A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 70

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

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JAMES E. CRUM.

Well known as a prominent farmer of Prairie township, James E. Crum is certainly worthy of mention in this volume. He was born eight miles northwest of Columbus on the 16th of December, 1848. He is a grandson of Cornelius Crum, and a son of Samuel D. Crum. The latter was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, near Enosville, and there resided until nineteen years of age, when he left the Keystone state and became a resident

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of Ohio, accompanying his parents on their removal to this state. The edu- cational privileges which he enjoyed were those afforded by the common schools and his life was spent in the usual manner of farmer lads who assist in the work of field and meadow. He was married in Norwich township to Miss Martha Gray, a daughter of James Gray. After his marriage he engaged in farming for a number of years, when he purchased Fishinger's mill in Norwich township, on the Scioto river, following that pursuit for five or six years. He afterward was a resident of Hilliard, and later removed to Columbus, where he established a grocery store, which he conducted for four years. In 1869 he traded his store for farm property in Prairie town- ship. becoming the owner of the tract of land which is now in the posses- sion of his son James E. He operated his fields for a number of years, and then sold that property and again took up his abode in Hilliard, where he was engaged in the grain business. In connection with Mr. Koehler he engaged in dealing in stock for a time. He afterward engaged in farming, having a six-acre tract of land near Hilliard. He died in that town in August. 1888, respected by all who knew him. He was twice married, his first wife passing away in 1859. Two years later, in 1861, he wedded Miss Jane C. Parker, a native of the Empire state, who survived him for some time. Unto Samuel and Martha (Gray) Crum were born eight children, namely : Cornelius, who was accidently killed by the cars in Hilliard, when seventeen years of age; Mary E., the wife of Hosea Romick, of Hilliard; James E., of this review ; John and Sarah, who died in infancy; Samantha, the deceased wife of David Hamilton; and William R. and Edward T., both of whom are residents of Kansas.

James E. Crum has spent nearly his entire life in Franklin county. He pursued his education in the public schools through the winter terms and in Delaware College, where he was a student for a year. The summer months or vacation were passed upon the home farm, where he took his place in the fields. At the age of nineteen he completed his literary course and put aside his text-books in order to enter upon the responsible duties of life. He continued as his father's assistant until his marriage, which was celebrated on the 5th of December, 1872, Miss Julia M. McWilliams becoming his wife. She is a daughter of John W. and Ellen ( Postle) McWilliams, and by her marriage has become the mother of three children, one son and two daughters : Harry Clyde, Leonora and Edna E., all yet with their parents, the family circle remaining unbroken by the hand of death.

After his marriage Mr. Crum located upon his farm of thirty-five acres, one mile west of Alton, and there resided for seven years, when he sold that property and rented a farm in Norwich township, belonging to his uncle, William Crum. He resided there for two years and then purchased his present farm comprising sixty acres of the rich land of Prairie township. He has made all of the improvements upon the place, has built fences, sub- stantial buildings, laid many rods of tiling and has added the modern acces- sories and improvements found upon a model farm of the twentieth century.

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He carries on general farming and stock raising and is meeting with cred- itable success in his undertakings. Mr. Crum is a citizen of worth who withholds his support from no measure or movement calculated to prove of general good. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Galloway. He takes an active part in its work and has served as steward and trustee. He joined the church at the age of sixteen years, and his wife has also long been a member. Socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Galloway, and in politics he is a stanch Republican, unswerving in his advocacy of the principles of the party.

ROGERS & ROGERS.

One of the oldest representative law firms in Columbus is that of Rogers & Rogers. The members of the firm, John F. and Charles M. Rogers, are brothers, belonging to one of the oldest and most respected and honored pioneer families of Franklin county.

The Rogers family is of English lineage, some of whom emigrated to America and settled in New England at an early period. William Rogers and his wife Mary located at Bradford, Connecticut, about 1690, from whom are descended Jonathan and his son Eli, who was born at Westfield, Massa- chusetts, in 1740. Eli Rogers moved to Lowville, New York, and his son Eli, born October 15, 1769, married Abigail Moore, from which union there were born three daughters and nine sons, of whom Apollos Rogers, born July 23, 1792, the grandfather of the subject of this review, was the second son.

