USA > Ohio > Licking County > Newark > Centennial History of the City of Newark and Licking County Ohio > Part 72
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It was in April, 1869, that Colonel Burch was united in marriage to Miss Candace Ruick, a native of Licking county and a daughter of Thomas Ruick. She died in 1893, leaving five children: Otto E., who is now a merchant of Lodi, Ohio; Frank C., who follows merchandising in Coshocton; Rose Lee, who is with her brother in Coshocton; Bertie T., railroad agent, postmaster and mayor of Bit- tercreek, Wyoming; and Charles H., who is clerking for his brother in Coshocton. Having lost his first wife, Colonel Burch wedded Alice S. Seymour, a native of this county and a daughter of Bruce and Elizabeth Seymour, February 13, 1895.
In politics Colonel Burch has been a life-long republican, never faltering in his allegiance to the party. For about twenty years he served as a member of the board of education and the public schools found in him a faithful and efficient friend. For two terms he has been a member of the town council and in all offices he has discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity. Always interested in military affairs, in 1888 he joined the Ohio National Guard as first lieutenant and served until the guard was called out at the time of the Spanish-American war. He had been previously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and in April. 1898, with that rank, he enlisted as a member of the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The command was sent to Virginia and to Pennsylvania but was not called to the seat of action. Colonel Burch is a member of Williams Lodge. No. 363, I. O. O. F., of Hebron, also of Hebron Lodge, No. 116, A. F. & A. M., Eugene Chapter, No. 123, O. E. S., and Lemert Post, G. A. R., of Newark. Since 1866 he has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, has always been interested in the church work, has acted as trustee and steward and for
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twenty-two years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. His influence therefore is always given on the side of right and justice and though his business and military duties have made extensive demands upon his time, he has always found opportunity to cooperate in those movements which tend to uplift humanity and promote the moral development of the race. He is honored and respected wherever known and most of all where he is best known.
CHARLES R. ESSEX.
Almost a century ago the Essex family settled in Etna township, Licking county, when this part of the state was sparsely inhabited, neighbors being many miles apart and the entire region practically as nature had formed it. Comforts were few for those who entered these thickly wooded and undeveloped regions, but being pioneers not only in the sense of being among the first upon the ground, but also in physical vigor and prophetic foresight, discerning the possibilities latent within the soil of this country, they sought not enjoyment or case but rather a field of promise and usefulness where they might apply their advantage and lay the foundation for the prosperity of generations yet unborn.
Grandfather Isaac Essex with his wife, formerly Anna Smoke, natives of Maryland and Virginia respectively, their marriage occurring in the last named state, came to Ohio, settling in Licking county in 1821, each carrying a baby in arms and at the same time bringing their few belongings. Their journey was fraught with many obstacles and hardships, and, recent storms having felled many trees which obstructed the roadway, Mr. Essex was compelled to remove them in order to proceed on the journey. He entered three hundred and twenty acres of land adjoining the southern boundary line of what is now Etna village. The experiences at that early day may well be imagined as patiently, in the midst of a dense forest, he hurriedly felled and dressed timber with which to build a log cabin in order to protect the wife and children from the elements. From that pioneer home, day after day, for many weary months he went forth at dawn with his ax to clear off the land preparatory for cultivation. The surrounding condi- tions required patience and perseverance on the part of the pioneer, but Mr. Essex possessed both, together with a resolute purpose reenforced by a stalwart constitu- tion, proving equal to confronting emergencies. Before many years had rolled by through his efforts the once thickly wooded tract of land was transformed into fer- tile fields covered with rich harvests. On this farm he lived until the advanced age of eighty-eight years, while his wife passed away in her seventy-seventh year. Mr. Essex was a soldier of the war of 1812, his grandson, Charles R., still possess- ing the "honorable discharge" granted to him at the close of that conflict.
