USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 63
USA > Ohio > Trumbull County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 63
USA > Ohio > Ashtabula County > Biographical history of northeastern Ohio : embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Trumbull and Mahoning > Part 63
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In the spring of the year 1865, not yet be- ing able for professional work, he engaged as associate editor of The Mahoning Register at Youngstown, Ohio, in which employ lie continued for several months, after which he resumed the practice of the law at the same place, where he has since resided. He very soon acquired a very extensive clientage in his own and surrounding connties. In the year 1867 he was elected to the Ohio Senate and was re-elected in 1869. He was also a member of the Forty-third and Forty-fourth Congresses. In the Senate he became dis- tinguished for his opposition to the " Visible Admixture Bill " and his championship of the mining law. In his second term in the Senate he was President pro tempore of that body. His career in Congress was also nota-
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ble. He was, both in the State Senate and in Congress, the author of many measures that became laws, and his speeches were widely read and quoted throughout the country. He has always beeu regarded as one of the most able and eloquent speakers of the country. Upon retiring from Con- gress, he resumed his law practice, in which he is still engaged. His family consists of his wife, one son, Carl C., and two daughters, -Mrs. Jessie J. McClure and Miss May Woodworth.
P ERRY WEHR, one of the representa- tive farmers and stock-raisers of Ma- honing county, Ohio, was born here in Youngstown township, August 22, 1833. He was reared on his father's farm, and was educated in the district schools, be- ing for some time a pupil of Colonel Foster, and when he reached his majority he went West. He crossed the Mississippi river at Keokuk, Iowa, November 4, 1856, the day on which James Buchanan was elected Presi- dent of the United States. He engaged in the lumber business in Iowa, being employed as sawyer, and remaining there one year. At that time the death of his father called him back to Ohio, and upon his return home he turned his attention to farm work.
In 1860, Mr. Wehr was nnited in marriage to Miss Margaret J. Price, daughter of Samuel Price. She was born June 1, 1840. They have three children: Myron 1., Paul H. and Randall M. Myron I. was born January 7, 1866. He married Miss Maggie E. Stam- baugh, and they are residents of Warren. Paul H. was born May 28, 1868, was mar- ried to Miss Edith McCollum, March 30, 1890, and they have one child, Ralph. They
reside in Youngstown, and he is in the rail- road employ. Randall M., born September 25, 1888, resides at home.
Mr. Wehr built his present residence in 1871, and here he has since resided. During the war he entered the Union ranks and acted well his part. He enlisted in May, 1864, in Company D, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went out as a private assigned to the Army of the Potomac, Eighteenth Corps. He was. honor- ably discharged in August, 1864. Mr. Wehr is identified with Tod Post, G. A. R., at Youngstown, and since 1868 has been a Mason. He is a member of Western Star Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M., of Mahoning Chapter, No. 93, and is also a Knight Tem- plar. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.
AMES A. COOPER, a member of the J. A. & D. P. Cooper Company, is a son of David Cooper, who was born in Coitsville township, Mahoning county, in 1819; here he passed his life, which ended in 1885. He was a man of strict integrity, and en- joyed the confidence of the entire community. His parents were David and Rebecca (Arm- strong) Cooper; the father was a native of Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania. Heremoved from his own State to Maryland, and in 1800 came to Ohio, purchasing four hundred acres of Government land. Rebecca Armstrong was a native of Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, where she was married to David Cooper in 1809. They endured the dangers and hardships incident to pioneer life, and had many adventures common to the frontier. David Cooper affiliated with the Democratic
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BIOGRAPHIICAL HISTORY
party, and was a member of the Seceders' Church. His father, David Cooper, Sr., was a native of Ireland, and his mother came from England; the first members of the family to settle in America crossed the sea to the New World in 1760, and located in' Franklin county, Pennsylvania. David Cooper, Jr., father of James A., married Jemimah Rany, a daughter of Alexander and Nancy (Dickson) Rany, natives of Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania. Alexander Rany was a soldier in the war of 1812. James A. Cooper was born in Coitsville township, Mahoning county, Ohio, in 1845, and has all his life been a resident of this county. His early life was spent on the farm, performing the duties that fall to the lot of the farmer's son, and attending the primitive pioneer school of the district. He had the advan- tage of a course at the Iron City College, after which he went to Michigan, and there was employed as bookkeeper for a hardware firm. He afterward returned to Coitsville and engaged in the lumber business with his uncle, John Cooper; this he continued until 1883, when he became a member of the firm of Stewart, Cooper & Company, proprietors of a tannery; this relationship existed until 1887, when he formed a partnership with D. P. Cooper, establishing the J. A. & D. P. Cooper Company; in 1892, this company was reorganized with a capital stock of $50,000, and J. A. Cooper was elected superintendent and treasurer.
