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 23
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HENRY B. JOY
Mr. Joy came from Maryland in 1816. In 1817 he was jailor under General Sanderson, the sheriff. He also served under Colonel William Crook, who suc- ceeded General Sanderson. He was a butcher by trade and subscribed five dollar's worth of meat to- ward the building of the first Presbyterian church. He moved from Lancaster to Circleville.
CHARLES SCHUR
Mr. Schur was a native of Germany and came to this country with Captain Witte in 1830, for the purpose of superintending the erection of Captain Witte's dwelling, steam mill, and distillery. He spent the year 1833 in Germany. On returning to Lancaster he opened a fine restaurant, and in two years' time, in 1836, took the Giesy Hotel, where he remained until 1840, the date of his removal to Indiana. He was cele- brated for the good meals he furnished, especially his Sunday dinners. He was a brother of Mrs. Dr. Boerstler.
KOEHLER & MYERS
Messrs. Koehler and Myers were both natives of Germany. They were partners in the boot and shoe business in Lancaster in the year 1864. Koehler is dead and Myers is still in the business.
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JOHN YOUNGKIN
Mr. Youngkin came to Lancaster as a tailor in 1817. He worked at his trade in Lancaster for many years, and late in life moved to Findlay, Ohio.
ISAAC CHURCH
Mr. Church was one of the early settlers of Lancas- ter, where he came in 1816. He was a fine carpenter and always in demand. He was a fine draftsman and well-read upon architectural subjects. He designed the spire of the old Presbyterian church. He was one of the founders of the old Baptist Church and, late in life, was an occasional preacher. In his old age he was partially blind, and as a necessity he opened a grocery on south Broad Street, to which his family gave attention. One of his daughters was the wife of Josiah Wright; another, of Jacob Ulrich; another, of Lieutenant W. H. Pugh, of Cincinnati; and another, of the elder Butterfield. His son, James, died in Chicago.
COLONEL CHARLES SAGER
Colonel Sager came to Lancaster in about the year 1837, from Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He rented the Swan Hotel and conducted it for two or three years. His hotel was famous for good meals, and he for being a very clever landlord. James Weaver was his chief clerk.
In April, 1839, he purchased a plot of ground and laid out a town that he called Oakland, on the new Maysville turnpike. Here he built a hotel and kept it for several years. He was there as late as 1855. From there he moved to Washington C. H. H. D. Over- holtzer & Sons succeeded him in the Swan Hotel.
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In Mt. Vernon he was engaged in the tinning busi- ness. His wife was a Smith, a cousin of the late Robt. Smith and Mrs. John Creed. Her brother, James Smith, Jr., studied law with Hon. John T. Brasee and moved to Minnesota, where he became an able lawyer and a wealthy man. Her brother, Dr. V. Smith, also lived in Minnesota and attained distinction. He died there a few days since.
GEORGE CANODE
Mr. Canode came to Lancaster in 1800. He mar- ried one of the four famous Arnold sisters, who were among the founders of the Methodist Church. He was a shoemaker by trade, but varied the monotony by dealing in horses for the Eastern market.
Late in life he moved to Baltimore, Ohio, where he died. He had passed his eighty-ninth year.
FERDINAND WAGNER
Mr. Wagner came to Lancaster at an early day and opened a tailor shop. In later years he kept a small grocery.
FRANK LILLY
Mr. Lilly came to Lancaster from Frederick, Md., in the year 1834. He carried on a large tailor shop. In 1850 Lilly was elected county treasurer, and served four years. Retiring from office, he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
CHRISTIAN ANANDT
Mr. Anandt was a brick-mason, and in 1826 was the leading one of the town. He instructed David Cowden in the business. He died while yet in the prime of life.
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WILLIAM E. WILLIAMS
Mr. Williams came from Hagerstown, Md., where he was born in 1804. He landed in Lancaster in 1836. He entered the employ of Geo. Ring in his woolen fac- tory and continued there until the year 1838. In the year 1839 he kept a small grocery on Broad Street. He then purchased the Broadway Hotel and ran it until 1848, when he purchased Geo. Ring's woolen factory. He sold the factory in 1852.
In the year 1855 he moved to Vinton, Iowa. One of his sons married a daughter of Robert Fielding.
GENERAL J. A. STAFFORD
General Stafford was born in Bladensburg, Md., August 26, 1830, and came to Lancaster in 1852 as a shoemaker. In 1860 he was captain of an independent military company. When Lincoln called for volun- teers, this was the first company to respond to the call, and they were in the first battle of Bull Run. Febru- ary, 1862, he was promoted to major of the First Ohio. October, 1854, he was appointed colonel of the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth Ohio Regiment, and in 1865 made brigadier-general by brevet. He died a few years since in Chicago.
