A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 97

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 806

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pher Weekley and died near Germantown, Ohio; Mary, twin of Nancy, married John Bowman and died near Celina, Ohio; Catlı- erine is Mrs. David Ryder, living near Lew- isburg, Ohio; Lydia is Mrs. Michael Koch, of Elkhart county, Indiana ; and Susan is Mrs. Jacob Heeter, living near Lewisburg, Ohio.

Peter Shanck and his young wife moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, the same year of their marriage, and settled seven miles north of Dayton, where he worked at his trade for four years. In 1834 they came to Darke county and located on a farm in Twin township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, consisting of woods and almost impenetrable swamps. After erecting a small log cabin he began the arduous task of making a farm in the heart of a mighty wilderness with no improved implements of industry, such as we now possess, to assist and lighten the heavy work of clearing the land. At that time an ax and muscle were the essentials, and he who had not plenty of the latter was certainly to be pitied, for strength and the power to endure privations were the keys that opened the great wilderness and sustained the pio- neer in those trying days. Mr. Shanck and his good wife passed through the different phases of pioneer life, and for more than half a century labored together, sharing each other's joys and partaking of each other's scrrows, each being a helpmeet to the other. Although they grew bent with the weight of years and incessant toil, they enjoyed good health and strength with faculties unim- paired to the last. Mr. Shanck was the first justice of the peace in Monroe township, this county, and filled most of the township offices. He was a man of good executive ability and sound judgment, and commanded

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the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He was a member of the Brethren in Christ church, while his wife held membership in the German Bap- tist church, and both were earnest Christians and universally beloved and respected. He died in October, 1888, and she also is de- ceased. In their family were nine children, namely: Nancy, born October 2, 1830, is now Mrs. Sigerfoos; Catherine, born Oc- tober 10, 1831, died in infancy : Lydia, born September 26, 1833; Elizabeth, August 14, 1835; Catherine, December 24, 1837; Henry, May 10, 1840: Susanna, November 13. 1844; Margaret, April 5. 1847; and John, September 3. 1850.

ENOCH BEERY SEITZ.

Enoch Beery Seitz, professor of math- ematics, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August 24, 1846. His father, Daniel Seitz, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, December 17. 1791, and was twice mar- ried. His first wife was Elizabeth Hite, of Fairfield county, Ohio, by whom he had eleven children. His second wife was Cath- erine Beery, born in the same county, April II, 1808, whom he married April 15, 1832, and from which marriage four sons and as many daughters were the issue. Mr. Seitz followed the occupation of a farmer and was an industrious and substantial citizen. He died near Lancaster, Ohio, October 14, 1864, in his seventy-third year.

In the fall of 1866 Mrs. Seitz, with her family, moved to Greenville, Ohio, where she resided for a number of years. Profes- sor Seitz, the third son by his father's second marriage, passed his boyhood on the farm and had the advantages of only the common- school course. Possessing, however, a great

thirst for learning, he applied himself very diligently to his books in private, and became a fine scholar in the English branches, espec- ially excelling in that of arithmetic. For quite a number of years he employed him- self in teaching, and with gratifying results. He took a mathematical course in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, at which institution he graduated in 1870. In the fall of 1872 he was elected to the chair of mathematics in the Greenville high school, which position he occupied until the fall of 1879.

On the 24th of June, 1875, he was mar- ried to Miss Anna Kerlin, a daughter of W. K. Kerlin, Esq., who was for four years the treasurer of Darke county, Ohio, and for many years president of the Second Na- tional Bank of Greenville, Ohio, which insti- tution he assisted in organizing. Professor Seitz possessed very superior mathematical talent and a special fondness for this branch of study, and in a short time took rank as one of the finest mathematicians in the state. He was, moreover, a contributor to the lead- ing mathematical journals of the country, among them the Analyst, the Mathematical Visitor and the Educational Times, of London, England. Professor Seitz died at Kirksville, Missouri, October 8, 1883.