Mr. Cooper was united in marriage in 1870, to Alice K. Jacobs, a daughter of Nichols and Phebe (Kirk) Jacobs, and to them have been born a family of four chil- dren: David N., Sarah L., S. Dill, and Helen M. At the age of twenty-three years Mr. Cooper began the struggle for a position in the business world. How well he has succeeded
is attested by the following; he owns a fine farm under cultivation, and with his cousin, D. P. Cooper, owns the controlling interest in the Gear Works, one of the important in- dustries of Struthers. In politics he adheres to the principles of Democracy; he has served as Justice of the Peace, and has been Township Clerk for a number of years, dis- charging his duties to the satisfaction of the people whom he represented. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, belonging to the Western Star Lodge, No. 21, Youngstown Chapter, No. 93, R. A. M., and St. John's Commandry, No. 20, K. T.
W ILLIAM S. McCOMBS has been known for many years as a leading business man in his county, and in the following lines will be found an outline of his career. His father, John N. Mc- Combs, was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, about the year 1812; he died in Champion township, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1889. He was a carpenter by trade, but in later years engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which he was very successful. He began life for himself at the age of twenty-one years, and cleared a fine farm of two hundred acres, which is still in the possession of the family. He was a Republican in his political views, and served his township as Trustee and Clerk. He was an active member of the Presbyte- rian Church, of which he was a Deacon at the time of his death. His parents were William and Mary (Nelson) McCombs, na- tives of the north of Ireland. John N. Mc- Combs was married in 1838 to Mary Scott, a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and to them three children were born: Mary, widow of John Brown, has two children, William
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and Laura; William S. is the subject of this sketch; Laura, wife of Henry Weiss, is the mother of two children, Carlton and Henry. The mother died in 1844, deeply lamented by all who knew her. The father was married in 1845 to Laura Scott, and they had a fam- ily of four children: Elliott, deceased; Sarah, widow of William Crawford, and the mother of three children; Charles, who resides on the old homestead; Lillie, wife of Clinton Mikesell. The mother of these children sur- vives and resides on the old homestead.
William S. MeCombs was born December 9, 1841, in Champion township, Trumbull county, and there resided with his parents mitil 1861; he was reared to the occupation of a farmer, and received the instruction that was offered in the pioneer schools. When the Rebellion began he enlisted in the Fonr- teenth Ohio Independent Battery, and was in many important engagements, serving until 1864. He was honorably discharged, after which he returned to his home, and was variously occupied until 1868. He then came to Youngstown, Ohio, and worked at the carpenter's trade for a year. At the end of twelve months he went to Struthers, and se- cured employment as engineer; three years later he assumed the duties of foundryman, and held this position eleven years. Coming to Lowellville, he was made superintendent of the Ohio Iron & Steel Company, a position he has filled to the entire satisfaction of his employers and with great credit to himself.
He was married in 1867 to Miss E. J. Christy, a dangliter of James and Mary (McWali) Christy, natives of Pennsylvania and Ireland, respectively. Mrs. McCombs was born in the Keystone State. Two cliil- dren were born of this marriage: Fred com- pleted a special course in chemistry in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in
1892, and is now in the employ of the Ohio Iron & Steel Company, as weighmaster and stock-house boss; John died in 1882, at the age of two years and four months. Mr. Mc- Combs has been rewarded with great success in the commercial world. He is a stockholder in the First Savings Bank, in the Ohio Iron & Steel Company, in the Lowell Lumber Company, and in the Lowell gristmill. In politics he adheres to Republican principles. He is a member of the Masonic order, be- louging to the blue lodge, chapter, command- ery and shrine.
