A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 119

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio > Part 119

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James H. Hess, the second son of Moses Hess, married Eliza Jane Kenny, and unto them was born one daughter, Mary Eve, who with her mother occupies a modern home on the site of the first log cabin erected by Bolser Hess in 1800. His death occurred February 13, 1889.

Charles Wesley Hess, the second child of his father's third marriage, spent his youth in the usual manner of boys of the period, working in the fields through the summer months and pursuing his education in the public schools in the winter seasons. He married Miss Ann M. Lane, and unto them were born four children,-William G., Charles R., Florence L. and Ida.

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Charles Wesley Hess died November 9. 1889, making the third brother to die within a period of nine months. His widow is a resident of Columbus.

John M. Hess, Jr., the youngest son of his father's third marriage, was born on the old homestead March 7. 1844, and was reared to agricultural pur- suits. In the district schools he obtained the rudiments of his education, which was supplemented by a course of study in the Otterbein University, but he was forced to put aside his text-books on account of ill health. Subsequently he was married to Hannah K. Fairfield, of Franklin county, a daughter of William Fairfield, the wedding being celebrated on the 15th of March, 1871. Four children came to grace their union, namely: Walter, now deceased ; Benjamin C .; Elizabeth H .; and Flora Louise, at home. The family reside upon a portion of the original Hess farm.

Louise Maria Hess, daughter of John M. Hess, Sr., married William P. Brown, of Franklin county, Ohio, and now lives in New York city. They have four children,-Edward C., Ballard W., Mary and Jessie.

The members of the Hess family are stalwart people. Bolser Hess. the progenitor, was six feet, four inches in height and weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. They are known for their sound judgment and safe counsel, honesty and determination of purpose. Agriculturally inclined, they are models as farmers, and in whatever position they have been called upon to occupy they have reflected credit upon it and upon the family name.

NILES M. PETERSEN.

Niles M. Petersen, who is the subject of the present sketch, is one of the reliable and energetic business men of Columbus, Ohio, occupying the promi- nent position of superintendent and manager of the National Steel Works, located in this city.

Mr. Petersen was born in the city of Hasterslein, Denmark, in 1851, where he received a very liberal education, and enjoyed several years of travel in his native country. He visited many cities and made a special study of the factories in operation in them, endeavoring to gain a correct knowledge of their management as well as of their products. In 1871 Mr. Petersen emi- grated to the United States, proceeding immediately to St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in work at a steel plant, remaining with the company for a space of eighteen years and being promoted from one position to another and thus becoming thoroughly instructed in every branch. He then entered the employ of King, Gillart & Warren, a company known at points throughout the world, then located at Middleport, Ohio, and was promoted to be the super- intendent of the works. Upon the removal of the plant to Columbus, in 1895, Mr. Peterson was retained in the service and received the appointment as superintendent manager, which position he has acceptably filled ever since.

The plant of the King. Gillart & Warren Company manufactures steel and brass sheets, with many other articles, employing twelve hundred men, and requiring two engines of five thousand horse-power, with eight small

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engines to supply power. The plant covers about twenty-five acres, many of the buildings so constructed as to be almost indestructible, while the machinery is of the most modern patterns known to the business.

In 1875 Mr. Petersen married Miss Beata Nelson, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and four children have been born to this estimable couple,-two boys and two girls. They live, with all the comforts of modern life, in a substantial home at 1187 -South High street, upon the ground known as the old Ambos estate.

Mr. Petersen possesses the happy faculty of being able to create and retain harmony in his relations with his men, while obtaining the best results from their labor. The position which he holds requires a peculiar fitness which he seems to have, and this, combined with his practical and thorough compre- hension of the business, makes him invaluable.

JAMES H. FARBER.

For twenty-nine years James H. Farber has resided upon the farm which is now his home and has made it a valuable property, adding to it all modern accessories and conveniences, keeping its buildings in excellent repair, its fences in good condition and its fields under a high state of cultivation. A glance at the place will indicate to the passerby that the owner is a progressive agriculturist.

