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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Biographical Record of Wayne & Holmes Co.
Publ. Chicago:
J. H. Beers & Co.
1889
(Contributed by Sharon Wick)
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1889
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
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BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES >
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DR. JOHN A. GANN
was born at Waterford, N. Y., in 1848. His father, James J.
Gann, was by birth an Englishmen, and came to America in 1847.
The paternal grandfather also came to America, the grandmother
having died in Europe. The father of our subject was by trade
a miller, which be learned in England. Before starting to
America he was wedded to Elizabeth Adams, and together they
came to the New World. In 1861, at Monroeville, Ohio, where
they had settled, the father passed to his last sleep. Of
their wedded life only two children were born, John A. and Lizzie
(Mrs. Durbin Metz, of Wooster, Ohio).
At fourteen years of age the subject of this
biographical memoir left the common schools which he had been
attending, and engaged as a clerk, in which capacity he continued
four years, and then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at
Delaware, Ohio, where be graduated in 1871. He then became
superintendent of the public schools at Shelby, Ohio, and remained
four years, when be turned his attention to the study of medicine at
Cleveland Homoeopathic Medical College, graduating from there in
1877. He practiced a short time in Berea, and then came in
March, 1877, to Wooster, where he has since made his home. In
1884 the doctor was united in marriage with Anna Metz,
daughter of Jacob and Susan Metz, and a native
of Wooster, Ohio, where she graduated from the high school in 1870.
She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society. Dr. Gann is
president of the State Medical Society and lecturer on physiology at
the Cleveland Homoeopathic College; is a member of the Odd Fellows
order, Independent Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Royal
Arcanum and Chosen Friends. In politics he is a Republican.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wooster.
His home is on North Market Street, where his aged mother resides
with him.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 60 |
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CHARLES GASCHE.
This old and honored citizen of Wooster has been a resident of the
place for more than half a century. He was born in Wetzlar,
Kingdom of Prussia, June 10, 1810, and is now, therefore, well
advanced in years. His father, also named Charles, was
married to Catherine Eisengarth, and came with his
family to America in June, 1833, locating first in York, Penn., but
moving later to Wooster, where they arrived Oct. 13, 1835. He
was a physician and surgeon in his native land, being for thirty
years connected with a hospital there, and he continued the practice
of his profession in this country. He was a man of wide
experience and of great skill, particularly in surgery. His
wife died in Holmes County in 1842, aged fifty-eight years, and he
in 1862, in Fulton County, Ohio, at the ripe age of eighty-three
years; both were members of the Lutheran Church. They were the
parents of eight children, one of whom died in the old country, the
other seven accompanying them to America.
The subject of our sketch was educated in his native
land, and when a boy was apprenticed to the trade of a carpenter and
cabinet-maker. He also served his allotted time of three years
in the Prussian army. After his immigration to this country he
worked at his trade in York, Penn., and in Wooster, Ohio, he
continued actively engaged in same until 1884, when he retired to
enjoy a well-earned repose. Apr. 7, 1835, in York, Penn.,
Mr. Gasche was united in marriage with Barbara
Minich, a native of Bavaria, who when seventeen years old came
to this country with her parents, who settled in Pennsylvania, where
both died. Of this union seven children were born (six of whom
are still living); Catherine, wife of Ernest Thomen,
in Wooster; Anna, wife of Frederick Aumann,
living with her parents; Charles C., a resident of Wooster;
Frederick W., in Millersburg, Holmes County; Julius,
a farmer in Holmes County, Ohio: Nettie M., wife of Prof.
Collins, of Oxford, Ohio, where he is professor of mathematics
and astronomy, and Oscar Theodore, who died in
infancy.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 458 |
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WILLIAM GEARHART,
a resident of over sixty years in Wayne County, is a native of
Northumberland County, Penn., born Sept. 8, 1808, son of Timos
and Lorena (Gulichs) Gearhart, and grandson of Jacob
Gearheart. The parents were natives of New Jersey, and
came to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1822, where they died, the father at
the age of eighty-two, and the mother when fifty-four years old.
The subject of this memoir received an ordinary
common-school education, and learned the trades of stone-mason and
cooper, at which he worked for some time, and then commenced
farming. June 28, 1830, he married, in Wayne County. Mary
Dirck, daughter of Jacob and Catherine (First)
Dirck, and a native of Pennsylvania. When a child she
came with her parents to Wayne County, Ohio, where she grew to
womanhood. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gearhart,
viz.: Lorena, Catherine and Julia Ann,
all deceased; Jacob, in Canaan Township; Isaac, on the
homstead, and Samantha, now Mrs. H. Onaway.
Their first farm was a wild piece of timber-land, in which deer and
wolves roamed at will, and this, by hard labor, Mr. and Mrs.
