Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County Ohio, Part 33

Author: E. M. P. Brister
Publication date: 1909
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 913

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Dr. Miller was educated in the country schools of Licking county and worked on the farm from the age of twelve years through the summer months, while the winter seasons were devoted to study. Carefully and thoroughly improving his opportunities for intellectual advancement, he was soon able to secure a teacher's certificate and engaged in teaching in Licking and Muskingum counties for eight years. He then attended the Normal School at Utica, Ohio, from 1876 until 1879, having provided the expense of his education and college courses by his own labor. In fact, he has never had a dollar given him since he was twelve years of age, and whatever success he has enjoyed is due entirely to his diligence and determination. Imbued with a laudable ambition he extended his efforts to those lines demanding intellectual activity and took up the study of medicine in 1879, reading under the direction of Dr. W. R. Wallace of Perryton, while later he continued his studies with Dr. J. C. Wintermute, of Salina, Ohio, as his preceptor. IIc continued teaching school while reading medicine in order to provide for his own maintenance and, at length, as the result of his careful expenditure, he was able to enter the Columbus Medical College and spent two years in study in that institution, from which he was graduated in 1884. Quali- fying for practice, he spent six months in Perryton and then located at Alexandria, Licking county, where he remained for ten years. Seeking the still broader field offered by the city he came to Newark in 1894 and has been in practice here continually since, being accorded a liberal patronage. as his professional power has been demonstrated in the excellent results that have followed his efforts to check disease and restore health.

In 1880 Dr. Miller was married to Miss Cora Fleming, a native of Licking county and a daughter of H. A. and Catherine (Wintermute) Fleming. They have four children : Dalton H., who is a graduate of the Baltimore Medical College of the class of 1903 and is now practicing with his father; Lillian; Loreno; and

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Elizabeth, all at home. They lost a son, Ira, who died in 1890 when ten and a half months old. Dr. Miller belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has taken the degrees of the chapter and council. He is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Methodist Episcopal church-associations which indicate much of the character of his interests and the principles that govern his conduct. He is a member of the Licking County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical association. His life has ever been honorable and upright, characterized by an honest hatred of all sham and pre- tense, while in every judgment of his mind he exhibits strong common sense. He is a man of high moral character, as well as of great professional skill, and his history cannot fail to prove of interest to many of the readers of this volume.

JACOB C. MORRISON.

Jacob C. Morrison, a well-to-do and substantial agriculturist of Madison township, owning four hundred and seventy-six acres of land, is a public-spirited man, exerting a wide influence in the community in which he makes his home. He is a native son of the Buckeye state, born in Morgan county, November 22, 1849, a son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Cherry) Morrison, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in Muskingum county, Ohio. The father was a youth of seventeen or eighteen years when he removed from the south to Muskingum county, and it was here that he met and married Miss Cherry. After spending several years in that county he took up his abode in Morgan county, this state, where he also remained for some time, but subsequently returned to Muskingum county, there making his home until after the close of the Civil war, when he came to Licking county and located on a farm in Franklin township. He followed farming as a life work and became the owner of one hundred and seventy-four acres of valuable land in Franklin township, on which he made his home up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1897, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He was a democrat in his political views and for several years served as trustee of Franklin township, while his religious. faith was indicated by his membership in the Christian Union church. He was a man of much influence in his locality and did all in his power to promote the best interests of his community. The mother still survives at the advanced age of eighty-eight years and makes her home on the farm in Franklin township.

Jacob C. Morrison was reared under the parental roof and acquired his education in the common schools. He was early trained to the duties of farm life, assisting his father from the time he was old enough to follow the plow until he established a home of his own in 1872 by his marriage to Miss Cordelia John- son, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann (McFarland) Johnson, of Bowling Green township, but who later removed to Illinois.

Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Morrison took up their abode upon a rented farm in Madison township, which he operated for seven years. During this time he raised good crops and carefully managed his business affairs, so that he acquired a competency that justified him in making a purchase of land in Han-

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over township. He removed to this place and as the years passed added to his possessions until his farm now embraces two hundred and seventy acres in Hanover township and two hundred and six acres in Madison township, making altogether four hundred and seventy-six acres in one body. He made his home on the former tract until 1902, in which year he purchased the land in Madison township, to which he removed and where he has since made his home. He has improved the property with a good residence and substantial buildings and now has one of the most valuable farms in Licking county. He leads a busy and active life, but each year his efforts are rewarded with abundant crops.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison has been blessed with three children : Eva, the wife of John Wickham, a resident of Newark; George, at home; and Jesse Floyd, a high-school student in Newark. A democrat in principle and practice, Mr. Morrison has always taken a lively interest in public affairs. In 1904 he was nominee on the democratic ticket for infirmary director, but that year the entire democratic ticket met defeat. He is at present a member of the board of directors of the Agricultural Society of Licking county. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. Starting out in life without capital he, however, possesses that strong, forceful and determined character which has enabled him to push his way forward until he is one of the wealthy land- owners of Licking county. Not only has the acquirement of wealth claimed his time and attention, for his energy has often been at the service of his community, whereby he has won the respect and good will of those among whom he lives and labors.

