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 45
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WAYNE COUNTY.
from early life was a Republican, and was a stanch supporter of the principles of that party, being a strong Union. man during the dark days of the Rebellion. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and was always ready to do all in his power to aid in its support. He was a man of fine business principles, and was honored by all who knew him for his up- rightness of character and strict adherence to his convictions of right, his errors be- ing of the head and not of the heart.
OHN LONGANECKER, farmer, Chester Township, was born in Col- umbiana County, Ohio, in 1817, being one of a family of eight children born to Joseph and Barbara (Mergin) Longanecker. His father became a resi- dent of Ohio in 1800, and became one of the prosperous farmers of Columbiana County, owning at the time of his death over 200 acres of valnable land. He died in 1849, aged seventy-five years.
John Longanecker left his native coun- ty in 1850 and setfled on 160 acres of land in Chester Township, Wayne Coun- ty, which had been ontered by his father. In his youth he learned the blacksmith's trade, and has worked at it most of the time, in connection with the regular duties of the farm, He was married in 18.11
to Nancy Long. Their only child, Peter Longanecker, enlisted in the army in 1861, in Company D, One Hundred and Twen- tieth Ohio Infantry, and died June 15, 1863, aged twenty years and five months, and was buried in Chester graveyard, Wayne County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Long- anecker reside on the farm, where they have made their home nearly forty years. They are now well advanced in life, and are enjoying the fruits of their early years of toil. Kind and hospitable, they have many friends in all the walks of life, who honor them for their many virtues. They are members of the Lutheran Church. In polities Mr. Longanecker is a stanch Republican.
ARRY E. BAKER barber, Smith- ville, Wayne Co., Ohio, is one of the live young men of that village. Hle comes of a family of German extraction, who have for several gener-
ations been citizens of America. His great- great-grandfather Baker -- the name being then spelled Becker-came to this country before the War of the Revolution. He was a Dunkard, and in accordance with the fenets of that body he was a non- combatant. He was arrested in Philadel- phia during the Revolution for refusing to serve in the army when conscripted,
John Lenganceker
WAYNE COUNTY. 505
and was imprisoned. In jail he thonght long and earnestly over the matter, and finally coming to the conclusion that it was his duty to take up arms in defense of his adopted country, he renounced his allegiance to the church, entered the army, and served faithfully until the close of the war, and the securing of our independ- ence. His son, Frederick, great-grand- father of Harry E., was born in Lebanon County, Penn., and about 1832 came to Wayne County with his family, locating in Canaan Township, but later removing to Seneca County, Ohio, where he and his wife both died. They had a numerous family, of whom the following named yet survive: Frederick, a resident of Seneca County; Peter, in Germantown, Mont- gomery Co., Ohio ( was formerly a Meth- odist preacher, but is now retired) ; Julia Aun, widow of Charles Betts, in Marshall- town, Iowa, and Abraham, grandfather of Harry E., who is the eldest of the sur- vivors. He was born in Lebanon County, Pen., December 14, 1800. In his youth he began the study of medicine, but gave that up to enter the ministry, becoming a preacher of the Evangelical Association. For a number of years he labored in that canse, but, on account of defective hear- ing, gave up preaching and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church; he then adopted the profession of veterinary sur- geon. In June, 1834, he came to Wayne
County, where he has ever since lived. This was then a comparatively new country, and Mr. Baker has seen it transferred from a wilderness to one of the richest agricultural counties of the great State of Ohio. For three years he kept a hotel in Wooster, and then re- moved to Jefferson, four and a half miles west, where he remained until the death of his wife. He was married in Cumber- land County, Penn., to Mrs. Hannah (Spangler ) Zim, a native of that county, who had been previously married to Will- iam Zinn, by whom she had four chil- dren, two of them yet living, George and Elizabeth. She was born in 1797, and died May 9, 1878. Her father when quite young came to America from Zwei- brücken, Germany, about 125 years ago. He had learned surveying in his native land, and on arriving in America his entire property consisted of his instruments; in order to reach the New Workt he was com- pelled to sell his services for a certain period to a transportation company, and by hard labor paid for his passage. At the time of his death he was the owner of four fine farms -- two in Lancaster County and two in Cumberland County, Pon_ Abraham Baker has all his life been a religious man, and for fifty years has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, there being no Evangelical Soci- ety here when he came to Ohio. He is
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WAYNE COUNTY.
an honest, straight forward man, esteemed by all who know him. He is now living in the city of Wooster, and is the oldest man in the township. He and his wife had four children, all deceased except Yost S., father of Harry E., who was born in Wooster, September 7, 1834, a few months after his parents' arrival in the place.
