BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of
Wayne Co., Ohio
Vol. I
Illustrated
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana
1910
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JOHN MARTIN.
Among the leading citizens and representative farmers of Wooster
township, Wayne county, Ohio, is he whose name forms the caption to
this brief article, and this work would be incomplete were there
failure to make specific notice of him. The people of the
United States give special reverence to those brave men who, laying
aside all personal interests and love for home and family, went
forth to battle for the perpetuation of the national integrity,
knowing full well that the cost of their sacrifice might be life
itself. The subject gave a valiant and faithful support to
"Old Glory" on many southern battlefields and carries scars received
from southern bullets, a badge of honor to be held in higher esteem
than the royal badges bestowed by old world monarchs.
John Martin is a native son of the old Buckeye
state, having been born in Franklin township, Tuscarawas county,
Ohio, on May 2, 1844, and is the son of Andrew and Catherine
(Wickey) Martin, both of whom are now deceased. The
subject remained at home with his parents during his youth and
secured a fair education in the common schools of the neighborhood.
In 1860 he came to Wooster township, Wayne county, and entered the
employ of John Walters, with whom he remained until
Oct. 9, 1861, when he responded to his country’s call and enlisted
as a private in Company I, Sixty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of corporal
and gave faithful service until being mustered out on Dec. 10, 1864,
Marshall, Tennessee. During his service he was in the commands
of Generals Buell, Rosecrans and Sherman,
and took part in all the battles incident to the campaign leading up
to the capture of Atlanta, Georgia. At Chickamauga, Mr.
Martin had one finger of his left hand shot off, the bullet
being deflected from his body by striking the barrel of his gun.
Upon the conclusion of his army service Mr.
Martin returned to Wooster, where he worked for two years.
In 1866 he was married and moved onto his father-in-law’s farm,
which he managed until the latter’s death, when he purchased the
farm and has since continued to operate the place. It is now a
well-improved farm in every respect and under Mr. Martin’s
able management it has been maintained as one of the most fertile
and productive farms in Wooster township. The subject is a man
of indefatigable energy and enterprise and is progressive in his
methods. He carries on a general system of agriculture and
also devotes considerable attention to the raising of livestock and
in both lines he is meeting with a gratifying degree of success.
On the 20th of September, 1866, Mr. Martin
was united in marriage to Balinda A. Eckert, a native of
Wooster, Ohio, and a daughter of George and Mary ( Burnett)
Eckert, both of whom are now deceased. To the subject and
wife the following children have been born: Peter W., who
resides three miles northwest of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Lillie
Allie is the wife of Isaac N. Hough, and for of Wayne
county, and they reside at Wooster; Emma Bell is the
wife of Dellsworth Wrenn, of Mason, Ohio; John O.,
who resides at Cleveland, Ohio, married Grace Beebe;
Walter E., who is a farmer near West Salem, Ohio, married
Flora Shank; Samuel C., a street car conductor at
Mansfield, Ohio, married Emma Atkins; James
Roy, of near Wooster, Ohio, married Altie Kimber;
Charles H., of near Canal Fulton, Ohio, married Isa
Franks; Mary Maude is deceased; Ethel is a
student at the Agricultural Experiment Station.
Politically, Mr. Martin is a Democrat and
has taken an active part in the councils of his party, having served
as a member of the county central committee and the state committee.
He has been a number of times honored by official positions, having
served as a member of the township board for twenty-six years;
township assessor, six years; infirmary director for six years, and
in 1907 he was elected trustee of Wooster township, in which
position he is still serving. His religious membership is with
the Lutheran church at Wooster, to which he gives a generous
support. Fraternally, he is a member of Given Post, No. 133,
Grand Army of the Republic, at Wooster, of which he has served as
junior vice-commander. He is also a member of the Improved
Order of Red Men.
Mr. Martin has been a very busy man and
successful withal. He has at all times evinced a commendable
interest in public affairs and has always stood for the highest and
best interests of the community. His genial disposition and
kindly attitude towards all having dealings with him have won for
him a host of warm personal friends and he is eminently deserving of
being numbered among the representative men of his county.
Source:
History of Wayne Co., Ohio - Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F.
Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana - 1910 - Page 1164 |
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DAVID W. McCONNELL. One
of the well known and influential residents of Milton township,
Wayne county, whose life has been so lived that it has not only
resulted in good to himself and family, but also to the community in
general, is D. W. McConnell, who was born in this township,
in February, 1850, the son of Robert and Mary J. (Eshbaugh)
McConnell, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a
native of Milton township, Wayne county, Ohio. The paternal
grandparents of D. W. Campbell were William and Mary
(Russell) McConnell, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the
latter either of that state or Ohio. They left Pennsylvania in
1828 and came to Wayne county, Ohio, locating in Milton township,
north of Rittman. William McConnell became the owner of
one hundred and sixty acres of land there, which was then in the
wilderness, but this was improved and a good home established here.
