USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 32
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The Doctor is a valued representative of Shiloh Lodge, No. 544, F. & A. M., and has also taken the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees, his membership being in Plymouth Chapter and Mansfield Commandery. He likewise belongs to Shiloh Council, No. 374, of the Royal Arcanum. His religious faith is in harmony with the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he belongs, and in his political views he is a Republican. He is an earnest and discriminating student of his profession and his skill has been demonstrated again and again in the sick room. His advancement in his profession is well merited and the high position which he occupies in social circles is an indication of a well spent life.
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ROBERT HUNTER.
Robert Hunter was born on the farm in Blooming Grove township which is now his home, his natal day being October 28, 1855. He is a representa- tive of one of the honored pioneer families of the Buckeye state, the name of Hunter being closely interwoven with the history of Ohio throughout almost the entire nineteenth century. The ancestry of the family can be traced back to James Hunter, and the family was founded in America in colonial days by George Hunter, the great-grandfather of our subject, who was a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and crossed the Atlantic to America when the states along the seaboard were possessions of Great Britain. When the yoke of British oppression became intolerable and the colonists resolved to sever all allegiance to the mother country, he joined the army for independ- ence and aided in establishing the republic. His son, Samuel Hunter, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, November 10, 1790, and was a veteran of the war of 1812, serving under General Beal. He spent one winter at Camp Council, near Shenandoah, in Richland county, and was at Detroit at the time of Hull's surrender. He married Jane Paul, who was born June 6, 1786, and died October 10, 1870.
The father of our subject, Benjamin Hunter, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, on the 12th of December, 1815, and when he was nineteen years of age his parents removed to Richland county, purchasing from Thomas E. Hughes the farm of one hundred and sixty acres upon which our subject now resides. A log cabin already erected became the place of their residence, where a small part of the land had been cleared, the remainder being in its primitive condition; but soon the plow was set in the furrow, the work of planting followed and in course of time abundant harvests were garnered. Benjamin Hunter was reared in this pioneer home, sharing with the family in the liardships and trials incident to the development of a farm upon the frontier.
As a companion and helpmate on life's journey he chose Miss Margaret Irwin, and they had three children, but all are now deceased. After his marriage he settled on the home farm with his wife, continuing the cultiva- tion of the land, and after his father's death he purchased the interest of the other heirs in eighty acres of the old homestead, making it his place of abode until his life's labors were ended in death, on the 21st of December, 1886. He was an active member of the Presbyterian church, becoming one of the earnest workers therein during his boyhood, and throughout his entire life he used his influence to inculcate its teachings among men. In politics he was an ardent Democrat, but never sought office and never served in posi-
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tions of public trust save as a member of the school board. For many years he was identified in that way with educational interests, and the schools of the community found in him a warm friend.
He was twice married, his second union being with Sarah Jump, a daughter of Robert and Jane (Ogden) Jump. Her father was born in Talbot county, Maryland, of English parentage, while her mother, a native of New Jersey, was of Scotch extraction. Soon after their marriage they emigrated westward to Belmont county, Ohio. When Mrs. Hunter was a child of seven years they came to Richland county, taking up their abode in the Ogden settlement, in Franklin and Weller townships, on the farm now owned by Roland Boyce. There the maternal grandparents of our subject lived and died. Mrs. Hunter became an active member of the Pres- byterian church, and her admonition and example told forcibly on the lives of her children in making them honorable men and women. By her mar- riage she became the mother of seven children, of whom four are living, as follows: Priscilla, the wife of Fred McCarron, of Knox county, Ohic; Thomas, of Shiloh, Ohio; Susan, the housekeeper for her brother Robert; and Rebecca, the wife of Arthur Ferrell, of Blooming Grove township.
