USA > Ohio > Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio > Part 10
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ville, which built the electric light plant and operated it for the first year, but he declined to serve longer on account of pressure of business. Few men of his age have made such a record of business success, have evinced such ability in the different departments of life, or have proved such efficient and public- spirited citizens.
MARQUIS F. DAVIS.
Marquis F. Davis, who is engaged in dealing in coal in East Liverpool, is one of the young business men of his town. Enterprising, wide-awake and progressive, these qualifications form the basis of a business career which has been very successful. He was born on the Ist of January, 1873, in Wheeling, West Virginia, and comes of an old family of the south. His paternal grand- father was Thomas Davis. His father was George W. Davis, whose birth occurred in Marshall county, West Virginia, in 1839, and in that state he remained until after he had attained his majority. He was a sheet-iron annealer by trade and carried on business along that line after his army service in the Civil war, which lasted for three years and eight months. He was a private of Company B, Seventh West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and was a brave and loyal soldier, faithfully performing the tasks assigned him whether upon the firing line or upon the picket line. In 1864 he was married to Rosa Dougherty, and they became the parents of twelve children. but only three of this number reached years of maturity and are living, namely : Rosa, the wife of William Paxton; Marquis F., and Bessie E. The father died in 1887, and the mother, surviving him thirteen years, passed away in 1900. He belonged to the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and was a member of the Christian Church, shaping his life by its teachings and its principles. As a citizen he was ever as true and loyal to his country in its times of peace as when he followed the old flag upon the battlefields of the south.
Marquis F. Davis was three years of age at the time his parents removed from West Virginia to Martin's Ferry, Ohio, and there he lived until he had attained the age of twenty years, acquiring his education in the public schools there. In 1893 he removed to Wellsville, Ohio, and accepted a clerkship in the office of the Pennsylvania railroad, where he remained for four years and eight months. He was then transferred to West Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, as agent, continuing there for one year, after which he was made private sec- retary to J. J. McCormick, general agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany. He filled the latter position acceptably for two years and then in 1902 came to East Liverpool in order to enter business life on his own account. Here he began dealing in coal and has secured a good patronage.
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On the 14th of June, 1898, in Buffalo, New York, was celebrated the marriage of Marquis F. Davis and Emma Bayne Thomas, a daughter of Charles H. and Sarah (Westwood) Thomas. Although the young couple have resided in East Liverpool but a brief period, they have already won many friends here and are now quite well known.
WILLIAM JOHN LOMAX.
The town of Lowellville, in Mahoning county, Ohio, is fortunate in hav- ing as one of its prominent business firms that of E. Lomax & Son, one of the oldest general merchandise stores in the town and likewise one of the most successful. The stock embraces all lines except fresh meat and furniture, and the business has increased since its establishment until now two floors are required to accommodate the trade. The two floors and the basement of a building forty-eight by sixty-four feet are used, besides three warerooms. The store and residence combined, making a structure eighty-two by forty- eight feet, was erected by Eliab Lomax in 1896, and this is filled with valuable stock, and a business of fifty thousand dollars a year is transacted, necessitat- ing a clerking force of four men and two women.
The history of the Lomax family goes back to England, where Henry and Nancy (Fisher) Lomax were born and passed their lives. A son was born to them in 1823, to whom they gave the name of John, and after he had reached maturity and had married he sailed, in 1853, for America. He was a notable man of Lowellville, Ohio, and was engaged in business there. He had married Margaret Taylor, and before they left England their son Eliab was born, in 1853. He grew up in Ohio, spent the younger years of his life in the coal and oil regions of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and in 1885 finally em- barked on the mercantile career which he carried on so successfully, and which finds exemplification in the business which has just been described, whose inception was under rather unfavorable circumstances, but its founder in the end triumphed as a result of his perseverance and business ability. In 1873 he was united in marriage to Amy Brown, who died in 1881, leaving her husband with three children, Carrie M., Alberta and William J. By his second union with Frances Hayes, a daughter, Hazel V., was born. He has been a Republican since he cast his first vote, has served on the school board and as a member of the town council, is a Knight of Pythias, and takes a prominent part in the Presbyterian Church.