While teaching in Greenville, Ohio, he was officially connected with the Darke Coun- ty Teachers' Association, and at the No- vember meeting of the same following his death, in culogy of several of its deceased members the following words were spoken and action taken :

"Among this number we also wish to mention one, Enoch B. Seitz, who, though not among us, was still one of us, and is claimed as Ohio's gifted son. We can claim him as our own. Here the intellectual germ

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grew and strengthened by its growth, and we witnessed the gradual unfolding of a mind, the development of an intellect equal in power, and as original in thought as any the world ever knew.

"He obtained his education by attending a normal school at Greenville, Ohio, and afterward enrolled his name as a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University, and after two years of close application he left that insti- tution with a mind well trained for future usefulness. In the summer of 1872 he was employed as an assistant teacher in the Greenville Normal School, then held in connection with the public school. It was in this school that his mind seemed to drift to the mathematical channel, and while he was perfectly at home in the sciences mathe- matics seemed to be his delight. The more difficult the question, the more determined was he to master it, and from the time men- tioned until my association with him ceased, I never knew him to fail in the solution of any problem he undertook. He was a reg- ular contributor to several mathematical journals, using the calculus to assist in his solutions, and was an honored member of the London Mathematical Society. Many of his solutions have been examined by the best mathematicians of Europe and America, and we believe he had no superior in either country. For a number of years he filled the position of principal in the Greenville high school with ability and entire satisfac- tion. As a member of the board of county school examiners, the teachers will remember him as being consistent, kind and obliging; ever willing to encourage the despondent, assist the needy, and by influence and ex- ample lead them to a higher sphere of use- fulness. As chairman of the executive com-

mittee of our Institute, he was honest, con- scientious, and, whether in the discharge of financial duty, or in a demonstration before the Institute, he seemed to possess the same earnest determination to do his whole duty faithfully.

"When he left Greenville for his field of labor in Missouri, nearly a hundred teach- ers accompanied him to the train, and he was cheered and encouraged by their kind wishes and congratulations. Little thought we then that death would so soon find him in his western home, and that all we could claim of him in the near future was the casket containing the manly form now moldering to dust.

"If the teachers of Missouri have lost a bright and shining light, a teacher and friend who in the intellectual field made their pathway plain, one who unfolded to them the way to future usefulness, the teachers of Darke county will feel the loss as severely as they.

"But Enoch B. Seitz, although dead to us, still lives, we trust, in the happy home of a blest immortality ; he still lives in the affec- tions of his many friends here; and, though we will sadly miss him in the intellectual field, and in the social circle, yet the eye of faith can see him in that eternal home where intellectual development will continue until perfection is reached; and we can but liope that when our time shall come, and when, like him, we shall have passed the river of death, We may enter into that eternal rest now en- joyed by him.

"Our friend's work is done; his mission is accomplished; his directions in wisdom and morality are with us; though stricken down in the full vigor of manhood, he had fulfilled his destiny; he had accomplished

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the work which was given him to do, and the world was better because of his having lived in it.

"His death admonishes us of the uncer- tainty of life and teaches us a lesson we should all remember. We can imitate the virtue of our departed friend, profit by his ex- ample, persevere in the trials and difficulties of life, secure a victory over all, and finally receive the reward of the virtuous and the good."

The following preamble and resolutions were adopted at this meeting :

"Whereas, since it has pleased the Great Disposer of events to transfer the labors of our friend and brother, Prof. E. B. Seitz, whose work and worth have been recognized by the educational and mathematical world and whose social qualities made every one whom he met a fast friend ;

"Resolved, That we, the teachers of Darke county, in association assembled, do in his death feel that humanity has lost one of its best friends; society, one of its bright- est ornaments; and education one of its most enthusiastic workers and strongest ad- vocates.

"Resolved, That we hereby express our deep sympathy for his wife and family in this their sad bereavement.

"Resolved, That a copy of this action of our association be signed by our president and secretary and presented to Mrs. E. B. Seitz."

In 1879, Professor Seitz was elected to the chair of mathematics in the North Mis- souri Normal School, at Kirksville, which position he held at the time of his death. J. P. Blanton, the president of that institution of learning, brought the remains and the bereaved family to Greenville, where the burial took place.

