USA > Ohio > Licking County > Newark > Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County Ohio > Part 13
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HON. HERBERT ATHERTON.
Hon. Herbert Atherton, mayor of Newark, is leaving the impress of his individuality upon democratic activity in Licking county. With firm belief in the principles of the party, he has labored earnestly for their adoption and his efforts have been effective factors in democratic success. He has also filled various offices and, as mayor of the city, is giving a business-like administration in which he has introduced many needed improvements and reforms.
One of Licking county's native sons, Mr. Atherton, was born August 9, 1846, upon the home farm in Madison township, his parents being Augustus W. and Cynthia M. (Taft) Atherton. The father was a native of Newark township, this county, born February 22, 1824, while the mother was born in Knox county, Ohio, August 26, 1825. At the pioneer epoch of the history of this part of the state the family was founded here by the grandfather, John Atherton, who came from Pennsylvania and settled in Licking county when the land was largely uncultivated, the forests uncut and the streams unbridged. He took up the task of farming amidst pioneer environments and assisted largely in the early devel- opment of the county. He resided here continuously as one of the respected and carly settlers until his death, which occurred when he was eighty-two years of age. One of his sons, Gibson Atherton, became a very prominent and influential resident of the county. He served as prosecuting attorney and gained distinction as a noted criminal lawyer. Called to public office, he has represented his district in congress for four years and was appointed judge of the supreme court to fill a vacancy, serving on the bench for about a year. IIe was also one of the first mayors of Newark after the incorporation of the city, being elected in 1860. He served for four years as chief executive here and was afterward for several terms a member of the city council. He was well fitted for leadership, for in addition to his thorough mastery of the questions and issues of the day, he is greatly interested in matters pertaining to the general good of the community and pos- sesses much of that quality which, for want of a better term, has been called personal magnetism. He thus gained a large following and his official record shows that the confidence reposed in him is well placed. His brother, Augustus W. Atherton, the father of Newark's present mayor, was a farmer by occupation and devoted his entire life to tilling the soil. He was, however, a man of genuine worth, respected by all who knew him. He died on the old homestead in 1889.
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No event of especial importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Herbert Atherton in his boyhood and youth. He assisted in the work of the fields through the summer months and in the winter seasons attended the public schools. After putting aside his text-books he followed farming until 1885, when he removed to the city of Newark, where he engaged in the real estate and coal business. In 1890 he was elected real estate appraiser for the city of Newark and the same year was chosen county commissioner by popular suffrage, filling the latter position for six years. In 1898 he was elected mayor of Newark, and that the public endorsed his administration is indicated in the fact that he was reelected in 1900, serving for four years. He then became connected with the city police department as station house keeper of the city prison, resigning that position on the 1st of September, 1907, to again become the democratic nominee for mayor. In the month of November he was elected, having a majority of ten hundred and sixteen, the largest majority ever given to any candidate for the office in Newark, a fact which is highly complimentary, indicating his personal popularity, the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens and their recognition of his good service while formerly an incumbent in that office. He has studied closely the needs of the city, the possibilities for progressive development and the demands of the city in the municipal business. While he is careful to avoid expenditure of public funds, he nevertheless advocates substantial progress and his influence is always given to the side of advancement.
On the 6th of April, 1902, Mr. Atherton was united in marriage to Miss Mary Keenan of Newark. Mr. Atherton has two sons by a former marriage, William and Augustus. The first named is secretary to the general manager of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad and the Pere Marquette railroad. Mr. Atherton is a member of the fraternal order of Eagles, the Modern Woodmen and the German Benevolent Society. He has made an excellent official and in the unremunerated offices of private friendship he has been loyal and faithful. In turn his friends believe in him and feel that their faith has never been mis- placed. Sincerity, loyalty, trustworthiness-these are qualities that stand as salient elements in the character of Herbert Atherton.
HON. B. G. SMYTHE.
Hon. B. G. Smythe is the dean of the Licking county bar, having continuously engaged in practice in Newark for forty-three years. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate talents which are his, and he is today honored not more for his professional accomplishments and successes than for those virtues and graces of character which have ever numbered him among the valued citizens and made his friendship and companionship prized wherever intelli- gence is regarded as a necessary attribute to agreeableness.
