USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 70
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and three daughters,-as follows: A daughter that died in Germany ; Martin, now living at Vernon Junction, a merchant in business and the postmaster of the place; Phillip, living in New York city, carrying on the business of a commission merchant ; a daughter that died in infancy; Julius, who died in Richland county, Ohio, at the age of fifty-two years; Peter, the subject of this sketch; and a daughter that died in infancy. The father of these chil- dren died in September, 1871, and the mother in the autumn of 1878, at the age of sixty-three years.
Peter Smith was educated in the common schools, receiving as thor- ough a course of instruction as they could then supply, being given his time at the age of eighteen, as were the other sons of the family. For three years thereafter he managed the home farm on shares, and then for some time worked for Abraham Farrington in the egg-packing business. In 1868 he went to Chicago, where he was employed by his two brothers in the com- mission business for four years. For the four subsequent years he was located in Vernon county, Iowa, engaged in the business of packing eggs. Next he returned to the old farm, in 1877, where, on December 30, 1878, he was married to Margaret Krishbaum, who was born March 16, 1864, in San- dusky City, Ohio. She is a daughter of Jacob and Kate ( Mathias) Krish- baum, the latter of whom died at the age of seventy-five, leaving five chil- dren, and the former of whom is now seventy-five years of age, a widower and following farming for a livelihood.
Peter Smith and his wife lived on their present farm ever since their marriage, eighty acres of which he purchased in 1892, which added to the original eighty acres purchased by his father brings the total acreage up to one hundred and sixty acres. For the eighty acres Mr. Smith paid three thousand, four hundred and seventy-five dollars. The brick house in which he now lives was erected by his father in 1858. Mr. Smith carries on a general farming business, raising mainly wheat and corn,-from seven to eight hundred bushels of wheat and about one thousand bushels of corn each year, besides keeping about twenty head of cattle and five or six horses. He is one of the most industrious men of his part of the state, and one of the most practical and successful farmers. Politically he is a Democrat, and has served on the school board for twelve consecutive years. He is a mem- ber of the local Grange, of which he has served as a director. All the above items, taken together, are an indication of the confidence placed in him by his fellow citizens.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children, viz .: Katie, wife of William Klaun and the mother of a fine baby boy named Jacob Klaun; Amy Amanda,
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a young woman at home, sixteen years of age, well educated and with great practical common sense. She is one of the industrious young women of the neighborhood, devoid of false pride, willing to work wherever there is work for her to do, in the house or in the field, and has a fine musical education and tastes. The other child is named Phillip Leroy, a fine, manly little fellow of eleven years. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Smith have always stood high in the estimation of their neighbors and friends. and are most excellent people.
JOSEPH TAYIOR.
One of the substantial farmers of Richland county, Joseph Taylor is now practically living retired in Springfield township, where he owns a val- uable tract of one hundred acres. His life has been one of marked activity in business affairs and his present rest from labor is therefore well merited. He was born in Lincolnshire, England, February 9, 1814, a son of Robert Taylor. The days of his youth were passed in his native land and in the year 1851 he sailed for America on the three-masted vessel, Constantine, of the Swallow Tail line, making the passage in four weeks and five days from Liverpool to New York. He did not tarry in the eastern metropolis but went to Albany and thence to Buffalo by rail. In the fall of the same year he came to Mansfield, accompanied by his brother, Robert Taylor, who died in this county, at the age of forty seven years, leaving two daughters and six sons. When they arrived in Richland county they had a capital of a few hundred dollars. They worked at ditching or anything that would yield them an honorable living. After three years had passed the father came to America with his children, the mother having died in England. Here he spent his remaining days, passing away in 1887, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Up to the time of his death he was still active in mind and body.
At the age of thirty-two Joseph Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Maria Scott, a native of England, and unto them were born six children, but only two survived the mother's death. One son, Joseph W., is now managing his own and his father's farms. He has one son and two daugh- ters. After the death of his first wife Mr. Taylor was again married, his second union being with Sarah Ann Scrofield, of England. They became the parents of a daughter, Nellie Josephine, who is still at home. They reside on the farm of one hundred acres, which is one of the best prop- erties in this section of the county.
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Mr. Taylor has led a very energetic and busy life, performing much hard work. He has cleared eighty acres of his land, but still has a good timber tract, which supplies him with all the fuel used on the place. At present he is living retired, his son working the farm. His rest is well deserved, for he has reached the eighty-sixth milestone on life's journey. In politics he has long been a stalwart Republican and for twenty-five years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In the evening of his days he is surrounded with many comforts which have come to him as the result of his earnest toil in former years. He can look back over the past without regret and forward to the future without fear, and to-day he is regarded as one of the most venerable and highly esteemed residents of his adopted county.
SAMUEL S. McCULLY.
Samuel S. McCully, an agriculturist, enterprising and progressive, liv- ing in Sandusky township, is numbered among the native sons of Richland county, for his birth occurred in Mifflin township March 29. 1841. When two years of age he was brought to the neighborhood in which he now lives. His father, William McCully, has reached the advanced age of eighty years and for fifty-seven years has resided upon the farm. In early manhood he wedded Mary Simpson, a daughter of Samuel Simpson, whose wife was a Miss Hout prior to their marriage. The parents of our subject lost a son in early childhood, who was named Milton, but they have four living chil- dren, as follows: Samuel; Sarah J., the wife of D. B. Leavett; William, of Dayton, Ohio; and John W., a farmer and manufacturer of tile and lumber.
Mr. McCully, of this review, acquired his education in the common schools and for two terms was a student in Hayesville College. He remained at his parental home until the time of his marriage, in 1866, to Mary McGreggor. She died two years later, her infant child also passing away at the same time. Mr. McCully was again married, April 12, 1870, when Helena Livingston, of Crestline. became his wife. She is a daugli- ter of Rensselaer and Rachel (Patrie) Livingston, both natives of Colum- bia county, New York.
In 1870 Mr. McCully located on one of his farms, a mile from his present home, and there resided until 1894, when he removed to the farm on which he now resides. He has here thirty acres of good land near the village of Crestline and the place is improved with a fine brick dwelling, good barns, and a house for his tenant. His other farm consists of one
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hundred and ten acres, on which he also has good buildings, and both prop- erties are under his management. He carries on general farming, raising corn, oats and wheat in rotation and "seeding down" his fields every fourth year. He also keeps cattle and hogs, raising and buying both and preparing them for the market, and he has two fine apple orchards. He is one of the most progressive and enterprising agriculturists in the community.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. McCully has been blessed with three chil- dren : Mary Simpson, the eldest, is the wife of Rev. Albert Beal, of North Brockfield, Massachusetts. He is a minister of the Methodist church and was educated in Delaware, Ohio, and in a theological seminary near Bos- ton. Rev. and Mrs. Beal now have one daughter. Charles W., the sec- ond of the McCully family, is living in Peoria, Illinois. Samuel S., the youngest, is a druggist of Boston. All three are graduates of the Crest" line high school and the daughter is a graduate of the Oberlin school and the Ohio Wesleyan University. She is a lady of superior musical taste and talent, noted for her instrumental and vocal skill. The son, Samuel, was educated in Moss College of Pharmacy, at Boston, and graduated with the highest honors in the class of 1901.
Mr. McCully is a Knight Templar Mason, and in politics is a Repub- lican. He has taken an active interest in school matters and in every- thing pertaining to the welfare of his county. He was reared in the Pres- byterian faith and has contributed to the support of various churches. He was at one time a director in the Richland County Agriculturai Society, filling the position for eight years, and is still accounted one of the active factors in agricultural affairs.
In 1899 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 9th of March at the age of fifty-three years. He still occupies his beautiful home near Crestline. His life has been characterized by energy in business affairs and signalized by success in his ventures. Although he inherited his farm from his father, he has added largely to its value and. at the same time he has manifested a resolute and determined spirit which has enabled him to work his way steadily upward to a plane of affluence.
