorado, owned by his father; Mary and John, living with their father ; Charles, who died in 1883, aged nineteen, and Alice, who died in childhood. The mother of this family died December 3, 1870. She was a woman of a rare Christian character, truly pious, a member of the Presbyterian Church. A faithful wife and devoted mother, her loss was sincerely mourned by her bereaved husband and children.
In March, 1874, Mr. Griffith was married to Mary, daughter of John and Nancy Heineman, of Wooster. She was born in Wayne County. The issue of this union was two children, one of whom, Edwin Fay, died in childhood; the other, Grace, is now (1888) eleven years of age. Mr. Griffith has never been an aspirant for public office, but was once elected justice of the peace, which office he gladly got
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rid of by removing from the township. He is a member of the G. A. R., of the Knights of Honor, and of the I. O. O. F. In politics he is a Republican, and a protective tariff man. A straightforward, enterprising and stirring man, Mr. Griffith is an important factor in the growth and prosperity of Orrville, and a central figure in the business circles. He is known as a thoroughly upright man and a valuable citizen.
CHRISTIAN M. BALMER is of German and Swiss extraction. His grandfather, Jacob Balmer, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., December 4, 1771. Late in life he removed to Cumberland County, Penn., where he died in 1836. His wife was Elizabeth Hanck, born in Lancaster County, November 23, 1780, and died in Cumberland County in 1865. Her father had emigrated from Switzerland at a very early day. They were the parents of eleven children, three of whom are now living: Samuel, in Dauphin County, Penn. ; Lydia, wife of Daniel Graybill, of Akron, Ohio; and Levi, in Wood County, Ohio. Those deceased were named George, Jacob, Andrew, Christian, Susan, John, Elizabeth and Daniel.
The father of Christian M. Balmer was also named Christian, and was born in Lancaster County, Penn., May 28, 1804, and was eight years old when his parents removed to Cumberland County. There he lived with his parents until his marriage, at the age of twenty-seven, when he moved to Shiremanstown, in the same county, working at his trade of carriage making until 1851, when he immigrated to Smithville, Ohio, where for a short time he worked at his trade, removing in the spring of 1852 to the farm where our subject now lives, which he previously purchased, and which comprised 133 acres. Here he lived until the marriage of Christian M., when he retired and removed to Smithville, where he died July 5, 1884. While living in Shiremanstown Mr. Balmer was licensed to preach, in 1844, by the Quarterly Conference of the United Brethren Church, and later joined the Annual Conference, by which he was also licensed. He preached for that church until the separation of the German and English branches in Ohio, when he united with the River Brethren, and preached for them until his death, his last sermon being delivered but two weeks before his demise, thus devoting the greater part of his life to the service of his Master. He was a man of truly religious principles, and lived up to all his professions; was scru-
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pulously honest in all his dealings, cautious in his conversation, never speaking, aught to the detriment of his neighbors, and much respected by all who knew him. He was married in September, 1833, to Annie, daughter of Christian and Barbara Musser, of York County, Penn., where she was born May 5, 1811. Her parents were old residents of that part of Pennsylvania, and the family is very numerous there yet. She died on the Wayne County farm, March 24, 1867. They had eight children: Christian M. was the first born; Elizabeth, who was twice married, is now wife of Gottlieb Bitser, and lives in Huron County, Ohio; Susan, widow of Joseph Musser, lives in Cleveland, Ohio; Annie, also twice wedded, is wife of Cyrus Stratton, of this county; Barbara died unmarried in March, 1865; Mary is wife of Daniel Stauffer, and lives in St. Joseph County, Mich.; Sarah Catherine is wife of Daniel Davidson, of Canaan Township, this county; and Esther S. is wife of W. S. Sage, of Huron County, Ohio, and she and her husband are both missionaries at Rotafunk, Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Christian M. Balmer was born near Shiremanstown, Penn., October 5, 1834, and was in his seventeenth year when the family came to Ohio. He had helped his father in the shop during his boyhood, but on the removal to the farm he became a farmer, and has followed that occupation ever since. He was married May 9, 1880, to Miss Matilda Oyler, daughter of John P. and Mary (Miller) Oyler. She was born in Lawrence Township, Stark Co., Ohio, June 17, 1852. Her parents were Pennsylvanians, the father born in Franklin County and the mother in Lancaster County. The mother died in April, 1888, and the father is now living in Canal Fulton, Stark County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Balmer have one child, Mary Etta. Christian M. Balmer and wife are members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has been a class leader, and he also holds a license as an exhorter in that denomination. He has the reputation of a strictly upright man, possessing many of the good traits of character of his estimable father, and rightly is held in esteem by his fellow-citizens.
J. B. PINKERTON, superintendent of the Wayne County Children's Home, comes from a family whose name was known in America as early as the year 1700. Near that date eleven brothers, natives of the north of Scotland, left the land of their birth and settled in different parts of this country, and it is a known fact that all of this name now liv-
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ing in the United States are descendants of these pioneers. Benjamin Pinkerton, great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Franklin County, Penn., and was married to Catherine Hansel. Jacob, an only child, was born to this couple, and at the early age of nine was left an orphan by the death of both of his parents. When he was ten years old he was taken to Lancaster County, Penn., by relatives of his mother, and there grew to manhood. He followed farming and distilling in that county until 1837. In 1816 he had passed through the State of Ohio, and, being much attracted thereby, in 1837 settled in East Union Township, Wayne County. He was married to Elizabeth Stauffer, who became the mother of three children, their names being Reuben, Rudolph and Elizabeth. When he arrived in Wayne County Mr. Pinkerton purchased a farm, where he resided until his death, in 1881. Reuben, the eldest of the children, was born in 1816, and is now a resident of East Union Township. He was married to Susanna Brenner, daughter of Adam Brenner. Eight children were born to this union, of whom but four are now living: J. B., Elizabeth (Mrs. Hoffman), Delilah (Mrs. Liphart) and Catherine (the latter at home).
J. B. Pinkerton, our subject, the only son of Reuben and Susanna (Brenner) Pinkerton, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., and was six weeks old when his parents immigrated to Ohio. He was educated in the academy of Edinburgh and Fredericksburgh, and at Mount Union College, Ohio. He has made school-teaching and farming the businesses of his life. In 1862 Mr. Pinkerton enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Infantry, and was a soldier until the close of the war, in 1865. In the latter year he was married to Miss Rachel B. Carey, daughter of Stephen Carey, of Salt Creek Township, Wayne County. Three children have been born of this union, as follows: Penola, now living, and William and Emma, deceased. In 1882 Mr. Pinkerton was appointed superintendent of the Wayne County Children's Home, which position he now holds. He is a courteous gentleman, reliable, and highly respected by all who know him. Mr. Pinkerton's family are members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican.
GEO. H. KEPPEL was born in Chester County, Penn., July 11, 1845. His parents, who are still living in Chester County, Penn., are John and Barbara (Weaver) Keppel. Geo. H. was reared on the homestead farm, attending
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the district schools, and when eighteen years old left home, and learned the carpenter's trade in Philadelphia, where he remained six years. In 1868 he came to Wayne County, Ohio, and worked at his trade in Wooster for about one year, then moved to New Pittsburgh, where he lived until 1875, in which year he moved to Apple Creek and established his present warehouse business. In 1875 Mr. Keppel was united in marriage with Miss Selaca E., daughter of Philip Spotts, of Reedsburgh. Mr. Keppel is a prominent member of the Democratic party. In 1887 he was elected the first mayor of the village of Apple Creek, and is also a notary public. He is a member of Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., of Wooster, and Wooster Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., also a charter member of Apple Creek Lodge No. 674, I. 0. 0. F.
DANIEL C. MARTIN was born in Cumberland. County, Penn., April 17, 1826, and died May 3, 1889. He was a son of David and Elizabeth (Coble) Martin, the former of whom was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1795. The parents were married in February 1819, and had a family of six sons and three daughters, as follows: Sons—John, Jacob and Levi, who died in infancy ; Daniel C., our subject; David, who now lives in Stockton, Kas., and Abraham, who died in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. Daughters—Martha, who married John Irwin, now living in Dalton, Ohio ; Elizabeth, who married David Miller, now living in Kansas, and Mary, who died in infancy. David Martin, the father of this family, moved from Cumberland County, Penn., to Wayne County, Ohio,in 1832, when Daniel C. was a six-year-old boy.
The subject of this biographical memoir attended the public schools in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, but when nineteen years of age he was disabled by hip disease. He then taught school for two years, and afterward entered mercantile business at Reedsburgh, Plain Township, Wayne County, continuing in the same six years, during which time he read and practiced law, being admitted to the bar of Wayne County in 1857. In 1853 Mr. Martin was elected a justice of the peace, which office he held three years; was also appointed notary public, holding that office at the time of his death. For ten years from 1876 Mr. Martin was a licensed minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. February 20, 1849, he was married to Cordelia Goudy, of Dalton, Ohio, who bore him four children, viz.: Clara, who married W. R.
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McClellan, and now living in Urbana, Ohio; John, who married Isabella, daughter of Jacob Hess, living in Reedsburgh, Wayne County; Ida, who married George W. Obenour, of Plain Township, Wayne. County, and Flora, who died when three years of age. The mother of this family died in 1865, and in February, 1884, Mr. Martin married Julia Fornshell, of Wooster, Ohio.
JAMES F. BRITON, son of Robert and Margaret (Finley) Briton, both natives of Ireland, former from near Londonderry, was born on " Deer Lick Farm," in Congress Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, November 7, 1826. Robert Briton immigrated to America in 1824, located in Congress Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, and leased a farm on Section 9. He died February 14, 1827, and his widow then returned to her father's family, also residents of Congress Township, where she died March 2, 1874, at the age of seventy-four years.
James F., their son, received a common-school education, and at the early age of sixteen commenced school teaching, which profession he followed successfully for some time. In 1850 he made an overland journey to California, taking ninety-five days to reach Sacramento, arriving there July 24, that year. Locating in Campo Seco, Township No. 4, in Calaveras County, Cal., he remained there nine years, engaged in mining. Here he was elected a justice of the peace, and was foreign tax collector, and afterward he served as deputy sheriff. From California Mr. Briton moved, in 1859, to Chili, South America, where he was engaged in railroad building, remaining for a period of fifteen years. Then, after an absence of twenty-four years, in which he met with varied success, he returned to his old home in Wayne County.
