USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Jacob Matthias, the father of our subject, was born in Cumberland coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and was brought by his parents to Ohio in 1806, becoming a resident of Hancock county in 1849. After residing for a long period in this county he removed to Cambria, Michigan, in 1866, and there his death occurred in 1881. He had followed agricultural pursuits through- out his entire life. He had seven children, as follows: Jesse A., who died in 1888, at the age of sixty-four years, was a private of Company D, Ninety- fourth Illinois Infantry, serving from 1861 until 1864, most of the time with the heavy artillery forces; Henry H. served for one hundred days as a pri- vate of Company G, One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio Infantry; Julia is the wife of B. F. Showlty, of Pioneer, Ohio; Susan is the wife of J. H. Hicker- son, of McComb; Lydia A. is the widow of George D. Wickman, of Han- cock county, Ohio; the Doctor is the next younger; Jacob Frank resides in Fairbury, Nebraska. The mother of these children, who bore the maiden name of Mary Stambaugh, died in 1878, at the age of sixty-five years.
When about five years of age the Doctor was brought by his parents to Hancock county and was reared to the age of fifteen in Blanchard township, attending the country schools and thereby laying the foundation for his more advanced education. At the age of fifteen he came to McComb and entered
518
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
the general store of B. F. Sholty, as salesman, clerking for him for two years, but the Civil war came on and he put aside all business and personal considera- tions in order to aid his country, enlisting in Company K, Sixty-fifth Ohio Infantry, as a private. He served until February, 1865, when he was hon- crably discharged on account of disability occasioned by wounds, holding, at the time, the rank of corporal. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca. At the last named he was shot in the right elbow, which ended his service. He was commended for gallantry in that engagement by Colonel David E. Moore, commanding the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio, and our subject would have been promoted had he been able to remain in the service. After being wounded he was sent to Chattanooga, where he lay in the hospital for ten weeks and was then sent to Nashville, Tennessee. Five or six weeks later he was trans- ferred to the hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he remained until October, 1864, and was then sent to Cleveland, Ohio.
While there during the winter of 1864-5, Dr. Matthias attended medical lectures at Cleveland Medical College, and in February, 1865, he received his discharge by Dr. George M. Sternberg, now surgeon general of the United States army. Dr. Charles C. Byrne, who performed the operation upon our subject at Chattanooga, is now the first assistant surgeon general of the United States army.
Dr. Matthias was graduated in medicine at the Western Reserve Uni- versity in the year 1869 and at once located in Gilboa, this state, where he remained in successful practice until 1897 when he came to McComb, Han- cock county, where he has already gained recognition as a practitioner whose skill is above the average and whose ability is constantly augmented by read- ing and investigation. Membership in leading medical societies, wherein there is an interchange of thought and experience, has also led to the advance- ment of Dr. Matthias in his chosen calling. He belongs to the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association and the Ohio State Medical society, and for three years, while residing in Gilboa, he was the president of the Putnam County Medical Society.
Doctor Matthias was married in 1861, in Leipsic, Ohio, to Eleanor Harris, and they have six children, four of whom are now living: Elva C., Everett H., Mary M. and Edward S. The daughter is the wife of Dr. M. A. Darbyshire, of McComb. Edward, who is now a practicing attorney in Van Wert county, Ohio, was captain of Company D, Second Regiment, Ohio In- fantry, in the Spanish-American war, serving for ten months.
519
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
In political circles Dr. Matthias is quite prominent. He served for twenty-four years as councilman in Gilboa and is now a member of the city council of McComb. For two years and seven months he was mayor of Gilboa and for six years was president of the board of education there. In 1899 he was elected justice of the peace by both parties, as the Democrats would place no nominee in the field against him. For eight years he was a member of the United States pension examining board at Ottawa, Ohio, and for three years was its president. The Doctor belongs to John Howard Post, No. 154, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held all of the higher offices and is now serving his sixteenth term as commander of his post. From 1884 until 1885 he was medical director of the department of Ohio. He belongs to the lodge, chapter and council in Masonry, is also a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and for three years was captain of the uniform rank at Leipsic. He has passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows fraternity, in both the lodge and the encampment. Few men are more prominent or more widely known in the enterprising city of McComb than Dr. Matthias. He has been an important factor in professional and social circles and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of unbending integrity, unabating energy and industry that never flags. He is public-spirited and thoroughly interested in whatever tends to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of his town and McComb numbers him among her valued citizens.
