USA > Ohio > Seneca County > A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio > Part 21
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On the 10th of July, 1878, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bever and Miss Sootie J. Rugg, of Franklin county, and they have three children,-Mabel M., Roscoe and Thurlow, all of whom are graduates of the Fostoria high school, and all of whom are zealous members of the Presbyterian church.
NICHOLAS ROCK.
It is gratifying in this age to meet a man who has had the courage to face the battles of life with strong heart and steady hand and to win in the stern conflict by bringing to bear only those forces with which nature has equipped him,-determined purpose, invincible courage, sturdy self-reliance and that self-respect which is begotten of worthy ambition and a desire to do right under all circumstances. These ele- mental attributes of character have been signally exemplified in the ca- reer of the gentleman whose name initiates this review, for he came to this country from the fatherland without the aid of capitalistic rein- forcement or influential friends, and has gained a notable victory through the normal and legitimate avenues of industrial activity, being now a successful merchant of Reedstown, Seneca county, and also having in the
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same township a valuable farm property. He has become one of the representative citizens of his township, and his course has been such as not only to gain him distinct prosperity but also the great reward implied in the confidence and esteem of those who know him.
Mr. Rock was born in the grand duchy of Luxemburg, on the 30th of May, 1857, the son of John and Catherine (Lang) Rock, who be- came the parents of sixteen children, of whom eleven survive, while only four of the number are residents of the United States, namely: Dom- inick, of Bismarck, Huron county, Ohio; Matthew, a resident of San- dusky ; Catherine, the wife of John Fritz, of Thompson township, Seneca county ; and Nicholas, the subject of this review. John Rock was for many years engaged in the hat, cap and furnishing-goods business in the town of Dudlingen, Luxemburg, where his death occurred in the year 1874, his widow still maintaining her home there. Our subject was reared and educated in his native place and there learned the trade of shoemaking, to which he devoted his attention until 1880, when he came to America, his resources at the time of his arrival being repre- sented in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, and this being bor- rowed capital. From New York he came to Sandusky, Ohio, where he entered the employ of his uncle, John Greethan, who was there engaged in the grocery and provision business. He was thus employed for a period of three years and within this time there was assigned to him the duty of driving a huckstering wagon through the section of Seneca county where he now makes his home. While thus engaged Mr. Rock formed the acquaintance of Miss Veronica Gerber, to whom he was united in marriage on the 24th of October, 1882, she having been born in Thompson township, the daughter of Michael Gerber, who was born in the province of Alsace, which was then a portion of the territory of France, and who emigrated thence to America and became one of the early settlers of Seneca county, Ohio. In the spring subsequent to his marriage Mr. Rock located on the farm, in Reed township, which he now owns, the same comprising eighty acres and having been then the property of his father-in-law. Here he continued to devote his attention to general agriculture and stock-raising and here, on the 27th of Octo-
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ber, 1887, occurred the death of his wife, who is survived by four chil- dren,-Charles M., Monica R., Peter M. and Veronica. On the 22d of October, 1889, Mr. Rock was married to Miss Rosa Dannenmiller, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, the daughter of John Dannen- miller, who was an influential farmer of that locality, where his death occurred. Two children have been born to our subject and his wife,- Julia and Scholastica. In 1892 Mr. Rock left the farm, which he had purchased of his first wife's father several years previously, and located in Reedtown, where he purchased the mercantile establishment and busi- ness of John G. Weaver, and here he has since continued to do a thriving business, handling a select and comprehensive stock of general mer- chandise and securing a representative patronage from the wide radius of territory normally tributary to the village. He is progressive and public-spirited in his attitude, and none can envy him a success so worthily achieved. He still owns his farm property, the place being well improved and under effective cultivation. Though never an aspirant for office Mr. Rock has given a steadfast allegiance to the Democratic party, and his religious faith is that of the Catholic church, in which he was reared, his communion being with St. Mary's Assumption church in Reed. He visited the Paris exposition of 1900 and incidentally made a quite extended tour of the European continent, having the pleasure at the time of visiting his old home in Luxemburg.