He reared a family of eight daughters and two sons, among whom was Henry Essex, father of the subject of this review. His birth occurred in Pickaway county in 1818, and he removed to a farm near Etna village with his parents in 1821. He located on the farm now occupied by his son Charles R. in 1853 and there he died August 8, 1892. His wife, Ellen Wells, was a native of Union township, this county, born June 6, 1838, a daughter of Alexander and Samantha (Holmes)
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Wells, also natives of Union township, her father a son of Richard Wells who entered land there at an early date. On that farm Alexander Wells and his wife spent their lives, he entering into rest in 1899, at the age of ninety-two years. In their family were three children : Charles R .; Alice, widow of Albert Neil, of Hebron; and Henrietta, wife of John Vorhees, who owns a farm in this neigh- borhood. By a former marriage Mr. Essex had one daughter, Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Jacob Elsass.
Charles R. Essex was born April 7, 1859, on the old home farm which he now has under cultivation. During his boyhood days he became familiar with the farm work under the supervision of his father and acquired his education in the neighboring schools. He owns one hundred and fifty-six acres, which is a portion of the three hundred and fifty acre tract originally owned by his father, his farm being located on the York street road two miles west of Kirkersville. The place is provided with every improvement and with a dwelling house, substantial barn and a number of outbuildings, all of which he constructed with the assistance of his father, constitutes one of the finest farms in this part of the county. His soil has had careful attention, enabling him to produce large crops, and at the same time he devotes some attention to stock-raising. His place is known as "Beaver Dam Farm," owing to the fact that on both sides of it that crafty animal in times past reared a dam which at present in some places is five feet high and which at the time Mr. Essex took hold of the farm backed up a pond covering ten to twelve acres.
In 1884 Mr. Essex wedded Miss Ellen Elsass, a native of Carroll county, Ohio, born December 3, 1864, and a daughter of John and Samantha (Hewitt) Elsass, also natives of that county where they are now residing. To Mr. and Mrs. Essex have been born seven children: Alma, who became the wife of Dean Clifton, assistant superintendent of the Pataskala public schools, Ruth, Mary, Emerson, Margery, Maurice and Albert. In his political views Mr. Essex is a republican and as to his religious convictions, believing in the restoration of apostolie Chris- tianity, he is affiliated with that denomination known as the Disciples of Christ. He is in every particular a worthy citizen whose industry and enterprise have not only enabled him to attain prosperity, but have also contributed much to the general welfare of the community, and being a man whose general conduet is in obedience to a high standard he entertains the respect and confidence of his neighbors.
R. E. MeCULLOUGH, M. D.
Thorough preliminary training well qualified Dr. R. E. MeCullough for the professional duties to which he now gives his time and energies, and in which he is meeting with excellent success when viewed from both the professional and financial standpoints. It is notable that the majority of Newark's most successful physicians are native sons of Ohio, who have felt that the advantages and oppor- tunities of this state were unsurpassed in other portions of the Union and have thus elected to remain in a district endeared to them by carly associations as well
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as by later interests. Dr. Mccullough, now practicing in Newark, was born in Wooster, Ohio, June 14, 1867, a son of William Dunlap and Rebecca (Cook) Mccullough, the latter a native of Wayne, Ohio, and the former of Bucyrus. The Rev. Silas Dunlap, a great uncle of Dr. Mccullough in the paternal line, was one of the founders of Wooster University. William D. Mccullough was for many years engaged in educational work, being professor of schools in Bucyrus and that locality for twenty-three years. He then retired from professional labor to spend his declining days on the farm amid the quiet and peace of rural surroundings, and thus he passed away in 1906, at the age of sixty-nine years. His political allegiance was given to the democracy.
Dr. McCullough was reared amid an atmosphere of intellectual culture and refinement. Paternal influence stimulated him to put forth earnest effort in the acquirement of an education and he was graduated from the Dalton, Ohio, high school in 1888, after which he spent two years in the Ada Normal School. Subse- quently he followed the profession of teaching for two years in Wayne county, Ohio, and then matriculated in the Wadsworth Normal School, of which he is also a graduate. He next became principal of the Craig high school, in Burt county, Nebraska, and afterward spent four years in the furtherance of his own intellectual development in Wooster University, subsequent to which time he was elected superintendent of the Marion Normal School, where he continued for a year. On the expiration of that period he went to Akron, Ohio, and began reading medicine with Dr. Tom Parks, of that place, while later he was graduated from the Starling Medical College in the class of 1898.
