USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 63
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completion whatever he undertakes. His career proves that the only true success in life is that which is accomplished by personal effort and continued industry.
AMOS HUNTER.
Born in Green township, Ashland county, on the 17th of May, 1856, Amos Hunter is the son of John and Mary (Dowell) Hunter, whose fam- ily number seven children. The grandfather, William Hunter, was a native of Ireland, and with his parents came to America in 1811, the family locating in Pennsylvania. Seven years later, in 1818, they became residents of Ashland county, Ohio, where they spent their remaining days. The grandfather of our subject died four months prior to the death of his son, John, and the grandmother died when her son was only thirteen months old, after which John Hunter was reared by an elder sister.
The father of our subject was born in Ashland county on the 14th of March, 1831, and lived within two miles of his birthplace up to the time of his death. After his marriage he located on the homestead which he had purchased some time before, where he resided until about 1860, when the removed to what was known as the De Haven farm in 1871. He located on a farm one and one-quarter miles from Perryville, where he died Feb- ruary 22, 1899. He was a very active and successful business man and acquired eight hundred acres of land. As his financial resources increased he made investments in property, and his sound judgment and keen dis- crimination enabled him to place his money where it brought him a good return. He voted with the Democratic party and kept well informed on the issues of the day.
John and Mary (Dowell) Hunter became the parents of seven children, all of whom are yet living, namely: John, a farmer of Monroe township; David, the next, who cultivates land in Green township, Ashland county ; Amos, of this review; Lewis, a farmer of Green township, Ashland county ; Reuben, who follows farming in the same township; Mary, at home; and Jane, the wife of John Rowe, an agriculturist of Green township.
In the common schools Amos Hunter pursued his education through the winter months, while in the summer he worked on the home farm until the time of his marriage. With his practical training, which has fitted him for his business career, and with the comprehensive knowledge of the best methods of general farming, he began work for himself. He was married, in 1881, to Mary Snyder, a native of Ashland county, and a daughter of
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Henry Snyder, who was a prominent farmer of that county, but is now deceased. Their union has been blessed with three children: Lewis, Flor- ence and Edison, all of whom are at home.
After his marriage Mr. Hunter located on his farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres, which he purchased from his father, and which has since been his place of residence. He has erected a commodious building with very ample shelter for grain and stock. Well kept fences divide the place into fields of convenient size, and the latest improved machinery enables him to carry on his work in the most approved method. He raises the cereals best adapted to this climate and his fields give promise of golden harvests.
He has no time nor inclination for public life, but keeps well informed on political issues, giving his allegiance to the Democratic party. He belongs to Madison Grange, No. 63, Patrons of Husbandry, and is a mem- ber of the Congregational church, in which he is holding the office of dea- con. He gives his support to every measure and movement that is calculated to prove of public good, and his worth as a citizen is widely acknowledged. All who know him esteem him highly for his sterling worth, and his circle of friends in the community is extensive.
GEORGE G. DICK.
George G. Dick, an extensive land-owner and stock dealer of Franklin township, Richland county, living on section 6, was born in Cass township on the 22d of January, 1848. He is a representative of an old Maryland family. His grandparents were George and Sarah Dick, the former born in Maryland about 1796. They became the parents of eleven children, namely : Eliza, Josiah, Hannon H., Levi, Jacob, Sarah, Mary, George, David, Hiram and Susan. The second of the number, Josiah Dick, was the father of our subject. He was born in Pennsylvania and when about six years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. About 1827 he became a resident of Cass township, Richland county. He married Miss Elizabeth Swartz, a native of Pennsylvania, and they had seven children, the eldest being George G., of this review. Hannon H., the third, married Mary Malone, by whom he had seven children, and in Plymouth township he follows farming; Isaac, who resides in Cass township, wedded Rachel Nelson and has four children; Oliver, a farmer of Jackson township, mar- ried Ida Arnold and has two children; Amanda is the wife of John Elliott
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and resides in Jackson township; David, who is living on the old home- stead in Cass township, married Ada Adams; and Andrew, the youngest of the family, married Sarah Artz and has one child. His home is also in Cass township.