Mr. Briton was united in marriage in 1874 with Miss Asenath Stanley, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Stanley, who were among the early pioneer settlers of Wayne County. Our subject and wife have two sons, Ernest A. and Charles G., and are comfortably surrounded with all home comforts in their residence at Deer Lick Farm. It may be mentioned that upon the breaking out of the war between Peru and Bolivia against Chili he returned to his old home in the latter country. This was in 1879. His sympathies were very naturally with the Chilian people and government. He remained there three years. During a term of thirteen months he was a successful manager of " The Guano Loading Com-
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pany," of P. A. McKellar & Co., of Valparaiso, Chili. This was on the coast of Peru. Mr. McKellar frequently acts as American consul, and is a gentleman of wealth and character. Politically he is a Republican.
NICHOLAS RUEGSEGGER was born in Switzerland, May 16, 1834, son of Nicholas Ruegsegger, who was born in 1785, at Rothenbach, Canton Bern, Switzerland, and married
Elizabeth Forni, who died in 1831, leaving the following-named children: John, in Stark County, Ohio; Christian ; Samuel, in Stark County; Frederick ; Ulrich, in Paint Township; Annie; Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Olmstead, of Tuscarawas County, Ohio; Barbara, widow of Jacob
Olmstead, of Tuscarawas County, Ohio; Susanna, wife of Christian Blasser, of Paint Township; Magdalene, and Margaret, wife of Joseph Krespach, of Paint Township. Christian, Frederick, Annie and Magdalene are now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Ruegsegger married Barbara Berger, by whom he had the following-named children : Nicholas, in Paint Township; Mary, deceased, and Rosana, wife of Alex. Meyers, of Isabella County, Mich. In 1835 the father,
with his large family of wife and twelve children, eleven by first marriage and one by second, immigrated to America, locating first in Stark County, Ohio, for six months; then settling in Paint Township, Wayne County. They were prominent members of the German Reformed Church. The father died in 1860, and the mother in 1870.
Nicholas Ruegsegger,whose name heads this sketch, came to Wayne County with his parents when a mere child, and was reared on the homestead, attending the township schools. He has always remained on the homestead, and followed farming. In 1861 he married Miss Lena, daughter of Samuel Graber, of Paint Township, Wayne County, and they have six children, as follows: Lucy Ann, wife of John J. Wefler, of Stark County, Ohio; Aaron W.; Clara R.; Ida L. ; Elma L. and Cleveland Wilson. Nicholas Ruegsegger is a prominent Democrat, and has held the offices of trustee, supervisor, clerk of the school board, etc. He is an elder in and trustee of the German Reformed Church, and one of the building committee of the new church at Mt. Eaton.
Ulrich Ruegsegger, his brother, was born in Switzerland, June 19, 1828. In 1857 he married Catherine, daughter of Jacob Intermill, of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and they have seven children living:
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Frank, a telegraph operator at Dalton ; Albert, in Colorado; Charles; Daniel; Mary, wife of Frederick Frederick, of Stark County, Ohio; Callie and Ella. Mr. Ruegsegger is an elder in the German Reformed Church.
DR. G. W. LITTELL is a son of William and Cynthia (Smith) Littell, of Beaver County, Penn., where he was born August 19, 1840. He came to Wayne County in 1857, and located at Jackson. Our subject was educated at the township schools of his native place and the Canaan Academy in Wayne County. He read medicine with Dr. J. H. Ruggles, of Creston, and graduated from the medical department of Wooster University in 1874. The Doctor practiced his profession at Creston about two years, and then established a drug store, which he conducted until 1886, and then for a time he was engaged in farming; he is now in the furniture and undertaking business.
In 1868 he married Mattie E., daughter of Robert and Mary Lusk, of Canaan Township, and they have two children, as follows: Miss Eva E., attending Wooster University, and Robert Willis, at home. In 1861 Dr. Littell enlisted in Company K, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served as fife-major until 1864. He wag postmaster at Creston from 1880 until 1885. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church and leader of the choir. He is a member of Arthur Strong Post, No. 170, G. A. R.
JAMES H. SEIBERLING was born in Norton Township, Summit Co., Ohio, November 25, 1835, and is a son of Nathan and Catherine (Peter) Seiberling, natives of Lehigh County, Penn., and pioneers of Norton Township; Summit Co., Ohio, where the father, with the assistance of his sons, cleared and improved a farm, on which he still resides. Their family consisted of thirteen children (eleven of whom grew to maturity) : Kittie A. (Mrs. Paul Wall), John F., James H. (our subject), Sarah (Mrs. Jacob Harter), Monroe, Mary (Mrs. Jonas Beavy), Eliza (Mrs. Sherman Baughman), Franklin, Charles, Septimus, Columbus, Milton and Gustavus. Subject's paternal grandfather was John F. Seiberling, a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, whose grandfather was one of the early pioneers of Pennsylvania.
James H. Seiberling, the subject of this memoir, was reared in his native town-
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ship and county in Ohio, and assisted his father in clearing up the homestead, carrying on the farm and operating a sawmill, and became himself operator of the mill, which he successfully conducted for five years. In the fall of 1863 he located in Doylestown, Wayne Co., Ohio, and was one of the hands in the shops of Cline, Seiberling & Co., two years. In 1865 he purchased an interest in the business, which was established by the above firm in 1860, and which, since 1865, has been carried on under the name of Seiberling, Miller & Co., Mr. Seiberling assuming the superintending of the works. The firm makes a specialty of reapers, mowers and binders, and their establishment is the leading manufacturing industry in Wayne County, and a valuable acquisition to the business interests of Doylestown, to which the town is largely indebted for its present prosperity.
In 1860 Mr. Seiberling married Elizabeth, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Blocher) Baughman, of Norton, Ohio, and by her had six children, as follows: Allen B. (deceased), Mattie J., Albert F., Olive M. (deceased), Robert W., and George W. (deceased). Mr. Seiberling is one of the most prominent and enterprising citizens of Doylestown, and has always taken an active part in public affairs which tend to promote the welfare of the town. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order. Politi cally he has always been an ardent Republican. He is an active member of the Lutheran Church.
ABRAM HUFFMAN HUNT, M. D., one of the well-known and prosperous physicians of Wooster, Ohio, was born in Flemington, N. J., December 8, 1838, of English and Dutch extraction. He is a son of Amos V. and Susan Hunt, former of whom died July 31, 1884, latter October 12, 1881. Obediah aunt, the maternal great-grandfather of our subject, was a commissary
in the War of the Revolution; the maternal grandmother died in New Jersey, at the age of one hundred and one years.
The subject of this biographical memoir was educated at the high school of his native town, and studied medicine in the office of Dr. T. H. Baker, of Wooster, Ohio, at the University of Buffalo and at Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y., graduating in 1862. He first located at Wooster, Ohio, where, in 1863, he entered the service of the United States Army, having been commissioned assistant surgeon of the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. At Mount Sterling,
Ky., June 8, 1864, the Doctor was taken prisoner by John Morgan, but released
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the following day. He was with Stoneman and Burbridge in the East Tennessee and West Virginia raids; was present at the attack on Saltville, W. Va., and volunteered to remain with the wounded; was taken prisoner and taken to Libby prison. The doctor was honorably discharged from the army March 28, 1865, and transferred by special order of the War Department of date March 20, 1865, to the United States Navy, as acting assistant surgeon; then was ordered to the United States steamer " Mound City " under Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, of the Mississippi squadron. Resigning August 18, 1865, he received his discharge from the navy in August, 1865. He then located at Fort Wayne, Ind., and entered into partnership with Dr. Woodworth in the practice of medicine. In 1866 he removed to Blachleyville, Wayne Co., Ohio. 1874 he renewed his partnership with Dr. Woodworth, of Fort Wayne, where he resided two years. In the organization of the Fort Wayne Medical College the Doctor was appointed adjunct professor of the theory and practice of medicine. After spending one winter in Tampa, Fla., he returned to Wayne County, Ohio, locating in Shreve in 1877, and finally in Wooster in 1879.
In 1866 Dr. Hunt married Abigail, daughter of Dr. Blachley, of Wayne County, and two children have come to bless their union, named, respectively, Anna E. and Ethel, both at present at home. The pleasant home of this highly respected family was purchased by the Doctor on his finally settling in Wooster in 1879. He is a member of the K. of H., R. A., G. A. R. and K. O. T. M. Politically the doctor is a Republican. He is a member of the Disciples Church.
HARRY McCLARREN. Prominent among the highly esteemed citizens of Wayne County is Mr. Harry McClarren, who in his social and public life has proven himself in all respects worthy of the good name he bears. He was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., in the year 1840, and his early life was one common to boys brought up on the farm, his .education being obtained at the common schools of those early days. He is a son of James and Jane (Curry) McClarren, former of whom died in Wooster, Ohio, in 1883, at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. He had made Wooster his home since 1855; his widow, now in her eightieth year, is calmly awaiting the final summons to the great reunion.
At seventeen years of age the subject of this memoir left home and became
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a clerk in a grocery store in Wooster, Ohio, thus continuing for three years, and then went to Pittsburgh, Penn., where he completed a business course at the Iron City Business College, receiving his diploma in 1860. He then returned to Wooster and engaged for a time in the hardware trade with R. R. Donnelly. April 17, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, a company known as " Col. Bayley's Company," and went at once to the front, in time to participate in one of the first battles of the war, at Phillippi, W. Va. On the 8th of August, 1861, his term of enlistment having expired, he was discharged and returned to Wooster. October 5, the same year, he re-enlisted in Company H, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed second sergeant. He served his country until his discharge, October 31, 1864. At Chickasaw Bayou he was wounded by a piece of shell above the knee, and he passed through the Vicksburg campaign, participating in the retreat from Cumberland Gap. Returning to Wooster, he engaged in the grocery trade, in which he has since continued, having built up a large and prosperous wholesale and retail trade. Politically Mr. McClarren has always been a stanch Republican, and a man of such extensive popularity that he has been repeatedly chosen to various positions in a county whose plurality has always been Democratic. In 1883 he was elected county treasurer, and, having filled the office with satisfaction to all, he was reelected to the position in 1885, serving until September 1, 1888.
