USA > Ohio > Licking County > Newark > Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County Ohio > Part 12
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he wedded Candace M. Seward, a native of Licking county, the Sewards having come from the state of New York to Ohio in the days of frontier settlement here. Mrs. Legge, a sister of Judge Seward, is still living. The doctor's father was a stanch republican in politics, faithfully espousing the principles of the party, yet never seeking office.
Dr. Legge was educated in the schools of this county and holds a teacher's certificate, but after putting aside his text-books he started out to earn his living as a brakesman on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, being thus employed for ten years. His ambition, however, was not satisfied with that line of activity and desiring to enter upon a professional career he took up the study of medicine and matriculated in the Ohio Medical University from which he was graduated with the class of 1898. He then returned to the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, but this time as surgeon, and continued in that position for six years. In 1897 he commenced general practice in Newark where he has since remained, giving close and undivided attention to his professional duties which have been onerous and important. He served for one term as county coroner, is a member of the County Medical Society and has been a frequent contributor to Medical journals, his articles being valuable contributions thereto.
In 1898 Dr. Legge was married to Miss Mary Shauck, a daughter of Moses Shauck, of Johnsville, Ohio, who is prominent in the county in insurance circles. His brother, Judge Shauck, is a member of the Ohio supreme bench.
Dr. Legge has long been identified with labor organizations, having for twenty years been a member of the Railway Trainmen. He belongs to Newark lodge, No. 97, A. F. & A. M., and other fraternal organizations, while his political views are evidenced in his active and efficient work in behalf of the republican party. He never falters in the defense of any principle in which he believes and his loyalty in citizenship is a matter above question. His entire life has been spent in Licking county, and that his best friends are numbered among those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time is an indication of his honorable and upright career.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH M. SCOTT.
Captain Joseph M. Scott is one of Licking county's sons whose record reflects credit upon the community in that he has always been a fearless defender of what he believes to be right. For a half century he was closely associated with agri- cultural interests and in all of his business dealings was straightforward and reliable. He is now living retired, making his home with a daughter in Granville. He was born January 9, 1830, in Utica, Ohio, and is a representative of an old American family which was founded in Chester county, Pennsylvania, afterward called Adams county. The family originally came from the north of Ireland. The battle of Gettysburg is said to have occurred upon their farm. The line of descent is traced down through Hugh, Abraham, Samuel, Joseph and Josiah Scott to Captain Scott of this review. His grandfather, Joseph Scott, left the ancestral home in Pennsylvania and made his way down the Ohio river in a dugout and
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polled to Zanesville. He settled in Burlington township, Licking county, in 1810, and was there identified with pioneer life in all of its varied phases and experi- ences. In 1814 he sold this property and settled in Washington township, where he was the first elder in the Presbyterian church at Utica. He also served as justice of the peace. In 1834 he removed to Logan county where his wife died, while his death occurred in Lima, Ohio, in 1837. It was in honor of his grand- father that Captain Scott was named. Captain Scott's father, Josiah Scott, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1801, and died at Charles City, Iowa, December 2, 1861. He married Samantha Morey, who was born December 1, 1807, in Rutland county, Vermont, and was a daughter of Abraham and Abigal (Stratton) Morcy. Her death occurred March 5, 1887, and her grave was made at Charles City, Iowa. In the family of this worthy couple were seven children : Sanford, who died in March, 1903; Joseph M .; Abigal; Mary Jane, who has also passed away; Eliza Roselia, who was born in 1839 and is married and lives in the state of Washington ; Mary Roena, who was born March 2, 1842, and was married in January, 1859, and now lives in Denver, Colorado; and Sidney A., who now resides on a farm two miles from Charles City, Iowa.
