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 4
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ington, N. C., April 26, 1865. Twice while in the service he was reported dend, once it being reported with particulars in the Nashville papers. He was discharged August 2, 1865. As he received but one month's pay and $25 bounty on joining the One Hundred and Twenty-third Illi- nois, he now has a petition before Con- gress asking for the amount justly due him for faithful service. Returning to the pursuits of peace, he rented his Grandmother Griffith's farm, near his old home, and the following spring bought two shares of it from the heirs. Two years after, he bought the rest of the farm, which comprises 100 acres, and there he made his home for eight- een years, until 1884. He then re- moved to Orrville, where the family yet live. In 1885 he bought out the cloth- ing store of Joseph Beidler, in Orrville, which he conducted successfully until May 25, 1889, when he exchanged his store for a 240-acre farm in Davidson County, Dak., which he expects to make his future home, his postoffice address being Mount Vernon. December 12, 1861, Mr. Blackstone was married to Charlotte, daughter of David and Mary Fortney, of Sugar Creek Town- ship, Wayne County. She was born in Stark County, Ohio, July 9, 15.12. They Inve had five children, of whom two, Melissa and Mary Rebecca, died young.
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The survivors are Rousseau, a jeweler by profession, living in Crestline, Ohio; Eli Henderson, a telegrapher by profession, and Pearl May, who lives with her par- ents. In religious belief Mr. Blackstone adopts the doctrines of the Universalist Church, and among the people who know them they bear the reputation of upright, good neighbors and citizens.
JOHN S. JAMES, eldest son of George and Ann (Sealy ) James, was born in Somersetshire, England, May 4, 1517, and emigrated to America with his parents in 1832. For about thirty years he re- remained with his parents, and in 1862 he moved onto his present farm of 160 acres. In 1861 he married Miss Martha, daughter of Thomas Gihnore, of Frank- lin Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. She died in 1884, leaving six children, as fol- lows: Thomas Sealy, living at home; James Alfred, who married Sarah Grant, and lives in Franklin Township, Wayne County; William Edward, living at home; George A. and Harry Oscar, in Nebraska, and Henry Arthur, at home. Mr. James is a Democrat in polities, and has served his township as supervisor for three years, trustee for two years, and is now serving his fourth year as treasurer. He and
family attend the services of the Moorland Methodist Episcopal Church.
EVI RUDY was born in Lancaster County, Penn., May 27, 1819, son of Christian and Barbara ( Moyer) Rudy, natives of Lancaster County, Penn. They came to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1834, and located on a farm near Dalton, in Sugar Creek Township, where they lived the remainder of their days. Chris- tian Rudy was a prominent member of the Mennonite Church; in politics he first voted the Whig and afterward the Repub- liean ticket. He died in 1875, his wife in 1859. Their family consisted of ten children, eight of whom are still living, viz. : David, Sr., in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County: Levi; Sarah, a maiden lady, also in Sugar Creek Township; Maria, living in Illinois; Israel, in Denver City, Colo .; Ann, wife of Samuel Snavely, of Sugar Creek Township: Barbara, wife of Henry Buchwalter, of Trumbull County, Ohio; David, in Sugar Creek Township.
Levi Rudy, the subject of this memoir, came to Wayne County with his parents when fifteen years of age; was reared on the homestead farm, and sent to the schools of the period. In 1850 he purchased his present farm on the
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edge of Dalton, Sugar Creek Township, where he has since resided. In 1851 ho became united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Ann, daughter of A. C. Cook, of Dalton, Ohio, and to them have been born four children, as follows: Mary Eva is the wife of J. Rudy Roebuck, of Bangh- man Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, and has two children, Ina and Laura; Charles, living at home; Laura, wife of Barclay Snodgrass, of Dalton, Ohio, has two chil- dren, Frank and Harry; William, living at home. Mr. Rudy is a Republican, and has held the office of supervisor a number of years, and school director for over seventeen years. In 1880 he was elected land appraiser, and in 1886 justice of the peace, in which latter capacity he is now serving. His family are members of the Presbyterian Church.
