| |
JACOB EKELBERRY.
––A native of the old Buckeye state and a representative of
one of its sterling pioneer families, Jacob Ekelberry
has lived a life of uprightness and usefulness and was long
and successfully identified with the great basic industries
of farming and stockgrowing, through association with which
lines of enterprise he gained distinctive success. He is
now living virtually retired on an attractive little
homestead of thirteen acres, lying adjacent to the village
of Cardington, and in the county that has so long been his
home and the scene of his well directed endeavors he is held
in unqualified confidence and esteem, his standing in the
community being such as to entitle him to representation in
this publication.
Jacob Ekelberry was born on a farm in Brown
township, Delaware county, Ohio, on the 13th of September,
1841, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Whiteman)
Ekelberry, both of whom were born and reared in
Pennsylvania, where their marriage was solemnized. The
father was a son of Jacob Ekelberry, who was of
stanch German ancestry and who finally removed from
Pennsylvania to Muskingum county, Ohio, where he developed
an excellent farm and where he and his wife passed the
residue of their lives, honored by all who knew them. He
was a man of sturdy integrity and marked industry and he was
one of the worthy pioneers of Muskingum county, to whose
social and material advancement he contributed his quota.
Jacob Ekelberry (II), father of him whose name
initiates this review and who bears the full patronymic,
remained in Pennsylvania for some time after his marriage
and then came with his cherished and devoted wife to Ohio.
For a few years he maintained his home in Fairfield county,
and he then removed to Delaware county, where he reclaimed a
farm and won independence and definite prosperity through
his indefatigable industry and good management. On the
homestead both he and his wife continued to reside until
they were summoned to the life eternal, and their names
merit an enduring place on the roll of honored pioneers of
this favored section of the state. The mother was a member
of the Baptist church. They became the parents of eleven
children, of whom four sons and five daughters were reared
to years of maturity, and of the number three are now
living: Sarah, who is the wife of George Ferguson,
residing near St. Joseph, Missouri; Mary, who is the
wife of John Heverlo, of Delaware county, Ohio, and
Jacob, who figures as the immediate subject of this
sketch.
Jacob Ekelberry, the only surviving son in this
large family, gained his initial experiences in connection
with the work of the home farm and the conditions that
compassed his boyhood were those of what may be termed the
middle-pioneer period of the history of this section of the
state. He found his early educational advantages those
afforded in the somewhat primitive district schools, but he
has profited largely by the lessons gained under the
direction of the wise headmaster, experience, and is a man
of broad mental ken and mature judgment, the while he has
exemplified most effectively the wholesome traditions of the
family name, which has ever been exponent of integrity,
loyalty and unassuming worth. There has been nothing
complex or dramatic in his career as one of the world’s
noble army of workers, but his course has been sincere, sane
and earnest, marked by appreciation of the duties and
responsibilities that canopy every life, and the result is
shown in the impregnable vantage place he holds in the
confidence and regard of his fellow men. Mr. Ekelberry
purchased his homestead farm in Westfield township, Morrow
county, and through his well directed energies he developed
the same into one of the valuable properties of the county,
making the best of improvements and giving his attention to
diversified agriculture and stock-growing. His landed
estate, comprising eighty acres, he sold in 1911 and he has
now established himself in the attractive home which he has
purchased contiguous to the village of Cardington, where he
is enabled to enjoy the gracious rewards of former years of
earnest endeavor. The place comprises thirteen acres, as
already stated, and he will thus find oportunity [sic]
to touch in a moderate way the cultivation of the soil, his
love for which has become reinforced by long years of close
association.
Though never desirous of entering the turbulance [sic]
of practical politics, Mr. Ekelberry has ever stood
ready to lend his influence and cooperation in the support
of measures tending to advance the general welfare of the
community and he is aligned as a stanch supporter of the
basic principles of the Democratic party. Both he and his
wife have been for many years zealous members of the
Marlboro Baptist church, which is one of the oldest in
Delaware county and near which their homestead farm is
located.