Dr. McCullough began practice in Newark. He has since taken post- graduate work in the Chicago Polyclinic, in 1907, and was externe at Augustana Hospital, of that city, for four months, in the same year. He is now on the medical staff of the Newark Hospital and enjoys a large private practice which is indicative of the trust reposed in his professional skill and ability. He belongs to the county, state, and national medical societies, and through the interchange of knowledge and experiences among the members of these organizations adds to his own equip- ment and finds further inspiration for his work.
In 1893 Dr. Mccullough was married to Miss Dora D. Shamp, who was born in Wooster, Ohio, and is a daughter of Perry Shamp. His social nature finds expression in his membership with the Modern Woodmen, the Elks, and other fraternal organizations, his genial manner, his unfailing courtesy, and his defer- ence for the opinions of others having gained him personal popularity. Few have a wider circle of friends in Newark than has Dr. Mccullough.
MACK BROTHERS.
The Mack brothers, who conduct an extensive milling and feed business in Brownsville under the name of Mack Brothers Milling Company, flour, feed and grain dealers, are representatives of a family the members of which have for many years been engaged in that enterprise in this county. The partners are M. C. and J. L. Mack, the former having been born in Bowling Green township, August 22,
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1871, a son of George W. and Sarah A. (Cover) Mack. His father was a native of the Keystone state, born in Fayette county, and located in Licking county with his parents, who came here in the early days. Until the year 1878 he engaged in general farming and then moved to Brownsville, where he established a saw and grist milling business, in his grist mill using the old buhr process. In this busi- ness he continued until the year 1889, when he retired having during an active and useful life accumulated considerable means. He died in the year 1891 and was interred in Shelly cemetery, near Brownsville. His wife, also a native of Pennsylvania, in which state they were married, passed away in Brownsville in the year 1906 and was laid to rest by her husband. They were the parents of one daughter, Mary, the wife of Henry Booher, of Croton, Ohio; and two sons, M. C. and J. L.
In the common schools of Brownsville, M. C. Mack received his education and then engaged in the lumber business with his brother in 1891. When they installed the roller system of flour milling they abandoned the lumber enterprise and devoted their entire attention to the business in which they are now engaged. Their mill has a daily capacity of forty barrels and the company is rapidly increasing its volume of business.
In the year 1906 Mr. Mack wedded Miss Minnie Priest and they now have one child, Raymond. Mr. Mack gives his political support to the democratic party, the principles of which he has decided to be fully adequate, as well as necessary. to place the finances of the country on a firm and immutable foundation. Conse- quently he is enthusiastic during campaigns and contributes his vote and influence toward the election of its candidates. His wife is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, in which she is an active worker.
The junior member of the firm, J. L. Mack, was born July 20, 1873, and received his education in the common schools of Brownsville. He has always been associated with his brother in business. In 1905 he wedded Miss Georgia Fisher and they have one son, Harold. Like his brother he is a democrat and uses his vote and influence in favor of the candidates of that party. In company with his wife he worships with the sect known as the conservative Dunkards. The Mack brothers are both energetic and enterprising, gifted with keen business discern- ment and are recognized throughout the community as representative men. They entertain the respect of all with whom they come in contact and are men who bear the reputation of being honest and straightforward in all their business trans- actions, while to their industry is due the prosperous condition of the enterprise they are conducting.
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WILLIAM WEAYENT.
William Weayent, a descendant of the sturdy German stock of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he was born May 28, 1820, settled in Mckean township. Licking county, when still a lad and for many years was actively engaged in gen- eral agricultural pursuits. His parents, Henry and Mary Weavent, were also natives of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where they departed this life. They were
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the parents of eight children, three of whom are living: Isaac, who resides in Pennsylvania ; Thomas, of Delaware county, Ohio; and William. When he came to these parts he hired out as a farm hand and worked for wages until he was thirty years of age, during which time he had saved most of his earnings which he invested in the highly improved tract of land on which he is now located.
