OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS - Seneca Co., Ohio

JOSEPH VAN NEST.    One of the representative and honored citizens of the city of Tiffin, Ohio, is Joseph Van Nest, and such has been his life record as to particularly entitle him to consideration in a work of this nature. Mr. Van Nest was born in Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 15th of January, 1843, being a son of Peter and Susan Van Nest, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, on the 15th of May, 1813, and there he passed his earlier boyhood days, early starting out in life on his own responsibility, as will later appear in this connection. His parents were John and Catherine Van Nest, both of whom were native of Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Wayne county, Ohio, in the early ’30s, their son Peter having preceded them to that locality. John Van Nest, who was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812, was a harness-maker by trade, and this vocation he continued to follow until his death. His only surviving son is John, Jr., who still resides in this state, having attained the venerable age of eighty-six years.
     As the name unmistabably indicates, the Van Nest family originated in Holland, where John Van Nest, the great-grandfather of Joseph Van Nest of this sketch, was born, emigrating thence to America and settling in New Jersey, where many of his descendants are yet to be found and where the family has ever been held in high regard and honor. Rev. Peter Van Nest, a brother of this original Holland ancestor, became a, renowned preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church, having been led into the ministry under the eloquent pleadings of the Wesleys.
     Peter Van Nest, the father of our subject, began carrying the mail at the age of eight years, thus demonstrating the intrinsic energy and self-reliance of a lad who was eventually to become a large manufacturer and successful man of business. At the age of thirteen years he made his way on foot from Pennsylvania to Wooster, Ohio, where he entered upon an apprenticeship in a blacksmith shop. When he was about nineteen years of age be sent a conveyance to the old home in Pennsylvania and with the same his parents came through to Wayne county, passing the remainder of their lives in Ohio. Peter Van Nest retained his residence in Wooster until 1848, when he came to Tiffin, where he engaged in carriage-making, building up a business second to none of similar order in northern Ohio. He carried on this enterprise, with cumulative prosperity, until his death, on the 22d of February, 1877. He was a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a man of great business ability and high moral worth, commanding unqualified confidence and esteem in all the relations of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Bucher, was a woman of noble Christian character. She was born in Maryland, on the 5th of September, 1818, and came thence to Wayne county, Ohio, with her parents, Christian and Elizabeth Bucher, the former of whom was born Jan. 19, 1775. devoting his life to agricultural pursuits and passing away at the age of seventy-nine years, while his wife, who was born in 1771, lived to attain the extremely venerable age of ninety-eight years. Mrs. Van Nest was a girl when the family thus came to Ohio, and here she passed the residue of her life, her death occurring on the 15th of July, 1861. She was a devoted and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her life was sustained and beautified by her Christian faith. Peter and Susan (Bucher) Van Nest became the parents of the following children: Sarah, who now makes her home with her brother Joseph; John, who' served as a private in the Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three years, was wounded at Shiloh and he died at the age of forty-seven years; William H. served about six months during the Civil war, being a member of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he is now a prominent business man of Tiffin, as will be incidentally noted later on; Joseph is the immediate subject of this sketch; George, who likewise enlisted in the Union army during the Rebellion, served about six months as a clerk in the department at Nashville, and he died at the age of forty-four years; and Martin died in childhood.
     Joseph Van Nest was but five years of age when the family removed to Tiffin, and in the public schools of this city he received his early educational training. After leaving school he was employed in his father’s factory until the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion. In April, 1861, he enlisted as a soldier, but as the quotas were filled he was not assigned to any regiment until Aug. 11, 1862, when he became a member of Company I, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of corporal. The regiment was assigned to the First Brigade of the First Division of the Fourth Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. He was engaged with his regiment in all the great battles in which it participated, including the engagements at Perryville, Knob Gap, Stone River and Chickamauga. In the battle of Stone River he received three severe wounds,—two in the left leg and one in the left arm,—and as a consequence he was incapacitated for active service for a period of five months. On the 13th of January, 1863, Mr. Van Nest was taken prisoner, at Harpeth Shoals, on the Cumberland river, and was paroled with other prisoners on the same date. He rejoined his command and was in the battle of Liberty Gap, Tennessee, while he had the distinction of being color guard of his regiment during Sherman's memorable march to the sea. Thus he participated in the ties of Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost, Dalton and Resaca, in which last engagement he was again severely wounded, in the right knee, on May 14, 1864, being struck by both shell and bullet, though the bullet was not found until three years later, when it was extracted. These wounds have proved a permanent disability, and Mr. Van Nest had been confined to the hospital for more than a year prior to his discharge from the service, on the 20th of July, 1865.