The domestic relations of
Mr. Ekelberry have
been of the most ideal order, as his cherished and devoted
wife has been a true helpmeet as they have passed side by
side along the journey of life, sustained and comforted by
mutual sympathy and abiding affection. On the 24th of
December, 1863, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Ekelberry to Miss Maria E. Redman, who was born
in Brown township, Delaware county, Ohio, on the 23rd of
October, 1845, and who is the daughter of Aaron and
Drusilla (Dix) Redman, the former of whom was born in
the state of Virginia, where he was reared to maturity and
whence he came to Delaware county, Ohio, when a young man,
his marriage being here solemnized. His wife was a daughter
of David and Mary (Main) Dix. David Dix was a
son of Elijah Dix, who was born and reared in the
highlands of Scotland and who immigrated to America about
the year 1750. He located about thirty miles north of the
city of New York and there passed the remainder of his
life. A number of his descendants have attained to
distinction in public, professional and business life,
including the late General John A. Dix, at one time
governor of New York, as well as Honorable John A. Dix,
the present governor of that state, and Reverend John M.
Dix, D. D., a prominent member of the clergy of the
Protestant Episcopal church. Elijah Dix, the
progenitor of the family in America, married Margaret
Clark, who was of English parentage. He was
distinctively loyal to the land of his adoption, as is well
shown by the fact that he served as a valiant soldier in the
Continental line in the war of the Revolution. In this
connection he was present at the surrender of Lord
Cornwallis, at Yorktown. Later he established his home
in Vermont, but he finally removed to Pennsylvania. David Dix, grandfather of
Mrs. Ekelberry, was one
of the sterling pioneers of Delaware county, Ohio, where he
took up his abode in 1808, a few years after the admission
of the state to the Union. He secured a tract of heavily
timbered land in Troy township, where he reclaimed a farm
from the wilderness, besides which he had the distinction of
being the first permanent settler of that township. His
wife, whose maiden name was Mary Main, was a
representative of a family that gave a number of valiant
soldiers and at least one officer to the patriot forces in
the war of the Revolution.
In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the
four children of Mr. and Mrs. Ekelberry. Stephen
A., Joanna. E., Bertha L. and Kittie M. Stephen A., who was afforded good educational
advantages, having been educated in the schools of Delaware,
Ohio, and at Kenyon Military Academy, at Gambier, is a
master mechanic and resides in the city of Delaware. He
married Miss Sylvia Catherine Jacoby, and they had
two children: Glady Marie, who died in infancy, and
Jay Redman, educated in the schools of Delaware, who
is a promising young man, and a member of Company K, Ohio
National Guards. Joanna E., after completing her
public school education received training in art and took a
course in music in the Ohio Wesleyan University, and was a
successful teacher for a number of years. She first married
Emmet M. Wickham, and by this marriage has one son,
Joy Carrollton, now a veterinary surgeon, who
received his education at the Ohio State University. She is
now the wife of Frank L. Woods, and resides in
Graceton, Texas, and has two sons, Francis Jacob and
Joseph Patrick. Bertha L., who remains at
the parental home, was graduated in the high school of
Delaware, and also took courses in music and art at the Ohio
Wesleyan University; Kittie M., who is also at home,
after completing the course in the public schools continued
her studies in music and art, and she, like her sisters, is
a lady of culture and of most gracious personality, the
family having been one of prominence in connection with the
social activities of the home community.
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
869-871
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
| |
DANIEL BEERS ELDRIDGE,
a prosperous farmer residing a short distance north of
Pulaskiville in Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, was
born in this county and, having passed his early life here,
returned in later years to renew his identity with the
locality. He dates his birth in Franklin township December
8, 1828, a son of pioneers of this vicinity. His father,
Harvey Perry Eldridge, was a native of New York state,
who came in early life to the Western Reserve and made
settlement on a section of wild land in Franklin township,
Morrow county, which he entered from the government. Here
he subsequently married Miss Margaret Beers, whose
parents were settlers in the pioneer community. Harvey
P. and Margaret Eldridge were the parents of eight
children, one of whom, Judson, died in army service
at Corinth, Mississippi. The father died at the age of
fifty-two years; the mother at sixty-four.