D R. JAMES D. ROBISON, one of the oldest and most successful phy- sieians of Wooster, Ohio, was born April 23, 1820, in Wooster, Wayne Co., Ohio, where he was reared. His father, Thomas Robison, was born in Chambers- burgh, Pen., of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He (Thomas) was a farmer in the early por- tion of his life, and in 1806, in company with his five brothers, came to Ohio.
After a sojourn here of three years he returned to Chambersburgh, and there learned the cabinet-making business, re- turning to Ohio in the fall of 1813, and locating in Wooster, where he carried ou his tan-yard with his brother, David. Later he became interested in politics, and was elected justice of the peace, afterward sheriff of the county, and finally to the State Legislature. In connection with his political life he carried on merchan- dising, to which he devoted his time from 1840 until his death, which occurred in 1857. He visited Pennsylvania in the fall of 1816, and was married to Miss Jemima Dickey, a native of that State, who accompanied her husband on horseback from Pennsylvania to Ohio. They were among the first to organize the Presby- terian Church of Wooster, of which Mr. Robison was one of the trustees. Mrs. Robison survived her husband a number of years. Eight children were born to them, of whom the only ones living are the subject of this memoir and four daughters: Mrs. M. J., widow of John K. MeBride, and Mrs. Martha A. Shively, in Wooster; Mrs. Margaret A. Jacobs, in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Mrs. Sarah A. Avery, in St. Louis, Mo.
James D. Robison, whose name heads this sketch, became at the age of fourteen a clerk, and as such continued until he was nineteen. In February, 1510, he
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James Robison
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began reading medicine with Dr. S. N. Bissell, of Wooster, and in the fall of 1841 entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. The following summer he pursued his chosen profession at Cincin- nati, and in October returned to Jefferson Medical College, where he graduated in March, 1843. His first office he opened in Cincinnati, where he practiced until July, 1846. He then, at the breaking ont of the Mexican War, went to the field as surgeon of the Third Regiment Ohio Vol- unteers, under command of Samuel R. Curtiss. In 1848 he returned to Cinein- nati, and thence removed to Wooster, where he has since made his home and practiced his profession. In February, 1857, the Doctor was united in marriage with Miss Anna E. Loring, of Medina, Ohio, who in 1865 passed to the grave, leaving three sons: Tom A., James Dick and Harry Loring. Of these, Tom A. is de- ceased; James D. is the owner of a whip manufactory in Wooster; Harry L. is pre- paring to follow in the footsteps of his father, and is now studying medicine in New York City. In 1868 the Doctor chose for his second wife Viola C. Taylor, a native of Monroeville, Ohio, who departed this life in 1883. In the meantime the Doctor went to the War of the Rebellion as surgeon of the original Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commissioned May 13, 1861, promoted to brigade surgeon August
5, 1861, but in March, 1863, on account of the ill health of his wife, resigned, and, returning to Wooster, was on the 30th of April commissioned surgeon of the Board of Enrollment of the Fourteenth Congres- sioual District of Ohio, in which position he continued until the close of the war. Dr. Robison is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He assisted to build the Epis- copal Church, and has since been one of its most earnest and conscientious mem- bers. His life has been a very active one, and being blessed with excellent health ( having had but one illness ), he has been able to accomplish much good for his fellow-men. In his profession he stands almost without a peer, and, as a man of whom all speak highly, very few are his equal.
One incident of his army life may be related. At Phillips, during the attack, a rebel soldier had gone into a stable to saddle a horse, when a cannon-ball crashed through the building and shattered his leg. Seeing some Union troops approach- ing the barn, and supposing his life would at once be forfeited were he discovered, the poor fellow climbed to the loft and concealed himself in the hay, awaiting death from loss of blood. He was diseov- ered, however, and Dr. Robison ampu- tated the shattered limb, thereby saving his life. This was the first limb ampu- tated in the war; and an interesting fact
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connected with the incident is that the soldier who lost his leg manufactured an artificial one for himself with so much skill that the Confederates kept him for a time employed at similar work for others; and since the war he has established and is still operating one of the largest artificial limb manufactories in the United States.