Yost S. Baker learned the trade of shoe- making, at which he worked until July 24, 1862, on which day he entered the Union army, enlisting in Company I, One Hundred and Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was ordered from the rendezvous at Camp Mansfield, before being armed or equipped, to the defense of Cincinnati, then threatened by the rebel Gen. Kirby Smith. They were mustered into the United States service in the streets of Covington, Ky., and were then sent to Newport, same State, where they were kept in line of battle several days. The regiment afterward saw con- siderable service in the Southwest, in which Mr. Bakor participated, serving faithfully until the close of the war; he was discharged May 23, 1865, having served three years lacking two months. Though never wounded, the hardships endured in the army somewhat impaired Mr. Baker's health, and he yet feels their effects. Returning to the pursuits of peace, he opened a shop in Smithville,
where for six months he carried on his trade, then sold out, and for several years worked as a journeyman. In 1877 he again opened a shop in Smithville, to which, in 1885, he added a line of ready- made goods. Yost S. Baker was married August 2, 1860, to Miss Fauny Draben- stot, who was born near Smithville, her parents having come ' from Lancaster County, Penn. She was born September 23, 1840. They have two children: Harry Ellsworth and Edna May. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Smithville. Mrs. Baker's grandfather, Frederick Drabenstot, was married to Peggy Nicolas, and they had ten children, of whom Fanny Drabenstot Wolfe and Frederick Drabenstot still survive. Frederick, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Lancaster Coun- ty, Penn., in 1806, and was married in 1829 to Mary Croft, she being one of four children-two boys and two girls-of whom the two boys yet survive. They came to Wayne County in 1830, and had three children -- Jacob, Mary and Fanny --- all of whom are living. Mary Croft Drabenstot died at the age of forty-eight years, and Frederick Drabenstot married Mary Williams. They had four children --- Emma, Ida, Della and Hugh -- of whom the youngest three are living. In 1865 he sold his farm in Wayne County, and moved to Huntington County, Ind., where
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WAYNE COUNTY.
507
he purchased two farms, and is yet living on one of them.
Harry Ellsworth Baker was born April 26, 1861, while the family was living at Smithville, but his birthplace was Jeffer- son, where, at the time, his mother was visiting his grandfather. His district school education was supplemented with two years' tuition in Prof. Eberly's High School in Smithville, now the Northern Ohio Normal School. Leaving there, he learned the trade of a barber at Wooster, and returning to Smithville in 1880, opened a shop, in which he is doing a fine trade, being very competent in his busi- ness. November 22, 1881, Mr. Baker was united in marriage with Miss Emma Loretta, only child of John H. and Mary E. (Salmons) Myers, of Orrville, this county. Her father was a teacher by profession, and had been principal of the high school at Upper Sandusky, Kenton, Wadsworth, Ohio, and for two years pre- ceding his death, of the high school at Orrville, also then holding the position of connty examiner. He died September 8, 1875, aged thirty-eight years, and his widow subsequently became the wife of John H. Harter; she is still a resident of Orrville, and has one child, Mary Alverda Harter. John H. Myers was born in Lancaster County, Penn., his father hay- ing come from Germany. About forty- five years ago the family came to Wayne
County, and representatives of it are still living here. Harry Baker is a stirring, wide-awake young man, who stands well in the community. He is a lover of good horses, and the owner of a thorough-bred trotting stallion (whose progeny are be- coming numerous in this part of the State), and is doing much to elevate the standard mark of the horses of this sec- tion of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have one child, Ellis Myers, born August 29, 1882. Mrs. Baker was born in Smith- ville, Ohio, December 21, 1862, and was three years old when her father accepted the position of principal of the schools of Upper Sandusky, where he stayed three years. She lived with her parents until her father's death, and then made her home with her mother until her marriage. She is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
Mrs. Emma Baker's great-grandfather, Jesse MeKinley, was born in 1794, in Westmoreland County, Penn., and in 1815 married Mary Dugan, who was born at the same place in 1792. They moved to Wayne County in 1817, where they re- mained until their deaths. Jesse MeKin- ley was a squire and school-teacher, and owned a quarter section of land at the tine of his death. They had a family of nine children, of whom two are yet living: Sarah ( Me Kinley) Kennedy, and Cath- arine ( MeKinley ) Gearard, the eldest of
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WAYNE COUNTY.
the family, and grandmother of Emma Baker, and still living on part of the old homestead. She was married to Charles Salmons, December 13, 1838, and they had two children-Mary Etta, mother of Emma Baker, and Elizabeth Ann, both living in Wayne County. Mrs. Salmons afterward married J. P. Gearard. Jesse Mckinley died at the age of thirty-nine years, and his widow survived him about twenty years, she being fifty-nine years old at the time of her death. Emma Baker's great-great-grandfather and great-great- grandmother Mckinley were natives of Ireland, as were also her great-great- grandfather and great-great-grandmother Dugan.
