JOHN M. CAMPBELL, postmaster and retired merchant of Dexter City, is a native of Belmont county, and was born Jan. 8, 1838.  The Campbell family is traceable to Scotch-Irish ancestors.  The great great grandfather was the founder of the family in the New World; he was massacred by the Indians.  Mr. Campbell is a son of Archibald and Hannah (Sample) Campbell, the mother a native of Ohio, the father of Maryland.  They were married in Belmont county, removed to Washington county, and both died at Marietta, the father at the age of eighty-six, and the mother at seventy-five.  They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are living: John M.; Rebecca J., wife of Thomas Hall of Washington county; Samuel M., traveling salesman living at Marietta; Sarah A., wife of Ross Dye; Joseph L., a merchant at Marietta; Gideon J., a merchant, now deceased; and Lina of Belpre.  Mr. Campbell, the subject of this sketch, was reared to manhood on a farm in Lawrence township, received his education in the public schools, and followed farming until the breaking out of the Civil war.  He enlisted Aug. 6, 1862, in Company F, Ninety-Second Ohio volunteer infantry, serving under General Sherman in t he Western department.  He participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Buzzards Roost, Jonesboro, participated in the famous march to the Sea, up through the Carolinas and "on to Richmond."  He was also at the grand review at Washington.  Mr. Campbell was sergeant of his company during the war, and escaped personal injury, except for deafness in one ear occasioned by the explosion of a shell which killed his comrades on his right.  He was discharged June 10, 1865, and returned to his home in Liberty, where he had left a wife and two children.  He had been married in 1859 to Calista A. Bloor, a native of Belmont county.  Five children have been born to them:  Iowa E. wife of G. W. Clymer, who died in 1901, leaving a family of six children: Mary F.; John A.; Ella B., wife of Wm. Daniels, who left one child; Clara A., wife of Ralph W. Loucks, the only survivor of the children.  After the close of the war, Mr. Campbell engaged in farming for one year, after which he was for five years an oil operator.  He was fairly successful in this, and afterward engaged in the mercantile business, being one of the first merchants in Dexter City.  This proved unprofitable, so he sold out and was a traveling salesman for several years.  In 1897 he was appointed postmaster by President McKinley, and has continued since in that capacity.  Mr. Campbell is a member of the Masonic fraternity, holding his membership at Aurelius Lodge No. 398, of Macksburg.  He is a member of John L. Moseley Post, G. A. R., of Dexter City.  He is a member of the Baptist church as were his parents.  He takes an active interest in religious matters.  He is a Republican and influential in the party counsels.  Mr. Compbell has been fairly successful in his life, though at times unfortunate.  He receives a pension by reason of disabilities incurred in the army.
Source:  The County of Noble, Ohio - By Hon. Frank M. Martin - 1904 - Page 218

ERWIN G. CHAMBERLIN, postmaster at Caldwell, was born on a farm in Olive township, three miles south of Caldwell, Apr. 29, 1862.  He is a son of JUDAH M. and Lucina (Gibbs) Chamberlin, the father a native of Washington county, the mother of Noble county.  the maternal grandfather, Dennis Gibbs, was one of the first settlers in the vicinity of Caldwell, locating there about the close of the War of 1812, or a few years prior; he acquired large land interests through choosing and "laying" land warrants, built a mill on Duck Creek, where he became wealthy.  He lived there about seventy years, but died at Lowell, Washington county.  His son, Dennis, Jr., took control of the home farm and mills, and ws very prominently identified with the early history of the county.  He studied law, was admitted to the bar and was twice elected Probate Judge of the county.  He removed to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he is now living at an advanced old age, having served that city as Police Judge.  Judah M. Chamberlin, father of Erwin G., was an engineer, employed by the B. & O. S. W. Ry. for about thirty years, operating a pumping station at Little Hocking, Ohio, where he died at the age of sixty-seven.  