USA > Ohio > Morrow County > History of Morrow County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02484 0560
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HISTORY
OF
MORROW COUNTY OHIO
A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, Its People, and its Principal Interests BY
A. J. BAUGHMAN
ASSISTED BY
ROBERT F. BARTLETT
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. II.
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO-NEW YORK
1911
1385607
-
Martha Miller Bartlett
Not. F. Banttill
ROBERT FRANKLIN BARTLETT .- Ralph Waldo Emerson has said that "The true history of a state or nation is told in the lives of its people." It is probable that no one will take issue with this and thus is apparent the value of a work of the character of the "History of Morrow County," for it is purposed that in its genea- logical department be published true and authentic reviews of the lives and achievements of those good and worthy citizens who have been builders of this great commonwealth. With Robert Franklin Bartlett is presented as one of Morrow county's most prominent and well esteemed citizens, one of the seniors of the legal fraternity as well as patriot who enlisted his services in the cause which he believed to be just at the time of the great civil strife which dis- rupted the country, and he shed his blood on Southern battlefields.
Robert Franklin Bartlett is a genial, cordial, scholarly gentle- man of the so-called old school, a man of fine character, venerated by all. Everywhere known for his upright, honorable Christian life, his influence is one of the most valuable and beneficent in the community and no praise from the biographer can add to the honor which he enjoys. The fine old Buckeye state has furnished her full quota of brilliant men who have reached an exalted place in the affairs of the nation and Morrow county puts forth Mr. Bartlett as a part of her offering to the galaxy. He is a native son of the country, his birth having occurred April 8, 1840, in Mt. Gilead, and he is the second in order of birth in a family of nine children, five of whom were sons and four daughters. Three sons and one daughter survive, and Mr. Bartlett is the eldest of this number. The parents were Abner M. and Sarah (Niekols) Bartlett. Concerning the surviving members of the family the following data are entered. Juliaette is the widow of John B. Gatchell and resides in Pomona, California. Her husband served from April 20, 1861, until August 15, 1865, in the Union army and was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She was educated in the Mt. Gilead schools and afterward taught in the county. Albert W. is likewise a resident of Pomona, Cali- fornia, where he is engaged in citrus culture and where he has met with success in life. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Graham and she was originally from Morrow county. Nathan II. is a citizen of Winfield, Kansas, and for a quarter of a century he has engaged in the pedagogical profession. He was educated in the Mt. Gilead schools, in Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio, and in the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, from which later he was
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
graduated in the class of 1884. He now holds the office of princi- pal of the schools of Burden, Kansas. His wife's name was Cora Bartlett before marriage, but they were not related.
The father of him whose name initiates this review was three times married, and the children mentioned are all of the first union. His second marriage was with Miss Eliza Annett Adams, and three of their children are living at the present time. The eldest, Fred W., is a resident of Trenton, Missouri, where he is a dealer in real estate. He received a practical education and has proved success- ful in life. His wife's name was Ella Cox. Annette May is the widow of Joseph Scott, and makes her home in Spokane, Washing- ton. She is a woman of fine capabilities and has filled a number of high positions, fuller mention of her career being made on other pages of this work.
Abner M. Bartlett traced his lineage to the English people. He was born, however, in Delaware county, Ohio, April 16, 1816, and died August 31, 1885. In early life he received a thorough training in a two-fold capacity, that of an agriculturist and a skilled mechanic. Living in pioneer days, his educational advan- tages naturally were meagre, but he improved his time with self conducted study and he became one of the well informed men of his day and locality. In the matter of politics he was a Jackson Democrat, and remained such until the formation of the Republican party in 1856, and he cast his vote for the first presidential nominee of that party, General John C. Fremont. He was a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, Sarah Nickols Bart- lett, was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, her birth occurring there January 7, 1819, and she died March 27, 1856. Her parents were Nathan and Sarah (Thomas) Nickols and her father was of English lineago. Her maternal grandparents were Owen and Martha (Davis) Thomas, both of Welsh extraction, and both born in the state of Pennsylvania, the former on May 12, 1754. The father of Owen Thomas was David Thomas, born at London Tract, Pennsylvania, August 16, 1726. He was educated at Hopewell, New Jersey, and in Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island, where in 1769 the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. He was a Baptist minister and his ecclesiastical duties brought him to Piedmont Valley in 1765 or previous to that date. A champion of civil and religious liberty he suffered severe persecutions. He was a contemporary of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson and was held by both of these patriots and statesmen in high esteem, and as their senior he was venerated by them as the friend of liberty and justice. The death of this worthy man occurred in Jessamine county, Kentucky, July 5, 1796. David Thomas was the son of David Thomas senior who left his native country, Wales, in 1700, and upon arriving in America located at Guinead, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, His son, David Jr., the preacher and
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
patriot, was one of the Revoltionary heroes and through him and through Owen Thomas, his grandson, who was a soldier in the Revolution, the subject is elegible to membership in that august organization, the Sons of the American Revolution.
