Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson Co., Ohio
by Joseph B. Doyle -
Published by
Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. - Chicago -
1910
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William B. Garretson |
WILLIAM B. GARRETSON, 
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Published by Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 1124 |
| |
JOHN J. GAULT, whose farm of 125 acres lies
in Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, was
born in this township, September 7, 1872, and is one of
the successful agriculturists and leading citizens of
this section. His parents were David S. and
Nancy Emma (Stark) Gault, and his maternal
grandparents were James and Mary (Todd) Stark.
The late David S. Gault was a well known
farmer in Cross Creek Township, and his parents were
John and Mary (Davidson) Gault, early settlers here.
The widow of Mr. Gault survives and still resides
on the old homestead with some of her children. To
David S. Gault and wife these children were born:
John J., Adda M., William W., Mary B., Thomas C.,
Charles, Ushur, Margaret, Frank and Alma.
Of the above Adda M. is deceased, and
Mary B. is the wife of Samuel Crawford.
John J. Gault obtained his education in the common
schools and before settling on his present farm engaged
in teaming for several years for A. W. McConald.
Mr. Gault carries on a general agricultural line and
raises stock for his own use and also does a large
outside business in dealing in feed and grain.
This farm is locally known as the old W. A. Elliott
farm, Mrs. Gault being an Elliott
heir.
In February, 1905, Mr.
Gault was married to Miss Laura Elliott, a
daughter of William A. and Belle S. (Elliott) Elliott,
who were cousins. Mrs. Gault was the only
child. Her father is deceased but her mother
survives and resides with Mr. and Mrs. Gault.
They have four children: Helen E., William
D., Elmer T. and Esther J. They are
members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics,
Mr. Gault is a Democrat and is now serving as a
member of the township school board. He is a
wide-awake, progressive farmer and is identified with
the local Grange.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Published by Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 773 |
| |
FORD DEMELVIN GEORGE,
who was one of the representative citizens and
substantial farmers of Cross Creek Township, Jefferson
County, Ohio, where he owned 220 acres of fertile land,
was born in this township Dec. 24, 1841, and died at
Massillon, O., in 1904.
The parents of Mr. George were Nathan C. and
Mellicent (George) George, cousins. They
reared the following children: They reared the
following children: Elmyra, Ford Demelvin, Rosanna,
Anna Myria, Louisa, Clara, Stephen and William.
Ford Demelvin George obtained his education in the
common schools in Cross Creek Township. In early
manhood he enlisted for service in the Civil War,
serving through a first enlistment in the 104th O. Vol.
Cav., and re-enlisted in Co. H, 157th O. Vol. Inf., and
served three years as a veteran. After he returned
from the army he settled down to farming and made that
his life work. He was a man of substantial
character and was valued as a citizen. In his
political views he was a Republican and he was elected
to the office of township treasurer and performed the
duties of the same with honesty and efficiency.
On Mar. 5, 1865, Mr. George was married to
Miss Eleanor Adams, who is a daughter of Lemuel
and Nancy (McBane) Adams, and a granddaughter of
Baldwin and Eleanor (Brock) Adams and of John
McBane. The father of Mrs. George died
on his farm in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Her mother
later married Edwin Mosher and they went to Iowa,
where both died. To Mr. and Mrs. George the
following children were born: Larena, who married
S. M. Floyd and has three children - John,
Eleanor and William; James H., who married
Jessie Welday, is a teacher in the schools of
Winterville, and has four children -
Estella, Mary, Harold and Myron; Ross,
who is deceased; Emma who is the wife of
Charles Deselms; Carrie, who married William
Flinn and has three children - Lewis, Elizabeth
and Alan; and Nannie and Earl,
the latter of whom operates the farm for his mother, who
is the owner of the property. Mrs. George
is a member of the Presbyterian church. The family
is one that stands very high socially in Cross Creek
Township.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 668 |
James George |
JAMES GEORGE, mayor of
Bergholz, O., and for many years a leading citizen in
Brush Creek and Ross Townships, Jefferson County, was
born on his father's farm at Mooretown, three miles east
of this borough, Dec. 19, 1836, and is a son of
Robert and Martha (McLaughlin) George.
Hon. Thomas George, the grandfather of Mayor
George, who was born in Pennsylvania, and came to
Ohio in 1775, became a prominent man in Jefferson County
and was elected a common pleas judge in 1816. His
children were: Robert, David, John, Thomas H.,
Alexander, Christiana, Anna, Esther and Sarah.
After retiring from public life he resided in an old
stone mansion which he built in Ross Township in 1818,
and there he died when aged eighty-eight years.
The old tone house was one of the most important
stations on the Underground Railroad, and Robert
George and our subject were important cogs in this
system of freeing the slaves. Thomas George
was a member of the Covenanter Church in early manhood
and later of the Presbyterian bodies.
Robert George, father of Mayor George
attended the early schools as opportunity afforded and
followed farming until his marriage, when he embarked in
a store business at Mooretown. Some years later he
bought a farm and later the old homestead and lived on
it until his death, June 12, 1887, his burial being in
the cemetery attached to the United Presbyterian Church
at Mooretown. He was affiliated with the
Republican party, but never cared for office. He
married Martha McLaughlin, a daughter of James
McLaughlin, of Carroll County, Ohio, and they had
the following children: Thomas, who was killed in
the Civil War, being a member of Company K, Second Ohio
Volunteer Infantry; James, subject of this
sketch, and John, who is deceased. The
mother died in 1890. Both parents were members of
the United Presbyterian Church.
James George obtained his education in the
country schools and then turned his attention to helping
his father on the farm. After his marriage he
lived on a farm in Brush Creek Township, but this he
later sold, buying one in Ross Township, on which he
lived for five years, then removed to the old homestead
in Ross Township. This place he improved and here
he accumulated about 600 acres of land. In 1890 he
moved from the old place and retired to Bergholz and the
value placed on him by his fellow citizens was very
clearly shown by their electing him to the highest
office in their gift, in 1908. He formerly had
served as a notary public and justice of the peace and
for several years was postmaster at Mooretown.