JOHN M. DARLING.
John M. Darling, an enterprising farmer and miller of Worthington township, was born on the farm where he now lives February 25, 1829. His father, Jonathan Darling, was born in Virginia and was a son of Robert Darling, who was probably a native of the Old Dominion, and died at an
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advanced age. Jonathan spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity and in early manhood removed to Coshocton county, Ohio, where he remained until after his marriage to Miss Catherine But- ler, a native of Coshocton county. With his young wife he came to Rich- land county, locating in Worthington township. From the government he entered the land now owned by our subject, and cleared it ready for the plow. His labors transformed it into highly cultivated fields and he con- tinued his farming operations until his death, which occurred when he was sixty-nine years of age. He was an earnest adherent of Democratic prin- ciples, but was not an office-seeker, and was an active member of the Lutheran church. He served his country in the war of 1812. His wife died on the old family homestead, when about sixty-five years of age, in the faith of the Lutheran church, of which she was a prominent member. This worthy couple had ten children, but only three are now living, namely : Squire of Putnam county, Ohio; John M .; and Jonathan P., a farmer of Richland county.
In his parents' home John M. Darling spent the days of his boyhood and youth, remaining there until his marriage, which occurred when he was twenty-eight years of age, Miss Mary Henry becoming his wife. She is a native of Pennsylvania, but in early girlhood became a resident of the Buck- eye state. They had nine children, of whom three have passed away. At the time of his marriage Mr. Darling's father gave him a part of the home place and he has since resided on that land. He here owns one hundred and sixty acres and in addition has a sixty-acre farm in Ashland county. Upon the latter property stands his gristmill, which he purchased in 1880 and which he has since operated. In both branches of his business he is meet- ing with good success, and his labors have been carefully prosecuted, his methods are practical and progressive and his energy and sound judgment have made his career a prosperous one. His entire life has been passed in Richland county, and those who have known him from boyhood are num- bered among his stanch friends,-a fact which indicates that his career has ever been an honorable one.
N. MARVIN SHEPARD.
On a farm on section 5. Springfield township, the citizen named above devotes his energies to the cultivation and improvement of his fields, and is classed among the wide-awake, practical farmers of the neighborhood.
He was born in this township August 14, 1835. His father, Henry
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Shepard, was a native of Berkeley county, Virginia, born about 1844, and the mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Jane Post. and was a sister of M. V. B. Post. The parents were married in 1832, the bride being then only fourteen years of age; but she had been well trained in the work of the home and became a most competent housekeeper and thus, with her amiable qualities, became a worthy wife. They began life in humble circum- stances, upon a rented farm, and for some years Mr. Shepard also engaged in teaming. He was a man of natural mechanical ability and aided in build.' ing the first gristmill, for Nathan M. Tompkins. Of their seven children one died in infancy and one in childhood. The five reaching adult age were E. Y., who for forty years has been a railroad man and is living in Crest- line, where he has a wife, two daughters and a son; N. Marvin, of this sketch; Willis H., of Topeka, Kansas, who has a son and two daughters; Riley, a farmer in Springfield township; and Eliza, who died at the age of twenty-six years. At his death the father left a farm of sixty acres, on which his son Marvin now resides.
Mr. Shepard, the subject of these paragraphs, obtained his education in the common schools and remained at his parental home assisting his mother until her death. She was a noble woman, devoted to her family, and her memory is enshrined in the hearts of her children and friends. For many years Mr. Shepard was connected with the railroad service, for twenty-two years acting as line-repairer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Dur- ing that entire time he was never censured,-a fact which indicates his fidelity and competency. He now carries on general farming and has placed his land under a system of high cultivation and improved it with many modern accessories.
In April, 1862, he was married to Isabella Leiter, a native of Richland county and a daughter of Samuel and Caroline (Ricksecker) Leiter. Her father, a native of Maryland, was a tailor by trade and is still living. In his family were seven children. Mr. Shepard was a member of the Grange. He left the Democratic ranks to become a supporter of the Prohibition party, and though he has always kept well informed on the issues of the day he has never sought or desired office.