Robert Franklin Bartlett, the immediate subject of this review, received his elementary education in the common schools of the county, and subsequently entered the Mt. Gilead high school. It was his ambition to supplement such training as was afforded by the state, and in October, 1860, he entered the Ohio Weslyan Uni- versity as a student in the literary department. Soon, however, the tocsin of war sounded and Mr. Bartlett, like so many of the Buckeye state's noble youth, responded to the call, enlisting in Company D, Ninty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain William M. Dwyer, at Mt. Gilead, Ohio. He assumed the blue August 2, 1862, and the regiment rendezvoused at Camp Delaware. The regiment, which was at first a part of the Army of Ohio, was ultimately merged with the Army of the Cumberland and placed in command of General A. J. Smith. In November, 1862, they were transferred again to the Army of the Tennessee, Thirteenth Army Corps, commanded by General U. S. Grant. At that time there were about eighty thousand men in the Thirteenth Army Corps.
On Christmas Day, 1862, General Stephen G. Burbridge's brigade, marched from Millikens Bend, Louisiana, thirty miles from Vicksburg, and advanced twenty-eight miles in a southwest- erly direction, destroying the railroads and bridges for miles. The first engagement in which Mr. Bartlett participated was at Chick- asaw Bayou, northwest of the city of Vicksburg, on December 28 and 29, 1863, in which the Federal army was repulsed. Probably the most important action in which he figured was that of Arkan- sas Post, January 11, 1863, and it was upon this occasion that he came very near to death. He was acting at this time as first ser- geant of his company. The Rebels were engaged in shelling the Federals and the men were lying down to escape the shells, when one burst over Mr. Bartlett and his comrades and killed the second sergeant of Company F, B. F. High, who was just behind Mr. Bartlett. The next shell burst so closely to his head that the con- cussion injured his right eye and so seriously that he was com- pletely disabled and to this day he earries such memento of the Civil war. That same afternoon the Federals captured Arkansas Post. Disabled as he was Mr. Bartlett remained with his company, and the next expedition was February 14, 1863, to Greenville, Mis- sissippi, the regiment making a two weeks' trip with one weeks' rations, and experiencing much artillery skirmishing. Mr. Bart- lett's regiment and the Sixth Indiana were left at Perkin's Planta- tion on March 31st, to guard Grant's supplies and they later, on May 28, joined the investment line and assisted in preserving a
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
state of seige at Vicksburg until July 4, 1863, when General Pem- berton surrendered to General Grant, and of this interesting period of the war Mr. Bartlett has many entertaining ineidents to relate. After the seige of Vieksburg the Thirteenth Army Corps was de- tached from the Army of the Tennessee and sent to join the Army of the Gulf under General Banks, leaving Vieksburg for this pur- pose August 25, 1863, and going by transports to New Orleans. On November 3, 1863, Mr. Bartlett was wounded in the left forearm and elbow by a gun shot, the engagement being that of Grand Coteau, Louisiana. For some weeks le carried the minie ball in his arm, but the member was finally amputated at St. James Hospital, New Orleans, December 3, 1863. On January 25, 1864, he received his honorable discharge at New Orleans, and returned to Ohio, making the journey via the Atlantic ocean to New York city and thence across country. At Grand Coteau he had his sole experience as a prisoner, but was exchanged the day after his capture. The Rebel and Federal prisoners were housed in a Southern mansion, whose mistress was a Mrs. Rogers, and no matter what uniform was worn, they were equally well cared for by the servants on her orders.
