USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > Lancaster > Centennial history of Lancaster, Ohio, and Lancaster people : 1898, the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the spot where Lancaster stands > Part 15
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*Lieutenant Pat McGrew,
*Lieutenant Creed Ritchie,
*Lieutenant Thomas Hunter,
Lieutenant Wm. H. Pugh, Lieutenant Allen Titler, Lieutenant Chas. E. Reck,
Lieutenant Michael Steck, Captain William Wiedner, Captain J. H. Arney, Lieutenant Solomon Homan, Lieutenant L. H. Barnes,
*Lieutenant Charles Clarke, Lieutenant Geo. Orman, Lieutenant Chas. Heed, A. Q. M., Captain J. B. Orman, R. Q. M., .* Lieutenant Geo. Wygum, *Lieutenant Emanuel Giesy, Lieutenant Thomas Reber.
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Major H. H. Giesy and Captain Ezra Rickets were killed in battle, Captain Ricketts at Chickamauga and Major Giesy before Atlanta. Lieutenant-Colonel Ebright was killed in battle near Winchester, Virginia, and his body, as was that of Major Giesy, was brought to Lancaster for burial. The Southland holds "The dreamless dust" of Captain Ezra Ricketts.
Captain John Sears, of Lancaster, and Captain John Busby, of Royalton, Fairfield County, now of Iowa, were present in Ford's Theater, Washington City, the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. They as- sisted in carrying the wounded President to the room where he died. Captain Sears preserves the coat that he wore upon that awful night, stained with the blood of the martyred President.
"To have been to the wars is a life-long honor, in- creasing with the weight of years." The Civil War is an event of the past; peace has spread her wings over our broad extended country, and we are a united, prosperous, and happy people.
" The blood that flowed at Lexington and crimsoned Lake Champlain,
Streams still along the Southern Gulf and by the lakes of Maine."
FINANCIAL ITEMS
In the year 1815 the total taxes of the county, in- cluding Lancaster, were in amount $3,974.07; county expenditures for the same year, $3,440.10.
Michael Garaghty and John Augustus were com- missioners.
In the year 1826 the total valuation in the county was $1,588,278; the taxes were $8,328.39.
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In the year 1866 the total valuation was $14,161,095; taxes for the same year, $185,594.
In the year 1879 the valuation was $18,201,990; taxes for the same year, $215,535.
In the year 1826 flour was worth $1.25 per barrel. In the year 1866 flour was worth $15.00 per barrel.
In the year 1826 rye whiskey was worth five dollars per barrel.
In the year 1866 whiskey was worth $250 per barrel.
In 1826 wheat was twenty-five cents per bushel, corn and oats ten cents per bushel, pork $1.25 per one hundred pounds.
The total value of all assessed property in Lancaster for the year 1897 is $3,077,140.
The total taxes for same year, rate 2.21, are $76,- 178.64.
Of the above valuation the real estate is $1,962,250, and the valuation of the personal property is $1,114 .- 890.
The population of Lancaster now numbers about 9,000. There has been a steady but gradual increase since the discovery of natural gas, which is used in buildings and manufactories.
INSURANCE AGENTS
The first fire insurance agent in Lancaster was Jacob D. Deitrick, representing the Protection Company, of Hartford.
Other agents, from time to time, were: Samuel J. Maccracken, the Traders of New York; Charles Bor- land, for the Columbus, Ohio, Insurance ompany; Jno. D. Martin, for the Aetna, succeeded by P. Van Trump, and he by B. F. Reinmund; W. P. Creed, for the Protection, and also the Insurance Company of
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North America; W. T. Wise, for the Home of New York, also Hartford Company of Hartford; Jno. D. Martin, for the Connecticut Life Insurance Company, of Hartford.
THE FIRE FIEND IN LANCASTER
Lancaster in its history of ninety-six years has not been a sufferer, at any one time from a very extensive fire.
From time to time fires of considerable magnitude have occurred, but no great conflagration. Peter Reber was the owner of a horse power mill, situ- ate where the Presbyterian church now stands. In 1821 this mill was destroyed by fire. The bucket bri- gade was worked here to great advantage in saving other property, and tradition says that Thomas Ewing and Adam Weaver, both stalwart men, disagreed as to its management and came to blows.
The next fire of any consequence was the shop of R. O. Claspill, on Columbus Street, where now the English Lutheran church stands. This was in 1832.
In 1833 the Union hotel, owned by Col. John Noble, and occupied by G. Steinman, was destroyed by fire, with but little insurance.