This introductory notice of his great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father, brings the reader to William John Lomax, who is better known in Lowellville as John Lomax, one of the proprietors of the general merchandise
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establishment of E. Lomax & Son. He was born in Ohioville, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, January 26, 1879, received a literary education in the graded schools of Lowellville, and acquired some valuable instruction preparatory to his future business career in the business college of Newcastle, Pennsylvania. He took up merchandising as a matter of course, and on January 25, 1902, succeeded his father in the active prosecution of the store which that gentle- man had begun in such a small way in 1885; he had been in partnership with his father for the preceding two years.
On September 17, 1900, Mr. Lomax married Miss Sarah Cole, born in Coalburg, Ohio, October 1, 1875. Her parents were James and Jane (Williams) Cole, the former of whom is a farmer still residing at Youngs- town, while his wife passed away on April 30, 1901, at the age of fifty-four years There were ten children born to these last mentioned parents, of whom eight are living : Mary is the wife of Daniel Morgan, of Youngstown; Mrs. Lizzie Jane James, of the same place; Rachel Thrasher, also a resident of Youngstown; William, in Hubbard, Ohio; Margaret, at home; Mrs. Lo- max; Thomas, at home; Priscilla. The two daughters who have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lomax have the names of Amy Jane and Frances Alberta. Mr. Lomax is a Republican, but has thus far escaped the duties of public office, while he is an earnest member of the Presbyterian Church.
ONESIMUS P. SHAFFER.
This leader in political and public affairs of Mahoning county, Ohio, for many years one of its most enterprising and successful newspaper men, also connected for some time with two important business enterprises of New York city, and one of the veterans of the great Civil war, has been, since 1898, the popular postmaster of Youngstown, which office is the only reward he has ever accepted for his long period of public service, and it may be justly said that the office is highly honored by the incumbency of such a man. The life history of Onesimus P. Shaffer began in Edinburg, Law- rence county, Pennsylvania, on February 8, 1844, when he was born to An- drew and Nancy (Caldwell) Shaffer. The father was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, and came to Youngstown in 1862 from Poland, Ohio. He was a photographer, and lived to be over eighty years of age, while his wife, who was also born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, passed the seventy- sixth milestone, dying in April, 1895. Onesimus and Charles are the only survivors of their five children.
Onesimus lived in Edinburg and Mt. Jackson, Pennsylvania, and at- tended the public schools there until 1858, when the family removed to Po-
O.Pisthaffer
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land, Ohio, from Mt. Jackson, Pennsylvania, and here he became a student in the Poland Academy. He was seventeen years old when the Civil war began, and on September 10, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Nineteenth Ohio Infantry, under Captain James N. Nash, a famous military officer. He was three years in this company and then re-enlisted as a veteran. He was in the battle of Shiloh, Corinth, Stone River, Chattanooga, Jonesville, Frank- lin, Nashville, and the entire Atlanta campaign. He was always in active service with his regiment except the forty days that he spent in the hospital at Nashville, ill from typhoid fever. When he was mustered out on May 20, 1865, he held the rank of second lieutenant.
On returning to Youngstown he was engaged in the flour and feed busi- ness for a time, also dealt in real estate and insurance, and he was thus var- iously employed until 1872, when he entered his newspaper career and was chosen city editor of the Youngstown Vindicator. In 1877 he assumed the management of the Youngstown Daily News. He was soon made editor in chief of the latter publication, and built up an excellent and influential paper. On the consolidation of the Youngstown Daily News and Register under the name "News-Register," Mr. Shaffer became editor, and held that position until 1885, when he founded the Daily News. These two journals were antagonistic, but in the following year a compromise was effected, by the consolidation of the Daily News and the News-Register as "The Tele- gram," and thereupon Mr. Shaffer entered the field of business. He became the partner of Chauncey H. Andrews, of Youngstown; and they leased a large tract in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. They organized their company and drilled for oil, but instead struck gas, one of their "strikes" being the famous Morrow gas well in Beaver county, the gas from which was piped to Youngs- town, a distance of forty miles, an interest having been sold in this well to the Standard Oil Company. In 1887 Mr. Shaffer was chosen treasurer of the Standard Gas Light Company and vice president of the New York Steam Company, both of New York city, and to attend to the duties of these posi- tions necessitated his removal to New York. But seven years later he re- turned to the state of his choice, and intends to spend his remaining davs in Ohio.
