USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 32
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Into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bower have come ten children, and they have been reared a credit to their parents. Their names are Jesse, Ida, Fred, Edward, David, Jr., Earl, Alfred, Goldie, Ethel, and Mary. Jesse married Rena Knab and their four children are Robert, Luther, Grace and Janet. Ida is the wife of Henry Dunkle and has three sons, Stanley, David and Donald. Fred married Cleo DeLong and has two children, Curtis and Paul. Edward, who married Ada Veter, is also the father of two, Carrie and Merle. David, Jr., married Ella Deihl, and their children are Mae and Lorin. Mrs. Bower is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ZACHARIAH ERDMANN. A venerable and highly esteemed citizen of Chillicothe, was the late Zachariah Erdmann, who for many years was engaged in business as a merchant tailor, and his financial prosperity was entirely due to his good business methods. He was born October 11, 1829, in Oberdala, Prussia, a son of John M. Erdmann, a farmer, who spent his entire life in his native land.
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Leaving school at the age of fourteen years, Zachariah Erdmann served an apprenticeship of three years at the tailor's trade, and then, as was customary in that country, he traveled from city to city, work- ing a brief time at his trade in each, and receiving from each of his employers a certificate testifying to his exemplary character, and to his excellent workmanship. At the age of twenty-two years, he was enrolled as a soldier in the Prussian army, but it being a time of peace he was not called into active service at all. He continued at his trade until twenty-five years old, becoming an expert tailor. In 1854 Mr. Erdmann, fired with enthusiasm by the glowing accounts of conditions in America, emigrated to this country, being fifty-four days crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel. Landing in New York, he remained in that city nearly five years, having found employment as cutter in a tailoring establishment. Going from there to Cincinnati, Mr. Erdmann was sim- ilarly employed in that place until 1865, when he located in Chillicothe. Embarking then in business as a merchant tailor, he built up a large and highly remunerative patronage, his reputation for skilful work- manship, and his willing efforts to oblige his patrons, winning him a long list of customers. He was thus successfully employed until about the age of eighty, when he retired from business, being succeeded by his son. Mr. Erdmann died July 21, 1916, being then in his eighty-seventh year.
Mr. Erdmann married, in New York City, Maria Lippert, who was born in the City of Darmstadt, Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America at the age of eighteen years. She died August 17, 1887, leaving nine children, namely: Bertha, wife of Adam Falter; Katherena, who presides over her father's household; Charles J .; John F .; Frederick; Frank; Gustav A .; Edward; and William, deceased.
WILBUR S. METCALFE. Three generations of the Metcalfe family have lived in Ohio, and Wilbur S. Metcalfe is one of the active and progressive farmer citizens of Ross County, with home in Green Town- ship.
He was born at Bourneville in Ross County, November 26, 1874. The founder of the family in Ohio was his grandfather, Rev. Stephen Metcalfe, who was born in Virginia, where he was reared and educated, and on coming to Ohio located in Washington County. He had been ordained a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Virginia, and on coming to Ohio he joined the conference of this state and took up the arduous duties of a circuit rider, visiting isolated homes and churches on horseback. His last years were spent in Athens County.
William S. Metcalfe, father of Wilbur S., was born near Athens, Athens County, Ohio, and in spite of handicaps and disadvantages secured a good education. Soon after the war broke out he enlisted in the Forty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and made a most creditable record as a soldier of the Union. IIe was promoted through the different grades until he became captain of his company, and was in almost constant service in the various campaigns and battles in which his regiment was
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engaged until the close of the war, when he received his honorable dis- charge.
After the war he became a teacher, and was also licensed as a local preacher of the Methodist denomination, and supplied a number of pulpits in Ross County and elsewhere. He also served one term as representative of Ross County in State Legislature. His death occurred near Bourneville, May 6, 1898, when sixty-nine years of age. William S. Metcalfe married Patience Igo, who was born near Bourneville, daughter of William and Julia Ann (Mackenzie) Igo. Mrs. Metcalfe is still living, a resident of Chillicothe. She reared six children named, Maud, Lewis, Fred, Wilbur, Alice and Mack.
