Janarious A. MacGhan, The Knight of the Pen
By C. L. Martzolff.
     On the 19th of May 1900, there came to the village of New Lexington, Perry County, a stranger.  He was a young man just graduated from Harvard University, and was preparing to return to his native land of Bulgaria.  His mission to New Lexington was to visit the grave of a noted Perry County boy who is held most dear in the affections of the Bulgarian people.  Such honors are rarely bestowed upon Americans by foreigners.  This honor, however, was not unmerited.  You ask, perhaps, why a boy reared among the hills of Perry County, taught in the rude schools of half a century ago, should receive such attention from a foreign people.  There is the best reason in the world.  Do we not have a great deal of respect for Lafayette, because he came to America and helped us gain our independence?  Then why should not the people of Bulgaria love Janarious A. MacGahan, the Perry County boy, for securing their independence?
     The story of the life of this man reads like a page from a romance.  He was born in a log cabin, the roof of which was held on by long poles.  To enter the doorway you must climb over a log.  The only window was a small affair.  A huge fireplace occupied one end of the room.  The sleeping apartment of our young hero was in the loft, which was reached by a ladder.  There he could lie at night and, looking through the clapboard roof, see the stars shine down upon him clear and cold.  We wonder if he, like the astrologers of old, could read those stars and from them learn what the future had in store for him.  We wonder if, while lying asleep, with the snow sifting in upon him, he ever dreamed of the time, when he would ride alone through the deserts of Asia, when he should knock at palace gates and stand before kings.  Perhaps, had some fairy whispered to him the things he should experience within a few years, he would have thought it only the idle fancy of a dream and would have awaked in the morning to the realization of the hardships of pioneer life.  The parents of young MacGahan were Irish Catholics.  Their home was near a place called Pigeon Roost.  Here was a school that was then, as it is now, called "Pigeon Roost."  This school Janarius attended till he was seventeen.  He must have been a good student for at that age he was given a certificate to teach. He at once applied for his home school.  But the directors thought him too young to teach and they refused him the position.  This was one of the very best things that could have happened to him.  Determining to leave home, he set his face toward the great world without, where he would carve out his destiny.
     The day he left his hillside home in Perry County, with all of his earthly possessions tied in a very small package, he was seventeen years old.  Half of his life had already been spent, for just seventeen years afterward he gave up his life for a friend, under the shadows of the minarets of Constantinople.
     He first went into the Western States, where he pursued several vocations.  Finally he went to Europe to study, and entered the law school at Brussels.  When the Franco-Prussion War broke out he went into the field as correspondent for the New York Herald.  Journalism was henceforth to be the work of his life.  During the time of the Commune in Paris, we find him busy writing such glowing accounts and descriptions of the scenes, as to call particular attention to his ability.  During this time he was arrested by the Communists and only escaped death through the intervention of the American Minister.
     In the fall of 1871, when Russia was about to move on Khiva, our hero was ordered by the Herald to accompany the army of the Czar.  MacGahan was at Saratof on the Volga.  The Russian army was 2,000 miles away at Kazala.  It was the dead of winter, but no weather or distance was too great for the intrepid journalist.  For six weeks, when the mercury was thirty degrees below zero, he continued his journey across the ice bound steppes of Russia, the Ural Mountains, and the boundless wastes of Siberia, where the howling wind of the north swept in fierce blasts.  Reaching Kazala he discovered that the Russian army had already gone and was nearing Khiva.  He prepared at once to leave.  The natives tried to prevent him, but slipping away in the night, he started upon what is one of the most daring rides in history.  Alone and unattended, a mere speck on the desert, he searched for the Russian army.  For twenty-nine days under the broiling sun, which poured down its pitiless heat, he went without a plan except to ride as fast and far as possible.  Without a sufficient amount of water and food; with a boiling sun by day and a deadly chill by night; sleeping on the desert sands; chased by Cossacks, he at last reached his goal, just as the first column of the Russian hosts was attacking the enemy.  Dashing into the hottest of the fight, he wrote such a vivid description that it won the admiration of the Russian generals and army.  When Khiva fell he was one of the first to enter its portals, and his account of the city's capitulation stands as a masterpiece of military journalism.  Returning to Russia the Czar bestowed upon him the Order of St. Stanislaus.  For the next five years his experience is varied and hurried.  He visits his home in Perry County for the last time.  He goes to Cuba to report the Virginius complication.  He hurries to Spain to report the Carlist outbreak.  For ten months he accompanies the army of Don Carlos.  He is captured by the Republicans, who mistake him for a Carlist, and condemned to death.  He is again saved through the intervention of the American Minister.  Then he goes to England, where he accompanies Captain Young into the Arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin.