Apollos Rogers married Keturah Hough and resided at Houseville, Lewis county, New York, until her death, September 3, 1831, leaving four children. After her death he married Emily (Clapp) Rogers, and in the fall of 1836 removed from Lewis county, New York, to Franklin county, Ohio, buying and settling on three hundred acres of heavily timbered land on the west side of the Scioto, which is now known as the Marcellus Rogers farm in Norwich township. His family consisted of the following children : Milton, who has always been a farmer and now resides on a part of the old home farm; Martin, the father of our subjects; Marcellus, who was a farmer and died at the old homestead April 15, 1890; and Amanda, who is the wife of E. C. Stevens, of Grandin, North Dakota. Afterward, by the second marriage, twin sons, Eli A., a farmer near Hilliard, Ohio, and Ela C., of Daytona, Florida, were born. Apollos Rogers died September 17, 1840, and was survived by his wife, Emily, who died February 9, 1871. They were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in the com- munity where they resided enjoyed the confidence and respect of all with whom they came in contact.

Martin Rogers, the father of our subjects, was born in the Empire state September 2, 1824, and was therefore twelve years of age when he came with his father to Ohio. He was reared upon the home farm, became a

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farmer and has always followed that occupation. He married Miss Abigail Merriss, who was born near Dublin, Franklin county, Ohio, February 23, 1826, and died May 20, 1890. Her father, Benjamin J. Merriss, was a native of Vermont, and married in Franklin county, Ohio, Angeline Strain, a native of Virginia. The Merriss family were originally from England, and became early settlers of New England. Benjamin J. Merriss was a farmer who resided near Hilliard, Franklin county, Ohio, and died there July 13, 1865. The marriage of Martin Rogers and Abigail Merriss was blessed with the following children: John F. and Charles M., of this review; Ion Ellwood and Adella May, all of whom reside in Columbus.

John F. Rogers was born March 21, 1853, spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and attended the common schools of Norwich township. He became a student of the law under the direction of William C. Stewart, of Columbus, Ohio. His reading was subsequently directed by William J. Clarke, and on the 2d day of June, 1880, he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio, and began the practice of his chosen profession. Charles M. Rogers was born November 30, 1854, attended the common schools and was later graduated at Otterbein University, in the class of 1877. He then read law with the firm of Harrison, Olds & Marsh, of Columbus, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio in March, 1880. The brothers at once formed a partnership and opened offices in Columbus, under the firm name of Rogers & Rogers. They have ever since been engaged in the general law practice, and have gained a reputation of high standing as representatives of the legal profession in central Ohio. In 1898 Charles M. Rogers was appointed referee in bankruptcy for Frank- lin county by Hon. George R. Sage, judge of the United States district court for the southern district of Ohio, and has since filled that office with efficiency and distinction. He is recognized as a high authority on bankruptcy law.

Throughout their business career John F. and Charles M. Rogers, by their thorough knowledge of the law and their careful preparation and suc- cessful management of important litigation, have won and retained the respect and admiration of their contemporary lawyers. Their many sterling traits of character, their strict integrity, their courteous, unostentatious manner and their conscientious counsel have given them the full confidence not only of the members of their profession but also of their fellow citizens. The acquaintance of such men is a pleasure and their companionship a favor.

JOHN FREDERICK HORCH.

All that can be said in praise of American citizens of German nativity, and that is a good deal, applies to the subject of this sketch, a well-known and successful farmer of Washington township, Franklin county, Ohio, who was born in Baden, Germany, May 11, 1839. Mr. Horch's grandfather in the paternal line was a farmer and lived and died in Germany. Abraham Horch, father of John F. Horch, was born in Baden, Germany, November

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21, 1805. He left school at fourteen years of age and devoted himself to farm work, and in due time married Margaret Neu. In 1846, with his wife and children, he came to the United States, sailing from Havre, France, to New York city, where he landed after a voyage which had consumed thirty days. From New York they went to Buffalo, and thence to Cleveland, Ohio, by lake. From Cleveland they made their way by canal to Columbus, and thence to Washington township, where they stayed for a short time under the roof of Mr. Horch's brother Jacob, who had come to the United States two years earlier and was then living on his own farm. In the fall of 1846 Abraham Horch and his family located on a farm in the southwestern part of Washington township, which he had purchased and which became a land- mark in that part of the county when the Lutheran church was built on it. It consisted of eighty acres of land, one-half of which was cleared, and the family began their life there in a hewed-log house, thirty by forty feet in area, which was divided into two rooms and which had a big wide fireplace in which huge logs were consumed. Mrs. Horch died on that pioneer farm before the close of the year of her arrival there, and Mr. Horch later mar- ried Miss Annie Miller, who was a native of Germany.