On his return Mr. Shaffer again became one of the leaders in the Re- publican party, in whose ranks he had displayed such loyal activity since he was old enough to vote. The campaign of 1896 was approaching, one ever memorable in Mahoning county political history, and because of Mr. Shaffer's known executive ability and long experience in the newspaper field, he was chosen chairman of the Mahoning county executive committee. During the
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campaign he also became chairman of the congressional committee of the eighteenth district, comprising Mahoning, Columbiana and Stark counties, a district made famous as the home of the great William Mckinley. Mr. Shaffer is by no means a politician in the sense of the office-seeker, but has always devoted himself loyally to the upbuilding and organization of his party. Since entering the postoffice at Youngstown he has brought about many improvements in the service, and his record in this office has been very satisfactory to the people.
Mr. Shaffer is a member of the Loyal Legion, of Post No. 29, G. A. R., an Elk and also a member of the Youngstown Club. He was married in 1866 to Miss Sabra L. Logan, a daughter of William and Mary Logan, of Poland, pioneers of the Western Reserve. They have one child, Paul C. Shaffer. who is a member of the R. L. Cochran Company, wholesale importers of millinery of New York city. Mr. Shaffer was first appointed postmaster at Youngstown by the lamented William McKinley, January 15, 1898, and re- appointed by President Roosevelt, January 16, 1902.
DR. JACKSON TRUESDALE.
The honored Scotch-Irish family of Truesdales has filled an important place in the different branches of society in this country for nearly two cen- turies, and it is a cause for just pride that one of its members, John Truesdale, was a patriot soldier under Washington and fought at Trenton and Princeton and was present at Valley Forge and many other historic scenes of the Revo- lution. He had a son John, who married Mary Reed, and while this worthy couple were residing in Austintown, Ohio, in the fall of 1820, a son came into their home, who was duly christened Jackson.
Jackson enjoyed the care and affection of his parents but five years, when he was left an orphan, and was then reared by relatives, who superintended his education in the common schools of that early day. One of the occupations of his youthful days was the clearing of land, in which in time he became an adept in the use of an axe. At the age of twelve he went to reside with his uncle, Dr. Joseph Truesdale, of Poland, where the school facilities were bet- ter, and he was one to take advantage of every opportunity offered. Five years later he removed to Canfield and made his home with his brother James, and while there began the study of the classics under the tutorship of Rev. M. Harrison. In the fall of the same year, 1837, he began teaching in a country school, and for the next three years was engaged in that occupation, acquiring thereby enough funds so that in the spring and summer of 1838 he was able to attend college at Oberlin. In the following year he was a stu-
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dent at Allegheny College, and in the fall of 1840, when only twenty years old, he accepted a position as teacher in Kentucky, which he held for three years, also being employed in the same capacity for six months in Tennes- see. During all the leisure time that he had while teaching, he was engaged in the study of medicine under competent tutors, and when he returned to Poland in 1844 he continued his studies under his uncle, a prominent physi- cian of that place. In the following winter he attended lectures at the Cleve- land Medical College, and in the spring of 1845 began his career as medical practitioner in Lordstown, Trumbull county, Ohio, and was later located at North Jackson in the same county. But he had found that the practice of medicine was not an entirely congenial pursuit. In the fall of 1854 he was elected to the office of auditor of Mahoning county, when he gave up his practice and devoted himself to the duties of his office, at the close of his term being re-elected. He next turned his attention to a mercantile career, and from 1859 to 1886 was one of the successful merchants of the county. In the latter year he retired from active participation in business and has since taken great delight in agricultural pursuits.