Gearhart converted into a fertile farm. Here they resided
some forty years, and in 1809 came to their present commodious and
pleasant home, situated in the eastern part of Bloomington, and here
they have made all the improvements. At one time Mr.
Gearhart owned 793 acres of land, but has divided it into farms,
giving a portion to his children. Mrs. Gearhart
died May 23, 1889, aged eighty-one years, and, although having been
a victim of typhoid fever several times, she was remarkably well
preserved. She and her husband were members of the
Presbyterian Church of Wooster.
Their son, Isaac, was born in April, 1834, and
has all his life followed farming. With true filial affection
he has all along remained with his parents. He is a member of
the Presbyterian Church, and is much esteemed by all who know him.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 135 |
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EDWARD GISELA,
a well-known citizen of Wooster, Wayne Co., Ohio, is a native of
Stark County, Ohio, born in January, 1835. His grandfather,
Jacob Gisela, was a native oฃ New York, who came to Wooster,
this county, at an early day, where he kept the first hotel, and
spent the remainder of his days. John Gisela,
father of Edward, was born in Ohio, and in his youth learned
the trade of blacksmith in Wooster. Upon reaching manhood he
was married in that place to Sarah Miller, a native of
Pennsylvania, who came to Wayne County with her parents. Of
this marriage three children were born: Craniums, who is
deceased; Charlotte, now wife of James McIntyre,
and living in California, and Edward.
The subject of this biographical sketch spent his early
life on the farm, and remained with his parents until he was
twenty-one years of age, when he was married to Miss Emetine
Culbertson, a native of Wayne County, and a granddaughter of
John and Jane Culbertson, both of whom are deceased. Our
subject and wife have had seven children born to them, namely:
John W., Craniums M., Harvey, Elmer, Eli
K. and Emma, all living in Wooster, and all the sons
engaged in farming except Eli K., the youngest, who is in the
clothing store with Mr. Schley, and Clara
Etta, now wife of Lewis Greenwood, living in Wayne County.
In 1868 Mr. Gisela engaged in the sale of
agricultural implements for the McDonald Company for ten
years, which connection was later dissolved. With the
exception of five years, which he spent on his farm in East Union
and Franklin Townships, this has been his occupation since. In
1882 he left the farm, and, coming back to Wooster, has resided
there to the present time.
By perseverance and business tact Mr.
Gisela has made a success in life, and is universally
recognized as one of Wayne County's substantial citizens, respected
and honored wherever he is known, and the entire family stand high
in the estimation of the people. In politics he is a Democrat,
but his political action is guided by well-considered motives rather
than by partisan feeling. Socially he is a member of the Odd
Fellows order.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 304 |
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WILLIAM EMMETT GEORGE,
of the firm of George & Co., cabinet-makers and undertakers,
and manufacturers of furniture, having the largest and most complete
establishment of the kind in Wayne County, Ohio, of which he is a
native, and born Jan. 8, 1855. His father, John George,
was a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, and by occupation a
carpenter. He was married in Wooster to Eliza Smith,
whose father was one of the first settlers in that place, both of
her parents dying in Wayne County. To Mr. and Mrs. John
George five children were born, as follows: Two deceased in
infancy; Anna Viola, wife of Calvin Van
Nimmons, of Shreve, Wayne County; William Emmett,
and John Franklin, a resident of Wooster. The mother
was called to her rest in June, 1888, at the age of sixty-four
years, and since then the father has resided in Wooster, and is now
sixty-five years of age.
The subject of this sketch has passed his entire life
in Wooster, where he received a good schooling. While still a
boy he turned his attention to cabinetmaking, and in 1880 formed a
partnership with William Y. Landis, which continued until
1888. During this time the business was greatly enlarged, so
as to include furniture and undertaking, and now furniture
manufacturing, and is at present the largest in the county.
For some years after learning his trade Mr. George worked in
various places, and was employed in an organ manufactory, in
car-building shops, etc. In 1875 he was united in marriage
with Miss Lydia Lasier, a native of Pennsylvania,
whose parents early migrated to Ohio, where the father died.
The mother is now living at Western Star, near Akron, Ohio. To
this union one child, John Irvin, has been born.
Mr. George started in business without a
dollar, and his gratifying success is wholly due to his close
application and business ability. He has advanced himself to
an honorable place among the leading business men of Wooster, and is
regarded as one of the best of its citizens, honored and respected
by all. He is progressive and enterprising, and in favor of
all good projects for the advancement of the county. He and
his wife are members of the Lutheran Church at Wooster.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 271 |
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ALFRED C. GLESSNER,
son of Philip and Margaret (Roughcorn) Glassier, natives of
Westmoreland County, Penn., was born Sept. 24, 1836, in Ashland
County, Ohio. His parents came in an early day to Wayne
County, Ohio, and located on a farm in Greene Township, afterward
moving to Ashland County, Ohio. Alfred C. was reared on
a farm and obtained a limited education at the schools of the
period. In 1876 he moved into Wayne County, and her carried on
farming in Milton Township. In 1888 he established his present
business, that of livery stable, at Sterling, Wayne Co., and has
already succeeded in commanding a lucrative trade.
