USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > A twentieth century history of Trumbull County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 13
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While he was acting as colonel, he with several hundred of his troops were hemmed in a mountain pass. Forty thousand of the flower of the Confederate army had possession of the pass in the mountains. The field officers of the Union army held a council of war. Nothing could be done, said the general in command, but to surrender. The young colonel soon came up and was asked for an opinion. "Well," said he, "let me think." He thought. Soon he returned to the council and said: "Let me make an attempt to get out of here." He went to work, drew one hundred cav- alrymen, picked from his regiment, and put them in line, ready for a dash, with uplifted swords. Behind these men he placed a picked company of infantry, while other picked cavalrymen took flank positions. The remainder of the troops took a rear position. Then the gallant young officer took his position midway in the line and gave the order to dash. Down the mountain pass rode the brave body of Union boys toward the rebel army of forty thousand. The hundred cavalrymen in the front, brandished their shining sabers, and as they approached the Confederates never for a moment expecting such a bold, sudden attack, opened their lines, and before they could pick up their senses enough to handle their men, General Ratliff and his brave band had passed by. This was near Saltville. This gave courage and final victory to our forces, and added stars to the gallant colonel's epaulets.
Upon his return from the army, he resumed his law practice, in which he continued until elected cashier of the Second National Bank in 1883, which important position he held to the day of his death, September 14, 1887, at about the hour of two o'clock in the morning, he having been ill about five weeks. He was eminently successful in his financial under- takings, but never let business engagements keep him from any kind act to a needy or suffering one, be that person rich, poor, old or young. His was a noble, full rounded Christian manhood, of whom earth has none too many. The resolutions passed by the Trumbull county bar, after his funeral, gave another utterance as to how he was held by the profession in which he was indeed a star of brilliancy.
He was identified with the various orders, including the Grand Army of the Republic, Masons, Odd Fellows, Loyal Legion, and Royal Arcanum. He was a shining Freemason, having advanced to high degrees. He joined the
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Odd Fellows fraternity at Warren, October 27, 1845, and was noble grand in 1849. He was buried, at his request, under the ritual of the Knights Templar order. In his church relations he was a member and vestryman in the Episcopal church, and withal an exemplary Christian gentleman. His funeral sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal church at Warren, by Rev. C. W. Hollister, rector of the church of which he so long had been closely identified.
Of General Ratliff's domestic relations it may be said that he was united in marriage about 1871 or 1872 to Jane Tod, a daughter of Dr. J. 1. Tod, who was a brother of Governor Tod.
C. WESLEY WAGAR, proprietor of the extensive line of lumber, planing mill supplies and builders' goods at Newton Falls, Trumbull county, was born in Lordstown township, Trumbull county, July 14, 1842. The father, John Wagar, a native of New York, was reared in Medina county, Ohio, to which section the parents moved when he was a mere boy. When about sixteen years of age, he went to Trumbull county and married Jane Rinear, daughter of Rev. Edward Rinear, a Methodist minister. The mother was born in Trumbull county, and after marriage the worthy couple settled in Lordstown township. By trade, the father was a shoemaker and carried on such business until he was about eighty-five years of age. His wife still survives, being eighty years of age. His venerable couple had five sons and one daughter, Elizabeth Ward, who is a preacher in the Friends church. The sons were : John, Charles, of West Virginia; James, of Newton Falls; W. C., a painter in Warren, and the one whose name is given at the head of this notice.
C. Wesley Wagar was the eldest of the family and was reared in Lordstown township, where he also obtained his education. He started out on life's sea for himself when about eighteen years of age, being variously employed, at whatever he could best find profitable and honest to do. At the age of twenty-one years he engaged in the timber business, buying, selling and manufacturing. He bought his first mill at Newton Falls. He was married in 1876 to Miss Louie Glasgow and they went to Youngstown, Ohio, where he was interested in milling. He returned to Newton Falls, however, and there engaged in the milling business again. Since then he has owned five mills and now owns two of them. He has property in Newton Falls and timber land in various locations.
In his polities, Mr. Wagar is a firm believer in the final triumph of the Prohibition party and casts his vote with that political party. Mrs. Wagar is the worthy president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union at Newton Falls and an active worker. Mr. Wagar is a member of the town council and takes much interest in the welfare of his home town. In his faith, he is identified with the Christian church, of which body he is the present treasurer. In 1908, when the new church edifice was erected, he was the chairman of the building committee. This building seats six hundred persons and cost twenty thousand dollars.