     After his return from the army, where the fortunes of war had so cruelly treated him, Mr. Van Nest returned to Tiffin and again became identified with the carriage manufacturing business of his father, having been a partner in the enterprise for three years prior to the latter’s death. He then entered into- a partnership with his brothers, John, William and George, and they continued the business successfully until 1889, when William Van Nest purchased the same and has since carried forward the important industry individually. Joseph Van Nest was not thereafter actively engaged in any vocation until 1894, when he was brought prominently before the citizens of the county by his candidacy, on the Republican ticket, for the office of sheriff. Seneca county is regarded as belonging to the Democratic party, but Mr. Van Nest, nevertheless, was elected, and that over the most popular candidate on the Democratic ticket. He was the first sheriff elected on the Republican ticket in thirty-five years, and he would doubtless have been re-elected had not an unusual occurrence awakened political animosity. In October, 1895, Sheriff Van Nest, with a small force of deputies, repelled an immense mob, maddened by drink and thirsting for revenge for the murder of Tiffin’s popular marshal, August Schultz. Nothing but death, which was administered to two of the leaders of the mob, was sufficient to check its impetuosity, and volley after volley was fired by the sheriff and his five deputies before the corridor of the jail was finally cleared of the ferocious multitude. The coolness of Sheriff Van Nest in this ordeal and also' in the trying hours afterward, when he laid and executed a plan by which Lee Martin escaped with his life to the Fremont jail, brought into high relief the true soldierly qualities and mature judgment of the man.
     President McKinley, who was then governor of Ohio, complimented Mr. Van Nest on his bravery in performing his duty. The sheriff had a very narrow escape himself, as, in the tumult and excitement of the time, a number of bullets were fired at him. Although he felt at the time that he had done only his duty, Mr. Van Nest was later reminded that this fulfilling of his trust was not forgotten by that great and noble man. Governor McKinley, for through him he received an appointment as land appraiser for the government, in Indian Territory, the duty involved being the providing of the proportionate allotment of the lands to the five civilized Indian tribes,—the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, the Cherokees, the Creeks and the Seminoles. About one hundred and seventy appraisers and equalizers were appointed to visit the territory, and in September, 1900, Mr. Van Nest took charge of his portion of the work, returning to Tiffin the following July and having performed his prescribed duty with the efficiency which has marked his entire public and business career. In the Indian Territory the appraisers maintained seventeen camps, in each of which were six of their number, besides a cook and two1 teamsters. They would establish headquarters in a certain township and would then carefully inspect each quarter section, for the purpose of equalizing the allotment among the Indians, such an equal division of the land having not been previously been made, and after giving die work his most careful attention Mr. Van Nest returned to his home in Tiffin, where he is now living retired from business activity, enjoying the comforts of a delightful home and conscious that he is beloved within the circle of his intimate acquaintanceship, as is he also esteemed and respected by his fellow citizens at large. In politics it is scarcely necessary to state that he is a stalwart supporter of the Republican party and the principles for which it stands exponent, and fraternally he is one of the popular and valued members of General William H. Gibson Post, Grand Army of the Republic, in
Tiffin.
     In the year 1868 Mr. Van Nest was united in marriage to Miss. Marian L. Morehouse, a young lady five years his junior. She was born in Onondaga county, New York, where she was reared and educated. She was a woman of gracious and beautiful character, was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and when she was summoned into eternal rest she was deeply mourned by a very large circle of appreciative and devoted friends, her death occurring on the 29th of November, 1900. She is survived by her three daughters: Arlie S., who is the wife of Andrew Greer, of Wyandot county; Jessie E., who remains at the paternal home; and Nellie Belle, who is the wife of W. W. Bemisderfer, of this county.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Seneca County, Ohio - Publ. by Lewis Publishing Company - 1902 - Page 730

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