He also had forty acres “cornering” it. Some of this land now
forms a part of Rittman. With the assistance of his
eight sons, this land was soon cleared. There were also two
daughters in their family. Their father was a strict
Presbyterian and reared them in that faith. The maternal
grandparents of D. W. McConnell were David and
Katherine (Johnson) Eshbaugh, the former a
native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter a native of
Maryland. About 1825 they settled one mile southeast of
Rittman, purchasing one hundred and twenty acres from a Mr.
Doyle, an extensive land dealer here in an early day, having
bought much of the land in this part of Ohio from the government.
Before his death, David Eshbaugh had accumulated three
hundred and sixty acres of land in the northeastern part of Milton
township. He cleared most of his later purchases, but always
resided on the place he bought first. He reared two sons and
four daughters, several children dying when young. He was a
Republican in politics and took an active part in the affairs of his
party. He was for many years a deacon in the Baptist church.
Robert McConnell, father of the gentleman
whose name heads this sketch, was educated in a log school house in
Milton township. When a young man he learned the carpenter
trade, which he followed, together with farming, during his
subsequent life. He was the owner of eighty acres of good
land, the second farm west of where his son, David W., of
this review, now resides. He became a skilled workman, and
while working at his trade at the Rittman sawmill he was killed by
the explosion of the boiler. Six others were also killed at
that time, one of them being his son, who was also working there at
the carpenter trade. Robert McConnell was
forty-five years of age at the time of his death. His children, now
living, are, David W., of this review; Mrs. Mary
Katherine Dieter; A. A., now sergeant on the
police force of Akron, Ohio; John C., telegraph operator at
Akron, Ohio.
David W. McConnell was educated in the district
schools of Milton township and the Seville graded schools, and
attended four terms of the Smithville Normal, after which he taught
one term of school, after which he returned to Seville and took one
more term’s work. In the spring of the last year he was in
school, his father was killed and he then returned to the farm,
purchasing twenty-two acres, his uncle’s share in the Eshbaugh
homestead. He still lives on this place, which is
located about one mile west of Rittman. Had Mr.
McConnell followed teaching he would have doubtless become one
of the noted educators of the county, but he has made a success at
farming and led a freer and less trammeled life. His mother
and sisters have shares in the home place, and David W. farms
their land in connection with his own, carrying on general farming
and stock raising.
Mr. McConnell was married in 1875 to
Katherine Petit, whose father was born in France, and
came to Medina county, Ohio, and later to Wayne county. The
following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. David W.
McConnell: Ernest, who was married to Belle
Mougey, daughter of Peter Mougey, mentioned in the
sketch of Forest Mougey on another page of this work;
Ernest McConnell and wife are the parents of one son,
Mougey Dare; Beatrice B. married E. C. Hoover,
of Medina county, and their children are, Doris, Iva
and Glen David; Arthur married a Miss
Blair, of Columbus, Ohio, and he is now a meat inspector at
Peoria, Illinois; William R., who is taking an agricultural
course at Columbus, Ohio.
David W. McConnell is a member of the Knights of
the Maccabees. In politics he is a Democrat and he has very
faithfully performed the duties of the following offices; Township
trustee (two terms), township and precinct assessor many times, and
he has been a member of the school board or a director nearly all
his mature life. The last time he ran for assessor of his
precinct he received every vote cast; this show's his high standing
in his community the interests of which he has long had at heart and
labored to promote.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 1346 |
E. D. McIntire |
EZRA D. McINTIRE. The life history of him whose
name heads this sketch has not been closely identified with the
history of Wayne County. His life has been one of the untiring
activity and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by
those only who devote themselves indefatigably to the work before
them. He is of a high type of business man and none more than
he deserves a fitting recognition among the men whose genius and
abilities have achieved results that are most enviable and
commendable. As a servant of the people of his county Mr.
Mclntire acquitted himself with the highest honors and that
he is now in private life is because he no longer desired the
official position which he had filled satisfactorily for so many
years.
Ezra D. Mclntire, whose fine farm of two hundred
acres lies in Wooster and Franklin townships, was born in Franklin
township, this county, Dec. 22, 1844, on the farm which his
father had entered from the government and which is now owned by the
subject. He is a son of Cornelius and Nancy (Rayl) McIntire.
The subject's paternal grandfather was John Mclntire,
who was born in county Derry, Ireland, in I755. He emigrated
to the United States in 1782, and settled at York, Pennsylvania.
He was there engaged in farming for fifteen years, at the end of
which time he moved to near Steubenville, Ohio, on what was then
known as the Mingo Bottoms. In 1820 he came to Franklin
township, Wayne county, Ohio, where he spent his remaining days.
He was the father of eight children, namely: John, James,
Smith, William, Archibald, Cornelius,
Sarah and Catherine, all of whom are now deceased.
Cornelius Mclntire was born in Fayette county,
Pennsylvania, July 20, 1800, and accompanied his parents on their
removal to Ohio in 1820. He at once entered upon the task of
clearing the land for cultivation and the same season succeeded in
sowing four acres to wheat. He was an energetic man during all
his active life and was widely known because of his enterprising
spirit and progressive methods. He followed farming all his
life and was eminently successful. He was a member of the
Presbyterian church, while his wife belonged to the Lutheran
denomination. He was a Democrat in politics and served as trustee of
Franklin township. His death occurred in 1881 and his wife
died in 1886, their remains being interred in the cemetery at their
home. On the 24th of January, 1828. Cornelius
Mclntire married Nancy Rayl, who was born in
Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and who came to Franklin
township, Wayne county, Ohio, with her parents in 1819.
