USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > A Biographical record of Fairfield County, Ohio, illustrated > Part 35
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terests of this part of the state and was a progressive, enterprising man. He mar- ried Rebecca Berry, a daughter of Abra- ham Berry, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, and in 1808 came to Fair- field county, settling in Rush Creek town- ship. He was a man of considerable means and as land was cheap he purchased a large tract and became one of the prosperous and influential citizens of his adopted county. He married Catherine Fast, and they be- came the parents of twelve children, nine daughters and three sons. The marriage of John and Rebecca ( Berry) Turner was blessed with five children: Jacob B., a prominent merchant and miller of Bremen ; Emanuel C .; Joseph S .; Abram B. and Peter F.
Joseph S. Turner pursued his educa- tion in the old Rock schoolhouse, contin- uting his studies through the winter months until fourteen years of age, when he began learning the carpenter's trade under the direction of Ephraim Root. For twenty-one years he followed that pursuit and was closely associated with the building inter- ests of his part of the county, but his busi- ness career was interrupted by military serv- ice at the time of the Civil war. In 1864 he enlisted in Company .\. Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under the com- mand of Captain Butterfield and Colonel B. Ward. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland and he took part in the siege and fall of Atlanta. He also participated in the battles of Mission Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Dalton, Resaca, Hickory Ridge, Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw Moun-
tain and others, and after the fall of At- lanta the regiment was ordered to join Sherman's army, participating in the memorable march to the sea, the campaign through the Carolinas and the march to Washington, where Mr. Turner partici- pated in the grand review, the most cele- brated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere. With the regiment he was then ordered to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was mitstered out and sent home.
The country no longer needing his serv- ices, Mr. Turner resumed work at the cat- penter's trade and for several years was a leading representative of building interests in this part of the county. He erected a number of the dwellings in and near Bre- men, also churches, barns and business buildings. Farming interests also claimed his attention and he owned and operated a valuable tract of land, which he placed un- der a high state of cultivation. He con- tinned farming until 1881, when he put aside business cares and removed to Bre- men, where he has since lived retired, en- joying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
In 1859 Mr. Turner was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Ann Fox, who was born near Pleasantville, Ohio, February 28. 1839. She was a daughter of Abram and Jane (Sampson) Fox. By her marriage she has become the mother of seven chil- dren: Rebecca J., now deceased ; Ella J., the wife of A. C. McCandless; Mary E., the wife of Thomas R. Thompson; Lulu Alice, who married Harry Click and resides at Millersport: Harvey M., a farmer ;
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Gertrude, the wife of Charles Bauman, a merchant of Lancaster : and Charles Forest. who is a fireman on the railroad.
Mr. Turner is a member of John Rose Post. G. A. R., and thus maintains pleas- ant relations with his old army comrades. His life has been a useful and active one
and his history proves conclusively that suc- cess is not the result of genius but the out- growth of practical judgment. experience, diligence and perseverance. It was through the possession of those qualities that he ac- quired the competence that now enables him to live retired.
DANIEL G. BOYER.
Upon the family homestead in Bloom township, where he yet resides. Daniel G. Boyer was born May 8, 1868. He traces his ancestry back to Godfrey Boyer, who was born, reared and died in Pennsylvania. Daniel Boyer. the grandfather of our sub- ject, was a native of Greenfield township. this county, having been born on the border line of Bloom township. At one time he owned over one thousand acres of land in Fairfield and Henry counties, Ohio, and in ried Sarah Dowdall, also a native of Bloom township, and they became the parents of three children: Daniel G., of this review ; Jane, the widow of John Benson; and Mary, the deceased wife of Ezra Court- right. The father died March 7. 1886, at the age of forty-nine years and six months. His widow still survives him and is yet living on the old family homestead. She is a daughter of George Dowdall, a native of Maryland, who became one of the pioneer Wells county, Indiana. As his financial re- ' settlers of Bloom township. By his wife. Nancy, he had seven children, namely : Michael: Mary, the wife of Isaac Eberley ; Margaret, the wife of Joseph Price: Han- nah, the wife of Henry Jeffries : Catherine. the wife of Hamilton Howard : Mrs. Sarah Boyer : and Joseph, who is living in Colum- bus.
sources increased he made judicious invest- ments in real estate and thus became an extensive land holder. Marquis Boyer, the father, of our subject, was born in Bloom township. Fairfield county, and became the owner of one of the best farms in his por- tion of the state. He was a most progress- ive and enterprising man, diligent and per- sistent in all that he undertook, and was highly respected as a leading and influential man. In his religions belief he was a Lu- theran and for many years held membership in a church of that denomination. He mar-
In taking up the personal history of Daniel G. Boyer, we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this county. Ile ac- quired his education in the common schools and in the Franklin County Normal School.
