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 44
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Isaac Barb, the father of Joseph Sylvanus, married, November 30, 1848, and settled on his parents' farm, the old Barb homestead, where he built its present farm house in 1863. It is an eight-room dwelling, with spacious halls, closets, etc., and he set out many ornamental trees and continued to improve and add to his place until he owned three hundred and fifty-five acres at the time of his death, November 21, 1886. This land is all within Bristol township. The wife and mother died April 20, 1899. Their issue was two children, Joseph S., of this sketch, and Mariah, Mrs. Joseph Gale, the wife of a farmer of Bristol township.
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Joseph S. Barb has always resided upon the old homestead on which he was born. After the death of his father he secured two hundred aeres of the original place, but has sold from this until his present holdings are eighty-two acres, forty-five acres of which are under cultivation. He has superintended the farming of his land, but not being sufficiently rugged for the hardest labor, has rented much of his farm, and he is also quite extensively engaged in raising cattle. As a keeper of honey bees he has achieved note, having forty stands, from which he secured over one thousand pounds of surplus honeycomb during the season of 1908. Bees have been kept on this place since 1836, seventy-two years. The grandfather Barb bought a bee hive made of a hollow log in 1821, and this hive is still in use. The bees in this hive made two pails of honey, nearly forty pounds, during the past season. Mr. Barb also has an apple orchard of five acres, besides plums, cherries and peaches.
On April 12, 1891, he was married to Lydia A. Coffman, of Smith- ville, Wayne county, Ohio, a daughter of David and (Bott) Coff- man, of Juniata county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Barb died September 30, 1892, and for his second wife he married on October 15, 1896, Eliza Clapper, born near Robertsville, Stark county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Neidig) Clapper. The parents of Mr. Barb were of the German Baptist religious faith.
JOHN SINN, who for several years has been successfully engaged in general farming in Newton township, Trumbull county, Ohio, is a sub- stantial representative of the German-American element of this part of the state. Ile was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1861, a son of Fred and Mary (Wilhelm) Sinn. His father is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born in 1834, and his mother, of Columbiana county, Ohio, born in 1832. Both of his parents are living. His father came to America in 1854, when but twenty years of age. He was a wagonmaker by trade, and he worked at this in New York City for about eighteen months, after which he came to Warren, Ohio, entering the employ of D. K. Wissell as a wagonmaker. In 1878 he removed to Newton township. He became the father of nine children, of whom John Sinn is the third in order of birth.
John Sinn received his early education in the district schools of New- ton township, and early in life was engaged by Charles Wheeler to assist him in his farm labors, and remained in that gentleman's employ about six years. He afterwards engaged in teaming for a number of years, and still later joined his brother in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where for eight years he was engaged in the lumber business. He then returned to Newton township, Trumbull county, and in 1905 purchased his present farm of one hundred and forty-seven acres.
In 1886 Mr. Sinn was married to Miss Delia Bailey, of Bailey's Corners, Lordstown township, Ohio, daughter of Samuel H. and Sarah (Keifer) Bailey. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sinn : Edward, Mabel, Earl and Wade, all of whom are living at home. Since
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coming to his present location Mr. Sinn has confined himself chiefly to the improvement of his homestead, and is reckoned as one of the substantial farmers of this locality.
Although he is a Democrat in politics, he has never held office. Neither does he belong to any secret orders. In his religious views he is a Lutheran, as have been the members of his family for many previous generations.
ALBERT H. WHITE, a resident of Fowler township, is the owner of a farm near Terrell postoffice, having spent a number of years as a farmer and respected citizen in this community, now expects to remain here the remainder of his life. Mr. White was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, October 25, 1854, son of a Butler county farmer, Eli White, who died in 1900, and his wife, Harriet (Baker) White. Albert H. was the youngest of their eight children, his brothers and sisters being: Mary, a resident of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Matilda, who died in childhood; James, born in Butler county in 1848: Joseph, born in same county in 1853; Thomas also a native of Butler county ; Ella, who was born in 1852; and Elmer, born at Portersville, Pennsylvania, in 1878.
Albert H. White was reared on the family homestead in Butler county, and got most of his schooling in what was then called the Shaw school at Big Run, five miles from Newcastle. From an occupation which was largely represented by paid services at farm labor he passed, when twenty-five years of age, to the hetter responsibility of farming on his own account on a farm which he bought in Butler county, and he continued on that place for fifteen years. He bought his present farm ahout 1895, and has since been a citizen of Trumbull county, Ohio. He is a member of the Methodist church at South Sharon.