G EORGE W. ROSS was born on a farm in the village of Sterling, Wayne Co., Ohio, June S, 1854. a son of Joseph and Catherine (Peckinpaugh) Ross, who are still living on the homestead. George W., the sub- ject of this memoir, was reared on the farm, and received a good classical edu- cation at the township schools and Lodi Academy. After finishing his education he entered the law office of J. B. Wood- ward, of Medina, Ohio, where he studied law during the summer months, and en- gaged in teaching school during the win- ter, which routine he followed for several years. During this time he once served in the capacity of principal and high school teacher of the schools, at Creston, Ohio, and twice in the same capacity of the schools at Sterling, Ohio. He then entered the office of J. C. Johnson, presi- dent of the Ohio Farmers' Insurance
Company, and his partner, Mr. Graves, of Seville, Ohio, where he read law for two years. He was admitted to practice by the district court of Medina County, Ohio, March 27, 1879, and to the Circuit Court of the United States February 11, 1885. He is also a member of the Wayne County bar. Mr. Ross has al- ways taken an active part in Republican polities, and is considered a leader in the northern part of the county. He was one of the organizers of the Sterling Wrench Company, and has acted as president of the same from 1886 to July, 1888. He is a member of Sterling Comeil No. 818, R. A., and is also an officer of the Grand Council of that order in Ohio. In Octo- ber, 1880, he united in marriage with Miss Carrie E., daughter of D. B. Beards- ley, attorney at law of Findlay, Ohio. Mr. Ross has never held any political of- fices, as he lives in a district strong in the opposite side of politics.
H ENRY MARSHALL, a well-known citizen of Wayne County, was born in Doylestown, Wayne Co., Ohio, May 24, 1846. His pater- nal grandfather, who was a native of a for- eign land, immigrated to America, here to make a home, and located near Get-
ยท
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tysburg, Pen., but later came to Wayne County, Ohio, where the father of our sub- jeet was born. He (the father ) became a farmer, and in 1812 was married to Miss Helen Shondel (formerly written Schan- del), a native of France, who had come to America with her parents, locating near Canton, Ohio, when she was five years of age, and still lator settling in Milton Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. To this union two children were born, viz .: Jo- seph, in Doylestown, Ohio, and Henry. In 1864 the father was called to the grave, and in 1869 the mother followed him.
Heury Marshall first worked on his fa- ther's farm, receiving in the meantime a common-school education, until he was seventeen years of age, when he met with an accident which changed the course of his life. While felling a tree it lodged in another, and suddenly loosening fell upon him, breaking his leg so badly that amputation above the knee was found to be necessary. After this unfortunate acci- dent he spent four years at the Canton High School, and then returned to Doyles- town, where he entered the grocery bnsi- ness, in which he remained several years. During this time he efficiently filled the position of township clerk for several years, representing the Democratic party, to which he has ever owed allegiance. In 1881 he was elected county recorder, and was re-elected in 1884. In February, 1888,
he was appointed deputy judge of pro- bate, which position he is still filling. In 1874 he chose a life's partner in the per- son of Miss Celia Dagenhart, daughter of Joseph and Cecelia Dagenhart, both now deceased, and a native of Massillon, Ohio. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Christian Sehandel, was a soldier in the Freuch army, accompanying Napoleon in his Russian campaign of 1812, and was badly frozen in the terrible retreat from Moscow.
