Source:
PAST AND PRESENT
OF THE
CITY OF ZANESVILLE
AND
MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO
By J. Hope Sutor together with
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of many of its Leading and Prominent Citizens and Illustrious Dead.
ILLUSTRATED
Published Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
1905

< CLICK HERE to RETURN to LIST OF BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES & HISTORIES >

MARTIN ECKELBERRY, whose farm of two hundred and eighty-seven acres is situated on section 11, Madison township, about seven miles from Dresden and five miles from Adamsville, is accounted one of the practical, enterprising and highly respected agriculturists of his locality.  He was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1839, and is descended from Pennsylvania ancestry, his paternal grandfather having come from the Keystone state to Ohio, where he followed the occupation of farming.  Henry Eckelberry, father of Martin Eckelberry, was born near Sonora, Muskingum county, and spent the greater part of his life in this locality, but died in Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1845.  His wife bore the maiden name of Margaret Wilson.      Having lost his father when only about six years of age, Martin Eckelberry was brought to Adams township, Muskingum county, where he was reared by his brother-in-law, Charles Beck, with whom he lived for eleven years.  He attended the common schools of the neighborhood to some extent, but his opportunities for securing an education were meager.  When he was twenty-two yeas of age he enlisted for service in the Union army, joining Company7 F, Second Regiment of West Virginia Cavalry, on the 8th of September, 1861.  They could not be equipped here, so were recruited from the Seventh Ohio Regiment and were sent to West Virginia, where equipments were furnished by the latter state and the men were mustered in as a West Virginia regiment.  Mr. Eckelberry served for three years, ten months and twenty days and was honorably discharged July 4, 1865.  He was often where the leaden hail fell thickest and again was stationed on the lonely picket line, but wherever duty called he was found faithful and true and he was a worthy member of the great army which preserved the Union.  He took part in many important engagements, including the battles of Lewisburg, Lafayetteville (where Lightburn retreated), Fisher's Hill, Winchester, Martinsburg, Newtown, Charlottesville, Sailor's Creek, Five Forks, and Appomattox, thus operating largely in Virginia.  It was this regiment of cavalry that cut off Lee's retreat when he left Richmond and thus closed the last gap whereby he might have made his escape.  When the regiment was at Witheville their colonel was shot through the lungs, but he afterward recovered.      Following the secession of hostilities and his return to the north, Mr. Eckelberry engaged in farming upon land belonging to his father-in-law.  He had been married while home on a furlough, on the 8th of February, 1864, to Miss Lois E. King, who was born Dec. 13, 1845, in this county, and is a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Drumond) King.  In 1839 her father was employed as a farm hand and her mother as a maid upon the farm which they afterward owned.  Her father was the eldest son of Patrick King, and was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 4, 1815, but came to Muskingum county, Ohio, with his parents in his youth and spent his entire life upon a farm.  When he attained the age of twenty years he started out to make his way in the world and for some time thereafter lived in Washington township, but later removed to Madison township, where he accumulated a good property, developing a fine farm of about six hundred acres.  During the first sixteen years of his active business career he rented land, but in that time, through his economy and industry, he secured the capital that enabled him to purchase a farm, and as the years advanced he added to his property until he was one of the large land-owners of the county.  The old farm homestead is still in possession of his children and is one of the most valuable tracts of land in the Muskingum valley, the soil being rich and fertile, so that it yields excellent crops.  In 1841 he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Drumond, a daughter of one of the old and prominent settlers of this part of the state, and reared a family of nine children: Mrs. Cordelia Shire of Kansas, the eldest of the family, returned home to attend the funeral of her brother and here died Oct. 16, 1891; Mrs. Eckelberry, is the second in order of birth; Mary and Lafayette, both died in 1853; Serena C., is now Mrs. Norman of Zanesville; Thomas O., is a farmer of Madison township; Australia, died in 1885; Nebraska, died in 1891; and Utah, died in 1860.  The father departed this life Dec. 8, 1891, and the mother's death occurred in 1895.  