A native of Newark, Mr. Smythe was born on the 21st day of August, 1843, his parents being George B. and Sarah C. (Caffee) Smythe, the latter a daughter of Amos H. Caffee, one of the pioneer residents of this city. The father was a native of Saratoga county, New York, and about 1830 arrived in Newark, Ohio, where he resided for a short time. He then went to Washington, District of
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Columbia, where he read law under the direction of Walter Jones, one of the most distinguished lawyers of this country. While in that city Mr. Smythe became principal of an academy for boys on Capitol hill, and was engaged as reporter for several newspapers. Two years were passed in Washington, after which, having been graduated at Union College, New York, he returned to Ohio, again locating in Newark in 1834, having in the meantime been admitted to the bar at Ports- mouth, Ohio. He remained in the active practice of law in this city until he reached the venerable age of eighty-seven years and no resident of the community enjoyed in larger measure, or more fully deserved, the respect and esteem so uni- formly accorded him. He had no political ambitions, although his fellow townsmen elected him to serve as their representative in the state legislature for one term. He preferred to give his attention to his private business interests and was accorded a liberal clientage that connected him with the most important litigation tried in the courts of his district. As he prospered he made judicious investments in real estate from time to time and became the owner of considerable valuable property. His death occurred in the year 1898, at the age of ninety-two years. Thus passed away one whose life work was very beneficial to the community, for he was ever constant in honor, faultless in conduct, and stainless in reputation. His wife was born in Newark, of which city her father, Amos Caffee, was mayor in 1847. He also laid out the cemetery of Newark, was clerk of the county court, and a member of the city council. In fact, he took a very prominent and influential part in public affairs, and his influence was ever on the side of upbuilding and orderly progression.
B. G. Smythe completed his literary education in Union College at Schenec- tady, New York, under the direction of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, the grandfather of the late Bishop Potter. Following his graduation in 1864 he immediately returned home and took up the study of law under the direction of his father, being admitted to the bar at Wooster, Ohio, in 1866. He began practice in Newark, where he has since remained. For one term he was justice of the peace, but has never sought nor desired office other than in the line of his profession, preferring to concentrate his attention upon the duties of a large private practice. He has conducted impor- tant litigation in the federal and state courts, with gratifying success, winning well earned fame and distinction. He has much natural ability, but is, withal, a hard student and is never contented until he has mastered every detail of his cases. He believes in the maxim, "There is no excellence without labor," and follows it closely. He is never surprised by some unexpected discovery by the opposing lawyer, for in his mind he weighs every point and fortifies himself as well for defense as for attack. Few lawyers win a larger percentage of cases before either judge or jury than does Mr. Smythe, who convinces by his concise statement of law and facts rather than by word painting. Whatever he does is for the best interest of his clients and for the honor of his profession, and he is numbered among the most prominent members of the Licking County Bar Association.
In 1865 Mr. Smythe was married to Miss Sarah Atcherley, of White Church, England, and they have one son and one daughter: Philip B., who is his father's law partner, and Lora; the wife of Dr. J. L. Hervey, of Martin's Ferry, Ohio. The social side of Mr. Smythe's nature finds expression in his membership with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in the entertainment of his many
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friends at his own home. His entire life has been passed in Newark, so that his history is largely familiar to its citizens, and he has always displayed commend- able qualities, being progressive in his citizenship, faithful in his friendships, and loyal to every trust reposed in him.
JOHN. W. SPEELMAN.
John W. Speelman is now living retired in Burlington, but for some time was identified with commercial interests and previously with agricultural life. He is, moreover, a veteran of the Civil war, who in the darkest hour of the country's history, stood loyally in defense of the rights of the federal government. His birth occurred in Knox county, Ohio, March 9, 1840. His father, William Speelman, was born in Maryland and was a son of John Speelman, a soldier of the Revo- lutionary war, who removed to Pennsylvania when his son William was but four years of age. It was in the Keystone state that the boy was reared and after attain- ing his majority was there married to Miss Letitia Long. Soon afterward he came to Ohio, locating in Licking county, and three years later he removed to Knox county, purchasing eighty acres of timber land, for which he paid two dollars and a quarter per acre. He was forty years in making the payments upon this place and died on the farm at the age of seventy-seven years, his birth having occurred in 1806.
John W. Speelman received a liberal common-school education. His youth was largely a period of earnest toil, for he assisted his father in the cultivation of the fields on the old home place. On the 11th of December, 1863, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Jagger, a daughter of Silas Jagger of Licking county. They took up their abode on a farm in Knox county, where they lived for three years, Mr. Speelman renting the land. He then returned to Licking county, where he again rented a farm for four or five years, during which time he carefully saved his earnings and as the result of his diligence and economy was enabled to purchase ninety acres near the old homestead in Knox county. In 1895 he removed to Homer, where he has since resided. The only interruption that has come to his active business career was at the time of the Civil war, when in May, 1864, he enlisted as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Forty-second regiment of Ohio volunteers for one hundred days' service. He had three brothers, who were also members of the army, Francis and David, who served in the same company and are now deceased; and Louis, who was a member of Company G, Twentieth Ohio Regiment. and is now living in Knox county. After his return from the war Mr. Speelman resumed farming and continued to till the soil until his removal to Homer, when he engaged with his son in the implement business. After several years he sold out in that line and established and conducted a grocery and dry goods store, but for the past four years has lived retired, enjoying a well earned rest.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Speelman were born five children, but only one is now living. Arthur, a representative business man of Homer. Mrs. Speelman has also passed to her reward, having died on the twenty-eighth of February, 1909. Mr. Speelman is a consistent and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was also
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his wife, and he has been an exhorter therein for forty years. He also belongs to the J. Dill Post, G. A. R., and maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. His life has been an active and useful one and his success is well merited, for in all of his dealings he has been straightforward, energetic and reliable.
