USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 55
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Mr. Ditwiler was called to his final rest August 21, 1890, after having been a member of the Congregational church for many years, and he was one of the deacons at the time of his death. He was also a member of the Odd Fellows order from early manhood. His was a busy, useful and lion- orable career, and his labors resulted in bringing a comfortable competence to the family. In 1867 he came with his wife and children to Mansfield, which has since continuously been the home of Mrs. Ditwiler, whose resi- dence is located at No. 46 West Third street. She is a well known lady, for through more than a third of a century she has continued in Richland county and has ever won the love and respect of those with whom she has come in contact through her many excellent qualities.
NOBLE CALHOON.
For eighty-four years Noble Calhoon traveled life's journey, and each year that passed was marked with good deeds and the record of an honor- able career ; and in the evening of life he received the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded those who live worthily, faithfully performing each duty and following their honest convictions of right and wrong.
He was born November 29, 1816, in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, his parents being Noble and Sarah (Taylor) Calhoon. His father was born near Cork, Ireland, and when about twenty-two years of age crossed the
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briny deep to the new world, settling in Pennsylvania, where he followed farming. He there met and married Miss Taylor, a native of that state, and in 1831 they emigrated with their family to Richland county, where the father became the owner of a large tract of land. He was also the proprietor of a mill in this neighborhood, and in the conduct of his busi- ness affairs gained a good capital. He died when about eighty-four years of age, and his wife passed away when seventy-seven years of age. She was a member of the United Presbyterian church.
When a youth of fifteen the subject of this memoir accompanied his parents to Ohio and ever after that was a resident of Richland county. He assisted in the arduous task of transforming the wild land into richly cultivated fields, and to his father he gave the benefit of his labor until his marriage, after which he operated the mill for several years. When his father died he became the administrator and settled up the estate, and when the property was disposed of Mr. Calhoon bid in his present home of two hundred and twenty-nine acres, to which he has since added a tract of forty acres. The cultivation of his fields and the improvement of the farm occu- pied the greater part of his time and energies and in this manner he has added continually to his income, his constantly augmented capital making him one of the substantial residents of the community.
Mr. Calhoon was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Willick, a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. She was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and died in that faith at the age of sixty-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoon became the parents of five children: Mary J., the eldest, is the widow of J. Newton Pritchard and resides in Worthington township. Alexander still occupies the home place, superintending its inter- ests. During the Civil war he responded to the call for aid, enlisting on the 2d of May, 1864, for one hundred days as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Sixty-third Regiment of the Ohio Volunteers. For five years he was the postmaster of Butler. He belongs to Bellville Lodge, No. 376, F. & A. M., of Bellville, and is a wide-awake, enterprising business man. Sarah died when forty-three years of age. D. L. is a farmer of Worthington township. Margaret, the youngest of the family, died at the age of seventeen years.
In his political views Mr. Calhoon was early a Whig and on the dis- solution of that party and the organization of the Republican party he joined the ranks of the latter. In earlier days he took quite an active part in political affairs, and after serving for two terms as justice of the peace, refused to hold the office any longer. Many years ago he became a mem-
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ber of the Masonic fraternity of Mansfield, and probably lived to be the oldest Mason in Richland county, dying October 4, 1900. He was a man of strong individuality, of marked force of character and of decided opin- ions. He had no use for any one or anything he did not like, and was very strong in his friendship when he believed that it was given to one worthy of it. His career was an active, useful and honorable one, and his life record contained many lessons that are worthy of emulation.
HENRY SMITH MOSER.
Henry Smith Moser was born in Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, January 15, 1823. His father, Henry Moser, was a soldier of the war of 1812. His mother's maiden name was Marie E. Smith. His parents were Pennsylvanians who came to Ohio and settled in Monroe township in 1820.