Daniel B. Eldridge grew up on his father’s farm,
working in the fields in summer and during the winter
attending school at Pulaskiville. In 1861 he married
Miss Mahalia Lovett, of this township, and two children
were born to them while they resided in Morrow county, a son
and a daughter. The former, Elmer Elsworth Eldridge,
a young man of great promise, died in 1898, at the age of
thirty-four years, at Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he had
gone for the benefit of his health. The daughter, Eva,
was born in 1876, and is now the wife of Frederick Owens,
a druggist and one of the prominent citizens of Almont, De
Kalb county, Missouri.
In early life
Mr. Eldridge disposed of his
holdings in Ohio and moved to De Kalb county, Missouri,
where he bought a farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres,
near Maysville, the county seat, where he resided for a
number of years, and for a time was fairly prosperous. In
February, 1889, his wife died and was buried in that county,
beside her mother, Sarah Ann Lovett, who had
accompanied them to Missouri and whose death occurred some
years previous to that of Mrs. Eldridge’s. In 1891,
two years after the death of his wife, Mr. Eldridge
came back to the state of his nativity and again took up his
abode in Morrow county. Here six years later on the 4th of
August, 1891, he married Miss Polly Hart. They
purchased a farm of sixty acres, where they now reside in a
pleasant country home and where they are surrounded with all
the comforts of life. Mr. Eldridge prides himself on
the fine fruit he raises here, and his Delaine sheep are
noted throughout the county. Mrs. Eldridge, also a
native of Morrow county, is a daughter of Levi and Leah
Hart, pioneer settlers of the county.
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
522-523
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
| |
CHARLES W. EMERSON.
––Morrow county has been particularly fortunate in the
possession of many progressive and honored citizens, whose
lives have added greatly to the high place it occupies as
one of the foremost sections of the fine old Buckeye state.
High on the roll of successful and sterling agriculturists
stands the name of Charles W. Emerson, whose good
farm of one hundred and ten acres of arable land is located
on the Chesterville and Sparta road, some one and one half
miles distant from Chesterville, Ohio.
In Knox county, Ohio, on the 5th of March, 1856,
occurred the birth of Charles W. Emerson, who is a
son of James and Mary (Ink) Emerson, the former of
whom was born and reared in the old commonwealth of Virginia
and the latter of whom was a native of New York. Mrs.
Mary (Ink) Emerson immigrated to Ohio with her parents
when she was but six years of age, the trip across the
country from the old Empire state having been made in a
wagon. James Emerson was long engaged in farming and
stock raising in this state and he was summoned to the life
eternal in the year 1865; his wife is yet living. They were
the parents of three children, all boys, of whom Charles
W. was the second in order of birth. Monroe and
Arthur Emerson are both identified with agricultural
operations in Morrow county and of recent years Arthur
has devoted a great deal of time to engineering work, being
at the present time engineer of the hoop factory at
Cardington
Charles W. Emerson attended the district schools
of his home county until he had received an excellent common
school education and subsequently he was a student in the
Waterford Academy in Knox county, Ohio. After his marriage,
in 1880, he established the family home on the Lanning
estate, on which they have continued to reside to the
present day. This estate or farm consists of one hundred
and ten acres of excellent land on the Chesterville and
Sparta road, and by reason of ith [sic] substantial
buildings and general air of thrift and prosperity it is
recognized as one of the good farms in this district.
Commencing with youthful zeal to improve and beautify their
home, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson worked with industry and
perseverance and their toil has been amply rewarded, for now
they are passing the years of their lives in full enjoyment
of the fruits of former labors.
On the 7th of April, 1880, was celebrated the marriage
of Mr. Emerson to Miss Emma M. Long, of
Harmony township, Morrow county. She is a daughter of
Jacob and Mary Ann (Westbrook) Long and was the youngest
in order of birth in a family of nine children, whose names
are here entered, George, Will, Henry, Elizabeth, Ann,
Maria, Olive, Etura and Emma. To Mr. and Mrs.