Mr. King and his family held membership in the Methodist Protestant church and during the many years of his residence in this part of the state he was known as a public spirited citizen, interested in the success of all progressive enterprises.  He commanded the respect of his fellowmen and excited their admiration by what he accomplished in the business world.  At the King home there has for many years been held a family reunion, attended by all those bearing the name or related thereto, and the number in attendance has reached several hundred.      Following his marriage Mr. Eckelberry remained upon his father-in-law's farm for four years and in 1869 removed to his present home on section 11, Madison township.  Here he purchased one hundred and fifty acres, to which he has since added until within the boundaries of his farm are now comprised two hundred and eighty-seven acres.  With the assistance of his sons he operates the entire farm, which is devoted to the raising of grain and stock.  His fields are well tilled and in his pastures are found high grade short-horn cattle and Merino sheep.  Persistency of purpose and unfaltering energy have been strong elements in his success and he is now in possession of a valuable property.      Unto Mr. and Mrs. Eckelberry have been born Mar. 8, 1867, and married Bessie J. Keys; Mary Livonia who was born Dec. 21, 1869, and died June 10, 1902; Katura Elizabeth, who was born Dec. 19, 1872; Dora May, born Oct. 14, 1875; Robert Baker Aug. 23, 1878; Eura Belle, Mar. 13, 1882; and Lena Agnes, July 22, 1887.      The parents are members of the Episcopal church and all of the children are communicants of St. Matthew's church.  Mr. Eckelberry votes with the republican party and upon this ticket has been chosen for the office of road commissioner and school director.  He belongs to Major Cass post, No. 415, G. A. R., and also to the Grange, and is held in high esteem by his associates of these organizations.  His has been an active and useful life, which has ever been crowned by successful accomplishment, and today his large and well improved farm with its excellent equipments stands in evidence of his persistency of purpose and unfaltering diligence.  Source:  Past and Present of the City of Zanesville, and Muskingum Co., Ohio - Published Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1905 - Page 500

JOHN W. ELSEA.    J. W. Elsea, manager of the Adamsville Telephone Company, whose activity and well directed energy in business affairs have made him a prominent man of Muskingum county, is descended from one of two brothers who came from Scotland in 1704, and settled in Jamestown, Virginia.  They remained residents of that colony for some time and afterward removed to South Carolina, but later one of the brothers returned to Virginia.  There is no definite history concerning intervening generations of the family down to the time of the great-grandfather of J. W. Elsea, who was once a very wealthy man, but after losing his first wife he married again and his step-daughters, through their extravagance, wasted his fortune so that the grandfather, who was a son by the first marriage, was obliged to seek a living elsewhere and removed to Ohio.  He had been married in Virginia to Miss Nancy Self and they had one child when they came to this state, in 1809.  Mrs. Elsea was a daughter of John Self, who had purchased a farm near Norwich, and upon that tract they resided.  The journey westward from the Old Dominion was made in a two-wheeled cart, drawn by two horses and upon the farm which he there developed Mr. and Mrs. Elsea spent their remaining days, his death occurring in 1846, when he was fifty-nine years of age, while his wife, who was born in 1789, died in 1870.  They were the parents of nine children, but only one is now living, Mrs. Angeline Wilson, who resides south of Norwich.      John Elsea, father of J. W. Elsea, was born in Union township, Muskingum comity, Oct. 15, 1823, and in the common schools acquired his education.  Attracted by the discovery of gold in California he made the overland trip to the Pacific coast in 1850, traveling with a party of eight men who had six horses.  They were one hundred and five days upon the way, and Lewis Elsea, uncle of our subject, died while in the mountains.  The party endured many hardships, and Mr. Elsea, after an absence of a year, returned to Ohio by way of the Isthmus route.  In 1852 he started out in business in this county and not long afterward he chose as a companion and helpmate for life’s journey Miss Catherine Armstrong, a daughter of William and Isabella (Moore) Armstrong, of Muskingum county, who had come to this state from Ireland with their respective parents in their childhood days.  Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong settled on the National road in Perry township, and William Armstrong prospered in his undertakings, becoming the owner of three or four good farms in the county, and was a very prominent and influential citizen here.  