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The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wagar are as follows: Maude, wife of John Hook, of Akron, Ohio, and Pearl, wife of M. F. Hudson, of Newton Falls.
CHARLES E. STARR, of Newton Falls, is a native of Hudson, Summit county, Ohio, born January 25, 1845, a son of William Starr, who was born in Canfield, Mahoning county, Ohio, July 18, 1818. The grandfather was Comfort Starr, born June 3, 1726, at Danbury, Connecticut, and who in the month of June, 1817, came to Ohio with a two horse wagon, settling in Greenfield, Mahoning county, where he purchased land. He was a hatter by trade and always known in the West as "Uncle Comfort." He served as constable for twenty-one years and was a justice of the peace two years. In his religious faith, he was of the Methodist denomination, being a steward and class-leader. October 27, 1796, he married Abigail Barnum, first cousin of P. T. Barnum, the great showman.
William Starr, father of Charles E. Starr, married October 18, 1843, Mirena, daughter of Richard and Lena (Kellogg) Croy. She was born January 8, 1823. They located at Hudson, Summit county, Ohio, where the father carried on a carpenter's business until 1845, when he came to Newton Falls. His first wife died in Michigan, where he was located a number of years, and for his second wife he married Harriet Merwin, of Mentor, Ohio. By his first wife there were three sons and four daughters born, all reaching maturity. Of this family, two sons and three daughters still survive.
Charles E. Starr is the eldest of the seven children named. He was reared at Newton Falls, where he obtained his education at the public schools, after which he took a course at Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1865, after coming home from the army. He served as a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, being a member of Company F, his enlistment being for one hundred days. After taking his commercial course, already referred to, he was in the employ of Peck Bros., dry goods house, at Warren, Ohio, going from there to Plainwell, Michigan, where he engaged in the painting business four years and then returned to Newton Falls, where he has resided ever since. Here he has been mostly engaged in painting. He was the proprietor of the Newton Falls Woolen Mills for about eighteen years.
Of Mr. Starr's politics, it may be stated that he has ever been a staunch, active Republican, and has filled local positions, covering nearly, if not all, within the town. He was a member of the council three years, township clerk, truant officer, assistant marshal, constable, etc. He is num- bered among the old Civil war comrades of Newton Falls Grand Army of the Republic No. 310, in which he has filled all the offices. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having been thus affiliated since 1867. In church relations, he is of the Methodist Episcopal faith, joining this church in 1875, since which time he has taken an active part.
In 1869 he was married to Martha Hoyle, daughter of Allen and
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Rachel Hoyle, of Newton Falls. She was born in England and came to America when one year old. One son, Frank Albert, blessed this union.
DR. L. G. LELAND, a skillful and highly successful medical practitioner at Newton Falls, Trumbull county, is a native of Ashtabula county, born at Windsor, January 22, 1860. He is the son of John D. Leland, a native of the state of New York, of English descent, and who by profession was an attorney-at-law. The mother of Dr. Leland was Cornelia M. (Alderman) Leland. She was a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, of Puritan stock, her people being among the pioneer band who effected settlement in Ashtabula county. Their only child was Dr. L. G. Leland, of this memoir.
Doctor Leland was reared and educated in Illinois, his father having settled in Iroquois county in the practice of law. There young Leland attended the public schools, a preparatory school and the Western Reserve University, at Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from the medical department in 1883. He located in medical practice in Ashtabula county, where he remained in a successful practice for about twelve years, then moved to Newton Falls in 1896 and has been located there ever since, in the enjoy- ment of a most excellent practice.
The doctor is a member of the State and Trumbull County Medical societies, as well as the American Medical Association. He takes an unusual interest in keeping abreast with all of the more recent medical discoveries, hence is an up-to-date physician and surgeon. He is connected with the Masonic fraternity and politically is an ardent advocate of the general principles of the Republican party.
In 1881, Dr. Leland married Minnie B. Wood, daughter of W. W. and Elizabeth J. Wood of Odenburg, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. They had one son, Proctor Thair, who died in 1902 on the 26th day of August.