On August 12, 1868, he was married to Miss Sarah J. Funk, daughter of Samuel Funk, and born in Chester Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. She is a lady highly esteemed, a prominent member of the Ladies' Relief Corps and the Baptist Church. To our subject and wife have been born seven children, all of whom still surround the hearth-stone at home. Mr. McClarren is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the G. A. R., Knights of Honor and Improved Order of Red Men.
DR. DAVID HAWK was born in East Union Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, July 28, 1845, and is a son of Michael and Sarah (Bechtel, nee Rhodes) Hawk, the latter of whom was the widow of Jacob Bechtel. His father, who was a native of Cumberland County, Penn., became one of the earliest settlers of Wooster, Ohio. Afterward he purchased a farm in East Union Township, Wayne County, where he lived for many years, and finally he moved to Smithville,
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Wayne County, where he died in 1876; his wife, the mother of David, and who was also a native of Cumberland County, Penn., died in 1847. For his second wife Mr. Hawk married Martha,widow of Henry Baughman, of Smithville, Ohio, who died about 1856. By his first wife Michael Hawk had children as follows: David and Lovina, wife of William Chaffin, of East Union Township, Wayne County ; and by his second marriage one child, Harriet, wife of Joseph C. Walter, of Alpine, Morrow Co., Oreg. Michael Hawk was a member of what was known as the River Brethren Church.
David Hawk, whose name heads this sketch, was reared on the farm, and attended the district schools. He lived in Fredericksburgh, Wayne County, for several years, where he learned the milling business. In 1867 he moved into Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, where he has since resided. He was always known as one of the leading horsemen, and, deciding to qualify himself for a veterinary surgeon, he studied, in 1882 —83, in the Ontario Veterinary College, at Toronto, Canada, and has since practiced that profession successfully in Sugar Creek Township. In 1865 our subject was united in marriage with Miss Harriet, daughter of Nathaniel Harbaugh, of Wooster Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, and by her has three children : Charles F. in Cleveland, Ohio, married to Annie, daughter of C. R. Beckley, of Orrville, Ohio, and Willian W. and Laura 0. at home. Dr. Hawk served through the late war in Company C, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He is an adherent of the Democratic party, and is now serving as school director of West Moscow, Sugar Creek Township. He is a member of Wayne Post, No. 296, G. A. R. of Orrville, Ohio, and is now serving his post as surgeon.
SYLVESTER F. SCOVEL, president of the University of Wooster, Ohio, was born in Harrison County, Ohio, December 29, 1835. Sylvester Scovel, his father, was born of pious parents, in the State of Connecticut, March 3, 1796, and at the age of thirteen was converted. In 1812 he went to Albany, N. Y. where for twelve months he was employed by a merchant. In 1818 he entered Williams College, Mass. where he graduated in 1822. After a theological course in Princeton he was pastor at Woodbury, N. J. In 1829 he married Miss Hannah C. Matlack, daughter of James Matlack, and removed to Ohio. From 1836 he was general agent of domestic missions. In
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1846 he became president of Hanover College, Indiana. He died July 4, 1849.
Sylvester F. Scovel, the subject of this memoir, graduated from Hanover (Ind. ) College in the class of 1853, and from the New Albany Theological Seminary in 1857. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Albany, and ordained by the same Presbytery October 28, 1857. From the latter year until December, 1860, he served as pastor of the Jeffersonville (Ind.) Church, and from 1860 until January, 1866, at Springfield, Ohio. In 1866 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Penn., where he remained until October 1, 1883, when, having accepted in August of that year the presidency of the University of Wooster, he resigned and came to Wooster, where he is now residing. Not only does Mr. Scovel stand high as a teacher and a lecturer, but as a preacher he is eloquent, earnest and convincing, and has been the means of bringing many to a change of heart. He is a public-spirited and useful citizen, interested in every worthy movement for the good or advancement of his county. He taught the junior Hebrew class in the Western Theological Seminary, two years; was a member of the Presbyterian General Council which met in Philadelphia in 1880, and read a paper on "Presbyterianism in Relation to Civil and Religious Liberty." In October, 1857, Mr. Scovel married Miss Caroline Woodruff.
Mrs. Caroline (Woodruff) Scovel, wife of Sylvester F. Scovel, was born February 10, 1837, in New Albany, Ind., of parents descended from Revolutionary antecedents. Having finished the course of a well-appointed female seminary, under the care of Mr. John B. Anderson, now of Manhattan, Kas., she was married to Mr. Scovel on the 6th of October, 1857. The eldest of their five children, Minor Scovel, married to Miss Ida Sevier Payne, is a civil engineer at Nashville; the 'second, Charles W., married to Miss Sarah Butler, is a lawyer at Pittsburgh, Penn. ; the third, Amelia, is the wife of Mr. Walter J. Mullins, of Wooster, Ohio; the two remaining, Henry S. and Elizabeth Denny, are in the course of education. Mrs. Scovel has been active in temperance and mission work, as well as faithful to the duties incident to the work to which her husband has been called.
JACOB HESS was born in Smithville, Wayne Co., Ohio, September 23, 1832, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Hutcheson) Hess, former of whom was born August 2, 1802, in Fayette County, Penn. They were married March 9, 1826,
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and were blessed with one son, Jacob, our subject, and three daughters, viz. : Rebecca, born September 23, 1827; Margaret, born October 9, 1829, and Mary, born September 23, 1832, she being a twin of Jacob, all now living. The father of this family moved to Wayne County, Ohio, about 1825, locating one mile east of Smithville, in Greene Township, where he carried on blacksmithing and farming for the remainder of his life. He died May 13, 1866, and is buried at Smithville. Of his family, Rebecca married, in 1845, Levi Brenizer, of Smithville, Ohio, where they settled, and he carries on a cabinet making business.
Jacob (the subject proper of this sketch) was married February 11, 1855, to Eliza. A. Smyser, of Reedsburgh, Ohio, and they have had two sons and two daughters, viz. : Vinton, born January 31, 1857, and died in the second year of his age; John, born July 30, 1859, married to Mary E. Kahl February 1, 1883 (she died December 16, 1883; he, May 13, 1885) ; Isabella married John Martin, and died May 6, 1889, leaving two children, Clark and Jay, aged six and three years; Mary Jane, who was born January 28, 1861, was married February 24, 1881, to Treadwell Rouch, of Plain Township, where they reside (they have no children). Mr. Hess has for the greater part of his life followed agricultural pursuits, and has always lived in Wayne County. He was elected in the fall of 1857, on the Democratic ticket, by a majority of 511, to the office of county commissioner, which position he is now filling for a term . of three years. He and his family are consistent members of the Lutheran Church at Reedsburgh, Ohio.
JACOB LEATHERMAN, the eldest son of Peter and Elizabeth Leatherman, was born in Washington County, Penn., July 17, 1820. His father immigrated to Ohio April 20, 1828, and located eight miles east of New Philadelphia, in Tuscarawas County, where he entered Government land at Congress price; he also entered a quarter section of land in Congress Township, Wayne County, in 1814 or 1815. Peter Leatherman became the owner of and improved several fine farms in Tuscarawas County. Here he reared and educated a large family, having had fourteen children, of whom ten grew to manhood and womanhood. He died at an advanced age, respected and loved by all who knew him. Elizabeth, mother of Jacob Leatherman, died in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in about her fifty-third year. Jacob Leatherman became a citizen of Congress Township,
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Wayne County, March 26, 1842, and located on the southwest quarter of Section 35, which land was entered by his father many years before. Here he lived and struggled along for sixteen years, undergoing many hardships and privations; but by dint of hard labor and-unceasing efforts he succeeded in making and improving an excellent farm and home.
On January 14, 1841, Mr. Leatherman was united in marriage with Miss Urith Sherrod, the daughter of Richard Sherrod, who was one of the earliest pioneers of Carroll County, Ohio, and died many years ago. Mr. Leatherman left his home farm and went to Congress Village, where he embarked in mercantile business, which he carried on for about six years, when he located in West Salem, Wayne County, and continued in trade until 1870, in which year he sold out and engaged in the banking business. Since coming to West Salem Mr. Leatherman has at all times been strictly identified with the business, educational and social interests of the town, being chiefly instrumental in securing the erection of the elegant and commodious graded school building, which offers a splendid opportunity to all, rich or poor, high or low, in obtaining a practical education with which to commence the battle of life. He is still actively engaged in the banking business and management of his farm. Having no children to succeed him, he feels the necessity of personal supervision of his varied business interests.
That Mr. Leatherman is an honorable, successful and progressive citizen all are free to admit, as his works and efforts prove. He has filled various and numerous positions of trust in both township and village with credit to himself and satisfaction of his constituents. Politically he is a Democrat, and is in favor of local option laws. Mr. Leatherman has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church thirty-five years. He was instrumental in founding a free library, which is under the control of the members of the Methodist Church, and is called the Urith Leatherman Library, in honor of Mrs. Leatherman. He was one of the most liberal contributors toward the building of the beautiful Methodist church in West Salem, and in all matters of interest for his church or the good of the community he is one of the foremost workers.
FLORIAN SCHAFFTER is a son of Abraham L. and Sophia (Sauvain) Schaffter, natives of Switzerland, who immigrated to America in 1858. They first rented a farm in Stark County,
Ohio, remaining there seven years, and
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then purchased a farm in Paint Township, Wayne County, where the father still lives. The mother died. July 23, 1880. The family consisted of six children, as follows: Zelina (deceased) ; Gustavus, in Mount Eaton, Ohio; Florian; Adeline, wife of August Jabas, in Dalton; Paul, in Holmes County, and Albert, at home.
Our subject was born in Canton Bern, Switzerland, October 16, 1839, and received his education in that country. After coming to America he learned the wagon-maker's trade, which he has since followed, having conducted the business at Mount Eaton, Ohio, from 1865 to 1880, when he purchased his present farm of eighty-five acres in Paint Township, Wayne County. April 23, 1866, Mr. Schaffter married Miss Lena, daughter of Abraham Guerne, of Paint Township, and they have five children: Edward (a veterinary surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio), Eugene, Ally, Willie and Lenora. Mr. Schaffter is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and has filled the offices of assessor, supervisor and constable of Paint Township. He is a prominent member of the German Reformed Church of Mount Eaton, and has been a deacon, trustee and secretary of the same. At the present time he is one of a committee appointed to take charge of matters connected with the erection of the new church.