By request of friends, President Blan- ton hastily sketched the following tribute, which he offered as a part of the funeral ser- vices and which is here given to show the high esteem in which Professor Seitz was held at Kirksville, where his instructions were eagerly sought by the students and where he accomplished a great work as in- structor.

"Four years ago, on an August day, there was great commotion in your usually quiet village. The man whose dust lies be- fore us to-day, with his young wife, was bidding farewell to the home of their child- hood, he to resume the responsibilities of an honorable position in a distant western state; she, with Naomi-like spirit, to be his help- meet to kindle the fires upon a new hearth- stone. Then, as to-day, crowds assembled, teachers, pupils and friends of all callings came around him to bid him good-speed, to shake his hands, to predict for him a brilliant career in his new sphere of labor, and to con- gratulate him that his great abilities had been recognized in a fitting manner. If tears were shed then, they were tears min- gled with glad smiles, they were the tears of those who wept with a hope that that manly form would again be a familiar figure on the streets, and that possibly after years of suc- cessful labor at his profession he would spend the evening of life here among his earliest friends. Alas! alas! all that Mis- souri can send back of Ohio's gifted son is his poor dust to rest in her bosom until the resurrection morn.

"Did I say all? Nay, it is not all. She sends back to you the record of his life, as pure and unsullied as an angel's wing. She bids me say to you that his work and life have left a lasting impression upon thou- sands of her noblest youth, that his memory

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is enshrined in the hearts of her people, and that the tears of devoted students, fellow- teachers and citizens of all classes have stained his coffin lid. From the beginning of his sickness, which was of unusual sever- ity from the very first, every possible atten- tion has been shown him, physicians gave up their practice and spent their days and nights by his bedside ; medical skill exhausted every resource.

"The students, all of whom loved him like a brother, vied with each other in their ministrations. They were the first to be with him and some of them were bending over him when the last feeble breath left his body. Even the little children on the streets would stop me and say, "How is Professor Seitz to-day?" And when I would some- times cheer them with hopes that I hardly dared to entertain, their brightening faces were eloquent of love and esteem in which he was held by his fellow-townsmen.

"Enoch Beery Seitz was an extraordi- nary man. He commanded, without effort, the respect of everybody. He was a man of the most singularly blameless life I ever knew. His disposition was amiable, his manner quiet and unobtrusive, and his deci- sion, when circumstances demanded it, was prompt and firm and immovable as rocks. He did nothing from impulse; he carefully considered his course, and with almost in- fallible judgment came to conclusions that his conscience approved. and then nothing could move him. While he never made an open profession of religion, he was a pro- foundly religious man. He rested his hopes of salvation in the sacrifice of the tender and loving Savior, and I am thoroughly con- vinced he has entered into that rest which remains for the people of God. What a comfort this must be to the tender, brave,

faithful young wife he has left behind him, to his bereaved old mother, and to all his mourning friends assembled around his ashes to-day. No need, dear partner of my dear friend, no need, bereaved mother, no need, dear mourning friends, for you to ask human sympathy or skill to pluck from your memories a rooted sorrow, to raise out the withering troubles of the brain with some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stifled bosom of that perilous grief that now weighs so heavily on your hearts. No need, I say, to sorrow. Why do we weep? That

" ' There is no flock, however watched and tended, But one dead lamb is there; There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, But has one vacant chair; The air is full of farewells to the dying And mournings to the dead;

The heart of Rachel, for her children crying, Will not be comforted.

" ' Let us be patient! These severe afflictions Not from the ground arise, But ofttimes celestial benedictions Assume this dark disguise. We see but dimly through the mist and vapors; Amid these earthly damps,

What seem to us but sad, funereal tapers May be heaven's distant lamps.

" ' There is no death! What seems so is transition; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call Death. And though, at times, impetuous with emotion And anguish long suppressed,

The swelling heart heaves moaning like the ocean That cannot be at rest.

" ' Will we be patient and assuage the feeling We may not wholly stay,

By silence sanctifying, not concealing The grief that must have way?'

"I have now performed my duty. I have brought the remains of our dear friend, with his family, to their early home. They were ours, but now they are yours. All I can say is, Farewell."