In 1894 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the IIth of July, leaving the household very desolate. She was a lov- ing and faithful wife, an earnest friend and a consistent Christian woman, being a member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Shepard also belongs.
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ED. D. LYON.
Ed. D. Lyon, the superintendent of the public schools of Mansfield, was born in Martinsburg, Knox county, Ohio, in 1862. The Lyon family has long been identified with this country, one of its representatives, a Captain Lyon, having served in the Revolutionary war.
Daniel Lyon, the grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey and in the early part of the nineteenth century emigrated to Ohio, then called the Western Reserve, and made settlement in Knox county, where he spent an active and useful life. At the advanced age of eighty-five years he served as township assessor, and in performing the duties of that office walked all over the township. He had a sturdy character and was honor- able and upright in all his dealings and active and prominent in the Meth- odist church. His wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Dalrymple, was a native of Knox county.
Their son, A. J. Lyon, the father of Ed. D., was born in that county in 1828, graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan University in 1854 ,and imme- diately afterward entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He filled charges at Mount Vernon, Galion, Tiffin, Sandusky, Elyria, Mans- field, Delaware and Berea, and for several years was a presiding elder, his last term in this office being over the Mansfield district. For twenty years he has been a trustee of the Ohio Wesleyan University and at the present he is the treasurer of the board of trustees. His residence is at Delaware, and he is somewhat occupied still in the work of the ministry, not, however, having a regular charge. His wife died in Mansfield, in 1877. She was before marriage Olive Weatherby, and she was a daughter of Edmund Weatherby, of Chesterville, Knox county, one of the prominent men of his day in the county. In 1879 he married Rachel Hay, of a well known family in Ashland county.
E. D. Lyon received his early education in the public schools of Sandusky, Elyria and Mansfield, where, as already stated, his father was stationed as a minister, and then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, of which insti- tution he is a graduate with the class of 1882. Choosing the profession of teaching, Mr. Lyon soon proved himself successful, and he has worked his way forward to a position among the foremost educators of Ohio.
After teaching three years in the Berea high school he served the citi- zens of Brecksville two years as township superintendent, after which he was recalled to Berea, where he was in charge of the schools five years. In 1893 he came to Mansfield, with the schools of which city he has since
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been connected, since 1895 occupying his present position of superintendent. To show something of the importance and responsibility of his position we take pleasure in making here a brief statement regarding the Mansfield schools.
The enrollment of the Mansfield public schools in 1900 was 3,385 pupils, of which 309 were in the kindergarten department; the total number of teachers employed was eighty-six. There are nine school buildings, includ- ing that of the high school, in which is the superintendent's office. The buildings are equipped with all the modern improvements in the methods of heating, ventilation, etc., and the grounds are spacious, well kept and attractive. The school property of the city is valued at two hundred and forty thousand dollars. Forty pupils graduated in 1900, the largest num- ber graduating in a single year in the history of the school.
Mr. Lyon has a pleasant home and an interesting family. He mar- ried Miss Camilla Gallup, of Berea, a daughter of Milton Gallup and his wife, nce Spencer. They have two children,-Philip and Robert.
Personally Mr. Lyon is quick, active and decisive in manner and speech, yet pleasant to all, and is well liked by both pupil and patron.
HARLEN F. SMART.
On the farm where he now resides Harlen F. Smart was born February 15, 1852, and throughout his business career he has carried on agricultural pursuits. His parents, Perry and Louisa (Zody) Smart, had two children, but our subject is the only one now living. The other, Leander Taylor, died in 1892, at the age of forty-five years. The father was born on the old homestead October 30, 1820, his father being Jeremiah Smart. His birth occurred in the old block house at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1777, during the Revolutionary war. He was a son of William Smart, one of the heroes of the struggle for independence.