Captain Scott, born and reared in Utica, Ohio, left that place at the age of eighteen years and went to Bellefontaine, where, for three years, he occupied the position of foreman in a clothing and tailoring establishment. He then returned to Utica where he began business on his own account, but later withdrew from commercial connections and turned his attention to agricultural interests, purchas- ing a farm of forty acres of Squire L. M. Spellman one mile south of Alexandria, now known as Scott's Corners. In his farm work he prospered and kept adding to his property from time to time until his and his wife's possessions aggregated four hundred and twenty-five acres. In addition to tilling the soil and the pro- duction of the crops best suited to climatic conditions, he made a specialty of sheep raising and found it a profitable source of income. For half a century, from 1852 until 1902, he resided upon that farm and was known as one of the prominent and honored agriculturists of the community.
Constrained by patriotism he put aside the interests of a growing business, for at the time of the Civil war he enlisted on the 9th of October, 1861, and having raised Company B of the Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was commissioned its captain. He inspired his men with much of his own zeal and courage, and led his troops into the engagement at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and the Siege of Corinth. Captain Scott also took part at the battle of Milliken's Bend, just above Vicksburg, when a boatload of arms was captured by the fleet. Later he resigned because a young man was sent to him to take the office of lieutenant when one should have been selected from the company. He had before his enlistment aided in raising Company D which went to Missouri, but was afterward made a part of the Twenty-second Ohio Infantry.
On the 3d of September, 1851, Captain Scott was married to Miss Emily M. Eastman, a daughter of Ephriam and Matilda (Hale) Eastman. Five children were born of this marriage. Fannie, the oldest, became the wife of George E. Thompson, on the 1st of May, 1872. He was a native of Guernsey county, born in 1847 and died in Washington, September 30, 1904. Mrs. Thompson now makes her home in Granville and her father, Captain Scott, resides with her. Carrie E.,
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the second daughter, is the wife of T. A. Carroll, of St. Albans township. Hale E. married Lizzie Lewis and died, leaving one son, Lewis Scott. Walter is cashier of the Otis & Hough Brokerage & Banking House of Cleveland, and married Katherine Nichols of Virginia. Helen C. is the wife of Dr. George P. Riebel of Ashland, Ohio.
Captain Scott has long been a stalwart advocate of progressive public measures. Feeling that the question of slavery was the dominant issue before the people, he joined the ranks of the freesoil party. Later he was present at the organization of the republican party in Ohio, which had its birth at Columbus. At this meeting John Sherman presided, and Salmon P. Chase was nominated for gover- nor. For one term he served as justice of the peace in St. Albans township and was a candidate on the republican ticket for representative to the legislature and sheriff. Later espousing the cause of the prohibition party, for he believed that the temperance question was paramount to all others, he now gives to it his loyal support. He was three times its candidate for representative and was also candi- date for lieutenant governor. He announces his position as follows: "In sentiment, a Congregationalist, a lifelong enemy of American slavery, the liquor traffic and the lodge." His position never has been an equivocal one. He has always stood fearlessly for what he believes to be right, and neither fear nor favor could swerve him from the course which his judgment and conscience sanction. He is as loyal in his citizenship as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields, and all respect him for his unfaltering fidelity.
EDWIN SINNETT, M. D.
Seldom does death cause such uniform sorrow throughout a community as did that of Dr. Edwin Sinnett, who through the years of his long residence in Granville, his native city, had endeared himself to the hearts of all by reason of his well developed manhood, his honorable purposes, his kindly sympathy and his public-spirited citizenship. He was born in Granville, August 17, 1827, and died at his home on Mount Parnassus, February 15, 1902, being at that time the oldest native resident of the village. His parents were Allen and Nancy (Blanchard) Sinnett, both of whom were natives of Maine, coming to Ohio from the island of Grand Monan, Maine. The grandfather, James Sinnett, reached Licking county in 1805, with one of the first companies who settled here, and purchased a large tract of land, being closely identified with agricultural interests as the years passed. The family of Allen and Nancy Sinnett numbered seven sons and one daughter, but only one is now living, Charles, who is merchant and postmaster at Harper, Oklahoma.