     In 1876, he read a brief sketch of the atrocities the Turks were committing in Bulgaria.  He surmised at once what it all meant.  Going into the employ of the London Daily News, he took his departure to join the Turkish army.  This was to prove the great work of Janarius A. MacGahan.  In depicting the horrors and brutalities of the scenes, his description was so thrilling that the world stood aghast.  He told how the Bulgarian Christians were being robbed and murdered by Mohammedan Turks; how their fields and homes and cities were being burned and laid waste and of the commission of many almost unmentionable crimes.  It was too much for the civilized world to stand.  Men paled with anger and involuntarily clenched their hands as the burning words of MacGahan struck into their hearts.  Gladstone was fired into a revolt against such barbarities.  But Lord Beaconsfield, the Premier, winked at it.  Under pressure, he sent a man by the name of Baring to investigate and break down the testimony of MacGahan.  But Baring returned and not only substantiated what MacGahan had written but stated that the half had not been told.  England was compelled to stand aside.  She withdrew her fleet and Turkey was without a protector.
     MacGahan, in the meantime, went from village to village, in Bulgaria, assuring the people that the Czar would avenge all this and that he himself would be back again within a year with a Russian army for their release.  The people had faith in his words and wherever he went, he was hailed as "MacGahan, the Liberator of Bulgaria."  Hastening to St. Petersburg, he laid the matter before the Czar, and in a very short time an order went forth for the immediate mobilization of the Russian forces.  MacGahan rode with the advance guard.  During the war that followed, in which the Turk was driven from Bulgaria, MacGahan was alike the idol of the Russian army and Bulgarian people.  He continued to write reams of description.  At last Plevna fell and, in the mad rush that followed, our Knight-errant went with the army, which did not stop until the spires and minarets of Constantinople were in sight.  A treaty of peace was signed in which Bulgaria's independence was recognized.  All of this because one boy, reared in the woods of Perry County, had lived.  But the war clouds had scarcely rolled away when a friend of his fell sick with a malignant fever.  MacGahan nursed him into health, but he himself was stricken and in a few days died at San Stefano a suburb of Constantinople, (June 9, 1878).  The next day they laid him in his far-off foreign grave, around which stood weeping mourners of a dozen nationalities.  Here for six years his body rested, but, in 1884, the Ohio legislature arranged for its removal to the land of his nativity.  On the 11th of September, 1884, his remains were laid in their final sepulcher in the beautiful cemetery at New Lexington, where only a few years ago the teachers of the County placed a granite boulder to his memory.  But the true monument to MacGahan is greater than chiseled granite, marble column or tablet of bronze.  His monument is free Bulgaria.
"Your years, though few, to shield the weak you spent;
Your life, though brief, accomplished its intent;
All diplomatic Shylocks, bloody Turks, despite,
'Twas not in vain the Lord gave you a pen to write."
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902

JOHN W. MCDONALD, superintendent of the county infirmary of Perry county and a man well known in this portion of the state, was born April 23, 1874, and is a son of James S. and Martha E. (McKinney) McDonald. His maternal grandfather was a boatman in early life and aided in the construction of the Hocking canal. Later he became a railroad contractor and was thus actively identified with the improvement and development of various sections of the country. The father of our subject was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, and when five years of age became a resident of Pike township. Perry county.
     Our subject spent his entire life in this county and has become widely acquainted and favorably known. His educational privileges were those afforded in the Oakwood school district, supplemented by a year's attendance at the high school of New Lexington. After putting aside his textbooks and entering upon life's practical duties in the fields of business he became the owner of a livery stable in New Lexington,. which he conducted for two years. At the age of sixteen years he began teaching and was thus connected in the district schools for about ten years, proving a capable educator. He had the ability to impart readily and clearly to others the knowledge he had acquired. Since January, 1901, he has occupied his present position as superintendent of the county infirmary and his labors in this office have made his course one highly satisfactory to the general public.