In 1857 Alfred C. Glassier married Miss Sarah
Jane a daughter of Thomas Baker of Iowa, and to this
union have been born eight children: Carrie A., wife of
William W. Weekday, of Canaan Township, Wayne County;
William, telegraph operator on the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling
Railroad; Emma Jeanette, wife of Milford Lance, of
Sterling, Ohio, and Hattie I., George A., Everett Thornton,
Clement D. and Edith, all at home. Mr. Glassier
has always voted the Democratic ticket, but is not at all
demonstrative in politics. He is a member of Sterling Lodge,
No. 173, K. of P. Our subject was elected supervisor of Milton
Township, but refused to serve.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page
557 |
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D. B. GOOD was born
near Berlin, Somerset Co., Penn., Nov. 10, 1841, son of John and
Eliza Good. His father was a native of the same county and
State, and died Aug. 2, 1844, aged thirty-three years. The
mother of our subject, after the death of Mr. Good, married,
in the winter of 1850, David Graver, and they came to
Congress township, Wayne Co., Ohio, in the following spring,
bringing young D. B. with them. She is now living, in
good health, in Congress village, in her seventy-third year.
The subject of this biographical memoir received a fair
common-school education, and was reared to farm life. Feb. 27,
1868, he was united in marriage with Margaret Worst, who was
born Apr. 1, 1843, in Ashland County, Ohio. Her father,
Samuel Worst, was also a native of Ashland County, and his
father, Henry, a Pennsylvanian by birth, came from his native
State to Ashland County in a very early day. To Mr. and
Mrs. D. B. Good have been born two children, as follows:
Alder, born June 23, 1876. The parents were members of the
Brethren Church; in politics Mr. Good is a Republican.
He is one of hte enterprising, energetic and substantial citizens of
Congress Township, Wayne County, and is the owner of over 200 acres
of improved land. He and his estimable wife are identified
with the social and educational interests of their locality, and are
both highly respected.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page
279 |
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LUCIEN
GRABER is a son of Peter Graber, a native of
Switzerland, born Oct. 11, 1822. The parents of Peter
Graber were Samuel and Magdalene (Steiner) Graber, and
with them he immigrated to America in 1827, and to Ohio. They
first settled in Sugar Creek Township; thence moved to Paint
Township, where the parents died. In 1847 he married Annie
Knoble, a native of France, and a resident of Paint Township.
Eight children were born to this union, one of whom died in infancy.
Those living are Lucien, our subject; Amanda, wife of
David Buler, of Allen County, Ohio; Julia, wife of
Ross Koontz, of Mount Eaton, Ohio; Peter, in Sugar Creek
Township, Wayne County; Alfred, in Virginia; Helen,
wife of Jacob Tschontz, of Paint Township, Wayne County;
Louisa, wife of Arthur Fisher, of Wooster, Ohio.
Mr. Graber is a member of the Democratic party, and a deacon of
the German Reformed Church.
Lucien Graber, the subject of these lines, was
born Feb. 5, 1848, and was educated at the schools of the township.
At an early age he learned the stone mason's trade, but has been
principally engaged in farming in Paint Township, Wayne County.
In 1879 he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Peter
Saurer, of Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, and by this union
there are four children: Irvin H., Winter C., Aldine and
Myrtle Edith. Mr. Graber has always been identified with
the Democratic party, and has served as justice of the peace two
terms. In 1886 he was elected county commissioner, which
office he is still filling. He is a member of Mount Eaton
Lodge, No. 274, Royal Arcanum, and of Wooster Lodge, No. 41, K. of
P. He and his family are members of St. Paul's German Reformed
Church.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page
532 |
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ISRAEL GRADY - See
JOHN GRADY
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 321 |
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JOHN GRADY
- See MISS SARAH GRADY
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 309 |
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JOHN GRADY.
This gentleman is a well-known native citizen
of Wayne County, Ohio, having been born in Greene Township Apr. 28,
1828. His paternal grandfather was a native of England, and
immigrated to America at any early day, settling in Pennsylvania, in
which State he died. John Grady, father of
Israel, was born in that State, and there learned the trade of
coopering. In early manhood he married Elizabeth Odenkirk,
a native of the Keystone State, of German ancestry. They were
the parents
of eight children, three of whom are now living. In 1818
John Grady brought his family to Wayne County, settling
on a farm in Greene Township. This was then a wild, unsettled
place, and the farm had to be cleared from the forest. They
had to endure all the discomforts and hardships of early pioneer
life, but as the farm grew in beauty and value as the result of
their toil, the hardy pioneer and his wife felt themselves amply
rewarded by having a good home in which to rear the children rapidly
growing up
within their cabin walls. Mrs. Grady was the
first to hear the summons of the angel of death, passing away at the
age of sixty-five years. Her husband survived her until 1864,
when he died at the ripe age of nearly four score. Both were
sincere members of the Baptist Church of Wooster.