Mr. Farber is among the residents of Franklin county that New Jersey has furnished to the Buckeye state, for he was born in Sussex county March 26, 1846. His grandparents, Paul and Elizabeth ( Rood) Farber, were both natives of Sussex county, New Jersey, the former born December 31, 1760, the latter on the IIth of August, of the same year. There they spent their entire lives, the grandfather following the occupation of farming as a means of livelihood. His wife died May 24, 1842, and, having survived her six years, he passed away on the 29th of May, 1848.

Caleb Farber, the father of our subject, was born in Sussex county August 18, 1797, and was there reared to manhood. When about twenty- three years of age he was joined in wedlock to Miss Eliza Laroe, who was born in Essex county, New Jersey, April 7, 1805. He began the tilling of the soil upon a farm adjoining the old homestead where he was reared, and there resided until 1853, during which time he acquired an extensive tract of farming land. In 1853 he emigrated with his family to Franklin county, Ohio, locating on a farm one mile east of the present home of his son James. Sev- eral years prior to this time the father had come into possession of two hun- dred acres of land here, and at his Ohio home he spent his remaining days. He was a man of great energy, strong force of character and excellent business judgment, and became the owner of six hundred acres of valuable land, which he subsequently divided among his children. His political sympathy was with the Democracy and he kept well informed on the issues of the day, but never sought or desired office. He was a man of considerable influence in the com-

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munity, his opinions carrying weight among his fellow men, for all knew and respected him for his genuine worth and his loyalty to his honest con- victions. He passed away August 4, 1881, and his wife died on the 28th of October, 1864. This worthy couple were the parents of eleven children, but all have passed away with the exception of Ann, widow of Dennis B. Strait; Paul, a farmer of Jefferson township; and James.

The subject of this review was a lad of seven summers when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Franklin county. His youth was quietly passed on his father's farm, and from an early age he assisted in the work of the fields, plowing and harvesting through the hot summer days and gaining the practical experience which now enables him to successfully carry on agricultural pursuits on his own account. After his marriage he located upon a farm of one hundred acres, given him by his father, and at the same time aided in the management of his father's extensive agricultural interests, assisting in the control of the home place until the father's death. In the spring of 1872 he removed to his present farm, and throughout the intervening years he has given his time and energies to its further cultivation, development and improvement. He now owns four hundred acres, and in addition to the tilling of the soil he is successfully engaged in stock-raising.

On the 28th of October, 1868, Mr. Farber was united in marriage to Miss Elvira Albery, a native of Licking county, Ohio, and a daughter of John Albery, who was a prominent agriculturist of that county, but is now deceased. Six children have graced this marriage: Retta B., now the wife of Nelson E. Wilkins, of Westerville, Ohio; Sadie E., wife of Perry Doran, of Plain town- ship; Chauncey, a resident farmer of Plain township; James H., who is engaged in clerking in New Albany, Ohio; Nicholas C., who is teaching in the district schools and resides with his parents; Leo F., who is yet a student in the public schools. Mr. Farber's fellow townsmen, recog- nizing his worth and ability, have several times called him to public office, and his fidelity to duty. and the confidence reposed in him is indicated by the fact that for nine years he has served as township trustee, being elected to the office on the Democratic ticket. He is a stanch advocate of the principles of Democracy, and as a citizen keeps in touch with the advancement of progress and enterprise which results to the benefit of the county and state.

JOHN COVERT GREEN.

One of the most valuable legacies which a father, dying, can leave to his children is a good name, and that was not the least important part of the inheritance of the children of the late John Covert Green, of Truro township, Franklin county, Ohio. That well remembered and much regretted citizen was born in Truro township November 30, 1834, and died there at the age of fifty-four years and eleven months. His father was Gilbert Green, son of Susan and Gilbert (Green) Green, who moved to New Jersey when their son, who was born in Sussex county, New York, November 27, 1804. was only a

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few years old, where they remained until the end of their lives. There Gilbert Green, the son, passed his early life and was married, October 3, 1836, to Miss Melinda Harrison, who bore him three children, named Aaron Harri- son, William Henry and Mary Olivia Green. In 1831 Gilbert Green emi- grated to Truro township, Franklin county, Ohio, with his family and bought there one hundred and thirteen acres of land, to which he afterward added two hundred acres by another purchase. His wife died about a year after he came to Ohio, and he was married, July 9, 1833, to Susan Taylor, a daugh- ter of Robert Taylor, who settled in Truro township about 1809. Miss Taylor, who was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, September 21, 1808. bore her husband children as follows: Robert, Mary, Gilbert M., Sarah, John Covert, Belinda and Elizabeth J. Gilbert M., who lives at Columbus, Ohio, married Elizabeth Marshall ; Elizabeth J. married A. D. Schoonover, of Newark, New Jersey ; and Belinda married Valverda A. P. Ware, of Truro township. Sarah died in infancy. John Covert is the immediate subject of this sketch.