Besides holding the office of auditor, Mr. Truesdale has been honored with a number of local offices of honor and trust, such as justice of the peace, member of the school boards and others. He is now one of the directors of the Farmers' National Bank of Canfield and a trustee of the Northeastern Ohio Normal College. He is the father of four children: Henry T. was a soldier in the Civil war and gave up his life for his country while a prisoner in Andersonville in 1865. William J., another son, is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and also of Adelbert College. For years he held a high position in the corps of instructors in Cleveland, until his health failed. John bids fair to make his mark in the railroad business, which he has chosen as his life pursuit. The only daughter, Lola M., is the wife of Edgar Cummins, a prosperous farmer.
Dr. Truesdale has always been a voracious reader and has strengthened his native intellect by study of literature. He has more than once devoted himself to writing. The products of his pen would fill a volume of choice and interesting historical matter. He has given much time to the compiling and writing of the early history of Canfield and a part of the Western Reserve, a work which has reflected much credit upon his talent as a writer of pioneer incidents. About a hundred of these historical sketches were published in the Canfield Weekly Dispatch. He has been often importuned by his friends to reduce his writings to book form, but his modesty forbids this. Before the Civil war Dr. Truesdale was an ardent anti-slavery man, and since then has
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been always found in the ranks of the Republican party. He has been a member and a liberal supporter of the Methodist Church from youth to old age, and has often been chosen to fill official positions in that denomination. He has always been a firm believer in the golden rule as a practical standard of conduct, and his usefulness as a member of society indicates how well he has performed his part in life.
JAMES G. MOORE.
One of the prominent and representative citizens of Lisbon, Ohio, is Judge James G. Moore, a leading member of the bar of Columbiana county, whose professional ability has been recognized by his fellow citizens, and who has occupied offices of grave responsibility for a number of years. Judge Moore was born in 1852 in Newcastle county, Delaware, and is a son of William and Anna (Mullen) Moore, the former of whom was a son of William and Margaret (Patton) Moore. The Moore family is of Irish de- scent, and the father of Judge Moore emigrated to America from county Donegal, Ireland. The great-grandparents of Judge Moore, on the maternal side, were members of an old family of county Mayo, Ireland, and they were among the early pioneers of Columbiana county. The father of our subject reached America in 1842 and two years later he became an American citizen. The mother of Judge Moore was born in Delaware. In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Moore located on a farm near Lisbon, in Columbiana county. They now re- side in Lisbon.
The educational opportunities afforded our distinguished subject in his youth were poor indeed and were secured by his own determined efforts. His schooldays ended at the age of fourteen, but he did not lay his books aside, in fact, he applied himself more assiduously than ever and thus prepared himself for the teacher's profession, which he followed for three and one-half years. During this period he spent as much time as possible over his law books, and with such success that he was admitted to the bar of Ohio on September 24, 1874. He immediately located at Salineville, at once taking a prominent position, and during his eleven years of residence there passed seven years of the period as city attorney. After his election in 1884-5 as probate judge, he removed to Lisbon, and has been identified with the interests of this city ever since, serving the county for six years as judge of probate, winning the com- mendation of his fellow citizens irrespective of political affiliations. His abil- ity as a lawyer and his reliabilty as a man caused his selection by the comp- troller of the currency to act as receiver of the First National Bank of Lisbon, and Judge Moore is still engaged in completing the final details of the closing
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of this institution. For four years he officiated as clerk of Washington town- ship, his conscientious performance of all public duties gaining him general esteem. His general practice has been large, and few members of the pro- fession are more widely known through this part of the state.
The marriage of Judge Moore occurred in this county to Miss Elizabeth Forbes, who is a daughter of Joseph L. and Mary (Ferguson) Forbes, the former of whom was born in Wayne township, and the latter in Lisbon. The Forbes family is one of the old pioneers of Columbiana county. Although Judge Moore has been much absorbed by private business and public office. he has never neglected home interests, and has efficiently served on the board of education and has taken an active interest in all progressive movements. Since 188I he has been a member of the order of Odd Fellows, and for four- teen consecutive years he was a delegate to the grand lodge of Ohio. He was made a Mason in Lisbon in 1889 and is also a member of Lisbon Chapter, and Salem Commandery No. 48, K. T. His political connection has been with the Republican party, of which he has been a very active and useful member. Judge Moore has many friends, both public and personal. As a serious and earnest jurist and most thorough and capable public officer, he has been appreciated by all, and especially by those who have been admitted to his personal friendship and know him as one of the leading men in eastern Ohio.