On Sept. 25, 1857, Mr. George was married to
Miss Mary J. Kirk, a daughter of John Kirk of
Circle Green, Jefferson County, and they have had seven
children, as follows: Martha, who died in
early womanhood; Mary Luella, deceased, who was
the wife of Samuel Dorrance (had two children,
Marie and William Eugene); Thomas, who owns
the old homestead in Ross Township, married Anna
Dorrance, a daughter of William Dorrance, and
has four sons and one daughter - Robert, Jesse K.,
Martha, James and William; John E., who
married Frances Crabb, a daughter of Mitchell
Crabb, and has one daughter, Mary F.; Robert
William, who married Juanita Walker, and has
two daughters and one son, namely, Erma, Meryl
and James Walker; D. Bert, who lives in Alliance;
and Mitchell, who died when aged four years.
Mayor George and faimly are members of the United
Presbyterian Church.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 720 |
| |
WILLIAM GIBSON,
whose excellent farm of fifty-five acres is situated in
Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, was born
in England, Nov. 1, 1852, a member of a respected old
family of Northumberland. His parents were
Thomas and Catherine (Hope) Gibson.
Thomas Gibson followed farming all his
life and neither he nor his wife ever came to America.
They had the following children: Elenore, who
married James Dunn, and lives in England; Mary,
who married John Laing, and lives in
England; Jane, who married William
Robeson, and also lives in England; and William,
who was the only member of the family to leave his
native land. His grandparents, Thomas and
Elizabeth Gibson and William and Martha
Hope, also spent their lives on the other side of
the Atlantic Ocean.
William Gibson attended school in his own
neighborhood until he was fourteen years of age and then
helped on the home farm for four years, after which he
became a coal miner and followed that life for seventeen
years in the mines of England. In 1887 he came to
the United States and located at Monongahela, Pa., in
the center of the coal district, and for nineteen more
years he engaged in coal mining. By that time
Mr. Gibson had become practically independent
and then came to Jefferson County and purchased his
present farm from Thomas Thompson, of New
Alexandria. Mr. Gibson immediately
started to improve the place, exercising both taste and
good judgment in the setting out of trees, and
converting a part of the land into orchards. He
has two houses on the place and resides in one of these
and rents the other to a tenant. He devotes
himself to general agriculture and finds in the tilling
of his land pleasure and profit.
Mr. Gibson was married in May, 1883, to Miss
Mary Johnston, a daughter of John and
Margaret (Henderson) Johnston.
Mrs. Gibson was born, reared and married
in England, where her parents spent their lives.
She has three brothers: William, John and
Arthur, the eldest being an Episcopal clergyman,
now rector of a church at Atlanta, Ga. Mr. and
Mrs. Gibson have two children: Margaret C.
and Dorothy M. Mr. Gibson and family
belong to the Episcopal Church in Cross Creek Township.
He votes with the Republican party.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 716 |
| |
JESSE R. GILCREST, a proprietor of the
Toronto Machine Company, and vice-president and a
director of the National Bank of Toronto, O., has been a
resident of this city since 1897 and has been actively
identified with the affairs of the community.
Mr. Gilcrest was born in Wheeling, W. Va., Aug.
4, 1864, and is a son of John B. and Laura Gilcrest.
He was four years old when his parents moved to what
then was LaGrange, now Brilliant, Jefferson County,
Ohio, and there he was reared and educated. He
learned the trade of machinist at that point, and
subsequently followed it in various parts of the
country, also setting up machinery, and gaining an
experience which can be acquired only through working in
many shops and at a variety of work. He was for a
time foreman of the machine shops at Mingo Junction, O.,
from which place he came to Toronto in 1897, here
establishing the Toronto Machine Company, of which he is
treasurer and has charge of the mechanical department.
He is largely interested in the Means Engineering and
Foundry Company. He has had a successful career in
business here and is numbered with the leading and
progressive citizens.
Mr. Gilcrest was married to Miss Tuckie
Wildpret of Belmont County, Ohio, and they have four
children: Donald, Lawrence, Tuckie and
Dorothy.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 754 |
|
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JAMES H. GILL,
youngest son of
Joseph Gill,
was born in
Mt. Pleasant,
in 1813, and resided there most of his life.
He was a large land owner in
Jefferson
County and also in the
West. He was
connected with the Mt. Pleasant
branch of the State Bank of
Ohio, served as a director
and was its president for many years. Later he
was president of the First National Bank of
Mt.
Pleasant.
He was also a gentleman farmer and engaged
extensively in stock raising.
Mr. Gill
was esteemed and beloved by all who knew him.
He was generous to a fault, always ready to assist
the poor and needy, and was widely known as their
friend and protector.
He died in
Topeka, Kansas, in 1889, at the
age of seventy-six.
Mt.
Pleasant has produced many strong
men and women, and the
Gills were
amongst the most energetic and enterprising families
of Jefferson
County. During
their residence in
Mt. Pleasant,
it was a very important place in affairs of both
Church and State.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson Co., Ohio by
Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. -
Chicago - 1910 -
Page
984 |
James W. Gill |
JAMES W.
GILL, president of Gill Brothers
Company, glass manufacturers at Steubenville, O.,
also president of the Ohio Valley Clay Company, and
a man of numerous other business activities, is a
representative of one of the old and prominent
families of this section. He was born at Mt.
Pleasant, this county, in 1852, and is a son of
Samuel Gill, a native of Virginia, who came to
Ohio in 1840 to the home of his uncle, Joseph
Gill, the latter being the founder of the
Gill family in Jefferson County. Samuel
Gill was engaged in the banking and mercantile
business at Mt. Pleasant for many years and was a
man of large estate and much commercial prominence.
The subject of this sketch was reared in Jefferson
County. He attended Earlham College, at
Richmond, Ind., and completed his literary education
at Cornell University. After his return in Mt.
Pleasant he spent two years in his father's bank and
then came to Steubenville to take charge of the
glass works, with which he has ever since been
identified. The original style of the firm was
Gill Bros. & Co., and it so continued until
1901, when the business was incorporated as Gill
Bros. Company, since which time Mr. J. W.
Gill has been president of the concern.
For a number of years he has also been president of
the Ohio Valley Clay Company, and he is a director
and stockholder in other prominent business
enterprises in Ohio and adjacent states. He is
a trustee of the Steubenville Chamber of Commerce
and of the Stanton Historical Association, a member
of the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Library
Association, and president of the Gill
Hospital Association. As a citizen he is a
strong supporter of good government and is always
counted upon in favor of any practical measure
calculated to advance the best interests of the
community.
In 1892 Mr. Gill was married to Miss Nancy G.
Kirk, of Chicago, having one son, James W.