JOHN B. CROSBY, son of James and
0 Margaret ( Ross) Crosby, was born in Washington County, Penn., August 6, 1820. John Crosby, his grand- father, removed from Chester County, Penn., to Washington County, the same State. He reared a family of six children : John. William, James, Rebecca, Mar- garet and Rachel. James, the third son, was the father of John B. He was born in Chester County, and removed with his parents to Washington County. He par- ticipated in the War of 1812, and two years after its close, in 1817, married and made Washington County his home until 1840, when he moved to Wayne County, Ohio, and settled in Salt Creek Township,
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where both he and his wife passed the last years of their lives. To them were born eleven children, viz .: Sarah, who died aged twenty years and three months; Jolm B., born in 1820; Elizabeth, died aged three years and six months; Mary Jane, died aged three years and four months; Nancy, born in 1825, living at Wooster; James R., born in 1828; Eben- ezer, born in 1829, died aged six months; Narcissa, born in 1881, died aged four years and six months; Lucinda, born in 1834, died aged fifteen years; Emily, boru in 1836, is a resident of Wooster, and Amanda, born in 1839, is the wife of John W. McElroy, Jr., of Plain Township.
John B. Crosby was reared and edu- cated in Washington County, Penn., and came to Wayne County with his parents in 18-10. In 1846 he married Pensacela Brown, and located on the farm he now owns in Salt Creek Township. Their only child died in infancy. Mrs. Crosby died in 1848, and September 23, 1856, Mr. Crosby married Caroline Haymaker, and to them have been born two sons, Howard and Lincoln Chase. The latter died aged two years, and the former was married June 17, 1879, to Bell MeBride, and is now engaged in farming in Salt Creek Township. Mr. and Mrs. Crosby are members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics Mr. Crosby casts his suffrage with the Prohibition party.
WOHN C. STEINER is a son of Christian and Catherine ( Amstutz) Steiner, natives of France, who came to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1831, and purchased a tract of land in Milton Township, where they carried on farming. Christian Steiner was a preacher in the Mennonite Church, and was instrumental in erecting two churches of that denomi- nation in Milton Township. His first wife died in 1840, the mother of five children, viz .: Peter, in Seville, Ohio; Christian E., in Milton Township, Wayne County; Barbara, wife of Frederick Amstutz, of Milton Township; John C. (our subject) and Annie, wife of David Amstutz, of Michigan. The mother of this family died in 1840, and Mr. Steiner then mar- ried Maria, daughter of Daniel Steiner. of Milton Township, Wayne County. By this union were born the following named children: Fannie, wife of Rev. David C. Amstutz, of Milton Township; Daniel, in Milton Township, Wayne County; Ulrich, in Green Township. Wayne County; Gideon, in Kansas; Catherine, in Green Township, Wayne County; Amos, in Mil- ton Township, Wayne County, and David, merchant and postmaster at Sterling, Ohio. Mrs. Steiner, mother of these children, died in 1881, and Mr. Steiner in 1885.
John C. Steiner was born July 25, 1528, was educated at the township
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schools, and has always followed farming and horse breeding. April 23, 1563, he married Miss Maria Kratz, daughter of Jacob Kratz, of Milton Township, Wayne County, and they have six children, viz. : Renben K., Edwin L., Katie A., Harvey J., Alice and Lizzie May. Mr. Steiner is, a Democrat, and has served as supervisor and school director for many years. He was one of the organizers of the Sterling Wrench Company, and has since been one of its directors. During the late Rebellion he took an active part in furnishing men from Milton Township. He and wife are prominent members of the Mennonite Church.
E LIAS A. FREET was born August 26, 1832, near Columbiana, Ohio, a son of George W. and Charlotte (House) Freet, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Pennsylvania. They first settled in Trumbull County, Ohio, and subsequently moved to Colum- biana, where the mother died in 1836. The father of our subject then married, for his second wife, Rachel Nevitt, of Harrison County, Ohio, and moved to Illinois, where he died in 1856. He was one of the original Abolitionists of East- orn Ohio. By his first wife George W.