St. Peter's church on the canal was destroyed in 1846.
R. W. Denning & Co.'s large mill on the the canal in 1853.
In 1854 the rear of D. Tallmadge's home and his stables were destroyed by fire.
John Effinger's house was burned in 1856.
The Green Block, on the corner of Main Street and the Public Square, a three-story brick building with
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three store-rooms and offices above, was destroyed by fire in the fifties.
Eran Julian and others were losers to some extent and Colonel Van Trump and Stinchcomb and Clarke lost their libraries.
About this time the shop of Josiah Wright, on the alley in rear of Kauffman's drug store was burned; the fire was caused by drawing gasoline by artificial light in a small outhouse.
Sometime in the sixties the carriage shop of Geiser Bros. was burned.
September, 1870, Orman Bros. shop was totally de- stroyed by fire, also Reber and Kutz's warehouse.
In the same month and year the stables of Shaeffer's Hotel were destroyed by fire.
January, 1873, the Evans tannery wus burned, in 1879 the Jno. Arney foundry and shop, in May, 1879, Murgin's dwelling, in 1880 Sturgeon's ice house, in 1881 Neil, Tippet & Co.'s bent works.
The good water supply and standpipe pressure has thus far prevented a conflagration.
Along in the seventies the Hocking Valley Works suffered a severe loss, and on two occasions the Eagle Works were partially destroyed.
CEMETERIES
The city of Lancaster has provided everything nec- essary for the convenience and comfort of its citizens; good streets, good pavements, good schools, good water works, good fire department; and a City Hall, substantial, commodious, convenient, and beautiful, not excelled in these respects in the state of Ohio.
Private capital has provided electric and gas light, a good street railroad, and an opera house, to which
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may be added the magnificent natural gas plant be- longing to the city.
While doing all this we have not been unmindful of the dead.
The pioneers, or most of them, who died prior to 1830, were buried in the cemetery on the hill, donated by Ebenezer Zane, and in the Methodist burying ground adjoining.
Elmwood is the resting place of the greater number of the old historic characters of Lancaster. It is a small but well kept burying ground and dear to the hearts of hundreds yet living.
The Mt. Pleasant Avenue front will soon have a new ornamental iron fence, contributed by the friends and descendants of the honored dead.
FOREST ROSE
This cemetery is located just north of the city. It is a romantic spot and is fast becoming the pride of our people.
It already contains many handsome monuments and the improvements going on and in contemplation will soon make it a handsome and attractive burying ground.
Our board of cemetery trustees take a deep interest in its care and development, indeed in the care of all our cemeteries, and the city of the dead is safe in the their hands. The present board are E. B. White, Henry G. Miller, and Albert Deitz.
CATHOLIC CEMETERY
The Catholic Church has, within a few years, im- proved and put in good shape a fine cemetery, upon the hill south of the city. It is already a very hand- some place, and a credit to the Society.
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Robert F. Slaughter and his wife were buried in the Carpenter graveyard on the hill south of town, with other pioneers of that neighborhood.
SOME PROFESSIONAL MEN NOT PREVI- OUSLY MENTIONED
JOHN D. MARTIN
John D. Martin was born in Greencastle, Fairfield County, Ohio, January 7, 1819. When a small boy his parents moved to Baltimore, same county, and he was employed by the contractors on the Ohio Canal to carry water to their workmen on the deep cut near Monticello. Here he attracted the attention of Na- thaniel R. Usher, who, as the canal neared completion, opened a store at the new town of Millersport.
Leaving Usher's employ he went with George B. Arnold to Utica, Licking County, Ohio, and clerked in his general store. A fellow-clerk was W. S. Rosen- crans, a boy about his own age, the future commander of the Army of the Cumberland.
John D. Martin came to Lancaster about the year 1836 and entered the store of Levi Anderson as clerk, going from Anderson to John H. Tennant. In 1840 M. B. Browning purchased the stock of Tennant, and conducted the business in the name of M. B. Brown- ing and Company, his clerks Martin and Stambaugh being the Company. Browning came from the East and was backed for a time by his uncles, one in Canton, Ohio, and two in New York, but he was not a success- ful business man. In a year or two the new concern failed and Stambaugh and Martin found themselves involved and liable for Browning's debts. Stambaugh
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took the benefit of the bankrupt act and was released. Martin declined to do that and sent for Mr. Thayer, one of the creditors, a distinguished merchant of Phila- delphia. He came and examined the affairs of the firm and made a settlement, charging Martin with one- fourth of the indebtedness. This was settled by a long note, which Mr. Martin was several years in pay- ing. In the meantime he had commenced the study of the law under that eminent lawyer, John T. Brasee. Mr. Thayer gave him the books of the old concern to settle up, and so well did he perform the duty, that when admitted to the bar, collections came to him from all of the great houses of Philadelphia through the influence of Mr. Thayer. While studying law for two years he kept the books of Gilbert Devol. He was also interested to some extent in a tin store. He was admitted to the bar and practiced his profession for ten or twelve years. He was a business lawyer of rare ability and a very good advocate, and was em- ployed upon many important cases, with Brasee and Hunter as opposing counsel.