Gill, Jr., who is a student at St. Luke's School
at Wayne, Pa.
(Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville &
Jefferson Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ.
Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page
598) |
|
|
JOHN
W. GILL,
oldest son of
Joseph Gill, started and operated the first
silk factory in the United States where figured silk,
ribbons, velvet and hat plush were made.
Later he moved his factory to
Wheeling W.
Va., where he was recognized as a
man of business training and large means, which
enabled him to take a prominent part in
promoting many large manufacturing enterprises,
and also banking institutions. He died
in Springfield, Ill., in 1873.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ
Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 984
|
|
|
JOSEPH GILL.
Among the earliest permanent settlers at Mt.
Pleasant, Jefferson County, Ohio, was Joseph Gill,
merchant, miller, farmer, stock raiser, banker, and
for years the leading spirit in the development of
this portion of Ohio. He left his impress on
almost everything that tended to advance the
civilization of the place in which he chose to found
his home, and his name, perpetuated in many enduring
ways, is proudly born by his descendants, and
kindred among which latter may be mentioned J. J.
and J. W. Gill, of Steubenville, of whom he
was a great uncle.
Joseph Gill was born on Kent Island, Md., and
lived there until he was thirty years of age, when
he moved. Probably with other members of his
family, to Shephardstown, Va., afterwards living at
Winchester and Bunker Hill, Va. He was married
at Bunker Hill to Nancy Hanna, and in 1806,
with his family and colored servants, whom he had
liberated before leaving Virginia, he came to Mt.
Pleasant, this county, their house being the sixth
built in the village. Mr. Gill's
household goods were transported over the mountains
by wagons. He bought the whole of Section 17,
and immediately began the work of clearing it.
He also established a store and continued in
mercantile business, in farming and in stock raising
for many years. To him is due the credit of
importing into Jefferson County the first flock of
Merino sheep of the famous Wells and Dickinson
stock. In 1816 he founded the Mt. Pleasant
Bank, of which he was president. He also, at
an early date, built a mill on Short Creek, about a
mile north of the town. In 1828 he bought
another mill, of John McCurdy. Each was
a three buhr mill and both were in operation for
a period of twenty-five years. Mr. Gill
shipped his flour by flat-boat to New Orleans.
He was also a large owner of lands in Northwestern
Ohio, and dealt very extensively in pork and beef in
what is now Ottawa County, Ohio. Indeed he was
a pioneer in the great packing industry, conducting
it, as it was then necessarily conducted, without
the aid of storage plants, refrigerator cars, or
other modern improvements. Mr. Gill
died in 1845. He was survived by three sons,
William, John and James, and one
daughter, Nancy.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 1005 |
|
|
HON.
JOSEPH J. GILL, is a descendant of English
Friends who came to Maryland during Lord
Baltimore's regime, move shortly after to
Virginia, and emigrated to Ohio in 1806, settling in
and about Mt. Pleasant. Mr. Gill was
born in 1846 in Belmont County, a few miles from Mt.
Pleasant. Both parents died while the children
were quite young and after they had settled in the
village where the subject of this sketch grew to
manhood. He received a liberal education,
finishing his course in the law department of the
Michigan University at Ann Arbor, where he graduated
in 1868. Coming to Steubenville in the autumn
of that year, he was admitted to the Jefferson
County bar on Sept. 29, and soon after entered into
partnership with William A. Walden, occupying
rooms in the Dougherty Block. This partnership
continued until about 1873, when Mr. Gill
retired from the firm and organized a private
banking company under the name of the Exchange Bank,
with apartments on North Fourth Street in the
Morrison Building. In the following year the
institution was converted into a national bank.
Its growth from the beginning was steady and
constant until the National Exchange bank, with its
magnificent quarters and imposing business block,
has become the leading financial institution in the
city. About this time a building at the north
end of the city, erected for a mower and reaper
factory, had been converted into a glass
manufactory, but with indifferent success
financially. Mr. Gill's attention was
directed to the matter, and, associating with
himself his two brothers, Samuel C. and James W.,
with some others, he purchased the concern and began
making a specialty of lamp chimneys. The
financial backing afforded by Mr. Gill
assisted materially in placing the business of the
establishment on a sure foundation, but his brains
and industry did a great deal more. He soon
made himself acquainted with every detail, both of
production and distribution, and worked out a number
of patents by which the process of manufacture
was so greatly improved that what was known as the
Gill furnace became a standard, not only here
but throughout the United States and Canada.
As a result the business grew apace until
Steubenville had the largest and best equipped lamp
chimney manufactory in the world and the "Acme"
chimneys found a ready market not only at home
but in Europe, South America and elsewhere. A
few years ago Mr. Gill withdrew from active
participation in these works, leaving them in
splendid condition for retaining and extending their
markets. He also became interested in
northwestern ore mines, which he managed with
characteristic ability, so that during years of
depression when many mines were compelled to close
down, those controlled by him were operated without
interruption. He also became a stockholder and
director in the Ohio Valley Clay Works, now a
leading local industry.
In the early spring of 1896 Mr. Gill purchased
the "Evening Star" newspaper, and on April 20th of
that year also became proprietor of the old
established Steubenville "Herald." The two
papers were conducted separately, the "Star" for
about a year as a morning paper, until 1898, when
they were consolidated under the name of "Herald
Star," during which period the newspaper business in
this city was completely revolutionized. News
gathering was amplified and systematized and
extensive improvements made in the mechanical and
business departments, giving this journal a prestige
which it has since maintained. Later
Mr. Gill also purchased the Columbus "Despatch,"
and infused new life into that journal. HE
disposed of both papers in 1905, the properties
having increased greatly in value while under his
control.
It is not to be supposed that a person of Mr. Gill's
mental and physical activity would fail to take an
interest in politics, nor was such the case.
He received a large vote for prosecuting attorney in
the Republican County primaries in 1869, and was
frequently called to take an active part of the most
exciting Congressional conventions ever held in
Steubenville was that of 1878, resulting in the
nomination of Hon. J. T. Updegraff.
Jefferson County had three aspirants in the field,
which greatly hampered her influence in the
convention, but the Updegraff forces were led
by Mr. Gill with such skill and energy that
all finally united on Mr. Updegraff and
secured his nomination. The next hear Hon.