Having mastered the common English branches of learning. Robert Hunter matriculated in Wooster University, Ohio, where he pursued a special course in civil engineering, and then entered Dartmouth College, leaving that institution one year before completing his course on account of ill health. His impaired constitution rendered him unfit for the work of civil engineer- ing. and he returned to the farm, giving his attention to the development of the fields. He assumed the management of the home place after his father's death and continued the cultivation of the fields until after his miother's death, when he and his sister Susan purchased the old home farm, upon which they have since lived, neither having married. Mr. Hunter is an enterprising and progressive agriculturist, whose labors have been crowned with a creditable degree of success. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Hunter lias served for three years as the township clerk and for six years as the township treasurer, capably discharging the duties of the offices. Socially he is connected with Shiloh Lodge, of the Royal Arcanum.
JOHN W. DAWSON.
John W. Dawson, to whom fate has vouchsafed and honorable retire- mment from labor, as a reward of his active toil in former years, is now living at his home at No. 49 Second street, in Shelby. He was born in Lincoln-
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shire, England, March 15, 1824, and when in his twentieth year came to the United States, making the voyage on a sailing vessel, which after thirty days reached the harbor of New York in October, 1844. Soon afterward he made his way to Plymouth, Ohio, where he had an uncle living who had come to the United States eight years before. Mr. Dawson crossed the Atlantic in company with a paternal uncle, William Dawson, who settled in Auburn township, Crawford county, Ohio. In that township the subject was employed as a farm hand .for seven years, and on the 13th of March, 1850, he was married, securing as a companion and helpmate on life's journey Miss Mary Briggs, who was born in England and was reared in this country. They became the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, but four are yet living: John H., a farmer and thresher, who has one son; Ira, of Cass township, who has two sons and a daughter; George Edward, who is living in the same township, and has one daughter; and Effie Ann, the wife of David Hindley, of Huron county, by whom she has two daughters. The mother of the above named children died in 1893, and on the 26th of March, 1896, Mr. Dawson wedded Mrs. Sarah ( Kilpatrick) Smith.
The first land which he owned was an eighty-acre tract given him by his wife's father, who was an early settler of the county. He is to-day the owner of two valuable tracts of land, one of one hundred and fifty-five acres in Plymouth township and the other of fifty acres in Cass township. He has good buildings upon these places and all the modern accessories and improvements. He does not personally engage in the cultivation of his land. It is now under the care of tenants, while he lives retired. Always fond of a good horse, he has seldom been without a fine white horse, noted for its speed and good qualities. At present he is in possession of a fine roadster that can pass any other horse in the neighborhood. Although sev- enty-six years of age, Mr. Dawson is still active, and often drives out to his farm six miles away. In the fall he and his neighbor, George Clark, hitch their horses together,-one white, the other black,-and bring in their sup- ply of dry wood for the following year's consumption. In his political views he is a Democrat, and for two terms has served as a trustee of Plymouth township. For fourteen years he was a school director of his district, and did much to promote the efficiency of the schools by employing good teach- ers and endorsing good methods. For many years he has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, and has long served as one of its offi- cers. Mr. Dawson is a splendid type of the English gentleman, strong and vigorous, reliable in business and possessed of many sterling traits of char- acter.
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It may be of interest in this connection to note something of the family relations of our subject. He belongs to one of the old English families, his ancestors having for many generations resided on the "merrie isle." His father was John Dawson, and his mother bore the maiden name of Beacham. The former passed away about the year 1858, at the age of sixty years, after which the wife and mother with her daughters came to the new world and took up their abode in Plymouth, where they spent their remaining days. The father had four brothers, and all were yeomen with the exception of one, who conducted an inn. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dawson were born two sons and five daughters who reached mature years. One sister, who was mar- ried, died at sea while on her way to Australia. All of her children have now passed away with the exception of John W. Dawson and his younger brother, who is now a farmer and freeholder in England, where he is extensively engaged in the cultivation of his land. He had two sons and several grandchildren.
WILSON S. WEAVER.