J. ARREL SMITH.
In this twentieth century prosperity there is scarcely a district of any considerable extent which does not boast of men of wealth and business ability, such that the community is dependent in a large measure on their in- itiative for the accomplishment of commercial enterprises. J. Arrel Smith, a resident of Struthers, Mahoning county, Ohio, is looked upon by his fellow citizens as one of the most progressive men of the town and one who has placed his capital in such a way as to benefit many people. His grandfather, Robert Smith, was born in July, 1765, and after the wave of westward ex- pansion had begun, in 1802, he came west to Mahoning county and located on four hundred acres of government land, three hundred of which is still in the possession of the family. He married Keziah Stewart, and they reared six sons and four daughters, all of whom married except two daughters. One of the sons, Samuel, is now an octogenarian and lives on the old farm. An- other son was Robert, who was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1802, the same year that his father crossed the mountains to his Ohio home. He married his cousin, Margaret Smith, who was born in Pennsylvania, De- cember 6, 1808, the daughter of Joseph and Rachel Smith, who came to Ohio
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in 1826. This marriage occurred October 31, 1834, and two of the sons who were born to them died in youth: Robert Stewart, born in 1835, died in 1838, and James Clark, born September 29, 1842, died April 1, 1849. The father of these children died July 26, 1860, and the mother January 12, 1889.
J. Arrel Smith, the second child of Robert and Margaret Smith, was born in Poland township, September 23, 1838. He was reared on the farm, learned all the varieties of work required in that occupation, and can say that he has been a hard worker from an early age to the present time. For a number of years he has been interested as a stockholder in the manufacture of buggy gears in Struthers, which has grown to be a profitable and extensive business. In Youngstown he has an interest in the mercantile house of G. M. McKelvey. He has five fine farms in Poland township, has recently built a beautiful residence in Struthers, and in many ways has been identified with the business affairs of the town and county.
Mr. Smith was married on May 22, 1862, to Miss Mary A. Gault, who was born at North Jackson, this county, December 14, 1839. Her parents, Robert and Marjory (Ewing) Gault, were early settlers in Jackson township, Mahoning county, and esteemed citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have an adopted son, John G. Smith, of whom they are very proud. He is a lawyer in Warren, Pennsylvania, was graduated from Westminster College, later from Amherst, and is a graduate of a law school in New York city. He has every prospect of becoming an eminent man in his profession and already has a good practice. He married Kate Brown, the daughter of Judge Brown, of Warren, Pennsylvania, and they have one son, William.
JOHN M. OSBORNE.
In 1724 there was born in England Nicholas Osborne, who on growing to manhood emigrated to America and took up his abode in Virginia, but subsequently, in 1804, was one of the tide of emigrants who set out for the new country west of the mountains, and he settled in what is now Canfield township, Mahoning county. Ohio. He brought his children with him and purchased eight hundred acres of land, sufficient to give each one a farm. He was a progressive man, and notwithstanding his advanced age when he ar- rived in Ohio, entered heartily into every scheme for the advancement of the public welfare. His death occurred in 1814, when ninety years of age. One of his sons was named John, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, and came to Ohio with his father. He inherited the energy of his father and soon increased the property which his father gave him to four hundred acres. His family consisted of six sons and two daughters, all of whom are deceased.
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One of the number, Andrew, was born in Canfield township, September II, 1808. He was a prosperous farmer of one hundred acres of land, enjoyed a high standing in the community, and served in the office of trustee for twelve years. He married Miss Annie McClick, and they had eight children, five of whom are now living : Elmira, John M., Hiram M., Emmory and Otis. The father of these children died in 1871, but his wife lived to be ninety years old and passed away in September, 1898.
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