Freet had eight children, all of whom are dead except two, viz .: Elizabeth, wife of Jesse Gilbert, of Fairfield Township, Columbiana Co., Ohio, and Elias A. By his second wife he had five children, three of whom still live, viz .: Isaac H., in Kansas; George W., in Indiana, and Sarah Jane, wife of David Fraze, of Crawfordsville, Ind. The subject of this sketch was reared mostly in Portage County, Ohio, where he attended the dis- triet schools and the academy. In 1852 he came to Dalton, Wayne Co .. Ohio, where he worked at the merchant tailor's trade, and in 1858 he established his present business in Dalton, that of cloth- ing merchant. In 1855 Mr. Freet mar- ried Miss Lucinda, daughter of Curtis Honghton, of Dalton, Ohio, and by this union there are three children: Cora E. is the wife of William A. Harry, of Dal- ton, Ohio, and has one child, Judson F .; Louisa and George Curtis are both at home.
Mr. Freet and his family are mem- bers of the Dalton Presbyterian Church, of which he is an older. In May, 1861, ho was appointed postmaster of Dalon, which office he held until September 7, [SS5, and is now serving his tenth year as town treasurer. He was one of the original stockholders of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, and was instrumental in getting a station at Dalton. Mr. Freot
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has been a member of Cedar Lodge, No. 430, F. & A. M., of Orrville, for twenty years. He has always been a stanch Republican, and is considered one of the leaders of his party in his town.
(AMES L. ZARING, principal of the public school, Smithville, Wayne Co., Ohio, is the eldest son of Eli Zaring, clerk of courts of the county, under whose name, on another page of this volume, is given the family history. His mother's maiden name was Mary Stevie. They are now residents of Woos- ter, where Mr. Zaring's official duties demand his presence. The subject of this sketch was born in Plain Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, December 4, 1859. He attended the district school near his home, and when of suitable age learned the trade of shoemaking in smmumers in his father's shop. He, however, never followed this trade regularly. His com- mon-school education was supplemented by a thorough course at the Normal School in Smithville, then conducted by Prof. Eberly. At the age of eightcon he was examined and obtained a teacher's certificate, but being of a youthful ap- pearance did not obtain a school until he was twenty years old. His first school
was in Chester Township, where he taught three terms, constituting a full year. The succeeding two years he taught in District No. 3, in Plain Township, and then one year in District No. 4, in the same township. The following two years he taught in District No. 1, his home school, in which all his common-school education had been obtained. Each move was a step upward, and each position more responsible and more lucrative. Ever since he began his chosen career his course has been steadily onward. After leaving his home school he taught for a year in District No. 4, in Wooster Township, and was then offered and accepted the responsible position of prin- cipal of the public school at Smithville, which he still holds. This was a merited as well as gratifying tribute to his faith- ful and successful work as. an edneator. June 3, 1883, Mr. Zaring was married to Wessie Reamer. a daughter of Jacob and Sophia Reamer, of Smithville, where she was born January 25, 1868. Her parents came to Ohio from Mechanics- burg, Penn., many years ago. Her father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, and was killed in the bat- tle of Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863. Her mother is now living in Smithville. Mr. and Mrs. Zaring are the parents of two children: Ethel and Walter. Mr. Zaring is a member of the order of the Knights
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of the Maccabees. He is universally recognized as a gentleman of high prin- ciple, of unquestioned integrity, and as one of the most capable and successful educators in the county.