John Sherman addressed the people of
Steubenville, Mr. Gill assisting him in his
speech. In 1894 this county decided to present
Mr. Gill as a candidate for member of
Congress, and the delegation was enthusiastic in his
support, but local interests in other parts of the
district favoring Hon. Lorenzo Danford,
who had previously served acceptably in that
capacity, the Jefferson delegation, at Mr. Gill's
suggestion, threw its weight in favor of Mr.
Danford thus giving him the nomination.
Mr. Danford was re-elected in 1896 and 1898, but
died in the summer of 1899, and a convention
assembled at Martin's Ferry, on Sept. 13, to
nominate his successor for the unexpired term.
This time Jefferson County sent a strong united
delegation to Martin's Ferry, headed by Hon.
William McD. Miller. Mr. Gill's name was
presented by Judge R. G. Richards in an
exceptionally able speech. Mr. Gill
received the nomination on the 218th ballot, and on
his return to Steubenville was received with such an
ovation as had never been tendered to any other
resident of the city. The streets over which his
carriage passed from the depot to his residence were
lined with an enthusiastic cheering crowd, while
hunting and fireworks enlivened the scene. At
the ensuing fall election he led the Republican
ticket by 800 in the city and received the
unprecedented majority of 4,165 in the district.
He entered upon his duties with the assembling of
Congress the following December, and the fact that
he was a new member did not prevent his taking an
active part in the proceedings in a manner that
caused his associates to feel the effect of his
force and influence. Among other things he
took up the subject of the Ohio River improvement,
with the result that one of the earliest dams to be
completed was the one giving a pool from Brilliant
to Steubenville
At the convention held in Bellaire, on April 4, 1900,
he was renominated without opposition, and in his
speech of acceptance on that occasion pronounced
unequivocally in favor of the gold standard,
concerning which there was still considerable
wavering among the party leaders, but which
principle was crystallized in the national platform
subsequently adopted at Chicago. At the
election that fall Mr. Gill's plurality was
4,920, being 156 more than McKinley's.
The congressional convention of 1902 was held on May
6, and Mr. Gill was nominated by acclamation.
His speech accepting the nomination attracted
national attention, both on account of the
sentiments expressed and the forceful way in which
they were presented. He called attention to
the despotic powers exercised by the Speaker of the
House, not always for the benefit of the people, and
said that the time had come to consider a revision
of the tariff, so that it should continue to be a
protection to American industries but not a shelter
for trusts and combinations. The subjects thus
broached were comparatively new at that time, but
have since become burning questions. It has
been called not inappropriately, a new Declaration
of Independence.
This was the off year in politics, but Mr. Gills'
plurality was 2,666 in the county, leading the head
of the state ticket by 169, and by a larger figure
in the district, where his plurality was 4,607.
On account of failing health, Mr. Gill resigned
his seat in Congress in the summer of 1903, amid
expressions of regret from all over the district,
and was succeeded by Hon. C. L. Weems.
While Mr. Gill has taken an active part in
business and politics, he has not been neglectful of
local civics and humanities. His purse has
been at the service of every worthy enterprise, and
a few years ago, recognizing the need of hospital
facilities in Steubenville, he built and equipped a
modern
structure for
that purpose which has been an incalculable boon to
the community. The original outlay for
this purpose was in the neighborhood of $40,000 and
the building has since been maintained by him free
of cost to the hospital association, which has been
thus enabled to devote its entire receipts to
operating expenses.
While engaged in his varied activities Mr. Gill
found time for lengthened recreation trips, both in
America and Europe, and was an enthusiastic devotee
of hunting, fishing and yachting. His trim craft was
for several years a familiar figure on the Northern
lakes. Mr. Gill is living a
somewhat retired life at present at his spacious
home
on Franklin and
La
Belle Avenues,
but keeps in touch with business and public affairs
both here and elsewhere.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 1018 |
Samuel C. Gill |
SAMUEL C.
GILL. By the death of Samuel C. Gill,
which occurred at his island home, Beaumaris,
Canada, on Aug. 17, 1909, Steubenville lost one of
her most active and popular citizens. Mr.
Gill belonged to the Mt. Pleasant family of that
name, where he was born in Mar. 10, 1851. His
early education was in the schools of Mt. Pleasant,
then as now being above the average of village
schools, supplemented by a course at Earlham
College, Ind., and a two-year term at Cornell
University, Ithaca, N. Y. With his brothers,
Hon. J. J. and J. W. Gill, he was one of
founders of the Exchange Bank (in 1873), once the
National Exchange, in which he always maintained an
interest and held a directorship for several years
preceding his death. When his brothers entered
into the glass business, as is more fully related
elsewhere, he embarked in the same enterprise, in
which business he remained during life, and was also
one of the originators of and part owner in the Ohio
Valley Clay Works, which have grown from a
comparatively small beginning to one of the leading
industries of the city.
In 1900 Mr. Gill was appointed a member of
Governor Nash's staff, with the rank of Colonel,
and served in that capacity during Nash's two
terms. Besides possessing a taste for
literature and the arts, Mr. Gill was quite
an extensive traveler and was a keen observer of all
that came in this way. Several years previous
to his death he purchased one of the beautiful
island in Lake Muskoka, Canada, where he built a
summer home, and where he and his family pleasantly
sojourned during the heated terms, and where, as
stated above, he passed away. He was
interested in social and civic enterprises, being a
director of the Steubenville Country Club, and a
member of the Ohio Society of New York, and the
Caledon Club, Toronto. On October 5, 1881.
Mr. Gill married Miss Willmena Holton,
of Steubenville, who survives him with one son,
James Holton Gill, one of our most worthy and
popular young citizens.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 592 |
|
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RICHARD
GILSON, ex-sheriff of Jefferson county, Ohio,
and one of the leading politicians of the Republican
party in this section, has been a resident of
Steubenville for about eight years, and was born
Dec. 15, 1858, in Columbiana County, Ohio. He
was reared on a farm in Columbiana County, and
continued his residence there until 1880 when he
entered the employ of the Pennsylvanian Railroad,
and remained with them a brakeman, telegraph
operator, and freight and ticket agent until 1901.
He has since that time served two terms as sheriff
of Jefferson County, and for the past five years has
been chairman of the Republican Executive and
Central Committee of the county. He was also
sergeant of arms of the house of representatives of
Ohio in 1906, but resigned that position at the
close of the first session of the legislature.
Mr. Gilson is a member of the M. P. Church,
the Steubenville Chamber of Commerce, and is
fraternally affiliated with the K. of P. , I. O. O.