To them were born the following children: Mary Jane,
who became the wife of Daniel Derringer; George,
deceased; Reason, deceased; Hannah, the wife of Mr.
Greenwald, of Wooster; Sarah, deceased; Sophronia,
deceased: Cornelius, who lives at Needles, California;
William, deceased; Ezra D., the subject of this sketch;
Elizabeth, the wife of John Craven, of Wooster
township; Susan, deceased, who was the wife of Cyrus
Franks; John W., deceased, and Jacob, who also has
died.
Ezra D. Mclntire received a good common school
education and was reared to the life of a farmer. He remained
as the assistant of his father on the home farm until he was
twenty-four years of age. During the following two years he
was in various parts of the West and then engaged in the oil
business in Pennsylvania for a number of years. Then locating in
Defiance, Ohio, he engaged in the lumber and milling business until
1881, when he returned to Wayne county and in the following spring
he received the appointment as superintendent of the county
infirmary. This position he held for twenty-three consecutive
years and in all this period there was never heard an expression but
that of satisfaction regarding his conduct of this responsible and
oft times trying position. In consecutive years he held the office
longer than any other man in the history of this state, certainly a
remarkable and unmistakable recognition of his eminent business
qualities. He had in his charge the insane, epileptics and
poor wards of the county and he gave to them and the various other
interests of the home the same careful and pains taking attention
that he gives to his own private affairs. In the spring of
1904, Mr. Mclntire retired from the superintendency
and located on his farm in section 14, where he is now living.
He is a thorough and practical farmer and is numbered among the
leading men of the community.
Mr. McIntire married Mariah
Sweeney, and to them have been born the following children:
Eva, who died young; Walter, at home; Florence,
who is the wife of Oliver Mock, of Franklin township;
Arthur Clark, of Wooster, who married Daisy
Dunham. In politics Mr. Mclntire has
rendered a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party, and at one
time he served as assessor of Franklin township. He has served
as a delegate to county, state and national conventions of his party
and has always been influential in the councils of his party.
Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, having
been made a Master Mason in Ebenezer Lodge, at Wooster, in 1889.
He has also taken the degrees of the council of Royal Arch Masons
and the commandery of Knights Templar, in all of which bodies he is
active. No one in the community enjoys a better reputation for
integrity of word and deed than does the subject, and when a man
stands high in the estimation of the people who have known him
during all the years of his life no greater testimonial of his worth
can be given. He has had the best interests of his community
at heart, and he was largely instrumental in having the state
agricultural experiment station located in Wayne county.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 656 |
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GILBERT D. McINTYRE. The
gentleman whose name leads this sketch has long enjoyed prestige as
a leading citizen of the community in which he resides, and as an
official against whose record no word of suspicion was ever uttered
he has been an important factor in the life of the city of his
residence. There flows in his veins Scotch blood, and in him
are exhibited those sterling qualities of character which have made
his father's countrymen such desirable citizens in this great
republic. Mr. McIntyre himself is a native of
the Buckeye state, having been born at Doylestown, Wayne county, the
date of his birth having been the 13th day of August, 1849.
His father was A. A. McIntyre, who was a native of Edinburgh,
Scotland, where he was reared and educated. In 1826 he came to
America, locating first in Canada, where he remained for a number of
years. About the year 1840 he came to the United States and
made his home in Ogdensburg, New York. Subsequently he
removed to Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio, and there he remained for
a number of years. He was a tailor by trade and was considered
a good workman. While living at Doylestown he was appointed
postmaster and rendered efficient service. In 1854 he
again changed his residence, this time locating at Marshallville,
where he became the local agent for the railroad, which position he
retained until his death, which occurred in 1869, at which time he
was seventy-two years old. In religion he was a Presbyterian
and was a man of good habits and splendid standing among his fellow
citizens. A. A. McIntyre married Julia
Plummer, who was born near Ogdensburg, New York, where she was
reared and educated, and where she met and married Mr. McIntyre.
She died in 1895 at the age of seventy-eight years. This worthy
couple became the parents of six children, all of whom are now
deceased excepting the subject of this sketch and a sister, Mrs.
John Pfunder, whose husband is now post master at
Marshallville.
The subject of this sketch received his education
in the common schools of his home community and at Marshallville, to
which place the family removed. On his father's death, in
1869, the subject succeeded him in the position of railroad station
agent, and this position he continued to occupy
until 1881. He then embarked in the insurance business, which
he continued with success until I902, on July 10th of which year he
was appointed post master at Orrville, to which city he removed his
residence in March, 1893. Mr. McIntyre's conduct
of the postoffice has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons of
the office, as he is courteous and accommodating and gives to the
office the same attention and the same business methods he would
give to a private business. On June 6, I910, he received his
third appointment as postmaster, a testimonial to his efficiency and
popularity.