Mr. White has a large and happy family. His wife, whom he married in 1876, was Miss Mary Sharp, daughter of James Sharp, a Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, farmer who died in 1888. Mrs. White was born in Lawrence county May 18, 1856. The children born of their marriage are: James, born May 21, 1878, now living at home ; John Edward, August 18, 1880; Laura Belle, in 1883, died May 15, 1890; Martha, born in 1887, living at home ; Nina Jane, born in 1890; Alvin Leroy, May 23, 1893 ; Mary Elmira, born in 1895; Bertha, born in 1900 ; the next child died in infancy ; Olive Vern, born July 16, 1906. The first six children were born in Lawrence county.
CHARLES DUNKERLY .- In Fowler township, until his death, on March 4, 1907, Charles Dunkerly was a citizen whose character and life com- manded respect and esteem from those who lived about him, and his passing from life was an event that shocked this quiet community and caused both sorrow and regret to those who had known his orderly and successful life since he became a farmer in this township, in May, 1897. He was a native of this county, born in Brookfield September 19, 1866. His father, James
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Dunkerly, was born in England April 12, 1822, and after coming to the new world during his youth located at Sharon, Pennsylvania, where he followed coal mining. He then went to Brookfield, Ohio, and later to Missouri, returning then to Brookfield, where he spent the rest of his days. Ile died February 4, 1896. His wife, Matilda ( Smith) Dunkerly, was born at Brookfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, November 9, 1828, and died July 5, 1908. The children of Mr. and Mrs. James Dunkerly were: Alice (now Mrs. H. M. James, of Brookfield), who was born in Missouri January 1, 1860; Mary, born in Brookfield August 30, 1864; Charles; and Edward, born in Brookfield April 9, 1870.
The late Charles Dunkerly, after attending school at Brookfield, was a coal miner until twenty-four years old, in the meantime living at home. On December 31, 1890, he married Martha Hacker, and the two children, who now live with their widowed mother on the farm, are Edward, born in Brookfield September 6, 1893, and Charlotte Martha, born in Brookfield August 30, 1902. Mr. Dunkerly's interests extended beyond the boundaries of his farm life, although he did not allow them to interfere with his success as a farmer. He was a Democrat in politics, and fraternally was a member of the Sharon Lodge of Foresters and of the Vienna Grange.
CHARLES F. HALLOCK, one of the substantial farmers and public- spirited citizens of Fowler, is also one of the pioneer Republicans of the county, having cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln and never changed his politics since. He was born on the farm upon which he now resides March 19, 1838, the third child of George W. and Phoebe ( Borden) Hallock. The other members of the family were: Asahel, who was born at Brook- field, November 7, 1830, and was accidentally killed by a horse August 1, 1849; James, a native of Fowler Center, born February 21, 1833, who married Harriet Kellogg, of that place; Amelia, born on the family home- stead March 19, 1838, who became the wife of Samuel Kellogg and now resides with her son at Fowler Ridge, this county.
George W. Hallock, the father, was born at Mattituck, Long Island, New York, on the 23rd of November, 1798. In 1822 he came to Ohio and became one of its pioneer school teachers, and afterwards clerked in a store at Brookfield for about four years. His marriage occurred June 10, 1829. In 1833 he established a general merchandise business at Fowler Center, and thus continued until 1836, when he located on the farm which became the family estate, and there spent the remainder of his life. His death occurred April 18, 1870. The mother of the family was a daughter of Asahel and Phoebe ( Bushnell) Borden, and was a native of Connecticut, born February 6, 1809. She came with other members of the family to Trumbull county, where her father was long engaged in farming. Mrs. George W. Halloek died on the old homestead at Fowler in November, 1890.
Charles F. Hallock received his education at the Fowler Center schools, and in 1869 engaged in the manufacture of cheese, continuing this industry for about nine years. With this exception he has been engaged in farming
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during his entire life. As an earnest and faithful Republican he has also been honored with various local offices, and served for some time as super- visor of the county. On December 15, 1872, Mr. Hallock married Miss Ella Alderman, their son Asel being born on the old homestead July 15, 1812. For many years he has been his father's assistant and the superin- tendent of the farm. He married Miss Anna Johnson June 10, 1908. Mrs. Charles F. Hallock is a daughter of Louis and Margaret ( Butts) Alderman, and besides herself there were the following five children: May, Homer, Fred, Harry and Lulu. Mr. Alderman, her father, is a native of Ohio, and was for many years a well known miller of Trumbull county.