GEORGE W. HALL.
George W. Hall, one of Findlay's leading merchants, and a successful business man, was born on his father's farm in Amanda township, Hancock county, Ohio, in the year 1854, and was one of a large family of children. Mr. Hall lived on the home farm until he was fifteen years of age, attending the neighborhood schools. He then went to Lawrence, Kansas, and clerked in a shoe store for three years, learning the business. Returning to Findlay, Ohio, and not feeling that he was competent to entirely manage a business for himself yet, he entered a shoe store there and clerked for five years longer, thus fitting himself more fully, and at the same time saving money with a view to owning his own business in future. At the end of the five years, having been frugal and industrious, and having laid by sufficient means for a start in life, he went into the shoe business with his brother, W. S. Hall, which firm continued for three years under the name of Hall Brothers. In
520
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
1894 Mr. Hall bought out his brother's interest, and since that time has managed and owned the business hinself.
Mr. Hall was married in 1878, in Findlay, Ohio, to Lottie, daughter of M. B. Patterson, and they have one son, George E. Hall. He is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church, belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and is a Republican in politics.
Mr. Hall is of Irish descent, his father, Richard Hall, being born in Ire- land and coming to America in his boyhood located in Hancock county, Ohio. He married Eliza Maley, who still survives, and they had ten chil- dren, of whoni five are now living.
Mr. Hall is prospering in his business, his patronage is increasing, and his genial, kindly manner, and native Irish wit, have gamed him many friends in the community.
HARLAN F. BURKET.
The law is a profession whose requirements are constantly increasing. In the early history of this country the attorney and also the jurist was as primitive in his mental makeup as was the country in its material develop- ment, many stories being told of the crude methods of justice in those times and of the curious characters who enjoyed the sounding title of judge or squire. But the profession is itself more strict as to the admission of new members to the ranks and we now find some of our most learned men among the lawyers of the land. Harlan F. Burket is one of the leading attorneys of the county of Hancock, Ohio, and has not only found a foremost place among the members of his profession but has shown much interest in other affairs and is possessed of a fine, all-around character.
Mr. Burket is the son of Hon. Jacob F. Burket and was born in Findlay, Hancock county, May 15, 1860. After completing the common school course he went to Oberlin College, where he was graduated in the class of 1882. Mr. Burket has always been studiously inclined, and since leaving college has kept up his interest in geology and archeology; on account of his work in these lines he has been twice honored with degrees from his alma mater, in 1890 the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy having been conferred upon him, and in 1891 the degree of Master of Arts. After the completion of his col- lege course he began the study of law in the office of his father at Findlay and on October 6, 1887, he was admitted to the bar of the state. He at once entered into partnership with his father under the name of Burket & Bur- ket, and the firm was continued until the election of his father to the supreme
H.J. Burker 1
Visquesta Burket
521
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
bench of the state in 1893, since which time he has practiced alone. Mr. Burket has met with marked success as a lawyer. He has been able to see inte the merits of a case almost intuitively and has formed his arguments in such a logical succession and presented them with such earnest and force- ful eloquence that he has seldom failed to convince the court of the merits of his side. His great knowledge of legal precedent and his recognized power as an advocate have given him a well deserved place among the legal fraternity of the county.
Mr. Burket has been one of the leading Republicans for a number of years and was an active party worker until the election of his father to the supreme bench, but since then he has been closely confined to the practice of his profession. He is one of the many who believe that a healthy interest in political affairs is the duty of every citizen and since 1877 he has been present at the conventions of his party and has been recognized as an able and effec- tive speaker. In 1890 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county and gave a very capable administration for three years, but refused another nomination because of the pressure of business at his father's leaving the firm. He has been director of the American National Bank at Findlay for the past ten years and since 1895 has been its vice president. Mr. Burket is also con- nected with various fraternal organizations, the Odd Fellows, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Masonic order, in which he has passed the chival- ric degrees and is now a Knight Templar. Mr. Burket was married in Find- lay, January 16, 1895, to Augusta Dukes, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; she is a daughter of Cyrus Dukes, deceased, a member of one of the oldest and most influential families in Hancock county. They are now the parents of one son, Jacob F., Jr., who was born January 28, 1897.