H. S. Moser was married to Miss Rebecca Marlow in 1843. They became the parents of six children,-three boys and three girls, as follows : Mary M., who married Samuel Geddes McDermott in 1861; she is now a widow and since the death of her mother has kept house for her father; James Henry, who married Deborah Meek in 1867, and they live in Denver, Colorado; Austin Clark, who married Rebecca Jane Martin and they live in Blooming Grove township, this county; Elivia Frances, who wedded Dorefu Turbett, and they live in California; Edward Smith, who married Martha Swigart, and they live in Mansfield; and Artemisa, who married George D. Middlesworth, and they live in Blooming Grove township, this county.
The subject of this sketch lived in Monroe township, this county, for thirty-nine years, then removed to the northern part of Blooming Grove township, where he resided until he retired from the farm and took up his residence in Shiloh. While Mr. Moser was always a farmer, owning one or more good farms, he has also given attention to other lines of business, one of which was silver mining in Colorado. He has traveled extensively and has hosts of friends. He is a member of the Lutheran church and of the Masonic fraternity. He is large in stature and fashioned like the pioneers.
Comrade Moser served his country in the war of the Rebellion as a member of Company K, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was enrolled Sep- tember 28, 1862, and was discharged September 28, 1865-three years of hard service. He was severely wounded in the siege of Vicksburg. Two
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of his sons were also in the service. Comrade Moser is now enjoying the competence previously acquired and the respect and esteem of a large circle - of friends.
ABRAHAM J. BAUGHMAN.
Abraham J. Baughman, the only son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Cunning- ham) Baughman, was born on section 22, Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, September 5, 1838. Abraham Baughman, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born on the Atlantic ocean during the sail voyage of his parents from Germany to America. He married Mary Katherine Deeds and they were the parents of eight children,-five sons and three daughters. Jacob Baughman, the fourth son, was born at Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, February 19, 1792, and came to Ohio with his parents about 1808, and the family settled in the Black Fork valley, near the old historic Indian village of Greentown, now in Ashland county. Jacob Baughman married Miss Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Captain James Cunningham, in Septem- ber, 1825. They were the parents of five children,-Mary K., Hannah L., Margaret A., Abraham J. and Sade Elizabeth. Jacob Baughman died Feb- ruary 21, 1855, and his widow survived him nearly forty years, being called away November 23, 1894, in the ninetieth year of her age. The three older children having been married before the death of the husband and father, Mrs. Baughman and her two younger children-A. J. and Miss Sade- lived together during the remainder of her life. Four decades may seem long when counted by their forty several years, but all too short when blessed with the happiness of a mother's love, making the bereavement at the close the more heartfelt and severe. Soon after being left a widow Mrs. Baugh- man removed to Bellville, and later to Mansfield, where the son and young- est daughter still reside, at the old home on South Adams street.
A. J. Baughman taught school and read law in his 'teens, but upon the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion he volunteered in Captain Miller Moody's Company I, Sixteenth Ohio Infantry, in 1861, and later enlisted for three years in the Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. but was discharged for physical disability before the expiration of his term of enlistment. Mr. Baughman and his sister are printers and have spent the greater part of their lives in the newspaper business. In 1885 Mr. Baughman was appointed a clerk in the United States senate, and his sister, Miss Sade, was appointed to a clerkship in the treasury department at Washington, which positions they held for several years, Mr. Baughman during that time writing for New York and Chicago papers. Upon his return to Ohio Mr. Baughman devoted his time largely to historical work and the writing of feature
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articles for the press, and during a three-years engagement on the Mans- field News he wrote over two hundred feature articles for its Sunday edition, covering, perhaps, a hundred different topics.