In the history of the representative men of Richland county Wilson Shannon Weaver certainly deserves mention, for he is numbered among the leading agriculturists of the county, and the lessons in his life are forceful and well worthy of emulation, his career demonstrating what it is possible for men to accomplish through resolute purpose, indefatigable energy, unflag- ging application and keen sagacity. He was born November 1, 1838, in Wayne county, Ohio, his parents being Jacob and Elizabeth ( Fisher) Weaver, of whose family of six children he is the youngest survivor excepting his brother, Jacob Weaver, of Berea, Ohio. His father was born in North- ampton county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1799, and was there reared, learn- ing the trade of shoemaker in early life. When a young man he left his home to seek a place of residence on the western frontier, taking up his abode in Wayne county, Ohio. A year or two afterward he came to Richland county and purchased the farm in Blooming Grove township upon which our subject now resides. A log cabin had been erected upon the place and a portion of the land had been cleared, the remainder being still in its primi- tive condition. His labors, however, soon enabled him to transform the tract into richly cultivated fields, and in connection with farming he also followed shoemaking for several years. In 1872 he removed to Huron county, Ohio, and after selling his farm in Richland county to his son Wil- son purchased a farm a mile and a half southeast of Greenwich, making his
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home thereon until his death, which occurred in 1873. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and in his political faith was a Democrat. On that ticket he was elected and for six years served as township treasurer of Bloom- mg Grove township, his long retention indicating his trustworthiness and capability. He married Elizabeth Fisher, who was born in Germany in 1805 and came to the new world with her mother when a maiden of ten summers. They landed in Philadelphia and located in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Weaver passed away in 1866, and is now survived by four of her children, namely: Lucinda, the wife of John Rodgers, of Whitley county, Indiana; Wilhelmina, the wife of John Crouse, of Huron county; Wilson S .; and Jacob, of Berea, this state.
There is little to record concerning the early history of men who spend their days upon a farm. It is a record of work in the fields from the time of early spring planting until the crops are garnered and the barns are stored with the yield of the fields. In the common schools Mr. Weaver mastered the common branches of English learning and at home performed the tasks assigned him by his parents, enjoying all the sports in which boys of the period indulged. On the 22d of February, 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Huston, a native of Richland county, and a daughter of Jesse Huston, one of the well-known farmers of the county, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver began their domestic life on the farm where Peter Myers now resides, directly north of the old homestead, his father having purchased forty acres of land there during the war. For two years Mr. Weaver made his home thereon, and then, by purchase, became the possessor of a forty- acre tract three-quarters of a mile north of Shenandoah. It was his place of residence until his removal to his present home in 1872. For twenty- eight years he has continued the development of the fields here. In the '8os he purchased the old Peter Snapp farm of one hundred and eleven acres, south of Rome, and in 1893 bought the Linsey farm of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the home place, so that his landed possessions now aggregate three hundred and fifty-one acres.
In 1884 Mr. Weaver was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife. and their only child died in 1887. In May, 1899, he was again married, his second union being with Miss Sarah Benedict, a native of Richland county and a daughter of Abraham Benedict, one of the well-known and highly esteemed farmers of Blooming Grove township. Well informed on the questions of the day, Mr. Weaver supports the Democracy, believing that the principles of the party are best calculated to promote the welfare of the nation. The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in an
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individual. Unless a inan is extremely wealthy he is judged by his charac- ter, and his acts are weighed on the scale of public opinion. Thus judged, Mr. Weaver has never been "found wanting," for throughout his business career he has been honorable and trustworthy in all transactions, has been loyal to the duties of citizenship and faithful to the obligations of private life.
HARRY T. MANNER.
In the personnel of the bar of Richland county are to be found a number of young men who have attained prestige and honor, and of this number is Harry Thaddeus Manner, a popular representative of the legal profession in the city of Mansfield.
A native son of Richland county, Mr. Manner was born in Monroe town- ship on the 6th of October, 1872, the son of E. M. Manner, who was born in Green township, Ashland county, in 1842. From the above statement it will be at once inferred that our subject is a scion of pioneer stock in the Buckeye state. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Manner, was a native of the Old Dominion, having been born in Berkeley county, Virginia, December 9, 1804. His father was Joseph Manner, who married Catharine Mentzer, and they came to Ohio in 1827, purchasing a tract of wild land in Richland township (a portion now included in Green township), Ashland county. On this property was an old mill, one of the first in this section of the state, . and Joseph Manner put the same into repair and operated it successfully for many years. He died in April, 1840, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his widow died soon afterward, their remains being interred in Perry- ville cemetery.