F. and Encampment; the Elks, Red Men, Woodmen,
Knights of the Golden Eagle, and the Maccabees.
In 1887 he was joined in marriage with Susan
McCarl of Irondale, Jefferson County, Ohio, and
of this union were born six children, all of whom
are still at home.
(
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 831 |
|
|
HON. JOHN F.
GILSON, member of the Ohio State Legislature,
representing Jefferson County, has long been a
prominent factor in Republican politics in this
section. He was born in Yellow Creek Township,
Columbiana County, Ohio, Mar. 12, 1868, and is a son
of James an Jane (Kerr) Gilson.
James Gilson was born in Madison Township,
Columbiana County, Ohio, Jan. 12, 1814. He was
a son of Richard and Martha Gilson, who came
to Ohio from Pennsylvania, settling in Columbiana
County, and there James Gilson became a
farmer and also followed the carpenter trade.
For nearly thirty-one years prior to his death, he
lived at New Salisbury, Columbiana County, where his
death occurred in October, 1898. He was a man
of substantial standing in his community, was long a
liberal member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and was an upright citizen in relation to
public affairs. He married Jane Kerr,
who was a daughter of William and Eleanor (Clark)
Kerr, the former of whom was born in Fayette
County, Pennsylvania, and when a boy accompanied his
parents to Columbiana County. His father was
James Kerr. William and
Eleanor Kerr resided on a farm in Brush Creek
Township and there the former died in 1871, n his
seventy-fifth year, and the latter in 1885, in her
eighty-fourth year. To James and Jane
Gilson were born six sons and three daughters.
Martha A., the eldest, is now deceased.
She was the wife of Carl A. Robison and they
resided in Yellow Creek Township, Columbiana County.
William K., the eldest son, married Miss
Catherine Dallas and one of their sons,
Frederick Gilson, is a resident of Steubenville.
Mary J. is the wife of Wesley M. Higgins,
a merchant at Irondale, O. Richard, who
is now a resident of Steubenville, was formerly
sheriff of Jefferson County. He married
Susan McCarrell and they have five daughters and
one son. Rachel E., the third daughter,
is unmarried. Samuel, who is now
deceased, married Rebecca S. Close and they
had a son and daughter, both of whom live at
Irondale. James L., who is a resident
of Irondale, married Emma A. Hunter and they
have five children. Stephen C., who is
now deceased, married Millie S. Baxter.
One son is deceased.
Hon. John F. Gilson was the eighth child in
order of birth in the above family. He was
afforded common school advantages and afterward
taught school for a short time and then engaged in
farming in Yellow Creek Township, where he continued
until 1897, when he came to Irondale, where he was
postmaster for ten years. He has long been
active in county politics and in 1908 was nominated
on the Republican ticket for the general assembly
and in November of that year was elected to this
honorable position of representative. He has
been no idle statesman but has worked hard on the
following committees: Election, Temperance, Dairy
and Food, all of particular importance at the
present when these subjects are matters of public
discussion. Mr. Gilson is fraternally
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights
of the Golden Eagle, the Modern Woodmen of America
and the Improved Order of Red Men.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 753 |
|
|
WILLIAM
GLADDEN was formerly one of Knox Township's
well known and respected citizens, one of the men of
whom it may truly be said that his word was as good
as his bond and his friendship was cherished by
those to whom it was given. He was a faithful
friend, a good neighbor and devoted husband.
He was born near Midway, Pa., Jan. 13, 1830, and
died on his farm in Knox Township, Apr. 13, 1891.
His parents were Joseph and Jane (Donaldson)
Gladden.
William Gladden was reared to man's estate in
Pennsylvania and there he attended school in boyhood
but for only a short period as he practically had
his own way to make in the world and began work
early. About 1864 he came to Jefferson County, Ohio,
and settled on the farm on which his widow still
resides, and here the remaining years of his life
were passed. He devoted himself entirely to
farming and stock raising.
On May 30, 1876, Mr. Gladden was united in
marriage with Miss Rebecca E. Warren, who was
born in Knox Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, Mar.
21, 1832, and a daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Pollick)
Warren. Her father was born in
Pennsylvania; her mother, born in Jefferson County,
died when Mr. Gladden was for years old.
Her paternal grandfather was William Warren,
who settled in 1806 in Knox Township, on the farm
now occupied by Andrew Warren, William Warren
was a soldier in the War of 1812. William
Gladden was a consistent member of the United
Presbyterian Church at Knoxville, O. Mrs.
Gladden belongs also to this church. She
is well known and very highly esteemed in her
locality. She had four brothers, who fought
for the preservation of the Union in the great Civil
War. Her farm has 190 acres, but her nephew
owns it, she, however, retaining a life lease of it.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 590 |
|
|
J. H. GLENN,
an experienced business man of Toronto, who is
manager and buyer of the dry goods department of the
well known department store of the John Fancy
Company, with which he has been connected since its
organization, and for the last six years has been a
member of the company, was born on a farm in
Columbiana Co., Ohio, Aug. 25, 1852, a son of
William and Louisa (Davidson) Glenn.
William Glenn was engaged in farming for many
years, but finally sold his land and moved to East
Liverpool, O., where his wife died, J. H. Glenn
being at this time but thirteen years old.
When he had reached the age of eighteen years he
left the home farm and worked at the carpenters'
trade until he reached his majority, and at this
time he was married and came to Toronto, where he
has lived ever since, a period of nearly forty
years. His first employment was with Hartford,
Roberts, & Company, where he was a clerk for a few
years, and he then spent six years in the employ of
May Brothers, of Steubenville as clothing
salesman, leaving this concern to connect himself
with John Francy Company. Mr. Glenn's
services with this large enterprise have covered a
long period, his twenty-fourth year ending in April,
1910, and he has been manager and buyer of the dry
goods department for eighteen years.
Mr. Glenn was married to Miss Alice Ansley,
of Columbiana County, Ohio, and two children were
born to this union: Blanche, who
married H. S. Carey, of Steubenville, and has
one son - Robert Glenn; and Gertrude,
who married Robert Rodgers, of Long Beach,
Cal., and has two children - Alice and
Elizabeth. Mrs. Glenn died Jun. 23,
1897.