Emerson were born four children, one of whom, Maude,
died in infancy. Clarence, Ralph and Guy were
reared to adult age under the invigorating influences of the
old home farm and after completing the curriculum of the
district schools of their birth place they attended the high
school at Chesterville, in which Clarence and Ralph
have been graduated with honors and in which Guy, who
is now sixteen years of age, is a member of the class of
1911. Clarence attended Delaware College for a
period of three years, at the expiration of which he went to
Columbus, Ohio, where he is now manager for the firm of Cussings & Fearn, a large hardware concern in that
city. Commencing at the bottom of the ladder as a mere
clerk he has from time to time been advanced until he now
holds the responsible position of superintendent in his
particular department. Ralph is employed as
solicitor for the same firm and during the past two terms
has attended the night sessions of the business college of
the Young Men’s Christian Association. In 1910 Ralph
was united in marriage to Miss Effie Greno, one of
the popular and attractive young women of Columbus.
In all affairs of national import
Mr. Emerson
endorses the cause of the Democratic party but in local
matters he maintains an independent attitude, preferring to
give his support to men and measures meeting with the
approval of his judgment rather than to vote along strictly
partisan lines. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson have always
manifested a deep and sincere interest in every public work
that means an uplift to the community. For over twenty
years he has served as a member of the school board.
Mrs. Emerson is an honored member of the Chester Baptist
church and an enthusiastic Sunday School worker. She has
been superintendent of the Sunday School for over five years
and at the last Sunday School conference was elected for a
sixth year. In 1910 she was delegate to the Ohio Sunday
School Convention, held at Cleveland, and she has been
elected as delegate to the state convention to be held at
Dayton in June, 1911. She is a very ardent worker in behalf
of all religious and charitable matters and is deeply
beloved by all who have come within the sphere of her
gracious influence. In his fraternal affiliations Mr.
Emerson is a valued and appreciative member of the
Chesterville Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The name of Emerson is one highly esteemed in this
community and it stands for everything that tends to promote
progress and development.
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
638-640
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
| |
WALTER S. EMERSON.
––A man whose splendid success in life has been on a parity
with his fine initiative power and marked executive ability
is Walter S. Emerson, who is president and general
manager of the Mt. Gilead Tile & Pottery Company. As a
penniless youth he began life and through persistent
application and earnest devotion to duty he so shaped his
course as to make all count for good, with the result that
today he has not only gained a competency but has also
secured a high place among the representative business men
of Morrow county. Mr. Emerson is a native son of Mt.
Gilead, his birth having here occurred on the 22nd of May,
1871. Both of his parents, whose names were John W. and
Sarah (Purcell) Emerson, are deceased, the former having
died on the 22nd of September, 1910, at the venerable age of
eighty years and eight months, and the latter having passed
away on the 29th of August, 1876.
John W. Emerson was born at Leesburg, Loudoun
county, Virginia, on the 22nd of January, 1830, and in the
Old Dominion commonwealth was reared to maturity. There, on
the 9th of October, 1851, occurred his marriage to Miss
Sarah E. Purcell, and soon after that event he and his
wife came to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, where two of his sisters, Mrs. Craven O. Van Horn and
Mrs. David Sanders,
resided. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson became the parents of
seven children, all of whom were born in Ohio and two of
whom died in childhood. The other five still survive and
concerning them the following brief data are here
incorporated: Mrs. Hicks Mosher is a resident of
Cardington, this county; Mrs. J. R. Seitz, Mrs.
Frank Kline and Walter S. Emerson, of this
review, all maintain their homes at Mt. Gilead; and Mrs.