ISRAEL GRADY lived with his
father until he was twenty-seven years of age, and in his youth took
his share of the labors of the pioneer. At the age of
twenty-four he was married to Miss Sophronia, daughter
of Josiah and Eunice (Pratt) Milbourn, and born in East Union
Township May 13, 1828. In 1858 Mr. Grady bought a farm
in East Union Township, on which were but a few improvements, and
here he and his faithful wife toiled to make for themselves and
family a comfortable home, and so industriously and intelligently
didthey labor that their farm became known as the finest in the
township. The first work on their farm was the planting of eighteen
acres of fruit trees. Mrs. Grady's father was
also one of Wayne County's pioneers, coming here from Virginia with
his mother at an early day, and settling in East Union Township.
In 1819 he was married to Miss Eunice, a daughter of
Oliver Pratt, who came to this county in 1814.
Her father died in December, 1880, aged eighty-one years; the mother
died in 1889, at the age of eighty-five years. Mrs.
Grady was brought up as pioneer's children were in those early
days. She learned to spin and weave, was instructed in
household work, and often worked in the fields, at such labor as she
was equal to. She remained at home until her marriage.
She and her children are members of the Baptist Church. In
1881 Mr. Grady and his wife left the farm which had
for so many years been their home and came to Wooster, settling on a
piece of land in the edge of the city, forty and a half acres of it
being within the corporation limits. To get possession of this
tract he had to purchase from seventeen different owners. The
place was wild and barren, but he set to work to improve it with the
same untiring industry which had hitherto characterized his labors.
One of the attractive features of the place is a fish pond, in the
excavating and preparing of which two years were spent. This,
when finished, he stocked with carp, which are in a thriving
condition, and on its surface a graceful swan floats. To-day
this place is one of the most attractive homes in Wooster, and many
visitors are drawn thither by its beauty and the attraction of a
boat ride on the glassy surface of the lake. In the summer as
many as 1,500 persons have visited it in a month.
Mr. and Mrs. Grady have two children: the.
eldest, Huldah (Mrs. Isaac H. Odenkirk), lives with
her parents; Josiah M. lives on the home farm, in East Union
Township. The life of Mr. Grady has been one of labor,
and the honorable position he has attained is altogether due to the
industry of himself and his capable wife. He has always been
in favor of all projects whose object was to benefit the county, and
he will long be remembered as one of its public-spirited and
enterprising citizens.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 321 |
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MISS SARAH GRADY. This
estimable lady is a native of Greene Township, Wayne County, and a
daughter of JOHN and Elizabeth Grady, who came from
Pennsylvania in 1818, and settled upon a farm in the township, named
when it was covered with dense forest, which the pioneers had to cut
away to make room for their log cabin. The father was a cooper
by trade, but after settling in this county gave his attention
principally to this farm. His parents were natives of
Pennsylvania. The pioneer and his family lived the usual life
of those brave and hardy spirits who rescued this beautiful and
fertile land from the primeval forest, making it one of the most
productive parts of this rich commonwealth. Hardships were
cheerfully endured of which the present generation know but little,
except by hearsay, and the reward was the broad and fertile acres
which gradually took the place of the forest, leveled by the ax.
To this worthy couple were born eight children, three of whom are
now living. The wife and mother passed from earth in January,
1861, aged sixty-five years, having been born Nov. 8, 1795, the
husband and father following her to the grave in June, 1864, at the
ripe age of seventy-nine years, being born Nov. 25, 1785. They
were upright, God-fearing people, and were universally respected.
The subject of this sketch was born May 17, 1818, just after her
parents came to Wayne County, and she remained with them as long as
they lived, helping, even as a child, in the necessary work of the
pioneer, often rolling logs, burning brush, and doing any manual
work of which she was capable. She was also taught to spin,
and was, and is yet, capable of doing good work. At the death
of her father she inherited the homestead, on which she lived until
1868, when she sold it and removed to Wooster, which has since been
her home. The life of Miss Grady ahs been a
busy one, and she has been a witness of and participant in the work
of building up this county to its present proud position. The
incidents of her early life are yet fresh in her memory, and her
recital of them is interesting. When she first attended school
she had to go by a blazed path through the woods to the old log
school-house, where the rudiments of education were instilled into
the minds of the children of the pioneers. Her parents were
members of the Baptist Church (as she had been all her adult life),
and services were held in their house for many years. She well
remembers attending church at the court-house in Wooster when guards
were placed at the doors.
Miss
Grady has ever been noted for benevolence, and a desire to
do all the good she could to her fellow-beings. She adopted a
soldier's orphan, Sadie Frazier, then a young
child, but who now, grown to womanhood, still makes her home with
her foster-mother, for whom she has all a child's love and respect.