In July, I879, Mr. McIntyre was united in
marriage to Rebecca Schlutt, of Marshal1ville, where she had
been born and reared, the daughter of Charles Schlutt. To
this union two children have been born, namely: Charles G.,
an engineer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and
Dora O., the wife of Dr. D. S. Burns, of Bryan, Ohio.
Socially Mr. McIntyre is a member of the
time-honored order of Free and Accepted Masons, in the workings of
which he takes a deep interest. In politics he is a
Republican, but takes no very active part in public affairs,
devoting his entire attention to the performance of his official
duties. During his residence here his characteristics have won
him recognition as a man of true worth and he commands the respect
of all who know him.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 663 |
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MICAJAH MILO MORLAN.
There is little that interests one more than to observe how
different men begin and continue the duties of life. Some
commence in hesitation and seem to hesitate at every obstacle they
encounter. Others begin boldly, but after a time they show by
some defect in execution that they have not properly mastered their
tasks. Still others commence with steady grasp of the
situation, and show by their subsequent accomplishments that they
have compassed the problem of life; to the last class success always
comes, and they are the men to leave behind them good names and
large properties honorably won in life’s struggle. Their
children are left to reap the harvests of good actions. Among
such talented and enterprising men is Micajah Milo
Morlan, who has for many years shown himself to be a master of
at least two lines of endeavor, winning much more than local
reputation both as an artist and an oculist, and at the same time
establishing an enviable record as a high minded, whole-souled
citizen whom to know is to admire and respect because of his genuine
worth, his integrity and his courteous demeanor. He is well
known to the people of Wooster, where he maintains his office and
his residence.
Doctor Morlan was born in Salem, Ohio,
July 29, 1833, the seventh child of Mordica and
Eliza Ann (Dean) Morlan, a fine old family
of that city, plain, honest, unassuming Quakers, the father a woolen
goods manufacturer, who was fairly successful in that line and
reared his family in comfort and respectability. He was
summoned “to the immortal dead who live again” in the year 1879, and
in the same year his faithful helpmeet, who had long traversed
“life’s royal path” with him, joined him in the silent land.
Doctor Morlan received his education in
Greenville, Pennsylvania. Having, early in youth, decided to
become an oculist, he took a thorough course leading thereto in the
Indiana Ophthalmic College, in Indianapolis, where he made an
excellent record, and from which institution he was graduated in
1890, thus being able in his mature manhood to gratify an ambition
of long standing. After he left school in Greenville he exercised
his rare natural talents in painting, and he soon attracted
considerable attention in this line, and after taking up the work of
oculist he l1as continued to paint when he could find the time, thus
being a very busy man, being regarded by all familiar with his work
as easily one of the foremost artists of Wayne and adjoining
counties, showing a delicate touch and a rare skill even now at his
advanced age, that would discount the work of most young men.
As an optician his unbroken success of twenty years has gained for
him a prestige second to none in this section of the state, eighteen
years of that time having been spent in the practice at Canton, and
his office in Wooster has been a busy place since it was opened.
Doctor Morlan married Anna
Mabry Watson, Sept. 27, 1859, a woman whose esthetic
taste harmonized with that of the Doctor, and was
always of much assistance to him. She was the daughter of
Theodore and Rachael Watson, an influential family of
Hartsville, Pennsylvania. This union resulted in the birth of the
following children: Caroline H., born May 5, 1862; Watson D.,
born February 17, 1864; Elwood D., born Aug. 14, 1867; Irene
R., born Feb. 8, 1874, and Ida E. born Nov. 23, 1875.
Doctor Morlan was reared a Quaker, and he
still adheres to the sturdy principles inculcated by that
denomination. Personally he is a pleasant man to know, an excellent
and learned conversationalist, hospitable in his home and a genteel
gentleman in every respect.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 727 |
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DAVID
MYERS. The true spirit of progress and honorable
achievement has been manifest in the career of the well known and
highly esteemed citizen whose name introduces this sketch and who,
since discontinuing the strenuous life which was characterized by
such signal success, has been living in honorable retirement in the
city of Wooster. His life has been one of fullness and
completeness of vigor and inflexible integrity and while engaged in
the vocation to which in the main his attention ahs been devoted, he
accomplished great and lasting good for the material progress of
various cities and communities and at the same time failed not to
reap the reward which his industry and skill so richly deserved.
David Myers is a native of Wayne county, Ohio,
and a descendant on the paternal side of a long line of sturdy
German ancestry, which was first represented in America by his
father, Daniel Myers, who came to this country from
Wurtemberg about the year 1814 and settled in Wilmington, Delaware.
After spending a few years in that city he removed to Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania, thence when a young man to Wayne county, Ohio,
where in 1828 he married Martha DeWese, who was born and
reared in the county of Columbiana, this state. In his younger
days Daniel Myers was a cooper, but in after life he became a
farmer, which vocation he followed until his death, in 1873.