JOHN W. FRICK. In recording the names of the prominent citizens of Wayne County our list would be incomplete were the name of John W. Frick omitted. Although not an early settler of the county, in the few years of his residence his interest in all that pertained to the welfare of the community, and his public-spirited and self-denying support of all enterprises of material or social benefit, made him well known, and gained for him many friends, who honored him for his many noble characteristics, and his benevolence endeared him to the hearts of those needing and deserving his succor.
Mr. Frick was born in Adamsburg, Westmoreland Co. Penn., February 23, 1822, a son of Daniel Frick, well known in the early days of Westmoreland County. He was married October 8, 1847, to Elizabeth Overholt, daughter of Abraham and Maria (Stauffer) Overholt. To them were born six children, three sons and three daughters: Maria, now Mrs. J. S. Overholt; Henry Clay, of Pittsburgh, Penn. ; Anna, now Mrs. Braddock; Aaron; J. Edgar, a farmer, and Sallie 0. John W. Frick was ' a miller in his early life, and in later years was a farmer, following that business in Pennsylvania. In 1880 he came to Wayne County, and bought 165 acres of land, which he afterward sold, and bought 211 acres of land, which he
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rented, and moved on six acres of land in Bloomington, a suburb of Wooster, which is now the family homestead. He began life poor, but by energy and industry accumulated a good property, and retired from active labor, giving up the work of his farm to his sons. Mr. Frick died August 31, 1888, having many friends to mourn his loss, and to sympathize with the bereaved widow and children. In politics Mr. Frick was a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He was a member of the Lutheran Church, his widow and children being adherents of the same denomination.
CHAS. B. DICKEY is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Akin) Dickey, settlers in Holmes County, Ohio, where our subject was born February 13, 1847. The parents died when Charles B. was but two pars of age, and he was reared by a Mr. Armstrong, a farmer of that county, with whom he lived until he was twenty- two years of age. In 1872 he engaged in business at Fredericksburgh and continued for three years. He owned and operated a portable saw-mill for some years, and in 1878 came to Apple Creek, Wayne County. In 1880 he purchased his present saw and planing mill, and has since added a lumber yard. In 1887 he leased the gristmill, which he operated until 1888, when he and two partners purchased the same, and it is now operated under the firm name of C. B. Dickey & Co. It has the full roller process, and a capacity of from seventy-five to one hundred barrels per day.
On October 19, 1871, Mr. Dickey married Miss Lettie McCartney, of Holmes County, Ohio, and they have three children: Clyde, Irene and Linas Clare. Mr. Dickey is a prominent Democrat, and has always taken an active part in the affairs of his township. He held the offices of trustee and treasurer for two years each, and various village offices.
DAVID WEBNER (deceased) long a respected citizen of Wayne County, Ohio, was a native of Dauphin County, Penn., but was reared in the adjoining county of Cumberland. His father, Peter Webner, came with his brother John from Germany when they were both young men. Peter remained in Dauphin County, Penn. but John went farther west, and was never again heard of. So far as known, Peter was the ancestor of all the Webner's now in the United States, but few of the name being
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known here. He was married in Dauphin County to Margaret Waltz, and was the father of fourteen children, of whom David was the youngest but one. The only survivor is Catherine, wife of John Kesses, of Rockville, Conn. The mother died when David was but eight years old, and the father seven years later.
David Webner was born March 13, 1831, and when of a suitable age was apprenticed to a tailor named Reed, in Churchtown, Penn. to learn the trade. He continued to work in that place until 1852, when he immigrated to Ohio, coming direct to Smithville, Wayne County. Here he worked at his trade, for Mr. William Peters and E. H. Gilbert, until his marriage, when he removed to Knox County, Ohio, where he opened a shop, also carrying on a ready-made clothing store. He stayed there but two years, however, preferring Smithville as a place of residence, and he returned, and opened a shop in the latter place, where for many years he worked assiduously at his trade, in fact working at it more or less until his death. .During this time he established the first hack line to the station of the Fort Wayne Railroad. He began by carrying the mail to and from the depot on foot, principally for exercise, and from this grew up the hack line, which he carried on until his death. He was also the first ticket agent of the road at Smithville Station. He died November 16, 1873, the immediate cause of his death being neuralgia of the heart. The first starting point of the disease, which finally caused his death, was a cold caught while hurrying to catch a train with the mail, he having been delayed at the post-office beyond the usual time. This brought on typhoid fever and inflammatory rheumatism, from which he never recovered. During the Civil War Mr. Webner was a member of the Home Guards, and in 1864, though ill at the time, was ordered into camp at Cleveland. His friends, knowing his unfitness for duty, tried to have him excused, but to no purpose. The exposure of camp life aggravated his disease, and he was sent home in charge of a comrade, being unfit to travel alone. Although he lingered for several years, he never recovered his health from that time—but grew steadily worse until the end.
Mr. Webner at fourteen years of age embraced religion, and united with the Church of God, in Cumberland County, Penn. November 19, 1849, and lived a pious, Christian life. He took a great interest in Sabbath-school work, and was active in that cause, and for more than twenty years had been an ardent laborer in that part of his Master's vineyard, most of the time being superintendent. He was much esteemed for his sterling
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integrity of character, and made his worth felt in deeds of kindness, leaving an unfading record of good works, and bequeathing to his children the priceless heritage of a good name. His death was severely felt by his widow and children, who, however, do not mourn as those without hope, knowing the good man, the faithful husband and loving father has but gone before.
On October 23, 1854, David Webner was married, in Cedar Valley, Chester Township, Wayne County, to Miss C. E. Walton, a native of that place, born August 2, 1834. Her parents were Boaz and Mary Ann (Parker) Walton, the former born in Northampton County, Penn., January 1, 1798, and the latter in Jefferson County, Ohio, June 22, 1802, and is now living in the old home in Cedar Valley, and notwithstanding her advanced age is in excellent health and in the possession of all of her faculties. Mr. Walton came with his parents to Ohio when but six years old, and in 1830 he located in Cedar Valley. He and his wife Mary Ann had nine children, three of whom died at birth, and one, Lucinda, who was the wife of Enos Edmonds, died near Winterset, Iowa. The survivors are Susan, unmarried, living with her mother; Henry, in Michigan; Hiram, in Wayne, and Gideon, in Congress Township, in this county, and C. E., widow of David Webner. Mr. and Mrs. Webner were the parents of seven children, two of whom died young. Those now living are Helen, an estimable young lady, teacher in the Smithville school; Gilbert, who carries on a meat-market in Smithville; Ira Day, Rush and David, with their mother.
Mrs. Webner deserves and has received much credit for the manner in which she has reared her family. Left with not a great deal of this world's wealth, by untiring industry, good management, and the assistance of dutiful and affectionate children, she has maintained a comfortable home, and given all the children the advantage of a good education. For six years after her husband's death she carried on the hack line, giving it with all its appurtenances to her eldest son, on his marriage. Her second son is a telegraph operator, an industrious and high-principled young man, and the family is spoken of by all who know them as one of the most highly respected in Smithville.
JOSEPH A. FUNK, merchant. Of those thoroughly reliable business men engaged in the mercantile pursuits of life none in the county have obtained a higher standing for honesty
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and integrity than has the subject of this sketch. His father, Jacob M. Funk, was born in Huntingdon County, Penn., in 1792, of German parentage. When sixteen years of age he moved to Westmoreland County, and there for many years followed his trade of blacksmithing. In 1831 he immigrated to Chester Township, Wayne County, where for a short time he continued to follow his trade, and purchased 220 acres of land. Jacob M. Funk married Mary Bonnett, daughter of Jacob Bonnett, of Westmoreland County, Penn. and seven children were born to them: Isaac B. John B. Margaret, David M. Joseph A. Lewis M. and Mary. The mother of these children dying in Pennsylvania, aged twenty-nine years, Jacob M. next married Mary Kessler, who became the mother of two children, Elizabeth and Annie. Jacob M. Funk commenced life poor, but, by industry and perseverance, at his death was a well-to-do farmer.
Joseph A. Funk was born in Westmoreland County, in 1824, and was about eight years of age when his parents came to Wayne County. His education was obtained in the common schools of Chester Township, working on the farm till sixteen years of age. He taught school one term, and then learned the tailor's trade, and for ten years followed that occupation, residing at this time in Memphis, Tenn. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California, and for eighteen months was engaged in gold mining. He then returned to Wayne County, but again went to California, and remained eighteen months. In 1855 he commenced mercantile business at Lattasburgh, where he has since remained, with the exception of four years. For thirty years he was a notary public, receiving his first commission from Gov. Chase. He was township treasurer, and also held other township offices and positions of trust. Mr. Funk was married in 1855 to Margaret Zimmerman, daughter of Henry Zimmerman, of Chester Township, and they have two children, Frances M. and Clara, both married. Mr. Funk is a Republican.
JOASH YODER. About the year 1720 Barbara Yoder, widow, whose husband died at sea on his way from Switzerland to this country, arrived at Philadelphia, Penn. hers being one of the first Amish Mennonite families coming to Pennsylvania from the old country, and located somewhere in the eastern part of the State, either in Lancaster or Berks County. She was the mother of eight
sons and one daughter. Her daughter was married to Christian Byler. Seven of her sons were married and had fami-
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lies. One of her sons, Christian, had eleven children, namely: Jacob, Anna, Christian, John, Fannie, Elizabeth, Barbara, Henry, Yost, Joseph and David.
The latter was the grandfather of Joash Yoder, our subject. His first wife was Jacobin Esh, who also came from Switzerland, a maiden, and arrived at Philadelphia about 1780, after a long and perilous passage, being on the ocean over six weeks. She was a good woman, and did not live to a great age. She became the mother of three sons and five daughters, as follows: Daniel, born (it is thought) in the latter part of 1791; Rebecca, born October 18, 1793, and was married to Jacob Zook; Jonathan, born September 2, 1795, in Berks County, Penn. and was married to Magdalena Wagner, whose father, Zacharias Wagner, was brought to this country from Hessen (or Hesse), Germany, during the Revolutionary War (he died at a ripe age, in Berks County, Penn.) ; Joseph, born September 13, 1797, and married to Catherine Lantz, of Mifflin County, Penn. where he lived many years and taught English and German schools (about 1838 he removed with his family to Juniata County, Penn. and about 1846 he immigrated to McLean County, Ill., where he went to farming; he died there in February, 1888) ; Magdalena was born April 23, 1799, and was married to John Lantz, lived in Mifflin County, Penn. and died there about 1832; Fanny, born April 11, 1802, was married to Joel Yoder of Centre County, Penn. ; Maria was born April 11, 1804, and was married to John Yoder, of Centre County, Penn. ; Leah was born December 8, 1806, and was married to Yost Yoder, of Centre County, Penn. about 1832 (she and her family removed to Juniata County, Penn. about 1849, and from there to McLean County, Ill., but more recently to Kansas, where she and her husband now live). David Yoder (grandfather of Joash Yoder), with his family, removed from Berks County to Mifflin County, Penn. about 1811, and there he bought a large farm. He there met with reverses, his wife died and he became financially involved. His land title not being good, he lost his farm, and died about 1820, insolvent.