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Professor Seitz' external life was that of a modest, deep-hearted, perfect gentle- man. His great ambition was to be good and true, true to himself, true to his family, true to his friends, and true to his country's wel- fare. He had a thoroughly healthy, well balanced, harmonious nature, accepting life as it came, with its joys and sorrows, and living it beautifully and hopefully, without a murmur. Though the grim monster, Death, removed him from his sphere of action before he fully reached the meridian of his greatness, yet the work he performed during his short but faithful life, will be a lasting monument to his memory, amply sufficient to immortalize his name.

He left a wife and four sons. Mrs. Seitz, the mother of Professor Seitz, is still living and is now in her ninety-second year. She was born in 1808, is a woman of deci- sion of character, kind and intelligent, a pleasant neighbor and every way worthy of hier gifted son.

MRS. ANNA E. SEITZ. D. O.

Mrs. Anna E. Seitz, formerly of Green- ville, Ohio, and the widow of the late Pro- fessor E. B. Seitz. carly in life studiously prepared for the profession of teaching and taught in the Greenville school from 1872 until her marriage in June, 1875. After the death of her husband in 1883 she again en- tered the profession and taught in the Green- ville school nine years longer, resigning her position there to accept the principalship of the training department of the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri. By her in- dustry, energy and ability she raised that de- partment to a high state of usefulness and importance. After four years' work in this position she resigned and entered the Colum-

bian School of Osteopathy, Medicine and Surgery, in which she was graduated in June, 1899, and is now actively engaged in practicing her profession, having until re- cently been located in Greenville, Ohio. Her present location, however, is at Cape Girar- dean, Missouri.

Mrs. Dr. Seitz has three sons: Ray E., a student in the law department of the Uni- versity of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio; Willie Kerlin, a teacher in the science depart- ment of the high school of Lancaster, Mis- souri, and who is especially proficient in science and mathematics ; and Enoch Beery, who is a student in the Missouri State Nor- mal School, in Kirksville, Missouri, and leads in all his classes in science and mathematics. Clarence D .. the third son. died June 29; 1886, in his fifth year.

MRS. SARAH EURY.

In a history of any town, county or state there is usually slight mention made of the ladies residing in those localities, yet their influence is most marked in the work of public progress and improvement. Though they do not take an active part in official life or in a more pronounced department of manual labor, their influence is no less powerful, and their work in molding the characters of the people and shaping the destiny of the community is indeed import- ant. Mrs. Sarah Eury certainly deserves representation in this volume, for she is one of the oldest living residents in York township, having attained the advanced age of eighty-four years. With a mind still bright and active she can relate many inter- esting incidents of life in this locality when Darke county was a pioneer settlement.

She was born near Hancock, Pennsylva-

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nia, November 28, 1815, and is the sixth in a family of twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, whose parents were Jacob and Magdalen ( Natchel) Kershner. Only two of this family are now living, Mrs. Eury and her brother, George Kershner, who is a farmer of Brown township. Her father was born in Washington county, Maryland, about 1729, and died in 1851. He was reared to the blacksmith's trade and obtained a common-school education. He had a brother who served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Jacob Kershner emigrated to Darke county in 1840, when Greenville was a mere hamlet and the townships of Rich- land and York were dense forest tracts. He purchased eight acres of timber land in Richland township and built a log cabin. Plenty of wild game was to be had and everything was in a primitive condition, few roads having been laid out and few farms cleared. He was among the early settlers of the locality and took an active interest in the development and improvement of his section of the county. In politics he was an old-line Whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks and became one of its stalwart advocates. In his religious belief he was an earnest Pres- byterian and his life exemplified his Christ- ian faith. His wife also belonged to the same church. She was born in Maryland about 1784, and died in 1852.