JOSEPH DAVIS.

Joseph Davis, a well known farmer of Licking township, who comes of a family the members of which were among the early pioneers of this part of the county, was born near Jacksontown, May 9, 1832, his grandfather, Samuel Davis, whose birth occurred October 15, 1768, having come here by wagon in the early days from Virginia, when the country was in a primitive state. He built a large two-story log house, which class of structure was out of the ordinary in those times, and engaged in general farming until his death in 1851. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Stone, by whom he had five children, namely: Sarah, whose birth occurred April 2, 1792; James, who was born March 4, 1798; Rhoda, born September 7, 1800; and Elizabeth and Rebecca, twins, who entered this life September 21, 1809.

James Davis, father of the subject of this review, was born in Virginia and came to this county with his parents in 1806, locating near Horners Mills, and near the present Newark city waterworks. A year later they removed to a farm a mile west of Jacksontown on the national pike, where they remained for several years. After James Davis was united in marriage to Susan Grove he located on the farm where the birth of Joseph Davis occurred, from which place he subsequently removed to the national road, where he erected a brick house which he occupied until his death and which is still in good condition, being occupied by the grand-

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JOSEPH DAVIS

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son. This residence is an old landmark, considered one of the best homes in the county. He owned three hundred and forty acres of land which he had highly improved and kept continually under cultivation. A man of great business ability, he was wide-awake to his own interests and yet honest in all his dealings, and as an instance of his foresight it may be related that with two of his neighbors he was at the Licking county courthouse paying taxes, when the cashier remarked that there was a quarter section in Licking township unclaimed, upon which Mr. Davis, deciding that he had as much right to it as anyone else, at once made up his mind to gain possession of the tract. Immediately making ready for the journey, without breaking the secret to those about him he started for the land office at Chillicothe on foot at three o'clock Sunday morning, and finally arrived at that place, secured possession of the land and was descending the courthouse steps when the two neighbors, Thomas Baird and William Harris, with whom he was standing when the cashier spoke of the land, came in from different direc- tions on horseback and were crestfallen upon receiving information from Mr. Davis that the unclaimed quarter section was now his. He was a democrat who revered the principles of his party and did all in his power to secure the election of its candidates. He was of a highly religious turn of mind and was an active mem- ber of the primitive Baptist church, deeming his religious duties above all others. Susan Grove, mother of our subject, was a native of Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, born August 10, 1800, and died in this county in 1891. She reared a family of nine children, namely: John, Samuel, Sarah, Nancy and Jackson, all of whom are deceased; Joseph ; George, an agriculturist of Hebron, Ohio; Rebecca; and Oliver, deceased.

Joseph Davis had no educational advantages beyond those afforded him in the old log schoolhouse near the farm, but being inspired by a thirst for learning he was a great reader and after completing his studies perused many volumes from which he gleaned knowledge of various things, so that he is now accounted one of the best read men in this part of the county. He remained at home assist- ing in the duties of the farm until he was twenty-six years of age, when he began farming on an adjoining tract of land which he still owns. He has met with such success as to enable him to add to his land from time to time until he now possesses five hundred acres in one tract, all of which is highly improved and on which stands three fine dwelling houses, the one which he occupies being one of the finest and largest homes in the county. He engages in general husbandry, producing crops of hay and the various grains, and at the same time pays some attention to stock-raising.

On September 9, 1858, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Helen Sutton, a native of this county, by whom he has had three children, namely : Charles Franklin, who operates a farm adjoining that of his father; James Perry, who is in business in Newark; and Homer Jury, a practicing physician and sur- geon of Newark, Ohio, who was graduated from Rush Medical College and Cook County Hospital, of Chicago. The democratic party has always received the vote of Mr. Davis, who has interested himself in local politics, as well as state and national. He has served as one of the most efficient members of the school board, and at one time during his incumbency, when there was only fifty dollars in the school treasury, and he was therefore unable to secure a teacher his wife started

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out in a buggy and finally persuaded a woman to take the position by boarding her free, and thus the situation was relieved. Mr. Davis for many years also served as a trustee of the township and has always been deeply concerned in the welfare of the immediate community. He holds membership in the Primitive Baptist church, the services of which his wife also attends, and in this body he has for many years officiated in the capacity of deacon. Mr. Davis is a good man whose long life of uprightness has been of great benefit to the community, and he is looked upon by all his neighbors as a man deserving of the highest respect.

THOMAS M. JONES.