Mr. Glenn is a 32d degree Mason, a member of the
Blue Lodge, member of Lake Erie Consistory, at
Cleveland, O., the Lodge of Perfection, the Prince
of Jerusalem and the Rosecroix, having attained the
eighteenth degree in Masonry. He was a member
of the local town council for three terms. For
a quarter of a century Mr. Glenn has
interested himself a choral work, and he is now
conductor of the choir of the United Presbyterian
church, of which church he has been treasurer for
more than eighteen years.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 550 |
|
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ROBERT L. GLENN,
a prominent farmer of Saline Township, whose
improved farm of 103 acres in mainly devoted to
farming and fruit growing, has owned and occupied
this fine property for the past thirty-one years.
He was born near Port Homer, Jefferson County, Ohio,
Apr. 17, 1854 and is a son of George and Caroline
(Abrahams) Glenn.
The father of Mr. Glenn was born in Washington
County, Pa., in 1821 and was five years old when his
parents settled near New Somerset, Jefferson County,
Ohio. He married Caroline Abrahams,
who was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, Oct. 8,
1826, and died July 3, 1901. George Glenn
died at Wellsville, in December, 1909. He was
a well known and much esteemed man, for many yeas
being a very active member of the Sugar Grove
Methodist Episcopal Church. At one time he was
a very large holder of land in the county. Of
the seven children of George Glenn and wife,
Robert L., was the fourth in order of birth.
Robert L. Glenn attended school at Hollow Rock
and Port Homer, leaving his books when eighteen
years of age to begin steady work on the farm.
After his marriage, in February, 1878, he settled on
the place on which his brother, William Glenn,
now lives, but one year later, in April, 1879, moved
to the farm on which he has since resided, renting
it for several years but later purchasing it.
Mr. Glenn takes much pride in his beautiful
farm and attractive surroundings, to which the
completion of his handsome, modern residence has
added. He is a capable farmer and succeeds
equally well as a horticulturist, as his bountiful
orchards give testimony.
Mr. Glenn married a daughter of Andrew and
Susan (Starkey) Downer of old county pioneer
stock, and her father, now in his seventy fifty
year, resides at Wellsville. The other died
Nov. 27, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Glenn have
had six children, as follows: George Howard,
who is an engineer on the C. & P. Railroad, residing
at Wellsville, married Amanda Runion and they
have three children - George Robert, Margaret
and Anna; Charles Edgar, who was a veteran of
the Spanish-American War, was killed while
performing his duties as fireman on the railroad;
Wilbert Carl, who lives on a farm near New
Somerset, married Cora Hawthorne and they
have four children - William Robert, Florence,
Charles and Oliver; Roy C.,
who works in the oil fields at Knoxville, married
Pearl Graham; Harry who is in business at
Enterprise, Ohio, married Alice Martin and
they have one child, Blanche and an unnamed
infant that did not survive. In
politics, Mr. Glenn is a Democrat and a
leading one in this section. For the past
fifteen years he has served as a trustee of Saline
Township and has also been a member of the school
board for many years. He is a member of
Jenkins Lodge, No. 471, F. & A. M., Irondale.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 955 |
|
|
WILLIAM S.
GLENN, one of the substantial and
representative men of Saline Township, Jefferson
County, Ohio, whose time is largely taken up in
looking after his real estate interests at different
points, was born in Saline Township, Jan. 12, 1861,
and is a son of George and Caroline (Abrahams)
Glenn.
George Glenn was born in Washington County,
Pennsylvania, in 1821, and came to Jefferson County
with his parents in 1826. The mother was a
Kauffman. She lived into extreme old age
and both she and husband died in Jefferson County.
Glenn was five years old when he was brought
to Ohio and was reared near Somerset in Jefferson
County. He grew to manhood in this county and
acquired large tracts of land, in 1865 buying 180
acre in Saline Township, 160 of which his son,
William S., later acquired and taht was the old
home farm. He was active up to the time of his
death and when eighty years of age could easily
swing himself into his saddle and ride with as much
ease and enjoyment as other men many years younger.
He died at Wellsville, in December, 1909, having
made his home with a daughter there after the death
of his wife. HE was an ardent Democrat all his
life and he was equally attached to the Methodist
Episcopal Church and was long a member and an
official of the church at Sugar Grove. He
married Caroline Abrahams, who was born in
Jefferson County, Ohio, Oct. 8, 1826, and died July
3, 1901. Her parents were James and Sophia
(Wilson) Abrahams. The former was born in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Oct. 19, 1798, and
the latter in Frederick County, Maryland.
Seven children were born to George and Caroline
Glenn, namely: George W., who died
at Wellsville at the age of forty years (married
Mary Stewart, of West Virginia); Sarah
Catherine, who died in 1891, at the age of
thirty-nine years (married A. C. Culp, a
resident of New Somerset); Drusilla, who
married Rinaldo Runion and lives at
Wellsville; Robert L., township trustee and
owner of a large farm in Saline Township, who
married Emma Downard; Anna Eliza, who died
when aged thirty-six years (married Sylvester Van
Tilbugh, of Knox Township); and William S.,
of Saline Township.
William S. Glenn attended school at Hollow Rock
and after leaving his books engaged in farming
and continued active in agricultural pursuits for
many years. Of his farm of 160 acres he sold
the surface of all but twenty acres, but has
reserved the mineral rights. HE owns a farm of
160 acres near Salineville, in Columbiana County,
and his property at Chester, W. Va.., at East
Liverpool, Wellsville and New Cumberland, all
valuable real estate. He has continued to live
in Saline Township, erecting his present comfortable
residence in 1902. Like his father
he early became identified with the Democratic
party.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 771 |
|
|
JOHN D.
GRAFTON, who has resided on his valuable farm
of 230 acres, situated in Island Creek Township,
since his father came here with his family, in 1844,
is one of the township's representative citizens.
He was born in this township, Mar. 10, 1834, and is
a son of Isaac and Jane (McFarland) Grafton.
Isaac Grafton was born in Maryland but was brought
early to Island Creek Township by his father, who
was later killed here by a stroke of lightning, this
happening before the birth of his grandson, John
D. Grafton. In 1844k, Isaac Grafton
settled on the farm now owned by his son, John D.
He lived into advanced age dying in 1882. He
married Jane McFarland, a daughter of
William McFarland, who settled in Island Creek
Township about 1812. There are three surviving
children of Isaac and Jane Grafton: John
D.; George W., who lives near Smithfield, O.,
and Jane, who is the widow of Thomas Robertson,
(formerly of Steubenville, but she now resides in
Stafford County, Kansas.