OWEN R. JONES, contractor and builder, who is following this high and useful calling among the artisans of Newton Falls and vicinity, is a native of Palmyra, Portage county, Ohio, born July 24, 1843. He is the son of Richard D. Jones, a native of Wales, from which country so many of the excellent and ever industrious citizens of this section of Ohio origi- nally came. The grandfather was John D. Jones, native of Wales, who was the second Welshman to locate in Portage county, or the Western Reserve. Owen R. Jones' mother was Mary (Davis) Jones, also of Wales. Her father was John Davis and he had the distinction of being the first one of his fellow-countrymen to settle in the Western Reserve. It was through his correspondence to his native land that a large emigration went out from Wales to find for themselves homes in the fertile domain of the Western Reserve in Ohio.
Mr. Jones' parents were married in 1840 at Palmyra, Portage county, and located there. The father was a contractor and carpenter, which busi- ness he followed for a number of years. He was forty-four years of age
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at the time of his death, January 20, 1856. He was the father of seven children-three daughters and four sons, all of whom reached manhood and womanhood. Owen R. Jones was the second child in his parents' family. He was reared in Palmyra, Ohio, and in Mahoning county.
During the critical year of the Civil war-1864-Mr. Jones enlisted as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Seventy-first Ohio Volun- teer Infantry Regiment, serving one hundred days in the service of his country in the Union army. He has been successful in his business under- takings and accumulated a competency. Among his holdings may be named his stock in the First National Bank at Newton Falls.
Politically, it should be recorded of Mr. Jones that he cast his first vote for President Abraham Lincoln and has cast one for every Republican president from that date to the present time. He served on the election board in Mahoning county for nine years. In church faith and profession, Mr. Jones is of the Methodist Episcopal denomination and is a very active worker in the church of his choice, beginning such Christian work in 1883. He assisted in the erection of the church edifice at Pricetown, having charge of its construction ; also assisted in building the Newton Falls church. He is one of the trustees of the church at the last named place and delights in church work, both as a duty and real pleasure. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Post No. 310, of which he is now officer of the day.
Owen R. Jones was united in marriage in 1865 to Anna P. Thomas, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas, who was located at Milton, Mahoning county, Ohio, until 1904, when he moved to Newton Falls. Two children have blessed the home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Jones; Elmer E., of Warren, Ohio, and Eva L., wife of Charles R. Shearer, of Wayland.
HENRY HERBERT, cashier of the First National Bank of Newton Falls, is a native of that place, born July 23, 1872, the second son of William Herbert, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Henry Herbert was reared and educated at Newton Falls and attended the School of Commerce at Aurora, New York. He also attended Oberlin College, Ohio. After having received a good education, he entered banking for his business and was the trusty teller of the Western Reserve Bank at Warren for about ten years. In 1900 he came to Newton Falls to take the responsible position of secretary and treasurer of the Newton Falls Banking Company, and upon the organization of the First National Bank, in 1903, he became its cashier. This institution has a capital of $50,000 and has officers and directors as follows: President, L. F. Merrill; vice-president, H. H. Porter ; directors, C. W. Smith, H. H. Smith, J. A. Fisher, S. A. Church, Dr. C. W. Rice, George W. Shively and Henry Herbert. Besides his inter- ests at Newton Falls, he is the secretary and treasurer of the Diamond Brick and Tile Company at Diamond, Ohio.
In his political choice, Mr. Herbert is a Republican and does his full share toward furthering on the interest of this political organization.
BETSY BOYD
SARAH BOYD
JANE BOYD
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Believing in the good resulting from fraternal societies, he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of old Erie Lodge No. 3, F. & A. M .; Mahoning Chapter No. 66, Royal Arch Masons; Warren Council No. 58, R. and S. M .; Warren Commandery of Knights Templar No. 39; also Alkoran Temple, Cleveland, A. A. O. N. M. S. and the Eastern Star lodges of Masonry. In the community in which he resides Mr. Herbert is a progressive citizen, always seeking to enhance the moral and commercial welfare of the town and county.
Ile was married in the month of October, 1901, to Bell F. Fisher, daughter of J. A. Fisher and wife of Windham, Ohio.