Mrs. Myers survived her husband five years, departing this
life on the home farm in Chester township in 1878. She sprang
from an old and highly respected family, that figured actively in
the early history of eastern Ohio and, tracing her ancestry further
back, it appears that several of the DeWese family were
soldiers in the Revolutionary war and that two of Mrs. Myers'
brothers served with distinction in the war of 1812. By reason
of this connection with the struggle for independence three of Mr. Myers' daughters hold membership with the Daughters of the
American Revolution, a patriotic society composed of female
descendants of the soldiers of that war. Daniel and Martha
Myers were parents of eight children, of whom five are living at
the present time, viz: Mrs. Rebecca Reichard, whose
home is in Iowa near the town of Knoxville; David, of this
review; Mrs. Elizabeth Berkey, of Ashland county, Ohio; John, a resident of Chester township, Wayne county, and
Mrs.
Anna Powers, who lives in the city of Wooster.
David Myers was born Dec. 16, 1833, and spent
his childhood and youth on the family homestead in Chester township
where he early became familiar with the practical duties of the farm
and learned to appreciate the true dignity and worth of honest toil.
In the free, outdoor experience of wood and field he grew up strong
and rugged and well fitted for the active career upon which he
subsequently entered and while still a young man he began to
formulate the plans for his future course of action. In a
little log school house not far form the parental home he obtained a
fair knowledge of such branches of learning as were then taught and,
having early manifested decided predilection for mechanical work, he
began, ere attaining his majority, to learn the trade of a
carpenter, in which he soon acquired much more than ordinary
efficiency and skill. Having mastered his craft, he worked at
the same for some time in a subordinate capacity, but, actuated by a
laudable ambition to extend his operations, he afterwards became a
contractor and it was not long until the high reputation of his work
caused a wide demand for his services.
Without following in detail Mr. Myers' long and
eminently honorable career as a contractor and builder,,,,, suffice
it to state that from the beginning he was animated by a desire to
excel and that during his active years he erected many buildings in
various cities of his own and other states which still stand as
monuments to his superior mechanical skill. Among the more
notable public edifices under his direction in Wooster are the
Methodist Episcopal church, the City Hall, a number of the
university buildings, the Overholt residence,
pronounced the finest private dwelling in the city, besides many
others, to say nothing of numerous structures throughout the
country. His fame as a mechanic extending far beyond the
limits of his own county, he contracted for a number of buildings in
New York City and Brooklyn, including residences, churches, halls
and various other public edifices other public edifices, and later
did much work in his line in several eastern and central states and
throughout the northwest. The beautiful and imposing Methodist
Episcopal church at Duluth, Minnesota, one of the finest and most
attractive temples of worship in the state and representing a cost
of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was erected by
him, as were also similar edifices in Burlington, Iowa, Monmouth,
Illinois, New Rochelle, New York, and in many other cities and
towns, all of which bear evidence of a high order of architectural
skill and efficiency of workmanship, bespeaking a thorough mastery
of the builder's art.
Mr. Myers was in Iowa when the country became
disrupted by the late Civil war and, being loyal to the government
and its institutions, he did not hesitate when the call came for
volunteers to help put down the rebellion. Enlisting in the
Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry in 1861, he was soon at the scene
of action, rendering valiant service for the Union and during his
three years at the front his conduct under all circumstances was
that of a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger and
was ever ready to go where duty called. He shared with his
comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war in a number of noted
campaigns and battles, including Corinth, where he served under
General Belknap, and won promotion to a lieutenancy by meritorious
conduct while under fire at Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, siege and
capture of Vicksburg and numerous other engagements, receiving at
Corinth a painful wound in the arm, which, however, did not long
incapacitate him from service.
At the expiration of his period of enlistment, which
included three of the most strenuous years of the war, Mr. Myers
was discharged with an honorable record and, returning to civil
life, resumed contracting and building, which he followed with
success and profit until 1886, when he discontinued active labor to
spend the remainder of his days in retirement. By industry,
judicious management and wise economy he amassed a handsome
competency, amply sufficient indeed to enable him to spend the
future free from anxiety and care and, being thus fortunately
situated, he is enjoying that rest which he has so well earned and
the many blessings which have come to him as a result of his many
years of endeavor.
Mr. Myers returned of Ohio soon after the war
closed and in 1865 was united in marriage with Elizabeth Miller,
daughter of Jacob Miller, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania.
When five years old she was brought to Ohio by her parents and at
the celebration of her nuptials was living in Wayne county, where
she had made her home for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs.
Myers had five children, namely: Viola, deceased;
Martha, who married ex-County Clerk David Mussleman, of
Wooster; John, assistant cashier of the Wayne County Bank;
Blanche, wife of John Ames, chemist of the Ohio
Experiment Station at Wooster, and Miss Claude Myers, who is
still with her parents.
Mr. Myers manifests a commendable interest in all
matters pertaining to the progress of the city of his residence and
the good of the people and keeps in touch with the times on the
leading questions and issues of the day. He is a director of
the Wayne County National Bank, and in addition to a beautiful home
on Beall avenue and other property in Wooster, owns a fine farm in
the county to which he gives much personal attention.
