USA > Ohio > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of Wayne County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 27
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County, the latter having been an ensign with Commodore Perry in his Famous bat- I tle on Lake Erie, and the fourth man to board the British fleet. Mr. McElhenie lived for fifteen years on one of the many farms owned by James Duncan, in Penn's Valley, and in the winter season was one of the many who carried on trade between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia by teaming across the mountains. To him were born nine children, six sons and three daugh- ters. Two sons died in infancy, and the rest of the children were as follows: William, John, Margaret C., Elizabeth K., James E., Thomas J. and Jane. In 1833 Mr. McElhenie made a prospecting tour to Ohio, and in May, 1834, he purchased eighty acres of land near Easton, in Chip- pewa Township, on the bank of the Big Chippewa Creek, and opened a tavern, which he kept several years. In 18444 ho sold his farm, and located in Easton, where he built a large honse, at the east end of the village, now owned and occupied by his youngest son, Thomas J. Before he left Pennsylvania he had held the office of . Justice of the Peace, his commission from Gov. Gregg being still in the possession of his son, Thomas J. Soon after coming to Ohio he was elected to the same office, which he continued to hold for several terms. As a magistrate he always on- . doavored to indnee litigants to compro- mise rather than to go on with a suit.
Upon his first election his wife's nephew, John Baken, then a cabinet-maker in the neighborhood, said: "Now, unele, you must have a chair and desk in keeping with the dignity of your office," and made the same, which are still in possession of the son, who for many years used them in his administration of the same office (as will be mentioned farther on). Mr. Mc- Elhenie was a man of sterling character, one of the sturdy yeomanry who braved the trials of pioneer life, and out of the wild chaos forged the chain of civilization which brought the great State of Ohio to its pres- ent proud position in the galaxy of States. Some time after moving over to the village Mr. MeElhenie opened a store, afterward taking his youngest son, Thomas J., into partnership with him, and they continued in business there until a short time before the War of the Rebellion, when they were overcome by the effects of the panic of 1857. Mr. MeElhonie afterward lived the quiet life snited to his years, and on April 23, 1871, he died, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife, Margaret, born July 12, 1793, survived until November 22. 1874, when she died at the residence of her youngest danghter, Mrs. Jane Brattin, near Easton. Of their children, William, who was a tailor by trade, was twice mar- ried, and died at Mendota, Ill. (a portion of his family now reside at La Salle, III. ) ; John married Sarah Bronse, and reared a
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large family (they now reside in Steuben County, Ind. ); Margaret C. married Ephraim Martin, and became the mother of four children (he is dead, and she lives with a daughter at Mogadore, Ohio) ; Eliz- abeth K. married Michael D. Dagne (they live in Doylestown, Ohio, and are referred to at length elsewhere in this work); James E., who was twice married, and reared a large family, is now a resident of Steuben County, Ind. ; Thomas J .; Jane, the youngest, married George W. Brattin (they now live in Williams County, Ohio).
Thomas J. McElhenie was born in Cen- tre County, Penu., July 4, 1826, the day upon which ex-Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died, and was named in honor of the latter. He was reared in Chippewa Township from eight years of age, and his education was ob- tained at the district schools, the famous McGregor Academy, at Wadsworth, and under " Priest " Abbott, the Presbyterian minister at Doylestown. Like his father, he taught school for some time, then went into the store with his father. March 22, 1848, Mr. MeElhenie married Sarah B., daughter of Abram Van Eman, a stanch Presbyterian farmer of Lawrence Town- ship, Stark Co., Ohio. Upon the failure of the firm, in 1859, and during the ane- tion sale which followed, ho kept a restau- raut, which grew through several stages ! until by 1872-73 (at the time of the ' Osborne, of Wooster, Ohio. James V.,
building of the railroad through the vil- lage) he was ocenpying the old store- room, greatly enlarged, and doing a large business. For several years he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and was also Constable and Township Trustee. In 1874 he was elected to the office of County Auditor, in which capacity he served with credit to himself and the county for four years, or two successive terms. After retiring from office he en- gaged in the grocery business at Wooster. Ohio, but sold out the next fall, and re- turned to Easton, where he had invested his means in land adjoining the village, which he still owns and cultivates. After returning to Chippewa Township he was elected Constable until the office of Jus- tice of the Peace became vaeant, when he was again chosen to that office, holding the same until 1888, when he declined to serve longer, saying that, as he had hold the office seven terms, or one term longer than any other man in the township, he felt that his ambition ought to be satis- fied. His children were nine in number, of whom four grew to maturity, viz. : Thomas D., James V., Mary B. and Lil- lian M. Of these, Thomas D. learned the drng business in Wooster, graduating at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1872, and is now a prominent druggist of Brooklyn, N. Y. He married Miss Bello
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the second son, was brought up behind the counter in his father's store; attended Smithville High School a few terms; taught school one term; ocenpied various clerical positions, including about two years' service in the County Auditor's office with his father, and upon the retire- ment of the latter he purchased the office of the Journal newspaper at Doylestown from its founder, G. W. Everts, which he conducted until 1883, in which year, on account of ill health, he sold out to G. A. Corbus, of Wooster. March 29, 1881, Mr. McEllenie married Miss Laura J. France, of Wooster, one of whose grand- fathers was John Lehman, who died in Wayne Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, in 1886, at the age of ninety-four. She died October 27, 1883, leaving one child, Paul. After a variety of experiences, six months in Nebraska, two years of farming, and the establishment of the Sun newspaper at Fredericksburgh, to- gether with its management for nine months, Mr. MeElhenie again found him- self, in October, 1557, in charge of the Doylestown Journal, under a lease. In March following he purchased the office ontright, and continues in charge at this writing. On December 13, 1558, Mr. MeElhenie again entered the marriage relation, his wife being Miss Anna Hawk- ins, of Fredericksburgh, a granddaughter of Joseph Hawkins, one of the early set-
tlers of the county. Her father was chief musician of the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In. l'antry, during the War of the Rebellion, and was confined in Libby and Camp Ford ( Tyler, Tex. ) prisons. Mary B. and Lillian M. remain at home in Easton with their parents.
M RS. MARY JANE MYERS. This well-known lady has been a resi- dent of Wayne County all her life, having been born in Wooster Township, May 22, 1824. Her father, John Kanke, a native of Holland, came to America with his parents when a small boy. They stopped for a time in Pen- sylvania, when Christopher, grandfather of Mrs. Myers, came to Wayne County, in which he passed the remainder of his life. The family made the journey in covered wagons. John Kaukegrew to man- hood in Pennsylvania, and there learned the trade of shoe-making. He was mar- ried to Miss Mary Hoover, who was born about seven miles from Wilkes Barre, Pen., in which State both her parents died. John Kanke and his wife came to Wayne County abont 1516, and he there engaged in the manufacture of bricks. making some of the first ever burnt in
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Wooster. Both he and his wife died in this county.
When she was seventeen years of age Mary Jane Kauke was united in marriage with John Myers, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, whose father, also named John, was born in Pennsylvania, and came as a pioneer to Wayne County. The lat- ter was a wagoner, and teamed between Baltimore and Pittsburgh when goods were transported altogether by wagon. John Myers, husband of our subject, learned the trade of carpentering in his native county, and worked at it after coming to this county. For three years after their marriage the young couple lived in what is known as the haunted honse, in Wooster Township. On the death of his mother they went to live with his father, staying with him two years, and then removing to a farm in Chester Town- ship, remaining on it for twelve years. His father dying, they again went to the old homestead for three years, after which they returned to their own farm. In 1870 the family removed to the house the father had built in Wooster, which is Mrs. Myers' present home, and lived there five years, but in the l'all of 1873 death took from the family circle two sons and a danghter- in-law, and the afflicted parents again re- turned to their farm, trying by active la- bor to assuage their grief. In the spring of 1884 the grim reaper again invaded
their hearthstone, this time taking away the husband and father, at the age of sixty-seven years. John Myers was a prominent man in the county, and exer- cised a considerable influence in its affairs. He was well known and much respected by those who knew him, and left behind not only a competence, but the better her- itage of a good name. In polities he was a stanch Republican, and while a resident of Chester Township was for many years township assessor and township trustee.
By her marriage with Mr. Myers our subject became the mother of eight chil- dren, of whom we make the following record: John H. died in childhood; Wal- ter M. entered the army during the Civil War, in the 100-day men, and died while in the service, of typhoid fever; Samuel B., or " Doe.," as he was familiar- ly called, is also deceased, he and his wife dying a few hours apart, of typhoid fever, leaving two children, Sydney D. and Laura B., who are being reared and edu- cated by Mrs. Myers; the next in order of birth is Mary Ellen, who is now Mrs. Snyder, of Chester Township; Charles is deceased; Brown is living in Nebraska; Grant is a book-keeper, and makes his home with his mother; and an infant, who died unnamed, completes the list. The l'all following her husband's death Mrs. Myers came back to Wooster, and has since made her home in her pleasant
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house on Sayboldt Avenue. For forty- eight years Mr. Myers has been a member of the Baptist Church, and his widow has now been a member for the same number of years. All the children who grew to maturity also became members of the same church. The family is one of the oldest and best known in the county, and will long be remembered as among its worthy pioneers. They are esteemed and respected by every person with whom they come in contact.
W ILLIAM B. TAYLOR, a son of Joseph Taylor, and grandson of John Taylor, was born in Canaan Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, August 15, 1849, and grew to manhood on the old home place in Canaan Township, which was entered by his grandfather, John Taylor. The latter was a native of Crawford County, Pen., and came to Wayne County, Ohio, in an early day, being among the early settlers of the county. He died aged ninety-four years. Joseph Taylor, father of William B., was a native of Wayne County, born in Canaan Township in 1814, and died May 18, 1870; his wife was Eneinda, daughter of Jacob Hartman, and was born near Troy, Ash- land Co., Ohio. In his father's will William B. Taylor was named as the os-
ecutor of the estate, and this trust he ful- filled with admirable satisfaction to all the heirs. The subject of this memoir received a common-school education, and was brought up to farm life.
December 7, 1871, he married Miss Jane, daughter of William Kiser, one of the first settlers of Congress Township, Wayne County, and to this union four children were born: Kiser W., born March 14, 1875; Nellie M., March 23, 1877; Norah A., January 12. 1879. and Clyde E., July 15, 1886. Mr. Taylor is at present a member of the Board of Trus- tees for Congress Township, and is serv- ing his third term. He and his wife are prominent members of the United Breth- ren Church. They own between them 262 acres of as fine laud as can be found in the State of Ohio.
G EORGE STROCK, son of Conrad and Mary ( Wyrick ) Strock, natives of Dauphin County, Penn., was born in that county and State Septem- ber 22, 1525, in November of which year the family moved to Wayne County, Ohio. first loeating on what is now known as the Smith farm, in Plain Township. After remaining there four years, they moved into Wooster Township, where the parents spent the balance of their lives. They
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were prominent members of the German Lutheran Church. Courad Stroek was in early days an active Democrat, but later became a member of the Whig party, and held several township offices. Four of the children of Conrad and Mary Strock are yet living, viz .: Catherine, wife of Abraham Bechtel, in Plain Township, Wayne County; George; Jacob, in Hohnes County, Ohio, and Daniel, on the homestead.
Of these, George was reared on the farm, receiving an ordinary education, which he obtained by attending the winter terms of school, working during the summer months. In 1848 he married Miss Mary A., daughter of Peter Baum- gardner, of. Wooster Township, Wayne County, and four children have been born to them, as follows: James Finley, in Plain Township, Wayne County, married Elizabeth Lowe, danghter of Benjamin Lowe, of Plain Township, and has tive children: Ira Benjamin, ML. Immettie, M. Inella, George O. and Bessie; Daniel W., in Wooster Township, Wayne County, married Addio Troutman, daughter of Philip Troutman, also of Wooster Town- ship, and has four children: Franklin, Jay, Earl and an infant; Leander C., of Lake County, Ohio, has been twice married (his first wife died withont issue; his present wife was Flora Cook, of Lake County, Ohio, and by her he has one
child, Wilber Conrad ) ; George B., living at home, married Kato Moore, daughter of Bryson Moore, and has one child, Gen- evieve B. Mr. Stroek moved to his pres- ent farm of 165 acres, in Plain Township, Wayne County, in 1864. lle has held the office of trustee of Clinton Township, Wayne County, also several offices in Plain Township. He is identified with the Republican party. He and his wife are prominent members of the Millbrook Baptist Church.