JACOB WALTER
Mr. Walter came from Germany to America in 1831. He first lived at York, Pa., and in 1834 he came to Lancaster. For two years he attended Terry's mill, near Crook's schoolhouse. He came to Lancaster as a baker, but soon opened the William Tell Hotel, which he kept until 1853, when he retired to his farm, where he spent the evening of his days.
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JOEL SMITH
Joel Smith was born in Virginia in the year 1799. He came to Lancaster in the year 1826 and built and operated the first foundry in Lancaster. He operated this foundry for a number of years. T. D. Webster rode the horse that moved the power for the bellows, and George Bitler acquired the trade in his foundry. In course of time he took John Arney as partner under the name of Smith & Arney, corner of Colum- bus Street and Broadway. In the year 1845 John Arney traded Smith his farm in Liberty Township for his half interest in the foundry. In this year Smith moved his family to his farm, where he continued to reside to the time of his death in August, 1869. He, with most of his family, lies buried near the grave of his friend, General Sanderson, in Elmwood Cemetery. Joel Smith built the iron fence that encloses the lot where he and his friends are buried. His son, Amos J. Smith, was a soldier of the 17th Ohio and on his way home, after being discharged, was killed in a rail- road accident at Columbia Station, the same accident that caused the death of his comrade, George Kutz. John Arney, who succeeded him in business, came to Lancaster at an early day and was a well-known and prominent citizen. In the early days he built and operated an oil mill five miles south of Lancaster.
GILBERT DEVOL
Mr: Devol came to Lancaster in 1829 from Mari- etta. He was born in his father's "block house" (a pioneer fort) at Marietta in the year 1800. Soon after his arrival here, he built his foundry and machine shop at the foot of Main Street. He purchased a fine old- fashioned residence on Wheeling Street. He con-
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ducted this shop and foundry until about the year 1867, when he sold out to Wm. Pursell, and spent the remainder of his days in retirement. One of his daughters married Captain Fisher, an old time Ohio River steamboat captain. Another married Prescott Devol, a nephew, who also was a river captain. He was a fine singer, and in the Whig campaign of 1848 he, with Wm. Cox, son of Tunis Cox, attended the mass meetings and sung glorious songs to the great delight of all who heard them. Captain Devol for some reason visited the far East and engaged in the service of the King of Siam in command of one of his vessels. While engaged in this service he sickened and died. His son, Harry Devol, is the only survivor of the Devol family of this city.
Gilbert Devol was an intelligent, quiet, honest, unob- trusive citizen. His father was Captain Jonathan Devol, an enterprising pioneer of the "Ohio Com- pany."
GEORGE J. BITLER
George J. Bitler, who learned his trade with Joel Smith, built a foundry on the canal at the north end of town in 1843, which he operated for a number of years. He then, in connection with Christian Beery, opened a stove and tin store on Main Street. They did not make a success of it and soon closed up, and Beery lost the farm he put into the business. Both have been dead some twenty years.
WM. BRUMFIELD
Wm. Brumfield was born in Virginia and came to Ohio in 1817. We cannot state the year he became a resident of Lancaster, but it was at an early period. He is credited with operating the first good brewery
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in Lancaster. David Reese had operated one upon a small scale as early as 1804. The wife of Mr. Brum- field was a Peters, sister of Gideon Peters, the tanner. Joseph Kurtzman is of the opinion that he was in the brewery business as early as 1832 and as late as 1840. Abandoning this business, he retired to his farm west of town. At the time of his death he lived upon and owned the Joseph Hunter farm. His death occurred August 29, 1873.
GEORGE MYERS AND JOHN WHITMILLER
George Myers and John Whitmiller ran a small brewery along in the thirties on the Snyder corner on the canal.
WILLIAM MOERLEIN
William Moerlein was a brewer on a small scale for a few years on the rear of his lot on south Colum- bus Street. He abandoned it, however, before his death, which occurred a year or two since.
JOSEPH KURTZMAN
Joseph Kurtzman was a native of Alsace, France. He came to Lancaster in 1838 and was employed by Myers, Green & Martin, contractors on the Hocking Canal. In the year 1840 he entered the service of Gilbert Devol and was employed making flasks and patterns. When Devol sold out, he remained in the old shop for a few years with the Eagle Machine Co.
GEORGE CARTER
George Carter was born at Canton, Ohio, and came to Lancaster in 1830. He was a carpenter by trade. Among other good jobs, he did the carpenter work of the Myers and Collins building. This concern failed
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and paid him one per cent of his claim. He, with Wm. E. Price, conducted a hat store in the sixties. Price, after their business was closed up, moved to Washington, D. C. Carter's wife was a sister of the late Stephen Smith. He died in 1895 at an advanced age.
ROBERT O. CLASPILL
Robert O. Claspill was a son of Robert R. Claspill and came with his father from Virginia. He learned his father's trade and carried on the business of black- smithing and plough-making on Columbus Street. His shop stood where the English Lutheran Church now stands. He was a good citizen and a leading member of the Methodist Church. He died in 1844.
GIDEON PETERS
Gideon Peters was a son of Robinson Peters of Amanda Township and brother of Robinson J. Peters. He carried on a tanyard for a number of years near the Hocking bridge on West Main Street. He was a substantial and influential citizen and a leading member of the Methodist Church.
JAMES M. PRATT
James M. Pratt succeeded Maccracken and Thorne in the tanning business at the foot of Broad Street. He continued the business up to the time of his death. His second wife was the widow of George Creed. She was a Clements.
Mr. Pratt was an honorable and upright man, a respected and influential citizen, and for many years conducted an extensive business. He was connected by marriage with one of the oldest and most respected
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families of the town. Lancaster had no more worthy citizen in his time than James M. Pratt.
JAMES HERMAN
James Herman was a carpenter by trade. He mar- ried Lucretia Arnold, daughter of Daniel Arnold. She is said to have been a very handsome woman. Her- man died in Lancaster about the year 1843. His widow married Thos. Rhoades, who was a son of Mrs. Sherrick (a daughter of Daniel Arnold) by her first husband. Thomas Rhoades went to Texas (his wife followed later), but in a few years she returned to Lancaster and died here. Rhoades is still living in Texas. Herman superintended the building of the Methodist Episcopal church.
SIMEON DENTON
Simeon Denton came to Lancaster in the forties from Rockingham County, Virginia. He was a car- penter by trade and when he ceased building, engaged in the lumber business. His second wife was the Widow Manson, a sister of Daniel Sifford. He was a plain, old-fashioned Quaker style of man and always attracted attention. He was a well-known visitor at the old "Coon Box", where Dr. Wagenhals made every man welcome regardless of his politics.
W. B. PEARCE
W. B. Pearce was born in Allegheny County, Pa., in 1806. He came to Ohio in 1811 and to Lancaster in 1832. He was a carpenter by trade and followed his calling until 1859, when he moved to his farm in Berne Township. He returned to Lancaster in a few years and spent the remainder of his days in quiet
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retirement. He was a member of the city council for six years. His first wife was Louisa Shellenbarger; his second, a daughter of George Crook.
Mr. Pearce was a man of decided convictions and a Democrat of the strictest standard.
JOHN D. SCHLEICH
John D. Schleich was born in Frederick, Md., December 3, 1799. He came to Lancaster in the year 1817. He was a carpenter and followed his trade here, building many good houses. In 1840 he moved to the country and spent the years of old age upon his farm. He was the father of Colonel N. Schleich, late of Lan- caster. He died June 1, 1880.
HENRY SCHULTZ
Henry Schultz came to Lancaster from Pennsyl- vania at an early day. He married a daughter of Geo. Hood, Sr. He was a cabinet-maker, and a well- known and highly-respected citizen. He died in the prime of life. His son, W. A. Schultz, is now the probate judge of this county. In 1840 he was a part- ner of Jacob Holt.
JOHN C. FLOOD
John C. Flood was most of his life a worthy and ยท highly-esteemed citizen of Lancaster. He was a blacksmith by trade and followed that occupation all of his life. He was a leading member of the Metho- dist Church for many years. He was an honorable man in every relation of life and esteemed by his neighbors.
WM. CASSEL
Wm. Cassel spent the greater part of his life in Lan- caster. His parents lived near Somerset, O. His
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mother was a sister of William and Christian King. Wm. Cassel was a carpenter by trade and pronounced a fine workman. He did the inside work of many good houses in Lancaster. He assisted Henry Orman in raising the great Whig pole on the public square in 1840 and 1842. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, and lived a consistent Christian life. He left a family of industrious boys of good habits.
HENRY BELL
Mr. Bell came to Lancaster from Baltimore, Md., while yet a young man. He was a cooper by trade. At that time the coopering business was a desirable trade in Lancaster. He married a daughter of Baltzer Rutter, a prominent citizen of that day of Pleasant Township. He followed his trade until about the year 1850, when barrels manufactured by machinery began to encroach upon hand work. From 1835 to 1845 he was in partnership with Justus Younghans.
He was a volunteer soldier of 1861 and a member of Company I, Seventeenth Ohio Regiment. He took sick when near Danville, Kentucky, and his wife was sent for. She reached his bedside and succeeded in bringing him home, but he did not long survive, dying in three weeks after reaching home in the year 1863, aged fifty-six years.
He left his widow with a family of young children; but she was a brave woman and equal to the emergency. She educated her boys and brought them up to habits of industry, and now, in her old age, they care for her:
Her son, U. R. Bell, was a merchant, a member of the old Reber & Kutz firm, and later a partner of J. C .. Ulrich, both in Lancaster and Columbus ..
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HENRY F. BLAIRE AND WM. KINKEAD
Messrs. Blaire and Kinkead came to Lancaster from Maryland, along in the thirties. They were partners in the stone-cutting business. They plied their trade here for many years, until old age claimed them and death closed their eyes. They were high-minded, hon- orable men, and esteemed by all who knew them. Nu- merous stone walls and the foundations of our best buildings attest their skill. They were outspoken men as politicians and citizens, and honest in their convic- tions. They sleep their last sleep in old Elmwood Cemetery, made sacred by the dust of the eminent men of Lancaster.
Side by side they pursued life's journey, side by side they rest from their labors. Kinkead's father built the great stone bridge famous for its arches at Smithfield, Pa., on the National road. One of his daughters is the wife of ex-Attorney-General Robert M. Clarke, of Nevada.
WILLIAM GUY BLAIRE
Mr. Blaire came to Lancaster from Maryland, along in the thirties. He was a carpenter by trade, which employment he followed during his life. He was a good citizen, prudent, industrious, and honest, and much respected. He was a brother of Henry F. Blaire and of Louis A. Blaire, the old school-teacher and county auditor, the only candidate who ever secured a nomination for a county office by manfully walking from home to home presenting his claims, because he was too poor to go otherwise.
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JAMES F. O'DONNELL
Mr. O'Donnell was born in the county of Mayo, Ire- land. He came to Lancaster about the year 1862, and engaged in the marble business. He was a good citi- zen and a very fine man. He married Clara, daughter of John Jackson, one of the best farmers of Perry County. She was a sister of Colonel Jackson, of New Lexington, Ohio. O'Donnell met with a terrible ac- cident in 1870, on the C. & M. Z. Railroad, by which he lost a leg. The shock was too much for him and he died in a few days. James F. O'Donnell died in the prime of life, and just when he had become perma- nently established in business, with bright prospects before him. No man in so short a time ever made a better impression upon the people of Lancaster, than this warm-hearted young Irishman.
PETER G. DRINKLE
Mr. Drinkle was a native of Berks County, Pa., and was born in the year 1818. He came to Lancaster while yet a young man and acquired the trade of a tailor, which business he followed during his life-time. He died in the prime of life in the year 1850. He was the father of H. C. Drinkle, and also of Charles Drinkle, who met an untimely death in a deplorable accident on the corner of Broad and Columbus Streets, a few years since. The Republicans in the midst of an ex- citing campaign undertook to raise a pole at that point, but the appliances did not work well and the pole, when about half way up, fell to the ground, crushing the life out of young Drinkle.
Two young men named Charles Hoffman and Geo. Fink were killed at the same time and in the same man-
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ner. George E. Martin barely escaped with his life. This accident occurred in the year 1876. The Hon. B. S. Wydman, of Cincinnati, is a grandson of Peter G. Drinkle.
JOHN H. WRIGHT
Mr. Wright was born near Martinsburg, Va., in May, 1801. He came to Lancaster in the year 1825. He was a printer by trade, and was the printer and publisher of the Lancaster Gazette in 1826, under the original proprietors, Sanderson and Oswald. From 1826 to 1867 he was in some capacity connected with the Gazette.
For a year or two subsequent to 1838 he was jointly interested in the paper with Benjamin Moehler. In 1850 he was the publisher under the editorial manage- ment of George Weaver.
He was during his long life an industrious, honest, unassuming man, known to all of the leading men of Lancaster, and much respected by them. His old age was a quiet, peaceful one, spent in the quiet of his family and in the society of his most intimate friends. He died August 16, 1883, aged eighty-three years.
COLONEL CHRISTOPHER HUBER
Mr. Huber spent three weeks in Lancaster in 1810. He then commenced farming in Pleasant Township. In 1831 he located at Ft. Jennings, in Putnam County, Ohio, and was justice of the peace, and commissioner of Putnam County. In 1845 he was receiver of public money at the land office at Upper Sandusky. In 1852 he returned to Lancaster, having lost his farm and the earnings of a life-time. He was, in 1846, elected constable and retained the office several years.