In 1854 S. C. Stambaugh returned from California with some ready money, and he induced Mr. Martin to join him and P. B. Ewing in a banking venture. In that year the exchange bank of Martin and Company was organized. The agreement with Mr. Martin was that he should spend one hour each day in the bank, but Mr. Martin was one who could not trust import- ant matters to others when he could attend to them himself and he found it necessary to spend his entire time in the bank, and gave up his profession. This bank did a profitable business until the year 1864, when it was merged into the First National Bank of Lancaster, with Mr. Martin as president. Mr. Martin
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was a banker for thirty-two years, and handled millions of money without the loss of a dollar to any man. The year 1886 he sold his interest in the bank to S. J. Wright and retired permanently from business. In connection with his banking business, Mr. Martin was for many years a partner in a dry goods store. He had two or three ventures of this kind. He was also largely engaged in the milling business, in coal land speculations, and in mining and shipping coal on a large scale. His connection with the business interests of Lancaster covers a period of sixty years, years of toil and anxiety, prosperity and adversity. He was for many years a member of the school board and al- ways took a lively interest in our schools. He was a Republican politician, one of the leaders in this county. He is a good speaker, and his voice was heard in the dark days of the rebellion in support of the govern- ment and our army in the field. His career is an in- spiring one from a penniless boy to honorable old age. Mr. Martin was an able adviser, and his advice was sought by many business men. Senator Ewing had a high opinion of his ability, and frequently sought his advice, a compliment that was appreciated. In the quiet of his home with his family and books, he spends the declining years of his life, taking a summer trip to Middle Bass, Lake Erie, where he finds congenial spirits.
P. B. EWING
P. B. Ewing, eldest son of Thos. Ewing, was born in Lancaster, Ohio., November 3, 1820. He completed his education at Miami University, Oxford, O., and studied law in his father's office. He married the daughter of John P. Gillespie, grandson of Neil Gil- lespie, Sr., of Brownsville, Pa. He opened a law of-
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fice in Lancaster and practiced his profession until the year 1860.
In 1841 he was employed to negotiate a loan for the United States Treasury Department.
In 1854 he became a member of the banking firm of Martin and Company, and continued to be associated with Mr. Martin in the banking business until the close of his career as a banker.
He was appointed by the governor of Ohio Judge of the Common Pleas Court, to fill a vacancy, and served with distinction for one year.
He was engaged with Mr. J. D. Martin in coal ope- rations and speculation for several years.
Mr. Ewing reared a large family, and for the last fifteen years of his life owned and resided in the Stan- bery house on High Street, Lancaster.
The office work of an attorney was not congenial to Mr. Ewing, and while he possessed a good legal mind and was a well-read lawyer he did not rise to distinc- tion as an advocate. He died in the year 1896.
M. A. DAUGHERTY
Mr. Daugherty was born in Maryland and came to Lancaster in the thirties. He first taught school. One location was the old Presbyterian church lot. He studied law while teaching and was admitted to the bar. He was for some years one of the school exam- iners for Fairfield County.
In 1849 or 50 he was elected cashier of the Hocking Valley Bank. He served as such about five years. Some years previous to his election as cashier, he was married to Miss Phoebe Wood, daughter of John Wood, who was a merchant here in 1830, and moved to Indianapolis. Mr. Daugherty's home was always
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the abode of refinement and hospitality. Both himself and wife were leaders of the fashionable society of Lan- caster. In 1843 he was a partner of Wm. Irvin.
Leaving the bank, Mr. Daugherty became a part- ner of H. H. Hunter. This gave him prominence and opportunity, which he improved. He was a member of the Ohio Senate for the years 1870 and 1872.
After the death of Mr. Hunter, he removed to Co- lumbus, Ohio, and was elected president of the Home Insurance Company, which position he held several years. He also served with Judge Brasee upon the codifying commission of the state of Ohio, appointed by the governor.
