USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 41
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 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
392
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ARNOLD KALLMERTEN.
The position of secretary of an immense manufacturing concern like the Aultman-Taylor Company is one demanding the highest order of busi- ness ability and the most progressive and far-reaching enterprise, combined with a capacity for details which are seldom possessed by one man. This position is filled ably by Arnold Kallmerten, of Mansfield, one of the best known citizens of Richland county, Ohio. Mr. Kallmerten became con- nected with the old company as the head bookkeeper in December, 1875, and on the organization of the new company, in 1891, was elected its sec- retary.
Mr. Kallmerten was born at Burgsteinfurt, Germany, in 1850, and was educated in a college of that Westphalian city, at which he was graduated in 1866, in the commercial branch. This school was a gymnasium of the first degree, and imparted instruction so varied that young Kallmerten studied English, French, Latin and mathematics. His father was well-to-do and gave most of his children a college education. He was a mill-owner and miller. His mill was one of those old-fashioned affairs, a combination of mill and residence, such as is frequently encountered in Germany, and as it abutted on a river Mr. Kallmerten, in the intervals of watching its two run of stone, could fish from its windows in the stream which flowed under- neath. He lived a busy, useful life and died in his native land. He mar- ried Mary DeJunge, who survives him and is a member of her son's house- hold. Upon coming to America Mr. Kallmerten located for a time at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He found no employment there nor in Chicago, and from the last named city he went to Iowa, where he was employed at farm work until the fall of 1866. Returning to Chicago, for a year he met with varying fortune, for he was unaccustomed to American methods and had to take work on the streets and other rough employment until he could do better. In the fall of 1867 he secured a position as a clerk in a store in St. Louis and accompanied its proprietor from Chicago to that city. After that we find him working on a farm in Warren county, Missouri, and teaching a parochial school. His hard luck in Chicago had prepared him for other hard luck, and he kept up a brave perseverance, believing that success must eventually crown his honest efforts for advancement.
In 1869 he went to Cincinnati and entered the normal school. His superior education obtained in Germany was there supplemented with further knowledge of English and such a practical knowledge of teaching and its methods that a few months later he was sent to Lawrenceburg, Indiana,
A. KALLMERTEN.
393
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
where he taught a school successfully in 1869 and 1870. His voice soon failed, however, and he was obliged to relinquish work in the schoolroom and again became a farm laborer. For three months he lived on milk and raw eggs, and when he recovered his voice he received an appointment as teacher in the schools of Mansfield. He began his labors there in 1871 and taught more than two years.
He then entered the wholesale dry-goods house of Wood & Witter, with which he remained until 1875, when he went to Toledo, Ohio, where, on the recommendation of Mr. Wood, one of his former employers, he was given employment by the old Aultman & Taylor Company. Faithful service, then and later, led to his advancement to his present responsible position in one of the largest manufacturing concerns in the world.
In 1874 Mr. Kallmerten married Miss Mary A. Krabill, a daughter of Charles Krabill, a prominent contractor of Mansfield, who came from Ger- many many years ago and has been dead some time. He was an active man in his time and was successful in a business way. His operations were so extensive that he erected the stone work of most of the earlier important buildings of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Kallmerten have children named Ernest, Julia and Bertha, the first mentioned of whom was graduated at the Mansfield high school and holds the position of mortgage clerk in the employ of the Aultman-Taylor Company. The family are members of the German Evangelical church, of which Mr. Kallmerten has been chorister for twenty-eight years. He takes a deep interest in public education and has twice been elected a member of the board of education of the city of Mansfield.
The career of Mr. Kallmerten has been an interesting one, suggestive and in all ways encouraging. It has been a career of vicissitudes, of strug- gles and of triumphs, teaching the value of perseverance in well doing and of faithfulness in small things; and it exemplifies the sterling qualities which make the sturdy German character one of the most excellent factors in our population, and is an encouragement to any struggling young man who will read even so brief and fragmentary an account of it as is here presented and make its lessons truly his own.
JAMES COBBAN.