ELLSWORTH L. McDOLE.
It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of the state lies not in its machinery of government, or even its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. To this class belongs Ells- worth L. McDole, of Kansas, Seneca county, a man prominent in the business, social, political and church circles of the village.
Mr. McDole was born in Meigs county, Ohio, July 1, 1861, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Adams) McDole. The father was a native of the
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Keystone state, his birth having there occurred in Beaver county, on the 28th of December, 1825, and he was of Irish extraction. When a child he removed with his parents to Meigs county, Ohio, where he grew to years of maturity, and there he was married. When the time came for him to assume the responsible duties of life for himself he chose the life of a farmer, and in that county he followed the tilling of the soil until 1884. He was an energetic and capable agriculturist, and became a man of much influence in his locality. In that year he came to Kansas, Ohio, and after his son's marriage he took up his abode with him, and here he and his wife both still reside. In political matters he was formerly an old-line Whig, but in later years he has been an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, although he has never sought the honors of pub- lic office. For many years he has also been an active member of the Dis- ciples' church. As a companion on the journey of life Mr. McDole chose Miss Sarah Adams, who was born at Yellow Creek, Jefferson county, Ohio, June 19, 1835. Her father, John Adams, was descended from the old Revolutionary branch of the family of that name. Unto this union were born three children,-W. Asbury, who for many years has been a teacher and merchant in Parkersburg, West Virginia: Ulysses C., of Kansas, Ohio; and Ellsworth L., the subject of this review.
Ellsworth L. McDole was reared to years of maturity under the parental roof, and during his early youth he attended the common schools of his locality, while later he entered the Longbottom Academy, of Meigs county, where he enjoyed superior advantages. At the age of twenty-one years he entered the school-room as an instructor, and for the twelve following years he devoted his entire time and attention to educa- tional work, in West Virginia, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri and again in Ohio. During four years of that time he was the efficient principal of the Kansas, Ohio, schools. While engaged in the teacher's profession he also studied medicine, under the preceptorship of Drs. E. H. and A. M. Chilcote, of Bloomdale, Wood county, Ohio, and later entered the medical department of the University of Wooster, but one year prior to his graduation he was obliged to leave that institution on account of ill health. After abandoning the profession of teaching he engaged in
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the drug business, in 1894, and has continued in the same to the present time. Mr. McDole has ever been a stalwart advocate of Republican prin- ciples, and by that party he has been many times elected to positions of honor and trust. For a number of years past he has been a member of the county and executive committees of his party. For a short time he served as deputy collector of revenues, under Colonel Waldorf, and was later appointed a gauger at Troy, Ohio; but, although he stood the highest in the civil-service examination, he did not accept the position, owing to his extensive business interests. He has served as a member of the county board of school examiners, and on January 1, 1898, was made the postmaster at Kansas, Ohio. Prior to that time, in April, 1893, he was elected a justice of the peace, and has ever since continued to fill that position. He has also served as deputy state superintendent of elections.
The marriage of Mr. McDole was celebrated on February 25, 1900, when Miss Minnie I. Hinsman became his wife. She is a native of San- dusky county, Ohio, and a daughter of Christian Hinsman. They have one child, Julia, born February 24, 1902. In his social relations Mr. Mc- Dole is a member of Kansas Lodge, No. 183, Knights of Pythias, in which he has served as deputy grand chancellor, under appointment by Grand Chancellor Winn : he is also a member of Kansas Lodge, No. 405, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Kansas Tent, Knights of the Maccabees. Since 1884 he has been a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, in which for several years he served as a steward and as Sunday-school superintendent. He is a man of strong mentality, keen discernment, great tact and resolute purpose, and is therefore well fitted for the political honors which have been conferred upon him.
JAMES PILLARS.
The late Judge James Pillars, of Tiffin, well deserves more than casual mention in connection with those men whose lives here carried an influence in shaping the history of this community. He was born,
JUDGE JAMES PILLARS.
