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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Guernsey County, Ohio
by Col. Cyrus P. B. Sarchet
- Illustrated -
Vols. I & 2.
B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana -
1911
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SAMUEL A. FINLEY.
The Finley family is one well known in the neighborhood
of Pleasant City, where its members have for four generations
resided and taken an active part in the welfare and development
of the community. Samuel Arthur Finley, a
representative farmer of Guernsey county, was born near Ava,
Noble county, Ohio, on July 12, 1853, the son of
John F. and Mary Ann (Secrest) Finley. John F.
Finley was born in the northern part of Noble county, three
miles south of Pleasant City, the son of Samuel and Katherine
(Frame) Finley.
Samuel Finley was born in Pennsylvania in 1800,
and Katherine Frame was born in the same neighborhood not
far from Pittsburg. Both attended the same school in
childhood. When he was about eleven years old and she was
nine, the Frame family moved to Guernsey county, Ohio,
and settled not far from the head of Leatherwood creek.
Samuel's playmates said to him, "Well, Sammy, you'll
never see your Katie any more," to which he replied in
the piping voice of a little boy, "When I get big I'll go out
west and hunter her up and marry her." When Samuel
was eighteen years old he did come west, equipped with an outfit
to keep "bach," consisting of two frying pans. Game was
then abundant, and he saw one evening a bear in the woods near
the present location of the Detroit mines. He entered one
hundred and sixty acres of land, naturally as good as any in the
county, then found his Katie, whose memory had never left
him, and they were united in marriage. To get money to buy
his marriage license he had to sell oen of his two frying pans.
But the youthful couple persevered, and improved the farm, on
which they made their home until 1857, when they bought a farm
near Cumberland, on which they spent the rest of their days, and
this farm is still in the family possession. They were the
parents of twelve children: Ebenezer, Elizabeth, James
(who died in 1834, aged seven), John F. Katharine, Becky,
William, Joseph, Samuel, Sarah, Ezra and Mary Melvina.
Their son Samuel was bitten by a dog in childhood, and
never recovered from the shock.
JOHN F. FINLEY married
Mary Ann Secrest about 1848. She was the daughter of
Isaac and Mary (Slater) Secrest, and her maternal
grandfather was John Slater, an old deer hunter of what
is now Buffalo township, Noble county, whose wife was the first
person buried in Buffalo cemetery. Isaac Secrest
was born in Virginia in 1798, came to Ohio at an early day, and
settled in Buffalo township of Noble county. He and his
three brothers, James, Nathan and Jacob,
were all large landowners. After marriage John F.
Finley lived near Ava for a while and owned a large farm
there, part of which was his before his marriage. When his
parents moved to the vicinity of Cumberland he bought the old
farm that his father had entered, lived on it for eight years,
then sold it and bought a farm where the Derwent mine is now,
which he later sold, and, moving to Cambridge, lived in
retirement until his death. His wife died on May 30, 1903. He
was a man much respected and esteemed by those who knew him.
Samuel A. Finley was one of eight children:
Isaac Wilson, Samuel A., Mary Catherine, Foamie R.
(deceased), Lines E., Minnie M., Willie G. and Cora.
Samuel lived with his parents until he was about
twenty-four. On Oct. 12, 1876, he was married to
Arthella Secrest, the daughter of David and Sarah
J. (Miller) Secrest. David was a son of John
and Sallie Secrest, who came from Virginia. ( For more about
the Secrest family see sketches of William Secrest
and Noah E. Secrest, Sr., of Hartford.) Arthella
Secrest was a twin and one of thirteen children, and was
born and reared near Hartford, Valley township. Since his
marriage, Samuel A. Finley has followed farming as his
chief occupation all of his life. He has several tracts of
land in Valley township, and residence property in Pleasant
City. For four years after marriage he lived on a farm
near Derwent, then lived at Hartford for twelve years. In
1891 he moved to Pleasant City, where he has lived ever since.
Of his three children, one died in infancy and two, Zula
Esther and Sonora Edna, are living. Zula
Esther married Robert M. Shields, who was born in
Jackson county, Ohio, in 1877, son of John W. and Jane
(Russell) Shields. They are living in Pleasant City, and
have one daughter, Hilda Bodurtha.