He married Isabella Moore, a daughter of Thomas Moore, of Ireland, and subsequent to their marriage they settled in Salem township, locating on a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres in section 12.  This his father had entered from the government in 1810 and it has since been in possession of the family, while at the present time it is owned by J. W. Elsea.  Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong continued to reside upon their farm throughout their remaining days and at one time he owned two hundred and twenty-two acres of land, which was very rich and productive.  He died in 1892, having for twenty years survived his wife, who died in 1872.      At the time of his marriage, John Elsea located on the old Armstrong homestead, and there he lived until the death of his wife, who was the only child born unto her parents.  She survived her marriage for eight years, passing away in 1860.  There were three children of that union:  J. W., of this review, who was born Oct. 20. 1853; and Lewis H. and Nevada Catherine, both of whom died in 1860.  On the 8th of Oct. 1862, Mr. Elsea, the father, responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in Company E, Second Ohio Infantry, which was assigned to the Second Ohio Army Corps.  In August. 1863, he became ill, was sent back to Nashville and was there discharged in September of the same year on account of physical disability.  He afterward returned to Salem township, Muskingum county, and purchased a farm, upon which his remaining days were passed.  He died in August, 1904, at the venerable age of eighty-one years, respected and honored by all who knew him.      John W. Elsea, losing his mother in his early boyhood days, was reared by his maternal grandparents and in his youth enjoyed the advantages afforded by the public schools.  He started out in life on his own account when eighteen years of age, and made his home with his father for three years thereafter.  He then engaged in farming for about nine years, and on the expiration of that period his attention was turned to merchandising in Adamsville in connection with F. P. Winn, a relation that was maintained for seven years with mutual pleasure and profit.  Mr. Elsea, watchful of business opportunities, was in 1896 the promoter and organizer of the Buckeye Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Adamsville, which was incorporated under the laws of the state of Ohio.  This company now has three million dollars in policies, wholly in the country, insuring only farm property, and the business is growing very rapidly.  Mr. Elsea has been active in its management since the formation of the company and has been secretary and superintendent from the beginning.  In 1904 he was also instrumental in incorporating the Adamsville Telephone Company, of which he is also secretary and manager.  They have about one hundred phones in Adamsville, Otsego, Sonora and vicinity, and so quickly has the business of this company grown that it is now a very profitable investment and pays each year good dividends to the stockholders. Mr. Elsea also owns two hundred and twenty-two acres of land, which was formerly in possession of his grandfather, and he has a fine home in Adamsville.      In 1875 occurred the marriage of I. W. Elsea and Miss Mary Radcliff, who was born Aug. 6, 1858, and is a daughter of James and Nancy (Graham) Radcliff, both of whom were natives of Ireland, in which country their marriage was celebrated.  They came to America about 1848 and were thereafter residents of Muskingum county until called to their final rest.  Mr. Radcliff, as a carpenter, was identified with building operations here.  Mr. and Mrs. Elsea have become the parents of two children: William A., who was born in October, 1876, and died in 1882; and Bertha M., who was born Dec. 23, 1879, and is the wife of Dr. W. C. Kinner, of Adamsville, by whom she has one son, William Elsea, born Apr. 21, 1904.      Mr. Elsea is a stanch advocate of the democracy, prominent in the local ranks of his party, and when twenty-three years of age was elected clerk of his township, in which position he served for seven years.  He was also trustee for some time.  He has been a member of the Masonic lodge, of Adamsville, since 1874, and he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.  His ancestral history is one of close connection with Muskingum county through many years and in his own record he has displayed the traits of character which constitute a good citizen.  He manifests a helpful interest in progressive measures and capably manages private business affairs, so that he contributes to the industrial, agricultural and commercial development, which constitutes the basis of the greatest prosperity.  Source:  Past and Present of the City of Zanesville, and Muskingum Co., Ohio - Published Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. - 1905 - Page 443

NOTES: