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 16
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One of the sisters of Dr. White was the second wife of John Creed. The sister of Robert and Dr. Smith was Creed's first wife and the mother of his seven chil- dren.
Another sister of Dr. White was the wife of James Smith, a merchant, as late as 1835. James Smith dy- ing, his widow married Joseph Grubb.
The third sister was the wife of Tunis Cox, an old- time Lancaster merchant. Tunis Cox came to Lan- caster from the East previous to 1827. For several years he was a merchant of Lancaster. He, in connec- tion with his son-in-law, Eckert, built and owned the house now owned and occupied by Wm. L. Martin.
He failed in business here and moved to Baltimore, Fairfield County, where he sold goods. He left Balti- more in 1850, moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he kept hotel, the old Spencer House. His youngest daughter married Mr. Kinney, who became a Ports- mouth banker. They were the parents of the secretary of state Charles Kinney.
DR. GEORGE W. BOERSTLER
Dr. Boerstler came to Lancaster in the year 1835 from Hagerstown, Md. He was born at Funkstown, Md., in the year 1792. He received a good educa- tion, his parents being anxious that he should enter the ministry of the Lutheran Church. His tastes were dif- ferent however, and he prevailed upon his father to permit him to study medicine; that being the profes- sion of his father, he was not long in obtaining his consent. He therefore entered upon the study of medi- cine in his father's office. He was a diligent student and in the year 1820 graduated a Bachelor of Medi- cine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He
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married Elizabeth Sinks and settled at Boonsborough, Md., and practiced his profession. Later he moved to Hagerstown, Md. In the year 1835 with his daughter and son-in-law, Dr. Tom O. Edwards, he moved to Lancaster, Ohio. It was an opportune time, for Dr. Robt. McNeill, the most eminent physician of Lan- caster, had just died, leaving a large practice. He formed a partnership with Dr. Edwards which con- tinued for many years. The practice of Dr. McNeill rapidly fell into their hands and they made it their own. Their business increased rapidly and it was not long until the firm of Boerstler and Edwards was the most widely known of Lancaster.
In the year 1838 his wife died, and in due time he married again, Miss Elizabeth Schur becoming his sec- ond wife. Dr. Boerstler was throughout his life a medical student, always watching the progress of his profession; and his professional brethren considered him an expert in the diagnosis of diseases. His repu- tation was that of a learned and experienced physician and he was always in demand when a consultation was necessary.
Dr. Loving, a distinguished physician of Columbus, in a paper written after his death, spoke of him as an able and learned physician and wise in counsel. As a citizen he was respected by all classes, and no one stood higher in the estimation of the public as an hon- orable, upright man than Dr. George W. Boerstler. He took great interest in political affairs and was a Whig as long as there was a Whig party. His office was the headquarters of the leaders of the Whig party in 1840, and they called it the "Coon Box."
Dr. Boerstler was a pro-slavery man and did not en- dorse anti-slavery tendencies of the Republican party,
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and in 1857 made Democratic speeches. In 1845 he made a patriotic address to the Fairfield County Militia, anticipating the Mexican War. In 1845 he was chief marshal of the day set apart for the funeral obsequies of General Andrew Jackson. He made an address in German on the occasion of the reception to Kossuth in Cincinnati in 1852.
Dr. Boerstler was a member of the Fairfield County Medical Society, of the Ohio State Medical Society, and in 1850 became a member of the American Med- ical Association. He died at his home in Lancaster, October 10, 1871.
DR. TOM O. EDWARDS
Dr. Edwards was born in the State of Maryland and came with his father-in-law, Dr. Boerstler, to Lancaster in the year 1835.
He became a partner of Dr. Boerstler and entered upon a large and lucrative practice. He was a student of politics and as early as 1840 was a stump speaker for the Whig party. He was a very popular man, social, polite, and entertaining, and few men, if any, were bet- ter known in Lancaster than Tom Edwards. He served two years in congress from this district in 1848 and 1849. He was active and influential, more than usually so for a new member.
After the close of his term in congress he was in- duced by a Boston firm to take charge of a drug store to be established in Cincinnati. He accordingly re- moved his family to Cincinnati. He became quite prominent in local affairs, was elected to the city coun- cil and by the council made its president. He was also a professor in the Ohio Medical College. The writer, by invitation, heard on one occasion one of his lectures.