     On the 24th of August, 1899, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Clara H. Moore, a daughter of Samuel and Martha Moore, of Milligan. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have one daughter, Nellie C. Our subject and his wife have a large circle of friends in this portion of the state and are held in high regard by their many friends. In the public office which he is filling Mr. McDonald has displayed marked ability, ever striving to serve the best interests of the public, and is known as a trustworthy and honorable gentleman.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902 ~ Page 470

JAMES F. McMAHON.  Few men in Perry county have a wider acquaintance that James F. McMahon, who is now living a retired life, but for many years he was an active factor in journalistic circles and owned and edited the New Lexington Tribune, making it a paper of much value to the community.  Mr. Mahon is a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, and when a young man he came to Perry county in 1851.  He first embarked in merchandising in Somerset and continued business along that line for twenty years, or until 1871, when he established the Somerset Tribune.  In 1873 he removed the paper to New Lexington and changed its name to the New Lexington Tribune, continuing the publication of the journal until 1900.  He made this paper a strong influence in Republican circles in Perry county.  His editorials were strong, forceful and presented facts in a clear and logical manner.  At the same time he labored earnestly for the promotion of all interests contributing to local advancement and progress.  His paper was one of the best county journals in the state and had a very wide circulation.  Through the columns of the Tribune Mr. McMahon was largely instrumental in securing the Hamilton Railroad from Columbus to the coal fields of Perry county, a work that was proven of great practical value in the development of the rich mineral industries of this state. 
     Mr. McMahon was united in marriage in this county to Miss Charlotte Maines, a daughter of Frederick Maines, one of the old and respected citizens of Somerset.  Two children have been born unto them:  Sallie Emma and R. R. McMahon.  For a half century Mr. McMahon has been a representative of the Masonic fraternity, taking nearly all of the degrees in the various branches of the order.  In this life he exemplifies its beneficent and helpful spirit, recognizing the brotherhood of man.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902 ~ Page 421

BERNARD MECHLING, now deceased, was a highly respected farmer of Perry county and one whose life contained in it many elements worthy of commendation and of emulation.  He resided in Hopewell township upon a farm where his birth occurred and it remained his place of residence throughout his entire life.  He passed away April 17, 1896, while he was born April 21, 1837.  His parents were Samuel and Magdelene (Poorman) Mechling.  He was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania.  The paternal grandfather was Jacob Mechling, who with his family came to Ohio in 1811, settling in Hopewell township, Perry county, where he entered eight tracts of land of a half section each and this is still in possession of the Mechling family.  He became a very prominent and influential farmer of his day and was an active member of the Lutheran Church.  The Mechling family is one of the oldest and most prominent in this part of the county, representatives of the name have taken a very active part in the welfare and upbuilding of the town and county along political, religious and social lines, and the family record is a creditable one.