John D. Grafton was ten years old when his
parents settled on the present farm and here his
life has been spent, his occupation always having
been an agricultural one. He began to work
independently in 1859 and has always met with
reasonable success in his undertakings. During
the Civil War he bought and sold a large amount of
livestock and, being a man of excellent judgment,
was able to make it profitable. He has a well
cultivated farm and its value reaches what would be
an impossible price to the ordinary purchaser of
land. Mr. Grafton has devoted many
years of his life to its cultivation and
improvement. He has taken a good citizen's
interest in public matters in his township and has
been willing to take up himself the responsibilities
of office when his fellow citizens have selected him
for the same and has given faithful and efficient
service. He is a Democrat and on the
Democratic ticket was a candidate for county
commissioner and was defeated by a very small
majority. He has served as judge of elections
and a number of years ago served as township
trustee, to which office he was again elected for a
term of two years, in November, 1909, while for a
quarter of a century he has been a school director.
On Jan. 21, 1858, Mr. Grafton was married, to
Miss Sarah J. Palmer, who was born in Island Creek
Township, Jefferson County, Feb. 19, 1839, and
is a daughter of George and Elma (Coulter) Palmer,
the former of whom died in 1863. To Mr. and
Mrs. Grafton seven children have been born:
George P., who lives in Summit County, Ohio;
Elma J., who is the wife of O. L. Swickard,
of Island Creek Township; James, W., Isaac H.
and Alonzo B., all of Island Creek Township;
Martha A., who is the wife of J. W.
Fleming, of this township; and Nancy A.,
who is deceased. Mr. aand Mrs. Grafton
are members of Pleasant Hill Presbyerian
church.
Source:20th
Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson Co.,
Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 616 |
|
|
WILLIAM
M. GRAFTON,
an exclusive real estate dealer of Steubenville, O.,
is identified with the LaBelle Land Company, and
numerous building projects. He has been a
resident of this city nine years and is widely
known. Mr. Grafton was born in New
Cumberland in 1861, and was twelve years of age when
his family moved to Bellaire, O. There he
completed his schooling and early in life learned
the glass-making trade. He was engaged in that
business for a period of twenty-five years, and then
turned his attention to the real estate business.
Upon coming to Steubenville in 1901, he became
identified with the LaBelle Land Company, with which
he has continued ever since. He is a man of
good business qualifications, resourceful and
enterprising, and has been active in the development
of the city. Mr. Grafton was formerly
active in politics, but in recent years has taken
little interest. In 1882 he was married to
Miss Sophia M. Ingler, a native of Jefferson
County, and they have four children:
Nellie, Mabel, William and Georgiana.
Religiously, they are members of the Methodist
Protestant church. Mr. Grafton is a
member of the Junior Order United American
Mechanics.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ. Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 610 |
|
|
JOHN C.
GRAHAM, a prominent retired farmer of
Richmond, Ohio, and owner of a farm of eighty acres
in Salem Township, Jefferson County, was born
December 8, 1833 in Deersville, Harrison County,
Ohio, a son of Harrison and Ruth (Hague) Graham.
The parents of our subject were both natives of
Maryland and continued their residence there a few
years after their marriage. They then moved to
Harrison County, Ohio, where the father died, after
which the mother removed to East Springfield, where
she spent the remainder of her life. The
mother of our subject was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church of East Springfield. She was
the mother of the following children: F. E.,
Lucinda, Maria Ann, John C. and James.
John C. Graham was reared and educated in Harrison
County, Ohio, and learned the blacksmith trade at
which he worked for years at Richmond and Mooretown.
He subsequently located on a farm of eighty acres in
Section 22, Salem Township, where he followed
general farming until 1902, when he removed to East
Springfield, Ohio. One year later he removed
to Richmond, where he has since lived in retirement,
but still continues the management of his farm.
Mr. Graham was first united in marriage May 3,
1852, with Rebecca Richardson, who was a
daughter of Samuel Richardson of Carroll
County, Ohio, and of their union were born the
following children: Isaiah, deceased;
Samuel; Emma A.; James H., deceased; George
E.; McCullough, deceased; William R.; David
"N.; and Maggie B., deceased. The
entire family was stricken with small pox and
Mrs. Graham died of that dread disease, Dec. 2,
1871. She and a son were buried at Mt. Hope
Cemetery, Mr. Graham, with the assistance of
his brother-in-law and nephews being obliged to
conduct the entire burial service, owing to the
nature of the disease. Mr. Graham's
second marriage occurred Sept. 3, 1872, with Ruth
Walton, a daughter of William Stewart Walton,
and of this union were born three children:
Nannie M., Charles and Eugene R. Mrs.
Graham died Sept. 10, 1884, and is also buried
at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Mr. Graham formed
a third union May 27, 1886, with Emma Morrow.
Mr. Graham is a charter member of the United
Brethren Church of East Springfield, Ohio, and was
for some time an exhorter, and is now a class
leader. In politics he is identified with the
Democratic party, but in no sense of the word is a
politician.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 1033 |
|
|
DR. F. B. GROESBECK,
a prominent physician and highly esteemed citizen of
Steubenville, O., who has been identified with the
medical profession of Jefferson County for the past
four years, was born December, 1875, in Granville,
N. Y. Dr. Groesbeck was about five
years of ago when his parents removed to Titusville,
Pa., where be was reared and obtained a common
school education. His parents subsequently
removed to Florida and in 1895 he entered the
Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland, from which
he graduated with the class of 1899, and immediately
afterward embarked in the practice of medicine at
Buffalo, where he was associated with Dr. Dewitt
G. Wilcox, a distinguished physician and surgeon
of this locality, and owner of a private hospital
known as the Lexington Heights Hospital.
Dr. Groesbeck continued his association with
Dr. Wilcox until 1905, when he came to
Steubenville, where he has established an extensive
practice and possesses to the fullest extent the
esteem and confidence of his fellow men.
Dr. Groesbeck is a member of the Ohio State
Homeopathic Medical Society, the Ohio and West
Virginia Homeopathic Medical Society, and the
American Institute of Homeopathy. He is
medical examiner for several insurance companies,
among them the Protected Home Circle, the North
American Union Life Insurance Association, the Roman
Catholic Union of America, and the Columbus Mutual
Life Insurance Company. Dr. Groesbeck
is also identified with other business interests of
Steubenville. He is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce, is fraternally an Elk and Knight of
Pythias, and his religious connection is with the
St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Dr.