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He did not remain in Cincinnati more than four or five years. He moved from there to Madison, Wis- consin, and from there to Dubuque, Iowa. In a few years he returned to Lancaster and entered again upon the practice of medicine. But old age began to tell upon him and he finally abandoned the practice and fol- lowed his son Thomas to Wheeling, W. Va., where he died a few years since.
Dr. Edwards was a genial man and made many friends, but he was not a successful business man and died poor. He made an effort to better his fortune by going to Pike's Peak during the gold excitement, but it was barren of results.
His old office on Main Street, which was in 1840 the resort of his Whig cronies and other friends, was called the Coon Box and was as famous as was the office of Dr. Wagenhals in 1860, which was also called the Coon Box.
Dr. Tom. O. Edwards served in congress with ex- President John Quincy Adams and Abraham Lincoln in 1848. He was present in the House when the ex- President was stricken with paralysis and he was the physician who attended him until he died.
Both he and Lincoln were members of the committee that escorted the body to Quincy, Massachusetts.
Dr. Edwards occupied a very respectable position in congress. He introduced a bill in the interest of pure drugs and this bill and his speech in support of it gave him some reputation. At this period Dr. Edwards was a very popular Whig politician of Lancaster. He made good speeches, was wide-awake and alert. He was a good conversationalist, well-informed and floated upon the wave of popular favor. But politics brought him no money and ruined his professional prospects.
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DR. PAUL CARPENTER
Dr. Carpenter was born in Lancaster, Pa., in the year 1810. He came to Lancaster, O., in 1828. He taught school for three years and in the meantime studied medicine with Dr. Robert McNeill. He grad- uated at the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. Re- ceiving authority to practice medicine he opened an office in Lancaster.
Dr. Carpenter was a man of decided and positive convictions, spoke his mind frankly and honestly upon all subjects. But the confidence of the public in his honesty and sincerity was such that he seldom gave offense.
He was a good physician and a good citizen. He was a prominent member of the Masonic order and for the best years of his life a leading member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
A more honorable man, or a man with a finer sense of what honor was, never lived in Lancaster. Paul Carpenter's word was as good as his bond. He was a plain, unostentatious man and universally respected.
George Kauffman by will made Dr. Carpenter his executor, but before his death he and Carpenter be- came estranged and did not speak to each other; but so great was Kauffman's faith in his integrity that he did not change his will and the doctor was his executor. He died October, 1880.
CASPER THIEL
Dr. Thiel was born in Berks County, Pa. He came first to Amanda, Ohio, where he took part in politics and was a contributor to the newspapers. In 1841 he came to Lancaster as editor of the Ohio Eagle. He was a good and forcible writer and a scholar. While
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editor of the Eagle he was the owner of a small drug store in Lancaster. Leaving the newspaper, he moved to Belleville, Ill., where the author met him in 1852. He was proprietor of a small shop and the correspond- ent of some newspapers.
WM. SLADE
Mr. Slade came from Vermont to Lancaster. He was a son of ex-Governor Slade of that State. He was a young lawyer of merit, and in 1840 was a partner of Wm. Medill. He was a devoted church member, Sun- day school teacher, and superintendent, and a Presby- terian of the strictest sect. In 1848 he was cashier of the Hocking Valley Bank. He was an anti-slavery man and his principles were not popular in Lancaster. In 1850 he left the bank and moved to Cleveland. He rose to some prominence there and at one time was occupying some foreign appointment under the United States Government. In Cleveland he lost his entire family of children by scarlet fever and this so preyed upon his mind that he lost his religion and became an unbeliever. The author saw Slade and wife in Cleve- land after their great bereavement; their heads were white and they had the appearance of people older than their years.
DR. MICHAEL EFFINGER
Dr. Effinger was born in Lancaster, O., December 11th, 1819. He was a son of Samuel and Mary Noble Effinger. His grandfather, Samuel Noble, came from Maryland in 1811 and settled on a farm adjoining Tarl- ton, O. His mother was a sister of Colonel John Noble.
He attended the schools and the academy of Lan- caster, and at the proper age entered Miami University,
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where he finished the course of study and graduated with honor.