     Bernard Mechling the subject of this  review, pursued his education in the district schools and at an early day began to assist his father upon the home farm.  As soon as old enough to handle a plow he began work in the field and became an active factor in the cultivation and improvement of his father's land.  On the 26th of May,  1859, he was untied in married to Miss Margaret Humberger and unto them were born two sons, Owen H., who resides in Hopewell township and married Miss Emma Burkett, by whom he has two children, Luke and George; and Albert W., who married Cora Springer and resides in Hopewell township.  They also have two children Florence and Helen.  After the death of his first wife, Mr. Mechling was again married on the 17th of January, 1867, his second union being with Miss Leah Zartman, who was born in Hopewell township, Perry county, and is a daughter of Isaac and Rebecca (King) Zartman.  Her mother was a native of Hopewell township, while the father was also a native of Perry county, and was a son of Alexander and Saloma (Cobel) Zartman, both of whom were natives of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Hopewell township, Perry county, about 1810, settling in the southern part of the township, where Mrs. Rebecca Zartman is now living at the age of eighty-six years.  Unto Alexander Zartman and wife were born nine children, all of whom are deceased with the exception of Margaret.  They were Sarah, who became the wife of George Mechling; Catherine, who died in childhood; Israel; Isaac, the father of Mrs. Bernard Mechling; Joshua; Henry; Levi; Mrs. Margaret Foucht, a resident of Upper Sandusky, Ohio; and Magdelene, who became the wife of Joel Smith.  Isaac Zartman, the father of Mrs. Mechling, was a very successful farmer and a man well liked by all who knew him.  He was a Democrat in his political views and for a number of years served as treasurer of Hopewell township, while for a long time he was justice of the peace.  He was also an active member of the Reformed church and led the music in the organization to which he belonged.  Isaac Zartman and his wife were the parents of nine children: Leah A., the wife of Bernard Mechling; Solomon K., who married Malinda Foucht and resides in Dayton, Ohio; Sarah, who is the widow of Noah Swinehart and is living in Somerset, Ohio; Levi, who died at the age of seven years; Magdelene, the wife of Jacob Foucht, a resident of Dayton, Ohio; Angeline, who is the wife of Benjamin Alspaugh adn resides with her mother in Hopewell township; Allen K., who married Libbey A. Conrad, of Canton, Ohio, and is a minister of the Reformed church now located at Fort Wayne, Indiana; Margaret J., the wife of William H. Parks, a resident of Hopewell township; and Rufus Calvin, who wedded Hattie Eaton, of Fostoria, Ohio, and is a minister of the Reformed church, now preaching at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Isaac Zartman was the owner of about one hundred and seventeen acres of valuable land at the time of his death.  He and his wife had lived together in the holy bonds of matrimony for nearly sixty-six years.  His death occurred Mar. 5, 1901, when he was eighty-seven years of age and his remains were interred in St. Paul's cemetery in Hopewell township.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mechling were born three children: Mary Estella became the wife of August H. Dornbirer, a Lutheran minster of Sandusky, Ohio, and they have two sons, Wayne Mechling and Elmer Robert.  Sylvia R. the second child, died at the age of four months.  Homer C. married Miss Gertrude Gordon, a daughter of Le Roy and Almetta (Rousculp) Gordon.  They reside with his mother, Mrs. Mechling.  
     In his political views Bernard Mechling was a stanch Democrat and supported his honest convictions without fear or favor.  He owned about two hundred acres of fine farming land and devoted his time and attention to general farming and to stock-raising.  He prospered in both branches of his business and annually raised and sold a large number of cattle.  In 1874 he erected a fine large brick residence and a commodious barn.  His was one of the fine homes of the county and everything about his place indicated the careful supervision of a progressive, practical and enterprising owner.  He took great delight in providing well for his family, counting no personal sacrifice too great that would promote the welfare or enhance the happiness of his wife and children.  Mr. Mechling held membership in the Lutheran church, while his widow, a most estimable lady, having many warm friends throughout the community, is a member of the Reformed church.  In his church Mr. Mechling led the singing for many years and was the Sunday school superintendent for over thirty years.  He passed away April 17, 1896, and his remains were interred in St. Paul's cemetery.  His was largely a blameless life and his entire life was characterized by industry, by perseverance, by honorable principles and by his Christian faith.  He treated his fellow men fairly, was loyal in friendship, faithful in citizenship and was a devoted husband and father.  He made friends wherever he went and when called to the home beyond his death was widely and deeply mourned throughout the entire community, in which he had spent his entire life.  To know Bernard Mechling was to esteem and honor him.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902 ~ Page 428

PETER P. MECHLING. The Mechling family is one well known in Perry county. It was established here about a century ago and from that time until the present representatives of the name have been loyal and active in citizenship and reliable and progressive in business affairs. The subject of this review is the youngest son of Samuel and Magdalena (Poorman) Mechling. He was born in Hopewell township, May 16. 1847. His father was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born on the 4th of December. 1804, and was a son of Jacob and Mary, who were also natives of Westmoreland county. The mother of our subject was born in the southern part of Hopewell township and was a daughter of Bernard and Elizabeth Poorman. On the 24th of April, 1824, she gave her hand in marriage to Samuel Mechling and unto them were born six children: Simon P., who was born May 10, 1835, died February 3, 1860; Bernard, born April 21, 1837, died April 17, 1896; Hannah, born November 26, 1839, died January 27, 1842; Daniel, born April 8, 1842, died March 11, 1846; Eliza, born July 3, 1844, is the wife of Simon Rarick and resides in Thornville, Ohio; and Peter P. is the youngest of the family. Samuel Mechling received but limited educational privileges, pursuing his studies in an old log school house common at that time, but through his industry and enterprise as a farmer he became a very successful man. In his political views he was a Democrat, and both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and took an active interest in church work. He passed away in 1849, at the age of forty-five years, when our subject was about twenty-two months old. His wife died February 24, 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years, and both are interred in St. Paul's cemetery in Hopewell township. Samuel Mechling was a man of marked worth, his character was ever beyond reproach and in his business dealings he was ever just and honorable. He so managed his business interests that as the years passed he gained a comfortable competence, being one of the prosperous and successful farmers of the community.