OHN LONG, JR. This well-known native citizen of Wayne County, now residing in the city of Wooster, was born in Wayne Township, four miles north of Wooster, on September 12, 1818. ITis father, John Long, Sr., was born near Coleraine, County Derry, Ireland, and when fourteen years of age came to America with his parents. They landed at New Castle, Del., and making their way into Pennsylvania, located at Carlisle Barracks, in Cumberland County, remov- ing two years later to Westmoreland County, Pen., where they settled upon a farm which is yet in possession of the family, a period now of over ninety years. There the grandparents of our subjeet died, and there his father grew
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to manhood. The latter was twice mar- ried, his first wife being Miss Phoebe Baylis, who died, leaving one child, El- len, who subsequently became the wife of George Keek, and removed to Hamilton, Butler Co., Ohio, where she died in No- vember, 1887. The second wife of John Long, Sr., was Huldah Bird, daughter of William and Sarah ( Randolph ) Bird. Her mother was a descendant of a family of wealthy Boston merchants, whose prop- erty was confiscated by the British dur- ing the Revolution, because of their loy- alty to the cause of the struggling colo- Dies. John and Huldah Long became the parents of eleven children, of whom six still survive: Jolm, whose name heads this sketch, is the eldest of the family; Mary is the wife of James T. Atkinson, and lives in Wooster; Nancy, now Mrs. Litchfield, has been twice mar- ried, her first husband being Robert De Vinnie; William is living in Clinton Township, this county; Margaret has also been twice married, her first husband, T. Bay liss, having been killed by Indians, and she is now the wife of a consin, Rob- ert Long, and lives in Pennsylvania; Abalona, the last of the survivors, is wife of Champion Kinney, and lives in Canaan Township, Wayne County.
The father of our subject, with others of the family, came to Wayne County at n day when there were but few settlers
within its borders, and the whole county was covered with a dense forest. He cleared a small place, and remained here until some two years after the birth of our subject, to whom succeeded a girl, and then the father and mother took their two children and all their household goods on two horses, and removed to Armstrong County, Penn., where they stayed for two years, and where one more child was born to them, being Mary, now Mrs. At- kinson, of Wooster. In Armstrong Couu- ty the family had hard times, and while still a child our subject was often carried by his mother two miles, together with a bushel of corn, which she ground in a hand mill, and then carried back again for the family use. About the year 1823 the parents again came to Wayne County with their children. The journey had to be made on horseback, as there were no roads through the forest, and their only guide was a " blaze" on the trees. The l'ather bought a farm in Congress Town- ship, and to that place they came. There were many maple trees on the place, and the father made a sugar camp at once, as it was in sap season, and the sugar he obtained he traded for meat, pound for pound. The poverty of the family was a great bar to their carly success. The father had no team, and got his land plowed by working for neighbors, who in turn would come and help him with their
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oxen. After much hard labor, the sturdy pioneer, who had wrought manfully in the face of many discouragements, brought his land into something like a cultivated farm, and then sold it for $400. With this he was enabled to buy a better place of eighty acres, within six miles of Woos- ter. The land which he sold has since become valuable, as it adjoins the now flourishing village of Burbank, some of it, indeed, being within the corporation limits, and the railroad station is built upon it.
On the new farm to which Mr. Long had removed there was an unfinished log house, and in that the family lived for a time, having only a blanket for a door. This farm was also sold after a time, and the next four years were spent upon a rented farm, when the family removed to Wooster. Extreme hard toil, with the many deprivations and anxieties he endured, told upon the pioneer, and he became in- sane, thus putting another burden upon the brave mother and her young children. Still she fought the battle of life nobly, and in Wooster worked hard to support her young children. Our subject was the eldest, and at twelve years of age began to contribute to the family support, caru- ing at first eighteen cents a day, every cent of which he gave to his mother. Ho ! was continually on the lookout for work, never refusing anything by which he could honestly carn a penny. When he
found nothing else to do he would go into the woods in the season and gather nuts to sell. In this way he soon became known as a bright and industrious lad, and work came to him more easily.