In the Granville public schools and academy Dr. Sinnett pursued his education and was also for a time a medical student in Cleveland, Ohio, while subsequently he won his M. D. degree in Cincinnati, being graduated from the Ohio Medical College with the class of 1850. At the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotism constrained him to interrupt a growing practice and enlist in the Union army. Five other brothers also offered their services and the military record which they
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made was a most creditable one. Dr. Sinnett was assigned to the Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry as assistant surgeon and subsequently was transferred to the Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and promoted to the rank of surgeon major. For two years he remained at the front and during a portion of that time was in charge of general hospital No. 21, at Nashville, Tennessee. His own health became so impaired, however, that he was compelled to leave the army. At the very urgent call for surgeons after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, Dr. Sinnett went to the relief of the Union soldiers with seventy-four other volunteer surgeons. He was especially skilled in the surgical line, and during his enlistment established an enviable reputation in that connection. The work which he did in behalf of the sick and wounded had gained for him the gratitude of many a soldier of both the North and South.
After his return Dr. Sinnett again took up the private practice of medicine in Granville and made steady progress in his profession, his ability carrying him into important relations. He always remained a close student of the science of medicine and his reading and research continually promoted his efficiency and augmented his skill. In connection with Dr. W. W. Bancroft he organized the Granville Water Cure, which they conducted successfully for a number of years, having as high as eighty patients at one time. He also extended his business activities to other fields and became secretary of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad Construction Company and secretary and treasurer of the Toledo Coal and Iron Company. He was also president of the Bank of Granville, and in all his business relations manifested a spirit of enterprise that made him a valued representative of commercial and financial as well as professional interests. His marked energy never allowed him to undertake what he did not accomplish and when one avenue of labor seemed closed he would seek out another path whereby he might reach the goal of his labors. Dr. Sinnett was the owner of five farms, comprising one thousand acres, which he successfully conducted in addition to his other interests.
Dr. Sinnett was always interested in everything that concerned Granville and her welfare. He thoroughly understood the needs of the quiet college town and gave his time willingly to its services. He was a man of action rather than theory, doing quickly and effectively whatever was needed to be done and per- forming each public and private service with a sense of conscientious obligation. Such was the confidence reposed in his ability and fidelity to the public good that he was called to fill every city office from that of marshal to mayor. He was also for twenty years president of the Granville Association of Veterans of the Civil War. He always gave his political allegiance to the democracy, for he believed its principles most conducive to good government. Higher political honors awaited him than had been accorded him in the town, for he was elected to represent his district in the senate of the sixty-seventh and sixty-eighth general assemblies. He proved a capable working member of the upper house, studying closely the questions which came up for settlement and voting as his judgment dictated in support of measures which he believed would prove of most benefit to the community at large. Dr. Sinnett, during his service as state senator, intro- duced and had passed the original bill providing for a state board of medical examiners and was also active in the interests of temperance measures. In other lines he was equally devoted to the public welfare. IIe ever advocated higher
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education and was a member and secretary of the board of trustees of the Granville Female College for more than a quarter of a century. He was also a trustee and secretary of the board of the Presbyterian church, in which he long held member- ship, and for over a half century was a valued and honored member of the Ohio and County Medical Societies.
On the 15th of May, 1855, Dr. Sinnett was married to Miss Sarah A. Wright, who was born in Granville, November 1, 1834, a daughter of Edwin Cooley and Orlena (Hillyer) Wright, of whom mention is made in connection with the sketch of Theodore Wright. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Sinnett were born four children : Frank, who died at the age of two years; Alice Hall, who died at the age of seven years ; Clara Amanda, who is the wife of Charles B. White, making their home with her mother; and Edwin, who died when four years of age. In 1890 Dr. Sinnett erected a beautiful stone house on Mount Parnassus, the most attractive residence district of the city, where his widow now resides. He took great pride in his home and oversaw the building of it in detail. The dwelling and its site constitute it one of the finest residences in Licking county, commanding a magnifi- cent view of the surrounding country. Such in brief is the history of Dr. Edwin Sinnett, whose memory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him. Realizing that he would not pass this way again, he made the most of life's opportunities, neglecting no chance for individual improvement or to do good to a fellowman. This devotion to his fellowmen as manifest in his professional, political and private service seemed to constitute the centrality of his life. He handled every question vitally and conclusively and his labors were a recognized element in the world's progress in the community in which he lived.