OHN B. NESSLE has been for many years a conspicuous figure in the history of Lowellville, Mahoning county, Ohio, and is therefore entitled to more than passing mention in this volume. He is a son of Isaiah Nessle, who was born in the town of Half Moon, New York, about the year 1781; he was a farmer by occupation, and passed his life within the boundaries of the State of New York; his death occurred in Chautauqua county in 1863. His parents, Conrad and Lovina (Doovel) Nessle, were natives of France, and emigrated to this country before the war of the Revolution. Isaiah Nessle was married in the year 1814, to Margaret Altenburgh, a native of the State of New York, and a daughter of William and Eliza- beth (Mosier) Altenburgh, natives of Ger- many and England respectively. Mr. Alten- burgh was a prosperous farmer, and at the time of his death owned 400 acres of good land in Montgomery county, New York. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and served until the close of the struggle of the colonies for independence. Eight children were born to Isaiah and Margaret
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Nessle: William H. died in 1878; John B. is the subject of this sketch; Margaret Ann is the wife of Elry Bently; Isaiah is an ex- tensive farmer of New York; Darlin T. lives in Lowellville, Ohio; Thomas S. died in 1892; Rosanna M. is the wife of Andrew Sekins; Lovina H. is the widow of James Davidson, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume. Jolin B. was born in Montgomery county, New York, in the town of Oppen- heim, and resided there nntil ten years of age; he removed with his parents to Manlins, and thence to Chantanqua county, New York, and in 1837 emigrated to Ohio, locating in Lowellville, Malioning county; not one of the 250 inhabitants then dwelling in the village is now living. Mr. Nessle had learned the shoemaker's trade in Ellington, New York, and when he came to the West he engaged in work at his trade, opening a shop in Lowellville, which he ran for twenty years. At the end of a score of years he embarked in the grocery trade, in which he has since been continuously engaged.
Mr. Nessle was married in 1839, to Jane Pettigrew, a daughter of Jolin and Sarah (Easton) Pettigrew, natives of the State of Pennsylvania; John Pettigrew was a drum- mer-boy in the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Nessle had born to them a family of seven children: Catherine Jane, who died at the age of seven years; William H., died in 1879; he was First Lieutenant of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three years, resigning at the end of that time on account of ill health; he was an intimate friend of ex-President Hayes, who sent him on a mission to England during his adıninis- tration; he married Mary Metzger, and to them were born three children,-Margaret Jane, William H., and May; the mother is also deceased; Isaiah J., a resident of Lowell-
ville, was a member of Company A, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded in the battle of Murfrees- borough, and afterward joined Sherman before the " marchi to the sea; " Louisa H. died in . 1891, the wife of Frederick Heileger; Jolin B., Jr., also served in the late war, a mem- ber of Company A, One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Darlin T., Jr., is a resident of Lowellville; Frank S. is a travel- ing salesman.
Mr. Nessle began his career at the age of sixteen years, and without assistance won his way to independence. He has served the people of his township in many capacities; he has served as School Director, was Trustee three years, Justice of the Peace the same length of time, and was Postmaster twenty- four and a half years, receiving his appoint- inent from President Lincoln. He has been a most faitliful and efficient official, and is worthy of the confidence reposed in him. He is a member of the Masonic order, be- longing to Western Star Lodge, No. 21. He was married a second time in 1873, to Philura Stephens, a daughter of Levi Beardsley, and the widow of Sherman Stephens. Mrs. Nessle is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. Mr. Nessle is independent in his religious ideas, and is known as a Free- thinker.
JOHN GAULT, a well-known citizen of North Jackson, Mahoning county, Ohio, was born in Jackson township, this county, December 27, 1836. His parents, Robert and Majery (Ewing) Gault, were both natives of Mahoning county, the former born December 8, 1814, and the latter June 3, 1816. Grandfather Robert Gault, a na- tive of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio at an
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OF NORTHIEASTERN OHIO.
early day, being here during the war of 1812. He was drafted into the army in 1814, and went to Cleveland to enter the service. He was there taken sick and remained in camp at that place for several days, after which he started with the command for Detroit, Mich- igan, and when they reached Rocky river he was unable to proceed further. After three days of suffering at that place he died and was buried there. His only child, Robert, was of posthumous birth. Robert Gault and his wife had a family of eight sons and four daughters, of whom seven sons and three daughters are still living. John, subject of onr sketch, was the oldest; Alexander and Margaret, twins, were born May 26, 1838; Mary A., born December 14, 1839; Andrew, born November 13, 1841, died July 8, 1864, his death resulting from a wound received in battle near Dallas, Georgia; Caroline, born July 8, 1843, died August 31, 1844; Martha Jane, born March 9, 1845; Gideon, Novem- ber 6, 1846; Samuel S., March 11, 1848; William, March 28, 1850; Gibson J., De- cember 6, 1852; and Robert E., March 7, 1855.