Mrs. Finley died on Jan. 7, 1908.
She was a woman who well deserved the esteem of her neighbors
and many friends and the love of those in her house. She
always looked carefully to the needs of her family and was a
model wife aiid mother and a consistent Christian, being a
member of the Lutheran church, of which her husband, her
daughters and her son-in-law are members. Hers was truly a
beautiful character. Mr. Finley is a modest
man, kind and generous to all, of unquestioned honesty and
integrity, who deserves and retains by his true worth the
respect and good will of all who know him.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vols. I & 2. - Publ.: B. F. Bowden &
Company, Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 - Page 777 |
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JOHN BENSON FISHEL. Among
the representative and progressive farmers of Valley township is
John Benson Fishel, who was born in the township on Jan.
2, 1861, the son of Henry and Hannah (Storer) Fishel, and
who has since made the township his home and has aided in its
great development since his boyhood days.
Henry Fishel was born just west of Pleasant City
on Jan. 27, 1825, the son of Philip Fishel, Sr., and
Katherine (Trenner) Fishel, who came to this county from
West Virginia in 1819, and bought one hundred and sixty acres
just west of the present site of Pleasant City. Philip
Fishel, Sr. who was influential in early times, died in
1842. Henry Fishel spent his life on the home farm.
His wife, Hannah Storer, was born at Horseshoe Bottom,
Pennsylvania, on Sept. 30, 1822, and was brought by her parents
to this county when five years old. She bore to Henry
Fishel six children, three of whom died in childhood.
There living are Mrs. Rachel Caroline Secrest, the wife
of James Hudson Secrest, of Pleasant City, who was
born on Mar. 22, 1859; John B.; and Asbury P.,
born on Apr. 1, 1863, who married Mary C. Frye, and lives
at Ashtabula, Ohio. Henry Fishel and his wife were
members of the Bethel Methodist church, in which he was a
trustee and class leader. He died on Apr. 3, 1906, closing
a long and useful life; his wife had died on Aug. 13, 1895.
John B. Fishel grew up on the home farm,
attended normal school at Cambridge, and afterwards taught
school from 1882 to 1895. During this period he taught at
Claysville, Pleasant City, and other schools in Guernsey county.
He was married on June 7, 1888, to Anna M. Bugher, the
daughter of George and Joanna (Wilson) Bugher. George
Bugher was born in the southwest part of Valley township,
the son of George Bugher, Sr., who came to this county
from Maryland in the early days when the country was unsettled.
Joanna Wilson was born in Guernsey county, near the line
between Jackson and Westland townships. George Bugher,
Jr., moved after his marriage to a farm of one hundred and
seventy acres, west of Blue bell, where he lived until his
death, combining the stone and brick mason's trades with
farming. In politics he was an ardent Republican and,
being a man of strong character, was possessed of considerable
influence in many ways in his community. He died on his
farm on Apr. 13, 1899; his wife died on Apr. 18, 1900.
To Mr. and Mrs. John B. Fishel five children
have been born: Beryl, on Apr. 3, 1889; Waite P.,
on Dec. 9, 1890; one who died in infancy, born in 1894; Gail
B., born on Mar. 3, 1901; and Arden Petty, born on
July 16, 1904. Beryl has taught school for three
terms, Waite for two, and both are successful in their
work. In the spring of 1895 Mr. Fishel came
into possession of eighty acres of the home farm, and in 1905 he
bought the other eighty from his father, who afterward lived
with his son until his death. Mr. Fishel has since
followed farming on this home farm, and has a pleasant home in
the Fairview addition to Pleasant City, while his farming
operations have prospered, and have gained for him a competency.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Fishel are active members of Bethel
Methodist church, and he has for several years been
superintendent of the Sunday school. They are highly
respected in their neighborhood. Mrs. Fishel is a
woman of more than ordinary ability and accomplishments and has
greatly aided her husband in their progress through life, while
she has been a model mother to her children, and has borne her
full share in all the activities of her community. She
also taught school several years before her marriage.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vols. I & 2. - Publ.: B. F. Bowden &
Company, Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 - Page 774 |
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ROBERT STEELE FORBES, M. D.