Jacob Manner, the grandfather of our subject, married Miss Jenette Calhoun, a daughter of Noble and Sarah (Taylor) Calhoun, of Monroe township, this county, and eventually Mr. Manner abandoned agricultural pursuits and engaged in the mercantile business in Newville. After a varied experience as a miller, merchant and farmer,-he having erected three mills and repaired a fourth,-he purchased of his father-in-law the latter's farm of two hundred and sixty acres, to which he added by purchasing an adjoin- ing one hundred and forty acres, all located in Monroe township, and he thus became the owner of four hundred acres of as valuable land as may be found in this county, or even in the state. Before the advent of the railroads. he was a pioneer in the live-stock business, driving the stock through to the eastern markets. He claimed also to have been the first man to ship live stock by rail from this county. In later years his sons, including the father
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of our subject, continued the business on an extensive scale, and were known as the leading live-stock dealers of the county. It is interesting to note the fact that this line of enterprise is still carried on on the old homestead and by members of the family, and the industry, as thus effectively promoted, has proved of incalculable value to this section of the state. Our subject's mother, whose maiden name was Harriet Ann Johnson, was born in Mount Vernon, her father being a cousin of President Andrew Johnson.
Harry T. Manner, the immediate subject of this review, received his more purely literary education in Greentown Academy and at Perryville, and in the practical utilization of his acquirements engaged in teaching school for two years, having in the meanwhile determined to prepare him- self for the legal profession. He prosecuted his legal studies under the direction of Messrs. Henry and Reed, of Mansfield, devoting himself assidu- ously to his work and gaining his admission to the bar in 1895, after which he began the practice of his profession in Mansfield, where his success has been marked and his clientele of a representative character. In politics he gives a stalwart allegiance to the Republican party, and he was at one time a candidate in the Republican caucus for the office of mayor of Mansfield.
Mr. Manner married Miss Essie Miller, a daughter of John A. Miller, a lumber merchant of Butler, Ohio, and they have a little son, Kenneth. Mrs. Manner is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church.
Our subject has two brothers and one sister : Noble Calhoun is connected with the United States Express office in Mansfield; Joseph M. is associated with his father in the stock business; and Jessie is the wife of W. A. Darling, of Perrysville, Ohio.
H. H. METCALFE, M. D.
A well known representative of the medical fraternity in Plymouth, Dr. Metcalfe has attained a position of prominence in the ranks of his profession in Richland county. He was born in South Marysburg township, Prince Edward county, Ontario, Canada, on the 25th of February. 1867. His father, Robert Metcalfe, was also a native of Ontario, born in 1839. He was of Irish descent and married a lady of English lineage. They are still living in Ontario and enjoy the high regard of all with whom they have been associated. The Doctor pursued his education in the place of his nativity and supplemented his preliminary course in the Queen's Uni- versity at Kingston, Ontario, where he was graduated in the class of 1895. He is also a graduate of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, and
A.B. Metcalfe I.D.
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thus well equipped for the practice of his profession he located in Plymouth in 1897, and has since secured a large and growing patronage. He is one of the most progressive and popular physicians of the county and his high rank in the fraternity is well deserved by reason of his thorough knowledge of medical principles and his excellent ability in applying these to the needs of suffering humanity. His labors have been attended with excellent results, and thus he has gained a place of distinction.
The Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Ida Stephens at her home in Prince Edwards county, Ontario, November 26, 1889. They now have one son, Arden Bruce, who is nine years of age. Dr. Metcalfe is a member of several secret societies, including the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Ben Hur. Both he and his wife have a large circle of warm friends in Plymouth and their own home is celebrated for its gracious hos- pitality. The Doctor is a man of strong character, of marked individuality, an earnest purpose and laudable ambition, and with these qualities to aid him we have no hesitancy in predicting that his will be a successful career.
WASHINGTON McBRIDE.