ROBERT H. FITZGERALD.
One of the manufacturing industries which has greatly increased the wealth of the state of Ohio is the rectifying of coal oil or petroleum !. When, within the last decade, oil was struck, and a new oil field found in Ohio, it brought into the state oil men, or producers, from the older oil regions of Pennsylvania. Robert H. Fitzgerald, of Findlay, Ohio, is an oil producer who was reared in the oil regions and grew up in the business. He was born at Rouseville, Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1869, from which place he moved when in infancy to various other points in the oil regions of Penn- sylvania, where his father lived, and was engaged in the oil business; and Robert Fitzgerald, himself, went into the oil business when only eighteen
33
522
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
years of age. He settled in Findlay, Ohio, in the year 1890, and has lived there ever since, engaged in producing oil.
Mr. Fitzgerald was married January 18, 1899, in Findlay, Ohio, to Margaret T., daughter of William F. Kearns, and they have one son, Robert Francis Fitzgerald, born December 20, 1899.
Robert Fitzgerald, father of our subject, born in Rochester, New York, in 1842, was one of the original oil men in Pennsylvania, and is still engaged in that business. He was married in 1863 to Agnes Dowrey and they had five children, all living. Our subject's grandfather, Robert Fitzgerald, was born in county Clare, Ireland, in 1816, emigrated to America in 1831, and located at first in Canada, where he was employed as foreman in the con- struction of the old Erie Canal. Later, he went to New York and engaged in farming, in which occupation he spent the remainder of his days. He died at Ellicottville, New York, in 1880.
Robert H. Fitzgerald holds to the faith of his ancestors, and belongs to the Roman Catholic church. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks, Knights of Columbus and Maccabees. Though still a young man, Mr. Fitz- gerald has won the respect of his fellow citizens, and is known through- out Hancock county as one who thoroughly understands his work, which has developed a very profitable industry for the people of Findlay and Han- cock county generally.
ALFRED H. BALSLEY.
To the deep student of the many forces which move and propagate our national, political, social and moral life it must appear that the modern news- paper is one of the most considerable factors, acting upon the masses, as the great Napoleon well recognized, with more power than an army; and it must, therefore, bring to the editor, whether in the local or larger fields of journalism, a feeling of pride as well as responsibility when he considers the instrument of molding public opinion which has been placed in his hands. And one of the enterprising and progressive journals of the twentieth cen- tury civilization in Hancock county, Ohio, is the "Jeffersonian" of Findlay, owned and edited by the subject of this sketch.
Alfred H. Balsley comes of a good old family, his maternal grandfather Miller having been one of the patriots of the war of the Revolution, and his father, Michael Balsley, who was a native of the state of Pennsylvania, was a soldier in the war of 1812. The birthplace of our subject was in Pittsburg. Pennsylvania, and the date the 15th of December, IS28. There
523
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
he lived up to his twenty-fourth year, taking advantage of such educational opportunities as he could obtain. He early decided to learn the printer's trade and in 1841 entered the office of the "Daily Chronicle," where he remained two years, mastering the details of that craft. For two years thereafter he was engaged in learning the nailer's trade and from 1847 to 1851 was em- ployed in the nail works at Pittsburg. In the latter year he entered the office of the "Pittsburg Dispatch" and worked there as a compositor until 1853, when a strike occurred and Mr. Balsley came to Painesville, Ohio. He bought the "Grand River Record," a weekly Democratic organ, but at the end of six months sold it, and went with it to St. Clairsville, Belmont county, Ohio, and continued in the capacity of manager for two years. In the fall of 1855 he became the owner of the "Plymouth Advertiser" at Plymouth, Ohio, a former proprietor of which paper had been the well known David R. Locke, more familiarly known as "Petroleum V. Nasby." Mr. Balsley remained in control of the "Advertiser" for thirteen years, and then selling out bought the "Fremont Journal," a weekly, and carried it on for seven years. Mr. Balsley has been the owner of the "Jeffersonian" since 1876. It was at first a weekly, but in November, 1880, he established a daily and conducted the two papers with gratifying success until January 7, 1902, when he sold out and retired. The "Jeffersonian," under his management, was an advo- cate of Republican principles, but was always ready to take a determined stand on the side of good government, regardless of partisan influences.