JAMES P. LATIMER, M. D.
Many accord to the practice of medicine the highest place among the business and professional interests to which man devotes his energies. The importance of the work is certainly most pronounced and the physician, therefore, occupies a prominent place in the community if he is capable and loyal to a high standard of professional ethics. In this connection Dr. Latimer is well known and is now successfully practicing in Newark. Stark county, Ohio, numbers him as one of her native sons, his birth having there occurred July 10, 1853. His father, George Latimer, was also a native of that county, being the first white male child born within its borders. Having arrived at years of maturity he wedded Martha Warden, who was born on the farm where the birth of her son, Dr. Latimer, afterward occurred. The family on both sides comes from Pennsylvania, and in both the paternal and maternal lines, is of Scotch-Irish origin.
Dr. Latimer was only three months old when his parents removed to Richland county, Ohio, and there as a public school student he pursued his preliminary education which was supplemented by study in Wooster university. He thus obtained broad literary knowledge to serve as the foundation on which to rear the superstructure of his professional learning and, having determined to become a member of the medical fraternity, he entered the Cleveland Medical College, but later continued his studies in the Baltimore College of Physicians and Surgeons. from which he was graduated. He also did post-graduate work at Rush Medical College of Chicago in 1882. In the meantime, however, he began practice at Perrysville, Ohio, in 1879, spending a year there, and in 1880 he came to Newark which at that time had a population of eighty-five hundred. He has witnessed the growth of the city until it now contains more than thirty thousand people and his own practice has developed proportionately as he has faithfully ministered to those in need of medical and surgical aid, his careful diagnosis of cases and his correct administration of remedial agencies proving forceful elements in his successful professional career.
In the year in which he located in Newark Dr. Latimer was married to Miss Frances Smith, a native of Richland county, and they now have two daughters : Lilian S., who was graduated from Washington Seminary of Pennsylvania in 1903; and Bertha, who was a member of the junior class in Wilson College, at Cham- bersburg, Pennsylvania, is now a senior of Shepardson College, Granville.
Dr. Latimer is a member of Acme Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Newark. His fellow citizens, recognizing his fidelity to public interests, have frequently urged him to become a candidate for office, but he has no ambition in that direction, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his professional duties and to enjoy the companionship of his family and friends when not occupied with his profes- sional labors. He is a member of the Licking County and Ohio State Medical
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Societies and the American Medical Association, being today the oldest member of the American Medical Association living in Newark. Anything which tends to bring to man the key to that complex mystery which we call life is of interest to him, and in all of his professional duties he manifests a sense of conscientious obligation that prompts him to put forth his best efforts for the welfare of his patients.
JOHN H. MYER.
Among those whose industry and enterprise have done much toward developing the agricultural interests of Union township is John H. Myer, a prosperous farmer and worthy citizen whose birth occurred on the farm to which he has always devoted his energies, on February 6, 1861. His paternal grandparents were Peter and Anna Myer, natives of Maryland, where the former departed this life. His widow came to Licking county in 1819, locating in Union township, where she spent her remaining days. Their family included eight children, among whom was Jacob H. Myer, who was born in Allegany county, Maryland, in the year 1800, and came to Union township with his mother. Here he was employed as a laborer by the month for several years until he secured sufficient means with which to purchase a farm, on which he produced general crops and dealt in stock until his death which occurred January 3, 1867. He was married twice, his first union being with Nancy Postie, by whom he had a son Peter. For his second wife he chose Miss Mary Oldaker and the only child of this marriage is John H. Myer of this review.
On the farm to which he now devotes his attention John H. Myer spent his boyhood days, during which time he assisted in the work of the fields and during the short winter seasons acquired his education in the neighboring schools, nothing unusual occurring to change the experiences common to the country boy. Here he grew up, from year to year making himself more proficient in farm work until he assumed the management of the home place which he now owns. It is known as the Walnut Hill farm and adjoins the Buckeye Lake park grounds on the Dog Lake road, two miles south of Hebron. His farm is one of the most highly improved of his part of the township and is provided with substantial buildings. Mr. Myer makes a specialty of raising garden produce and also conducts a dairy business, the adjacent summer resort affording him a convenient and lucrative market for his produce. The fact that his farm borders the park grounds makes it of exceptional value and he has recently laid off a portion of his property in lots which is known as the Cottage lot addition and is supplied with every appointment of a pleasant summer resort.