The Scotch element in our national commonwealth is an important one; its representatives are men of reliability and worth, loyal to principle, honora- ble and upright. One of the venerable residents of Richland county was 25
-
394
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
James Cobban, who passed the eighty-ninth milestone on life's journey and receives the respect which should ever be accorded to those who have reached advanced age. He was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in February, 18II, a son of John Cobban, who in early life followed the miller's trade, as did the grandfather of our subject, but when the old mill on the river Don, in which he and his father earned their livelihood, had been relegated to the background by the introduction of more modern methods of milling. John Cobban took up his residence upon a farm and there carried on agricultural pursuits until his death.
James Cobban was reared in his father's home and had little opportunity for securing an education, as his parents were in limited circumstances. He attended school but three months. In his youth he learned the blacksmith's trade, and before he was twenty-one years of age he married Miss Helen Webster. Four years later they bade adieu to friends and neighbors in their native land and in 1835 crossed the Atlantic to the new world, taking up their abode in New London, Huron county, Ohio, where Mr .. Cobban opened a shop and began work at the blacksmith's trade. An old tavern, a harness shop and two or three farm houses in the vicinity constituted the town. Our subject remained there until 1854, with the exception of three years spent in Urbana, Ohio, in the early '40s, being employed as a blacksmith in a large foundry there. In 1854 he removed from New London to the present farm- stead, which he had purchased the previous fall. It was then a tract of one hundred and twenty acres, on which stood a log cabin that remained the home of the family through the twelve succeeding years, when it was replaced by a substantial frame residence. Only a small portion of the land had been cleared when it came into the possession of Mr. Cobban, and therefore the burden of preparing it for the plow and placing it under cultivation de- volved upon him. He was energetic, vigorous and diligent, and resolutely per- formed his task, making the place a richly productive one. As his financial resources increased he extended the boundaries of his farm until it comprised one hundred and eighty acres, and with the tiling and other improvements on the land it became one of the most desirable properties in the county. Recently Mr. Cobban deeded some of this land to one of his sons, so that at present the home farm comprises one hundred and twenty-six acres. When he took up his abode on the farm he also erected a blacksmith shop, and while lie did not solicit trade, considerable patronage in that line came to him from his neighbors. It will thus be seen that his career was one of diligence, and that earnest effort was the means of bringing to him prosperity.
Mr. and Mrs. Cobban became the parents of six children, but only two
395
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
are now living: William, a farmer in Butler township; and Belle, the wife of O. O. Finch, who is residing on the old homestead. The mother died in February, 1847, and in May, 1848, Mr. Cobban married Miss Sarah Beattie, who was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in March, 1820, a daugh- ter of Walter Beattie, who came to the United States in 1836 with his family, locating in Richland county, Ohio. Here he bought a farm in Butler town- ship, and on it made his home throughout his remaining days. Four chil- dren were born unto them, of whom two are living, namely: James A., a commercial man residing in Lorain, Ohio; and Charles, a farmer of Butler township, Richland county. For more than half a century Mr. Cobban was a member of the Christian church, of which Mrs. Cobban also is a member, and their earnest Christian lives have won them the confidence and respect of all with whom they have been associated. Mr. Cobban was known as the most profound student of the Bible in all his community, the preachers not excepted ; and after a long and useful career he could look backward over the past without regret and forward without fear, confident of immortality. He died January 21, 1900. James A., the son, has been honored with the secretaryship of Clan McGregor, Springfield, Missouri, from its organization in 1884 to 1891.
SIMON POLAND.
This well-known and successful agriculturist of Troy township, Rich- land county, Ohio, is a hero of the war of the Rebellion, and is well deserving of special mention in the annals of his county, state and country, for the part he played as a patriotic citizen when the safety of the Union was in danger. He is a native of this county, born in Troy township October 6, 1839, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Grimes) Poland, in whose family were eight children, four sons and four daughters. Three of the sons,- namely, Simon, Alexander and Thomas Jefferson,-were in the Union serv- ice during the Civil war, the latter "running away" to join the army.