In taking up the personal history of George G. Dick we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorable known in Rich- land county, his entire life having been passed within its borders. He has therefore witnessed much of its development and has given a hearty co-op- eration to its various movements contributing to the public good. He was educated in the public schools of Cass and Jackson townships and he chose as a life occupation that to which he was reared, having, as a means of livelihood since attaining his majority, carried on farming and stock-rais- ing. In the spring of 1874 he removed to his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 6, Franklin township, and for twenty-six years has cultivated his land. After the death of his father, in November, 1896, he purchased the interest of the other heirs and has continued to devote his energies to the further development and improvement of the property. In connection with the cultivation of his fields he has been engaged in buy- ing and shipping stock for about twenty years and has found this a profit- able source of income.
Mr. Dick was united in marriage, on the 3d of May, 1872, to Miss Malinda A. Reynolds, the wedding being celebrated at her parents' home. She was born about two miles from her present home in Franklin town- ship, and by her marriage she has become the mother of nine children: William E., born July 8, 1873, and now a resident farmer of Jackson town- ship, wedded Alice Coover, by whom he has two children,-Bryan W. and Ray ; Edward F., born July 27, 1875, and now a farmer of Blooming Grove township, married Pearl Chew, and has one child; Carrie M., born July 7, 1875, is the wife of Wesley Holtz, an agriculturist of Blooming Grove township; Josiah H., born August 1, 1879; and Levi T., born in July, 1882, Lowie A., born in November, 1887, Lusetta E., born in 1889, and Alva G., born in 1892, are still with their parents. Lottie B., the sixth of the family, died in May, 1900, at the age of fourteen years. The family is well known in Franklin township, and the members of the household occupy leading positions in social circles.
Mr. Dick has justly won the proud American title of a self-made man. He started upon his business career empty-handed, but he was not afraid to work and his indefatigable industry has brought to him a high and grat- ifying degree of success. As his financial resources have increased he has
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made judicious investments in real estate and is to-day the owner of more than four hundred acres of valuable land. He is thus classed among the substantial farmers of Richland county.
ANDREW LYBARGER.
This well-known farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Cass township, Richland county, now residing on section 13, was born in that township December 10, 1842, a son of Lewis and Margaret (Walkup) Lybarger. Of the eleven children born to this worthy couple only five are now living. namely : Valentine, a farmer of Crawford county, Ohio; Oliver, a farmer of Cass township, this county; Barbara E., the wife of Adam Weiser, a farmer of the same township; Belle, the wife of William Coover, a farmer of Jack- son township, this county; and Andrew, of this review.
Lewis Lybarger, the father of our subject, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and when a boy came to Ohio with his parents, Daniel and Esther Lybarger, who first located in Knox county, but a few years later moved to Richland county, the grandfather purchasing the farm in Cass town- ship now owned by Salathiel Bloom, upon which he and his wife spent their remaining days. When the family located here the farm was a heavily timbered tract of one hundred and sixty acres, and to Lewis Lybarger's lot fell most of the work of clearing the land. He grew to manhood amid frontier surroundings and experienced many of the hardships and priva- tions incident to pioneer life. After his marriage he remained at his parental home, and continued to carry on the farm until 1856, when he purchased a farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres in the northeast part of Cass township belonging to his father-in-law, Andrew Walkup. There he made his home until his death, which occurred in May, 1898, when he was seventy- eight years of age. He was a Democrat in politics, and in early life was a member of the Lutheran church, but on his removal to Ganges joined the Reformed church.
Reared upon the home farm, Andrew Lybarger conned his lessons in a pioneer log schoolhouse of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty years he started out in life for himself, as a farm hand for Levi Dicks, and was thus employed for two seasons, after which he and an uncle cultivated his paternal grandfather's farm, on the shares, for two years. The uncle then purchased a farm of one hundred acres, leaving our subject to carry on the other farm for four years longer. At the end of that period he removed to the old Glasgow place, which he rented for the same length of time,
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and then, in partnership with his father, he bought a farm of one hun- dred and thirty-six acres in Cass township. Four years later the prop- erty was divided, our subject receiving sixty-eight acres, which he still owns. In the fall of 1899 he rented the Eli Glasgow farm, upon which he now resides, leaving his son-in-law, Elmer Garrett, to run the home farm.