Groesbeck was married Nov. 15, 1889 to
Florence S. Stone, of Buffalo, N. Y.
Source:
20th Century History of Steubenville & Jefferson
Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ Richmond-Arnold
Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 - Page 780 |
|
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JAMES A.
GROVES, proprietor of the Unionport Flour
Mills, at Unionport, Ohio, and a trustee of Wayne
Township, Ohio, and a trustee of Wayne Township,
Jefferson County, was born in Salem Township, Jan.
19, 1854, and is a son of John and Ellen (Clomen)
Groves.
John Groves was born in Franklin County, Ohio,
where his father had settled after the close of his
service as a soldier in the Revolutionary War.
In early manhood John Groves came to
Jefferson County and settled in Salem Township where
he learned the blacksmith trade with a brother, and
he followed the same during his active yeas, later
engaging also in farming. He died in Harrison
County when aged about eighty years. He
married Ellen Clomen who was a native of
Pennsylvania.
James A. Groves attended the Salem Township
schools and gave assistance to his father until his
marriage. He worked at carpentry and odd jobs
until 1880, when he came to Unionport, where he has
become a leading citizen. During the first two
years here he worked as journeyman carpenter, and
then until 1903 as a bridge builder on the Panhandle
Railroad, for about twelve years of this time being
foreman. He was enraged in this work in 1884
when the Ohio river reached the greatest height of
which there is any record, and Mr. Groves was
on continuous duty from a Thursday morning until the
following Saturday at midnight, without rest.
He upon one occasion, at a later period, was working
on the bridge at New Comerstown, when he was knocked
into the turbulent water below. He swam
against the stream and got within reach of two of
his fellow workmen, who hauled him out. In
1903 he became connected with the flour mill
business and is now proprietor of the Unionport
Flour Mills, a very important business enterprise of
this section. He manufactures high grade
winter wheat flour and corn meal and feed. In
large measure he is a self made man, having been
independent as far as financial assistance is
concerned, from early youth.
In August, 1874, Mr. Groves was married to
Miss Flora B. Krider, who was born in Salem
Township, Jefferson County, and two children were
born to them: Maggie B., who is the wife of
Jesse A. Polen, and they have three children
- Harold D., Ella Marie, and Carles A.,
and they live in Unionport, Ohio; and Ora E.,
who is deceased. Mr. Groves is a member
of the Christian Church at Unionport. He is a
Republican in his political views and has served in
township offices at times, having been assessor of
Unionport Precinct, Wayne Township, and in the fall
of 1909 was elected township trustee for a term of
two years.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville &
Jefferson Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ
Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 1026 |
|
|
DAVID M. GRUBER,
a prominent member of the Jefferson County bar, who
has been engaged in the practice of law at
Steubenville, Ohio, for the past twenty-four years,
is also a factor in Democratic politics and is a
broad-minded citizen in regard to everything that
relates to the public welfare of this section.
He was born Jan. 7, 1854, at Annapolis, Jefferson
County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Elizabeth
(Powell) Gruber. Andrew Gruber,
ancestor of John Gruber, according to a
translation from the German text in the Bible Family
Record, was born at Marburg, Hesse Darmstadt, about
the year 1555. The grandfather of our subject
came to America shortly after the War of the
Revolution and settled near Lancaster, Pa., where
his son John was born July 27, 1797.
From there the family moved to Washington County,
Pa., and John having learned the printer's trade,
subsequently became the editor of a newspaper at
Wellsburg, W. Va. Prior to his marriage he
came to Ohio and located first in Harrison County,
where he soon recognized as a man of sterling
qualities, and for fifteen years he served there as
Justice of the Peace, and was twice elected to the
State legislature from Harrison County he engaged in
the practice of law, his death occurring Dec. 20,
1885. He married Elizabeth Powell, who
was born in Washington County, Pa., Oct. 8, 1814,
and she survived her husband for some years.
Several members of the family became prominent in
different callings. Jacob Gruber, a
relative of John, was a leading Methodist
preacher and an ardent abolitionist. While
holding a charge in the South, he arrested on the
charge of preaching abolitionism, but was acquitted.
Albert, son of John Gruber, is also a
Methodist preacher, now located at Sebring, Ohio.
David M. Gruber obtained his early education in
both public and private schools and later attended
the Hopedale Normal School, in preparation for the
career of a teacher. He was thrown entirely
upon his own resources when but fourteen years of
age and made a manly fight for both education and
social and professional recognition, which in every
respect proved successful. For five yeas from
the age of seventeen, he alternated teaching and
school attendance and in 1878, when he graduated
with honors from Scio College, he had completed the
full scientific course. Having previously
decided upon the law as a life profession, he had
done a great deal of preliminary reading before he
felt justified in denoting himself exclusively to
his law studies, which was his course after leaving
college, and he was admitted to the bar on Oct. 3,
1882, by the Supreme Court of Ohio. It had
been his intention to immediately open an office at
Steubenville, but the precarious nature of his
father's health made it necessary for him to return
home where he remained until his father's decease.
In August, 1887, Mr. Gruber entered upon
professional work in Steubenville and has been in
continuous and successful practice ever since, his
office being a well appointed one in the National
Exchange Bank Building. His clientage is
marked not only by numbers but by character,
embracing as it does some of the leading business
men and corporations of eastern Ohio and adjacent
territory. In 1908 he served as a delegate
from this Congressional district to the Democratic
National Convention at Denver and represented Ohio
on the Committee on Platform. He was a member
of the special committee to frame the platform and
one of the sub-committee of five to arrange the
reports on this matter. At a recent Ohio
Democratic convention he was presented for the
office of Supreme Court Judge, and although it was a
complete surprise and there was no solicitation by
himself or friends, he received next to the largest
number of votes cast for the nominee for that
important office. He has been asked to become
a candidate for various state and county offices,
but has uniformly declined preferring to follow his
profession. Mr. Gruber married Miss
Myra A. Ferry, a daughter of William H. and
Sarah L. Ferry and their pleasant home is
situated at No. 743 Sixth Avenue. They are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: 20th Century History of Steubenville &
Jefferson Co., Ohio by Joseph B. Doyle - Publ
Richmond-Arnold Publ. Co. - Chicago - 1910 -
Page 912 |
NOTES:
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