JANE BOYD, now one of the oldest residents of Lordstown, has resided there, with the exception of a short time, since 1830; she was born Septem- ber 8, 1827, and was but three years of age when she went to Ohio with her parents. She was reared to the habits of economy and industry and became very skilled with her needle, for about twenty years being a scam- stress in Warren. She saved her earnings and united with her sister, Sarah, in the purchase of the farm upon which she now resides. It contains one hundred and forty-three acres and is pleasantly situated in the western part of Lordstown township. It has a good and comfortable set of buildings. Here Miss Boyd lives a quiet, retired life, enjoying the fruits of her well spent life. Her grand-nephew, David Quimby, operates her farm.
Miss Boyd's father, Cornelius Boyd, was a native of France, born in 1722, and his father was a soldier who came to America with Lafayette to do battle with that gallant commander in the Revolutionary struggle, in which he lost his life. His wife and only son located near Philadelphia. After the death of his father, Cornelius Boyd was bound out. He subse- quently went to New Jersey, where he rented a farm, remained until 1830, when he went back to Pennsylvania and soon thereafter on to Ohio, settling in Lordstown township, where he purchased one hundred and one acres of land which was all covered with heavy timber. He at first built a house, which was about the first in the township. It contained the old-time fire- place and was indeed comfortable, if not handsome. The clothing for the family was made from wool and flax "homespun," which the good house- wife made from the yarn she had spun from the flax and wool produced on the place. The father died there, aged eighty-eight years, in October, 1860. His wife's maiden name was Mary Ada, born in Pennsylvania, of German parentage. She died in the month of February, 1860, aged eighty-two years. They were the parents of twelve children : Jacob, John, Ellen, Ann, Daniel, George, Betsy, Catherine, Barbara, Rachel, Sarah, Effie and Jane. Of this family, Jacob settled at Delaware, Ohio; John went to the country farther east and settled in Pennsylvania ; Ellen married Hiram Richards, and settled in western Ohio; Ann married Peter Wilson and lived in War ren township; Daniel spent his last days in Lordstown; George spent the last years of his life in western Ohio; Betsy spent the most of her life in Lordstown, and died in October, 1898; Catherine married Anthony Ague
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and moved to Illinois; Barbara married Harrison Waterman and went to the western part of Ohio; Rachel married John Titus and moved west; Sarah spent the most of her life in Lordstown, where she died about 1898; Effie married Mathew Winans and moved west.
CHARLES E. FENTON, postmaster at Newton Falls, Trumbull county, is a native of Newton, born May 21, 1853. The father was William Fenton, a native of Connecticut, who came to Milton, Mahoning county, when a boy. He was an orphan and reared by Dr. Tod, a brother of Governor Tod. William Fenton was by occupation a stockman. He first married Lucy Price and had five children. The wife died, after which he married Eliza Winfield, a native of New Jersey. By this marriage there were five children born, Charles E. Fenton, of this memoir, being the fourth child of this marriage.
Charles E. Fenton was reared and educated in the district school of Newton and attended the Oberlin College. He followed farming for a time and was engaged in the coal business for about twelve years at Newton Falls. He resided on his farm near Newton Falls and was engaged in the real estate business, being still thus engaged. He was appointed postmaster at Newton Falls by President William McKinley during his first administration and has been twice reappointed since by President Roosevelt. This was a fourth class office when he took it, but it was made third class within a few months of his first appointment.
Politically, Mr. Fenton is a Republican. He was treasurer of Newton Falls for about eight years, besides holding other local offices. He is at present a member of the school board. In his society relations he is con- nected with the Masonic order, blue lodge, at Newton Falls. He is identi- fied with the Christian church, in which he is an elder and is very active in all work concerning this denomination. He has long been identified with the general welfare of Trumbull county.
Of his domestic relations, it may be stated that he was married in 1885 to Grace Kistler, a daughter of David and Amanda Kistler, of Newton Falls, at which place she was born. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are the parents of four children: Floyd, Rubbie, assistant postmaster, Ray and Roy (twins).