Miss Grady has a brother, Israel Grady,
living in Wayne County, where he is well known, and she has one
living in Kansas. For her many admirable traits of character,
and her charity and benevolence, this much esteemed lady is justly
held in high regard in the county of her birth.
Source: Commemorative
Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne and Holmes, Ohio Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 - Page 309 |
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H. P. GRAVATT, of the firm of
H. P. Gravatt & Co.,
editors and publishers of the
Wayne County Democrat, was born in Lexington,
Highland Co., Ohio,
in the year 1842. His
father, Peter R. Gravatt,
a teacher by profession, was a native of New
Jersey, and died at
Dayton, Ohio, in 1849.
In July, 1853, H. P. Gravatt became an apprentice in a printing office at Dayton, Ohio,
and he has ever since followed in the footsteps of Guttenberg.
His education has been the practical one that contact with
the business men of the world and close application to his chosen
work have given him. In
1870 Mr. Gravatt was
united in marriage with Miss
Nellie C. Moore, born in Zanesville, Ohio, and a
daughter of Cornelius Moore,
who for many years was publisher of the
Masonic Review of
Cincinnati.
To this union eight children have been born, four of whom
have passed to the silent majority.
From
1872 to 1881 Mr. Gravatt
filled the position of editorial manager of the
Odd Fellow Companion,
published at Columbus, Ohio, it being then an eighty-page monthly.
In 1880, at the May session of the Grand Lodge, he was
installed grand master of Odd Fellows, and presided at the session
at Youngstown
in 1881. In 1875 he was
appointed historiographer, and wrote the history of the first ten
years of Odd Fellowship in
Ohio, which was published in the proceedings
of 1878. In 1873 he
wrote the first Knights of Pythias manual ever published, and from
1872 to 1881, while in this work, he resided at Columbus.
In 1869 he became a member of the I. O. O. F., and for four
years was their representative at the Grand Lodge, and also
historiographer and grand master; also is a member of Blue Lodge
Masons and of the Knights of Pythias.
In July, 1881, Mr.
Gravatt purchased of Mr.
E. B. Eshelman his half interest in the
Wayne County Democrat,
Mr. Eshelman withdrawing, but in 1886 returning to the
partnership by purchasing the fourth interest belonging to the late
D. L. Firestone.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page
19
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JAMES L. GRAY
was a native of Milton, Northumberland County, Penn.,
born in 1832, of parents who immigrated to that State many years
ago. His father was of Scotch and his mother of German
ancestry. The mother dying while he was quite young, James
L. was brought up by his uncle, Samuel Blain, on a farm
near Milton, Penn. At the age of sixteen he began life for
himself, first obtaining a position as clerk on a Mississippi River
steamboat. He followed steamboating for about three years,
sailing on all the navigable rivers tributary to the Mississippi,
during which time he made a trip to the Yellowstone Valley, in quest
of firs. Returning to Milton, Penn, he served an
apprenticeship at the saddler's trade, after which he located at New
Brighton, Penn. Here he met and afterward married Miss
Eunice Magaw, a talented young lady of Beaver County, Penn., and
soon after his marriage removed with his wife to Wooster, Wayne Co.,
Ohio, where he engaged in business. In 1864, responding to his
country's call for aid, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and
Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Army of the
Potomac, being a part of the time in the quartermaster's department.
Returning to Wooster after the war, he was for a time here engaged
as superintendent of the Home Mills, and in 1875 established himself
as a dealer in coal, lime, cement and builders' supplies, which
business he carried on successfully up to the time of his death.
He died June 8, 1886, at the age of fifty-four years, highly
esteemed by all who knew him.
He was a Republican in politics, and took a great
interest in all political questions. He served for a number of
years as a member of the volunteer fire department in his adopted
city; was also a member of the I. O. O. F. and the G. A. R., and a
leading member of the English Lutheran Church, serving as one of the
building committee in the erection of the English Lutheran
Tabernacle at Wooster, Ohio. His widow, since his death, has
resided in Wooster, where she is favorably known as a member of the
English Lutheran Church, and of the Woman's Relief Corps.
James L. Gray left five children - two sons and three daughters
- all of whom reside in Wayne County.
The eldest son, Charles M. Gray,
after receiving a liberal education in the schools of his native
city, engaged in business with his father, at first as an assistant,
and finally as a partner. In 1885 he went to Galion, Ohio,
where he established himself in the milling business, in which he
remained until recalled to Wooster by his father's death.
Since then, in partnership with his married. Mrs. J. L.
Gray, he has carried on the business established by his father,
under its original name - Gray & Son. He is also
manager of the Standard Oil Company's supply depot at Wooster.
He is a F. & A. M., and a member of the Royal Arcanum; he is a
Republican.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 476 |
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ALLEN GREELY, JR.