Fraternally, he holds membership with the Masonic, Odd Fellows and
Royal Arcanum orders and politically wields an influence for the
Democratic party. The Methodist church holds his religious
creed, and with his wife and certain of his children he is a regular
attendant of the congregation worshiping in Wooster, also a liberal
contributor to its support and to the various lines of work under
its auspices. His son, John and daughter Mrs. Ames
subscribe to the Presbyterian faith, both being active and
consistent members of the church of that denomination in Wooster.
Personally Mr. Myers stands high in the esteem and confidence
of his neighbors and fellow citizens and is regarded as one of the
enterprising and well-to-do men of the city in which he resides.
Courteous and kindly in his relations with others, an influential
factor in the business world and ready at all times to assist
laudable measures for the general welfare, he has lived to high and
noble ends and the future awaits him with bounteous rewards.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. I - Illustrated -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 610 |
| |
ELMER F. MYERS.
The family of this name in Wayne county was founded by Samuel and
Hannah Myers, who came to this section in 1832 and settled on a
half section of land in the eastern part of Congress township.
They farmed this land successfully after the methods prevailing at
that early time, lived the quiet lives usual to people in sparsely
settled neighborhoods and were finally gathered to their fathers
without blame or reproach. They were interred in the cemetery
located on their homestead. where also three others of the name have
been laid by their side. Among their children was Solomon
Myers, who was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1829, and
came to Ohio with his parents. He married Elizabeth
Naftzger, a descendant of early pioneers and a native of
Harrison county, Ohio. Her grandparents, Jacob and Elizabeth
Naftzger, were very prominent members of the United Brethren
church and the first meeting of this denomination in Ohio was held
at their home. The parents of Mrs. Myers were
David and Susan Naftzger, natives of Harrison county, Ohio, and
who were among the first settlers of Congress township, in Wayne
county. They took up a quarter section of land and spent all their
active lives in clearing, improving and cultivating it, eventually
making it quite valuable. They were, like their ancestors, quite
enthusiastic members of the United Brethren church, and always took
much interest in the local gatherings of the denomination. The
Naftzgers, for generations, were always considered good
citizens, good neighbors and reliable in all the relations of life.
Solomon Myers lived on a part of his father's farm in
Congress township during the entire period of his activity. He
was successful as a farmer and a man of sterling integrity and
supported the Democratic party, but later became an ardent
Prohibitionist. voting the ticket of that party for many years.
After the death of his first wife, he married Maggie
Guthrie, the full list of his children being as follows: David
A., deceased; John F., a resident of Burbank; Emma,
deceased; Elmer F.; Susan, deceased; Zeno, of
Congress township, and Annabelle, the latter being the only
child by the second wife. He was also a very active Christian
man, being a member of the United Brethren church all his life.
He was class leader for fifty-five years.
Elmer F. Myers, son of Solomon and Elizabeth
Myers, was born in Congress township, Wayne county, Ohio.
Mar. 15. 1862. He was educated in the district schools near
his home, and later attended the North Western Ohio Normal
University at Ada. He remained on the farm. helping his
father. until the completion of his twenty-third year, when be
decided to begin life on his own account. Matrimony is usually
the prime cause of this step in the case of young men and Mr.
Myers was no exception __ the rule. On Dec. 18, 1884, he
was married to Sarah, daughter of Samuel and Susanna
Whonsetler, a well-to-do and highly respected family of Wayne
county. In 1840 Mr. Whonsetler came from
Washington county, Pennsylvania, and settled on a farm in Canaan
township, where he prospered by hard work and good management and at
his death owned two hundred and sixteen acres of land. Mrs.
Myers was born on this farm, October 10, 1862. and besides
herself there were ten other children. To E. F. Myers
and wife were born two children: Zora, wife of Merton
Talley, of the commercial department of the Denison high
school, and Clyde, who is his father's assistant on the farm.
In 1885 Mr. Myers began renting the home farm of his
father-in-law and after the mother-in-law’s death he purchased one
hundred forty-one acres in 1900, since which time he has occupied
and cultivated it with entire success, giving much attention with
gratifying success to livestock. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are
very active members of the Lutheran church, and he is a Democrat in
politics. He is public-spirited and was a member of the school
board a number of years.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 887 |
| |
ISAAC A. MYERS.
All credit is due the man who starts in life with but little of this
world’s goods and no influential friends to help him hew his career
through the avenue of obstacles that necessarily lie in wait along
his future pathway, and he who removes such barriers one by one and
wins a place of respectability and financial ease among his fellow
men is undoubtedly the possessor of strong characteristics.
Such phraseology might well be applied to I. A. Myers, a
farmer and stock man of East Union township, Wayne county, for we
shall see by a brief study of his career that he has persevered on
his own account until success has crowned his efforts. He was
born in Wooster township, this county, Mar. 17, 1866, the son of
Milton and Catherine (Kick) Myers, a well known family in that
community.