After his return to Morrow county and the pursuits of peace Mr. Bartlett for a time engaged in school teaching, acting as pedagogue for the home school in the winters of 1865 and 1866, in Sunfish district. In the spring of 1866 he assumed the office of deputy clerk in the office of Dr. James M. Briggs and he remained in such eapacity until October, 1866, when he was elected clerk of courts. He sueeeeded himself in 1869 and again in 1872 and each time reecived the nomination by aeelamation in the Republican convention. In 1876 Mr. Bartlett began upon the gratification of a long cherished ambition, beginning the study of the law with Thomas H. Dalrymple in 1877 and in June, 1878, was admitted to the bar. In October of the year last mentioned he removed from Mt. Gilead to Cardington and there spent sixteen and one half years in the practice of the law. In April, 1895, however, he returned to Mt. Gilead, and here resumed the practice begun here so many years before, winning recognition over a wide teritory and enjoying high prestige in his profession both among the fraternity and the laity. His gifts are of the highest character and his legal career is an ornament to the pages ehronieling the history of juris- prudenee in the state. He has been practically retired since 1909, but still does some office work, many of his old patrons coming to him for legal advice. His pretty hospitable home is situated upon Main street (north) and is one of the most popular abodes in the plaee.
Mr. Bartlett is a sound and true Republiean and cast his first vote for the martyred Lincoln, and is proud of the fact that he has supported every candidate put forth by the "Grand Old Party"
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
since that time. In 1865 he was elected a delegate to represent his regiment as a Republican in the State Convention. He is one of the most enthusiastic of Grand Army men and has been a dele- gate to the national encampment at Milwaukee in 1889, and also to the state encampments at Akron, Sandusky, Cincinnati, Zanes- ville and Belfountaine. He was a charter member of the James St. John Post, No. 82, Grand Army of the Republic, at Cardington, and at the present time is quartermaster of the Hurd Post, No. 114, of Mt. Gilead. He has served as post commander of both Knights of Pythias, at Mt. Gilead, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 194, at Cardington, and in both orders he has passed all the chairs. Although reared a Methodist, both Mr. Bartlett and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Bartlett wedded Miss Martha M. Miller April 8, 1867, their union occurring at her father's home near Mt. Gilead. She is the second in order of birth in a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Nehemiah and Rachael (Straw) Miller. Of the number six are still living. Elwood Miller is a resident of Portland, Oregon. His wife previous to her marriage, was Miss Harriet McCurdy. He is an honored veteran of the Civil war, having served for three years as a member of the Sixty-fifth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. John F. is a citizen of Wisconsin, where he is engaged in railroad work. He married Philothea Bruck. Parker J., who resides near Mt. Gilead, married Miss Luzilla Mccullough. William Edwin resides in Mt. Gilead and is superintendent of its electric light plant. His wife previous to her marriage was Sarah Lucretia George. Melville D. makes his home on a farm one-half mile from Cardington, and is a successful agriculturist and former teacher in the Morrow county schools. He married Miss Emma Adams. Lucinda is the widow of Lemuel H. Breese and a resident of Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Her deceased husband served three years in Com- pany D, Ninety-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Mrs. Bartlett's father was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, born there October 27, 1831, and he died July 5, 1902, at Mt. Gilead. He was a carpenter by trade and later in life a farmer. He received his education in the common schools and politically was first a Frec Soiler and later in life a Repub- lican. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, as were also his father and four of his brothers. Mrs. Bartlett's paternal grandmother's name was Pamelia Harris and her father, George Harris, as well as two of his brothers, were soldiers in the battle of Monmouth in the Revolutionary war. Many a time George Harris saw the great and good Washington and he was one of the brave soldiers to whom the presence of the General gave strength to bear the ordeals of the terrible winter campaign of Valley Forge. Her paternal grandfather, Joseph Miller, was a
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IIISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
soldier in the war of 1812. For ten years Mrs. Bartlett has been a member of Mary Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Mansfield, Ohio. Her mother was a native of Morrow county, formerly of Knox county, her birth having occurred there December 18, 1817, and her death, July 23, 1862. She was educated in the common schools, was a strict member of the Presbyterian church, and she was known far and wide for her nobility of life. To the local public schools is Mrs. Bartlett indebted for her preliminary education and she was subsequently enrolled as a student in the Young Ladies' Seminary of Mt. Gilead, presided over by Mrs. Spalding. In young woman hood she was a successful teacher in the Morrow county schools for two years and then took up clerical work in the office of the clerk of court, of which her husband was incumbent. His eye- sight was poor and for nine years she gave him excellent assist- ance in the duties of his office. This estimable lady plays a lead- ing role in the many-sided life of the community. She holds membership in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and she was one of the organizers of the Mt. Gilead Free Library Asso- ciation, while at the present time being a trustee. She likewise is a valued member of the Ladies' Twentieth Century Club of Mt. Gilead. Both she and her husband are members of the Presby- terian church and are active in its good work.
Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett are the parents of one daughter, Mary Francis, the wife of William A. Jolly, one of Mt. Gilead's progressive and estimable young men, who is engaged in the re- tail shoe business.
SAMUEL P. GAGE, cashier of the People's Saving Bank Com- pany, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, was born in Morrow county, Ohio, October 2, 1850, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this locality. His parents, William F. and Mary J. (Price) Gage, passed the greater part of their lives in Morrow county. William F. Gage was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey, a son of Phillip and Deborah (Flood) Gage, with whom when a boy he came to Ohio and settled near Sparta, in Bennington town- ship, Morrow county, where he grew to manhood and married. He owned one hundred and forty acres of land in Bennington township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted huis energies for many years, up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1898. Politically he was a Republican, radical and enthusiastic, and for years was active in local politics. He was a staunch member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is also his widow, now eighty years of age. Her parents, John Price and wife, were natives of Pennsylvania. Of the children of William F. and Mary J. Gage we record that J. P., the eldest, is a resident of Kansas; Samuel P., next in order of birth, is the subject of this
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
sketch ; Eliza A. is the wife of William Hunt of Morrow county ; P. W. is a resident of Delaware, Ohio; and Elsworth is engaged in railroad business at Alexander, Ohio.
Reared on his father's farm, Samuel P. Gage attended district school until he was sixteen years of age, after wiheh he was a student at Galena High School and Cardington High School and later spent two years at Lebanon, Ohio, where he took a course in the National Normal University. In the meantime he taught school, beginning when he was eighteen, and by this means paid his own way while he pursued his higher studies. All told, he taught school sixty months, a part of this time being principal of a private school. And his experience as teacher added to the value of his service when he was made a member of the School Board of Mt. Gilead.
In 1873 Mr. Gage built the Central House at Marengo, Ohio, which he operated for eight years, and at the same time filled the office of township clerk. In 1881 he was elected elerk of Morrow county. He was the ineumbent of this office two terms, having been re-elected, and served in all six years. Afterward, for a period of six years, he was secretary and treasurer of the Hy- draulic Press Manufacturing Company. Then he engaged in banking. For eleven years he was cashier of the National Bank of Morrow County, and at the end of that time he was one of the organizers of the People's Saving Bank Company, which began business April 23, 1904, and of which he has from that date held the position of cashier. At the present writing, 1911, this bank has a deposit of two hundred thousand dollars, and its officers are as follows: Dr. W. B. Robinson, president; W. M. Carlisle, vice president; Dr. N. Tueker, second vice president; S. P. Gage, cashier ; A. C. Dunean, assistant cashier ; and Z. A. Powers, teller.
During his successful business career Mr. Gage has accumu- lated considerable property, including two valuable farms in Mor- row county, one of two hundred and eighty acres in Gilead town- ship and the other, four hundred and forty acres in Bennington township, and residence property at Mt. Gilead and Columbus. Hle and his family reside in their pleasant home on Cherry street Mt. Gilead. Mrs. Gage, formerly, Miss Alice Sherman, born April 18, 1851, is a daughter of Daniel Sherman and previous to her marriage was engaged in teaching. She and Mr. Gage were married in 1872, and they are the parents of one son, Ralph P., born January 5, 1875, who is a graduate of both the Mt. Gilead High School and Delaware College, he having received the degree of A. B. at the age of twenty-one years. He is now engaged in the practice of law at Los Angeles, California.