William Weayent remained at home, engaging in farm labor, until he was twelve years of age, when he was bound out for the succeeding six years, at the expiration of which time he went to work as a farm hand for himself and was thus employed until he was thirty years of age. He was then united in marriage with Mrs. Beckie Ann Kinneman, a native of New Jersey, and rented a farm which he cultivated for three years, when he removed to Licking county where he culti- vated rented property for five years. In the meantime, by careful management and hard work, he had laid by sufficient money to enable him to purchase fifty acres of land in Mckean township, on which he located and remained for nine years. In the meantime Mr. Weayent greatly improved his property until it was in excel- lent condition for the production of crops and was eventually fortunate in dispos- ing of it at a handsome profit. He then invested in a farm of one hundred and twenty-seven acres which he now possesses. Through his activity, industry and careful management he has attained prosperity for which he deserves great credit and now in his declining years he can enjoy the leisure and comfort awarded him by his long season of incessant toil.
After the death of his first wife, in 1888, Mr. Weayent was united in mar- riage with Sarah Rogers, a native of MeKean township, but he was not permitted to enjoy her companionship long as she departed this life August 8, 1907. Mr. Weayent is one of the oldest members of the Masonic fraternity in the county, having been affiliated with the society for a period of fifty years, during which time he has passed through all the chairs of the lodge to which he belongs. The democratic party has always received his support as in his opinion, after due delib- eration and experience, its platform is the only feasible one to assure the financial integrity and permanent prosperity of the commonwealth. During his long life as an agriculturist he has become familiar with every phase of the work and has perhaps raised everything which the ground is able to bring forth. In later years he also devoted much of his time and attention to raising and feeding sheep. Con- sidering the few advantages he had in his youth and his many years of active labor he well deserves the prosperity with which he is now attended. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and never permits anything to stand in the way of meeting his religious obligations.
FRANK H. BALLOU.
The establishment and control of an honorable and successful business is a work worthy of attention but greater still is the labor of him whose efforts reach out in benefit to the majority of mankind. Frank H. Ballou, in his researches and experiments along horticultural lines, has accomplished a work of lasting value to his fellowmen and is still engaged in this line of labor, as assistant horticultur-
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ist in charge of the extension work of the horticultural department of the Ohio Ex- periment Station of Wooster, with headquarters at Newark. Mr. Ballou was born in Franklin township, Licking county, on the 3d of July, 1869, and is a son of Charles E. and Mary J. (Keenen) Ballou. The family is descended from one Maturin Ballou, who was a co-proprietor with Roger Williams, the colonial founder of Rhode Island in his Providence plantations. Genealogical researches show that he was a remote descendant of a Norman chieftain who, in 1066, went from France to England with William the Conqueror. This ancestor, "one Guinebond Balou," was probably a marshal in the army of William of Normandy and took part in the decisive battle of Hastings, resulting in the fusion of Norman civilization with that of the Anglo-Saxon race. It has been established with considerable certainty that Maturin Ballou was the younger son of a younger son of a good family in Devonshire, England, and was probably born between the years 1610 and 1620. Like all the unendowed offshoots of feudal nobility, he had to seek his own fortune and in the '40s in the seventeenth century emigrated to America. The Ballou family in this country numbers among its members many eminent men. The mother of James A. Garfield was a Ballou and the Taft family is also of the same ancestry.
Aurelius Ballou, grandfather of our subject, was born in Chandlersville, Mus- kingum county, Ohio, January 18, 1818, and was a man of fine mental endowments, whose researches were conducted broadly on many subjects. His natural ability and taste tended toward an intellectual life but unfortunate circumstances prevented a liberal education although he became a broad reader and was not unknown as a writer. For a time he studied for the medical profession and then took up teach- ing, while he was identified with educational work for several years. About 1853 he became a resident of Licking county, Ohio, settling at the base of Flint ridge in Franklin township where, after years of work, he secured a home of eighty acres on which he lived until his death June 5, 1905. He filled many local positions of responsibility and was a consistent Christian man, who had the respect and esteem of all. On the 8th of September, 1839, in Brookfield, Ohio, he married Sarah Bacon, who was born near Cumberland, Ohio, February 20, 1821, and died June 17, 1903, at the age of eighty-two years.