Jonathan Yoder, father of Joash, was a man of great physical strength and more than ordinary intelligence. Although he received only a few months' schooling, he was able to read and write both English and German, and, without having studied any of the rules of the arithmetic taught in the subscription schools of those days, he could solve madly of the most difficult questions found in the books. He was of generous and peaceful disposition, yet firm in what he considered right. His kind and jovial disposition made him beloved by all with whom he became acquainted.
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When about thirty years old he was called to the ministry of the Amish Mennonite Church, to which he belonged, and in this capacity he served the church until the end of his life, with considerable ability and without salary or compensation. He reared a large family (eleven children) with the labor of his hands, when wages for ordinary laborers was only 50 cents a day. Yet by industry and the prudent and economical management of his wife they lived comfortably, and became possessors of a small home, four miles west of Lewistown, Mifflin Co. Penn. Awhile after he was married he learned the carpenter's trade, and to some extent followed the business of framing barns. About the year 1828, when Joash was ten years of age, his father removed to Half-Moon Township, Centre Co. Penn. and there bought 100 acres of land, a little south of a village called Stormstown, where he lived eight years. Then he removed to Tuscarora Township, Juniata County. Two children died while he lived in Centre County, and nine were married and reared children. They were born as follows: Leah, March 28, 1818; Joash, December 23, 1819; Elias, October 16, 1821; Elizabeth, January 5, 1825; Sarah, December 7, 1826; Amos, December 17, 1828; Jonathan, September 21, 1830; Magdalena, July 13, 1832 (the two last named died in Centre County) ; Asa, January 24, 1835; Catherine, September 10, 1836; Annie, February 7, 1840.
Soon after the last child was born, the oldest of the children began to marry, and the family became gradually larger. About 1846 Elias, the third born, removed to McLean County, Ill., near Bloomington, the county seat of McLean County, now a thriving city and railroad center; had then only a few houses and no railroad at all. Soon after some other members of the family moved to McLean County, and about 1850 Jonathan and his wife followed, taking the remainder of the family with them. There these parents lived until their deaths, and are buried in a cemetery on a farm belonging to Simon Lantz, about two miles east of Carlock Station, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad.
As before stated, Magdalena Yoder was the daughter of Zacharias Wagner, who came from Hesse, Germany, and located in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. She was born in 1798. When yet quite small she was bound to Christian Schmucker, of Lancaster County, Penn. When she was about fourteen years of age Mr. Schmucker removed to Mifflin County, Penn. and took her with him. She served with him until she was eighteen years of age. She, too, became a member of the Amish Mennonite Church, and lived and died in the faith of that communion. She was a kind and benevolent
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woman, and her chief aim was to rear her children in the love and fear of God. She was very industrious and frugal, and a good helpmate to her husband, and always managed to make things in and around the house look neat and comfortable. She spun all the cloth the family wore, from shirts to overcoats, and made nearly all the clothes with her own hands. Sewing machines were not then in use, but the children were always clean and well dressed. She was a mother in the true sense of the word.
Joash Yoder was born December 23, 1819, in Derry Township, Mifflin Co. Penn. and remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, and assisted them in their struggle to rear their family. He did all kinds of work on the farm. Farming then was quite different from what it now is. There were then no machines to mow the grass or cut the wheat or to do the threshing. Grass was mowed with a scythe, and wheat, rye and oats were cut with a sickle or cradle, and grain threshed with a flail or tramped off the straw with horses. So Mr. Yoder was kept busy summer and winter, and found but little time, after he was big enough to be of any service at home, to attend school in the log schoolhouses, which in those localities were few and far between. But, as he was industrious at school and studied hard when out of school, he managed to learn to read and write both English and German, and acquainted himself with some of the higher branches, which he mostly learned without a teacher. When nineteen years of age he commenced teaching school in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer; this he followed for nine or ten years.
In 1841 he was married to Barbara Kaufman, an estimable lady, the daughter of Christian Kaufman, of Bratton Township, Mifflin Co., Penn. He then left Juniata County and lived in a small log house, 14x15 feet, belonging to his father-in-law, and supported his family as best he could, by doing all kinds of work he could find, much of it being wood-chopping and clearing land, for which he generally received 50 cents a day. By this marriage he had one son, Eli L. Yoder, who now lives in Nebraska and has a family of seven children. Mrs. Yoder died October 12, 1851. In the fall of 1853 Mr. Yoder went to McLean County, Ill. where his family relatives all lived. On his way home1 he stopped in Wayne County, Ohio, and on the 17th day of November, 1853. he was joined in marriage with a widow, Catherine Zook, daughter of Christian Schmucker. She had three sons, the oldest being about thirteen years of age. Of this marriage there were born one daughter, Veronica,
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and one son, Amos; the latter died when he was four years old. The daughter was married to M. P. Yoder, and is living on the homestead farm. Catherine Yoder, when married to Mr. Yoder, was living on the farm where she and Mr. Yoder DOW reside. The farm belonged to her three boys, she having a dower in it considered worth $1,000.
After renting the farm for a few years from the guardian of the boys, Mr. Yoder sold a little property in Mifflin County, Penn. which he had gained mostly by days' work at 50 cents a day, for $1,100, and with that sum as hand money he bought from the heirs' guardian the farm on which they yet live. He gave his attention to farming, in which he has so far been successful, his wife being industrious and economical, and doing her part in paying for the farm. They are now growing old, but can still, with ordinary health, enjoy the sweets of life. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are highly respected by all who know them.
FRED RIES was born in Saarbruck, Prussia, November 22, 1838, and is a son of Martin and Mary (Cline) Ries, who came to America in 1847, and settled in Chippewa Township, Wayne
Co. Ohio, where the father worked as a coal miner for twelve years. In 1859 he purchased thirty-three acres of land in Chippewa Township, on which coal was found, and which was developed by the Silver Creek Mining Company, for whom he was the superintendent five years. He then removed to Knoxville, Tenn. where a company was formed for mining coal, for which he acted as superintendent three years. He then returned to Chippewa Township, Wayne County, rementired from business, and he now resides in Doylestown. His family consisted of eight children, viz.: Christopher, a hotel keeper in Clinton, Ohio; Fred, our subject; Hettie, now Mrs. Peter Cline; William N., a farmer of Chippewa Township, Wayne County ; Henry, a coal miner in Medina County, Ohio; Martin (deceased) ; George, a miner boss in Chippewa Township, and Minnie, now Mrs. Welman Cline.
Of these, Fred, whose name heads this memoir, was reared in Chippewa Township, Wayne County, from nine years of age, receiving a common-school education, and began life as a coal miner, which occupation he followed for twenty years. He was then appointed inside boss of the mines of the Wadsworth Coal Company, acting in that capacity for eight years, when he was appointed superintendent of the mines, a position
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he held until the mines were exhausted. In 1880 the Excelsior Coal Company was formed, of which Mr. Ries was a stockholder, and he has been its efficient superintendent since its organization.
Our subject married, December 5, 1861, Barbara Diehl, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, by whom he had four children: William P. superintendent of a coal mine at New Comerstown, Tuscarawas Co., Ohio; Henry C. book-keeper for the Excelsior Coal Company; Elma, wife of J. W. Merkt, and Freddie, deceased. Mr. Ries is one of the substantial citizens of Doylestown, of which he has been a resident since 1879. He is an attendant of the Lutheran Church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Odd Fellows order, Knights of Pythias and Royal Arcanum. In politics he is a Democrat.
RUSSELL E. KERR was born November 30, 1838, in Wayne County, Ohio, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Russell) Kerr, of Lancaster County, Penn. who came to Wayne County in 1833, and located in Canaan Township. They were prominent members of the Seceder Church of Wooster. The mother died in 1864, and the father in 1869. They reared two sons, Cyrus, a resident of Chester County, Penn. and Russell E. The subject of this biography was reared on a farm, and followed agricultural pursuits until 1884, when he established his present coopering business at Creston, and four other places, where he is largely engaged in the manufacture of flour and apple barrels.
September 12, 1863, Mr. Kerr married Miss Mary J., daughter of Henry Lee, of Medina County, Ohio, and they have three children: Luella, wife of Charles Steele, of Medina County, Ohio ; Eddie K. of Lodi, Ohio, and Vinnie May, at home. Mr. Kerr is one of the principal stockholders of the Creston Milling Company. Politically he is a Democrat, and a member of the township board. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and one of the valued and enterprising citizens of Wayne County.
JOHN H. KAUKE, one of the oldest and best known natives of Wayne County, was born in Wooster Township, December 15, 1817. His father, John Kauke, was a native of Amsterdam, Holland, whence when a boy he emigrated to this country, locating in Pennsylvania, where in course of time he married Mary
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Bennett. Together they came, in about 1814, to Wayne County, Ohio, and here had seven children born to them, of whom five are still living, all of them residing in Wayne County. Both parents died many years ago.