In some respects Washington McBride is a remarkable character. Int this age of urban development and prosperity, few men of his strength of character and practical business qualifications are content to lead what may be called a pastoral life; and certainly few men have had the natural trend of sentiment and love for mother nature that would lead them to shun the more glittering opportunities for material advancement in a business or specu- lative city life; have had in their makeup so blended the rather unique quali- ties required to harmonize the nineteenth-century spirit of advancement and adaptation with the quiet life of the husbandman. It is true that his efforts have not been confined alone to one line, as he is actively connected with the banking interests of Mansfield, yet for many years he has been accounted one of the leading farmers of Mifflin township. He makes his home upon section 20. Through the whole course of his career the primary moving spirit that prompted his actions seems to have been improvement and advance- ment.
A native of Monroe township, Richland county, Mr. McBride was born on the Ist of April, 1840, his parents being Duncan and Elizabeth (Chew) McBride. He is the only survivor of their family of five children. His father, Duncan McBride, was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, June II, 1807, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (McVicker) McBride. The 20
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former was a native of Callabackey, Ireland, born in 1771, and when a youth of fourteen years he accompanied his parents on their emigration to America. His father and mother were descended from Scotch ancestry who fled from Scotland to Ireland during the religious persecution in their own land. On the arrival of the McBride family in the United States the great-grandparents of our subject located on a farm in Hampshire county, Virginia, which was paid for the following year with earnings from the mother's spinning wheel. In the old colonial days Thomas McBride was reared to manhood, and in 1797 he married Mary McVicker. They continued to reside in Hampshire county, Virginia, until the spring of 1817. In the previous spring the grand- father had come to Ohio and entered from the government the south half of section 15 in Monroe township, Richland county. A year later he removed his family to this property, which was covered with a dense forest; but soon the sound of the woodman's ax was heard and the trees fell before his sturdy stroke. Then came the plow, and soon richly cultivated fields were seen where once stood the tall trees in their primeval strength. There Thomas McBride made his home until his life's labors were ended in death. Both he and his wife were active members of the United Presbyterian church for many years, and were people of the highest respectability, enjoying the esteem of all who knew them. He died April 27, 1824, in his fifty-fourth year, and was the first person buried in the Odd Fellows' cemetery near Lucas. His wife, surviving until May 8, 1833, passed away in her sixtieth year. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters, namely : Alexander, Agnes, John, Archibald, Duncan, Wilson and Mary. All are now deceased.
Duncan McBride spent the first ten years of his life in the Old Domin- ion, and then became identified with pioneer interests in Richland county. He bore his share in the work of developing the farm and had the various pioneer experiences. He married Miss Elizabeth Chew, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, August 8, 1808, a daughter of William and Lydia Ann Chew, who were of Welsh descent. Mrs. McBride died January 19, 1874. She was an earnest Christian woman and held membership in the Presbyterian church until 1864. Owing to her husband's death she then went to live with a daughter, and as there was no Presbyterian church in the neighborhood she transferred her membership to the Congregational church.
Washington McBride obtained his education in the common schools of the primitive type, the building being constructed of logs and furnished in the
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style common on the frontier. When he had reached man's estate he was married, on the 26th of April, 1860, to Miss Mary A. Swan, a native of Richland county and a daughter of Jesse Swan, a large land owner of Monroe township. The young couple began their domestic life on a farm on Black Fork in Monroe township, Mr. McBride giving his attention to agricultural pursuits. There they lived for three years, but the wife suffered from malaria and in consequence he sold out and came to Mifflin township, pur- chasing one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 20, the place of his present residence. During the succeeding ten years he carried on farming and stock raising, with excellent success, acquiring a handsome competence, which enabled him on the organization of the old Mansfield Savings Bank in 1873 to become one of its leading stockholders. He was a member of the board of the executive committee during his twenty years' connection with that institution. About 1890 he became one of the stockholders of the Bank of Mansfield, and in 1898 he disposed of his interests there in order to pur- chase stock in the Citizens' Bank. On the organization of the Richland Savings Bank in 1898 he purchased a large share of the stock in that institu- tion, was made one of its directors and has since served in that position. He is a man of sound business judgment, giving careful conideration to all questions connected with the conduct of the enterprise with which he is asso- ciated. His opinions are reliable, as is shown by his prosperous career.
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