VANZANT SMITH .- A native of Fowler, Trumbull county, where he was born July 4, 1855, Vanzant Smith has honored the place of his nativity by his steadfast, useful and moral life, and is now conducting the farm which his father operated during the latter years of his life. His parents were Isaac A. and Mary (Holly) Smith. The father, who was born at Beaver, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1813, was a cabinetmaker, and in 1832 came to Ohio to follow his trade. He at once located at Fowler, and there spent the remaining years of his life, dying in 1904 at the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. In the latter period of his seventy- two years' residence at this place he was engaged in the undertaking busi- ness, but finally purchased a farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, whose conduct and improvement were jointly assumed by himself and his son, Vanzant. The mother was a Connecticut lady, born in 1818. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac A. Smith became the parents of the following children : Sarah, born at Akron, Ohio, and now Mrs. Post; Orpha, Mrs. Sheldon, and Emogene, now Mrs. Scoville, both natives of Fowler; Vanzant Smith, of this sketch; Adelle, Mrs. Dorson, also born in Fowler, and Chandler, a native of that place who died at the age of three years.
Mr. Smith was educated at Fowler, both in its schools and on the home farm, and at his father's death took charge of the estate of two hundred acres, in whose improvement they had both taken justifiable pride. He has since continued in the good work. Although a Democratic voter, he has never sought office, being content to faithfully perform the duties of a good citizen and an affectionate husband and father.
On March 4, 1882, Mr. Smith wedded Miss Rilla Ingman, daughter of Atlas and Maria (Sheldon) Ingman and a native of Hartford, this county. The children born to their union were as follows: Myrl, born at Fowler and now Mrs. Card; Alta, born in 1889, and living with her par- ents ; and Ivyl, also a native of Fowler, born June 18, 1899. Both parents are members of the Disciple church of Fowler.
JOHN BURWIG, who has been engaged for many years as a general farmer at Fowler, Trumbull county, was during the early years of his life a worker in the mines and rolling mills of this locality. He is a native of
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North Germany, born December 12, 1856, son of John and Mary (Dau) Burwig. Their three children were all born in Germany, namely : Charles, born in 1852, a resident of Hubbard, married Sophia Lemp and is the father of Mary, John, William, Herman, Winnie and Elmer; William, born in 1853, is also a resident of Hubbard; and John, of this sketch. The father came to the United States in 1866 and located at Hubbard, where he engaged in the coal mining business, and died in 1893. The mother, who is a native of north Germany, is a daughter of Charles Dau, and is still living.
John Burwig, of this review, never enjoyed a day's schooling in his life, his father putting him to work in the coal mines when he was only ten years of age. The boy continued this occupation until he was twenty years of age, when he became employed in a blast furnace and rolling mill, and for a period of twenty years followed this arduous and wearing oceupa- tion. He then engaged in farming, and by dint of economy, industry and wise management has accumulated a fine property, consisting of an eighty- five-acre farm, thoroughly cultivated and substantially improved. In November, 1878, Mr. Burwig married Miss Minnie Peters, daughter of Henry and Dotha (Schultz) Peters, both natives of Germany, who came to Ohio in 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Burwig have five children: Winnie, who was born at Hubbard August 17, 1880, and married Charles Ahrens June 26, 1906, resides at Willoughby, Ohio; William August Henry, born at Leadville, Ohio, March 15, 1881, now resides at Twin Falls, Idaho; Henry William Carl, born at Youngstown, Ohio, November 21, 1886, is connected with the naval service, enlisting at the San Francisco training station on May 3, 1908; Anna Louise, born at Youngstown, Ohio, May 12, 1883, died in December of that year ; and Alma Amanda Ella, also a native of Youngs- town, born July 24, 1891. The father is a Democrat in polities and a faithful member of the German Lutheran church.