By his first marriage Mr. Horch had children as follows: Jacob, who married Mary Fladt, and died in Norwich township, Franklin county; Mary, who became Mrs. Samuel Paulus, of Dublin; Henry, who married Charlotte Wolpert, and died in Dublin; John F., who is the immediate subject of this sketch; Barbara; and Laura, who died of cholera in 1848. Abraham and Annie (Miller) Horch had born to them the following children: Caroline, who became Mrs. George Geyer, of Franklin township, Franklin county; Michael, who married Mary Ring, and lives in Perry township; Samuel, who married Margaret Datz, and lives in Washington township; George, who married Margaret Smith, and lives on the family homestead in Wash- ington township.

John F. Horch attended school one year in his native land, and was seven years old when his parents came to the United States. He was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Franklin county and attended school in a log schoolhouse in his district when his services were not required on his father's farm, where he remained until he was twenty-one years old. He then worked for a year on the farm of John Thomas in Perry township, and after that for two years as a brick mason for his brother-in-law, Samuel Paulus, of Dublin, Franklin county. Mr. Thomas paid him one hundred and forty-five dollars for his year's service in addition to his board, and Mr. Paulus paid him one hundred dollars the first year and one hundred and twenty dollars the second year. He now returned to farming, renting from his father a tract of land just west of the Horch home farm. He worked rented land for eleven years, and then bought eighty acres now owned by Philip Wolpert and John A. Horch, on which he lived until 1879, when he exchanged it for one hundred acres of his present farm, to which he has since added twenty acres. His residence was completed in its present form

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in 1887, and he has made many other improvements on the place, including fencing and tiling. He also owns a farm of one hundred and six acres on Hayden run in Norwich township, Franklin county, and is everywhere recog- nized as a good farmer and a useful citizen, indutrious, intelligent, hospita- ble, public spirited and helpful to all local interests.

In politics he is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Lutheran church of his township, whose present house of worship was dedicated October 14, 1900, and which he was influential in erecting as an active member of the building committee. His father, Abraham Horch, died on his homestead in Washington township, Franklin county, July 24, 1898, at the age of ninety- three.

John F. Horch was married December 16, 1862, to Miss Barbara Wol- pert, who was born in Hesse, Germany, April 4, 1843, a daughter of Chris- tian Wolpert, and died June 19, 1865. His second wife, whom he married April 6, 1866, was Catherine Scheuer, a daughter of George Peter and Christina Scheuer. She was born December 14, 1841, in Hesse, Germany, and emigrated with her parents to America in 1847, finally locating in Mor- row county, Ohio. By his first marriage he had children as follows: Mary M., born January 19, 1863, who married John Orb, of Columbus, Ohio; and Christian, born August 17, 1864, who died at Chicago, Illinois, in 1899. We give a few items concerning the children of the second marriage as fol- lows: Abraham, born February 25, 1867, died in infancy ; Jacob Abraham, born February 16, 1868, concerning whom more is said further on; Will- iam, who was born February 1, 1870, married Emma Finch, and lives in Washington township; George Philip, born April 19, 1872, is a successful school teacher ; Michael was born July 4, 1874, married Lena Pretz in August, 1900, and lives in Washington township; Anna Margaret, born October 20, 1876, John Samuel, born March 3, 1879, and Clara, born October 27, 1881, are members of their father's household.