I. A. Myers was reared on the home farm, where
he began assisting with the work during the crop seasons very early,
and he attended the district schools during the winter months,
receiving a very good education. He was ambitious to become a
merchant and when twenty-one years of age entered a dry goods store
in Fulton county, Ohio, having been employed by F. J. Dimkey,
of Archbold, this state, and he remained in his employ for a period
of eight years, rendering very faithful service and learning much
regarding the mercantile business.
After leaving the store Mr. Myers
returned to Wooster, Ohio, and married Elizabeth A. Sands,
daughter of J. W. Sands, long an influential citizen of this
county.
After his marriage, Mr. Myers rented land
for one year, then moved to East Union township in 1895, where he
has since remained. He owns the old J. W. Sands farm of
one hundred and nine acres, which he has greatly improved and built
up the soil until it ranks well with the best farms in the township.
He has a very comfortable home, good barn and outbuildings, orchard,
garden,—in fact, whatever goes to make a successful country place.
No small part of Mr. Myers’ income is derived from his
successful handling of livestock, which he buys, feeds and sells;
being a good judge of stock, a careful buyer and knowing how to
properly manage all kinds of stock, he finds a ready market for what
he has to sell in that line, and he is widely known in this locality
and those adjoining as a stock man.
To Mr. and Mrs. Myers have been born two sons
and one daughter, Zoma, John and Anthony.
Fraternally, Mr. Myers is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Politically, he is a Democrat,
having long taken considerable interest in the success of his party
locally, and as a reward for his loyalty his fellow citizens gave
him the office of
treasurer of East Union township, which position he held with much
fidelity and credit for a period of four years. He is one of
the influential citizens
of this township.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 1363 |
| |
JOHN
A. MYERS. The able and popular assistant cashier of the
Wayne County National Bank at Wooster, Ohio, is most consistently
accorded recognition in a work of the province assigned to the one
at hand, since it has to do with the representative citizens of
Wayne County of which number he is unquestionably a worthy member
and has played well his part in fostering the diversified interests
of the same, and while yet a young man has shown what fidelity to
duty, coupled with right principles, can accomplish He is a
native of this county, having been born near New Pittsburg, Chester
township, on August 14, 1871, the son of David Myers, of
Wooster, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. He
is a worthy son of a worthy sire, - in fact, takes a delight
in keeping untarnished the brilliant escutcheon of the Myers
name, which has long been highly honored in this locality. He
received a good practical education in the district schools of his
township, later attending the high school at Wooster. When
eighteen years of age he removed to Wooster with his parents, and
attended Wooster University for a period of two years, during which
time he made a very commendable record for both scholarship and
deportment. Desiring to fit himself for a business career, he
took a course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New
York, graduating form the same with a very creditable record.
After he had finished his education, young
Myers
acted as deputy clerk of the courts at Wooster for six years, doing
very creditable work, - in fact, he had mastered the details of the
office so well that he attracted the notice of the officials of the
Ashland & Wooster Railroad Company, who invited him to serve as
their chief clerk with headquarters at Ashland, which position he
held for a period of four years, giving his usual success. He
returned to Wooster in 1903 and became assistant cashier of the
Wayne County National Bank, which position he still holds,
discharging the duties of the same in a manner that shows him to be
a man of rare business qualities, alert, painstaking and eminently
capable.
Mr. Myers was married on May 28, 1902, to
Lydia C. George, a lady of culture and refinement, the daughter
of D. C. and Harriet F. George, of Latrobe, Pennsylvania,
where Mrs. Myers was born and reared and where her family
were long prominent. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Myers has
been blessed by the birth of two children, namely: Laura Minerva,
born Sept. 13, 1903, and Claudia Virginia, born May 5, 1907.
Mr. Myers is now a member of the city school
board, being the youngest member ever honored thus. He takes
an abiding interest in local educational affairs, and the cause of
education here has been augmented since he became a member of the
same. Fraternally, Mr. Myers belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In politics
he is a loyal Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the First
Presbyterian church, being liberal supporters of the same.
The
Myers residence on Beall avenue is modern
beautifully located and nicely furnished, and is often the gathering
place for many of the best people of Wooster where hospitality and
friendship ever prevail. Mr. Myers is a man of pleasing
address, frank, generous, courteous and straightforward.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. I - Illustrated -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 560-20 |
| |
WILLIAM C. MYERS.
On the roster of Wayne county's solid and influential business men
the name of William C. Myers stands out clear and prominent
as the head of the largest insurance agencies of Wooster and one of
the most successful in the state. He has achieved a wide and
honorable reputation among the progressive men of his adopted county
and no one commands a greater influence or stands higher in the
esteem and confidence of the public.
The Myers family, which is of German
origin and originally pronounced Moyer, came to the United
States in a very early day and settled near Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, where in due time the name became identified with a
number of important interests and figured for a number of years in
local annals. Contemporaneous with this family were the
Funcks, who also emigrated from Germany and were among the early
comers to eastern Pennsylvania, where in the course of a few years
their descendants became not only quite numerous but prominent in
building up their respective communities and developing the
resources of the country. From the most reliable data
obtainable, the antecedents of the latter family in the country
appear to have been one Bishop Henry Funck, who
came from Germany some time in the seventeenth century and settled
not far from Philadelphia, from whence his descendants, as above
indicated, moved to other counties and localities, some of them in
after years moving to Ohio and still farther west.