He studied medicine in the office of Drs. Boerstler and Edwards, then leading physicians of Lancaster. He attended lectures and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Returning to Lancaster he opened an office and com- menced the practice of medicine. Here he continued to live and practice his chosen profession for nearly fifty years. He was a successful practitioner and an honorable and much respected citizen. In 1846 he was married to Miss Elmira Catlin, niece of Darius Tallmadge. Lieutenant W. T. Sherman was a guest at the wedding. The doctor and his family moved in the best society of Lancaster and he took an active part in matters pertaining to the welfare of the town. The last years of his life were years of affliction, he being incapacitated for business, but he bore it all patiently until the end came on the 5th of January, 1890. He was then in his seventy-first year. He and General Sherman were friends and correspondents in their youth and their friendship continued through life.
DR. O. E. DAVIS
Dr. Davis came to Lancaster a young married man from Belmont County, O. His wife's family were in- timate friends of the late Charles Hammond, the emi- nent lawyer and editor of Cincinnati. Dr. Davis was a popular citizen and a good physician, being at one time in partnership with Dr. P. M. Wagenhals. Some twenty years since he moved to Cincinnati, where he practiced his profession successfully until failing health compelled him to retire. He closed his career as a
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physician and spent a few years at a lovely home in Morrow, O., where he was tenderly cared for by wife and daughter until death came a few years since.
DR. JOHN M. BIGELOW
Dr. Bigelow was for many years a physician and citizen of Lancaster. He was a scholar and made a specialty of botany. He was the botanist of the United States commission that fixed the Mexican boundary.
He married a sister of Mrs. Wm. Phelan and raised quite a family. Late in life he moved to Detroit, Mich- igan, where he died.
H. H. WAIT
Dr. Wait was a practicing physician in Lancaster for a number of years. He came here from Virginia, but in what year is not known. He was here as early as 1831 and as late as 1840. In the forties he left Lan- caster for some town in the Scioto Valley, where he died.
He had a practice as large as either Dr. White or Dr. McNeill, as the returns of his income for taxation show. He was a large man, of fine presence. He had a step- son, Henry St. George Offut, who left Lancaster for Washington City, where he was employed in the Post- office Department. When the Rebellion came on he went to Virginia and took some position in the rebel government.
Dr. Ezra Clarke succeeded Dr. Wilson about 1823 and occupied his old house. But little is known of him. He was a member of the County Medical So- ciety and was in good standing.
He died in 1830 and was buried in the Zane grave-
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yard on the hill. He lived last in the Fischel house near that of Dr. Carpenter on Chestnut Street.
Dr. Clarke practiced medicine thirty years before he came to Lancaster, first in Middletown, Vermont, and for three years in Royalton, O.
Dr. G. K. Miller practiced medicine in Lancaster for many years. He married a daughter of Daniel Ar- nold and lived in the house built by his father-in-law, where Dr. Harmon now resides. Dr. Miller was an honorable and much respected citizen.
Dr. J. W. Lewis practiced medicine in Lancaster for more than thirty years. He was a well-educated phy- sician and a successful practitioner. In the early years of his career he lived in Keokuk, Iowa, and was a pro- fessor in the medical college of that city. Returning to Ohio, he married the accomplished daughter of Dr. Simon Hyde, of Rushville, and soon thereafter located in New Salem, from which place he came to Lancaster. He was rated as one of the best of Lancaster physicians. He died very suddenly aged about seventy years.
Dr. Saxe was a well-known German citizen and a well-educated physician. He lived during the career of Captain A. F. Witte. He married a sister of G. A. Mithoff. He was one of the influential members of the German element of Lancaster society and a worthy gentleman. He lived for a time in the Scofield house, now the postoffice. He moved from Lancaster to Co- lumbus, where he died.
VICTOR MOREAU GRISWOLD
Victor Moreau Griswold was born at Worthington, Ohio, April 14, 1819, of Connecticut parents. When about fifteen years of age he came to Lancaster and
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was employed for a few years as a clerk in the old mer- cantile house of Ainsworth & Willock. In 1838 he be- came associated with his brother, S. A. Griswold, in the publication of the Tiffin, Ohio, Gazette. Subse- quently he entered the office of Hon. T. W. Powell, of Delaware, as a law student, but after a few months relinquished this for an artistic career, which he had always had a strong predilection for. In the early for- ties he studied portrait painting with William Walcutt, a prominent artist of Columbus, and afterward for sev- eral years practiced that art in many Ohio cities and towns. In 1840 he married Miss Caroline, daughter of Colonel Purdy McElvain, Indian agent at the Wyandot reservation, Upper Sandusky. He afterward went largely into the photographic business, establishing a gallery in Tiffin in 1851. In 1853 he purchased a gal- lery in Lancaster, and moved here with his family. In 1856 he invented and patented the celebrated ferrotype plate and carried on a factory which for several years yielded him a very large income. In the fall of 1861 he established a similar factory in Peekskill, N. Y., and removed to that city with his family. Through agents he continued to operate the Lancaster factory until the year 1865. About this time the introduction of the card photograph had begun to injuriously affect the ferro- type picture business, and in consequence Mr. Gris- wold's financial fortunes waned rapidly. Before his death he was reduced to comparatively moderate cir- cumstances.