John Nulk resides at Columbus, Ohio. As previously
noted, the mother was summoned to the life eternal on the
29th of August, 1876. When the dark cloud of the Civil war
obscured the national horizon Mr. Emerson came
loyally to the front and tendered his services in defense of
the Union. On the 14th of June, 1861, he enlisted for a
term of three years in Company E, Twenty-sixth regiment,
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, one of the most heroic Ohio
regiments and one which took part in nearly all the battles
in the department of the Cumberland, from Shiloh to
Nashville. He was always ready and eager for duty and
participated in thirty-two battles, some of the most
sanguinary in the war. On the 1st of January, 1864, he
re-enlisted as a veteran for another term of three years and
served thereafter until the close of the war, being finally
mustered out of the army on the 21st of October, 1865, at
Victoria, Texas, after a period of four years and four
months in the service. During his active business career
Mr. Emerson was identified with the butchering line of
enterprise.
On the 7th of September, 1881,
Mr. John Emerson
was again married, his second wife being Miss Susannah
Heidlebaugh. To this union were born seven children,
namely: Harry, of Galion, Ohio; Howard, of
Akron, Ohio; Lloyd and Ralph, of Mt. Gilead;
and three who are deceased. Mr. Emerson’s death was
a cause for widespread grief in the county in which he so
long made his home. He was a great sufferer in the last
years of his life and received the tenderest of care from
his wife and children. Besides his widow and children and
many grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren mourn his
departure. The funeral services were conducted under the
auspices of Hurd Post, Grand Army of the Republic, on
September 30, 1910, and his remains were laid to rest in
River Cliff cemetery at Mt. Gilead. Mr. Emerson was
a man of straightforward and honorable principles, one who
recognized his duty and did it unwaveringly. His was a just
and upright mind and he left as an heritage to his children
a fair and untarnished name.
Walter S. Emerson was a child of but five years
of age at the time of his mother’s death. He attended the
graded schools of Mt. Gilead until he had attained to the
age of fifteen years and he then turned his attention to
farm work. Two years later he went west to Iowa, where he
worked on a farm by the month for the ensuing three years,
during which time he managed to save as much as four hundred
dollars. In 1890 he returned to Mt. Gilead, where he
purchased a dray and engaged in the transfer business for a
period of six years, during which time he gained capital
enough to pay for a tract of one hundred acres of most
arable land in the vicinity of Mt. Gilead. He began to save
by putting a quarter of a dollar in a box each day, later
raised the sum to half dollars and finally to dollars.
After purchasing his farm he disposed of the dray line and
gave his time to agricultural pursuits, in which he was
engaged for a period of six years, at the expiration of
which he sold his farm and purchased another in Franklin
township which he sold to the same party. He thus made six
hundred dollars and bought one hundred and seventy acres in
Congress township. Thereafter he became interested in
practical business affairs and in 1902 came to Mt. Gilead,
where he engaged in the grocery business, following the same
for six years, when he disposed of his stock and went to
Florida for the winter season. In October, 1909, he bought
seventy shares out of one hundred and fifty in the Mt.
Gilead Tile & Pottery Company, of which he was elected
president and general manager. This concern was organized
and incorporated in 1906, with a capital stock of fifteen
thousand dollars and it is one of the most important
industries in this section of the fine old Buckeye state.
Mr. Emerson has other interests of broad scope and
importance in Mt. Gilead. He owns a half interest in the
Kline & Emerson Bakery and has considerable real estate
of high value. He has a half interest in a general store at
Edison, Ohio, the same being known under the title of Edison & Greenfield, and he owns a fine farm of one
hundred and seventy acres in Congress township. He is also
interested in the horse and mule business, in which he is an
extensive breeder.
On the 29th of May, 1891,
Mr. Emerson married Miss Anna B. Taylor, who is a daughter of
Martin
Taylor, of Ohio, and who was reared and educated in
Morrow county. To this union were born four children,
namely: Mary, Ralph, who died September 25, 1907, Gertrude and
Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson
are devoted members of the First Baptist church of Mt.
Gilead and they are most ardent church workers.