AMES FLUHART, son of Zacheus and Mary ( Robison ) Fluhart, was born in Salt Creek Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, in 1825, and has never lived outside of the school district in which he was born. His grandfather, James Fluhart, was a resident of Meadville, Penn., where he passed the remainder of his days. His widow married Phineas First, and they removed to Salt Creek Township, Wayne County. The children of James Fluhart were Zacheus, Henry, Nathan, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary. Of these, Henry married, and died in Mis-
souri; Nathan married, and died in Wayne County, Ohio; Sarah married George Robison, and died in Fulton County, Ohio; Elizabeth is now Mrs. George Sharp, of East Union, Wayne County; Mary was the late Mrs. John Clark, of East Union, Wayne County. Zacheus was born in Meadville, Penn., and when young re- moved with his parents to Ohio, where his father purchased a farm, now owned by A. R. Fluhart, in Salt Creek Township, and there he married, and located on the farm now owned by George Moore, in Salt Creek Township, and where James Flu- hart was born. Here Zacheus and Mary, his wife, passed their days, having five children, viz .: A. R., married to Margaret Thomas, and living on the old homestead; Samuel, married to Dezial Robison, re- moved to Fulton County, Ohio, and died; Zacheus, married to Amanda Murray, re- moved to Illinois; Elizabeth, married to Martin Worley, removed to Fulton County, Ohio; and James, whose name heads this sketch.
James Fluhart married, in the year 15-19, Margaret Poorman, locating near the old homestead, where they remained nine years; then purchased the farm upon which he still lives. To them two chil- dren have been born: Edmund and Nettie. Of these, Edmund married Lucy Graber, and live at the homestead, and have one child, Ida; Nettie married Martin N. Cris-
WAYNE COUNTY. 509
well, of Salt Creek Township, Wayne County. Mr. Fluhart is a stanch Repub- lican, having been officially identified with the party in various capacities.
W JAY ASHENHURST, publisher of the Shreve News, Shreve, Wayne Co., Ohio, was born June 10, 1855, in Dalton, Wayne Co., Ohio, a son of Rev. James Y. and Martha Ashen- hurst, who removed to this county from West Virginia in 1853. When he was eighteen months old his parents removed to Hayesville, Ashland County, where he resided until he was eighteen years of age, when he moved to Southeastern Vir- ginia, where he remained a number of years, returning to Wayne County in 1883. He was married to Miss Rilla C. Armstrong, of Cleveland, October 4, 1883, and moved to Shreve in December, 1883, since which time he has been engaged in the publication of the Shreve News. Mr. and Mrs. Ashenhurst have one child, Edna Hope Ashenhurst, born Angust 20, 1887.
The name Ashenhurst, or Ashenhust, is formed from Eschen, a kind of wood or timber, in English called ash or ashen when used adjectively. Hurst or hoist, according to Webster, means a wood or grovo. The name literally means an ash or ashen grove, and was probably given
to a farm or homestead. Hurst is a word frequently used in composition with other words in the formation of proper names, as Hazelhurst, Parkhurst and Barkhurst. Many other names of similar formation might be given. The families emigrating from Ireland to America did not use "r" in the last syllable. Some made it Ashen and others Ashin. Often members of the same family spell their name differently. It would not, therefore, be strange that the "r" should be dropped out of the name in successive generations, especially when literature had not advanced to the degree it has attained at the present time, and when so little care was observed in keep- ing names pure and so distinct and uni- form in their orthography as to indicate closely their origin.
The origin of the name as given above is so reasonable and probable, anil agreea- ble to the analogy in the formation of other names, that the "r" has been restored by many bearing the name. In doing this they yieldled to an unswerving uni- versal publie judgment, which stubbornly persisted in spelling the name Ashenhurst. Besides there is more music in the smooth, enphonions hurst than in the bhumnt, for- bidding hust. According to tradition ro- ceived from the fathers, which has never been called in question, the name origi- nated in Germany.