Jacob Abraham Horch, son of John F. Horch, was educated in the public schools near his home in Washington township, Franklin county, Ohio, and at Ringsville school, and was reared to farm work. After a course in teleg- raphy at Sheridan's school of telegraphy, at Oberlin, he entered the employ of the Baltimore Railroad Company as a telegrapher at Sterling, Ohio. After seven months' service there he went to Seville, Medina county, Ohio, and after working there for a time returned home. He soon went to Minnesota, however, as telegraph operator for the Great Northern Railroad Company at Granite Falls, Yellow Medicine county, and from there he went to Sioux City, Iowa, where he worked for a short time in the train dispatcher's office of the Sioux City & Northern Railroad. Afterward he was employed for a time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in the spring of 1893 he enlisted in the United States army and was sent to Chicago. After the World's Fair closed he was sent to Columbus, where he was for three months under in- struction, and was then assigned to service in the Eighteenth Regiment, United States Infantry, at Fort Clark, Texas, whence he was ordered nine

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months later to Fort Sam Houston, at San Antonio, Texas. In May, 1896, he was given a three-months furlough with permission to go to San Fran- cisco, California, and at its expiration was discharged because the end of the term of service for which he had enlisted had arrived. He returned home to Ohio, and before the close of that year enlisted at Columbus in the Seven- teenth Regiment, United States Infantry, and was stationed at the Ohio capital for eighteen months afterward. At the outbreak of the Spanish- American war his regiment was sent to Tampa, Florida, and assigned to the Fifth Army Corps, under General Shafter, and arrived in Cuba June 23, 1898. Mr. Horch participated in the fighting at El Caney July I, at San Juan hill July 2, and at Santiago July 3, 10 and II. While in camp he was taken with yellow fever, from which he recovered in fifteen days, and when Roosevelt's regiment was threatened with annihilation by the Spanish and was saved by the Tenth Regiment, Colored Cavalry, the Seventeenth Infantry arrived on the scene as the final shots were being exchanged, and Mr. Horch was a witness of the end of the engagement. From Cuba the Seventeenth Regiment was sent to camp at Montauk Point to recuperate, and from there went to Columbus barracks. January 15, 1899, it left Columbus for New York, and four days later it sailed for Manila, Philippine islands. A four days' stop was made at Gibraltar, and after passing through the canal and the Red sea, the next stop was made at Aden, Arabia, for coal, thence the regi- ment proceeded to Ceylon, landing at Colombo for coal and provisions, thence to Singapore, and thence to Manila by way of the Chinese sea, arriv- ing March 10, 1899. The regiment was put in the Manila trenches, where it fought nightly for a time. It then went on a raid up the Rio Grande, and for a time was under command of the late General Lawton. Thence it went to San Fernando, where it was assigned to General McArthur's division and saw arduous service. June 16 it participated in the battle of San Fernando, which it was claimed marked the turning point in the Philip- pine rebellion. August 9 the regiment was in another important engage- ment there, and many of its members fell, among them Joseph Thackeray, of Hilliard, Franklin county, Ohio, who was shot through the neck; and Tod Ballinger, of Plain City, Union county, Ohio, who was killed instantly. Later fights in which the regiment participated were at Calulute, August II, and at Angelese, August 12. After the last battle mentioned the Sev- enteenth Regiment was ordered back to Calulute to guard the town, and Mr. Horch was honorably discharged from the service October 2, 1899, at the end of the period for which he had enlisted.

He took passage at Manila October 7 for the United States on board the City of Pueblo, and sailed by the way of Nagasaki, Japan, and the inland sea, and arrived at San Francisco, California, November I, and at Columbus, Ohio, November 9. He was taken sick at Columbus, of typhoid fever, and did not reach his home until November 21. His record as a soldier is one of which his friends are proud, and he is regarded as one of the most promis- ing young men of his township.

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WILLIAM R. GAULT.

Among the most widely known residents of Columbus is William Rogers Gault, vice president of the Market Exchange Bank and president of the Columbus Driving Park Association. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution, and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the highest degree of prosperity which is to-day his.

Mr. Gault was born in Columbus in 1840, at the family home at the corner of Grant avenue and Main street. The family is of Irish lineage, the paternal grandparents having emigrated from the Emerald Isle to Balti- more, Maryland. James Gault, the father of our subject, came to Ohio from Baltimore in the year 1838, and at once engaged in the butchering business, which he continued until 1856, when his life's labors were ended in death. He was then about forty-five years of age. In Maryland he married Miss Ellen Coleman, of Baltimore, who is a native of Ireland and became a resident of Baltimore when twelve years of age. She is still living in Columbus, at the age of eighty-one, retaining her mental and physical faculties to a remarkable degree.