There is much in the life record of the late Dr. Robert
Steele Forbes worthy of commendation and admiration.
Like many other brainy, energetic citizens of Guernsey county,
he did not wait for a specially brilliant opening. Indeed,
he could not wait, for his natural industry would not permit him
to do so. In his early youth he gave evidence of the
possession of traits of character which made his life
exceptionally successful and he became one of the county's
foremost and successful citizens, especially at Byesville, his
late home.
Robert S. Forbes was born on Oct. 9, 1833, near
Middleton, Guernsey county, Ohio, and he was summoned to close
his earthly career on July 2, 1898, at the age of sixty-eight
years, six months and seven days. He was the son of
Boyd and Martha Forbes, the father having been a native of
Ireland, from which country he emigrated to America in an early
day. Doctor Forbes spent his boyhood on a farm and
when seventeen years of age began teaching school, having
received a good education in the schools of his native
community, being an ardent student from the start. But
being inclined to the medical profession, he gave up teaching
and began the study of medicine with Doctor George, of
Middleton, after which he attended medical college at Columbus,
Ohio. Before completing his course there he came to
Byesville and took up the practice of his profession, which he
continued for several years, then returned to Columbus and was
graduated from the institution there with honors. He then
resumed his practice at Byesville, but not long afterwards went
to Kingston, Ross county, where he remained in the practice of
his profession for a period of six years. He was also part
owner of a drug store there and was very successful; but he
moved back to his old home at Byesville.
On Apr. 1, 1863, Doctor Forbes was married to
Malinda Wilson, sister of H. H. Wilson, to whose
sketch, appearing on another page of this work, the reader is
respectfully referred for the family history of Mrs. Forbes.
She was born about a mile from Byesville, where she was reared
and educated, remaining there until her marriage, then went to
housekeeping in the house where she now resides. She is a
woman of many estimable traits, hospital, generous and, like her
lamented husband, has a host of warm personal friends.
Doctor Forbes was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church and he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He was a patriotic man, and during the great
struggle between North and South in the early sixties he
followed the flag of the National Union, becoming first
lieutenant in Company E, under Captain Ferguson, of
Cambridge. While in the service he was stricken with
paralysis and he never fully recovered the full use of his right
arm, but he grew worse later in life. Politically, he was
a Democrat and was outspoken in support of his party's
principles, even in the army, where those who differed from him
were in the great majority and to speak too freely was sometimes
dangerous. He was a man who was fond of home, and he was
seldom away except when out professionally. He enjoyed a
large practice both at Byesville and his entire vicinity, and he
kept abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his
profession. While at other places. In fact, his work
was so strenuous there that he was not physically able to bear
it all, so he gave it up and came back to his old home
community. During the last seven years of his life he was
unable to practice with a high sense of honor and was popular
wherever he was known. Since his death Mrs. Forbes
has continued to reside on the old homestead.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vol. I. B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 |
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THOMAS W. FOWLER.
The life of the well known locomotive engineer and city
councilman of Cambridge, Guernsey county, whose name introduces
this biographical review, has been a somewhat strenuous but
successful one, fraught with more or less hazard, but his duties
have been bravely met in all walks of life and he is eminently
deserving of the wide esteem in which he is held and of the
comforts of material life which are his by right of legitimate
conquest.
Mr. Fowler was born in Muskingum county, Ohio,
June 28, 1865, and he is the son of Francis Marion and Sarah
A. (Shafer) Fowler a well liked and industrious family.
When he was four years old his parents moved to Licking county
and there he grew to manhood on a farm, on which he worked when
a boy and attended the public schools during the winter months.
He always had an inclination for railroading and in 1885, when
nineteen years of age, being a robust constitution, he found
employment as fireman on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and he
has continued in the employ of this road ever since, being
regarded as one of their most faithful trusted employes.