Politically
Mr. Emerson is a stalwart Republican
and he has always manifested a deep and sincere interest in
all matters conducive to the general welfare. He is a
member of Charles H. Hull Lodge, No. 196, Knights of
Pythias, in which he is past chancellor, and he is also
affiliated with L. H. Breese Camp, Sons of Veterans.
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
782-784
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
| |
JOHN W. EVANS.
––The thriving, industrious and prosperous agriculturists of
Morrow county have no more worthy representative than John W. Evans, who stands high among the business-like
men who are so ably conducting the farming interests of
Chester and Harmony townships. He comes of substantial
Welsh stock, his parents, John and Mary (Jones) Evans,
having emigrated from Wales to this country in 1840.
Taking up land in Harmony township, Morrow county,
Ohio, John Evans devoted his energies to the clearing
and improving of a homestead. Industrious and energetic, he
made good progress in his pioneer labors, working with
energy throughout each year. Misfortune, however, overtook
him in early life, the falling of a large tree which he was
cutting for fuel in his sugar camp injuring him so seriously
as to cause his death, April 10, 1845. The accident was
witnessed by his son, John W. Evans, who was then a
mere lad. His widow, with her four children, survived him,
there being two boys, John W. and Thomas, and
two girls, Mary and Anna. Thomas died
in 1848, aged three years.
John W. Evans, with his two sisters, was
educated in the district schools of Harmony township, and as
soon as old enough to work found employment, his wages
amounting to a dollar a week, a sum which he proudly gave to
his mother to assist in paying the family expenses. Both
Mr. Evans and his sisters obtained an excellent
knowledge of books, and became teachers in the public
schools. Mr. Evans taught two terms in his home
district, and likewise taught in Delaware county, and at
Bethel, being eminently successful in his pedagogical
labors. Among his pupils in Bethel was B. T. Jinkins,
who was afterwards one of Morrow county’s successful and
popular educators, and Rilla Harris, who became
distinguished throughout this part of the state as a
preacher in the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
Many years ago, at the time of
General Bragg’s threatened
invasion of Ohio, Mr. Evans went with the Ohio
Volunteer Militia to Cincinnati, the troops furnishing their
own blankets and firearms. This military demonstration was
known as the “squirrel hunt,” obtaining its name on account
of the brief time the squad was out and for the variety of
guns carried by the men. Forty years later, in. 1910,
Mr. Evans received from the government of Ohio the sum
of thirteen dollars for his service at that time, it being a
soldier’s regular monthly pay.
After his marriage
Mr. Evans made his first
purchase of land, buying sixty-four acres, which he managed
to such good purpose that he subsequently added to his
possessions, becoming an extensive landholder and a
successful farmer. He has since sold at different times, at
one sale disposing of seventy-five acres, and at another
fifty acres, and finally selling a tract of twenty-five
acres, his present farm containing one hundred and fifteen
acres of rich and productive land.
Mr. Evans married, in 1868, Viola Marsh,
of Delaware county, a daughter of Alexander and Catherine
(Evans) Marsh, and into their household ten children
have been born, namely: Ida May, deceased; Mary
Catherine, deceased, was the wife of D. D. Ulrey;
Stella P., wife of John West; Alexander
married Delilah Mystel Herrod; John married Chloe James;
Alfred married Maud Brown; Blanche, wife of
Dayton Kirby; Nellie,
wife of Charles Hoy Gardner; Olive, wife of John W. Bowen; and
Cecil, who is unmarried,
resides with his parents.
Politically
Mr. Evans is an earnest adherent of
the Democratic patry [sic]. He is active in public
affairs, and has filled various offices of responsibility
and trust. He was assesor [sic] of Harmony township
while residing there; has been assessor of Chester township
three terms; for twelve years he was justice of the peace;
he has also served as township trustee; and is at the
present time a member of the township board of education.
Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Evans are valued members of
the Chester Baptist church, of Chester township, in which he
has served as deacon for many years.
The father and mother of
Mr. Evans came from the
little country of Wales in 1840, in a sailing vessel and
landed in New York city, the voyage across the Atlantic
ocean covering six weeks duration.
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp.
603-604
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist. |