John Gault was reared on his father's farm, received an academic education, and for four winters was engaged in teaching school, spending his summers in farm work. He gave his whole attention to farming from 1862 until 1882, when he was elected County Commissioner, which office he filled two terms of three years each. As the incun- bent of this office he performed his duty with such wisdom and judgment that it called forth praises from the press of both the Re- publican and Democratic parties. Mr. Gault owns 166 acres of land, and his career as a farmer has been one of marked success. He is a stanch Republican and an active mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Gault was married September 5, 1861, to Miss Louisa M. Johnston, danghter of John and Caroline Johnston, and a sister of Judge Johnston of the Common Pleas Court of Mahoning connty. She was killed in a railroad wreck near Rittman, Ohio, Septem- ber 10, 1888. She had three children, as follows: Joseph J., born December 27, 1863, is married and living in Union county, Ohio; Lula O., born April 9, 1873; and George F. A., born August 10, 1879. September 30, 1890, Mr. Gault wedded Mrs. Sarah J. Samp- son, daughter of Elisha Davis.
OSIAH DANIEL STROUSE, a well- known and highly respected citizen of Cornersburgh, Ohio, has been identified with this place for a number of years. In- deed few citizens of Cornersburgh have done more to advance its interests than has Mr. Stronse. Of his life we present the following brief sketch:
Josiah Daniel Strouse was born in Allen- town, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1830, son of Charles and Catherine (Cook) Stronse. Charles Stronse was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, and died January 31, 1887. He followed the trade of shoemaker all through life. It was in 1834 that he came to Ohio and settled in what was then Trumbull (now Mahoning) county, and in Cornersburgh he passed the rest of his life, with the exception of two years, when he was in Austintown township. From his early manhood he was a member of the Luther- an Church, was an active and earnest work- er in the same, and contributed to all religions and charitable institutions as liberally as his ineans would adinit. He was a great lover of his home and family, and in the midst of
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
his family circle he found his chief happiness. He had no political aspirations and never sought office, but he voted the Democratic ticket. For a number of years he served as Postmaster of Cornersburgh, this being the only public position he ever filled. His life was indeed an exemplary one, the memory of which will long be fondly cherished not only by his immediate family but also by all who knew him. Of his good wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Cook, we record that she, too, was a native of Berks county, born in 1802, and that she died the same year her husband did. She was a devoted member of the Lutheran Church and her whole life was characterized by the sweetest Christian graces. This worthy couple had a family of ten children, viz .: Catherine, wife of Will- iam T. Cole, New Baltimore, Ohio; Susan, wife of Freeman Osborn, Youngstown, Ohio; Lucinda, wife of Daniel Oberlander, Canton, Ohio; William, who married Mary Strock, Ashtabula, Ohio; and Josiah D .; and those deceased are Mary, Frank, Owen W., Sarah, and an infant.
At the age of thirteen the subject of our sketch began to learn the trade of shoemaker, under his father's instructions, and worked at that trade for several years, his father reaping the benefit of the young man's labor until the latter was twenty-one. In 1862 he opened a family grocery in Cornersburgh, and with the exception of about two years he has continued in this business here. He was appointed Postmaster under President Cleve- land's first term, and held the office for five years, resigning when he moved to Canton, Ohio, where he operated a store during the two years above mentioned. During his residence in Cornersburgh he has erected three dwellings and one store building, hav- ing sold two of the former. He also owns
both residence and business property in Can- ton, Ohio. In connection with his extensive grocery business, he also works some at his trade. He has always taken a great interest in the schools and churches of his town, and freely has he contributed of his means to their support. Indeed, any measure that has for its object the material, moral, educational or religious advancement of Cornersburgh is sure to find in him an earnest advocate.
Mr. Strause was married April 23, 1853, to Miss Caroline Bury, born in New Portage, Summit county, Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel and Maria (Babb) Bury. They have had four children, namely: Flora A., de- ceased; Mary E., wife of Freeman P. Corel, Muskegon county, Michigan, has seven chil- dren,-Frances, Anna, Carry, Grace, Archie, Mary and Minnie; Cora F., wife of Dr. H. E. Blott, Youngstown, Ohio, has two chil- dren, Myron and an infant; Anna M., an ac- complished young lady, at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Strouse and all their children are members of the Reformed Church.