Allen Greely (deceased) was born in North
Yarmouth, Me., May 15, 1781, and died Oct. 25, 1866. He was a
fellow student with Daniel Webster at Dartmouth College,
graduating one year after Webster. His wife, Eunice Jones
Greely, was born in 1801, and died in 1841. Allen
Greely, Jr., the subject of this memoir, was born in Turner,
Androscoggin Co., Me., Mar. 16, 1837, and at the early age of four
years was bereft of the care and kindness of a mother. His
father was a Congregational minister, and served as pastor at
Turner, Me., from 1810 to 1845. Young Allen attended
the common schools until his fourteenth year, when he entered
Hampden Academy, Maine, and there pursued his studies one year.
He was a schoolmate of Eugene Hale, United States Senator
from Maine, in the old town of Turner.
When fifteen years old Mr. Greely boarded a
merchant sailing ship, and for three years was a sailor on her,
working before the mast, and making several voyages to remote parts
of the globe. Among other ports he touched at were Liverpool
(England), Isle of Wight, Cardiff, (Wales), Rio Janeiro (South
America), etc., and he made several voyages to the West Indies.
In 1857 Mr. Greely worked by the month on sailing vessels,
plying on the lakes between Buffalo and Chicago, and for two seasons
he "sailed the lakes." At the age of twenty-two he retired
from sea-faring life, and became a citizen of Wayne County, Ohio,
locating at West Salem in 1858.
On Mar. 27, 1859, Mr. Greely married Miss
Nancy Jane, daughter of John G. Ford, another of the
early settlers of Wayne County, Ohio. Since coming here Mr.
Greely has been engaged in various lines of business, and since
1874 he has been associated with others in the merchant milling.
He is considered an upright, prudent and enterprising business man
and excellent neighbor. In politics he is a Democrat. He
has served one term as township clerk and two terms as township
treasurer; was village clerk for eight years and is now, and has
been for fourteen successive years, a member of the village Board of
Education.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 128 |
P. S. Greenamyer, M.D. |
PETER S. GREENAMYER, M. D.,
mayor of Smithville, Ohio, is a native of Columbiana, in the county
of the same name, in this State, and was born May 2, 1836. On
his father's side his ancestors were of German extraction, his
great-grandmother, who was a Miss Wyse, having come from that
country. She was sent to America for the benefit of her
health, and on the voyage hither became acquainted with a fellow
traveler named Geiger, whom she married after her arrival at
New Amsterdam, as New York was then called. She was connected
with one of the royal families of Germany, and had two brothers,
both of whom were unmarried, and were enormously wealthy. One
of these brothers willed his entire estate, valued then at
seventy-two millions of dollars, to the descendants of his sister of
the third generation, of whom Dr. Greenamyer's father
was one.
The notice of distribution was published at the proper
time in Germany, about 1880, but unfortunately did not become known
in this country until after the lapse of a considerable time.
When it did become known, efforts were at once made to complete the
chain of evidence establishing relationship, and when this was
accomplished an agent was sent to Europe to present the claims of
the American heirs. The distribution had already taken place,
however, by order of the German Government, which refused to change
it, and thus the American heirs got no part of their just claims. Mrs.
Geiger died in this country, and was buried in New Amsterdam.
After a lapse of about 150 years, in the efforts to complete the
evidence as to her identity, her grave was opened, and parts of the
royal robes in which she was buried were found intact. She
left a family of three daughters and two sons. One of the
daughters married Solomon Greenamyer, and thus became
the grandmother of our subject. Her husband was a resident of
Columbiana County, this State, where many of their descendants yet
live, and where he held the office of justice of the peace for over
fifty years. He died of diphtheria, about twenty years ago, in
his eighty-sixth year. His wife had died about twenty-five
years prior to that time. They had six sons and six daughters,
of whom three sons and four daughters are yet living, viz.: David,
a retired farmer, living in Michigan; Enos, a practicing
physician of Palestine, Penn.; Jehu, a farmer of Michigan;
Sarah, wife of Daniel Stauffer, a merchant of
Columbiana, Ohio; Eliza, who married a Mr. Heck,
a farmer of Columbiana County; Charlotte, wife of Israel
Long, a wealthy farmer in Pennsylvania, across the line from
Columbiana County, and Mary, wife of Rev. Samuel Sechrist,
of Akron, Ohio.
William, the father of our subject, who was the
eldest of the family, was born at the old homestead in Columbiana
County, Aug. 29, 1808, and died in Smithville, Wayne County, July
31, 1860. In his early life he taught school, but afterward
read medicine, and began practice in his native county, removing to
Wooster, Ohio, in 1846, and the following year settling in
Smithville, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession
until his death. He rapidly made friends in his chosen home,
and became known as a successful and highly esteemed physician.