Upon the unveiling of the Johnny Appleseed monument in the Sher- man-Heineman park, Mr. Baughman delivered the address of the occasion, and the same was copied in whole or part by the leading magazines and in over a thousand newspapers. He has edited and published the Canal Fulton Herald, the Medina Democrat, the Mansfield Call and the Democrat, and the New Philadelphia Evening News; and of the papers upon which he has been engaged mention may be made of the Marion Star, the Steubenville Gazette and the New Philadelphia (Ohio) Democrat ; and while the editor of the latter, during the Bryan campaign of 1896, he thinks he did his best po- litical writing and editorial work, the Democracy regaining the county and electing its entire ticket by majorities ranging from five hundred to one thousand., Mr. Baughman has written biographical histories and sketches of several counties, and is conceded to be the best informed man on local history in Richland county ; and he knows its townships as a farmer knows his fields. Through the efforts and work of Mr. Baughman the Richland County Historical Society was organized in November, 1898, and he be- came its secretary, which position he continues to fill. He is also the secre- tary of the Mansfield Lyceum.
Although German in name Mr. Baughman, in sentiment, is inclined to his mother's (Irish) people, but is thoroughly American in thought, pur- pose and patriotism, and is a Buckeye, "to the manor born." In his re- ligious views he is a "churchman," believing in the apostolic succession, and was confirmed by the late Rt. Rev. G. T. Bedell, bishop of Ohio, in 1876.
Mr. Baughman is five feet, nine inches in height, with an average weight of one hundred and fifty-five pounds. He has blue-gray eyes, and the dark hair of his youth silvered before he had reached the age of fifty years.
MICHAEL E. DOUGLAS.
Michael E. Douglas was born in Springfield township, Richland county, Ohio, October 21, 1831, a son of William and Margaret (Edgington) Doug- las. His father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and died in Springfield township, this county, in 1857. He was a son of Michael and Lydia (Pollock) Douglas, both of whom were natives of Scot- land, were married in Ireland and emigrated to America, taking up their abode in Pennsylvania. By this marriage there were eight sons and
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six daughters. In 1823 the grandparents of our subject came to Richland county, taking up their abode in Springfield township upon a farm which had previously been secured by their son William and his brother who had come to the county before the immigration of the family. The journey was made from Pennsylvania in an old "schooner" wagon. After arriving at years of maturity William Douglas married Miss Margaret Edgington, of Richland county, Ohio, in 1803, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Edgington. Her mother, however, was usually known as Pollie. They came to Richland county in the fall of 1815, accompanied by Jonathan Beach and his family. The Edgington and Beach families were the first to locate in Springfield township, and in Richland county William Douglas and Margaret Edgington were married. They had a number of children, as follows: Alexander J., a Lutheran minister living in Monroeville, Indiana ; Thomas E., a veteran of the Civil war, who makes his home in Mansfield; Michael E .; Elizabeth, of Columbia City, Indiana; and Nancy, who resides in Riverside, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.
Michael E. Douglas, the subject of this review, was reared upon a farm and pursued a common-school education. He studied during the winter months and in the summer worked in the plowed fields and fragrant meadows, assisting in the early spring planting. He taught school through five con- secutive winter seasons ; but, desiring to enter the legal profession, he studied law under the direction of L. B. Matson, a practicing attorney of Mans- field. He was then admitted to the bar in 1860, but was soon afterward elected secretary of the Richland Mutual Insurance Company, a position which he filled for ten years, interrupted, however, by service in the Civil war. As an organizer of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Mutual Insur- ance Company, he became its secretary in 1876 and has since held that position, so that during the greater part of his career he has been con- nected with the insurance business. He is a man of keen discrimination, who forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. He possesses much executive force, is reliable, prompt and persevering and his labors have brought to him creditable success.
In the year 1861 Mr. Douglas was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Zimmerman, of Mansfield, a daughter of Levi Zimmerman, who came to this city from Pennsylvania. Their children were Levi Ernest, of Boston; and Mary and Lucretia, of Mansfield. Two years after his marriage-in October, 1863-Mr. Douglas assisted in organizing Com- pany G, of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, of which he was made first lieutenant, thus entering the army service. In May, 1865, he was pro-
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moted to the captaincy of the company and resigned from that position in November of the same year, the war having ended. He was a brave and loyal soldier, being advanced through meritorious conduct, in- spiring his men by his own bravery and valor. He is now a member of Mclaughlin Post, G. A. R., of Mansfield, and in his political views is a Republican, giving a warm support to the principles of the party. In 1868 he served as mayor of the city by appointment and was a capable officer, his administration being businesslike and progressive. Socially he is con- nected wtih the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Although his life has not been filled with a large number of thrilling incidents it contains lessons of value, showing marked fidelity to duty in every relation of life. He is a man of his word, and his genial disposition, unfailing courtesy and kindness have made him popular with a host of warm friends.