He became a prominent citizen of Columbus, and both he and his wife, being well-known there, took their accustomed places as leaders in the best society of the city. He is dead, but his wife survives, a re- fined and accomplished woman.
HON. H. C. WHITMAN
His was the most striking personality known to Lancaster. He came here a young lawyer from Wash- ington City, in 1843, and entered into partnership with Wm. Medill.
He was a native of New England and was educated there. He was a good talker and soon took an aggres- sive position at the bar of Fairfield County, and pushed himself to the front. He had many of the elements of a successful man, talent, energy, self-reliance, and self- esteem, and he did succeed.
In 1849 he was a member of the Ohio Senate. A year or two later he was elected Common Pleas Judge and served for two or three terms. He then removed
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to Cincinnati, where he established himself as a suc- cessful lawyer.
He was appointed on the codifying commission, but declined the position.
Judge Whitman was an eccentric man. While pro- fessing great friendship for the common schools and making speeches in public meetings upon school im- provements, he never sent his own children to these schools.
For many years he did not cut his hair, but permitted it to fall upon his shoulders and grow longer each year. This, with a peculiar countenance and large promi- nent eyes, gave him a most striking and singular ap- pearance. He was a clever, sociable man, and gener- ally well liked.
Judge Whitman was a State Senator in 1849 and voted for the repeal of the black laws, and for Salmon P. Chase for U. S. Senator. This was in accordance with an agreement made by the Democrats with Morse and Townsend, who held the balance of power. Mr. Ewing, the Whig candidate was defeated, and the Dem- ocrats secured the election of their candidate for Su- preme Judge.
CHARLES BORLAND
Charles Borland came to Ohio from Rockingham County, Virginia, and soon thereafter opened a law office. He came to Lancaster in the thirties and was soon connected with a newspaper. This connection did not last more than a year. In 1839 he was elected Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives. He took an active part in the campaign of 1840 and made Whig speeches.
In 1849 he was appointed by Mr. Ewing, then Sec- retary of the Interior, Inspector of Land Offices. He
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gave much time to the organization of the C. M. & Z. R. R. Co., and in the year 1857 he was president of the company. He was interested in other railroad projects, but they did not succeed. He abandoned his profession years before his death. He died in Lan- caster at an advanced age.
John Borland came directly from Mansfield, Ohio, where he had edited a Whig paper, to Lancaster in 1835. In 1841 he was deputy sheriff under Thos. Edingfield. In later years he was the agent in Lan- caster of the Hocking Valley line of stages and con- tinued as such until after the war.
VIRGIL E. SHAW
Virgil E. Shaw was born in Lancaster. Here he was educated and studied law. He was a diligent stu- dent and a reader of books, but not a brilliant man.
His legal practice was mainly office work and busi- ness before the probate court. He was elected Probate Judge by the Knownothing party and proved to be a good official.
In 1856 he supported General Fremont for presi- dent and was for a time chairman of the Republican committee. Later he drifted back to his old love, the Democratic party. He was neither a good politician nor a popular one, but better than all, he was an honest man and conscientious in his work.
ALFRED MCVEIGH
Alfred McVeigh was brought up in Fairfield County, Ohio. He was a justice of the peace in Royalton sev- eral years. He lived twenty years in Lancaster. He served one or two terms as county auditor and for several years as justice of the peace in Lancaster. He
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was an attorney, but never made a success of the law. He was a local politician of some note and influence and a member of the famous Red Lodge.
During the War of the Rebellion he was an active war Democrat and supported both Todd and Brough for governor. In 1862 he was delegate to a great union state convention, held in Columbus, the other delegates being ex .- Senator Thomas Ewing, M. A. Daugherty, Charles Borland, and C. M. L. Wiseman.
During the war he served one term as state senator. He was a striking figure, six feet or more in height, straight as an Indian. He wore a long, black, mag- nificent beard. He was killed near Winchester, Ohio, by the upsetting of a coach on which he was returning from Columbus. His young son met death by the same accident.
JOHN C. CASSEL
Mr. Cassel came to Lancaster when a young man, and married a sister of H. H. Hunter, who still survives. He was a dry goods clerk, but soon turned his atten- tion to politics. He was county auditor for two terms and the postmaster in 1845, being appointed by James K. Polk.
He too was one of the Red Lodge habitué and an active Democratic politician. After leaving the post- office he clerked for Reber & Kutz. His name appears among the business men of Lancaster in 1837. He has been dead for more than twenty years.