From 1861 to 1869 Mr. Balsley was postmaster of the town of Plym- outh, and since taking up his residence in Findlay has served in the city council several times. Fraternally he is a member of the ancient order of Masons and for many years has been a member of the I. O. O. F.
WILLIAM H. MCELWAINE.
The bar of Findlay has always ranked well in the state, and some of its members have reached exalted positions both in the judiciary and the field of politics. The present chief justice of the Ohio supreme court is a Find- lay lawyer, and both of the great parties have for years been in the habit of seeking for bright lights among the practitioners of this progressive city. It takes ability and energy to succeed in competition with such men, as there is no profession to which the doctrine of the survival of the fittest may be so appropriately applied as to that of the law. Therefore even to hold one's own among such a brilliant coterie of legal geniuses is no mean per- formance, while to be able to advance well toward the front is an achieve-
524
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ment of which one may well feel proud, and this praise seems justly due to Mr. McElwaine after fifteen years' practice at the Findlay bar.
His family is of Scottish origin, the American branch being founded by Richard McElwaine, who came from Scotland when a young man and settled in Pennsylvania in the early part of the nineteenth century. His son, James McElwaine, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, and at the age of fifteen years accompanied his parents on their re- moval to Mercer county. His first business venture after growing up was as a merchant at Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, where he remained many years and eventually met his death in 1888. In 1834 he married Penelope J. Long, and became the father of nine children, of whom six are now living, and among them the subject of this sketch.
William H. McElwaine was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1859, but in early infancy was taken by his parents to the village of Sandy Lake, where he continued to reside until reaching his majority. Mean- time he had attended the cominon schools, improved his opportunities by diligence and after a course at Washington and Jefferson College was grad- nated by that institution in 1885. Immediately after leaving college he began the study of law in the office of John Smith at Mercer, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1887. In the spring of the fol- lowing year he located at Findlay and entered actively upon the practice of his profession, which he has continued up to the present time with in- creasing success, and is now regarded as one of the best lawyers in Han- cock county. In 1887 Mr. McElwaine was married at Oil City, Pennsyl- vania, to Miss Nellie Nelson, who died in Findlay on the 8th of January, i 892, leaving two daughters, Jean M. and Mary M. Mr. McElwaine's re- ligious affiliations are with the Presbyterians, and he is regular in his at- tendance at the church of that denomination. In politics his predilections have always been Republican, and he lends to the principles of that great party his most zealous support and intelligent advocacy.
SIMON WOLF.
Simon Wolf, a well-known and respected farmer of Hancock county, Ohio, residing upon his farm in Marion township, is a practical agriculturist, having devoted the most part of his life to the tilling of the soil.
The birth of Mr. Wolf was in 1834, in Stark county, Ohio, and he is a son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Hopple) Wolf, who removed to Findlay, Ohio, when their son was about sixteen years of age.
525
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Simon attended school both in Stark and in Hancock counties, Ohio, and has always been identified with farming interests since completing his education. His productive farm is located in Marion township. He is a leading member of the Methodist church in Findlay, has acceptably held the position of school director and served his township as supervisor.
In 1855 Mr. Wolf was married to Miss Elizabeth Folk, who died Oc- tober 21, 1885. The second marriage of Mr. Wolf was to Mrs. Maria Lanning September 7, 1890. The eight children born to his first marriage are: Irwin, John, Nelson, Sophronia, Sarah, Lemuel, Solomon and Clif- ford. The family is much esteemed in the community and they have a wide circle of friends.
ELIJAH T. DUNN.