The first ten years of his life Simon Poland spent in his birthplace, and then went to Troy township, Morrow county, where he grew to manhood. At the opening of the war he was making twelve dollars per day, but he laid aside all personal interests to aid in the defense of the old flag and the cause it represented. He first enlisted for three months, on the 10th of May, 1862, as a private in Company F, Eighty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but was in the service this time for four months. On the 10th of October, the same year, he re-enlisted for three years as a member of Company L, of the Tenth
396
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Ohio Cavalry, being mustered in at Cleveland. With his regiment he pro- ceeded at once to Nashville, Tennessee, and later took part in the engagement at Stone River, then followed Bragg to Chattanooga, participating in the battle at that place. He was also in the battles at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. In the spring of 1863 his regiment was remounted, and later participated in the battles of Ringgold, Georgia, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Calhoun and Marietta,-in fact, all of the engagements of the Atlanta campaign. They also went with Sherman on the march to the sea. Mr. Poland was taken prisoner February 15, 1865, near Aiken, South Carolina, by Forrest's and Wade Hampton's cavalry, and was held till May 30, 1865, three months of this time being spent at Andersonville. The war having ended, he was then taken to Jacksonville, where he was released on the date mentioned.
Returning to his old home in Morrow county, Ohio, Mr. Poland engaged in farming there for a time, and also operated a sawmill, manufacturing lumber. At the end of two years, however, he sold out his interests there and returned to Richland county, having since made his home upon his pres- ent farm in Troy township. Here he owns seventy-six acres of valuable and highly productive land, upon which he has made all of the improvements.
Mr. Poland was married on the 18th of October, 1866, to Miss Susan Stull, and to them were born three children, namely: Cora I., deceased; Algie S., the wife of Lewis Faust; and Mary, the wife of Lorenzo D. Sham- baugh. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Republican party, and by his membership in Conger Post, G. A. R., keeps up his friend- ship with his old army comrades. He is also connected with the Masonic lodge of Bellville, and is a charter member of the Grange. In 1890 he served as census enumerator, and has always faithfully discharged any duty that has devolved upon him, whether public or private. As a patriotic and loyal citizen he is certainly deserving of representation in the history of his native county.
JOHN H. NICHOLS, M. D.
Greater than in almost any line of work is the responsibility that rests upon the physician. The issues of life and death are in his hands. A false prescription or an unskilled operation may take from man that which he prizes above all else,-life. The physician's power must be his own : not by pur- chase, by gift or by influence can he gain it. He must commence at the very beginning, learn the very rudiments of medicine and surgery, continually
397
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
add to his knowledge by close study and earnest application and gain reputa- tion by merit. If he would gain the highest prominence it must come as the result of superior skill, knowledge and ability.
The subject of this sketch was born in Knox county, Ohio, and is the only son of John and Mary Nichols. He attended the country schools near his home and further continued his education in the Mount Vernon high school and the Danville Normal School. At the age of sixteen years ile began teaching and followed that profession for several years, then entered the office of Dr. F. C. Larimore, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, under whose direc- tion he prepared to enter the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, matriculating in that institution in 1893. At the close of the year he received the first faculty gold medal for the highest scholarship, after which he entered Rush Medical College. He was a student at that institution until 1894, and won the Founder's medal, also the Brainard gold medal,-a competition medal given for the highest standard in anatomy. He was then appointed demonstrator of bacteriology and morbid anatomy for the scho- lastic year of 1894-5. He was graduated at Rush Medical College in 1896, being the youngest in a class of two hundred, and received the fellowship to bacteriology and morbid anatomy, which he still holds.
A month after his graduation he located in Mansfield, Ohio, where he has both a large surgical and medical practice, covering nearly the whole field of capital and major surgery. He is at present holding the position of railway surgeon for the Baltimore & Ohio Road, and belongs to the Inter- national Association of Railway Surgeons, the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Surgeons of the United States, and many other medical societies.