Thomas M. Jones was born in Knox county, Ohio, on the 15th of March, 1842, his parents being Isaiah and Belinda (Bell) Jones. His father, whose birth occurred in Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, June 15, 1816, came to Licking county in 1847, purchasing a farm which is now within the city limits of Newark. He also bought the land where the city cemetery is now located, selling the same for forty dollars per acre. In 1832 the grandfather of our subject bought the land on which the Children's Home now stands, which was sold to the county by the grandson in 1883. In politics he was a stalwart advocate of the democracy. He passed away on the 2d of August, 1901, in the faith of the Church of the Dis- ciples of Christ, having been a minister of the gospel from the time he was eighteen years old. His demise was deeply and widely mourned. His wife, whose birth occurred in Knox county, Ohio, was called to her final rest on the 17th of July, 1875. Unto this worthy couple were born five children, namely : Benjamin E., who is deceased; Thomas M., of this review; B. I., a resident of Granville, Ohio; Lillie B., the deceased wife of Dr. Kiel; and Laura, who has also passed away.

Thomas M. Jones was given excellent educational advantages in his youth and remained at home until he had attained the age of twenty-one years. Subse- quently he took charge of one of his father's farms in Holmes county, Ohio, there residing for twenty years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Licking county and has lived here continuously to the present time. His holdings now comprise one hundred acres in Granville township, one hundred and forty acres in Harrison township, one hundred and sixty-seven and a fourth acres in Madison township, six acres on the edge of the city, two acres on Gran- ville street, a residence on Eastern avenue, another dwelling on Allen street and the block on which he makes his home. He is well known throughout the county as an extensive land owner and substantial, upright citizen, whose aid and influ- ence are ever given for the material, intellectual, political and moral development of the community.

Mr. Jones has been married twice. ITis first union was with Miss Samantha McCullough, of Holmes county, Ohio, who only lived for fifteen months after her marriage. In February, 1868, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Emma F. Roe, whose birth occurred in Madison township, Licking county, September 1, 1849. Her parents, Dr. Thomas H. and Ellen Roc, were natives of England and had a

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family of six children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born four children, as follows: Nellie Bell, born June 21, 1869, who is deceased; Benjamin B., whose natal day was January 14, 1871; Daisy, born April 27, 1875, who is the wife of C. W. Herman, of this county; and Thomas Franklin, born July 30, 1877, who is at home.

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Jones has given his political allegiance to the democracy and has taken an active and helpful interest in public affairs. For twelve years he capably served in the position of trustee and has also acted as president of the school board. In his fraternal relations he is a Mason, is a past commander, past high priest and past master and has filled all of the chairs. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Church of the Disciples of Christ, and they have gained an extensive circle of friends during the long period of their residence in this county, their genuine personal worth commending them to the confidence and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact.

JOSEPH H. ORR.

Joseph H. Orr, who devotes his energy to general farming and stocking rais- ing in Newark township, this county, is a native of Linnville, his birth having occurred October 6, 1852, and a son of William and Jane (Smith) Orr, natives of Bowling Green township, this county, and New Jersey, respectively, she having come here at an early date and resided with an uncle until she was united in marriage. The elder Mr. Orr was a son of Joseph Orr, who was among the early settlers of Bowling Green township, having located on a farm near Linnville, where he lived to a ripe old age and reared the following children : Isaac, George, Samuel, Albert, William, Harvey, Sarah, Elizabeth, Susan and James. William Orr, father of the subject of this review, served for twenty-five years as postmaster and being a broom maker by trade he followed that occupation, during the great part of his early life. He passed away in Linnville, where his wife also entered into rest. They reared a family of eight children, namely: Joseph H .; William, deceased; Henry, a resident of this county; Thomas, who lives in Franklin town- ship; Del Philips, of Glennford, this county ; Tola Cooperrider, of Franklin town- ship; Jessie Osborne, also a resident of that township; and Hattie Frush, who lives in Linnville.

Joseph H. Orr resided on his father's farm near Linnville until he was thirteen years of age, in the meantime availing himself of the educational advan- tages of the village schools and assisting in the daily routine of the farmn, at which period of his life he repaired to Perry county to reside with an uncle, George Orr, with whom he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. Upon his marriage he removed with his wife's parents to Glennford and remained there until six years ago when he came to this township and purchased one hundred and thirty-five acres of land, all of which is highly improved and provided with sub- stantial buildings, Mr. Orr having built a number of them and also made con- siderable necessary repairs upon the residence. The property is situated three

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and a half miles west of the courthouse on the Union Station road and here he successfully pursues general farming and stock feeding. While he was a resi- dent of Perry county, he operated a stone quarry which afforded excellent material used in the manufacture of glass, large quantities of which he shipped to Colum- bus, Ohio, and also to Newark and, at the same time, he was associated with the general merchandise business in Glennford.