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When twenty-one years of age he began teaching and for twelve years followed that profession in Bloom and Violet townships through the winter months. In the summer he carried on the work of the home farm. He taught for several consecutive years in the Waterloo and Violet township schools as principal and gained a wide reputation as a most capable educator and disciplinarian. He had the ability to impart clearly and concisely to others the knowledge which he had acquired and his labors as a teacher gave excellent satisfaction.
In May, 1891. Mr. Boyer was united in marriage to Inez Brandt, a daughter of Jesse H. and Amanda ( Weist) Brandt, of
Bloom township, in whose family there were five children, Mrs. Boyer being the eldest. The others are Inez L .; U. S., an attorney ; Bertha, deceased ; and James Her- bert, who is also practicing law. Two chil- dren have graced the union of Mr. and Mrs. Boyer-Russell Grant, who died in 1894. at the age of two and a half years ; and Mary Marguerite, born in October. 1893. The parents hold membership in Zion church in Bloom township and are well known in the county in which their entire lives have been passed. The hospitality of many of the best homes in Bloom township is extended to them and they enjoy the warm regard of many friends.
JOHN R. MUMAUGH.
It is an important public duty to honor and perpetuate as far as is possible the memory of an eminent citizen-one who by his blameless and honorable life and distin- guished career reflected credit upon the city in which he so long made his home. Through such memorials as this at hand the individual and the character of his services are kept in remembrance and the importance of those services acknowledged. His ex- ample in whatever field his work may have been done thus stands as an object lesson to those who come after him, and though dead he still speaks. Long after all recol- lection of his personality shall have faded
from the minds of men the less perishable record may tell the story of his life and com- mend his example for imitation. No man was ever more respected in Lancaster or ever more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people than John R. Mumaugh, whose honorable and straightforward business career was crowned with a high and well merited degree of success and who in other walks of life contributed largely to the up- building and improvement of the city.
Mr. Mumaugh was born in Fairfield county, near the city of Lancaster, on the 26th of January, 1818. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of
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his early life, which was largely devoted to the acquirement of an education, but after putting aside his text-books he entered the electrical world of business and thereafter was an active factor in commercial and financial circles of Lancaster. In 1839 he took up his abode in this city, opened an office and engaged in general bookkeeping and established a collection agency. Gradu- ally he extended the field of his labors until it embraced the banking and real- estate business. Ile handled much valuable property and his banking operations were also extensive. He sustained an unassail- able reputation in business circles, where his word was considered as good as any bond that was ever solemnized by signature or seal. Hle was ever faithful to a business obligation and conscientious in the per- formance of every financial trust.
Mr. Mumaugh was united in marriage by the Rev. John Wagenhals to Miss Hosannah Schaeffer, the eldest daughter of Frederick and Julia Ann Schaeffer and granddaughter of Abraham Bloom. for whom the beautiful little city of Blooms- bury. New Jersey, was named. He also fought in the Revolutionary war with General Washington from the time the hos- tilities began until Great Britain withdrew her troops and acknowledged the inde- pendence of the republic .. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mumangh were born six children, of whom two died in infancy, while Charles Frederick, the eldest son, who was a resi- dent of Lancaster, died in 1897. Those still living are John S., who resides in Cali- fornia : and Sallie and Fannie, who are liv-
ing in the old home in this city. They also reared a niece of Mrs. Mumangh, Julia Bannon, who for seventeen years was a member of the household. She is now Mrs. Vernon, of Camden, New Jersey.