Socially he is a Mason,-a member of Mansfield Commandery, K. T .. No. 21,-and holds membership in several other secret societies. The Doctor is married and has one child. A social, genial gentleman, he is interested in all that pertains to the welfare of his community, has a large circle of friends, and his friendship is best prized by these who know him best.
JOHN C. SKILES.
John Clark Skiles, county commissioner of Richland county, and one of this county's most prominent citizens, was married to Miss Vina Berga- hiser November 30, 1882. To this marriage there have been born two sons, viz .: Clifford, November 21, 1884, and Howard, June 8, 1886. Both are now attending the Shelby high school. From his youth up to 1897 Mr. Skiles was engaged in farming, but in that year he was elected on the Demo-
398
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
cratic ticket county commissioner, and is still performing the duties of that office. For six years he served as a trustee of Sharon township. He is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias, and of the orders of Pathfinders and Ben Hur. The father of Mrs. Skiles was J. L. Bergahiser, now sixty- two years of age. Levi Bergahiser, the father of J. L. Bergahiser, was one of the first settlers in Sharon township. He was an industrious, honest and successful man, and highly esteemed by all the old settlers of the township. Mr. Skiles is one of the most successful and upright citizens of the county in which he resides, and has many friends among men of all political and religious beliefs. Mr. Skiles was elected commissioner for the northern dis- trict of Richland county in 1897 by a majority of 537. He assumed the duties of his office in September, 1898. He was re-elected November 6, 1900, for three years, by a majority of 1,285, and led the ticket in the November elec- tion of 1900.
WILLIAM E. ROPP.
-
There are few states in the Union more favored than Ohio, which have splendid natural resources that have yielded rich returns for the labor of men of energetic purpose, who realized that work is the key that causes the portals of prosperity to spring wide open. There came to Ohio men of resolute spirit, and when the state was in the early period of its development they founded homes and established families whose representatives are now well known among the substantial residents of the commonwealth. Belonging to the latter class is William E. Ropp, who was born in Fostoria, Ohio, November 7, 1860, a son of Emanuel and Elizabeth M. (Foulks) Ropp. The father died when the subject of this review was only about thirteen years of age, leaving three children, one (Clement L.) having previously passed away. Our subject then lived with his mother and brother, Melvin D. Ropp, and under their roof was reared to manhood, while in the public schools of the neighborhood he acquired the knowledge that fitted him for business life. On the 7th of September, 1882, he married Miss Matilda J. Wilson, a native of Richland county, her birth having occurred on the farm where she yet resides. Her parents were John and Susan ( Hubley) Wilson. Her father was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1819, and when three years of age was brought by his parents to Richland county. His father arrived in Mansfield in October, 1823. He soon after located in Franklin township, where he spent the succeeding winter, and then purchased fifty acres of land near Shenandoah, in the edge of Franklin township, mak-
399
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
ing his home thereon for about six years. He then purchased eighty acres in Blooming Grove township, there residing until his death, which occurred July 28, 1863, when he was about eighty years of age. His wife, who was born October 21, 1794, died about 1840. Their son, John Wilson, was reared on the Ohio frontier, and was married on the 2d of June, 1864. to Susan Hubley, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in July, 1830, and still survives her husband.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ropp took up their abode on the old Wilson homestead, and he operated the farm for his father-in-law until the latter's death in 1890, with the exception of the period of a year spent in Shenandoah. After Mr. Wilson's death Mr. Ropp returned to the farm, which he managed for his mother-in-law, his wife being their only child. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ropp has been blessed with five children, of whom four are still living, namely: Grace N., Ovid J., Dale and John C., all with their parents.
Mr. Ropp is a man fearless in his honest convictions, and no one need be in doubt of his political preferences, for he stanchly advocates Demo- cratic principles, and is now serving for the third year as trustee of his township. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Rome, and is actuated by honorable principles in all life's relations.
CARTER L. COOK.
The natural advantages of this section attracted at an early day a superior class of settlers, thrifty, industrious, progressive and law-abiding. whose influence gave permanent direction to the development of the new locality. Among the worthy pioneers of Richland county the Cook family holds a prominent place.