In 1798 Jeremiah Smart became a resident of Ohio and helped build the first log cabin in Franklin county, the building standing on the present site of the city of Columbus. For two years he roamed over different parts of the state and then returned to Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. Later he was married and in 1814 he brought his wife to Ohio, locating in Mifflin town- ship, Richland county. After two years had passed he entered from the government the quarter section of land upon which the subject of our sketch now resides. Upon this farm he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in his eighty-eighth year. He was a man of strong force of character and
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marked individuality, and his influence proved a potent factor for good in the community. He held membership in the Presbyterian church. For three or four years before his death he was blind, but bore his affiction with Christian fortitude.
Upon the old homestead Perry Smart was reared, sharing with the family in all the hardships and trials of the life of a pioneer. After his marriage he engaged in working the old home place for two years and then purchased one hundred acres of. land, a portion of the "Curt" McBride farm, in Monroe township. There he lived for four years, when he returned to the old homestead, in accordance with his father's wish. He later sold his own farm and purchased the one upon which his father had located many years before. There he spent his remaining days, and in 1891, in his seventy-first year, he was called to his final rest. He exercised his right of franchise in support of Democratic principles and was the treasurer of his township for several terms. Of the Lutheran church he was an active member and was widely recognized as a man of high moral character, whose influence was a bene- diction to all who knew him. His wife, a native of Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, was born January 19, 1824, and was the daughter of Henry Zody, whose parents came to America from Germany soon after their marriage. Henry Zody removed to Ohio in 1830, locating on the Beasore place. Later he removed to the farm upon which David Zody now resides. His daughter, Mrs. Smart, is still living and makes her home with her son, Harlen F. Smart.
The subject of this review spent his boyhood days under the parental roof, acquiring his education in the common schools of the neighborhood and in a select school at Lucas. On attaining his majority he took charge of the home farm and has since carried on agricultural pursuits. A glance at his place will indicate to the passerby the careful supervision of the owner, whose progressive methods have resulted in bringing to him success in his undertak- ings. His fields are well tilled and the place is improved with all the acces- sories and conveniences of a model farm.
In 1892 Mr. Smart was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Lambright, a a native of Ashland county, Ohio, and their union has been blessed with one child, Perry H., who was born October 2, 1892.
Socially Mr. Smart is connected with Mansfield Lodge, No. 35. F. & A. M .; Mansfield Commandery, No. 21, K. T .; and the Scottish rite bodies of the valley of Dayton and consistory of Cincinnati, thirty-second degree. He votes with the Democracy and for six years has served his township as trustee, discharging his duties in a very capable manner. His entire life has
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been passed upon the farm which is now his home, and those who have known him from boyhood as well as acquaintance of his later years esteem him highly for his sterling worth.
JOHN C. OHLER.
The United States owes as much to its farmers as to any other class of its citizens, and it has often been remarked that farmers constitute the real back- bone of our body politic. Ohio has, from the beginning of its civilization, been blessed with a class of farmers characterized by patriotism and sturdy independence beyond those of some other states. Not alone in the field of politics have the farmers of Ohio been active and useful, but at their country's call to arms they have been among the first to respond and have been brave soldiers, risking life gladly, faithfully performing every duty and patiently enduring the hardships to which the fortunes of war subjected them.
Of such admirable Ohio stock came the subject of this sketch, John C. Ohler, who was born near Perrysville, Ashland county, February 17, 1845. a son of Jacob Ohler, and at the early age of five weeks became a settler of Monroe township, Richland county, being brought there by his parents in March, 1845. Jacob Ohler was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1819, and was brought by his parents to Ohio in 1820. The family settled on the farm now owned and occupied by Mrs. Lewis Leiter, in 1821, and shortly afterward moved upon an "eighty" in another part of the township,
where John Ohler's grandfather, the original settler, died, at the age of seventy-one years. Jacob Ohler, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Abigail Hersh, and they had seven children, as follows: Hannah, who is deceased; Solomon, who lives on a part of the old family homestead ; Martin, who has passed away; Elizabeth, the wife of J. C. Sowash, of Lex- ington, Ohio; Catherine, who is dead; John, the subject of this sketch; and Jessie, who also has departed this life.
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