USA > Ohio > Ross County > A Standard History of Ross County, Ohio > Part 4
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On his literary foundation Mr. Poland reared a superstructure of thorough training for his chosen profession. He entered the University of Georgetown, D. C., where by hard work and the exercise of those talents granted him by nature he finished with post-graduate honors in a class of 160. On returning to Chillicothe he entered the law office of the late Hon. Lawrence T. Neal. Mr. Neal frequently said that John Poland was the best student he ever had in his office, and the one who gave him the most satisfactory work he ever received from any of his students in the law. After this preparation he led as first in a class of fifty applicants in the examination for admission to the bar before the Ohio Supreme Court.
For two years Mr. Poland was associated with Mr. Neal in the latter's law office, and in 1893 was his private secretary when Mr. Neal was candidate for governor. Mr. Poland has been one of the liberal and progressive democrats of Ohio, and has a large acquaintance with politics and politicians, though he never sought the honors of politics for himself. In 1897 he was private secretary to II. L. Chapman in the latter's cam- paign for election as governor and was also a member of the state execu- tive committee. He was also campaign manager for L. A. Sears and Congressman Horatio C. Claypool.
As a lawyer Mr. Poland's attention has been primarily given to office practice, corporation, probate and commercial law. He has held the position of legal adviser to a large proportion of the industrial and financial organizations of Chillicothe, and ranks in this work as one of the ablest business lawyers in the state. He is the legal adviser of many of the public utilities of Southern and Central Ohio.
Mr. Poland is also a man of thoughtful interests and avocations. He has for twenty-five consecutive years served on the important com- mittees of the Chillicothe Board of Trade, and succeeded his father as a member of the Chillicothe Park Commission, giving much thought and labor for the benefit of the people's playgrounds. Governor Harmon honored him with appointment to the Ohio-Columbus Centennial Com- mission, and the other members of that commission appointed him historian. Mr. Poland has long been a student of Ohio history and of standard literature and the historical work of the Centennial Commis- sion could not have been placed in better hands. His varied intellectual interests have made him a favorite member of the Sunset Club of Chilli-
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cothe, made up of the leading professional and business men of the city, whose meetings are enlivened not only with social good fellowship but with a serious discussion of important topics of the day.
Mr. Poland is the vice president of the Ross County National Bank, and is a director or trustee in a dozen corporations or associations in the city. He combines in himself cultured dignity, good-nature, public- spiritedness, and in a word is considered among the ranking first dozen prominent and influential men of his community. He still clings to single blessedness, although fond of social life. He is a practical Roman Catholic.
GEORGE D. BROOKE. There has been a steady progression in the career of George D. Brooke from the time he first carried a rod in a surveying party until now, in his thirty-eighth year, he is Ohio division superintendent of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway, with headquarters at Chillicothe. He is the chief railway official located at this city, and before gaining this official precedent he served a long and thorough apprenticeship in the minor grades of the service.
He was born September 15, 1878, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, a son of T. V. and Fannie (Doswell) Brooke. His father, a native of Virginia and descendant of a prominent Virginian family, is still living in Virginia at the age of seventy, and for a great many years has practiced his profession as a physician. Doctor Brooke is a great-grand- son of Robert Brooke, who was at one time governor of Virginia and was also a noted Mason, having served as grand master of the Grand Lodge.
George D. Brooke was the third in a family of six children. He received his early education in the Virginia public schools, and finished in the Virginia Military Institute. His first experience in practical life was as instructor for two years at Culver Military Academy. At Som- erset, Pennsylvania, he entered the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway as rodman of an engineering corps. He was subsequently made levelman and transit man, and operated the latter instrument eighteen months. He next became field engineer-in-chief of a surveying party, and after one year of that kind of service became assistant engineer at Baltimore, Maryland, on special work. He was transferred as assistant engineer to Cumberland, Maryland, and Morgantown, West Virginia, later was made assistant division engineer at Pittsburgh, then division engineer at Baltimore, assistant engineer operating department, and assistant superintendent at Cumberland and at Keyser. His last position before coming to Chillicothe was as superintendent at Winchester, Virginia.