Like his father before him, Mr. Gage is an active and in- fluential member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Ile is a member of the official board, and at the time of the building of
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
the Methodist church edifice in Mt. Gilead he served as chairman of the building committee. Fraternally he is identified with Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 169, I. O. O. F., and Encampment No. 59, and in the latter was a member of the board of trustees. Mr. and Mrs. Gage were charter members of the Rebekahs at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Lodge 352. They have crossed the continent of America twice, visiting their son.
JUDGE LOUIS K. POWELL .- Independence may be cultivated to advantage, but the germ must be inborn and inbred. Some fortu- nate individuals possess it by inheritance and as a birthright, and they have the strongest and finest brand of it. They are not swayed by every breeze which may be wafted, but they deliberately choose their course and walk with unwavering steps toward their destination. They hold to their principles and their ideals and govern their actions accordingly, paying no attention to the names of sects or parties but closely considering the things or thoughts or policies for which they stand.
Among the foremost of this class which has influenced for advancement the communities of Morrow county stands Judge Louis K. Powell, former mayor of Mt. Gilead and probate judge and long a leading member of the bar. A native of the county, he was born February 6, 1852, son of Evan W. and Elizabeth (Everett) Powell, and was trained in the schools of Franklin town- ship and on his father's farm, his education in these respects alter- nating with the seasons of summer and winter. At the age of eighteen he realized one of his strongest ambitions by entering Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio, where he completed a regular course in 1873 and graduated with the degree of B. A. Then he engaged in teaching, but kept his eye on the goal of the law by devoting his "leisure" hours to study in the office of Olds & Dickey. In 1878 he was admitted to practice and immediately formed a partnership with T. H. Dalrymple in the office which he now occupies. Elected mayor of Mount Gilead in 1880, he con- ducted its public affairs with marked discretion and ability until 1884, and it was during his administration as mayor that the Short Line Railroad connecting the village with the Big Four system was constructed. From 1885 to 1891 he served the county with equal honor in the capacity of probate judge. On his retire- ment from the bench he resumed practice with characteristic promptness, good judgment and success. In addition to the other positions mentioned he was a member of the seventy-third General Assembly of Ohio, and is at this writing a member of the Circuit Court for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Ohio, having been appointed to that position by Governor Harmon to succeed Hon. Maurice H. Donahue, who was elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio at the general election of 1910. In early life and as an official Judge
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HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Powell supported the Republican party but has sinee come to be- lieve that the independent or progressive wing of the Democratic party more nearly conforms to his political views than does the Republicanism of to-day. Thus believing, he has had no hesitancy in vigorously supporting the party of his choice.
In 1882 Judge Powell married Miss Carrie Dalrymple, the daughter of his partner, and to them have been born four child- ren, two of whom are living; Herman D., born in 1883, and Roger K., in 1902. The former is a high school graduate and at this writing is employed with a eivil engineer corps at Medford, Oregon, of which state he has beeome a resident.
DR. ROY L. PIERCE, a representative member of the medical profession of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, has been identified with this place sinee the spring of 1901.
Dr. Pieree is a native of Morrow county, Ohio, born in Chester- ville, Chester township, September 15, 1868, and he belongs to a family whose residence in Ohio eovers a period of more than a hundred years. His parents, Clark and Harriet (Lyon) Pieree, both natives of Ohio, the former born in Harmony township, Morrow county, in 1830, the latter, in Knox county in 1833, were well known and highly respected in the community in which they lived; they died within twenty-four hours of each other, and of the six children born to them the subject of this sketeh is the only one now living. Clark Pieree was a Union soldier, and as a members of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Regiment of Infantry, served all through the Civil war. He was a son of Zabad Pieree. Mrs. Harriet Pieree was a daughter of Daniel Lyon, who was a son of Simeon Lyon and a grandson of Abraham Lyon, the last named a captain in the Revolutionary war. Simeon Lyon, in 1805 eame to Ohio from Morristown, New Jersey, and acquired title to a traet of land in the Western Reserve, which is still in possession of members of the Lyon family.
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