The mother died when Erwin G., was less than two years old, at the age of thirty-five, and Frank M., two years Erwin G.'s senior, and his brother were taken into the family of their uncle, Alden D. Tilton, where they were reared and educated, that being the only home the children ever knew.  The brother Frank M., died at the age of twenty-four.  When a child of fourteen, Mr. Chamberlin, subject of this review, met with an accident, which permanently crippled his right arm.  Whatever might have been his ambitions as to future life, this had the effect to direct him into educational lines, and so he fitted himself for teaching, following that profession in Noble county for seventeen years.  From this occupation, he was elected to the office of clerk of the courts in which capacity he served six years.  Retiring in August, 1902, he was  appointed postmaster on Jan. 13, 1903.  Mr. Chamberlin was married on Feb. 28, 1894, to Arizona M. Groves, who was born at Mt. Ephraim, Dec. 15, 1865, and is a daughter of Julius R. and Nancy Groves of that place.  The father is a well-to-do farmer, and was for two terms county commissioner of Noble county.  Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin, Clarice L., and D. Kraps.  Politically, Mr. Chamberlin is an active Republican, and a recognized leader in local politics.  He has been chairman of the County  Executive Committee for two years, and secretary of the same for a number of years.  He is the Representative Committee man of the Morgan-Noble district.  He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and leader of the church choir in Caldwell.  He was the first president of the Epworth League, serving two years in that capacity.  Mrs. Chamberlin is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an active worker in the cause of religion.  Mr. Chamberlin is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having attained the degree of royal Arch Mason.  He has been Master of Noble Lodge No. 459 Free and Accepted Masons, for the past two years.  In this as in everything else, which he undertakes, he is active and zealous - a hard worker and consistent member.  He is a member of Cumberland Chapter No. 116 in which he is also an officer; and a member of Caldwell Lodge, No. 280 Knights of Pythias, in which he is Past Chancellor commander.
Source:  The County of Noble, Ohio - By Hon. Frank M. Martin - 1904 - Page 206

EDWARD E. COBURN, M. D., a regular practicing physician and surgeon of Dexter City, Ohio, was born in Morgan county, near the line of Washington county, on Apr. 25, 1867.  He is the son of LEONIDAS J. and Susan (Swift) Coburn, both natives of Ohio, the father born in Morgan county and the mother in Washington county, where she died Jan. 20, 1897.  The father is descended from Major Asa Coburn of Revolutionary fame, and one of the first settlers of Marietta, where he is still living, upon the farm where he was born.  He has been a successful farmer and has attained prominence in local politics, having served three terms as Commissioner of Morgan county, and Justice of the Peace a number of years; he has always been a working Republican.   The family consists of five sons and one daughter, all of whom are living:  Don C. a minister in the Methodist Protestant church at Zanesville; Nicholas, a minister in the same church, superannuated, lives at Zanesville; Charles, a farmer in Morgan county, near the old home; Juniata, widow of Joseph Smith, who, with her son Leonidas, lives with her father; Dr. E. E., and Allen, a student in Starling Medical  College.  Dr. Coburn was educated at Adrian, Michigan, and at Starling Medical College, from which he graduated in March, 1894.  He began the practice of medicine in Stockport, Morgan county, where he remained two years, was in Cambridge for six years, and moved to Dexter City in September 1902.  He has been successful in establishing a fine practice and in connection with this, has the only drug store in Dexter City.  Dr. Coburn was married Dec. 29, 1897, to Mary Rose, a native of Washington county, where he was reared and educated at Marietta College.  She is a daughter of James and Josie Rose, a prominent well-to-do family at Cole Run, where the father has been postmaster and general merchant for over twenty years.  In the family are: Charles, a merchant tailor; Mary, Lucy, John and Helen, all at home.  Dr. Coburn is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Odd Fellows.  In politics he is a staunch Republican.  He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mrs. Coburn is an especially active worker.