His life career was that of a genius, with its usual vicissitudes of success and failure. His sanguine and generous temperament was an obstacle to success in a business point of view. He was gifted in both art and literature, and his contributions thereto were many and
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meritorious. His death occurred at Peekskill, N. Y., on the 18th of June, 1872.
The above sketch is from the pen of Samuel A. Gris- wold.
P. M. WAGENHALS
Dr. Wagenhals was born in Carroll County, Ohio. He was a son of the Rev. John Wagenhals, long the honored pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Lan- caster. His mother was a Poorman from near Somerset, O. Dr. Wagenhals received the rudiments of his educa- tion in Lancaster and had the well-known experience of hundreds of others in the common schools of the period. He studied medicine with Drs. Boerstler and Edwards, and graduated at the University of Mary- land, Baltimore. Returning to Lancaster, he married Susan, the daughter of Frederick A. Shaeffer, then one of the substantial citizens of Lancaster. He settled in Somerset, Ohio, and practiced his profession until the year 1854. He then moved his family to Lancaster, where for many years he was one of the leading physi- cians of the city. He was also a leading Republican and took great interest in politics. He was a most companionable man, bright and entertaining, and never lacked for company or friends. Dr. Wagenhals was once a boy and had the usual experience, escort- ing the elephant to town and attending the shows, then "forbidden fruit."
In political campaigns and during the war, his office was the resort of congenial companions and political leaders. In the seventies he moved to Columbus, O., where he practiced his profession until his death. He was for one term of five years a trustee of the Central Lunatic Asylum, and during that time the splendid structure, now the pride of the State of Ohio, was built.
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We doubt if any doctor ever left behind more sincere friends and admirers than Dr. Wagenhals; or who at his death was more sincerely mourned. He was a fine humorist and was the author of the papers known as the "Old Line Whig Caucus" of 1856 and 1857 Lan- caster Gazette.
F. L. FLOWERS
Dr. Flowers was born on a farm in Harrison County, W. Va., March 17, 1811. In early life his father moved to Maysville, Ky. His early education was very lim- ited, as he attended school but six months. He was a student at home, however, and improved his leisure hours. About the year 1830 he came to Ohio, went to New Lisbon, Columbiana County, and studied medi- cine with Dr. McCook, the father of the large family of fighting McCooks of the Union Army. Dr. Flow- ers attended medical lectures in 1836 and 1837 at the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati. His first ap- pearance in Fairfield County was at New Salem in the year 1836 as a practicing physician. His first wife was a Miss Johnson of New Salem. From New Salem he moved to Brownsville and from there to Rehobeth, going from there to New Lexington.
While living at New Lexington he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature and served from the years 1851 to 1858. While there he supported the Monroe Bill for the establishment of the Reform School, and was its friend to the end of his life. In 1864 he attended the Homœopathic Medical College of Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated. He came to Lan- caster in the spring of 1874 and practiced his profes- sion here until the date of his death, November 21, 1895.
In politics he was a Democrat. For a few years in
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early life he was a preacher of the Methodist Protestant Church. He was not thoroughly educated, but he was a brainy, thoughtful man. He had many friends, the result of his skill, kindness, and attention in sickness.
HERVEY SCOTT
Dr. Hervey Scott, the subject of this sketch, was born near Old Town, Greene County, Ohio, January 30th, 1809. He remained on his father's farm until his seventeenth birthday, when he took up his resi- dence with the family of William Milton in South Charleston, Clarke County, Ohio. At this place he attended school and learned the trade of manufacturing spinning wheels. When he was twenty-four years of age, he gave his entire attention to the study of medi- cine, attending the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati. In 1836, he entered the practice of his chosen profes- sion and continued for about three years, when he turned his attention to dentistry, which calling he fol- lowed in Lancaster for more than forty years.