Carter L. Cook was born upon his present farm in Troy township, October 3, 1823, and is a son of Jacob Cook, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1781. His paternal grandfather was Noah Cook, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, and was twice married. As early as 18II the father came to Ohio with his brother, John, and first located in Knox county, taking up land near Fredericktown, where he lived until 1817, and then came to Richland county. Here he entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land, but for six years he was engaged in the hotel business in Lexington. In the meantime he made some improvements upon his land, including the erection of a log cabin, and in 1825 located upon his
400
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
farm, devoting the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. There he died in 1848. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Priscilla Carter, who died leaving no children, and for his second wife he married Miss Mary Lee, a daughter of Solomon Lee, who was one of the early settlers of Richland county, his home being in Washington township. By the last marriage there were nine children, namely: Priscilla, who died in infancy; Nancy, the wife of Smith Douglas; Eleanor, the wife of Thomas Brown; Emeline, who died at the age of twelve years; Carter L., our subject : Susan, the wife of James Force; Lois, the wife of James Reed; James, a resident of Los Angeles county, California; and Amy J., who died in 1899.
Amid pioneer scenes Carter L. Cook grew to manhood, his education being obtained in the public schools of this county. His entire life has been spent upon the old homestead in Troy township, and he early became familiar with every detail of farm work, so that in the operation of the farm since his father's death he has met with excellent success. Here he has one hun- dred and sixty acres, and also owns another tract of forty acres, both of which places are well improved and under good cultivation.
On the 2d of October, 1849, Mr. Cook was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. R. Rusk, a native of Morgan county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Sarah (Donaldson) Rusk, who were born in Pennsylvania and came to this state in 1824, locating in Morgan county. When Mrs. Cook was five years old they came to Richland county and settled in Washington township, where Mr. Rusk purchased a farm, making it his home until 1871, when he took up his residence in Lexington. There he died in 1873, aged seventy-seven years, and his wife departed this life in 1880, at the age of seventy-eight. In the family of this worthy couple were eight children, namely : William, a resident of Lexington; Margaret J., the wife of Elihu Mathews, of Hardin county, Ohio; Mary A. R., the wife of our subject; Isabelle R., the wife of Samuel Moore, of Peoria county, Illinois; John D., who died at the age of ten years; Andrew, a resident of Morrow county, Ohio; Joseph, deceased; and Sarah, the wife of Wesley Emerson, of Kansas. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cook, as follows: Emma, the wife of Albert C. Stewart, of Lexington; Lora A., who died at. the age of six years; Ella F., the wife of D. T. Barnett, of Troy township, Richland county ; Archie C., of Kansas; Orville L., who lives on the home farm; John D., of Warren, Ohio; and Frank R,, of Kansas.
In his political views Mr. Cook is a stanch Republican, and has mate- rially aided in the advancement of all social, moral and educational interests
401
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
in the community in which he lives. He and his wife are earnest and con- sistent members of the Congregational church, in which he has served as deacon since 1846, and has ever taken an active and prominent part in its work.
JOHN P. STOBER, M. D.
Dr. Stober is a skilled physician and surgeon of Lexington, Ohio, whose knowledge of the science of medicine is broad and comprehensive, and whose ability in applying its principles to the needs of suffering humanity has gained him an enviable prestige in professional circles.
The Doctor was born in Milton township, Ashland county, Ohio, January 8, 1862, and was reared upon a farm, his early education being obtained in the district schools of the neighborhood. Later he attended the normal school at Ashland for three terms, and at the age of twenty years began teaching, which profession he successfully followed for three years. During the last year he took up the study of medicine, at home, and for a time was a student in the office of Dr. Baldwin, of Ashland. He then entered the Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital College, at which he was graduated in 1889, and the same year opened an office in Ashland. Two years later he came to Lexington, and has since successfully engaged in practice at this place, his skill and ability winning for him a liberal patronage.
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.