Source:  The County of Noble, Ohio - By Hon. Frank M. Martin - 1904 - Page 219

WILLIAM N. CORNS, of Noble township, is a native of Muskingum county where he was born July 24, 1851.  When a boy of fourteen, he lived with his parents in Allen county for two years, but returned to the old home where he lived until he was nineteen.  At that time he went to Caldwell to work at the carpenter's trade, and remained there for about six years, when he decided that following the plow was preferable, and so purchased a farm near Caldwell, making that his home since.  He was married in April, 1871, to Martha Jane Nesselroad, daughter of John Nesselroad, an old resident of Noble county.   She died in March, 1895, leaving three sons:  Arthur Elwood, of Pittsburg, Pa.; John N., also of Pennsylvania; and Archibald Wiley.  Mr. Corns was married a second time to Mrs. Mary Ellen Hutchins, a daughter of Thomas Wiley, an old resident of Noble county, and to them one daughter has been born, Gaynell G.
Source:  The County of Noble, Ohio - By Hon. Frank M. Martin - 1904 - Page 161

SYLVESTER CUNNINGHAM - Ebenezer Cunningham, an old settler of Noble county, was a native of Maine, being born there in 1790.  While but a boy he engaged as a sailor with his uncle, and on the ship Fox made two trips to Liverpool, England.  During his absence upon his second trip, his father William Cunningham, removed to Ohio, settling in Olive township.  On his return from the trip, Mr. Cunningham went west to join his parents, and soon after his arrival, the War of 1812 breaking out, he walked to Zanesville to enlist in the army, under the command of Captain Carnes  The company marched from Zanesville to Fort Erie and there joined General Harrison's command.  At the call of Commodore Perry for volunteers from the land forces.  Mr. Cunningham and his mess mate volunteered their services, and were taken aboard the flag ship Lawrence.  They assisted in getting the ship over the bar, and the following morning came the great battle of Lake Erie.  Mr. Cunningham was an active participant in that battle, at the close of which only nine men on the ship were able to walk, and some of them, Mr. Cunningham among them, were wounded.  After the battle he was put in charge of one of the captured vessels, and thus served during the winter.  The following spring he was discharged, and returned to Noble county to his occupation of farming, which he did on a small scale, and worked at the millwright business, also.  He was a Jackson Democrat, but never aspired to office.  Ebenezer and Sally (Morgaridge) Cunningham were the parents of ten children: George, William, John, Sally, Elmira, Parmelia, all deceased, Ebenezer, Ambrose, Francis Gilead, and Jane Rowland still living.  George Cunningham was born near Dexter city in 1817, and always lived in Noble county, a carpenter during the summer season and a cabinet maker during the winter.  He was not an office seeker, but served his township as trustee and treasurer, besides several minor offices.  He was married to Matilda Ogle, a daughter of James Ogle, a native of Ireland, and one of the early settlers of Noble county, and they were the parents of seven children:  Sylvester, Charlotte, Jeannette, Marilla, now Mrs. Brown; Alvaretta, wife of Rufus Haga; Nancy Jane, and an infant, deceased.  The father died in 1874, and the mother in 1890.  Sylvester Cunningham,  a well-known farmer of Dudley, was born in Olive township Jan. 14, 1844, and there was educated and grew to manhood.  when only twenty years of age he enlisted in Company F of the One Hundred Sixty-First Ohio volunteers, serving a little over a year.  During that short time he was in the battles of Newmarket, Lynchburg, Harper's Ferry, Manassas Junction, Winchester, Cedar Creek, Mount Jackson, Appomattox Court House, and many minor engagements.  After his discharge he tried carpentering for a time, but owing to ill health, he was obliged to give it up for farming.  He has served his township as trustee, clerk, and as school director for twenty years.  He has been a delegate to the Democratic state convention four times and to every Congressional convention for years.  Mr. Cunningham was married to Eliza Woodford in 1867, and five children have come to bless their union: Nancy, Jane now Mrs. Davis; Austin Ludwig, a farmer; Matilda Alice, now Mrs. Sanford; Alta Eleanora Hurst, now deceased; and Mary Icephine, also deceased.  Mr. Cunningham has been a member of the Caldwell Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows for nearly forty years, and Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows for nearly forty years, and is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Source:  The County of Noble, Ohio - By Hon. Frank M. Martin - 1904 - Page 153