Mr. Lybarger was married, September 28, 1865, to Miss Catherine Rupert, a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jacob Rupert, who came to Ohio in 1839 and located in Ganges, where he followed his trade of shoemaking for some years, and later engaged in mer- chandising. Mrs. Lybarger's maternal grandfather, Ludwig Weber, was a soldier of the war of 1812, while one of his sons, George Weber, was a captain in the Mexican war. Mr. and Mrs. Lybarger have two children : Cordelia, the wife of Joseph Arnold, of Blooming Grove township, this county ; and Ida Belle, the wife of Elmer Garrett.
Politically Mr. Lybarger is an ardent Democrat, and religiously is a member of the Reformed church. He is thoroughly identified with the interests of his native county, and is well known as an enterprising and reliable business man.
WILLIAM McCONKIE.
William McConkie, a representative farmer living in Worthington town- ship, is one of the native sons of Richland county, for his birth occurred in Worthington township July 25, 1830. His father, James McConkie, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1793, and there he spent the days of his boyhood and youth. When a young man he came to Stark county, Ohio, where he remained two or three years, and in 1816 he took up his abode in Worthington township, Richland county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government, locating here in 1818. He was accompanied by his father. The land was all covered with heavy timber and the work of improvement and progress in the county seemed scarcely begun. Mr. McConkie erected a log cabin upon the farm which he developed, and spent the remainder of his days there, devoting his energies to the work of clearing and improving his land. He died when about seventy-five years of age. In politics he was first a Whig, and on the dissolution of that party he joined the ranks of the Republican party. He served as justice of the peace and trustee in an early day. His father, Robert McConkie, was born and reared in Ireland and on emigrating to America settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He was of Scotch
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lineage, for his parents were born in Scotland and removed thence to the north of Ireland. After residing in Westmoreland county for some time Robert McConkie came to Stark county, Ohio, and in 1818 he purchased the farm in Worthington township that is now owned by the subject of this sketch. He bought it from a man who had entered it from the government, becom- ing the owner of eight acres. There he carried on farming throughout the remainder of his days. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church, and in his political belief was a Whig.
The maternal grandfather of our subject was William Johnson. He, too, was a native of the north of Ireland, and on crossing the Atlantic to the new world made his home in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. Subse- quently he removed to Knox county, Ohio, locating just across the line from Richland county at a period when this portion of Ohio was a frontier region. A portion of Liberty village stands upon his farm. He was an active Dem- ocrat and held various local offices, discharging his duties with fidelity. He held membership in the United Presbyterian church and died in that faith, at the age of eighty-seven years. His daughter Sarah became the wife of James McConkie. She was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and in her maidenhood came to Ohio. An earnest Christian woman, she belonged to the United Presbyterian church, and her life was consistent with her pro- fession. She lived to be eighty-four years of age and had eleven children, all of whom are now deceased.
William McConkie spent his boyhood days upon the home farm, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He also experienced the hardships and trials of pioneer life. At the age of twenty-five he rented the homestead and managed it for two years. He afterward exchanged a farm in Iowa for his present home farm, and in 1859 took up his abode in Worthington township, on the farm where he has since resided.
Mr. McConkie was united in marriage to Rebecca Vance, a daughter of John and Susanna Vance. The lady is a native of Stark county, Ohio, and by her marriage she became the mother of seven children, two of whom died in early childhood. The others are as follows: John Walter, who still resides at home, is engaged in dealing in buggies and is also a life insurance agent. He is very active in politics, being a stalwart Republican. In 1894 he was a member of the state central committee, and in 1896 was a mem- ber of the national committee. In 1900 he served as a member of the national Republican executive committee. For three years he has been a delegate to the state conventions and at the present time (1900) he is in
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Chicago, where the national headquarters of the Republican party have been established. Ten years ago he was a census enumerator in Richland county. Elwood O., the second son, runs the home farm; Lawrence is also engaged in farming, in Worthington township; Alfred is employed in a livery stable in Mansfield; and Mary, the youngest, is a bookkeeper and stenographer in Cleveland.