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CHRISTIAN RUDOLPH
Mr. Rudolph became a resident of Lancaster in 1815. He was first employed as stableman by John Sweyer, and then by Jacob Green. He soon became a stage driver on the Wheeling line for R. M. Johnson. He also drove for John L. Dugan, Johnson's successor. He continued to drive stage until 1826, when he pur- chased the coach and four and carried passengers through to Cincinnati and back by way of Columbus. He occasionally varied this by going from Cincinnati or Columbus to Sandusky or Portland, as it was then called. In later years he ran a livery stable in Lan- caster.
JOHN SWILER
Mr. Swiler was in Lancaster as early as 1812. No one knows where he came from. He enlisted in Cap- tain Sanderson's company. He was the "boss bum- mer" and supplied the boys with extra rations, in which poultry formed no insignificant item. He was a great drinker, a great fighter, and always had money for his simple wants. No man more clearly earned the title of "deadbeat" than John Swiler. He was a long- winded fighter and generally came out best. His only redeeming quality was his humor, which the men he wronged enjoyed.
JACOB GASTER
No man ever worked harder, drank harder, or more cruelly exposed himself in all weather than Jake Gas- ter. It is said that he drank whiskey enough in his life-time to float a canal boat. His constitution was as tough as a pine knot.
As a laboring man he was popular, as he was honest and a faithful worker. He lived beyond three score
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and ten years. Everybody knew Jake Gaster, drunk or sober he was a "hale fellow well met."
HENRY MIERS, JR.
Mr. Miers was born in Virginia in 1798, and came with his father to Lancaster in 1809. He had capital and managed it well. He owned the present state farm at one time, on which he cultivated tobacco. He sold his farm of about 1,000 acres to the state of Ohio in 1856 for fifteen dollars per acre. He was for some years superintendent of the Zanesville pike, was stock- holder in the Savings Bank, and a stockholder and di- rector of the starch company. He died in 1862, aged sixty-three years.
JAMES MIERS
James Miers was a native of Lancaster and was born in 1812. In 1842 he was constable of the township. In 1849 he journeyed to California, where he remained some years, but did not succeed in business. He re- turned to Lancaster and spent the remainder of his life with his sisters.
SALMON SHAW
Mr. Shaw was born in New York State, November 24, 1794. He came to Ohio in 1817. He was first a school-teacher in the country, and later taught in Lan- caster academy. In 1836 he was elected county sur- veyor, and was for some years city engineer. He was a member of the Ohio Legislature in the years 1846 and 1847. He was the father of Virgil E. Shaw. He died October 11, 1854. He was a member of the Ma- sonic Fraternity and was honored with a Masonic burial.
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JAMES CUTCHALL
Mr. Cutchall came to Lancaster from Maryland. He was all his life a fine stage-driver. A man had to be a fine driver with four high-spirited horses at full trot- ting speed. He drove into Lebanon the day that Judge Sherman died in that town. James was one of D. Tall- madge's favorite drivers.
SAMUEL RUDOLPH
Mr. Rudolph was born in Berks County, Pa. He came to Lancaster in 1817 with his brother, Christian. He drove stage nine years for Wm. H. Beard. In 1833 he opened a small livery-stable, which he con- ducted thirty years. He more than once made the trip to Philadelphia with passengers in his private coach.
ROBERT COOK
Mr. Cook was born in Wiltshire, England, and came to Ohio in 1836. He was first employed by Neil, Moore & Co. at Zanesville, Ohio. He came to Lancaster in 1838. In 1840 D. Tallmadge appointed him stage agent at Lancaster. This position he retained as long as Tallmadge ran coaches. Robert was well known and well liked. He had great confidence in any news brought by the "stige". He was the uncle of Mrs. Henry Giddings.
JOHN S. SNIDER
Mr. Snider was a carpenter and came to Lancaster in 1832. He moved to the country in 1844, where he remained ten years. In 1854 he returned to Lancaster and built a large steam sawmill on the canal, which he sold to Joseph Parker in 1855. Parker converted it into a flouring mill. He built the flouring mill at the
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foot of Broad Street, afterwards owned by Jno. R. Mu- maugh. 1857 to 1861 found him engaged selling a patent head block for sawmills. He owns about sixty acres of vineyard, which he planted years ago; also large wine cellars and presses under his dwelling in Lancaster, where he manufactures large quantities of wine. He still lives at fourscore years of age.
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