D AVID HARMAN, of East Lewistown, Mahoning county, Ohio, was born here in 1827, and has been identified with the interests of this county all his life. He is a son of John and Elizabeth Harman, and is one of a family of three children, the other two being Solomon and Mary C. His father was a weaver by trade, but was for inany years engaged in farming and stock- raising, owning 181 acres of land. He was born in 1791, came to Ohio in 1802, and died in Mahoning county in 1848. His wife, born in 1797, died in 1866. They were consistent members of the Lutheran Church, were people of high respectability,
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OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO.
and occupied a prominent place among the pioneer settlers. Grandfather Harman went to Baltimore, this State, when that now thriving town contained only three houses. He owned a tract of land there, comprising 2,243 acres.
David Harman was married in 1854 to Lydia Lechner, and of their three children we make record as follows: Mary C., born December 23, 1863, is the wife of John Cook, of Green township, Mahoning connty; Ella, born August 7, 1867, is the wife of William Triplet; and John, born November 5, 1870, died December 12, that same year.
Mr. Harman owns 184 acres of land, and has all his life been more or less engaged in agricultural pursuits. For thirty years he operated machines of various kinds, and for ten years he ran a cider mill. He has also been engaged in selling farm machinery. Mr. Harman's political views are in accord with Democratic principles, and he and his wife worship with the German Reformed Church, of which they are consistent mem- bers and liberal supporters.
HOWARD EDWARDS, of Youngs- town, Ohio, was born at Hubbard, Ohio, June 28, 1869. His paternal grand- father, Rev. John Edwards, was born in Wales in 1815. He came to America in 1846, locating in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but in 1863 came to Youngstown, Mahoning county, Ohio, where he still resides. His son, David J. Edwards, was born in 1842, and received an academic education at Johns- town, Pennsylvania. He entered the United States Army, in the One Hundred and Thirty- third Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, in which he served over one year.
At the close of the war he located in Hub- bard, Ohio, where he was engaged in mer- cantile pursuits until 1885, and since that time has resided in Youngstown. He has served several years as a township officer; in the fall of 1875 was elected by the Repub- lican party as a member of the State Legis- lature; was re-elected in 1877; was elected Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of Ohio in 1879, and was also re-elected to that position. Mr. Edwards was married July 4, 1867, to Miss Jane Evans. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards have two children: John How- ard and Garfield Blaine. The latter was born in 1881.
J. Howard Edwards, the subject of this sketch, gained a fair high-school education at Hubbard. At the age of twelve years he was a correspondent for the Warren Tribune, and during the ages of fifteen and sixteen years taught school in Trumbull county. Mr. Ed- wards afterward began to write for the Youngstown and Pittsburg daily papers; in 1886 accepted a position as reporter on the Youngstown Telegram; later was made city editor of the Youngstown Vindicator; after- ward resumed his former position, and in April, 1892, was elected City Clerk of Youngstown. Although a Republican in politics, he was the recipient of both the Re- publican and Democratic votes. Socially, he is a Knight Templar Mason.
R EV. JOHN KLUTE, Pastor of Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, Youngstown, Ohio, was born in West- phalia, Germany, October 17, 1847, a son of Henry and Gertrude Klute; his father died in 1883, at the age of eighty-four years, and the mother died in 1875, aged seventy-
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one years. They reared a family of seven children, all of whom reside in Germany save Father Klute. He received his education in the college at Cologne, and when he had fin- ished the course there he emigrated to America, landing on this soil June 4, 1870.
In order to fit himself for the high and holy work of the priesthood he entered St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, and there pursued the philosophical and theological courses of study, and was ordained August 8, 1874. His first duty in the church was attending the missions in Paulding and De- fiance counties, Ohio, and afterward he per- formed the same labors for the missions in Ottawa and Sandusky counties, Ohio. On May 22, 1880, he assumed the charge of the congregations at Hubbard and Vienna, Trumbull county, Ohio, where his service proved most acceptable to liis parishioners, and was looked upon with approval by the church. He was transferred to St. Josephi's Church, August 11, 1883, and since that time has resided in Youngstown. The congre- gation now numbers two hundred families and is increasing from year to year as the city adds to her population. During the past ten years Father Klute has accomplished a great work with the aid of his people; a new church edifice, situated on one of the best streets of the city (the corner of Wick and Rayen avenues), has been completed. This structure is of a good style of architecture, and is well finished and furnished through- out; it has a seating capacity of eight hun- dred. This congregation has also purchased an admirable site for a school building, and at the present time a three-story structure is in process of erection. When it is finished a school will be opened under the direction of Father Klute, with thoroughly competent in- structors in all departments. This worthy
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