In 1887 Mr. Myer wedded Hattie E. Seymour, a native of Union township, born September 20, 1865, and a daughter of Bruce E. and Elizabeth (Lees) Seymour, natives of England. Her father is now deceased while her mother lives in Hebron. Mr. and Mrs. Myer are the parents of four children, namely: Ernest 0., Dillon S., Mary E., and Alice Harriett. Mr. Myer has always been faithful to the democratic party. Aside from taking an interest in national and state politics he is also concerned in local affairs. He has served as a member of the
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school board and is always willing to put forth such efforts as will tend toward promoting the public good. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of Hebron, in the affairs of which he is a leading factor and for a number of years has been a member of the official board. His daily walk and conversation are in keeping with the tenets of the faith he professes and thus his conduct in all life's relations is measured by the higher standard of Christian morality. He is therefore a valued asset to the moral and spiritual life of the neighborhood and is known throughout the township as a substantial and honorable citizen.
JAMES W. FULTON.
James W. Fulton, a substantial citizen and progressive agriculturist of Bur- lington township, was born near Homer, Licking county, Ohio, on the 8th day of February, 1853, his parents being William and Rachel (Carver) Fulton, natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and Mary Ann township, Licking county, respectively. The maternal grandfather of our subject, James Wiley Carver, was for several years associated with the Mary Ann furnace. William Fulton, whose birth occurred January 13, 1818, came to Licking county when a young man, locating west of Homer with his uncle, Robert Fulton, one of the founders of Denison University. For some years he traveled around the country, going to Iowa, Indiana and Pennsylvania in the order named, while later he returned to Licking county, making the journey on horseback. Soon afterward, about the year 1850, he was married and took up his abode in a log cabin on the farm of his uncle, Robert Fulton. Subsequently he purchased the old water mill just west of Homer and operated it for several years in association with Abraham Stamen. He then turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, with which he was connected until the time of his demise, which occurred October 2, 1896, while his wife had been called to her final rest on the 22d of May, 1889. He gave his political allegiance to the democracy and that his fellow townsmen recognized his worth and ability is indicated in the fact that he was chosen to serve in various township offices, including those of trustee, assessor and land appraiser.
James W. Fulton was reared under the parental roof and in the acquirement of an education attended the grammar and high schools of Homer. When nineteen years of age he began teaching and for four years devoted his time to that profes- sion, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had gained. On abandoning educational work he became connected with agricultural interests, taking charge of and conducting the home farm. On the 16th of May, 1889, he was united in marriage to Miss Clara Dunlap, of Burlington township, and soon afterward, his parents having removed to Homer, he was left in charge of the home place. The mother died soon after her removal to Homer and the father, after three or four years' residence with two of his daughters in that town, returned to the old homestead farm to take up his abode with his son, James W. Subsequent to his father's death James W. Fulton purchased the home place of one hundred and six acres and has since been engaged in its cultivation and improvement, the property being now a valuable and highly improved tract of land and bringing to him a substantial income annually.
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Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fulton have been born five children, three of whom still survive: Mary A., the wife of Frank Fishner, who resides with Mr. Fulton and is employed as engineer at the gas pumping station; Marjorie, who is attending the high school; and James William, a public school student in Homer.
Politically Mr. Fulton is a democrat and has served for two terms as town- ship trustee and township assessor, while for six years he has been a member of the school board, of which he is now acting as president. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Presbyterian church and he is well and favorably known throughout the county in which his entire life has been passed. He has always been found reliable and trustworthy in all his business dealings, and to his honesty, industry and economy is due the success which he has achieved.
W. J. POND.
W. J. Pond, one of the leaders of the republican party in Licking county, identified through business relations with insurance and real estate interests in Gran- ville, was here born on the 3d of July, 1848, his parents being Aaron and Electa (Biglow) Pond. The mother was a native of West Virginia, while the father was born in the state of New York. In his boyhood days he came to Ohio and worked on the Ohio canal, driving an ox team. He took an active interest in politics and was a stanch supporter of the old whig party. In the days of the militia he served as major. Unto him and his wife were born three children, Marietta and Mary, both deceased; and W. J. of this review. The mother died in 1849 and in 1851 the father married again and by that union there were two children : Nicholas, who is now at the Soldiers' Home in Ohio; and Elizabeth, who is the widow of H. A. Spelman and lives with her brother, W. J. Pond. The father, long well known as a worthy citizen of the community, died in 1890.
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