Biographies

Source: 
History of Morgan County, Ohio
with
Portraits and Biographical Sketches
of some of its
Pioneers and Prominent Men.
By Charles Robertson, M. D.
 - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co.
1886

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A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

ANDREW KAHLER.  Andrew Kahler, a son of Jacob and Rachael (Madary) Kahler, is among the oldest residents of McConnelsville.  He was born in Frederick County, Maryland, Aug. 16, 1813, and is of German descent.  He moved to Ohio with his parents in the spring of 1817, and in the fall of the same year to McConnelsville, where his father was the first settler.  He received a common school education in the imperfect pioneer schools, walking back and forth to McConnelsville to attend school after his parents moved to the country.  He lived on a farm from 1826 to 1857.  When a young man he began teaching school, and followed that occupation, generally in the winter time, for eighteen or twenty years.  He held the office of justice of the peace, and in 1857 was elected sheriff of the county, and moved to McConnelsville, where he has since resided, with the exception of two years.  He served two years as sheriff, and has also been coroner of the county several terms.  From 1863 to 1868 (when the office was abolished) he was revenue assessor and storekeeper of the bonded warehouse.  He published the McConnelsville Herald four years; was in the grocery business in McConnelsville for two years, commencing in 1873, and from 1879 to the all of 1885 he served as deputy county auditor.  Mr. Kahler was formerly a whig, and is now a republican.  He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, and a Universalist in religion.  He was married in January, 1837, to Susan Pyle, daughter of Jonathan Pyle, of this county.  Their children are Harriet E. (Shephard), Indianapolis; Francis M., now living in Nebraska; Charles F., Columbus; Kate H. (Paine), Columbus; William S., Indianapolis.      Francis M. Kahler enlisted as a private in the 17th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served three months.  In the fall of 1861 he reentered the service as first lieutenant of Company B, 62d Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  He served through the war, and rose through the several grades to the rank of major.  After his return from the service he engaged in the mercantile business with Mr. Worley Adams, under the firm name of Adams & Kahler, until 1878. Source:  Chapter XVII - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 318-319   JACOB KAHLER.  Jacob Kahler was born in Londoun Co., Va., in 1785.  He resided in that county and learned the millwright’s trade when a young man.  He moved thence to Frederick County, Md.. where he married Rachael Madary, built a grist mill on a small creek in that county and continued to run the mill until 1817, with the exception of part of the year 1813, when he served in the army, in the war between the United States and Great Britain.  In the spring of 1817 he emigrated to Ohio with his family, crossed the Alleghany mountains in a wagon, and after enduring many hardships and privations at the end of four weeks arrived at Zanesville.  There his family remained until the fall of the same year, when they came to Morgan County, to the place afterward known as the town of McConnelsville, where Mr. Raider had erected a double log cabin, the first house of any kind in the place.  The same year he entered a quarter section of land about two and one-half miles northeast of the town.  Shortly after settling in McConnelsville he built a saw mill east of the town, on the stream known as McConnel’s Run, for General Robert McConnel, the proprietor of the town.  He continued to follow his trade and to work at carpentry whenever his services were demanded in either direction.  His occupations obliged him to be away from home a great deal of the time.  The climate along the river was very unhealthy and his family suffered much from fevers of various types.  Between 1817 and 1824 three of his children died, victims of the deleterious influences of the climate.  In 1826 Mr. Raider built a house on Ins land, to which he removed and there resided until his death in February, 1844.  His death resulted from a fall upon the floor of his barn from a height of sixteen feet.  His is skull was fractured and he lived but three hours after the accident.  After clearing away the dense forests and getting quite a fine farm under cultivation, his industry began to bear fruit, and his accumulations slowly but steadily increased.  About 1840 he gave the entire management of the farm to his sons William and Andrew, who jointly occupied and cultivated the land until 1852.  William then moved to Jackson County, Oregon, where he still resides.  He has reared a family of ten children, who are scattered in various parts of the country.  He has been a successful business man and has represented his county in the legislature.  A sketch of the other surviving son, Andrew Kahler, follows.  There is but one of the other children of Jacob Kahler now living—Mrs. Kraps, of McConnelsville.      Mr. Kahler was a quiet, unassuming man, yet possessed of strong convictions, always ready to maintain the principles and doctrines he professed and to give a “reason for the hopes he entertained.”  His conduct was characterized by strict integrity and honesty, and it was a principle of his life to “owe no man anything.”  He was highly esteemed by all who knew him, by reason of his conscientiousness and moral worth. He was a great admirer of John Quincy Adams—an anti-Jacksonian.  He became a whig, and so remained until his death.  Although sometimes severe in his criticism of the other party his opinions seldom gave offense.  He always appeared to be contented with his lot.  