Mr. Mumaugh was a prominent and valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Charity Lodge and Hock Hocking Encampment of this city. He was also an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which he had taken all the degrees of the York rite, and his funeral services were conducted by Lan- caster Commandery. No. 2. Knights Tem- plar. For thirty years he was a consistent and faithful member of the St. John's Episcopal church and for a quarter of a cen- tury he served the congregation as junior and senior warden, holding the latter office at the time of his death, which occurred on the 5th of February, 1888. The many beau- tiful floral tributes and the large concourse of people who attended the funeral showed how widely he was known and honored in Lancaster, where he was so well known. and where an upright life and strong sym- pathy had endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. He was a devoted hus- band and kind and indulgent father, a con- siderate neighbor and a consistent follower of the Master, and when he closed his eyes in death it was with the firm belief in a glorious awakening into everlasting life.
Mrs. Mumaugh survived her husband for a number of years, endearing herself to all as the days passed. She passed away 011 Christmas eve of 1901. In speaking of her death a local paper said : "For the past
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half century Mrs. Mumaugh has resided in the handsome old colonial house in which she died, and no one will be more sadly missed than this beautiful, noble and hos- pitable Christian woman. She was full of dignity and grace and the doors of her charming home were always open to receive and entertain her host of friends; and it can be truthfully said that no home within the city of Lancaster has for the past fifty years entertained more people of note and distinction, both old and young, than the
Mumangh home. Mrs. Mumangh was. especially fond of young people and their society, and they seemed to flock toward her. Her many acts of charity were with -- out number, but whenever she gave and whatever she did for the good and comfort. of others she never spoke of, and many of the poor and needy will doubly miss her. Her noble life, her womanly graces of char -- acter, her strong sympathy have made her memory a blessed benediction to all who. knew her."
ISAAC CLAYPOOL.
Isaac Claypool, deceased, passed his en- tire life in the house where he first opened his eyes to the light of day, on the 29th of June, 1821. Throughout the intervening period he not only watched with interest the progress of events which have made the county's history, but bore his part in the work of improvement and advancement, and well does he deserve mention as one of the honored citizens of the community. He represented one of the oldest families of the county and traced his ancestry back to James Claypool, who was born February 16, 1701, and died October 9, 1789. His wife, Jane Claypool, passed away June 2, 1758. They resided near Moorefield, Hardy county. West Virginia.
Their son, James Claypool, Jr., the grandfather of our subject, was born De-
cember 1, 1730, and died August 11, 1811 .. He was married October 31, 1753, to Mar- garet Dunbar, who was born November 20, 1736, and died March 26, 1813. She was a daughter of John Dunbar. Unto James and Margaret (Dunbar) Claypool were born the following children : Margaret. Ann, who was born February 9, 1754, and married David Thomas; Hannah, who was born November 6, 1756, and became Mrs. Evans; Jane, who was born January 31, 1758, and married Abram Peppers, who re- moved with his family to Ross county, Ohio ;. Abraham, who was born April 2, 1762, and married Ann Wilson, locating in Ross county; Esther, who was born August 28, 1764, and became the wife of Jeremiah Jacobs, their home being in Bloomfield, Nelson county, Kentucky; Ruth, who was
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born July 21, 1766, and married Robert Denten. of Covington, Fountain county, . 20, 1835. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Indiana: Isaac, who was born February 7. Isaac, the youngest of the family, is the subject of this review. 176. and married Miss Macker, locating in Ross county: Rachel, born January 9. 1771. the wife of John Woollard, of Lick- ing county; Rhoda, born March 25. 1773; Jacob, who was born March 17. 1775. and became the father of our subject : Elizabeth. born March 19. 1778; and Kersey, born July 7. 1780, the wife of Isaac Blizzard, of Licking county.
Jacob Claypool, the father, was united in marriage to Margaret Baker, of Harri- sonburg. Rockingham county, Virginia. March 5. 1799. She was a daughter of Michael Baker of that place and died near Lancaster, Ohio, June 22. 1828, while Jacob Claypool died October 27. 1843. Their children were nine in muimber. En- ma, born April 2. 1800, was married Octo- Ler 19. 1820, to Joseph Grubb, and died May 20, 1832. Elizabeth, born .August 17, 1801, was married March 12, 1822. to Ste- phen Yale, of Somerset, and died Septem- ber 10, 1823. Mary born January 12, 1803. ‹lied August 13. 1823. James, born Novem- ber 14. 1804. died May 17. 1824. Albert. lorn December 5. 1806, was married March 23. 1826, to Phebe Ilooker, a daughter of Richard Hooker, and after her death wedded Rebecca Mounts. He died near Morrow, Ohio, November 2, 1872. Wesley. born February 15. 1810, died June 25. 1877. lle was married November 9, 1830. to Katherine McNeil, who died February 22. 1879, at Chillicothe, Ohio. Felix. born March 8. 1812, died September 1. 1826.