Their son, John H. of whom this memoir treats, received his education in the old school-house of the period, and served a two-years' apprenticeship to the ancient trade of brick-making, from the age of seven to nine years, following which he tried his hand at the printer's trade for a short time. From nine to eleven, in connection with his brother Henry (now deceased), he ran an ox team or cart, and worked by the day as they could get it, receiving 25 cents or a bushel of corn for a day's work; cut and ranked. cord-wood, at 25 cents per cord, on the grounds now occupied and used by the county fair. At the age of eleven he struck a job with John Walters, assisting Mrs. Walters in the manufacture of her famous hop beer, gingerbread and pies, which were dealt to the natives by Mr. Walters in a small frame building on the southeast corner of the public square, after which Mr. Walters opened a tavern in a frame building then standing on the lot now owned by John Zimmerman, on which he erected the three-story block now occupied by him. The tavern was known by the name of Swan, Mr. Walters having hung out that bird for a sign. Mr. Kauke remained with him during his twelfth year. While in the employ of Mr. Walters it was the custom of Mrs. Walters to attend public sales in the country and camp-meetings, keeping a boarding table, Mr. Kauke being principal help. At the age of thirteen he was employed by James Jacobs, who kept a general store, as a boy or hand good for all work. At the age of fifteen he had general oversight of the work in the store ; at the age of seventeen took charge of and kept the books; at the age of nineteen was sent to New York to purchase a stock of goods for Mr. Jacobs, and at the age of twenty-one was given an interest in the business, and continued in the general trade until 1843, when they disposed of the dry goods stock, and went exclusively in the general hardware trade. In 1848 he bought out his partner, James Jacobs, and continued in the trade until 1865, in the meantime having built the iron block adjoining the court-house on the west.
He was also engaged in banking in connection with his commercial interests, first, from 1854 to 1862, with Sturges, Stibbs & Co. and then with Stibbs, Hanna & Co. to 1876, and Kauke & Frost until 1883, when the bank was closed and settled up. He was also interested with Col. W. K. Boone, in Lima, Ohio, in the
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hardware trade, from 1868 to 1883, and since 1856 he has had a similar business in Van Wert, Ohio. Since its inception Mr. Kauke has been interested in the Gas Works of Wooster; was one of the principal inaugurators of the Wooster Gas Light Company, of which he is and has been for about fifteen years president. He served the city of Wooster faithfully in the council, also as mayor. While a member of the Board of Education he was instrumental in securing the site of the present high school building. He was, one of the largest contributors toward the establishment of Wooster University, and was the first to endow a a professorship (natural science), in the sum of $25,000, that bears his name, and has been one of the trustees of the university since its commencement. Mr. Kauke has been identified with all the enterprises and improvements of Wooster; acted as trustee of the Wooster Cemetery Association for a number of years, being one of the original purchasers of the cemetery grounds.
At the present time he is making a strong effort to complete the north and south railroad, known as the Killbuck Valley, chartered name, Lake Erie, Wooster & Muskingum Valley Railroad Company. The track is graded from Wooster to Burbank, bridges built, and ties on the ground. The company was chartered in 1882. Mr. Kauke is president, and feels confident the cars will run on it inside of twelve months.
In 1841 Mr. Kauke was married to Elizabeth Himmelrich, a native of Union County, Penn. coming to Wooster in her childhood. They have had seven children, three of whom are living, as follows: Cary W. Kauke, Flora E. Clemmens and Emma Jane Jackson. The parents are both members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics Mr. Kauke is a Republican.
A. M. PARRISH, proprietor Archer House, Wooster, Ohio.
JOHN S. CASKEY. This well-known citizen of Wooster, Wayne Co. Ohio, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn. August 27, 1834. His father, Robert Caskey, was likewise a
native of the Keystone State, but was reared in Ohio. When a young man he returned to Pennsylvania, and there grew to maturity. He was a farmer by occupation, and was married to Miss Nancy McClarran. Two children were born of this union, John S. and Samuel, and our
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subject is the sole survivor, the younger brother dying January 12, 1867. In 1852 the father came to Wayne County, Ohio, bringing his family with him, and here he and his wife both died, the latter February 10, 1862, and the former April 13, 1866.
John S. Caskey grew to manhood on the farm, receiving a common-school education. His father being crippled, he had to work at an early age. He lived on the Wayne County farm until 1862, and in August of that year, the Civil War being then in progress, he offered his services to his country, enlisting in Company E, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was at once sent to the front. The first engagement in which he participated was Chickasaw Bluffs, in the rear of Vicksburg, Miss. Hardship and exposure brought on severe illness, but he continued in the ranks until the battle of Arkansas Post, after which he was prostrated by fever, and was sent to the hospital at St. Louis, where he was confined for months. Being partially recovered, he desired to return to the front, but taking a relapse the physician in charge dissuaded him, and receiving an honorable discharge he returned to Wayne County and resumed his labors on the farm. When he came back home he was so ill that he had to be brought on a bed, his young wife faithfully watching over and attending him on his journey.
In 1862, a short time after his enlistment, Mr. Caskey was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Newman, daughter of Dr. William Newman, who died when his daughter was but two years old, and she was reared by her grandparents in Ashland County, Ohio, where her marriage took place. No children have been born of this union. About 1866 our subject removed to Wooster, where for two years lie was engaged in the ice business, then selling out for a short time he followed the mineral water business. Soon after he entered into partnership with his cousin' and present partner, in the grocery and queensware business, purchasing the interest of K. E. Harris, of the firm of K. E. Harris & Co. The firm of McClarren & Caskey is now one of the oldest in the county, and do a large business, their annual retail sales being the largest in the county.
Mr. Caskey has been prominent in public affairs of the city and county, and has held important offices, which always came to him unsought. He is a Democrat in politics, for two terms was township treasurer, and in 1879 was elected to the responsible position of county treasurer, and was re-elected in 1881, discharging the duties of his office in a manner to win hearty encomiums from citizens of every shade of political belief. As a faithful public servant, a just and high-minded
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merchant, and a public-spirited man and citizen, Mr. Caskey stands deservedly high among the people of Wayne County.
SAMUEL CULLY was born February 19, 1840, on the homestead where he at present resides, in
Sugar Creek Township, Wayne Co. Ohio, and is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Moudebaugh) Cully, the former of whom was born in York County, Penn. January 9, 1800. They were married in 1828, and afterward came to Ohio, locating first in East Greenville, Stark County, where they remained but a short time, coming the same year to Wayne County, and settling on the farm now occupied by their son, Samuel. They carved for themselves a home out of the wilderness, and experienced all the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life. Joseph Cully has always been a supporter of the Democratic party, and has held various township offices. He and his wife early connected themselves with the Presbyterian Church of Dalton; she died in 1883 ; he is still living on the old homestead at the ripe age of eighty-eight years. Ten children were born to this couple, one of whom died at the age of twenty-one years; John, the second eldest, settled in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County. and engaged in farming; he died in 1885, The others are yet living, and are as follows: William, in Stark County, Ohio; Elizabeth, widow of R. R. McMillan, in Iowa; Margaret Jane, wife of Luther McDowell, in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County; David, in Missouri; Maria, wife of Finlay McCall, in Iowa; Samuel ; James, in Cleveland, Ohio; and Thomas, in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County. Of these, Samuel, whose name heads this memoir, was married in 1868 to Miss Susan, daughter of Philip Sword, of Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, and to this union have been born four children, as follows: Warren P. Elizabeth E. George A. and Herby J. Mr. and Mrs. Cully are members of the Reformed Church of Stark County. Politically he votes the Democratic ticket. He is one of the successful farmers of Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County. Thomas Cully, the youngest son of Joseph and Margaret (Moudebaugh) Cully, was born March 6, 1844, and was educated in the township schools and Smithville Academy. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Forty- first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and received wounds in the side and hand at the battle of Pickett's Mills, near Atlanta, Ga. being honorably discharged in 1865.
In 1870 he married Miss Dora E. daughter of David Erwin, of Sugar Creek
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Township, Wayne County, and by her has two children, viz.: Mina E. and Maggie N. Mr. Thomas Cully is one of the trustees of the Presbyterian Church, and has served the township as trustee, school director, etc. He supports the principles of the Prohibition party.
ISAAC NEWKIRK, son of Henry Newkirk, , was born June 5, 1821, .in — Clinton Township, and was married to Sarah 0. Gibbon March 27, 1847, and united with the Methodist Church in the winter of 1856. He was suddenly seized with violent illness while attending the grand jury in Wooster, and died December 22, 1870. The following is an extract from an obituary written at his death: " The large concourse which followed his remains to the grave was a beautiful tribute to the might of simple goodness. Riches, rank, fortune, intellect, all have commanded their homage before; but only that rare and beautiful combination of all that is lovely and of good report, which was found in our friend, could have called forth that spontaneous homage from all hearts. Mr. Newkirk was known and loved by all his neighbors for his lofty spirit of honor, spotless integrity, delicacy of conscience, kindness of heart, and promptness of decision. In all the varied relations of Sunday-school superintendent, steward and class-leader, he gave fine satisfaction to the church. During most of his illness he was favored with peace and tranquility; and when coffined and hearsed the uniform testimony borne to his life was, ' He sleeps well.' He was greatly respected and loved by a large and numerous circle of friends, especially by the society at Newkirk's, of which he was a member."
H. M. NEWKIRK was born in 1848 in Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. He is the son of Isaac and Sarah 0. (Gibbon) Newkirk (whose biography appears above), who were the parents of the following-named children: H. M. ; Mary, now Mrs. J. D. Peters, of Carbondale, Ill. ; Ida, now a resident of Wooster, Ohio; Victor, a dealer in real estate in Kansas ; Wade, an attorney in Wooster, Ohio; Thomas, engaged in railroad business in Illinois. Of these, H. M. married, in Wayne County, Ohio, Annie B,, daughter of William Linn, of Wooster, and to them four children were born : Dale, Linn, Helen and Blanche.
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HARVEY R. MESSMORE, of Woos- Iter, ex-sheriff, is one of the best — known and most widely respected citizens of Wayne. County. He was born in German Township, Fayette Co. Penn. September 9, 1820, his parents also being natives of that State. His grandparents came to America prior to the War of the Revolution, in which his paternal grandfather, John Messmore, took part, serving in the Continental army, and passing through the memorable winter at Valley Forge, under Washington.
George Messmore, father of Harvey R. was a farmer, a distiller, and also a miller by trade, owning a mill which he operated with his farm. His wife was Miss Eleanor McWilliams, a daughter of John and Annie (Willson) McWilliams. Of their union four sons and one daughter were born, of whom three sons are now living: John, a resident of Hancock County, Ohio; William, living at Apple Creek, East Union Township, this county, and our subject. In 1846 George Messmore came to Wayne County, purchasing a farm in Franklin Township, and he and his wife thereafter made their home in. Wayne County until their deaths. Mr. Messmore removed to Edinburgh, or Apple Creek, where he started a hotel, And was also for a number of years postmaster at that place. He departed this life April 27, 1877, when he lacked but three days of having completed his eighty-eighth year. His wife also lived to a ripe old age, dying September 27, 1875, aged eighty years, eleven months and nine days. George Messmore was a prominent and highly respected citizen, and had held the position of justice of the peace for many years, first filling that office by appointment of the governor, and on the change of the law was elected to the same position several terms. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and served under Harrison at the famous fight of Tippecanoe. The family has always been noted for patriotism. His father served in the Revolution, and John, now of Findlay, Ohio, served three years during the Rebellion. George Messmore and wife were consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he has always espoused the cause of the Democratic party.