In his youth William Rogers Gault attended the public schools, and since 1865 has been continuously connected with the business affairs of Co- lumbus. In 1863, however, he enlisted in the cavalry service of the Civil war as a member of the Fifth Ohio Battalion, and in that command served in Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1864 he was discharged, but re-enlisted as a member of the navy, and was assigned to Farragut's fleet, doing duty at New Orleans. With that command he participated in the engagements at Spanish Fort, Fort Morgan and Mobile, and the Milwaukee, upon which he served. was blown up in the last named action. At the close of the war, in 1865, he received an honorable discharge and with a creditable military record he returned to his home.

In 1865 Mr. Gault became connected with the butchering business, in which he continued until 1885. He had the best conducted meat market in the city ,and his trade was therefore very extensive. It brought to him excellent success, but on account of his health he was forced to abandon further effort in that line. Since then he has been engaged in the live-stock commission business, and is connected with agricultural interests, owning a large farm of two hundred acres on the Winchester pike in Franklin county, and one of two hundred and fifty acres in Fairfield county. He was one of the organizers of the Columbus Driving Association in 1892, has since served as a member of its board, and for the past five years has been its president. This association has one of the best tracks in the world and holds some of the best trotting meets in the United States. At the one of 1900 they lowered the record for the three fastest heats hitherto made. The purses amounted to forty thousand dollars, and about two hundred and fifty horses were en- tered. Mr. Gault is also the president of the Columbus Stockyards Com-

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pany, which was organized in 1896, and previous to that time, for fifteen years, he was the president of the Central Ohio Stockyards Company. He is an excellent judge of fine stock, and has done much toward encouraging the raising of a good grade of animals. He has also been a director and the vice-president of the Market Exchange Bank since its organization.

Mr. Gault married Miss Mary Bower, a daughter of David Bower, who in 1849 went from Columbus to California, in which state his death occurred. His wife passed away in 1893. Both were natives of Germany. Mr. Gault is a member of the Presbyterian church, although for a number of generations the religious faith of the family was that of the Lutheran de- nomination, and his wife belongs to the German Lutheran church. Since 1865 Mr. Gault has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In political sentiment he is a stalwart Republican, unswerving in his advocacy of party principles. He was the candidate for sheriff in 1892 and is well known as a worker in Republican ranks. In business circles he sus- tained an enviable reputation by reason of his straightforward methods. His life history most happily illustrates what may be obtained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose, and while his labors have been of personal benefit, at the same time they have contributed to the material welfare of the community in no uncertain manner.

SAMUEL A. DECKER.

The family of Decker which was represented at Columbus, Ohio, by the late August Stoner Decker, mayor of the city from 1846 to 1850, and by his son, Samuel Decker, is an old one in the United States, especially in Penn- sylvania, where the late Mayor Decker's ancestors settled when they emi- grated from Germany many years ago, and where his grandfather was born and enlisted for service in defense of American liberty in the Revolutionary war. There Michael Decker, son of this pioneer and father of the late Au- gust S. Decker, was born, and there he married Mary Stoner; and their son, the future mayor of Columbus, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1818. In 1822, when their son was four years old, Michael and Mary (Stoner) Decker emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio and located at Columbus, where Mr. Decker, who was a millwright, carried on business until his death, in 1858. He was a pushing, energetic man, and no less patriotic than pro- gressive, and, following in the footsteps of his father, he did what he could to help America to whip the British in the war of 1812. August Stoner Decker was educated in the public schools at Columbus, and while yet a mere youth became a clerk in a dry-goods store. In 1840 he engaged in the dry- goods business on his own account, and in 1853, with a Mr. Hibbs as a partner, he embarked in the wholesale grocery business, which he continued until his retirement, about 1868. Politically he was a Whig, later a Repub- lican, and he took an active part in politics and held many positions of honor and trust. He was for twelve or fourteen years a member of the city council,

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 70

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