As a Christian man and good citizen he was greatly respected, and
his death was mourned. by a large circle of friends, to whom his
many good qualities had greatly endeared him. He was for many
years a member of the German Reformed Church, of which he had long
been a deacon, and was a consistent Christian, who fully believed in
Him who "doeth all things well," and met death as only such a one
can. He was married, in 1832, to Miss Maria
Strickler, who was born in Page County, Va., in 1809. She
went with her parents, while young, to Columbiana County, Ohio, and
there met her future husband. Her father was of Scotch
descent, and her mother of German. She also died in
Smithville, on Dec. 15, 1873, aged over sixty-four years. She
was a faithful wife and a devoted mother, and an exemplary Christian
a worthy helpmeet to her husband. They were the parents of two
sons and one daughter. The younger son, Solomon, is a
veterinary surgeon at Ashland, Ohio; the daughter, Isabella,
is the wife of
John E.
Zimmerman, of Smithville, and the eldest is Peter S.
The subject of this sketch was eleven years of age when
his parents removed to Smithville, where he received his
common-school education. This was supplemented by a partial
course at Oberlin College. Leaving there, he read medicine
under his father, and later attended the Eclectic Medical College at
Cincinnati, where he graduated in March, 1858. He then engaged
iu practice iu partnership with his father, continuing until the
latter's death. A year later his uncle, Enos, became
his partner, this relation continuing for four years, during which
time Dr. Greenamyer attended Jefferson Medical
College, Philadelphia, graduating in March, 1872. He has since
been continuously engaged in the practice of his profession at
Smithville, building up a large and lucrative business, and is
universally recognized as a conscientious and skillful physician and
surgeon, having studied the latter branch of his profession under
the celebrated Prof. Pancoast, of Philadelphia.
On Sept. 30, 1803, Dr. Greenamyer was married to
Miss Eugenia Gertrude Christy, who was born May 10, 1844, in
Jackson, Wayne County. Her parents were James and Roxana
Christy, both of whom are now deceased. They were farmers
in this county for many years, Mr. Christy being a
noted stock raiser and dealer. He was a native of Wayne
County, of Irish extraction, and his wife was born in the State of
New York. Dr. and Mrs. Greenamyer have one child.
Homer B., now seventeen years of age, who graduated in the
class of '88from the Northern Ohio Normal School, and intends
studying pharmacy, but is now teacher of stenography at his Alma
Mater.
Dr. Greenamyer has always taken a warm
interest in the affairs of his town. In April, 1888, he was
elected mayor of Smithville, receiving all but three of the votes
cast, a good illustration of the esteem of his fellow-citizens.
He is a member of the Wayne County Medical Society, of the
Northeastern Ohio Medical Society, of the Ohio State Medical
Society, and also of the American Medical Society. He belongs
to the Odd Fellows order and to the Knights of the Maccabees.
In politics he is a Republican. As a physician, a citizen and
neighbor, the Doctor is in the front rank of the citizens of Wayne
County.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 266 |
O. K. Griffith
|
O. K. GRIFFITH,
banker and miller, Orrville, Ohio, comes of Welsh ancestors on his
father's side, who immigrated to America at an early day, settling
in York County, Penn., where the family lived for several
generations. His grandfather, Joseph Griffith, was born
in that county, living all of his lifetime on his birthplace, dying
at the age of eighty-seven. He was a Quaker in religion.
There is son, Mode, father of O. K., was born in 1805.
He learned the trade of a plasterer, which became his lifelong
occupation. He lived in his native county until 1839, when he
removed to Indiana County, Penn., remaining there four years, when
he went to Boiling Springs, Cumberland Co., Penn., where he and his
wife both died, he at the age of seventy-seven, and she aged
sixty-two. Mr. Griffith was an industrious man, of a
remarkably upright and conscientious character, who regarded a
promise as sacred; out-spoken in the expression of his opinions; an
ardent advocate of protective tariff, and an Abolitionist, when to
be one was to be unpopular, and an agent for the "underground
railroad," who often helped runaway slaves. He was married in
1830 to Eliza Kaufman, a native of Boiling Springs, of
a well-known family. One of her brothers, D. S. Kaufman,
was for many years a Congressman from Texas, elected several times
without opposition; another, Abram Kaufman, was a
prominent minister of the Episcopal Church of Charleston, S. C., who
was honored at his death by interment in the body of the church.
Mode and Eliza Griffith were parents of ten children: D.
S., who is now living in Colorado; William C., A. K.
and Levi, in Lincoln, Neb.; O. K., our subject, and
Jennie, at Boiling Springs, Penn.; four are deceased, viz.:
Harriet, Benjamin, Joseph and an infant.