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as he himself often expressed it, on "Yellow creek," in Jefferson county, Ohio, about 1820, the exact date of his nativity being unknown, even to himself. Scarcely anything can be learned of his family, though we know that he early inclined to study, familiarizing himself with such limited books as he could secure for himself or borrow for the time being. His desire was for the acquirement of an education, and in accordance with that fixed idea he entered the academy at Norwalk, Ohio, though no data can now be obtained touching his removal from his native county. After obtaining such advantages as the academy afforded he began reading law in the office and under the preceptorship of John Whitbeck, at Norwalk. In seeking for a suitable location in which to begin the practice of his chosen profession he chose Tiffin, having already formed some few acquaintances here, among others being Warren P. Noble, who was then a young lawyer of about his own age.
He applied himself to the principles of the law, the abstruse reason- ing upon which it was based appealing strongly to his peculiarly analytical mind. Clients were slow in coming, and for several years the practice of his profession afforded him a precarious living. He had not learned the art of retaining money, and the end of each year found him no better off financially than at its beginning until the time when he decided to join his fortunes with those of the lady of his choice, Miss Sarah M. Deming. of Norwalk. She possessed to a high degree the business tact and managerial ability lacking in her husband, and henceforth the financial clouds were less ominous, the sunshine of prosperity being more frequently seen through the rift.
Judge Pillars was never of a popular turn of mind, his warmest friendships being with those few who could understand him. Never a special aspirant for public honors, he was prevailed upon, in 1859, to become a candidate for the nomination for state senator, but not ยท being disposed to make a personal canvass and lacking those traits that enhance personal popularity he was defeated. When he was nominated for a seat on the common-pleas bench, in 1868, he was chosen without special effort, as his legal ability was well known to be second to that of no man in the district. As a judge he was hard-working and methodical.
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his technical and profound knowledge of law enabling him to hand down decisions that were notable for clarity and for soundness of logic, and strength and brilliancy of diction, while they ever manifested his thorough familiarity with law and precedent. Judge Pillars' ability and keenness of intellect were such that he would have graced a seat on the supreme bench, delighting as he did in the analytical discussion of those fundamental principles that form the basis of all law. He took a deep interest in the younger members of the bar, no task asked at his hands being too onerous or too great for him to grant and fulfill. He often wrote the entries for them, and in this his exactness, clearness and mastery of the language were clearly shown, the articles being models of brevity, conciseness and powerful composition. He was a wide reader and his powers of assimilation were prodigious, his private library stand- ing pre-eminent in this section of the state. He found greatest consola- tion in the perusal of those old authors whose wit and learning have graced the past, and no sacrifice was too great when the object was to secure some ancient volume valuable in edition, contents or binding. His arguments on the bench, while noted for incisive logic, brevity, clarity and force, often led to conclusions that caused much opposition, it not being merely hinted but openly declared that his decisions were some- times shaped by extraneous influences that militated against strict justice. He demanded more exactness of procedure on the part of attorneys who had fallen into somewhat loose methods, and thus elevated the courts, placing business upon a more methodical basis than heretofore, though what was gained in one way might have been lost in another. His keenness of intellect and command of the basic principles made his mind specially ready to grasp new points of law,-possibly to the exclusion of reasoning that might lead to sounder judgment. He was never more at home than when supporting by the subtlest logic what seemed to others a losing side, his facility of argument and coloring with delicate shades of language leading his opponents to accept his views. Whatever may have been said in criticism of Judge Pillars, no one ever questioned his ability or learning, and had his nature been evenly balanced there would have come from his life an influence for good beyond the power
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of man to conjecture. He was a peculiar man,-probably with more diversified elements and attributes than any other man who has ever lived in Tiffin, and whatever phases of character were presented for con- templation, there would be ever found a brilliancy second to none. His mind was of that texture found in the pessimist, the world carrying a dark and forbidding aspect for him, the result of this attitude being that in his later years he became almost misanthropic, recourse being fre- quently had to those stimulants whose effect was to momentarily en- hance and emphasize the natural brilliancy of a once powerful mind, but whose reflex was to intensify the darker, sadder musings of a disordered and distorted imagination.