JOHN C. GAIL, ex-postmaster of Fowler and for many years one of the substantial and progressive merchants, is a native of Hessen Cassel, born March 6. 1859, son of George and Helen (Hoffman) Gail. There were eleven children born to the paternal household, who are all natives of Germany, namely: Louis, born July 11. 1847, now a resident of Cape Town. South Africa, and a well known notary public of that eity; Fred, born in June, 1869, whose residence is Berlin, Germany, who was em- ployed for forty years as a traveling salesman for a large mercantile es- tablishment of that eity; Henrietta, who was born in 1871 and died when twenty-seven years of age; Charles, born March 6, 1855, who served for nine years as lieutenant in the German army and died in 1885; August, born January 17, 1857, who has always resided at Cassel. Germany, and is a bookkeeper for a German brewing company of that place ; Ernest, born January 17. 1857, who for eight years was a judiciary in the employ of the German government at Frankenberg, Germany; John, of this biography; Georgine, born in 1867, who married Henry Koch, a manufacturer
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of locomotives and artillery at Cassel, Germany; Anna, who was born in 1823 and married William Sernau, a teller of the First National Bank of Cassel ; and two children who died in infancy. George Gail, the father of this family, was born in Marburg, Germany, November 21, 1822, and served for fifty years on the government bench when he retired upon a pension of fourteen hundred dollars a year. He died in January, 1901. The mother was a native of the same city as her husband, born November 27, 1826, a daughter of Charles Hoffman, a well known merchant tailor of Marburg.
John C. Gail, of this sketch, received a typical German education and had as his fellow students at Cassel high school, both Emperor William and Prince Frederic. In 1880, when twenty-one years of age, he migrated to the United States, first locating in New York City where he was em- ployed in a grocery store on West Houston street. From there he removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1882 located at Warren, Ohio. After remaining at this place for two years employed as a market gardener he came to Fowler where he first secured employment in a grocery store. After six years he was enabled to buy the establishment himself and has since developed this business until it is now one of the leading general stores of this section of Trumbull county. His stock is now valued at about eight thousand dollars and is both complete and well selected. Mr. Gail has also served as postmaster of Fowler Center for about six years and has in every way showed his worth as a substantial German-American citizen. In politics, he is a Democrat and in fraternal circles is identified with the order of Elks at Warren, besides being a charter member of the Protected Home Circle of Sharon. In his religious faith he is a member of the Disciple church.
Mr. Gail's first marriage May 18, 1886, was to Miss Lila Holeton, a native of Cherry Valley, born August 25, 1863, daughter of Richard and Adaline ( Holeton) Holeton. There was one other sister in her family, Carrie. Mrs. Lila Gail died March 17, 1906, the mother of four children, as follows: George, born at Fowler, March 25, 1887, and lives at home; Charles, born July 18, 1888, now a student at the Youngstown (Ohio) Business College; William, born at Fowler, January 17, 1894, living at home, and Ella, born at Fowler, January 13, 1899. For his second wife Mr. Gail married Carrie, his first wife's sister, and she died March 17, 1907.
FRANK BEAUBIEN, well known as a breeder of blooded cattle at Fow- ler, Trumbull county, Ohio, is of French extraction, born at Monroe, Michigan, October 11, 1857, son of James and Jeanette ( Meadows) Beau- bien. There were nine children in this family, Frank and a twin brother, Samuel, being the youngest. The other members were James, Ellen, Henry, Susan, Carolyn, William and Sarah. By the second marriage to Mrs. Lozone, James Beaubien became the father of Libbie, Sarah, Moses, Jane and Edward. James Beaubien was a native of Detroit, Michigan, where he was born in 1808, being of the family of famous French traders
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and pioneers who were among the founders of Chicago. This representa- tive of the family spent the early period of his life in the draying business at Monroe City, Michigan, but eventually bought a farm on Swannce creek, Monroe county, where he spent the last years of his life. The mother, also a native of Monroe county, born in 1810, was of French descent, and had, as brothers and sisters, Henry, Phillip, Hildra, Ellen and Adeline.
Mr. Beaubien received his early education at the Monroe distriet school, and later attended St. Mary's Academy, working also on the farm owned by General Spaulding, of Monroe City. On the 16th of August. 1888, he located at Latimer, Trumbull county, Ohio, there being employed as a salesman for a patent fence company. In 1880 he removed to Kansas to take charge of a stock farm, but, with the exception of this period, has been a resident of Trumbull county for the past twenty years. In 1900 he located on his present farm of one hundred acres, and is making a success of his specialty, the breeding of Durham and Holstein cattle. In politics he is a Republican and his religious faith identifies him with the Disciples church.