John Covert Green began life without means and had made some progress in a material way when the Civil war began. He enlisted August 12, 1862, as a corporal in Company B, One Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was a good soldier until he was honorably discharged, April 14, 1863, on account of sickness contracted in service. After his mar- riage he operated a rented farm in Truro township fourteen years until he bought the place on which his widow now resides, which he cleared and improved and put under prosperous cultivation, equipping it well with build- ings, machinery and all appliances necessary to successful farming.

Mr. Green was married, November 28, 1867, to Miss Sarah J. Parkinson, a daughter of Daniel Parkinson, of Truro township, near Reynoldsburg. Mr. Parkinson was born in Pennsylvania and was brought when quite young by his parents to Franklin county, Ohio, where he received his education and assisted his father to clear and improve a farm, remaining under the parental roof until he was thirty years of age, when he married Sarah Ann Syler, also a native of Pennsylvania, who bore him ten sons and four daughters, a family of fourteen children, of whom six are dead : George Henry, William Long, Sarah J., Benjamin Franklin, Cyrus Edward, Louis, Marguerite Henrietta, James Albert, Harriet Alice, Eunice Augusta, Cassius, Alpheus, Ambrose and Daniel Homer. George Henry, who was a member of Company I. Forty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was killed at the battle of Shiloh in April, 1862. James Albert is a merchant at Topeka, Kansas. William Long is a miner of much experience, but is now devoting his attention to a large tract of land which he owns in Dakota. Benjamin Franklin is a farmer of Truro township. Cyrus Edward is farming in Dakota. Louis lives on his father's old homestead in Truro township. Cassius is a farmer in Licking county, Ohio. Ambrose is practicing medicine at Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Daniel Homer is a teacher of music at Columbus, Ohio.

John Covert and Sarah J. ( Parkinson) Green had eleven children, named as follows : Mary Olivia, Berdie Alice, Susan Ann, Gilbert Taylor, Lucy Cor-

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nelia, Mabel Cora Lee, Vera Pearl, Elsie Vernie, Nellie Glendora, John Carroll and Jessie. Susan Ann married Rolla Shaw, a farmer in Mifflin township. Franklin county, and they have a son named Russell Green Shaw. Lucy Cor- nelia married Hinton M. Swope, a farmer of Truro township, Franklin county. Mary Olivia is teaching school in Marion township. Vera Pearl in Plain town- ship and Elsie Vernie in Jefferson township, Franklin county, and Berdie Alice is also a teacher. Gilbert Taylor has charge of his mother's home farm and the others not mentioned as being absent are members of their mother's household. Jessie, the youngest, is in school.

Mr. Green was a man of prominence in his township and for a number of years previous to his death was a devoted and helpful member of the Presbyterian church, with which members of his family are identified. While not a politician in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he took deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of Truro town- ship and Franklin county and had pronounced opinions upon all questions of national policy. Especially interested in public education, he was for fifteen years a member of the township school board, and he held the office of road supervisor four years.

DAVID DEVENPORT.