Several centuries ago some families
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WAYNE COUNTY.
bearing the name emigrated from Ger- many to England, and settled near bon- don, and it is probable, from the testi- mony of those who claim to know, that the name is still common in that part of England. But be that as it may, it is certain that at a later period some fami- lies of the Ashenhursts passed over from England to Ireland, and settled in County Tyrone, near Newton Stewart. In Tyrone the name is still common. Their ecclesias- tical connection is with the English Church, and some of them have borne Episcopal honors. In the year 1793 there was another exodus. The families of the Ashenhursts set sail from Ireland to America with the purpose of making it their future home. William Ashenhurst and his family settled in Allegheny County, Penn., ten or twelve miles below Pitts- burgh. He had an only son, John, who lived on the old homestead after the death of his parents. He died childless, conse- quently in this branch of the family the name became extinct. Oliver Ashenhurst, a brother of William, came at the same time, and settled in Washington County, Pen., near Hardscrabble, now West Alexander. Subsequently he removed to Brown County, Ohio. Oliver had but one son, whom he named John. John married, and after some years removed to Indiana, and settled on the Wabash. He had several sons, one of whom was
drowned in Brush Creek, Adams Co., Ohio, in 1830. Others of his sons with their families are probably settled in Indiana and Kentucky. The daughters of Oliver Ashenhurst all married and reared large families. Betty was married to Benja- min Marshall; Nellie was married to James Johnson; Peggy to William Reed, who lived and died near West Alexander, Penn .; Mattie was the wife of Thomas Robinson. William Ashenhurst and Nancy, his wife, with four children, im- migratedat the same time with the families mentioned above, in 1793. The children were John, Margaret, Mary, Nancy. Another son was born to them on their voyage before landing at Norfolk. This was Oliver, the youngest child. William and Oliver Ashenhurst, referred to above, were cousins of William Ashenhurst, the sub- jeet of this reference. They were also brothers-in-law, as Nancy, his wife, was sister to William and Oliver. William married his cousin. The daughters of William and Nancy died, leaving no chil- dren. Oliver, the younger son, married Euphemia Bishop, when thirty years of age, by whom he had four sons and as many daughters. He lost one son, James D., in the war for the Union. William and Frank both died in 1881. Frank leav- ing a wife and child, who are now at Lon- donderry, Ohio. John, the second son of Oliver Ashenhurst, resides in Missouri.
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WAYNE COUNTY.
Oliver's daughters were married, and are living in the West or Southwest. Oliver Ashenhurst was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was a volunteer, going into the service at twenty years of age. He lived, after his marriage, until his family were grown up, on Eagle Creek, Brown Co., Ohio. Thence he removed with his family to Mercer County, Ill., where he died.
John Ashenhurst, the elder son of William and Nancy Ashenhurst, was born in Connty Tyrone, Ireland, about the year 1773 and immigrated with his parents to America, in 1793. He had been reared in the Church of England, but having settled, soon after his arrival in this country, in Brooke County, Va., he be- came connected with the Associate Church at Cross Creek, under the pastoral care of Rev. Thomas Allison. He married, in 1802, Miss Mary Young, and to them were born ten children, first five daughters, and after this five sons, two of the latter dying in infancy. John Ashenhurst en- listed in the War of 1812, and was honor- ably discharged at the close, of the war. In 1817 he removed, with his family, to Brown County, Ohio. There he lived for many years, and in 1855 went to Dal- ton, Wayne County, Ohio, where he died in May, 1856, aged eighty-four years. Nancy, the eldest daughter of John and Mary Ashenhurst, married Valentine
Bishop. Their children are in Illinois and Missouri. Margaret married Garret Snedaker. Their children are still in Brown and Adams Counties, Ohio. Es- ther married William Lane. They are in Illinois. Ella married Stephen Bayles. They had but one son; he lives in Kansas. Elizabeth married Oliver Robinson. They had several sons and one daughter.
William Ashenhurst, son of John and Mary Ashenhurst, was born in Brooke County, Va., in 1816, and married Mary Mahaffey in 1843. They had four chil- dren born to them. He lived on the old homestead in Brown County, Ohio, but was on the point of moving to Illinois, when, before his preparations were com- pleted, he was murdered by two of his wife's brothers, who escaped punishment by the influence of secret oath-bound fra- ternities. His wife afterward removed to Illinois with her children, a daughter and three sons. She died in a short time after her removal to the West. The daughter and sons are still living in Western Ilinois. Some of them, at least, have families. James Young Ashenhurst, son of John and Mary Ashenhurst, was born in Brown County, Ohio, in the year 1818; was licensed to preach by the Re- formed Dissenting Presbytery in 1845. The presbytery uniting with the Associate Synod, he became a minister of that church. The Associate Synod miting
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WAYNE COUNTY.
with the Associate Reformed Synod in 1858, and by this union forming the United Presbyterian Church, he became a member of that body. James Young Ashenhurst was married to Miss Martha Johnson, of Belmont County, Ohio, June 6, 1814. He was settled at Short Creek, Va., and afterward in Wayne County, Ohio. Hle removed to Hayesville, Ashland County, in 1856. After a pastorate there of sixteen years he removed to Meck- lenburg, Va., in 1872; from thence to a farm in Belmont County, Ohio, and subse- quently to Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio.