Capt. Ralph Funck, a native of Pennsylvania,
moved in an early day to Wayne county, and here spent the remainder
of his days, dying a number of years ago and leaving a family of
several children, among whom was a daughter by the name of
Cecelia Funck, whose birth occurred in Northampton
county, Pennsylvania, Feb. 27, 1832. On Nov. 4, 1852, she
became the wife of Isaac H. Myers, son of John O. and
Elizabeth (Haldeman) Myers, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, the
marriage taking place in Wayne county, Ohio, where Mr.
Myers had settled a short time previously.
For several years after their marriage, Isaac H. and
Cecelia Myers lived in the town of Chester, but about 1859 moved
to Seville, Medina county, where they continued to reside until
1864, when they changed their abode to Wooster, with the interests
of which city the remainder of Mr. Myers’ life was
identified. For some years he conducted a grocery store and
built up a lucrative patronage. He then turned his attention
to the insurance business, in which he met with signal success,
establishing an agency which, under the joint management of himself
and son, William C., in due time became the largest
enterprise of the kind in the city and since passing into the hands
of the latter has become one of the most successful in the state.
Isaac H. Myers took the road as special
insurance agent in 1878, from which time until shortly before his
death, on June 5, 1907, he traveled quite extensively in the
interest of his companies and achieved honorable repute as a
capable, far-seeing and thoroughly reliable business man. His
wife, who suffered a stroke of paralysis in 1887, departed this life
very suddenly on the 4th day of April, 1895, and was laid to rest in
the cemetery at Wooster, where her husband now sleeps by her side
awaiting the resurrection of the just. The children of this
estimable couple, three in number, are Isadore, born Aug. 1,
1857, died Jan. 25, 1882; Lura, whose birth occurred Mar. 8,
1867, and who lives in Wooster, and William C., the subject
of this sketch, who was born in Seville, Medina county, Ohio, on
Jan. 28, 1861.
William C. Myers was about four years old when
his parents moved to Wooster, and since 1865 his life has been very
closely interwoven with the growth and development of his adopted
city. At the proper age he entered the public schools, where
he pursued his studies until graduating from the high school, after
which he assisted his father in the latter’s insurance business,
having been familiar with the duties of the office from his twelfth
year. Engaging with his father on a salary, he soon acquired a
practical knowledge of insurance and under his able and skillful
management it was not long until the business took on new life and
became the largest and most successful of the kind in the city.
The insurance agency of which Mr. Myers
is now the head and which for some time has been known under the
style of W. C. Myers & Company, was established in 1870 by
the subject's father, who continued as its manager until accepting
the position of special traveling agent in 1878, when William C.
took charge of the business and has ever since conducted the same.
On attaining his majority he became his father’s partner, but within
a short time thereafter succeeded to the business, which since the
year 1878 he has practically controlled and which under his
initiative and successful methods has grown so rapidly that he now
leads all competition in his own city and county and occupies a
commanding position among the leading insurance men of Ohio.
The career of Mr. Myers affords a notable
example of the exercise of those qualities of mind which overcome
obstacles and win success and his example is worthy of imitation by
those who are dissatisfied with present attainments and who would
aspire to higher positions of honor and trust. A business man
in the broadest sense of the term, his integrity has ever been above
suspicion, while his methods will bear the test of the severest
criticism and among his fellow citizens his name has always been
synonymous with fair and honorable dealing. While
subordinating every other consideration to his business affairs, he
has not been unmindful of his obligations as a citizen, as is
indicated by the interest he manifests in the public welfare, nor is
he negligent of those social ties which every well ordered community
requires of those who constitute its mainstay and support.
Aside from his insurance interests he is identified with various
local enterprises, including among others the Citizens’ National
Bank of Wooster, of which he is a director and one of the largest
stockholders. He is prominent in Odd Fellowship, being an
influential worker in the lodge at Wooster, which he has the honor
to represent in the sovereign grand lodge and to his efforts are
largely due the growth and popularity of the brotherhood in the city
of his residence.
The domestic chapter in the life history of Mr.
Myers bears date of Nov. 28, 1888, at which time was
solenmized his marriage with Mary Haymaker, of Warren, Ohio, daughter of Jesse and Abbie P. Haymaker,
of that
city, and a niece of Ephraim Quinby, one of the early
settlers and prominent
residents of Wooster. Mr. and Mrs.
Myers have no children of their own, but take great interest in
the young people of the city to whom the doors of their beautiful
home are ever open and among whom their bounty is freely and
lavishly dispensed. Alive to every good work and in touch with
all laudable measures and humanitarian projects, this excellent
couple fill a large place in the public life of Wooster, and the
high esteem in which they are held by the people of the city,
irrespective of class or condition, bears eloquent testimony to
their amiable qualities of head and heart.
Source: History of Wayne Co., Ohio
-
Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1910 - Page 650 |
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