For three or four years preceding his death he spent much of his time in reading the Bible and sacred and profane history; from his studies in this direction, as well as from the writings of Balfour, Ballou, Murray and others, he became an earnest believer in the doctrine of universal salvation.  His wife survived him about six years and died in 1850. Source:  Chapter XVII - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 317-318   JOSEPH KELLY.   Joseph Kelly was an early settler and a prominent citizen of McConnelsville.  He was reared in Marietta and came to Morgan County when a young man.  He was one of the pioneer saltmakers of the county, and prominent in the development of that industry.  As early as 1828 he moved to McConnelsville, where for a number of years he carried on the mercantile business.  He was a man of considerable influence, though quiet and unassuming in his manners and never seeking distinction.  He was an earnest democrat, and served with credit as a member of the State board of equalization.  He was well informed and of sound judgment.  He died in 1872, aged sixty-seven years.  He was married in this county to Electa B. Chandler, and was the father of eight children, six of whom are living. Source:  Chapter XVII - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 327 ----- SHARON WICK'S NOTE:  Electa B. Chandler married Joseph Kelly on Sept. 25, 1828 in Muskingum Co., OH by John Hunt (source: familysearch.org)   JOSEPH ARTHUR KELLY, a son of the late Joseph Kelly, of McConnelsville, was born about 1843, and was educated at the Harvard Law School.  He was admitted to the bar of Morgan County in September, 1865, but practiced law but little, as he engaged in newspaper work soon after his admission to the bar and followed that business chiefly during his stay in McConnelsville.  In 1873 he removed to Savannah, Mo., where he edited a democratic paper several years.  From Savannah he went to St. Louis, where he is now connected with the St. Louis Republican. Source:  Chapter XV - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 265   W. R. KELLY, M. D., is a son of Joseph and Electa B. Kelly.  He was born in McConnelsville, Dec. 10, 1837, and educated in the common schools and at Ohio State University.  He studied medicine under the late Dr. Robertson, of McConnelsville, and attended Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he graduated in March, 1863.  Prior to his graduation he served from May, 1861, to October, 1862, as assistant contract surgeon in hospital service at Philadelphia, Washington  and Frederick City.  Since 1863 he was practiced his profession principally in his native place.  Dr. Kelly was married in 1863 to Sarah A. Johnson, of Morgan County, and is the father of three children. Source:  Chapter XV - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 276   E. M. KENNEDY was born in Morgan County Oct. 25, 1847.  Studied law under Evans & Jones, and was admitted to the bar in 1869.  In 1875 he was elected prosecuting attorney and served one term.  Mr. Kennedy is a democrat and takes an active part in politics.  He is a graceful and forcible writer and a frequent contributor to the local press. Source:  Chapter XV - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 270   PHILLIP KENNEDY, M. D. - One of the prominent characters of this county in medical circles was Dr. Philip Kennedy, of Deavertown, York Township.  An Irishman by birth, his parents came to this country when he was an infant and located at Somerset, Perry County, where his mother is buried.  While living at Somerset he acquired a good common school education, but it was acquired under difficulties that would have daunted one less determined than himself.  On arriving at majority and while following his trade, that of a cabinet maker, he determined to read medicine.  His preceptor was Dr. Jonathan Axline, of Uniontown, Muskingum County, Ohio.  He graduated with honor at the Ohio Medical College, in Cincinnati, and established himself in practice at Uniontown in 1851 in connection with his preceptor.  Two years after he came to Deavertown and entered upon the practice of his profession under very adverse circumstances.  In a few years, however, he succeeded by means of that indomitable energy and untiring industry that always characterized him in building up an extensive and lucrative practice, which he held until his death, which occurred in 1882.  This is largely to be attributed to the fact that he was a hard student and a conscientious and successful practitioner.  In addition to his professional duties the doctor took an active interest in politics.  An ardent republican, he received the nomination in 1859 for representative at the hands of his party, and after an active and earnest canvass was elected by a handsome majority over his opponent, Hon. James Moore.  At the expiration of his term, two years after, he resumed the practice of his profession and followed it continuously with the exception of a short time spent in caring for the wounded soldiers after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, a service he was requested to perform by Governor Tod.  The doctor was a charter member of the Morgan County Medical Society, also of the Zanesville Academy of Medicine and of the Perry County Medical Society, and for many years it was his custom to entertain once a year the members of these societies at his pleasant home.  Dr. Kennedy married Elizabeth, daughter of Lisle Fulton, of Uniontown, who survives him.  Ten children were born to them, nine of whom grew up to be men and women.  Dr. Kennedy was emphatically a self-made man.  His early life was one of poverty and hardships, and whatever he accomplished he did alone and unaided.  Perhaps no man in Southern Ohio was held in closer esteem by his medical brethren and the community in which he resided for more than a quarter of a century. Source:  Chapter XVI - History of Morgan County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. By Charles Robertson, M. D.  - Published Chicago: L. H. Watkins & Co. 1886 - Page 280

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