During most of his life, especially the latter part, Dr. Scott manifested a decided liking for journalistic work, and his many historical and pioneer sketches have at- tracted attention. In 1859, he bought the Lancaster Gazette and American Democrat, consolidating the two papers, placing the office under the supervision of his son, Hervey.
The History of Fairfield County was a very merito- rious production of Dr. Scott's and made its advent in 1876. It was highly appreciated by our people, espec- ially the older ones. He possessed a most wonderful memory with regard to incidents and events of years long gone by, and his general knowledge and recol- lections of early pioneer life, were decidedly accurate.
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At the time of his death, which occurred at Toledo, in September, 1895, Dr. Scott was in his eighty-seventh year. He possessed a wonderfully strong physical organization, coming from a hardy race of people.
His many acts of kindness and charity extended to those in need, his deferential bearing toward his seniors and constant attention to the sick, will be recalled by many of our citizens.
GENERAL THOMAS EWING
General Thomas Ewing was born in Lancaster, received a liberal education and studied law. He was secretary to President Taylor to sign land warrants. Married a daughter of Rev. Wm. Cox, and removed to Leavenworth, Kansas. He delivered a Republican speech in the old Court House when quite a young man. His father was an attentive listener. He was made Chief Justice of Kansas after it became a State; entered the army and served during the war. Return- ing to Lancaster, he was elected a member of Con- gress. From Lancaster he removed to New York, where he recently met a sudden death. He was a man of ability and of commanding presence.
(From the Memorial Address of Rev. A. W. Pitzer)
"General Thomas Ewing was not only a prominent and striking historic character, but he belonged to one of the most illustrious historic families of the Republic. For nearly a hundred years in the annals of our coun- try, the name of Ewing will be found, and always with honorable mention. According to the law of heredity, we would expect much of a son born to Thomas Ewing, Sr., and his wife, Maria Boyle. Nor, as we look back over the sixty-five years of the life of his child, will we be disappointed.
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"His public life began in 1856. When a young man of twenty-seven, he located in Leavenworth, Kansas, and organized the law firm of Ewing, Sher- man & McCook.
"The first fires of the War for the Union were kindled in Kansas, along the banks of the Kaw, the Wakarusa, and the Missouri. From 1856 to 1861, the principles of civil and constitutional liberty were taxed to their utmost tension. Young Ewing, with characteristic courage and honesty, declared for free Kansas, but freedom in company with law and order and constitutional requirements; and his influence in these directions was so potent, that, by almost unani- mous consent, he was made the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas. Before he had oppor- tunity to show his power as a lawyer and his ability as a judge, the Confederate fire at Sumter had fired the Northern heart, and from Maine to Mexico, all ranks, classes, and conditions, forsook peaceful pursuits to follow the war trumpets that were calling millions to arms and to deadly strife.
"The Chief Justice of the State laid aside his robes of office to organize the Eleventh Kansas Infantry, and to be its first Colonel. For conspicuous ability and bravery he rose to the rank of Major General, and his heroic conduct at Pilot Knob, which it was his duty to defend and not to surrender, saved the great State of Missouri to the Union cause, and had potent influence in the final termination of the great issues between the States."
Thomas Ewing was a worthy son of a distinguished man, one of the few referred to by the poet :
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-" Few sons attain the praise Of their great sires, and most their sires disgrace." Pope's Homer.
He alighted from a street car in New York and was struck by a car coming in an opposite direction. He was not killed outright but died in a day or two. Thus closed his career upon earth.
"And his soul winged its destined flight."
JOHN WAGENHALS
Rev. John Wagenhals was born in Würtemberg, Germany, April 16th, 1799. He was educated partly in his native city but later entered a Latin school at Stuttgart. In 1817, when but eighteen years of age, he came to the United States. He located at Somerset, Ohio, and studied for the ministry under the Rev. An- drew Henkel. In 1820 he was ordained a minister by the Lutheran Synod of Ohio. He was immediately called to the laborious work of three counties, Carroll, Tuscarawas and Columbiana. In this work he re- mained nine years, and it was here in Carroll County that his first wife, a Miss Poorman, of Somerset, and mother of Dr. P. M. Wagenhals, died and was buried.
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