The progress of Jolm Long was slow and tedious, but was certain, as he made uo backward steps, and his faithfulness and the manner in which he labored to assist his mother and his helpless father and younger brothers and sisters were gen- erally known, and inelined people to assist him. He finally secured employment with John Slone, at $S per month in summer, doing chores in winter for his board, and attending school as much as possible, and on Saturdays drawing wood for his mother, to add to whose comfort was his greatest desire. She was still struggling along, but as her children became older her burdens gradually became lighter, and like her son she was held in high re- speet, and procured work casily in the best families in Wooster. Mr. Slone, for whom our subject was at that time work- ing. was one of the best known men of the county, and often had business away from home, at Columbus and elsewhere. In his absence he intrusted everything to young Long, in whose capacity and fidelity he had absolute faith, which was not misplaced. The hand upon which Mr. Long's house stands was, at that time, the property of Mr. Slone, and young Long
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bonght of him the lot on which he meant to ereet a home for his parents -- a brave determination for a boy, but one he suc- cessfully executed. He was to pay for this land $300, and had the privilege of fifteen years' time in which to pay for it, but in three years he had it paid for. He drew stone in the evenings for the foun- dation, after working all day for others; dug his cellar in the same way, and after great exertions succeeded in making for his parents a home free from debt. After getting the house finished and his parents in possession of it, he went to Cincinnati, where he was employed in a commission house, and there he remained from Oc- tober until the following June, when he returned home, and after working there for some time by the month, then under- took the last of driving a drove of cattle to Pennsylvania, which consumed the summer and the early fall. For a short time he was again in Cincinnati, and then returned to Wooster, where he has since made his permanent home. His father had been for nine years in an asyhun for the insane, but he brought him home, and after four years in his son's house he died, in April, 1867, at the age of eighty- five years. The devoted mother, whose memory is saered to her children, died in Jume, 1875, aged seventy-five years. ties to leave him time for social inter- course, and he remained single until he was thirty-three years of age. His mar- riage took place April 20, 1853, when he was united in wedlock with Miss Nancy, a daughter of Benjamin Miller, and a na- tive of Westmoreland County, Penn. Of their mmmion six children were born: George K., the ellest, is a resident of Wooster; Hezekiah H. and Eliza are de- ceased; Martha is the wife of J. W. Smith, of East Union Township; Mary Etta was accidentally killed on the railroad, and Lewis is a resident of Wayne County. Since his marriage Mr. Long has lived in the house which he built for his mother, which he has enlarged and partially re- built. He and his wife are sincere mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church. When Mr. Long first attended school it was to study his a, b, c's from a "pad- dle," on which the letters were pasted. He kept an account of his income and ex- penditnres on a stick, on which a certain notch meant a certain amount of money. In this way, before he had learned to read or write, he kept all his transactions, and never made a mistake. The characteris- ties which distinguished him as a boy re- mained with him in his manhood. and were the principal factors in his success. Honest beyond question, he always paid promptly The life of Mr. Long had been too busy . all he owed, and never was sued by any and filled with too much labor and anxie- person, and has always stood as a "man
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among men." A man of large humanity, his own carly trials have made him con- siderate and generous to others, and he will long be remembered as a citizen who has been an honor to his county.
EORGE W. RICHWINE was born June 27, 1840, in Stark County, Ohio, a son of Solomon Richwine, who was born in Lancaster County, Pen., March 14, 1801, and grandson of Henry and Catherine ( Rhodes ) Richwine. In 1827 Solomon Richwine married Miss Eliza Oberly, of Lancaster County, Penn. In 1837 they came to Wayne County, Ohio, and in 1842 they moved into East Union Township, Wayne County, Ohio, where the wife died in 1887. Their family consisted of seven children, two of whom died in infancy ; the others were Lewis, who died in ISSO, at the age of thirty-five years; Rebecca, a maiden lady, at home; Isaac; Elizabeth, wife of Na- thaniel Ames, of Williams County, Ohio, and George W.
The last named, the subject of this memoir, was married in 1869 to Miss Martha C., daughter of Jacob Bonewitz, and to this union were born six children, five of whom are now living: Joseph, Lewis, Rebecca, Nettie and Eliza. Mr. Richwine is a member of the Democratic
party, and is school director of his town- ship at the present time. He has a farm of eighty-five aeres, and in connection works his father's farm of 168 acres, all being in East Union Township, Wayne County.
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