In the days when Franklin county was largely an undeveloped wilder- ness, when its forests were uncut, its fields uncultivated and when the work of progress and civilization was vet a task of the future, the Devenports came to this portion of Ohio and entered upon the duties of reclaiming the country for purposes of civilization. Since that time representatives of the name have been classed among the leading and influential citizens of the community, and prominent among the honored representatives of the family at the present time is David Devenport, who was born February 26, 1830, upon the farm where he now resides, his parents being Lewis and Susan (Wagner) Deven- port. The family is of Holland Dutch lineage, the great-grandfather, Jacob Devenport, having emigrated from Holland to America in early life. He became a prominent figure in the Revolution, holding a high commission as one of the officers of the American army. After the close of the war he was given a grant of land, including a quarter of a township in Sussex county, New Jersey, and there he settled and reared his family. He, however, retained but a small portion of his land grant, for his business interests lay in the line of industrial concerns. On the land which he retained he erected extensive flouring and sawmills and iron works, which later reverted to his sons. The grandfather of our subject continued to operate these mills in connection with his brothers until the year 1812, when they disposed of the property, and his grandfather. John Devenport, and his brother. Samuel, came to Ohio. The former settled upon a farm of three or four hundred acres of land in Jefferson township, adjoining on the east the farm upon which our subject now resides. There he cleared a portion of his land, but afterward sold the place and removed

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to Indiana, where he died at an advanced age. While residing in New Jer- sey he was known as "John Devenport at the mill," for there was another John Devenport in the neighborhood, and thus the distinction was made.

Lewis Devenport, the father of our subject, was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, about 1793, and was there reared, receiving such educational priv- ileges as were afforded. by the public schools of the neighborhood. He was about twenty years of age when his parents came to Ohio. He had learned the milling business in the east and after coming to this state he continued to work at his trade for a number of years, operating the mill at Headley's Corners and also at Headley, while in Jersey, Licking county. Later he was employed for a time in a foundry in Zanesville, Ohio, and afterward in the '20s he was married, and with his wife located upon a farm of ninety acres, on which our subject still lives. Of this, forty acres had been purchased of his father, John Devenport, and fifty acres of Isaac Strait. On this farm Lewis Devenport spent his remaining days, passing away in 1884, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Coming to Ohio in 1812 he experienced all the hardships and privations that fall to the lot of the early pioneers connected either with industrial or agricultural pursuits. When he took up his abode upon this farm it was a wild and unimproved land, the forests stood in their primeval strength, and from his place he cut the logs with which to erect a cabin to shelter his young bride. He labored earnestly and untiringly for many years to establish a good home, and at length his efforts were crowned with a competence. In early life he was a Whig and later became a Repub- lican, but while an earnest supporter of his party he was never an aspirant for the honors and emoluments of office, holding nothing but minor township positions. His wife was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, and was a daughter of Martin Wagner, a member of an old representative family of that state. He came to Ohio shortly after the advent of the Devenport family in Franklin county, and here the parents of our subject were married. They had eight children, of whom four are now living, namely: Elizabeth, wife of Andy Geiger, of Jay county, Indiana; David, of this review; Eliza Jane, the widow of James Scott, of Earl Park, Indiana; and Julia Ann, the wife of Andrew Slane, of Mercer county, Ohio.

David Devenport was reared to farm life on the old family homestead. The educational privileges which he enjoyed were only such as the pioneer schools afforded, but his training in the labor of the fields was not meager. He early began to handle the plow and the harrow and assisted in the farm work until the crops were harvested in the autumn. After attaining his majority he was employed as a farm hand in the neighborhood until the time of his marriage, which was celebrated in 1860. He then began farming on his own account on rented land and was thus engaged for eleven years, when, with the capital which he had acquired during that period, he purchased a small tract of land of twenty-five and seven-eighths acres in Mifflin township, Franklin county. He resided there for only a year, when illness at the old home caused him to return to his father's farm and take charge of the place,

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caring for his parents. He, however, retained possession of his own farm. About three years after his return to the old homestead he purchased one hun- dred acres of land on the northeast section of the township, and after his father's death he purchased the interests of the other heirs in the old home- stead, so that his landed possessions now comprise one hundred and ninety- eight acres. He is a wide-awake and progressive farmer, neglecting no opportunity to improve his land and make it productive, and thus he has acquired a comfortable competence.