On May 29, 1890, Mr. Beaubien was married to Miss Margaret Springthorp, daughter of Thomas and Ann ( Miller) Springthorp. Her father was of English nativity, born June 11, 1826. He was a brickmaker by trade and came to the United States in 1856, locating in Portage county, Ohio, and died February 22, 1899. Mrs. Beaubien's mother, who died in 1866, was a daughter of Thomas Miller, a native of Ireland, who for many years followed his trade as a powder maker at Bergholz, Trum- bull county. This was the daughter's birthplace, and her residence in this county covers the span of her life.
RANDOLPH J. KINGSLEY, of Fowler, who has become widely known as a progressive farmer and honorable citizen of thirty years' activity, was born in the township where he now resides, February 29, 1848. His parents were John and Carolyn (Ames) Kingsley, and they had the fol- lowing eleven children: James, born in Fowler in February, 1837; Julia, also born in that place two years thereafter. and now a resident of Fre- mont, Michigan; John, born at Fowler in 1841, and now a resident of Dakota; Jane, also a native of Fowler and a resident of Fowler Center, born in 1843; Flavel, who was born at Fowler, in 1845, and died May 16, 1896; Hymen, now a resident of Warren, who was a native of Fowler. born in 1846; Randolph J., of this sketch ; Helen, born at Fowler in 1850, and now a resident of Tyrrell; Esther, residing at Fremont, Michigan, who was born in Fowler in 1853; Frank, also a native of that place, born in 1855, now residing at Kinsman; and Mary, born at Fowler in 1857, and residing at Warren as the wife of Walter Campbell. John Kingsley, the father, was a native of Beckett, Massachusetts, boru March 13, 1811, son of John F. and Sobrina (Gillette) Kingsley. In 1813 he located in Fowler township, bought a farm and continued to cultivate and improve it
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until his death in 1857. Carolyn Ames, who was born at Hounsfield, New York, March 17, 1812, daughter of Benjamin and Erratta (Shaft) Ames, married John Kingsley February 9, 1836, and died January 26, 1887.
Randolph J. Kingsley was educated in the Fowler district schools and lived with his parents until he attained his majority, when he engaged in the saw mill business at Fowler. His specialty was the manufacture of barrel staves and heads, and he remained in this line of manufacture for about ten years. In 1879 Mr. Kingsley bought the property which is still his homestead and has since been continuously engaged in agricul- ture, devoting himself to it and excluding participation in politics or public affairs. He is, however, a firm supporter of the Republican party.
On February 14, 1871, Mr. Kingsley married Miss Fidelia Jones, and their four children are as follows: Carolyn L., born July 28, 1873, and resides at home ; Mabel M., born at Vienna, December 14, 1875, and now a resident of Warren but teaching school at Mineral Ridge; Laura L., a native of Fowler, born December 1, 1819, married Wesley Ott and resides at Warren; Edwin J., born at Fowler, February 19, 1883, who married Miss Nellie Baunhardt and resides at Lorain, Ohio. Mrs. Kingsley her- self is a native of Fowler and was born January 26, 1848, daughter of Edwin W. and Lavina H. ( Andrews) Jones. Her father was born Sep- tember 22, 1822, and died September 24, 1893, while her mother, who was born July 20, 1828, is still a resident of Fowler. The five children of the Jones family consisted of Fidelia, Mrs. Kingsley; Florence, born in Fowler, in November, 1850, and still a resident of that place; Laura, born at Fowler, June 9, 1861, and now a resident of Hartford, this county ; William, who died when he was two years of age, and Rosella, who died at the age of three years.
WILLIAM W. MESSICK, of Bristolville, Trumbull county, Ohio, a farmer and the proprietor of the James Hotel at Bristolville, is a native of West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, horn December 24, 1866, the son of Josiah P. and Mary A. (Ginger) Messick. The father was born in Dela- ware and the mother in Pennsylvania. The grandparents were Wingate and Nancy (Smith) Messick, of Delaware, and Daniel and Anna (Phipps) Ginger, both natives of Pennsylvania. The grandparents Ginger went to Mecca township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1820, and bought land and resided there until the wife died in 1882 and the husband in the winter of 1885.
Mr. Messick's parents were farmers by occupation. They came here with Mrs. Messick's parents, who settled a mile from North Bristol. Josiah Messick bought one hundred and eight acres of land at first, but added to this until the place contained four hundred acres at the date of his death. He also bought his father-in-law's farm in Mecca township and owned one hundred and six acres in Bloomfield township. He was a politician of local importance and held all the township offices. He died October 26, 1894, aged sixty-four years. His wife died July 20, 1899.
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