Mr. McConkie exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and is a stalwart advocate of its prin- ciples. He has served as a school director, but has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to devote his time and energies to the business affairs in which he has met with creditable success. He has now reached the psalmist's span of three-score years and ten. He is still actively con- cerned in business affairs in a way that should put to shame many a younger man, who, grown weary with the struggles of life, would relegate to others the burdens that he should bear. Mr. McConkie is numbered among the pioneers and has watched with interest the progress that has placed Rich- land county among the leading counties of the state. In the work of advance- ment he has ever borne his part, and in this history he well deserves repre- sentation.
CAPTAIN JAMES CUNNINGHAM.
Captain James Cunningham was a son of John Cunningham, a soldier of the American Revolution. John Cunningham was born in Ireland. His parents died when he was very young, and he was reared in his uncle's family until he was twelve years old, when he was put on board a sailing vessel bound for America and placed in charge of the captain. Arriving in Baltimore, he was indentured. Upon attaining his majority he was informed that there was the sum of two thousand dollars in a bank to his credit. He then went · into business for himself, at Richmond, Virginia. Upon the breaking out of the Revolutionary war he returned to Baltimore and enlisted in the Second Maryland Regiment, and was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, Septem- ber II, 1777. General Lafayette was wounded in the same battle. The Cunningham estate in Ireland was very large, and it was afterward ascer- tained that the boy-John Cunningham-was sent to America and reported dead, and that his uncle then took possession of the property!
Captain James Cunningham was born at Baltimore, Maryland, where he grew up to manhood and was educated. Later he went to Virginia, where, in 1804, he married Hannah Stateler, a daughter of Michael and Sarah
CAPT. JAMES CUNNINGHAM.
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Stateler. Soon after his marriage he removed with the Stateler family to Licking county, Ohio. He had one child, named Elizabeth, who afterward married Jacob Baughman, of Richland county. There is a sketch of Mrs. Baughman elsewhere in this work.
Mrs. Cunningham died when her child-Elizabeth-was six months old. After a few years the Captain again married, and removed to Richland county in 1808, and built the third cabin in the Newman settlement on the Rocky Fork. He afterward lived in the first house built in Mansfield, and boarded the surveying party when the town was platted.
Captain Cunningham was very prominent in the early history of the country, and was a captain in the war of 1812. He taught school for a number of years and was a man of note and of influence in the community. He united with the Christian church early in the '30s, and remained in its fellowship until his death, in August, 1870, when aged nearly ninety years.
WILLIAM ACKERMAN.
William Ackerman, of Mansfield, Ohio, comes from the fatherland and the strongest and most creditable characteristics of the Teutonic race have been marked elements in his life and have enabled him to win success in the face of opposing circumstances. He possesses the energy and deter- mination which mark the people of Germany and by the exercise of his powers he has steadily progressed, and is to-day able to lay aside all busi- ness cares and spend his remaining years in ease and quiet.
Mr. Ackerman was born in Esslingham, Germany, a son of Jacob and Magdalene Ackerman. When young he came to New York, and through his own exertions obtained a good practical education by attending night school in that city. On coming to Ohio, in 1857, he first located in Can- ton, where he worked for the Ball Machinery Company, but in 1861 came to Mansfield, which has since been his home. On his arrival here the first buildings of the Aultman-Taylor Company were being erected and he helped put in the machinery. He then worked in the wood department for sev- eral years, and held the responsible position of foreman for the long period of twenty-six years, retiring in 1897 on account of ill health. Those who know him best speak in unqualified terms of his integrity and honor, and the old employes of the company say that there never was a better man or better foreman. Of the original stockholders only Mr. Ackerman and Andrew Burneson are now living.