Jacob. born February 23, 1816, died May
It was in the year 1808 that the parents removed from Virginia to Fairfield county. Ohio, locating in the midst of the forest, where the father built a log cabin and then began to clear and cultivate the land. He paid eight dollars per acre for one-half of his land and for the other half he gave less than that amount. . As acre after acre was cleared he placed it under the plow and in course of time abundant harvests rewarded his labors, but in the early days the family endured all of the hardships and trials of life on the frontier. This farm was not sold at the time of the government land sales but was a part of the Indian reserva- tion occupied by the Wyandotte tribe and known as Yankeetown. James Brooks, Mr. Crook and Drake Taylor squatted on this land in the year 1799 and it was purchased by Jacob Claypool in 1805. AAbout three years later he located thereon and built the house in which his son Isaac continued to live throughout his life. He educated him- self in land surveying and in this as well as in all other transactions of life he proved to be a man of more than ordinary ability. His note books show that he surveyed land in all parts of the state. He was three times elected to the state legislature, first in 1816. again in 1818, and a third time in 1822, but still higher honors awaited him, for in 1824 he was chosen to represent his dis- rict in the state senate, filling that position with credit to himself and satisfaction to his
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constituents. Throughout his business ca- reer he followed droving and as late as 1840 drove stock to all the principal eastern mar- kets. He was not only an educated man. but was thorough and correct in all business transactions. In 1826 the Barret woolen mills. of Fairfield county, were destroyed by fire and as the owner was not able to re- build. Jacob Claypool. John Creed and Sam- uel F. MacCracken were commissioned by the state legislature to organize a lottery company. the earnings of which were to be used in rebuilding the mill. Mr. Claypool was often called upon to settle estates, be- ing well qualified for this by reason of his known business ability and his inflexible honesty.
Isaac Claypool, the youngest member of the family, was reared amid the wild scenes of pioneer life, and began his education in the old-time log school house so common at an early day. He afterward attended the acad- emy in Greenfield township and he remained at home until twenty-two years of age. when, on the 17th of August, 1843. he mar- ried Nancy Mason, who had been his school- mate in childhood days. She was a daugh- ter of John and Ann Mason, and was born January 22, 1821, her death occurring Oc- tober 16, 1855. On the 18th of March, 1858. Mr. Claypool was again married, his second union being with Sarah A. Pierce. who was born in Dover, New Hampshire, November 15, 1836, and died March 18. 1893. On the Ist of August. 1895, Mr. Claypool married Anna E. Cosgrove, who was born April 9. 1843. in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and died March 23, 1898.
By the marriage of Isaac and Nancy Claypool were born the following named : Jacob is represented on another page of this work ; Anna Mary was born July 15, 1844; Emma Eliza was born November 20, 1848, and was married June 7. 1877, to David Buffner and after his death was married September 10, 1889, to Alexander Mc- Cowan ; James is also mentioned on another page of this work; Nancy Jane, born Au- gust 25, 1853. was married September 3, 1874. to Smiley Caldwell, and died Septem- ber 12, 1888. Their children were Jacob Maurice, born March 29, 1876: Earl Clay- pool. born December 19. 1877: Fanny Beatrice, who was born September 21, 1879. and died February 25, 1889: and Anna Lucile, born January 8, 1886. By the second marriage of Isaac Claypool there were four children: Frank Pierce, born April 16, 1859, was married October 1. 1883, to Lizzie Prindle, by whom he has one son. Isaac, born August 14. 1889. John Reber, the second member of the family, was born March 11. 1861, and was married March 1. 1884. to Retta Carnes, their chil- dren being Ralph Elbridge, born August 7. 1885: and Sarah Abbie, born January 2, 1888. Ada Maud and Ida Pierce, twin daughters of Isaac and Sarah Claypool, / were born April 13. 1865. The latter was married October 10, 1888, to William E. Shell, and died September 10, 1894. . \da Maud was married September 14, 1892, to Albert F. Crayton, and they have one child, Abigail, born May 31. 1896.