L. F. MERRILL .- The name of L. F. Merrill is recorded among the honored pioneers of Trumbull county who aided in laying the founda- tion for its present industrial advancement, and in his lifetime he was both a farmer and banker. Born in Paris township, Portage county, just over the line from Trumbull county, January 10, 1854, he was a son of Auren B. Merrill, whose birth occurred in Trumbull county in 1821. He attained to years of maturity here and was married in its township of Paris to Clara Tribby, born in Brookfield township, a daughter of George Tribby, another of the early pioneers of Trumbull county. Mr. and Mrs.
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Merrill began their married life in Paris township, Portage county, where the husband and father died at the age of sixty-four years, in 1885, the mother surviving until 1906 and dying in Trumbull county. Auren Merrill was a son of Lnman Merrill, who came from Connecticut and founded the family in Trumbull county.
L. F. Merrill, the only child born to Auren B. and ('lara Merrill, remained in the place of his nativity until moving across the line into Trumbull county in 1886, having in the meantime obtained his educational training in the public schools and at Mount Union College, where he pur- sued a commercial course. During his active business life he was quite extensively engaged in the raising of live stock and in farming, and he owned and conducted a beautiful farm of five hundred acres. He was highly successful in his business operations and accumulated a handsome competency, and besides the property already mentioned he was a stock- holder in the First National Bank of Newton Falls, serving as the president of this well known financial institution at the time of his death. In his political affiliations he was a stanch supporter of Republican principles and took a commendable interest in the political issues of the day, but aside from some minor positions he never held public office.
He married in 1881 Amanda Erwin, a daughter of Henry Erwin, a member of one of the early families of Newton Falls. Three children were born of this union: Monta F., Auren B. and May. The eldest daughter is the wife of R. P. Barber of Newton Falls. Mr. Merrill, after a brief illness, died on the 9th of November, 1908, at his beautiful country home near Newton Falls, surrounded by his wife and children. Ile was honored and respected by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, and in his death Trumbull county lost one of its valued citizens and busi- ness men.
DR. W. S. THOMPSON, a good representative of the medical profession practicing at Girard, was born in Carroll county, Ohio, September 19, 1870, a son of James M. and Mary (Tinlin) Thompson. The father was a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and the mother of Scotland. The father is a retired farmer at Carrolton, Carroll county. They were the parents of four children, all of whom are still living, the doctor being the eldest in the family. He was reared to farm labor on the old homestead farm and had the advantages of the most excellent public schools of his native county and attended Harlem Springs College. He then taught school for a time, after which he was graduated from Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, in 1896. He located in the practice of medicine at Harlem Springs, where he remained six and a half years, coming to Girard in 1902, and has since been busily engaged in attending to an extensive and rapidly increas- ing practice.
The doctor is connected with the Trumbull County Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In fraternal relations he is a member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Eagles, Royal Arcanum
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and Protected Home Circle societies. In politics, he was active in the Republican party in Carroll county, Ohio, and was a member of the central committee. He held such position at the time President Mckinley was elected.
Dr. Thompson was married to Miss Emma L. Moore, of Carrollton, Ohio, on December 24, 1896. They were the parents of one son, Raymond, who resides with the doctor at Girard, Ohio. His wife died on December 1, 1901, at the home at Harlem Springs, Ohio, and after the doctor came to Girard he was married in the month of June, 1903, to Miss Minnie L. Fisher, of Columbus, Ohio, a daughter of Siron Fisher.
DR. D. R. WILLIAMS, physician and surgeon at Girard, is a native of Mahaska county, Iowa, born September 20, 1864, son of John M. Williams, a native of Wales, who came to America when a young man and located at Youngstown, Ohio. A short time afterward he went to Mahaska county, Iowa, but returned to Ohio, locating in Liberty township, Trumbull county, where he bought a farm. He was a local preacher of the Congregational church and a very active Christian worker. Besides his duties as a min- ister, he also followed farming. He died at the age of seventy-five years. His wife was Ann Morgan, born in Wales, where she was reared and edu- cated and where she was united in marriage to Mr. Williams. They came to this country the same year of their marriage. Mrs. Williams died at the age of seventy-nine years. They were among the representative fami- lies of Trumbull county. Their six children were two daughters and four sons, all reaching maturity, and five still survive: John J., of Indian Territory ; Sanders, unmarried, lives in Seattle, Washington ; Mary, wife of T. J. Thomas, of Roslyn, Washington; Hannah, wife of John Morgan, of Seattle, Washington, and D. R.
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