In his native community of Bourneville Wilbur S. Metcalfe spent his early youth, and graduated from the high school there. Early in his career he adopted farming as his regular vocation, and for a year he rented a place at Frankfort. In 1899 he located on a part of the Christopher Patrick homestead in section 1 of Green Township, and that has been the scene of his successful endeavors as a general farmer and stock raiser for the past seventeen years.
In 1899 Mr. Metcalfe married Mary Patrick, who was born in Salt Creek Township of Pickaway County, a daughter of Christopher and Rachel (Lutz) Patrick. Her maternal grandfather, Samuel Lutz, was a very prominent citizen of Pickaway County, and as a civil engineer surveyed much of that section of the country. He was also active in politics and several times represented Pickaway County in the State Legislature. Another distinction that is associated with his name is that he lived to be one hundred and one years of age. He was strong men- tally and physically to the end. Mrs. Metcalfe's father, Christopher Patrick, was a prominent farmer, stock raiser and landowner in Green Township, Ross County, and Pickaway County. His grandfather, Wil- liam Patrick, emigrated from Maryland and settled near Hallsville. The three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Metcalfe are Myron Charles, Edwin William and Harry Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Metcalfe are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is affiliated with Kingston Lodge of the Masonic order. He is also performing his share of civic duties as a member of the Kingston School Board.
PHILEMON S. KARSHNER. The Karshners, formerly spelled Kersh- ner, came to America from Amsterdam, Holland, through the influence of the wife of William Penn, she having been a native of that city. Three brothers arrived in America with a large party of immigrants in the winter of 1722-23. Conrad, the youngest of the three brothers. settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and at one time owned the present site of Wernersville. He married and had ten children, the fifth of whom was Conrad. Conrad married a lady who lived to be one hundred years old. To this union were born eight children, the eldest being Daniel and the second Jacob, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
Jacob Karshner was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, April 27,
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1775, and came to Ohio with his brother Daniel in 1807, arriving about the 6th of June. That was five years before the War of 1812, in which he saw active service. He brought with him his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Dunklebarger, born January 12, 1778, and those of their children who had been born in Pennsylvania. They accomplished the entire journey from Pennsylvania with wagons and teams. At that time Ross County was almost on the extreme northern and western line of settlement in all the old Northwest Territory. Jacob Karshner, on arriving, entered the northwest quarter of section 1 of what is now Colerain Township. The patent to this land was signed by Thomas Jefferson, then President of the United States.
The settlers and the forces of the United States Government were even then battling for possession of the lands in the Northwest Terri- tory, and the Indians by no means gracefully retired from the possession of these former hunting grounds. In the year that the Karshner family established itself in Ross County, Robert Fulton made his first successful experiment with the steamboat on the Hudson River. The first railroad in America was not built for nearly twenty years later, and with these points in mind it is somewhat easier to reconstruct the Ross County of that day. There were no markets for the surplus products. Corn and other grains were too bulky to be transported, and the only source of profit was to convert them into meat and drive the stock overland.
Jacob Karshner had four uncles who served in the Revolution. His brother Daniel was a member of the General Assembly of Ohio for the years 1841-1842. The children of Jacob Karshner were Enoch, Jacob, Catherine, Elizabeth, Margaret, Samuel, John, Susan and Margaret, twins. All of them except Catherine lived to a good old age.
John Karshner, who was born in Adelphi, Ross County, February 23, 1815, grew up in that locality. Such education as he had was from the subscription schools maintained in the early days of Adelphi. When still little more than a boy he assumed charge of the affairs at home, his father giving him fifty acres, and with that as a nucleus, he accumu- lated real estate until at one time he held title to 1,600 acres of fine land. John Karshner was a man of striking individuality, distinguished appearance and of tireless enterprise. He was very successful in busi- ness, and public-spirited almost to a fault. When scarcely of age he was elected clerk of the township, an office he filled for eight or ten years, and was then chosen treasurer and then trustee and land appraiser. In 1871 he was elected county commissioner, filling the office for three years. While he was county commissioner the infirmary was built.
He had an ambition to place his home town of Adelphi in touch with the surrounding world by a railroad. He supplied most of the means and the energy toward building a railroad from Kingston to Adelphi. Principally due to his advanced age at the time this enter- prise was undertaken, it proved to be unfortunate, and his fine estate was swept away. The railroad was operated for about fourteen years and was then abandoned, and since then Adelphi has been isolated so
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far as railroads are concerned. John Karshner died May 3, 1909, at the age of ninety-four.