JOSEPH HAMLIN CONARD.
Joseph Hamlin Conard, a well known and representative farmer of Licking county, who has devoted his entire life to the tilling of the soil, was born in Burlington township, this county, March 14, 1850, a son of Nathan and Catherine (Montgomery) Conard. IIis paternal grandfather, Nathan Conard, came to Ohio from Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1805, and settled in Licking county, where, in 1807, he purchased a farm of two hundred acres from James Stansbury, thus founding the old Conard homestead, where the remaining years of his life were spent. Year by year he added to his original holdings until he became one of the most prosperous agriculturists and influential citizens of the community, at the time of his demise leaving to each of his nine children a farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres or more. He was very prominent among his fellow citizens and served for many years as justice of the peace. He took a very active interest in church work, being a member of the Methodist church. A loyal and public-spirited citizen, he was at all times an earnest advocate of civic improvement and lent his aid to many measures destined for the general good. He was in his seventy- sixth year when called to his home beyond. His wife bore the maiden name of Miss Butcher, and survived him several years, her death occurring when she had attained the venerable age of ninety-six years. Nathan Conard, Jr., the father
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of our subject, was born on the old homestead about 1815, where he spent the years of his boyhood and youth. Reaching manhood, he located in Burlington township, where his remaining days were spent in farming. His death occurred when he was seventy years of age. He was a republican in politics, and for several years served as an officer in the Methodist church. His wife, Catherine (Montgomery) Conard, was born in Perry township, Licking county, March 28, 1817, a daughter of Henry Montgomery, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume.
Joseph Hamlin Conard, reared under the parental roof, acquired his education in the common schools of Licking county and at the age of twenty-two years went to live with an uncle and aunt, Joe and Betsy Conard, who had never married. Here for about twenty-four years he cared for them and looked after their agricultural interests, and at their death came into possession of their farm, which had been the birthplace of his father and which he continues to make his home. This farm comprises one hundred and fifty acres, and he bought another farm of two hundred and eight acres in this township. This property is yielding him excellent returns, and he is justly accounted one of the substantial agriculturists of this county.
On October 4, 1878, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Conard to Miss Eliza J. Parks, a daughter of James Parks, of Burlington township, who sacrificed his life in the Civil war. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Conard have been born five children : Etta G., the wife of Frank Melick, residing in Burlington township; John A., who is operating one of his father's farms; Mary M., Wesley Ray and George C., all at home. Following the example of his father and grandfather before him, Mr. Conard is a stalwart supporter of the republican party and is a member of the Methodist church, of which he is an elder and trustee. His years of residence in this community have brought to him a host of warm friends and he is highly esteemed by all who know him and especially so by those who know him best.
MILES JOSEPH.