M ICHAEL SHELLY, a prosperous farmer of Wayne County, was born in Cumberland County, Penn., March 7, 1811. His fa- ther, Jacob Shelly, was born in Pennsyl- vania, where he grew to manhood. He married Miss Eliza Snavely, daughter of Peter Snavely, and in 1828 came to Wayne County, later returning to Pennsylvania to dispose of his property, and in 1830 located permanently in Wayne County, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Mrs. Shelly dying first, in 1849, at the age of seventy-three years. She was the mother of nine children, of whom Michael is the only one living in Wayne County. Mr. Shelly died in 1853, aged
eighty-two years. He was a farmer by occupation, and of German descent.
Michael Shelly spent his early years on his father's farm, and in 1828 came to Wayne County with his parents, and pur- chased land. In 1835 he was married to Elizabeth Houser, daughter of Jacob and Catherine Houser, and a native of Dau- phin County, Penn., where she was born January 18, 1815. In 1834 she came to Wayne County, where her parents died. After their marriage Mr. Shelly and his wife made their home in Plain Township, where they have ever since resided. Ten children have been born to them, as fol- lows: Christian, living in Plain Town- ship; Michael, deceased; Jacob, on the home farm; Peter, living in Ashland County; Joseph, in Franklin Town- ship; Eliza. now Mrs. David Mellinger; Sarah, now Mrs. Robert MeAffee, living in Wooster; John, in Plain Township; Mary, Mrs. William MeQuigg; Susan, Mrs. James Alexander, in Plain Township. Mr. Shelly is a Republican in politics, and both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church.
As a pioneer Mr. Shelly has witnessed the growth of Wayne County from a wil- derness to one of the fairest spots in the country. By his own industry, intelli- gence and good judgment, he has not only aided in the development of the commu- mity, but he has achieved a substantial
Michael Sholty
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WAYNE COUNTY.
success for himself. He has progressed with the country, and is regarded as one of the representative farmers of Wayne County. He has the respect and affection of all who know him, and his circle of acquaintances is a wide one.
ent and worthy members of the Apple Creek Methodist Episcopal Church.
E P. WILLAMAN, druggist and gro- cer, of Smithville, Wayne County, Ohio, is a son of John and Mary ( Wintrode ) Willaman. He was born April 4, 1859, in Smithville, where his entire life has been passed. His primary edu- cation was received in the common schools of his native town, and was supplemented by a course in the normal school at Smithville. After completing his educa- tion he entered the store of his father, then the leading merchant of Smithville.
A DAM D. SCHULTZ is a son of Nicholas and Catherine (Schaffer) Schultz, natives of Germany, who came to America and first located in Apple Creek for some time. They are now engaged in farming in East Union Township, Wayne County, and are prom- inent members of the German Reformed Church. Adam D. Schultz, whose name On the retirement of his father from business, the concern was taken by E. P. and his brother, Lee J., in partnership, they carrying on the dry goods, drug and grocery business in the fine, large, double brick building built by their father, on the southeast corner of Main and Milton heads this sketch, was born in East Union Township, Wayne County, October 14, 1860. He was sent to the public schools, and afterward learned the blacksmith's trade and carriage manufacturing. In 1880 he established his present business, that of carriage making, in Apple Creek, mak- } Streets, in Smithville. The firm name ing a specialty of manufacturing fine was John Willaman's Sons. This part- nership continued until April 27, 1883, when it was dissolved, the elder brother carrying on the dry goods department for a short time longer, when he sold it out. The drug and grocery department was taken by E. P. Willaman, who has ever by energy, strict attention to business buggies, and employing six men, the en- terprise completing about sixty contracts per year. In 1880 Mr. Schultz married Miss May, daughter of Charles Boydston, of East Union Township, Wayne County, and by this nion they have one child, Belle May. Mr. Schultz is a stanch 'sinee conducted it very successfully, and Democrat; he and his family are consist-
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