On April 6, 1914, he was appointed to his present office as Ohio divi- sion superintendent of the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern Railway, and has since had the management of the operating service over all the Ohio lines of that company. Mr. Brooke is an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is also a member of the American Association of Railroad Superintendents. Fraternally he is
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affiliated with Peyton Coles Lodge, No. 54, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
On January 14, 1900, in Virginia, he married Miss Sue Scott Her- bert. Their three children are: Sue, born April 18, 1907; Ann, born September 22, 1911; and Thomas, born September 29, 1914.
FREDERICK SCHREINER. Many of the most enterprising and success- ful business men of Ross County have come from the land beyond the sea, prominent among the number being Frederick Schreiner, who. having accumulated a competency, is living retired from active pursuits in Chillicothe, having a beautiful home on Carlisle Hill. He was born February 16, 1854, in Baden, Germany, where the birth of his father. Frederick Schreiner, Sr., occurred in 1825.
Several years after his marriage, Frederick Schreiner, Sr., who had followed the wagonmaker's trade in his native land, emigrated with his family to the United States, being the only member of his father's family to cross the ocean. Locating in Chillicothe in 1873, immediately after his arrival in this country, he was engaged in market gardening during the remainder of his active life, continuing a resident of this city until his death in 1910. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Heinzelman, died in 1909, leaving seven children, as follows: Frederick, Louis, Eliza- beth, Catherine, Charles, Albert, and Jacob.
Frederick Schreiner attended school regularly until sixteen years old, and afterwards assisted his father in the factory, becoming familiar with the trade of a wagonmaker. Leaving the fatherland in 1872, he came to America, and for a year worked as a farm hand. The following five years he was employed as car carpenter by the Marietta and Cin- cinnati Railroad Company. Taking up his residence then in Chillicothe, Mr. Schreiner purchased a tract of land on South Avenue, just outside of the city limits, and there established a market garden. Very suc- cessful in his venture, he enlarged his operations, buying additional land until acquiring title to twenty-six acres, the greater part of which he placed under a high state of culture. After spending thirty-two years as a market gardener, Mr. Schreiner invested a portion of his savings in his present attractive home on Carlisle Hill, where he is now enjoying all of the comforts of life.
Mr. Schreiner married first, in 1879, Magdalena Heinzelman, who was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of George and Margaret Heinzelman. She passed to the life beyond in 1911. In 1912 Mr. Schreiner married Margaret Uhrig, who was born in Chillicothe, a daughter of Philip and Fredericka Uhrig. Mr. and Mrs. Schreiner are members of the Salem German Evangelical Church. Fraternally, Mr. Schreiner is a member of Scioto Lodge, No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons ; of Chillicothe Chapter, No. 4, Royal Arch Masons; of Chillicothe Council No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; and of Chillicothe Commandery, No. 8, Knights Templar.
DE WITT CLINTON MARSHALL. A man of pronounced business ability and judgment, enterprising and progressive, De Witt Clinton Marshall,
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a prominent lumber manufacturer and dealer, has long been a power in the industrial and commercial life of Chillicothe, his home city, and in the lumber trade of Ross County. He was born near Wait Station, Scioto County, Ohio, a son of De Witt Clinton Marshall, Sr., and grandson of Jesse Marshall, who was but a small child when he was brought by his parents to Ohio, in early pioneer days.
Mr. Marshall's great-grandfather, Samuel Marshall, was born, reared, and married in Pennsylvania. A soldier in the Revolutionary war, he served as a private, under Capt. David Marshall, in the Third Company, Third Battalion, Cumberland County Associates. Leaving Pittsburgh in the summer of 1795, he went down the Ohio River to Adams County, Ohio, locating in what is now Manchester, where he remained until after Wayne's treaty with the Indians. Locating then in Scioto County, on the present site of Boston Township, opposite the mouth of Taggart Creek, which is in Kentucky, he there built, according to the "History of Scioto County," written by N. W. Evans, the first log cabin in that county. His cabin when completed, in 1796, was the only habitation between Gallipolis and Manchester. When he came to Ohio, his family consisted of his wife, whose maiden name was Polly Hazelrigg, and three children, Zabina, Jesse, and Samuel. His daughter Fanny, their next child in succession of birth, was the first white child born in Scioto County.