Miles Joseph, who for many years followed railroad contracting and local bridge building, has always resided in Union township, this county, where he was born January 14, 1835. His ancestors were among the early settlers of this part of the state. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Joseph, a native of Virginia, settled in Fairfield county almost a century ago and cleared two farms there and one in Lima township, finally removing to the latter, which contained about one hundred and sixty acres, whereon he farmed until his death. He reared twelve children, all of whom are deceased. Among them was Samuel Joseph, whose birth occurred in Fairfield county about 1804. He followed farming all his life, at the same time taking an interest in public affairs, during his active career having performed the duties of township trustee, officiated as justice of the peace and also as county coroner, death terminating his busy and useful life in 1839, when he was in his thirty-seventh year. His wife, Margaret Horn, who was born in Union township and who entered into rest in 1857, when forty-seven years of age, was a daughter
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of ITenry and Hannah Horn, natives of Virginia, who settled on two hundred acres of land for which they paid the government a dollar and a quarter an acre. Mrs. Hannah Horn passed away in her ninety-fourth year, having been a widow for five years over half a century. She had four children, one of whom was born before coming here, namely: Polly, Nellie, Betsey and Margaret. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Joseph were born seven children, namely: Henry, deceased, who served in the Mexican war under Captain Duncan, with General Scott in command; Jacob, deceased, who was a prominent merchant; William, deceased, who followed agri- culture in Illinois; Miles; Angeline Young, deceased; Shannon, a railroad con- ductor residing in Columbus, Ohio; and Elizabeth Ann Whitehurst, who lives in Lancaster, this state.
Miles Joseph was reared on the home farm, in his boyhood days acquiring his education in the neighboring schools, and when twelve years of age went to work for a railroad contractor for whom he drove a horse and cart, it being his duty every Saturday afternoon to drive to Newark for a barrel of whiskey, then costing twelve and one-half cents per gallon, and every morning each workman received a tumblerful, and if they desired any more they were compelled to pay three cents for each glass. While in the employ of this contractor Mr. Joseph worked for twenty cents a day and boarded himself, but he stuck to his tasks until he became familiar with the business and later took up contract work for himself. He has done much private and public work, principally building bridges for the township and the county. His industry and enterprise enabled him to acquire a practical knowledge of the business which he has followed. He had little advantages for obtaining an education in the schools, but being of a studious turn of mind he pursued his studies at home and aside from having devoted one winter to teaching in the neighborhood schools he educated all his own children at home, and as well many of his neighbors' children, at night. Although during his younger days he was thrown amid many temptations, it is deserving of mention that he never fell into the habit of drinking intoxicants, and by moderation in all things he has all his years been able to maintain such a degree of health and vigor that he has never been attended by a physician. His early industry and practical economy have brought him prosperity and aside from having plenty of ready means he also owns an elegant residence surrounded by twelve acres of land, his property being located on the Lancaster and Nashville road.
On December 25. 1856, Mr. Joseph wedded Octavia Frances Dennis, a native of Jacksontown, Licking township, where her birth occurred March 20, 1837. She is a daughter of James and Fannie ( Kendall) Dennis, natives of Fauquier county, Virginia, where they were united in marriage, settling in Licking township in 1835. The mother, whose birth occurred in 1800, departed this life in her forty- second year, while the father lived to be seventy-eight years of age. They reared a family of eight children, namely: Joel M .. deceased, who was an attorney at law in Newark, Ohio; Park, deceased, who served throughout the Civil war; Wilson, a resident of Union county; Julia Bozman, deceased ; Amanda Ruffner, who resides in this township; Octavia Frances; Rhoda, who resides in Johnstown, this county; and Phidelia Frush, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph have the following sons and daughters: Royal M., a railroad man who resides in Columbus, Ohio, and who departed this life in his thirty-first year, leaving a widow ; Elmer, of Philadelphia,
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trust claim agent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad; George, who is an electrical engineer residing in Alabama ; Lewis, a resident of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, who served in the Spanish-American war from Missouri; Herbert, train dispatcher of the Panhandle Railroad at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Jesse, a railroad freight claim agent residing in New York city; Emma, wife of John Bateman, of Prentice, Illinois ; and Rosa, who was the wife of C. J. Brown, and died in Alabama when she was forty-two years of age. Miles Joseph has always resided in this township, where he is well known for his enterprising spirit, and always having maintained his integrity in all transactions he is held in high respect throughout the com- munity and is numbered among the township's worthy and representative citizens.
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