JOHN DARLING.
In every community are found quiet and retiring men who seek no public honors or public notice, yet exert a strong influence on the community by reason of their upright lives, their fidelity to principle and their devotion to the duties of citizenship. Such a one was John Darling, who was long a representative of the agricultural interests of Monroe township, and his life in many respects was worthy of emulation.
He was born in Worthington township, Richland county, August 9, 1819. He was the eldest son of William and Mary ( Ravenscraft) Darling. His father. William Darling, was born in Hardy county, Virginia, now a part of West Virginia, October 6, 1789, and was the son of Robert and Mary (Passence) Darling. With their family the parents removed to Mus- kingum county. Ohio, in 1806. This part of the state was then in its prim- itive condition, few settlements having been made, while the work of improve- ment and progress was scarcely begun. William Darling remained with his father and assisted him in clearing and improving the wild land until the breaking out of the war of 1812, when he responded to his country's call and served with credit during the term of his enlistment. He came to Richland county in the spring of 1817 and purchased a quarter-section of land, on which a block-house stood, in the fertile valley of the Clear Fork, about one and a half miles northeast of Newville, near the site of the Indian village of Helltown. Soon after his arrival in the county William Darling was united in marriage to Miss Ravenscraft, a young lady of the
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neighborhood who was possessed of a strong constitution and such courage as was needed by pioneer women. These qualities rendered her a fit com- panion for the energetic frontiersman who became her husband, and with him she endured the trials and hardships incident to the settlement of an unimproved region. Mr. Darling was a man of marked enterprise and almost indefatigable industry. He devoted his time to the cultivation and improvement of his farm until met with an accident which disqualified him for hard manual labor. He then turned his attention to the feeding and breeding of stock, which he drove to the eastern markets, making a specialty of fine cattle. He introduced into this part of the state some excellent breeds of cattle, including the shorthorn Durham, being the first owner of such cattle in Richland county. Through the earnest labor, excellent financiering and close application to business on the part of Mr. Darling and his wife they were enabled in the course of time to acquire a very handsome competence. He became an extensive land-owner, his possessions aggregating eleven hun- dred and eighty-five acres in one body of the rich and alluvial soil in the valley of the Clear Fork. He also made judicious investments in other property, owning a number of farms in different parts of the county and state. It afforded him great pleasure to assist his children, to whom he was very generous. The following is a copy of an appendix to his will: "Having been one of the pioneers in this part of Ohio, the maker of this will, having emigrated from Hardy county, Virginia, in the year 1806, with his father and family to Muskingum county, Ohio, and endured all the hardships, trials and privations incident to the settling and improving of the new country, I do give and bequeath my love, respect and good will to all my associates, and hope by the intelligence, energy and untiring industry of growing posterity the prosperity of my beloved country may continue to increase as surely and rapidly as though the old pioneers were still here to look after their country's welfare, for next to my love for my God and my family is my love for my country, these blessed United States. May pros- perity and peace ever be the lot of our happy land."
The above well indicates the loyal and patriotic spirit of Mr. Darling. As before stated, he located on a farm in Richland county in the year 1817, continuing its cultivation until seven years later, when he had the misfortune of having his right leg crushed by the falling of a log. The member was so badly injured that it necessitated amputation. He therefore became extensively interested in stock-breeding, winning through an upright business course a large share of this world's goods. In all transactions he was strictly honorable and he thus enjoyed the unqualified confidence and good
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will of those with whom he was associated. Of his family of seven chil- dren only one is now living, Catherine, the wife of Aaron Quick, a farmer of Ashland county.