Mr. Aultman, a practical machinist, interested Mr. Taylor, the president
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of the Elgin Watch Company, in the enterprise, and under the name of the Aultman-Taylor Company they began business in Mansfield, at first employing only a few men, but the business of the firm has now reached such vast proportions that eight hundred men find work in the factory. Mr. Ackerman and Mayor Huntington Brown were the first representatives of the company on the road. They traveled all over the western states and visited many agents in the interest of the company from 1860 to 1880, and in 1876 Mr. Ackerman rode throughout Texas on horseback, intro- ducing their business. He and Mr. Brown are about the only ones left of the men who first composed the company. He had the pleasure of dining with Mr. Taylor at his home in Chicago about a week before the lat- ter's death. His only son, Chatfield Taylor, inherited about two million dollars. Mr. Aultman died suddenly at his home in Canton, Ohio, about twenty years ago. M. D. Harter, also of Canton, became interested in the business at a very early day and was the manager and president for many years. He was a congressman from his district two terms. Mr. Acker- man was once caught in a fifteen-foot fly-wheel which was going at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour and made two revolutions before he was released ! He was under the care of three physicians for nine days, but at the end of five weeks was able to be out, his escape from death being almost mirac- ulous. He had charge of the exhibit of the company at the World's Fair in Chicago, where he remained seven months, going a month early in order to put the machinery in operation. They had the largest exhibit of the kind on the grounds. Mr. Ackerman designed and built the threshing machine that took the prize at the Nebraska State Fair in Omaha, in 1883. He served the company faithfully and well for many long years, and can now enjoy a well-earned rest.
In Canton, Ohio, Mr. Ackerman married Miss Mary Bankof, a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Koons) Bankof, who were born in Switzerland and died in Canton, Ohio. Five children blessed this union, namely : Will- iam, who is now in the employ of I. R. Brown, of Mansfield; Jannette, a graduate of the Aultman Hospital in Canton; Ida, who was graduated at the high school of Mansfield and is now a stenographer in the office of the Aultman-Taylor Company; and Maud, a stenographer. The family have a pleasant home on West Third street.
Politically Mr. Ackerman is a strong Republican, and in 1889 he was appointed a member of the election board of Mansfield for four years by Governor Foraker. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, having joined the order in Canton in 1861, and was the first to take that degree in Mansfield,
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February 17, 1881. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was one of the organizers of the Richland County His- torical Society. In 1864, during the Civil war, he enlisted in the One Hun- dred and Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served four months. Religiously he is a faithful member of the Lutheran church, and was an active member of the choir for many years.
AMOS D. NORRIS.
Amos D. Norris, a practical and progressive farmer and horticulturist of Worthington township, was born February 29, 1840, on a farm adjoin- ing that on which he. yet resides. His father, William Norris, was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, born September 19, 1816, and was of Irish lineage, for his father, Jonathan Norris, was a native of the Emerald isle, whence he emigrated to America at the age of nineteen years. Through- out a considerable period he resided in Pennsylvania, but died on the home- stead farm of the family in Richland county, at the age of sixty-nine years and six months. He was an active supporter of the Republican party and served as supervisor and trustee of his township.
He married Mary E. Caine, a native of France. Among their children was William Norris, who was brought by his parents to Richland county. Two years later the family located in Worthington township, and a farm of one hundred and sixty acres was purchased. At the age of nineteen years Amos D. Norris bought half of his father's farm and cleared the greater portion of the tract, transforming it into richly cultivated fields. Upon that place he spent his remaining days and in his business affairs was highly successful, his labors bringing to him an excellent financial return. He was energetic and his efforts were guided by keen discrimination and sound judgment. As his financial resources increased he added to his land until he owned over half a section, and was also the possessor of per- sonal property to the value of sixteen thousand dollars in money and mort- gages at the time of his death. In addition to general farming he carried on stock-raising and became the wealthiest man in the township. His busi- ness affairs were conducted in a most honorable and straightforward man- ner and he enjoyed the confidence of all with whom he had dealings. His political support was given the Republican party and he never swerved in his allegiance thereto, yet he never sought office and served in no official position save that of school director. He married Rebecca Measel, a native of Frederick county, Maryland. Both were consistent Christian people,
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