Harvey R. Messmore received a common-school education, and learned his father's trade of miller. At the age of twenty-three, on November 1, 1843, he was married, in his native State, to Miss Jane Beeson, daughter of James and Agnes Beeson, and a native of Pennsylvania. He was twenty-six years old when his parents came to the then new county of Wayne, and he, with his wife and one child, accompanied them. He located first in Franklin Township, but later removed to East Union Township. After a
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time he returned to Moorland, in Franklin, where he began business in a small general country store, with a stock of dry goods, groceries, etc. conducting that business successfully for five years, and then selling to William McFadden. His next location was in Wooster Township, where for five years he ran the old Wooster Mill, which in those days did a large and thriving business. His next work was in operating the McConkey Mill in Shreve, but two years later he went into the Shreve Mills, at the same place, where he remained a year. This brought him to the fall of 1861, when he purchased and removed to the farm, which he still owns, one mile east of the village of Shreve. There he lived until the fall of 1880, when he was elected sheriff of Wayne County, and removed to Wooster, which has since been his home. In 1882 he was re-elected, his term expiring January 5, 1885. Since that time Mr. Messmore has retired from active labor, and in his pleasant home on East Liberty Street, surrounded by his family, and with everything to make life pleasant, he is enjoying the fruits of, a life of industry, crowned by an honest and honorable private and public career. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Messmore was blessed by the birth of six children, four of whom are now living, viz.: James Newton, now engaged in the livery business in Wooster;
Eleanor, Agnes and Martha. Those deceased are Lillie and an unnamed infant.
Our subject is now sixty-eight years of age, but looks many years younger. He enjoys good health, but is just now suffering from the effects of a severe accident which happened to him in February, 1888, by which he suffered the fracture of ten bones. No citizen of the county commands in a higher degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men. He is ever straightforward and honorable, and is known as one having the interests of the city and county at heart, and willing to do his share in forwarding all projects tending to their material or moral advancement. In politics he has always been a stanch Democrat. Socially he is member of Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, A. F. & A. M. and Wooster Lodge, No. 42, I. 0. 0. F.
PETER STAIR, one of the most prominent farmers and pioneers of Wayne County, Ohio, was born in Cumberland County, Penn. in 1819. His father, Jacob Stair, was a native of Lebanon County, Penn. as was also his grandfather, William Stair, and his great- grandfather was a native of Scotland.
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William Stair, the grandfather, married a Miss Bickle, and Jacob, the father of the subject of this sketch, was the only child born to this marriage. The mother died, and William was married a second time. Jacob was reared in his native county, and remained there until his twentieth year, at which time he removed to Cumberland County and resided with an uncle. While in Cumberland County he wooed and married Magdalina Baacher, of that county, a daughter of John Baacher, who with his two sons removed to New York State and there died. To Jacob and wife were born three children, viz.: William, Elizabeth and Jacob. In 1809 the wife died, and then Jacob married Anna Stahl, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Stahl. Nine children blessed this union, Peter being the fourth. In April, 1828, Jacob Stair, his wife and ten children, seven sons and three daughters, immigrated to Wayne County, Ohio, and settled near the present town of Madisonburgh, four miles north of Wooster. In Wayne Township he purchased 320 acres of land, and in Plain Township the same number of acres, and resided in Wayne Township until death called him home, in 1870, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. His second wife died in 1855, aged sixty-six years. This pioneer was well known as a plain, practical, common-sense man, and although he started in life in moderate circumstances, during his business career and by his own efforts he had owned $50,000, and at one time 640 acres of land.
Peter, the fourth child of Jacob by his second wife, spent his early life in Wayne Township. He received a common-school education, and, as his father before him had done, made farming his occupation. He has always been a prominent and zealous citizen, and has held several public offices. As a trustworthy man and citizen he is well known, being one of the trustees of the Children's Home at this time, and an ex-county commissioner. In 1874 the Democratic party nominated and elected this worthy man to the office of county commissioner, and in 1877 he was renominated and re-elected. During his administration in office an addition was 'made to the insane department of the infirmary, and the court-house of Wayne County, at Wooster, was erected, an ornament and honor to the county.
In 1842 he was wedded to Sarah Houser, daughter of Jacob and Catherine Duniger, he being a Pennsylvanian. Two of their children died in infancy. For twenty-six years Mr. Stair has resided at his present home, comprising 229 acres of land, which was formerly divided into two farms. Mr. Stair commenced life's battle with nothing, but by his uprightness of character, honesty, integrity and industry he stands high, and will always be honored in the
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community as an honorable man and an earnest, sincere and zealous citizen.
MILLER FAMILY. This well- known family, who have for many — years been residents of Wayne County, are now represented here by three of the sons of Jacob and Magdalen (Gindlesperger) Miller, viz.: John W., Jacob A. and William W. On both sides the family are of German extraction, the paternal grandparents being Joseph and Elizabeth Miller, both natives of Somerset County, Penn. where they died. The maternal grandparents were Joseph and Magdalena Gindlesperger, the former a native of Germany and the latter born in Pennsylvania. In that State they were married, and later removed to Wayne County, Ohio, settling in Baughman Township, where some of their descendants yet live, their son, Joseph, occupying the home farm there.
Grandfather Miller had been twice married, and the father of the three Millers mentioned as residents of this county was a child of the first wife, who died three days after giving him birth. He was named Jacob, and was born in Somerset County, Penn., April 3, 1814, and died on the homestead, in Greene Township, this county, November 25, 1885, aged seventy- one years, seven months and twenty-two days. He received his education in the district schools of his native county, and was instructed in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church at Pine Hill, near Berlin, Penn. and was there confirmed when twenty years old. From that time until his demise Jacob Miller was a pious and consistent church member. In the fall of 1836, when twenty-two years of age, he immigrated to Wayne County, settling on the farm on Section 20, in Greene Township, which was his home until his death. The farm comprised 160 acres, of which but twenty-five were partially 'cleared. All the rest he reclaimed from the wilderness, enduring much of the hardships and privations of a pioneer life. Long before his death he had it well fenced, provided it with good buildings, and had made it one of the best in the neighborhood.
On September 11, 1834, while a resident of Somerset County, Penn. he was married to Magdalen Gindlesperger, a native of that county, born July 1, 1813. She also died on the home farm, on February 4, 1886, aged seventy-two years, seven months and three days. Mrs. Miller was a member of the German Reformed Church, holding her membership until her death. She and her husband had lived together more than fifty-one years, and on the anniversary of their
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wedding day, preceding the death of Mi Miller, a family reunion was held to cele orate the event, and a large number of the descendants and friends assembled t, do honor to the aged and honored couple But a little more than two months late the good pioneer was called to his fina home, the companion of so many year following him to the other shore a few weeks afterward. In life they had lived in peace and harmony, sharing each others joys and sorrows for more that half a century, and in death they wer but a short time parted. They were faithful and devoted companions, kin( parents, who brought up their children ii the fear of the Lord, and were esteemed by all who knew them. Mr. Miller ha( been a deacon and elder in the Lutheran Church for many years, since the organization of the church at Smithville until his death, which was mourned by a large circle of friends. He and his wife, Magdalen, were the parents of seven sons am three daughters, as follows: Cyrus B. now a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa John W. a farmer of Greene Township in this county; Abraham J. living a Whitten, Hardin Co. Iowa; Joseph C. in Stark County, Ohio; Margaret, wife o Jesse S. Keiffer, of Bryan, Ohio ; Cornelius J. of Wayne Township, this county; Mary E. deceased wife of Dr. J C. Dreyher, then of Smithville; Jacob A. living on the old homestead; Susan, deceased wife of David H. Warfel, then of E Greene Township; and William W. a merchant in Orrville, Wayne County.
John W. Miller, the eldest of the three sons of Jacob Miller residing in Wayne County, was born on the Ohio homestead, January 14, 1838. His life-long occupation has been that of a farmer. On his marriage he removed to a farm owned by his father, one and a half miles from his birthplace, and there lived eleven 3 years.
In the spring of 1874 he settled on his present home, adjoining his father's, also on Section 20, Greene Township, which he bought from the heirs of his wife's father. July 10, 1861, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Weiler, daughter of William and Ann Eliza Weiler, natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in Reading, Berks County, and the mother in Chester County. They came to Ohio about the same time as the parents of Mr. Miller, , locating first in Stark County, with the; parents of Mr. Weiler ; afterward coming to Wayne County, where they bought the farm adjoining that of Jacob Miller. Their parents were Joseph and Rosanna Weiler, the former of whom died while on a visit to some of his children in Indiana, and the latter in the home
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who knew him, and had hosts of friends. He died June 4, 1866, aged fifty-nine years and eight months, being born October 4, 1806. His wife, Ann Eliza, was born January 18, 1810, and died March 1, 1880, aged seventy years, one month and fourteen days. They were the parents of eleven children, Mrs. Miller being the only one living in Wayne County. Their names are Rosanna, wife of James R. Shaffer, of Lima, Ohio; William C., living in Sedalia, Mo. ; Louisa, deceased wife of James K. Ward, of Columbiana County, Ohio; Joseph, who was a resident of Stark County, Ohio, entered the Union army, and was killed at Murfreesboro, Tenn. ; John J. lives in Tennessee ; Rebecca died young ; Hamilton was also a patriot soldier, and was killed at Athens, Tenn. ; Sarah Ann Grace is the wife of Cassius M.. Jolly, of Lima, Ohio; Henry is a resident of Tennessee; Alice Malvina died in childhood; and Mary E., wife of John W. Miller, who was the eldest but one of this family, and was born July 18, 1833. She and her husband have had five children. The second child, Ulysses S. G., died February 27, 1880, aged sixteen years. The survivors are Elmer E., born February 1, 1863, married to Nettie March, living on his father's farm ; William J., born May 31, 1866, is a telegraph operator at Orrville, Ohio; and Jesse Amnon, born May 28, 1871, and Johnny Hays, born August 28, 1876, still under the parental roof.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the Lutheran Church, of which he has been, since the death of his father, an elder, being elected to succeed him. Previous to that he had been a trustee and a deacon. By his neighbors and friends John W. Miller is esteemed as a man of great probity of character and sterling integrity. Mr. Miller has been prominent in politics, and has filled several positions of trust. He has served as trustee several years, and for twenty years has been a member of the school board, of which he has been president a number of years. May 2, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Infantry, and was stationed at Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia; the following July he was taken sick with typhoid-malarial fever, and in August was sent home on sick furlough, and in September was discharged from the service, but has never fully recovered from the effects of this sickness.