Born in Pennsylvania, Jesse Marshall grew to manhood in Scioto County, as a boy assisting his father in clearing and improving a home- stead. The country was heavily timbered, and settlers were few and far between. Wild game was plentiful, and, with the fish found in the streams, furnished food supplies for the family larder. After his marriage he settled on a farm, and was thereafter engaged in tilling the soil during his years of activity.
Born in Scioto County, De Witt Clinton Marshall, Sr., was early initiated into the mysteries of farming, becoming familiar with all of its branches. On arriving at man's estate, he decided to try a business career, and from that time until his death, at the age of three score years, was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He married Julia Ann, who was born in Scioto County, at Powellsville, a daughter of Josiah and Malinda Powell, and a descendant of William Powell, the first settler of Powells- ville. She died in early womanhood.
De Witt Clinton Marshall was an only child, and after the death of his parents he made his home with Rev. H. J. Carr, a Free Will Baptist preacher in Jackson, Mrs. Carr having been his aunt. He received a practical education in the schools of that city, and having completed the regular course of study, came to Chillicothe in search of work. Entering the service of William H. Reed, a prominent lumber dealer, he remained in his employ twenty-two years. Upon the death of Mr. Reed, Mr. Marshall formed a partnership with Edward Reed, and continued the business which had been so firmly established. In 1910 Mr. Edward Reed died, and since that time Mr. Marshall has been sole proprietor of the business, which he is managing with characteristic
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ability and success. He has a large planing mill, amply supplied with all of the improved and approved mechanical devices for successfully carrying on his work, and keeps a full stock of dressed lumber and all kinds of building material.
On April 30, 1875, Mr. Marshall was united in marriage with Sarah Caldwell, a daughter of Samuel and Maria (Wollam) Caldwell. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely ; Mabel and Margaret. Mabel, wife of S. Andrew Roach, of New Lexington, Ohio, has four children, Wilson, Clinton, Sarah, and Robert. Margaret married Victor Pickett, and they have two children, Marshall and Miriam. Mr. and Mrs. Pickett reside in Waseca, Minnesota. Fraternally, Mr. Marshall is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 24, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of Sereno Lodge, No. 28, Knights of Pythias.
FRANK TILDEN MARR, M. D. Possessing marked ability as an investi- gator, and being well fitted by temperament and training for the medical profession, Frank T. Marr, M. D., of Chillicothe, is meeting with excel- lent success in his chosen work, as a physician and surgeon, having a large patronage. He was born in Chillicothe February 7, 1877, a son of Frederick Marr, who was the third in direct line of descent to bear that name. The doctor's great-grandfather, Frederick Marr, the first, was a prominent distiller and brewer in his native place, Wurtemberg, Germany, and also kept a public house, in which he entertained Napo- leon Bonaparte, who presented him with a decanter, which is still owned by the Marr family.
Frederick Marr, the second, grandfather of Doctor Marr, was born in 1797, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and as a youth of eighteen years emi- grated to the United States. After working for a while in a brewery in New York State, he purchased a farm near Seneca Falls, but the title proved defective, and he lost the $1,000 that he had invested. Somewhat discouraged, he made his way to Ross County, Ohio, locating in Kingston, where he opened a general store, and kept a hotel for a time. Disposing of that property, he went first to Cincinnati, and from there to Sinking Springs, where he lived a short time. Returning to Ross County, he bought a farm lying nine miles south of Chillicothe, and there resided until his death, in 1869. He married Mary Hoselton, who was born at South Perry, Hocking County, Ohio, where her parents settled in pioneer days. She survived him a few years. Three children were born to them, as follows: Frederick, Joseph, and David. Mary Hoselton, however, the doctor's grandmother, was the second wife of Frederick Marr, the second, and by her marriage with him became the step-mother of five children, Elizabeth, George, John, Alonzo, and William.