In reviewing the prominent members of the Hancock bar the name of Elijah T. Dunn takes precedence of many of his professional brethren, and we are pleased to present to his numerous friends and acquaintances a sketch of his useful life. The ancestry of the Dunn family is traced back to about 1720, when George Dunn, with two brothers, all Protestants, came from near Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, to Long Island. One brother subsequently settled in New Jersey, while George took up his abode in Mary- land, and from these brothers the Dunns of Hamilton county, Ohio, Indiana and a part of those in Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania derive their descent. George Dunn was a Baptist minister, and he carried "the glad tidings of great joy" west of the Allegheny mountains into what, in his honor, was called Dunn's Gap. The date of his birth, death and marriage and the name of his wife are unknown. His son, also named George, be- came a farmer near Harper's Ferry, in Maryland or Virginia. By his wife, Susanna, he had four sons and two daughters, namely : John, who died in Washington county, Maryland, about 1831: George; Jacob, who died in Knox county, Ohio, about 1862; Peter, who died in Kentucky a few years before the war of the rebellion; Catherine, who married James Schnebly, and with him settled near Xenia, Ohio; and Mary (or Polly), who mar- ried a Mr. Elam and settled in western Ohio. The father of this family departed this life on the 22d of February, 1817, while his wife was called to her final rest on the 27th of April, 1811.
George Dunn, the second son of the second George Dunn and the third bearing the name, was born in Washington county, Maryland, January 8, !779, and his death occurred in Wood county, Ohio, on the 13th of De-
526
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
cember, 1865. He was married near the close of the eighteenth century to Sarah Mills, who was born in 1776, and died in 1845. Their children, all born in Maryland, were as follows: Robert, who was born September 8, 1798, and died on the 21st of August, 1872, married Mary Forsyth; John, who was born December 1, 1799, and died March 9, 1851, married Elizabeth D. Boolman; Susanna died on the 7th of August, 1802, in infancy; Jacob, who was born July 8, 1803, and died in 1879, married Sally Boolman ; George, who was born February 20, 1805, and died in 1881, married Rachel Mills; James, born February 20, 1807, and died March 16, 1867, married Margaret Coplin ; Moses, who was born January 20, 1809, and died August 22, 1829, never married; William, who was born January 29, 1811, died be- fore marriage on the Ist of February, 1859: Maria, who was born December 16, 1812, alone survives, and is the widow of Jonathan Dean; Elizabeth, born June 19, 1814, died January 31, 1817; and Peter, who was born May 4, 1816, and died August 19, 1855, never married.
John Dunn, the second son of the third George Dunn, married Eliza- beth Dorothea Boolman, who was born in Washington county, Maryland, January 1, 1803. Her father, Nicholas Boolman, was born about 1774, and his father came from Germany to Maryland about 1765. Nicholas Bool- man married Magdalene Troxel, who was born about the same time as her husband, and but little is known of her family history. The children of Nicholas and Magdalene Boolman were as follows : Catharine, who was born about 1796, married Hiram Lynch : Samuel, who was born in 1798, and (lied in 1864, was twice married, the wives being sisters, and the last wife bore the name of Sarah A .; Jacob, who was born in 1800, and died before marriage, in 1817; Elizabeth D., born January 1. 1803, married John Dunn, and died in March, 1883; Sally, born in 1804, and died in 1856, married Jacob Dunn, a brother of John Dunn; and Nancy, who was born about 1806, died in 1822. John Dunn, with his wife and their three eldest children and his father, George Dunn, removed from Maryland to Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1826. From there they removed to Greene county, this state, thence to Knox county, Ohio, and in 1844 came to Wood county, where he died as above stated. The children of John and Elizabeth D. Dunn are as follows : Ann, born December 5, 1820, married Adam Cosner on the 15th of April, 1841; Jacob (B.), born September 30, 1823, married Angeline Culp Septem- ber 23, 1847; Joseph, born January 1, 1826, married Mary Niebel April 12, 1883: George, born October 3, 1827, died August 29, 1855, unmarried; Maria, born September 22, 1829, married Wilson Stretcher July 20, 1865; Aaron, born December 16. 1831, died October 20, 1846, unmarried: Sam-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.