There has been but one month during the past twenty-five years
that he has not drawn pay from this company, a somewhat
remarkable record. After firing for four years, he was
promoted to the other side of the cab, when twenty-three years
old, and he has been an engineer ever since and is one of the
best on the road
Mr. Fowler made his home at Newark, Ohio, until
January, 1900, when he moved to Cambridge, where he still
resides. He lived first on Steubenville avenue, but two
yeas later he bought a very neat and well arranged home on North
Fourth avenue where he has since resided. He is an active
Republican, and in the fall of 1907 he was elected to the city
council of Cambridge, and performed his duties in such an able
and satisfactory manner that in the fall of 1909 he was
re-elected and is now serving his second term.
Mr. Fowler was married first in 1889 to Cora
B. Willard who was born and reared in Muskingum county, the
daughter of John and Julia (Fletcher) Willard. Three
daughters were born of this marriage, Lena May, Alice Mary,
and Frances Julia. The mother of these
children passed to her rest in January, 1906. She was a
faithful member of the Methodist church and attended the same
seven years without missing a meeting except once when in bed
with the measles. On Feb. 19, 1910, Mr. Fowler
married Mrs. Viola Grier, whose maiden name was Galloway,
a native of Quaker City, Guernsey county, and the daughter of
Caleb and Emeline (Lowe) Galloway.
Mr. Fowler has been a member of the Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers since 1890; he is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias. He is a frank, friendly man, reliable,
steady and accommodating and a good citizen.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vol. I. B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 - Page 951 |
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ROLAND S. FRAME. A well
known citizens of Washington, Wills township, Guernsey county,
is Roland S. Frame, who was born Dec. 23, 1844, three
miles east of the town of Washington. He is the son of
Thomas and Esther (St. Clair) Frame. The father
was born in Guernsey county and the mother in Belmont county,
near St. Clairsville, and she came to Guernsey county with her
parents when a child. Grandfather Moses Frame came
to Guernsey county from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, with his
parents, Thomas Frame and wife, about 1812 and settled in
Wills township. There came with him six brothers and their
families, William Jacob, David, John, James, and
Thomas, all settling in the same locality, and entered large
tracts of land. This family is of Irish descent.
George Frame escaped from the persecutors, during the famous
persecution in Ireland, all members of his family being killed
except himself and two children, and even he was left for dead
after an attack on the people of his vicinity, but he recovered
and escaped. From him descended the present Frame
family and their immediate predecessors. Thomas
Frame, father of the subject, was formerly a fruit grower
and when the improved farming machinery first came to used
he began selling farming machinery, selling the first reapers
and mowers brought into this locality. He was a
progressive and prosperous man and active in public life, but
was not an office seeker, though he filled many appointed
positions. He was a Republican. He was a man of
clean, upright character, a devout Presbyterian for many years.
He death occurred in September, 1873, and his widow is also
deceased, both being buried in the cemetery at Washington.
Their ancestors, many of them, were soldiers in the war of 1812
and other wars. Seven children constituted the family of
Thomas Frame and wife, namely: Roland S., of this
review; Sebastian C., Tyrannus B., Alonzo P., Ottis D.,
Cornelius A., Mary N. (deceased). Besides the subject,
all died several years ago but Alonze P. and Ottis D.
Roland S. Frame spent his youth on the home farm
and received his early education in the common schools, also
attended select schools in Cambridge, and he began teaching
school when only sixteen years of age, in the district schools,
later at Senecaville, and was at one time superintendent of the
schools at Washington for three years. He was very
successful as a teacher, but gave up this line of work to enter
the mercantile life. which he has continued to the present time,
having opened his first store in 1874. He has became
widely known as a hardware and implement dealer, also handles
builders' supplies and other lines. He has a large
business. He also had farming interests for many years,
but has sold his lands and invested in Columbus and Chicago
manufacturing concerns.
Mr. Frame was married on Dec. 19, 1864, to
Isabelle L. Lowry, daughter of Elijah and Mary (Richey)
Lowry, of Wills township, an early pioneer family and
prominent in business, church and social life. To Mr.
and Mrs. Frame the following children have been born:
Clare L., a dentist of Chicago and organizer of the Frame
Dental Supply Company; Minnie, now Mrs. Charles
Thompson, of Wills township; Gertrude, deceased;
Rolla St. Clair, a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, located at Pittsburg; Mabel F., now
Mrs. Dr. J. H. McCreary, of Byesville, Ohio.