Frederick Marr, the third, was born July 14, 1843, at Sinking Springs, Pike County, and was educated in the rural schools. He was a natural mechanic, and without serving an apprenticeship became an expert at the cooper's trade. Patriotic and enthusiastic, he enlisted in September, 1861, in Company F, Second Battalion, United States Infan- try, which was assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps, commanded by
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Gen. George H. Thomas, and continued in service until honorably dis- charged, on account of disability, late in 1862. In 1863 he joined a company of state militia, organized in Chillicothe for state protection. In 1864 he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went with his command to Virginia. After the battle at New Creek, on August 3, he was detailed to guard prisoners en route to Camp Chase, Columbus, and was subsequently thus employed until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he was honorably discharged from the service. Returning home, he followed his trade a while, and then clerked a short time in a mercantile house, later being in the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company as a brake- man and fireman. Renting land near Frankfort in 1869, he farmed there four years, and then purchased, in Huntington Township, a farm, which he operated three years. Selling out, he came to Chillicothe, where he first worked at his trade, later becoming a clerk, and at the same time running a dairy in the city. The latter proved profitable, and he continued in the dairy business for a period of thirty years, in 1877 buying, on Carlisle Hill, the house which he has since occupied.
On March 31, 1867, Frederick Marr, third, married Mary Moritz, who was born in Blumberg, Baden, Germany, November 20, 1852, and came with her parents, John and Mary Moritz, to Salem, Ohio, where she was reared. Four children blessed their marriage, as follows: John Frederick, a druggist in Columbus; Frank Tilden, of whom we write; Della Mary, wife of Ray Simpson; and Grace Elizabeth, stenographer and bookkeeper in a mercantile establishment at Columbus.
Having received his diploma at the Chillicothe High School, Frank T. Marr taught school in Scioto Township two years, and then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Baltimore, where he was graduated with the class of 1901. The ensuing two years, Doctor Marr was resident physician at the Baltimore City Hospital, during which time he took a post-graduate course at the Johns Hopkins University. In 1903 the doctor returned to Chillicothe, and opened an office, and has since been extensively and successfully engaged in the practice of medi- cine in this city, by his professional skill and ability having won a place of distinction among the leading physicians of this part of the country.
Doctor Marr married, in 1914, Sue Barton Dunlap, a daughter of Phillip Marion and Mary (Lutz) Dunlap, of Ross County, and grand- daughter of John and Mary A. Dunlap. The doctor is a member of the Ross County Academy of Medicine; of the Ohio State Medical Society ; and of the American Medical Association.
JOHN MOFFATT LESLIE, M. D. It is now nearly forty years since Doctor Leslie began to practice medicine in Ross County. More than thirty years of that time have been spent in the City of Chillicothe. While Doctor Leslie himself would be the last to make such a claim, there is no doubt that he is one of the most widely known physicians and surgeons in Southern Ohio. Particularly in the field of surgery have his abilities received recognition. In the opinion of people best
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qualified to judge and according to the popular reputation in which he is held, Doctor Leslie has few peers in Southern Ohio as a skillful and scientific operator.
A native of Ross County, Ohio, where he was born April 20, 1850, John Moffatt Leslie is a son of John and Eliza (Moffatt) Leslie. Both parents were natives of the North of Ireland, came across the ocean to the New World when quite young, became acquainted and were married in this country and then settled on a farm in Ross County. Doctor Leslie was the fourth in their family of nine children and seven of them are still living.
Reared in the wholesome environment of a farm and country life Doctor Leslie after finishing his studies in the Frankfort High School became a private student under Rev. R. C. Galbraith. In 1872 he enrolled as a student of medicine under the late Dr. E. J. Galbraith, and in 1874 entered the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, where he was graduated doctor of medicine in 1876. While in the medical college he won the W. W. Dawson prize for the best surgical dissection. He had unusual opportunities as a student, and during his entire course at Cin- cinnati he studied and worked in the Good Samaritan Hospital. After graduation he began practice with his old preceptor at Frankfort, Ohio, under the name of Doctors Galbraith & Leslie.
It was in 1882 that they removed to Chillicothe and continued their practice there until Doctor Galbraith's death in 1907. Since that year Doctor Leslie has practiced alone. After coming to Chillicothe Doctor Leslie began to limit his practice more and more to surgery. For a while he spent one day of each week with Dr. W. W. Dawson in the hospitals of Cincinnati. In 1888 he took a course of lectures in the Polyclinic at Chicago and later attended the Post-Graduate Medical School at New York. By means of this extensive course of study and observation and the exercise of his native abilities he attained the distinction which has long been associated with him as one of the ablest surgeons in the south- ern part of the state.