JAMES W. STINCHCOMB
Captain James W. Stinchcomb was born in Perry County, Ohio. In 1857 he was a citizen of Lancaster. He had some years previous studied law with Stanbery and Van Trump, and in 1857 he formed a partnership
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with R. M. Clarke. He married the daughter of Sal- mon Shaw. He was prosecuting attorney of this county for one or two terms.
He made able speeches when troops were called for in 1861, and raised the second Lancaster company to enlist.
He served during the war, and was a brave and gal- lant soldier.
He died a few years since, in Nebraska. His part- ner, R. M. Clarke, went to Nevada in 1862, where he became attorney-general and made a lasting reputa- tion as a lawyer.
They were both of generous impulses. R. M. Clarke was admitted to the bar in 1847, in the same class with James M. Bope and John B. McNeill.
Clarke served for one year as deputy revenue collec- tor for this county, under Abraham Lincoln.
SILAS H. WRIGHT
Mr. Wright was born on a farm in Hocking County, Ohio, June 21, 1830. He attended the common schools as a boy and later the famous academy of Dr. Williams in Greenfield, Fairfield County. From this school he went to Delaware, and in time was one of the gradu- ates of the Wesleyan University.
He studied law with Colonel P. Van Trump, of Lan- caster. After his admission to the bar he went to Iowa and resided one year in Muscatine. Returning to Ohio (he made the trip both ways on horseback); he settled in Logan and began the practice of the law. He was twice elected the prosecuting attorney of Hock- ing County.
In the year 1858 he married Miss Kate Moore,
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daughter of John Moore of the famous Mary Ann furnace of Licking County, Ohio.
In the year 1866 he was elected judge of the common pleas court for the counties of Perry, Hocking, and Fairfield. He served upon the bench continuously for twenty-one years. He owned a fine library, was a good scholar, and all his life a student. He had fine literary taste, wrote good speeches, and was the author of several good poems. One of his finest efforts was his oration upon the life and death of his old friend and teacher, Dr. Williams. He came to Lancaster in the year 1874. He died at the age of fifty-six, in the year 1887.
JOHN M. CONNELL
Colonel Connell, son of Benjamin Connell, was born in Lancaster, November 7, 1828, studied law and moved to the state of Indiana, where he practiced with success. In 1855 he came back to Ohio and spent a few months in Wooster, but soon left there for Lancaster. In 1857 he was chief clerk to Wm. Medill, the comptroller of the Treasury under Buchanan. In May, 1861, he was elected Colonel of the Seventeenth Ohio Regiment. In 1863 he resigned to take his seat in the Ohio Senate, to which he had been but recently elected. From 1866 to 1869 he was U. S. Revenue assessor. In 1853 he married Jennie, daughter of the Rev. Wm. Cox. He died April 17, 1882.
JOHN D. NOURSE
Dr. Nourse was born in Sharpsburg, Maryland, and came when a boy in 1841 with his father to Ohio. As a youth he clerked in a store and taught school for six years, teaching before he was quite sixteen year of age.
He spent 1847 and '48 in Alabama as a teacher.
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He studied medicine with Dr. Fisher, of Baltimore,. Ohio, and in 1851 graduated at the Cleveland Medical College. He practiced medicine in Baltimore, Rush- ville, and in Reynoldsburg. He came to Lancaster from the latter place. Here he practiced medicine up to the date of his death in 1897.
Dr. Nourse was a good scholar and successful in his profession. He was a fine example of a self-made man.
DR. JAMES WHITE
Dr. James White was born in Montgomery County, Pa., June 10, 1799. His father was a Baptist preacher in Philadelphia for twenty-five years, and later the pas- tor of the First Baptist Church in Lancaster, Ohio.
It is highly probable that young James White was educated in Philadelphia. It is certain that he studied medicine there and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in the year 1821. He was a diligent stu- dent and graduated with honor. Leaving college he turned his face westward and became a resident of Lan- caster the same year.
He immediately commenced the practice of medicine and was successful from the start. So well did he suc- ceed that he was encouraged in his desire to take to himself a partner for life. This he did in the person of Maria Elizabeth Beecher, an educated and amiable young woman, niece of General Philemon Beecher, whom the young doctor first met while on a visit to friends in Lancaster. The doctor was one of a long list of eminent men who were an honor to Lancaster, and to humanity. He was a good physician, careful, considerate, and humane; and his character as a man was unstained. He died September 26, 1869, aged: sixty-nine years.
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