In 1873 Mr. Orr wedded Emma Swinehart, a native of Hopewell township, Perry county, born June 2, 1854, and a daughter of Peter and Sophia (Anspaugh) Swinehart, her father having served for forty years as justice of the peace and for two terms as county commissioner. In his family were three sons and eight daughters. To Mr. and Mrs. Orr were born: Scott, a shoe merchant of Newark; Daisy, who became the wife of Murray Cooperrider, the couple, with their son Wayne, residing in Glennford; Grover; and Mont, who resides at home. Mr. Orr has been loyal to the democratic party all his life and has served the town- ship in many useful offices, now performing the duties of trustee, while for a number of years he officiated in the capacity of justice of the peace. While in Perry county he was the township constable and for fifteen years central commit- teeman. He and the members of his family belong to the Lutheran church in Newark and Mr. Orr, being a man of high morals and noble purpose, who has thus far passed his life without being involved in law with any of his neighbors, having rather the reputation of being a peacemaker, well deserves credit as one of the township's most influential and substantial citizens.

JOSIAH MCKINNEY.

Josiah McKinney, a substantial citizen and retired agriculturist of Licking county, was born on the farm where he still resides, in Newton township, on the 25th of February, 1838. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Hopper) Mc- Kinney, the former born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1800, while the latter's birth occurred in Virginia, December 8, 1809. The year 1814 wit- nessed the arrival of Joseph MeKinney in this county and subsequently he pur- chased the farm which is now the home of our subject, also conducting a whiskey still here for several years. He continued a resident of this county until the time of his demise, July, 1867, and the community mourned the loss of one of its worthy and respected early settlers. His wife, who at an early day accom- panied her parents on their removal to Licking county, was called to her final rest on the 9th of May, 1895. Their family numbered eight children, the record of whom is as follows: Rachel, who is deceased; James and John, residents of Newton township; William and Martha, both of whom have passed away; Josiah, of this review : Sarah, the wife of Cyrus Marple, of Newton township; and Frank.

In the public schools Josiah Mckinney acquired a good practical education and remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age, when he went to Idaho and engaged in mining in the west. After having lived in that state two and a half years he returned to his native county and made his home with his father until the latter's death, when he took charge of the old homestead farm and

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MR. AND MRS. JOSIAH MCKINNEY

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has since continued to reside thereon. In addition to the work of general farming he made a specialty of raising and feeding stock and that his efforts in both branches were attended with gratifying success is indicated by the fact that he accumulated the handsome competence which now enables him to live retired without further recourse to labor. His holdings embrace five hundred and sixty- eight acres of valuable land in Licking county and twelve hundred and forty acres in New Mexico, and he is numbered among the most prosperous and influential citizens of his community.

On the 26th of May, 1875, Mr. Mckinney was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Christine Scarbrough, who was one of a family of four children, her birth occur- ring in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1854. By this union there were four chil- dren, namely : Clinton S., a resident of this county; Elizabeth, the wife of Carry Bricker, of Newark; Edgar, at home; and one who died in infancy. July 1, 1900, Mr. Mckinney was called upon to mourn the loss of his estimable wife, her remains being interred in the Newark cemetery.

In his political views Mr. Mckinney is a stalwart democrat and has taken an active and helpful interest in public affairs, having served as trustee, treasurer and school director. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, the teachings of which find exemplification in his daily life. Practically his entire life, covering more than the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, has been spent in this locality and no history of Licking county would be complete without extended mention of this honored native son. Moreover, throughout this long period, he has been an interested witness as well as active participant in the work of development, that has transformed this section of the state from a pioneer district into a rich agricultural region, in which are to be found all the evidences of our modern civilization.

SAMUEL JONES PHILIPPS.

The history of the Philipps family constitutes an important chapter in the annals of Licking county, for Thomas Philipps, the great-grandfather of Samuel Jones Philipps, was one of the two founders of the Welsh settlement in this locality, since which time representatives of the name have born a conspicuously helpful part in the development and progress of this portion of the state. About 1796 what was known as the original Philipps purchase was made. Thomas Philipps was associated with Theophilus Reese, these two gentlemen having come from Wales with their families in 1796. They first located at Beulah, near Ebensburg, Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Here they purchased two thousand acres of land in Granville township, which originally constituted what was known as Welsh Hills. This was at the beginning of the nineteenth century-in 1802- but they did not locate on their property until 1809. Thomas Philipps took the north half of the two thousand acres and spent the remainder of his days here. He reared a large family and many of his descendants are found within the county today. His name was originally spelled Phillips, but at the time of his marriage to Miss Mary Philipps, of Pembrokeshire, South Wales, he adopted the spelling of her surname. She was a sister of Erasmus Philipps, who

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Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County Ohio, Part 33

Author: E. M. P. Brister Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Number of Pages: 913

Author: E. M. P. Brister
Publication date: 1909
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 913