In 1892 Doctor Leslie married Miss Woodie Boyd, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Leslie makes his home one of charm and culture and is a woman of many excellences of mind and heart. She is of Virginia birth, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Southwood) Boyd. Since his marriage Doctor Leslie has been devoted to his home. It may be stated as an interesting evidence of this that after his marriage he gave up his mem- bership in the Order of Elks and in the Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Doctor Leslie and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. For more than thirty years he was a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation and of the Ohio State Medical Society. In politics he is a demo- crat, and at the present time is serving as a member of the Board of Pension Examiners, and in 1914 was elected to his only important politi- cal office, coroner of Ross County, and is now giving much of his time and attention to that office.
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JOHN B. LONG. Now serving his second term as county treasurer of Ross County, John B. Long regards with special satisfaction the fact that he is a native son of Ross County and has enjoyed several important honors at the hands of his fellow citizens who have known him from childhood to the present.
He was born in Frankfort, Ross County, February 25, 1862, son of William and Mary Long. His father, who died in Frankfort October 20, 1879, was a blacksmith by trade, an honest and capable workman and citizen, a member of the Methodist Church and in politics a democrat. Mary A. Briggs, who married William Long on February 23, 1859, died at Frankfort December 11, 1901.
John B. Long early in his career chose to be independent and mold his own destiny. He attended the common schools at Frankfort, but never went further than the grades. By his individual work in different capacities he quickly showed himself worthy of confidence, and has always enjoyed a high reputation for integrity and general ability.
In politics his work has been done in the ranks of the democratic party. For four years he held the position of postmaster at Frankfort. For four years he was deputy county treasurer, and as already stated is now in his second term as chief of the office of county treasurer. Mr. Long is also serving as treasurer of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church at Chillicothe.
On August 9, 1893, at Frankfort he married Miss Leora B. Wisehart, who was born in Frankfort March 21, 1871. His father, James M. Wisehart, was a soldier in the Civil war. To their union have been born four children. Madge Cozzens Long, born May 25, 1895, at Frankfort, was graduated from the Chillicothe High School with the class of 1913, and on April 22, 1914, was united in marriage to Lloyd D. Teeters, who is now assistant secretary of the Ohio Industrial Commission and they reside in Columbus. James William Long, second child, was born at Frankfort April 13, 1900, and is now in the second year of the High School at Chillicothe. Isabel Virginia Long, born August 9, 1903, and is in school. John Robert Long, born April 2, 1905, is also a schoolboy.
HON. THADDEUS MINSHALL. Among the prominent citizens whom Chillicothe has been called upon to mourn within the past few years, none are more genuinely missed than Hon. Thaddeus Minshall, whose services as lawyer, judge and chief justice are entitled to honorable recognition and praise, while as a man and a citizen he was held in the highest esteem. Fitted for the legal profession by natural gifts and tem- perament as well as by great learning, untiring industry and incor- ruptible integrity, the bench was undoubtedly the place that gave best scope to his highest attainments, and as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio his name will hold a lasting place among those of his illus- trious predecessors. A son of William Gilmore Minshall, he was born, January 19, 1834, in Colerain Township, Ross County, of English descent, his immigrant ancestor having been one of the little band of Quakers that came from England to this country with William Penn. His grand- Vol. II-3
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father, Ellis Minshall, who served as a soldier in the War of 1812, came from Virginia to Ohio about 1800, becoming a pioneer settler of the state. William Gilmore Minshall was engaged in agricultural pursuits during his entire life in Colerain Township. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Jones, died in 1841.
Left motherless when but seven years of age, Thaddeus Minshall obtained his rudimentary education in the rural schools, and being thrown upon his own resources when quite young worked for five years in a woolen mill, in the meanwhile continuing his studies at home by the dim light of a candle. Later, as opportunity, and his means, afforded, he attended the Kingston Academy, acquiring a good education, and at the age of twenty years began his professional career as a teacher. He subse- quently read law in the office of Samuel Logan Wallace, and in the very early part of 1861 was admitted to the Ohio bar.
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