In 1872 John Karshner married Phoebe Swinehart, a native of Adel- phi and of an old family there. Her great-grandfather, John Swinehart, served in the Revolution as a member of the Fifth Battery, Berks County, Pennsylvania, militia. Another great-grandfather, Peter Wheeland, was killed at Forty Fort, Wyoming Valley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, while assisting in the defense of the settlement against the British and Indians on July 3, 1778. The wife of Peter Wheeland, and his children, among whom was the grandmother of Phoebe Swinehart, then three years old, escaped across the Susquehanna River in a rowboat and sub- sequently made their way to Virginia, where in after years this girl, Susan Wheeland, became the wife of Peter Madden. Peter Madden's mother was Esther O'Neil, a member of the noble family of O'Neil in Ireland. Phoebe Swinehart had two brothers who served in the Civil war, one, Demming, dying while in the service. Phoebe Swinehart was born May 11, 1850, and died October 23, 1913.
Philemon S. Karshner, son of John and Phoebe (Swinehart) Karsh- ner, was born at Adelphi, in Ross County, May 9, 1875, and has for many years been a lawyer, while those familiar with his work declare that his ability is of the best. For a number of years he was in practice at Columbus, but owing to ill health, he returned to the old homestead at Adelphi, and while he does not maintain an office, his services are in constant demand by important clients.
Mr. Karshner acquired his early education in the Adelphi public schools, also attended the Columbus Latin School, and subsequently graduated LL. B. from the law department of the University of Michigan. In 1896 he was admitted to the bar. Throughout his professional career he has specialized in corporation law. He is now general counsel for the Citizens Wholesale Supply Company, of Colum- bus, and the George H. Rundle Company, of Piqua. These are corpora- tions of $500,000 capital each.
While located in Columbus he was counsel for many years for the Marzetti estate, one of the largest estates in that city. He has also assisted the general counsel for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, one of the largest corporations of America, in a case in the Supreme Court of Ohio. He has had many cases in the Supreme Courts of several of the states and in the United States Circuit Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Against the advice of one of the ablest lawyers in Pennsylvania and also one of the best lawyers in Ohio, he took a case for a client from the Court of Quaker Sessions in Pennsylvania to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, then to the Supreme Court of that state, and finally to the Supreme Court of the United States. He was defeated in all the Pennsylvania courts, but the United States Supreme Court, by a unanimous vote, reversed them all and sustained Mr. Karshner's con- tention. The case was a very important one and involved the commerce clause of the Constitution of the United States. On the opposite side
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of the case were Harry S. Knight and Simon P. Wolverton, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, the latter being one of the best lawyers in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Karshner won the first case under the National Food and Drug Law to reach any of the higher courts. In that case he defeated the State of Iowa in the Supreme Court of that state. The state was repre- sented by its attorney general and by distinguished counsel specially employed for the case.
In a number of instances Mr. Karshner's briefs have been compli- mented from the bench, and counsel associated with him in cases have said that they have never seen better briefs than he has prepared. Fraternally he is a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity of the Uni- versity of Michigan. Reared on a farm, he has never lost interest in the pursuit of agriculture, and has enjoyed the life and activities of the country. He and his sister now own the homestead which their grandfather secured direct from the Government more than a century ago. The fields are operated through renters, and he occupies the fine house which his father built almost half a century ago.
The late Prof. Frank T. Cole, head master of the Columbus Latin School, declared Mr. Karshner the best Latin scholar that was ever in his school. In 1914 Mr. Karshner was solicited to become the nominee of the democratic party for the office of prosecuting attorney of Ross County, but owing to other matters, was obliged to decline. At the present time he is president of the Colerain Building and Loan Asso- ciation.
Mr. Karshner has one sister, Marie, who is married to J. W. Blue. They live in Columbus, and have two children, Phoebe Annanette and Dorothy Louise. Edward C. Turner, present attorney general of Ohio, is a cousin of Mr. Karshner.
NEWTON A. VAUGHAN. Representing one of the very old families of Southern Ohio, and now an active business man at Adelphi, Colerain Township of Ross County, Newton A. Vaughan has had a very busy career. He was liberally educated, followed farming and stock raising for a number of years, but finally removed to Ross County and has conducted the leading furniture and undertaking establishment at Adel- phi for the past fourteen years.