John Darling was early inured to the labors of the farm. Owing to the extensive realty possessions of the father, and to his own inability for farm work the burden of caring for the land devolved upon the sons, and thereby John Darling developed habits of industry and enterprise which became salient features in his own success in later life. The father could never tolerate idleness or indolence, and the sons were early trained to perform the work of improving the fields and caring for the stock. From the time of the early planting in the spring until the crops were harvested in the autumn John Darling was busy in the fields, and it was only through the short winter sea- son that he was occasionally able to enjoy the privileges afforded by the common schools. After his marriage his father gave him one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 36 in Monroe township, and with his young bride he removed to the farm, on which there was much work to be done, for the buildings were old and dilapidated and the fences were down. With characteristic energy Mr. Darling began the improvement of the place, erect- ing thereon a large substantial barn and making other additions to the build- ings, while he divided the place into fields of convenient size by well kept fences. All the improvement and accessories of a model farm were added until the place became one of the most attractive and desirable in this part of the county.
On the 16th of January, 1851, occurred the marriage of Mr. Darling and Mary J. Rea, a daughter of William Rea, who was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1772. He was for a time a resident of Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, and in 1816 came to Ohio in company with others, locating in Richland county, where he entered the north half of the south- east quarter of section 35. Monroe township. He provided a home for him- self by erecting a log cabin and then began the task of clearing his land for the plow. For a few years he lived alone, and was then united in marriage, in 1821. to Miss Eliza Swendel, a native of the county of Down, Ireland, and a daughter of Richard and Susan (Fox) Swendel. Mrs. Rea came to the United States when but twenty-five years of age. She had a brother living in this country, but several years passed before she was enabled to find him through the assistance of friends. She had in the meantime provided for her own support, manifesting a courageous spirit in meeting with the difficulties which beset her in the new world. With her brother she came to Richland county, where her marriage occurred. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rea were devoted
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members of the United Presbyterian church from early life. They spent their declining years with their daughter, Mrs. Darling. The father passed away at the age of seventy-five, while the mother lived to the advanced age of eighty-eight years. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Darling was blessed with eight children, of whom six are now living, namely : Mary E., the wife of Charles T. Culler, a farmer of Richland county ; William W., a carpenter and farmer of Worthington township, Richland county; Alfred W., who also carries on agricultural pursuits in the same county; Harmon L., who is living on the old homestead; Emma I., the wife of Charles Switzer, of Worthington township; and Effie G., wife of Frank Weingarden, of Monroe township.
In his political views Mr. Darling was a Democrat. Both he and his wife were active, consistent members of the Lutheran church and always con- tributed very liberally to its support. Mr. Darling took a deep interest in the public affairs in his native county, endorsing all measures which he believed would prove of public good. There was much in his business career worthy of commendation. He applied himself closely to his work and at all times followed business methods that gained for him the confidence of his fellow men. He died March 10, 1895, and in his death the community lost a valued citizen, his church a faithful member, his neighbors an accommodating friend, and his family a devoted husband and father.
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HON. ANDREW STEVENSON.
Andrew Stevenson was born April 1. 1844. at the confluence of the Whet- stone and Black Fork. in Weller township, of pioneer parentage. After attend- ing the common schools of the neighborhood until he was fifteen years old, he was sent to the academy at Hayesville, where he remained one year and a half. On leaving the institution he enlisted in the army, Company M. Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, but after serving four months-being under age-was taken out and placed in the law office of Bartley & Johnston, where he re- mained two years. After his admission to the bar in Ohio he went to Pitts- burg and studied commercial law for eighteen months, under the cele- brated Swartzwelder. Returning to Richland county. he was elected prose- cuting attorney in 1869 and served two years. It was during his term of office that the celebrated murder case of Ansel L. Robinson, charged with the murder of Mrs. Lunsford, was tried. Mr. Stevenson led the prosecution, assisted by several attorneys, and opposed by a number of distinguished law- yers. The trial lasted eleven days, and, perhaps, attracted as much public
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