A R. FLUHART. John and Elea- nor ( Culbertson ) Thomas were married in 1819, and located in Franklin Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, on the place now owned by John Sanderson, it then being a wilderness. This couple were natives of Westmoreland County, Peun., were married here, and were residents of Franklin for forty-eight years, then removed to Nashville, where Mr. Thomas died. The record of their children is as follows: Esther married E. G. Jack, and now resides in Lafayette, Ind .; John C. married Lottie Davis, and now resides in Shreve, Wayne County; William married May Robison, and now resides in Fulton County; Elizabeth mar- ried Josiah Yoter, and now resides in Shreve, Wayne County; Cyrus S. mar- ried Alvira Carr, and now resides in Michigan; Ebenezer married Elizabeth Moore, and now resides in East Union, Wayne County; Joseph died in 1869; and Margaret married A. R. Fluhart in 1850, and located April 10, 1867, on the farm he
now ocenpies. Their children are Zach- ens E., John Y., Elizabeth, Cyrus M., Anna May, Harry C., Howard H., Ella M. and Jessie M. Zacheus E. married Emma, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Jane Martin, of Holmes County, and lo- cated in Wooster Township, Wayne County; they have three children: Edna M., Jennie Mabel and Florence Moore. John Y. married Mary, daughter of Elias and Sarah Stucker, and moved to Mis- souri; they have four children: Edward E., Johnnie, Sadie and Ella M. Cyrus M. married Emma, daughter of John and Jane Richards, and located in Salt Creek Township; they have one daughter, Carrie Edith. Ella M. was married in ISSS to A. A. Geitgey. The other chil- dren are at the homestead, which is sitn- ated in a delightful valley. Mr. Fluhart is one of the progressive farmers of his township, and, with his sons, is a strong Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Fluhart and their entire family are members of the Presbyterian Church.
S OLOMON R. BONEWITZ, one of the best known and most prominent lawyers in Wayne County, is a na- tive of the same, born November 28, 1820, and is a son of John and Margaret ( Rider)
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Bonewitz, both of whom were natives of Berks County, Penn., he coming in 1815 to Wayne County as a pioneer. In 1853 he moved with his wife and all of their chil- dren, excepting Solomon R., to Wabash County, Ind., where he died in February, 1885, aged ninety-two years, and his wife in 1860. They were the parents of eight children, three of whom are yet living, our subject being the only one now. in Wayne County. One son resides in North Manchester, Ind., and one in Omaha, Neb.
Solomon R., subject of this memoir, received his school training at what jubi- lated in its day in the high-sounding title of "Hayes' College," which in reality was only a log school-house. His life was spent on a farm until he was eighteen years old, when he commenced a clerk- ship in his father's dry goods store, at what was then known as Naftzger's Mill, Dear Burbank, in Wayne County, and later at Mechanicsburgh, same county, un- til 1844. He had married, in the mean- time, October 14, 1841, Miss Louisa Booth, of Medina County. Ohio, a lady of good education, who at one time was a teacher in the public schools, and who after marriage became in part her hus- band's instructor, stimulating him to a higher education. Her father, Hilen Booth, of Medina County, Ohio, was mar- ried to Sarah MeCleod, and died in 1870, his wife having preceded him in 1860.
Mrs. Bonewitz has one brother in Akron, Ohio; another brother, who had been prom- inently identified with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company, having control of all the telegraph lines, died in 1883; one sister is the wife of Dr. M. K. Hard, of Wooster, Ohio, and another sister is Mrs. Monosmith, of Jay County, Ind. In 1844 Mr. and Mrs. Bonewitz came to Wooster, Wayne Coun- ty, and here he finished his law studies, which he had taken up and prosecuted while engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at St. Clairsville, Ohio, practiced his profession in Wooster up to 1865, in which year he formed a partnership known as the Bon- ewitz, Emrich & Co. Banking House, in Wooster, with himself as cashier. Later it became the Commercial Bank of Woos- ter, which merged into the National Bank of Wooster. In 1871 Mr. Bonewitz sey- ered his connection with this institution, and devoted his entire time to the prac- tice of law. For two terms, commenc- ing in 1853, he was mayor of Wooster, and has been a member of the council for four years; he was also a justice of the peace six years, and filled all of the in- cumbencies with credit to himself and satisfaction of his constituents. . He was appointed United States commissioner by the circuit courts of the United States, as recorded in the " Blue Book" at Washing-
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