O. K. Griffith, the subject of this sketch, was
born at Dillstown, York Co., Penn., Apr. 28, 1831. Through the
influence of his uncle from Texas, he secured a clerkship in the
United States Treasury Department, which he held until a change of
administration threw him out. He then stayed at home for
awhile, and in 1853 came to Wayne County, where he had several
acquaintances. Here for three years he worked at plastering in
summer and taught school in winter, and in the winter of 1856-57
taught in Illinois, going to Kansas the following spring, and taking
up some land there. In 1858 he returned to Wayne County, and
getting married bought some timber land between Wooster and
Smithville, which he cleared. On this place he lived until
1878, when he removed to Smithville, where he stayed for a year and
a half. In October, 1874, he removed to Orrville and bought
the Orrville Mill, in co-partnership with John Willaman.
This firm existed until 1880, when new partners were taken into the
concern, and the name changed to the Orrville Milling Company.
Great improvements were at once begun, a fine new mill being built
while the old one was running, and when the new mill was running the
old one was moved into it. To-day the mill runs night and day,
except Sundays, and has a daily capacity of 500 barrels. The
mill is operated solely by Mr. Griffith, its product
being all engaged beforehand, the flour having a high reputation.
This result is due to its being located in a first-class
wheat-raising section; to their having their own warehouses, and
being able to select their wheat, and in an eminent degree to the
able and careful management of Mr. Griffith. In
addition to his milling business Mr. Griffith is
engaged in banking, being president of the Orrville Banking Company,
started by him and some other gentlemen, and of which he was and is
the leading spirit. This is an individual liability bank, the
stockholders each being responsible to the full
amount of
their property, giving ample security to customers. During the
War of the Rebellion Mr. Griffith enlisted in the One
Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteers.
Mr. Griffith has been twice married; first in
March, 1858, to Miss Jane Wasson, daughter of David and
Margaret (Beale) Wasson, old settlers of Wayne Township, in this
county, where she was born in 1836. To this union five
children were born: Frank, who is married to Eva Blackmore,
of Orrville, and is living on a large farm in Colorado, owned by his
father; Mary and John, living with their father;
Charles, who died in 1883, aged nineteen, and Alice, who
died in childhood. The mother of this family died Dec. 3,
1870. She was a woman of a rare Christian character, truly
pious, a member of the Presbyterian Church. A faithful wife
and devoted mother, her loss was sincerely mourned by her bereaved
husband and children.
In March, 1874, Mr. Griffith was married
to Mary, daughter of John and Nancy Heineman,
of Wooster. She was born in Wayne County. The issue of
this union was two children, one of whom, Edwin Fay, died in
childhood; the other, Grace, is now (1888) eleven years of
age. Mr. Griffith has never been an aspirant for
public office, but was once elected justice of the peace, which
office he gladly got rid of by removing from the township. He
is a member of the G. A. R., of the Knights of Honor, and of the I.
O. O. F. In politics he is a Republican, and a protective
tariff man. A straightforward, enterprising and stirring man,
Mr. Griffith is an important factor in the growth and
prosperity of Orrville, and a central figure in the business
circles. He is known as a thoroughly upright man and a
valuable citizen.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 82 |
|
|
EUGENE GROSJEAN,
son of John P. and Frances Grosjean, was born in Switzerland,
in 1824. His parents immigrated to America in 1833, and
located in Paint Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, where they were engaged
in farming. Their family consisted of ten children:
Frances, Frederick, Ferdinand, Ellen, Mary, Sophia, Julia, Eugene,
and two that died in infancy. Of these, Frances
married Jacob Soyer, and died in Wayne County;
Frederick is a resident of France; Ferdinand located in
Indiana, where he died; Ellen died at the age of nineteen
years; Mary married A. Flory, removed to Indiana, and
is now deceased; Sophia is now Mrs. Vol Steinmetz, of
Coshocton County, Ohio; Julia was the late Mrs.
John Webber, of Indiana.
Eugene was reared in Wayne County, and in 1840
married Eugenie, daughter of Charles E. Grosjean.
He located in Paint Township, Wayne County, where he remained until
1854, when he came to Salt Creek Township, Wayne County, and
purchased a farm, which he disposed of, and in 1861 bought the
property he now owns. Here he and his wife reared a family of
eight children: Albert, Julia, Mary, Charles,
Louis, Sophia, Eugene A. and Ellen. Of these,
Albert married Ellen, daughter of William
Sauers, and is a farmer in Salt Creek Township, Wayne County,
near Maysville; Julia is now Mrs. Merian Winn, of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mary is Mrs. John Mackey, of Salt
Creek Township, Wayne County; Charles is at present a
resident of San Francisco, Cal.; Louis is married to
Elizabeth Leper, and settled in Holmes County; Sophia
died when a child of nine years of age; Eugene A. is a
resident of San Francisco, Cal., and Ellen remains at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Grosjean are members of the
Congregational Church. In politics he is a Democrat. His
life may fairly be said to have been a success, and he is justly
recognized as one of the able, representative men of the township.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne
County, Ohio Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 -
Page 58 |
|