     Peter P. Mechling obtained has education in the district schools of Hopewell township and in the high school of Somerset, Ohio, which he attended for a short time. He always remained with his mother until his marriage, which important event in his life occurred 011 the 8th of December, 1872, the lady of his choice being Miss Frances Orr, a daughter of Hiram and Mary Orr, who were natives of Bowling Green township, Licking county, Ohio, and are now residents of Illinois. After his marriage Mr. Mechling removed to his present farm, which adjoins the farm upon which he was born, and there he began life in a log house, but he now has a large and attractive residence, which is indicative of the prosperous career which he has led. The brick was burned upon the farm and the house was erected in 1877. He also built commodious barns and made other excellent improvements upon his place, which shows that he is a man of progressive and practical ideas. He owns three hundred and forty acres of rich and arable land, which is devoted to general farming and stock-raising. He makes a specialty of the raising of hogs and cattle for the market and his sale of these annually increases his income to a gratifying extent.
     The home of Mr. and Mrs. Mechling has been blessed with five children: Hiram Orval, born August 22, 1873, is a druggist at Thornville, Ohio: Rosella, born December 19, 1874, died on the 25th of October, 1883; Bertha Edith, born January 17, 1878, married William H. Walser, and is living in Hopewell township; Frank D. and Fred S., twins, born June 13, 1882, are at home. Mr. Mechling and his family are members of the Lutheran church, of which he served as trustee for a time. In politics he is a Democrat and for eleven years has served as treasurer of Hopewell township, while at the present time he is filling the office of justice of the peace. He has ever discharged his official duties with promptness and fidelity and his public career has therefore gained him commendation and respect. In his business affairs Mr. Mechling has prospered from year to year, and his life stands as an exemplification of what can be accomplished through determined purpose when guided by sound practical judgment. Starting out upon his business career with small capital he has steadily advanced and is today the owner of two of the finest farms of his township, their well tilled fields, good buildings and rich meadow land all being indicative of the progressive and enterprising spirit of the owner.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902 ~ Page 467

WILLIAM J. MORTAL is the editor and owner of the Somerset Press, of Somerset, Ohio, and throughout his business career has been connected with journalism.  He was born in Rushville, Fairfield county, Ohio, on the 16th of July, 1859, and is a son of Albert and Mary (Puller) Mortal.  In the year 1858 the father of our subject located in Rushville, Ohio, while the Puller family came to this state from Virginia.  One child only was born of the marriage of the parents of our subject.
     William J. Mortal was educated in the public schools of Rushville and after putting aside his text books he there learned the printer's trade, following that pursuit in both Rushville and Lancaster.  In 1881 he began business on his own account in the former town and afterward was located at Thornville.  He then conducted a daily paper in Lancaster and was also the owner of a jobbing office there, both departments of his business bringing to him a good financial return.  In 1893 he came to Somerset and in 1895 purchased the Somerset Press, which he has developed into a successful paper having a circulation of about one thousand copies.  This paper is largely given to the dissemination of news of general interest as well as matters of a local nature.  He is found on the side of progress, improvement and upbuilding and its owner is widely known as a public-spirited and enterprising man, who is the champion of every measure for the general good of his fellow men.
Source: A Biographical Record of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio - Publ. New York and Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co - 1902 ~ Page 449