Judge Pillars died in the year 1888, having tasted much of life, feeling the thrill that comes from pure, abstract reasoning and from liv- ing in touch with the master minds of centuries past, and also realizing to the full the bitterness resulting from being out of sympathy with those with whom he lived and moved.
C. G. COOK.
Mr. Cook is the superintendent of the Peabody Buggy Company, of Fostoria. He has resided in this city since 1887 and has occupied his present position since 1897. Previous to that time he was for five years connected with the Fostoria Buggy Company, the predecessor of the cor- poration which he now represents. Mr. Cook is a native of Dayton, Ohio, in which city his birth occurred in 1850. After acquiring his education in the public schools he began learning the carriagemaker's trade, which he also followed in Cincinnati. He became an expert workman, master- tering the business in every detail. He thoroughly understands mechan- ical principles, is practical and is fully competent to direct the efforts of the large force of workmen employed in the factory. He has supervision over the labors of from one hundred to one hundred and thirty men, and is thus controlling a business of considerable magnitude. In his relations
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with those who work under him he is always fair and just, and is ready to recommend for promotion, as opportunity offers, all those who are diligent, honorable and loyal to the company's interests. He owes his own advancement to reliability, close application and steadfast prin- ciples. These qualities have won him continual promotion until he to- day occupies a very prominent position in trade circles.
Mr. Cook was married, in Dayton, Ohio, to Miss Kate Linkert, of Rochester, New York, and they now have two sons and a daughter. One son, Harry, occupies the position of foreman in the employ of E. W. Walker, at Goshen, Indiana, while William works with his father in the factory of the Peabody Buggy Company. The daughter is Gertrude, a student in the high school. Socially Mr. Cook is identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he had taken royal-arch degree. He also has membership relations with the Knights of the Maccabees and in his political affiliations is a Republican, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him as he prefers to give his entire time and attention to his business interests. His life history illustrates how potent are loyal principles, diligence and honorable effort in attaining success when one does not have friends or wealth to aid him at the outset of a career.
WILLIAM HENRY NORRIS.
Among the most highly regarded citizens of the city of Tiffin, Ohio, is William H. Norris, who has resided here since 1891, having been previously engaged in agricultural pursuits. Although not actively engaged in farming Mr. Norris still exercises a superintendence over his land, which is located in the near vicinity, while he enjoys all the com- forts of city life in his pleasant home, at No. 191 North Sandusky street.
Mr. Norris is a son of the Buckeye state, having been born in Seneca county November 11, 1831. His ancestral line runs back to England, from which land came his great-grandparents, Nathaniel and Grace Norris, who settled in Frederick county, Maryland. There the grandparents of
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our subject were born, Thomas P. and Susanna Norris, the former on February 18, 1765, and the latter on March 16, 1775. They moved to Harrison county, Ohio, in the early days of its settlement, and they were accompanied by their son Lott, who was then a young man. An older brother, Nathaniel, had come to Seneca county in 1827, and in the latter part of the same year Lott Norris, who was the father of our subject, also came hither. They entered government land in Scipio township, four miles northwest of Republic. At that time the whole country was covered with a heavy growth of timber, and it required much hard work to clear this land and convert it into its present state of fertile pro- ductiveness.
After his marriage, in the spring following his location, Lott Norris erected a comfortable log cabin on his land and devoted his energies to the clearing of his acres and improving his condition. He owned ninety acres here and remained on the farm for some eight years, removing then to a new purchase, near by, of ninety-two acres, of which eight acres had already been cleared. Here Mr. Norris worked with unceas- ing industry until within a few years of his death, retiring prior to that event to Tiffin, where he passed away at the age of sixty-one years. Although he had been a busy man from his earliest days of activity, he found time to faithfully serve his community in various official posi- tions, his clear judgment and known integrity making him a valuable citizen. He accumulated means, and at the time of his death owned one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land in Adams township and an additional one hundred and eighty-two acres in Scipio township, all of which had been acquired by his own energy. When the Mad River Railroad was built through this county it materially increased the value of his property. He was an interested and active member of the Repub- lican party, and was a leading member of the Methodist church, aiding in its early establishment in his locality.