Politically Mr. Frame is a Republican, but
independent in local affairs, is active in the party and has
filled various positions of responsibility. He was the
first Republican clerk elected in Wills township, in 1876,
serving in that capacity several years. He was a member of
the school board of Washington for about twenty years. He
was county school examiner for a period of nine years. In
1879 he was elected as a representative from Guernsey county in
the Ohio Legislature, on the Republican ticket, serving two
terms in a most commendable manner. He had a place on many
important committees. He has always been a temperance
advocate and worker. He and his family are members of the
Presbyterian church, he being an elder in the same and is a
Sunday school worker, and has been superintendent for more than
twenty-five years.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vol. I. B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 - Page 793 |
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JOHN W. FROST. Industry
and honesty, coupled with ambition and good common sense, seldom
if every fail to win the goal sought. With no great aide
from any one, John W. Frost, of Fairview, Oxford
township, Guernsey county, has won a comfortable competence and
can look forward to an old age of ease and quiet.
Mr. Frost was born on April 7, 1859, in
Fairview, Ohio, the son of William H. and Mary (Flynn) Frost.
The father was a native of Virginia and the mother was born in
Ireland, coming to America with friends from fourteen years of
age, her parents having died in Ireland. John W. Frost
and Mary Flynn were married in Fairview, Ohio. The
father, who was a tanner by trade, died on Sept. 11, 1872, and
his wife died Sep. 10, 1904. They were the parents of two
daughters and one son, the subject of this sketch, upon whom the
support of the family devolved after their father's death.
He was then only a mere lad, but he undertook and continued to
make a home for his mother, until her death. One daughter,
Martha E., died some years ago; another daughter,
Catherine W., is now Mrs. James M. Carter, of
Steubenville, Ohio.
The son John W., gained a limited education in
the public schools of Fairview, but most of his time was
employed in making a living for the family. He worked at
whatever he could find to do in the stone quarries, in the
mines, in the fields, in fact at whatever his hands could find
to do, always maintaining his home with his mother in Fairview.
He had never learned a trade and the locality of Fairview being
a great tobacco producing section, he decided to learn the trade
of a cigarmaker. This he did and in 1890 established a business
in Fairview, which he yet continues, making high-grade cigars
and stogies, which are all taken by prominent jobbers. He
has built up a prosperous business and is also a tobacco grower
and packer of considerable proportions. Mr. Frost
has prospered as he has deserved to do, for he is a man of
industry, energy and sterling integrity. While a very busy
man with his own affairs, Mr. Frost is always a booster
and ever ready to say something and do something for the good of
the community. It was in Mr. Frost's mind that a practical
plan for building a railroad to Fairview and the rich coal
fields of that locality took definite shape. He studied in
the field, when over different routs, had prints made showing
coal deposits and the different routes, had lines run, and at
last, with the assistance of a few others whom he had gotten
enthused, succeeded in getting the matter to the attention of
railroad promoters and builders. This effort resulted in
the organization of the Marietta & Lake Railroad Company, and
the proposed road from the river to the lake, touching Fairview
and lapping the adjacent rich coal field. Four miles of
the road is now completed and in operation from Lore City to
Washington and further work on the right of way is progressing
favorably. When all this is completed it will stand as a
monument to the perception, perseverance and never-tiring energy
of John W. Frost, of Fairview.
Mr. Frost is a Republican in politics and while
not active in party affairs, is always a voter. Though
never an office seeker, he served as mayor of Fairview, as a
member of the town council and the board of education.
Mr. Frost married, on October 8, 1890,
Lillian R. Jones, daughter of James E. and Mary E.
(Stackhouse) Jones, Mr. Jones being an attorney of
Monroe county, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Frost have
been born five children, namely: Herman E., Mary E., Clyde W.
McKinley, Beulah U. and John W., Jr. Mr. Frost
and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and
liberal supporters of the church and Sunday school. Mr.
Frost is a splendid citizen and the family home is a new,
modern structure and one of the most attractive in Fairview.
A most excellent man and most estimable family.
Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vol. I. B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911 |
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