Jacob A. Miller, a younger son of Jacob Miller, now lives on the old homestead on Section 20, Greene Township, where he was born January 7, 1850. He lived on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he engaged in the lumber business, principally for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, furnishing car
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timber. In this occupation he continued for sixteen years, making his home for the first two and a half years in Seneca County, Ohio, and the balance of the time in Defiance County, Ohio. In that business Mr. Miller was quite successful, and accumulated considerable means. He now owns a fine, well-improved farm in Defiance County. While living there Mr. Miller served several terms as township trustee, and also held other positions of trust and responsibility. In March, 1887, he retired from the lumber business, and, buying the interests of the other heirs, returned to the place of his birth, where he expects to spend the remainder of his days. He is making many improvements on the place, and has partially rebuilt the house.
March 4, 1884, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Sarah Pittenger, daughter of Peter and Jane (Buchanan) Pittenger, then residents of Carroll County, Ohio, who had previously lived in Harrison County, Ohio. The father was born in Harrison County October 1, 1800, and died February 9, 1854, aged fifty -three years, seven months and twenty-three days. The mother, Jane Buchanan, was born in Pennsylvania July 11, 1803, and was three years old when her parents moved to Ohio. On both sides her ancestors were of that sturdy race of pioneers who laid the foundations of the prosperity of the grand State of Iowa. After their marriage Peter and Jane Pittenger removed to Carroll County, Ohio, where they in turn carved a home out of the wilderness. Of their first purchase of eighty acres but five were partially cleared. To this they added eighty acres more, and made it by hard work a fine, well-cultivated farm. Their first house was a log cabin, with puncheon floor, and door hung on wooden hinges, in true frontier style. This was succeeded by a hewed log house, yet standing, and that by a comfortable frame house. Mrs. Pittenger died October 20, 1872, aged sixty-nine years, three months and nine days. This couple had ten children, as follows: Samuel B., and Mary, wife of Isaac Booth, of Indiana; Margaret, wife of David Davis, and John, residents of Carroll County, Ohio; Nancy, wife of Alex. Riley, in Stark County, Ohio ; Joseph, Evan, Susannah and Abraham, deceased; and Sarah, the youngest of the family, now Mrs. Jacob A. Miller, who was born in Carroll County, Ohio, October 24, 1848. She was but six years of age when her father died, and she lived with her mother until the demise of the latter, then making her home with her brothers and sisters until her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob A. Miller are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Smithville, Ohio, and he is a teacher of the Sabbath-school, a work in which he
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has always taken a special interest, and with which he has been closely identified for nearly a quarter of a century, holding the positions of librarian, teacher and superintendent, and always working earnestly in the cause. Both he and his wife are highly esteemed members of society, and as a man of business, a good neighbor and kind friend Jacob A. Miller bears an enviable reputation, well deserved.
J. D. ZOOK, school-teacher, farmer and justice of the peace, Wayne Township, Wayne County. The association of the Zook family with Wayne County dates back as far as 1817, at which
time John Zook settled in Greene Township. He and his wife, Catherine (Weidman) Zook, were natives of Mifflin County, Penn. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom Joshua was among the youngest. John Zook was one of the largest land-owners of Wayne County at the time of his death, leaving thirteen quarter sections, which he had acquired by his own exertions and the labor of his own hands. This land was, by his will, to be equally divided among his children. He died in the eighty-fourth year of his age. Joshua Zook, son of John and Catherine (Weidman) Zook, was born in 1812, and was five years old when his father settled in Ohio. His early life was spent on the farm, and in 1837 he removed to Stark County, Ohio, where he settled on land owned by his father. He remained there until March, 1849, when he returned to Wayne County, and purchased 135 acres of land in Wayne Township, where he remained until his death, August 31, 1882. He was married to Magdalena Troyer, daughter of Henry Troyer, a noted hunter in his day. Seven children were born to this couple, six of whom grew to maturity.
J. D. Zook, the third child of Joshua and Magdalena, was born October 7, 1839. He received his education at the common schools and academies in Wayne County. Since 1860 Mr. Zook has been engaged in teaching school, and now holds a certificate from the County Board of Examiners which remains valid for five years. His school-teaching has mostly been done during the winter months, while he devotes his summers to farming. Mr. Zook was married, in 1865, to Mary I., Antles, daughter of T. F. and Anna (Hough) Antles. Four children have been born to this couple, of whom but two survive: Sylvia L. and Howard Chauncey. Mr. Zook has been assessor and township clerk, and in 1887 was elected justice of the peace in his township. He is a member of the United Brethren Church, and in politics is a
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Democrat. Mr. Zook is placed among the most progressive and enlightened men in Wayne Township, and is highly respected and cordially liked by all who know him.
MICHAEL COTTERMAN was born April 4, 1847, near Apple Creek, Wayne Co., Ohio, and is a son of Hosea and Lavina (Klein) Cotter- man, natives of Berks County, Penn. His father came to Wayne County about 1825, when a single man. He was a shoemaker by trade, and after his marriage located in East Union Township, Wayne County, where he died in 1886. He was a prominent member of the German Reformed Church. His widow resides on the homestead. Their children who are living are Abraham, a resident of East Union Township; Celestia, now Mrs. Abraham Boyer, residing on the homestead, and Michael.
The subject of this memoir attended the district schools, and at the age of eighteen learned the trade of shoemaking. He lived in Fredericksburgh, Ohio, for some years. In 1875 he came to Apple Creek, where he has since been engaged in his business as dealer in and manufacturer of boots and shoes. Mr. Cotterman was married in 1881 to Miss Hannah Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Burbridge, of West Virginia. Mr. Cotter- man is one of the borough councilmen, and is treasurer of Apple Creek Lodge, I. O. O. F. Mrs. Cotterman is a member of the Baptist Church, while he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
JAMES JEFFERY was born in Congress Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, in 1825, and is a son of John and Mary Jeffery, former of whom was a native of County Down, Ireland. In 1819 the parents immigrated to America with their four children, born in Ireland, viz.: William, Nancy, Jane and Eliza. The family located in the same year near Salem, in Wayne County, Ohio, and after landing on this soil Archibald was born in Baltimore, Md., and John and James near West Salem, Wayne County. James, the subject of this memoir, attended the public schools of Congress Township, Wayne County, and followed agricultural pursuits until 1871, when he began reading law, and in 1873 he was admitted to the bar. Mr. Jeffery practiced his profession in the Wayne County courts twelve years, since when he has resided near Blachleyville, Plain Township, where he
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has followed farming and the manufacture of drain tile.
He was married in 1847 to Ellen Reed, of Wayne County, Ohio, who died May 8, 1848. He afterward, in 1851, married Sarah Myers, of Medina County, Ohio, who bore him six children, viz.: Ellen Jane, Florilla A., Sarah A., Eveline F., John Fremont Dayton (who died August 29, 1881) and Ch ever (who died when two years old, September 7, 1863), the mother dying the same day. In 1863 Mr. Jeffery took: for his third wife Eliza A. Myers (sister to his previous wife), and she died November 29, 1865, leaving no children. Mr. Jeffery then married, February 10, 1866, Marietta Barnes, of Medina County, Ohio, who bore him five children, viz.: Clara E., born December 9, 1866, died October 10, 1882; James, born September 29, 1870, and died at the age of three months ; Owen L., born June 5, 1872; Alta E., born July 30, 1875, and Lennie A. R., born January 8, 1879. Sarah A., Mr. Jeffery's daughter by his second wife, is now practicing medicine at Greenwich, Ohio, having graduated from Erie Medical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, in February, 1883.
Mr. Jeffery was elected in April, 1888, a justice of the peace on the Republican ticket, by a handsome majority, in Plain Township, and in 1876 was elected mayor of West Salem by an overwhelming majority. During slavery days he was a " conductor " on the " underground railway," which ran into freedom many a bloodhound-hunted slave, and in 1860 he voted for Gerrit Smith, the Abolition candidate for President. Mr. Jeffery has on his farm in Plain Township a bed of potter's clay, fifty-three feet in thickness, from which he manufactures tile, etc., of which he has had samples tested, with a result that promises a valuable addition to the many industries of Wayne County.
ALLEN GREELY, JR. Allen Greely (deceased) was born in North Yarmouth, Me., May 15, 1781, and died October 25, 1866. He was a fellow student with Daniel Webster at Dartmouth College, graduating one year after Webster. His wife, Eunice Jones Greely, was born in 1801, and died in 1841. Allen Greely, Jr., the subject of this memoir, was born in Turner, Androscoggin Co., Me., March 16, 1837, and at the early age of four years was bereft of the care and kindness of a mother. His father was a Congregational minister, and served as pastor at Turner, Me., from 1810 to 1845. Young Allen attended the common schools until his fourteenth
year, when he entered Hampden Acade-
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my, Maine, and there pursued his studies one year. He was a schoolmate of Eugene Hale, United States Senator from Maine, in the old town of Turner.
When fifteen years old Mr. Greely boarded a merchant sailing ship, and for three years was a sailor on her, working before the mast, and making several voyages to remote parts of the globe. Among other ports he touched at were Liverpool (England), Isle of Wight, Cardiff, (Wales), Rio Janeiro (South America), etc., and he made several voyages to the West Indies. In 1857 Mr. Greely worked by the month on sailing vessels, plying on the lakes between Buffalo and Chicago, and for two seasons he " sailed the lakes." At the age of twenty-two he retired from sea-faring life, and became a citizen of Wayne County, Ohio, locating at West Salem in 1858.
On March 27, 1859, Mr. Greely married Miss Nancy Jane, daughter of John G. Ford, another of the early settlers of Wayne County, Ohio. Since coming here Mr. Greely has been engaged in various lines of business, and since 1874 he has been associated with others in the merchant milling. He is considered an upright,