Mrs. Eury spent her girlhood days in Pennsylvania, and was a young lady of twenty-five when she came with her parents to Darke county. Her education was ob- tained in the old-time subscription schools, and she early became familiar with the work of the household in its various branches. She wedded David Eury on the 20th of May, 1841, and the young couple began their

domestic life in York township, on a tract oi fifteen hundred acres of land which he had entered from the government, the deed being signed by the president. Mrs. Eury still has the old parchment in her posses- sion, bearing the signature of Andrew Jack- son, who was then the chief executive of the nation. Their home was a little log cabin, which is still standing today, a mute reminder of pioneer life. It is in good re- pair and forms a part of the homestead. The dense forest was all around them and their neighbors were long distances away. Wild deer were frequently killed near their home and turkeys and other lesser game were to be had in abundance. The old-time sickle and cradle were used in harvesting the grain, and the grass and hay were cut with a scythe. In her home Mrs. Eury was busy with her part of the work, preparing dinner for many harvest hands and perform- ing other labors of the household. The nearest markets were at Greenville and Ver- sailles, and there was no church or school- house in their immediate vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. Eury endured many of the hardsiups of pioneer life, but eventually these passed away and they became the possessor of a pleasant home supplied with many comforts.

Mr. Eury was a native of Frederick county, Maryland, born March 15, 1803, and his death occurred in 1884, when he had arrived at the age of eighty-one years, one month and eleven davs. He was well re- spected in the community for his kind and accommodating disposition and his upright life. He was careful and methodical in business and was actively connected with the management of his property until his death. His sound judgment made his ad- vice often sought by his friends and neigh- bors. A benevolent spirit prompted him to

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aid the poor and needy and to contribute to the support of various churches in his lo- cality. He and his loving wife were mem- bers of the Christian church and gave freely of their means to advance its work. In his early life he voted with the Whig party, but subsequently became a stanch Republican. He never held office, however, preferring to devote his attention to his business interests. At his death Richland township lost a valued citizen and his friends one whom they had leng known and trusted. Mrs. Eury still survives her husband and yet resides on the old home farm. In the evening of life she can look back over the past without regret and forward to the future without fear, for she has ever endeavored to follow Christian principles and teachings and her character is indeed worthy of emulation. She was to her husband a faithful companion and help- mate and to her was due in no small meas- utre his success in business affairs. She is now enjoying the comfortable competence which he acquired and which is well merited by her on account of the assistance which she rendered him in many material ways.

WILLIAM E. GEORGE.

William Ellsworth George is a dealer in all kinds of grain and field seeds, and is also freight and ticket agent for the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company and agent for the Adams Express Company at Gettysburg. He is well known in Darke county, where he has spent the greater part of his life. A review of his career shows him to be a self-made man. He is a man who has conquered many difficulties and has worked his way up to a leading posi- tion among the representative citizens of his locality, being justly entitled to the high re-

spect and esteem in which he is uniformly held by all who know him.

William E. George was born in Gettys- burg. Adams county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1835. and is of German descent. His fa- ther. George George, was a native of Hesse- Darmstadt, Germany, born in 1812, and in early manhood left that country and came to America, locating in Gettysburg, Penn- sylvania, where he worked at the black- smithing trade which he had learned prior to his emigration to the new world. Not long after locating in the Keystone state he married Miss Mary Bishop, a native of Adams county. Pennsylvania, of Dutch de- scent. She was born in 1815, and their marriage occurred in Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania, where they spent their remaining days. Mrs. George departed this life on the 24th of December. 1843, while the fa- ther of our subject passed away in 1879. They became the parents of three sons and two daughters. The daughters died in in- fancy. The sons reached manhood, but at this writing the subject of our sketch is the only one living. The two deceased broth- ers were Samuel S. and Henry F., and both were Union soldiers in the civil war. Sam- uel S. responded to the first call for troops from Pennsylvania, went out in the three- months' service and at the end of that time re-enlisted, for a term of three years. At the close of the three years he again re-en- listed. this time for three years or during the war, and continued in the army until the war ended. He died at Mckeesport, Pennsyl- vania. Henry F. enlisted from Darke coun- ty, Ohio, and was in the army three years. He died at Newport, Ohio, from the effect of exposure and hardship incurred while he was confined in Libby prison. By a subse- quent marriage the father of our subject had

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A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography, Part 97

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 806

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 806