The mother of our subject belonged to one of the old and long- established families of Maryland. Her name was Lourana Todd, and she accompanied her parents upon their removal to Seneca county, where they also entered government land. She was an attendant of the
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Dunkard church, and although she never became a member the simplicity of life and the pious and unworldly belief of the adherents of their faith attracted her. She died at the age of forty-eight years. Eight children were born to Lott and Lourana (Todd) Norris, two of whom are deceased, namely : Mary, who died in 1864 ; and Charles, who died when but eighteen years of age, while serving in the army. The survivors are as follows: William, who is our subject and the eldest of the family; Ephraim, who is a farmer in Adams township; John, who resides in Tiffin; Sarah, who married Jacob Bunnell; Susan, who mar- ried B. J. Vandervere; and Emma, who married Albert Bunnell.
The boyhood days of our subject were spent at home, where his youthful energies found plenty of exercise in assisting in farm work. His educational advantages were rather limited, not on account of any want of ambition on his part or neglect on the part of his parents, but because of conditions prevailing at the time in this locality. He remained at home and gave his assistance to his father until he was twenty-four years of age, and then started out in life for himself. He went to Mason county, Illinois, and there worked for several years as a carpenter, but at the request of his parents he returned to his home and remained there, giving needed assistance in the management of his father's large interests for eighteen months.
Mr. Norris was married October 7, 1858, to Miss Lizzie Coffman, who was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1833, being a daughter of Joseph and Fannie (Kanagy) Coffman, the spelling of the family name having formerly been Kauffman. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania, whence they came to Seneca county in 1842, settling in Scipio township, where her father became a large farmer and an act- ive member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died at the age of eighty years and seven months, and was a man who was noted not only for his prominence and financial prestige, but also for his many benefac- tions to the poor, his charities being liberal and wide spread. He was generous to his children, giving eighty acres of land to each one of the six. His father, Peter Coffman, was a native of Switzerland and be- longed to the Moravian faith. The mother of Mrs. Norris was likewise
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a consistent and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her years were extended to ninety-two. The maternal grandpar- ents of Mrs. Norris were of English lineage, the original American an- cestors having come to Pennsylvania, the grandparents being born in Shippensburg, that state, and later became residents of Stark county, Ohio, in the days of its early settlement.
Mr. and Mrs. Norris had a family of four sons, two of whom died in early childhood, the survivors being: Charles Albert, who is a pros- perous farmer of Adams township; and Martin Edward, who is also successfully engaged in farming, in Scipio township. Mrs. Norris inher- ited eighty acres of land from her father's estate, and this she trans- ferred to one of her sons, and eighty acres were also given to the other son, this still leaving a tract of eighty acres, which Mr. Norris rents.
After his marriage Mr. Norris bought a farm in Scipio township, although he was obliged to go into debt, but in a short time was able to add an adjoining tract of eighty acres, in Adams township. His in- dustry has been rewarded by prosperity. Mr. Norris has not been un- mindful of public affairs, even while his family and business called for his close attention. For two years he belonged to the state militia, and in May, 1864, when the call came for defenders of the nation's capital, he, like Cincinnatus of old, left his plow in the furrow, and with Com- pany K. One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment, under Colonel Lee, hastened to the city of Washington. Mr. Norris remained on his farm until increasing years prompted him to turn over its active management to a tenant and enjoy the ease which his industry and energy had earned. In 1891 he erected his present comfortable residence in Tiffin, and since removing there has been one of the city's esteemed citizens, interested in its development and assisting in public-spirited enterprises. Mrs. Norris and her sons are particularly active in the Methodist church and in the charitable and benevolent work in this city.
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