His birth occurred on a farm in Bloomfield Township of Jackson County, Ohio, September 23, 1863. He is a grandson of Thomas Vaughan, who was born in Pennsylvania, of early Welsh ancestry. From Pennsylvania he went in the early days to Ohio, moving with wagons and .teams and becoming an early settler in Bloomfield Township of Jackson County. At that time nearly all that section was a wilderness, land could be secured direct from the Government by paying a small fee, and his neighbors secured their meat largely from the wild game in the woods. He bought a tract of timbered land in Bloomfield Town- ship, improved it with a log house, and after getting established in a financial way became prominent in public affairs. He served seventeen years as circuit judge. He lived on his farm in Jackson County until
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his death in 1870. Judge Vaughan married Rebecca Dunham, who died in middle life, after rearing the following children: Jacob, Annie, Phoebe, Margaret, Mordecai, Samuel, James W., Stephen N., William and Thomas H. All the sons became farmers and all lived to a good age except Samuel, who passed away in middle life. William for some years was connected with the furnace business at Jackson. Mordecai, in addition to farming, was active in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Stephen N. Vaughan, father of Newton A., was born in Bloomfield Township of Jackson County, and for his education attended one of the old-fashioned schools held in a log cabin and conducted on the sub- scription plan. Nevertheless, he obtained a very substantial education. Reared on a farm, he adopted agriculture as his regular pursuit, and made a brilliant success of it. After leaving the home he bought a tract of land near the old farm of his father and started out as a general crop raiser and stockman. For some years he raised thoroughbred short- horn cattle, but later specialized in the Polled Durham cattle and the O. I. C. swine. He made his stock raising business known far and wide by extensive advertisement, and every advertisement which he inserted in local papers or published otherwise contained the following charac- teristic sentence : "Dinner always ready here, lodging and meals free." He kept his farm equipped with the latest improved machinery and is said to have introduced the first mowing machine and had the first scales in Bloomfield Township. He was a very progressive man and his success in private affairs was matched by the service he rendered the community in raising the standards of stock production. His death occurred July 19, 1901, at the age of seventy-three. Stephen N. Vaughan was married May 25, 1858, to Lucinda D. Perrell, who was born in Pike County, Ohio, where her father, John Perrell, was a pioneer. She died June 14, 1893. Her five children were: Mary R., Margaret C., Newton A., Phoebe Ann and Emma.
Newton A. Vaughan, the only son of his parents, grew up on his father's stock farm. After finishing the course in the rural schools he attended a select school in Bloomfield Township, also Professor Morgan's school at Oak Hill and Jackson, and finally took the scientific course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. While thus liberally educated, he did not adopt a profession, but for a number of years applied all his energies to farming and stock raising on 240 acres of his father's original homestead.
In 1902 Mr. Vaughan left the farm and moved to Adelphi in Ross County, where he entered the furniture and undertaking business which he has conducted with growing prosperity to the present time. In 1904 he graduated from the Myers School of Embalming and is equipped both by professional training and with all material facilities for carry- ing on his business.
On September 19, 1898, Mr. Vaughan married Jennie B. Miller. She was born in Vinton County, Ohio. Her grandfather, Thomas Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania January 14, 1809, was three years of
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age when his father died, and he then lived with an uncle until he was twelve, and after that with another uncle, Jacob Guy, who owned a flouring mill. Here he came into a new and varied experience, and drove a four-horse team transporting flour to Pittsburg and Allegheny City. In 1845 he came to Ohio, locating in Weatherville Township of Vinton County, where he purchased and occupied a tract of land until 1849, and then bought another tract of 147 acres in the same township. Here he made a specialty of raising a red navy bean, which found a ready market at Gallipolis, and through raising and selling these beans he paid for his extensive land holdings. In 1866 he sold out and moved to Salem Township, in Meigs County, where he owned and occupied eighty acres until his death, on December 25, 1881. Thomas Miller married Elizabeth Smith, who was born in Pennsylvania August 5, 1813, a daughter of Philip Smith, who was a very remarkable character. He fought with the American army in the struggle for independence during the Revolution, but he continued to live on for many years and reached the remarkable age of one hundred and thirteen. He was an expert shingle maker, and his wonderful vitality is indicated by the fact that when he was one hundred and nine years of age he took a contract to rive the shingles for a large barn. In that he set as his stint the riving and stacking of 500 shingles per day, a performance which, considering his age, was probably never equaled. Mrs. Thomas Miller died August 17, 1896. Her nine children who grew up were John, Jacob G., Philip, Elizabeth, Isaac W., Thomas S., Cyrus C., Henderson S. and Catherine. Isaac W. Miller, father of Mrs. Vaughan, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and for many years followed farming. When quite a young man he took up the profession of auctioneer, and he followed that for years, crying sales in Vinton and adjoining counties. He is now living retired at Wilkesville in Vinton County, where he serves as justice of the peace. He married Sarah A. Booth, a daughter of Hiram and Minerva (Mannering) Booth.
Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Adelphi. The five children growing up in their home are Ernest S., Miller D., Marcella S., Loren A. and Stanley N.
ALBERT B. ALBIN, whose home is in Green Township of Ross County, represents a family that has been identified with Southern Ohio for more than a century. His own career has been successfully spent in farming pursuits, and he is now proprietor of one of the well-cultivated and highly improved farms of Green Township.
His birth occurred in Vinton County, Ohio, January 1, 1858. His grandfather, William Albin, was a native of Virginia and of Scotch ancestry. From Virginia he set out with wagons and teams for the Ohio country, and after a few years of residence in Guernsey County, moved to Vinton County, where he bought a tract of wild timbered land and improved a farm, which was his home until his death at the advanced age of ninety-three. William Albin married a Miss Clark, and they reared six sons and six daughters, named James, William,
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John, Joseph, Samuel, Benjamin, Delilah, Sarah, Nancy, Barbara, Rachel and Polly.
Of this family, John Albin, who was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, was the father of Albert B. Albin. He was reared on a farm and spent most of his early life in Vinton County, but in 1863 moved to Hocking County, where, with his brother William, he bought a carding mill situ- ' ated on a large tract of land. There they laid out the Town of Laurel- ville. John Albin continued to operate the carding mill and was a resident there until 1875, when he bought a farm in Green Township of Ross County. Thereafter he followed farming and stock raising for a number of years, but finally returned to Vinton County, where his death occurred at the age of seventy-seven. John Albin married Martha Gaffney, who was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, a daughter of Daniel Gaffney, her mother's maiden name being Reddick. Mrs. John Albin died at the age of eighty years. Her eight children were Saman- tha, Nancy, Albert, George, Grant, Edward, Linna and Elmer.
Albert B. Albin was reared at Laurelville, in Hocking County, where he attended the country schools and where he had practical experience assisting his father in the carding mill and also as a farmer. He worked out by the month as a farm hand, and after his marriage was for seven years a renter. He then located on the farm which he now owns and occupies. This is the Senff homestead, where Mrs. Albin was born. There for a quarter of a century Mr. Albin has carried on diversified agriculture, has reared his family, and has gained a gratifying share of material prosperity and at the same time has made himself a useful member of the community.
In 1884 Mr. Albin married Mattie Senff. Her father, Andrew Senff, was born in 1820 on the farm now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Albin. Her grandfather, Michael Senff, was a native of Pennsylvania and was the grandson of Casper Senff, a native of Germany, who came to America in 1773 and served as a spy in the colonial army during the Revolution- ary war. Michael Senff, grandfather of Mrs. Albin, emigrated to Ohio in 1808, and after living for a time in Pickaway County, set up a black- smith shop at Chillicothe, but eventually bought a farm in Green Town- ship and was occupied with its management until his death in 1845. Michael Senff married Christine Helmer. Both are laid to rest in Whitechurch Cemetery. Mrs. Albin's father succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead in Green Township, and in time erected a commo- dious frame dwelling house and other necessary farm buildings, and was rated as one of the most successful farmers and stock raisers in Ross County. He invested his surplus capital in other tracts of land until he became owner of upwards of 1,000 acres. He resided in the township until his death, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Albin's mother, who died at the age of fifty-three, was Eliza May, who was born in Green Township, a daughter of John and Mary (Ulery) May. Mrs. Albin was one of nine children: Mary, Minerva, Samira, Addison, Loretta, Flora, Monroe, William and Mattie.
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