Immediately after his first marriage Isaac Claypool, Sr., located on the old home
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farm, and at the time of his death he and James W. Wilson were the oldest residents of the township. He always carried on farming and stock-raising, and was the only man that ever took a drove of cattle from this county to Boston, Massachusetts. He was a young man when he made that trip. For many years he continued to en- gage in stock-dealing and at one time he was the owner of twelve hundred acres of land, all in Greenfield township. AAt the time of his death he still owned nine hun- dren acres, having given the other three hundred acres to his children. For some time he lived retired, his son John R. tran- sacting his business affairs. In politics he was first a Whig and on the dissolution 'of the party he became a Republican, voting for Lincoln and MeKinley and all the inter- vening presidents of that party. He was ap-
pointed by Governor Ford as a member of the committee to purchase the Home Farm of Ohio, and while he was never a poli- tician in the sense of office seeking, he ex- erted considerable influence in political and public affairs. He was largely instrumental in securing the right of way for the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad through the county, giving the right of way on his own land and helping to secure it from others. He was long a faithful mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and his life was in harmony with its teachings. Hon- orable and upright, true to his friends, re- liable in business and loyal in citizenship, from pioneer times to the time of his death Isaac Claypool was an honored resident of Fairfield county, where he always main- tained his home and where he was a rev- ered patriarch of the community.
FRANK P. STRAYER, M. D.
In taking up the personal history of Dr. Frank P. Strayer we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely known in Fairfield county. Here he has spent his entire life and has become known not only as a successful physician and surgeon of Bremen but also as a gentleman of extensive and important business interests, belonging to that class of representative Americans who while promoting their individual suc- cess also advance the general prosperity.
The Doctor was born in the village of Sugar Grove, Fairfield county, October 23. 1855. His father. Jacob Strayer, was a na- tive of Maryland, born in 1818, and with his parents, Nicholas and Eva ( Everhart ) Strayer, came to Fairfield county. The year 1828 witnessed their arrival and the family settled in Berne township near what is now Berne Station, where the grandfather and grandmother spent their remaining days. Jacob Strayer, the Doctor's father, was
F. P. STRAYER, M. D.
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reared to manhood on the old family home- stead and afterward married Sarah E. Bran- don, of Berne township, a daughter of Will- iam and Nancy ( Barr ) Brandon. Her par- ents were natives of Virginia, having been born in Rockingham county in the Old Dominion, whence they emigrated westward to Fairfield county, Ohio. The natal day of Mrs. Strayer was October 20, 1825. Her girlhood days were spent under the parental roof in Fairfield county and when she at- tained womanhood she gave her hand in marriage to Jacob Strayer. They began their domestic life in the village of Sugar Grove, where for a number of years he en- gaged in general merchandising, but at length he disposed of his stock of goods and removed to the farm owned by his father, Nicholas Strayer. There he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred November 29, 1884. His wife passed away in July, 1900. In their family were eight children, six of whom reached years of maturity, two having died in in- fancy. The living are: William J., a farmer : Eliza J., the widow of Noah Seifert : P. W. : Flora A., the wife of S. W. Lehman. of Bremen ; Charles B., a resident farmer of Illinois : Ella, who is married and resides in the state of Washington.
Doctor Strayer, whose name introduces this record, pursued his education in the com- mon schools. He afterward went to Worth- ington, where he continued his studies for some time. and after preparing for college he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he attended for several terms. At intervals he engaged in teaching
school and he began preparation for the practice of medicine as a student in the office of Dr. E. A. Framton, of Bremen. Later he matriculated in the Columbus Medical Col- lege, which was afterward merged in the Starling Medical College, and in that insti- tution he was graduated in the class of 1879. After his graduation he located in Bremen, where he opened an office and has since been actively engaged in practice, his success in- creasing as the years have gone by. He has good ability both as a physician and surgeon and the desirable results which have attended his efforts have won public confidence in his skill. In connection with his practice he is engaged in the manufacture of many kinds of handles, operates a planing mill and a sawmill and is manufacturing hard lumber. His industrial interests are proving profit- able and bring to him a good return on his investments.
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