Charles E. Ballou is the only survivor of their family of four children. He was educated in the district schools and, because of his father's invalid condition, re- mained at home to care for his parents and continued the management of the home farm until he retired from active life and removed to Newark in November, 1904, building here a comfortable home. He was married October 11, 1868, to Mary Keenen, of Hopewell township, a daughter of John and Amanda (Ellis) Keenen, both now deceased.
Frank H. Ballou, their only child, was reared on the home farm and acquired a common-school education. As early as his fourteenth year he became intensely interested in horticulture. He first took up vegetable growing and, as he studied, extended his efforts to the growing and care of plants, gradually drifting into the study of the culture and improvement of small fruits. A further step in advance was his work in connection with the cultivation of orchards and as the years went by he delved deeper and deeper into the science of fruit culture, developed the Dale View Fruit Gardens, and became a writer on horticultural subjects for various jour- nals. His labors were conducted along scientific lines, based upon broad study and practical experience and he displayed much of the spirit of the initiative also
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in his undertakings. His work brought him under the notice of the State Board of Agriculture and, in 1900, he was called to take charge of the horticultural ex- hibit at the State Fair in Columbus, of which he has been superintendent for eight years. In this capacity he came into touch with the officials of the Ohio Experiment Station and, in 1904, was called to Wooster, Ohio, where he remained four years as assistant horticulturist in charge of the orchards, small fruits and vegetables at that institution. In that capacity he served until the spring of 1908, since which time he has been connected with the station as assistant horticulturist, in charge of horticultural extension work, and secretary of the Ohio State Horticultural Society, with headquarters at Newark. Here he is conducting test work and plant breeding on his own and his father's farms and is producing splendid results that have, through the medium of his many published bulletins of the Experiment Station, made him well known among not only the horticulturists of the state but also of the entire country.
In 1889 Mr. Ballou was married to Miss Clara McPherson, a daughter of John R. McPherson, now deceased, and they have two children, Nellie and Ava. In poli- tics Mr. Ballou is a stalwart republican and both he and his wife are members of the East Main Street Methodist Episcopal church. His chosen life work has been not only a source of revenue to himself but of benefit to all mankind, in that he has wrought out new truths concerning horticultural interests, resulting in a production of better varieties and a knowledge concerning breeding and improvement of fruits and vegetables.
BRYANT L. HAWKE.
One of the leading and well known representatives of financial interests in Licking county is Bryant L. Hawke, who since the organization of the Hebron Bank Company in 1903 has been cashier of the bank. He was born in St. Louisville, this county, February 25, 18:0, and is a representative of an old Virginian family. His grandfather, Alfred Hawke, was born in Virginia and early in the nineteenth cen- tury came to Licking county, settling in Eden township, where he developed a farm and made his home until his death. He married Hester Matticks, who was a native of Pennsylvania and of Dutch and English descent, while the Hawkes were of English lineage with a strain of Scotch blood. The first representatives in this country settled in the Old Dominion at an early period in the colonization of Amer- ica. It was upon the home farm in Eden township that Alfrew Hawke reared his family of twelve children. At the same time he was busily engaged in the work of developing a farm and contributed to the progress and prosperity of the community as the district was transformed from a wilderness into one of the thickly populated and well improved sections of the state.
His son, Joseph Hawke, was born in Eden township, June 4, 1836, and has spent his entire life in this county, giving his attention to general farming and also dealing in timber. He has always been a quiet home man, very exemplary in his habits, never using liquor nor profanity and at all times conforming his life to high moral standards. He married Sophronia Smith, a daughter of Nicholas Gassaway
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