Mrs. Devenport bore the maiden name of Miss Mary J. Atwood. Their marriage has been blessed with six children, of whom five are yet living, namely: Lewis D., a resident farmer of Licking county; Susan, the wife of Oscar Seidler, of Jefferson township; Andrew N., also a farmer of Jefferson township; Ludeska, the wife of George Cole, of Licking county; and Ida, wife of Frank Geiger, an agriculturist of Jefferson township. In his political views Mr. Devenport is a Republican and for about twelve years he has served as school director, the cause of education finding in him a warm friend. He has never been an office seeker. however, his attention being given to his farm- ing interests, which have yielded to him a good financial return. Through more than six decades he has witnessed the growth and transformation of the county, has seen its wild land reclaimed for farming purposes, while towns and villages have sprung up, and all the improvements known to the older east have been introduced. He has co-operated in many measures and move- ments for the general good and is known as a worthy citizen as well as an honored pioneer.

CAPTAIN A. S. HEMPSTEAD.

Captain Alexander S. Hempstead, who has long been connected with the industrial interests of Ohio as a lumber manufacturer, was born in Blendon township, Franklin county. August 27. 1837, and is a son of Charles P. and Rachel C. (Craig) Hempstead. The father was a native of Connecticut, born in 1791, and in 1813 emigrated westward to Franklin county, casting in his lot among the early pioneer settlers' of Blendon township. Here in pio- neer days he engaged in the manufacture of shoes, having learned the trade of a shoemaker and tanner in the state of his nativity. He served his coun- try in the war of 1812 as a member of the Tenth United States Infantry, holding the rank of sergeant. Some years later, in 1817. in connection with Captain Timothy Lee, afterward the founder of Central College, he engaged in the distilling business, following that pursuit for two years, after which he located upon a farm, having traded his distillery for a tract of land. Upon that place he made his home until 1867. when he retired from business life and took up his abode in the home of his son, Alexander. They were the parents . of nine children, of whom five are yet living, namely: Mary C., the widow of Abel C. Moon, of Oberlin ; Edwin R., who is living a retired life in Sun- bury, Ohio; Samuel B., a minister of the Baptist church at Sinking Springs,

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east Tennessee; Horatio W., an undertaker and contractor of Adel, Iowa; and Alexander, of this review.

Captain Hempstead acquired his preliminary education in the common schools, supplementing it by study in Central Academy, and when seventeen years of age engaged in teaching for three months. He spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof, remaining at home until his twentieth year, when he went to Texas. In 1860, however, he returned to the north and in 1862 responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting in Company A, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. On the 29th of March, 1864, he was appointed a captain of Company F, Twenty-seventh United States Colored Infantry, and during much of the time until the close of the war was in command of the regiment. Prior to the battle of the Crater he was the sixth ranking captain, but the heavy loss sustained in that engagement made him the first ranking captain and from that time forward until the close of the war he was in charge much of the time. On the 6th of June, 1865, he was detailed as superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau of eight counties surrounding Wilmington, North Carolina, and served in that capacity until the 20th of September. On the 24th of January, 1863, he was before the examining board, composed of Colonel Van Rensalear, Lieutenant-Colonel Eastman and Major Flint, of the staff department, and after his examination was recommended for an appointment as major, but, lacking necessary political influence, he failed to secure an appointment. Captain Hempstead was ever a loyal and devoted soldier, and neither fear or favor could deter him from the faithful performance of his duty. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness, North and South Anna, Wilcox Landing, the Siege of Petersburg, beginning on the 17th of June, 1864; the battle of Crater Mountain, where he was wounded ; the first battle of Hatcher's Run; the battle of Fort Fisher, on the 15th of January, 1865; Sugar Loaf, on the IIth of February; Fort Anderson : the battle of Northeast Bridge, on the 22d of February ; and the battle of Cox's Landing, on the 15th of March.

When the war was over and the country no longer needed his services Captain Hempstead received an honorable discharge and after returning to his home was engaged in farming for a year. He was married October 23, 1866, to Miss Mary P. Lewis, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of William T. and Sarah E. ( Fowler) Lewis, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of New York city. In 1840 her parents came to Ohio, settling in Delaware county, where the father became well known as a successful farmer and fancier of fine stock. He was also fond of hunting and often followed the hounds. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hempstead have been born four children : Marion, who is manager of the white-goods department in the store of Z. L. White, of Columbus ; William Emmett, manager of the Public Opinion printing office of Westerville; Grace, who is employed in the millinery department with Lilly Vance, in Columbus ; and Don Carlos, who is living in California.

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 119

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1156

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156