USA > Ohio > Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio > Part 48
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Mr. Van Alstine is a member of the Republican party and of the.Metho- dist Episcopal church, and has rendered efficient service in both, and is ever ready to aid in the advancement of the cause of humanity. He has won the respect and esteem of all who have chanced to cross his pathway in life's journey, by reason of his ability, sympathy and kindness of heart.
JOSEPH W. JEWHURST.
One of the boys in blue of the Civil war, and at all times a loyal citizen true to the interests of county, state and nation, Joseph W. Jewhurst is num- bered among the representative business men of Youngstown. During his army career he was ever found faithful to the duties imposed upon him, and won the confidence and high regard of his comrades and superior officers, while in his business and social relations he has manifested the same justice, integrity and reliability, and none know save to wish him well.
Mr. Jewhurst was born in Auburn, New York, on the 10th of November, 1839, and is a son of Edward and Hannah (Osborn) Jewhurst, natives of Kent, England, where both were reared and died, the former passing away at the age of seventy-five years and the latter when seventy-two years of age. Joseph W. was one of their nine children, but only he and his eldest brother, Edward, are now living. He was reared and received his education in the place of his nativity, and in June, 1862, at the second call for troops to put
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down the rebellion, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth New York Infantry, but was later transferred to the Ninth New York Heavy Artillery, of which he was commissioned first lieutenant and in 1864 was made its captain. While serving as first lieutenant he was a member of General Keifer's staff, of the Second Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Army Corps, and while thus serving received his commission as captain. Receiving his discharge at Washington, D. C., he was mustered out of service at Syra- cuse, New York. During his army career Mr. Jewhurst suffered from ty- phoid fever for about eight months after going into winter quarters, but did not enter a hospital, and after his discharge he returned to his home in Auburn. In company with a friend he subsequently went to Titusville, Pennsylvania, and opened an art store, remaining in that city from the fall of 1865 until 1884, closing out his business in the latter year. In the fall of 1884 he came to Youngstown, Ohio, where he first secured work by the month for S. D. Currier, his services being thus retained for about four years, on the expira- tion of which period he entered upon his present business relations, as proprie- tor of a general art store. In this enterprise he has met with a high degree of success, and is now numbered among the leading and representative business men of the city of his adoption.
In the city of Newton Falls, Ohio, in 1870, Mr. Jewhurst was united in marriage to Miss Delia F. Clark, a native daughter of that city, and four children came to bless their union ; one son, Charles B., passed away in death at the age of fifteen years. The surviving children are: Frank S., who is married and has two sons; Mildred L., a prominent and successful school teacher of Youngstown. In his political affiliations Mr. Jewhurst is a Re- publican, and he supported Lincoln in his first race for the presidency. He was formerly a member of Post No. 29, G. A. R., and for the past eight years has held membership relations with the United Veteran Legion, of which he is a past colonel and the present adjutant. He is also a member of the order of Heptasophs, and while a resident of Auburn, New York, was con- nected with the Masonic fraternity. Both he and his wife are active and worthy members of the Episcopal church, and the family are held in high regard by a large circle of friends and neighbors.
JAMES RAYEN.
As long as history endures will the Americans acknowledge their indebted- ness to the heroes who, between 1861 and 1865, fought for the preservation of the Union and the honor of the starry banner which has never been trailed in the dust of defeat in a single war in which the country has been engaged.
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Among those who wore the blue was the gentleman whose name introduces this review, and who has long been numbered among the leading agricultur- ists of Austintown township. He is a son of John and Sarah (Porter ) Rayen, who were both natives of Pennsylvania, but as early as 1829 they left that commonwealth and came to Ohio, first taking up their residence at Youngs- town, where they remained until the fall of 1833 and then removed to Cham- pion township, Trumbull county. There they purchase land from time to time until they owned an estate of one hundred acres, which was divided into two farms, and there the father's death occurred in 1852. His widow subsequently returned to Youngstown, where she made her home for a num- ber of years, but her death occurred in Trumbull county in 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Rayen were people of the highest respectability, and were honored and esteemed for their many noble characteristics. Mr. Rayen was a Democrat in his political affiliations. In their family were thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to years of maturity, while five of the number are still living. These sons have entered the different walks of life, some have become manu- facturers, others have taken up the teacher's profession, while still others have entered the mercantile field, but all have proved themselves true and loyal citizens.
James Rayen, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Penn- sylvania ere the removal of the family to Ohio, his natal day being February II, 1827. In his early manhood he owned and operated a sawmill in Cham- pion township, his time being thus occupied for about eight years. In 1856, the year following his marriage, he removed to Iowa, where he continued the lumber business until 1862, and in that year entered the service of the gov- ernment to subdue the rebellion, going into the ranks as a private in the Twelfth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Woods commanding. During his military career he took part in many of the hard fought battles of the war, including Pittsburg Landing. Vicksburg, Jackson, Black River Bridge, Cham- pion Hill, Spanish Fort, Nashville, besides many minor conflicts, and during all this arduous service he was neither wounded nor taken prisoner. After the expiration of his first term, consisting of three years, he re-enlisted for service in the same company, thus serving until after the close of the war, and was honorably discharged in 1866. After his return to civil life Mr. Rayen took up the vocation of farming, locating on his present farm, which he purchased in 1873, and he now owns and operates a farm of eighty and one-half acres. His attention is devoted to general farming and stock-raising, and in both lines of endeavor his efforts have been rewarded with success. He has also been chosen by his fellow citizens to many positions of trust
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and responsibility, having served as a township trustee for seven years, and is a member of the Veteran Legion of Honor at Youngstown.
Mr. Rayen was married in 1854 to Miss Rachel L. Templeton, who was born in Austintown township, Mahoning county, in 1835, and is a daughter of William and Elizabeth Templeton, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in New Jersey. In an early day they came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and in Trumbull county they were well and favorably known. The following children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Rayen: Lucius L., who was born in 1855; Charles C., who was born in 1857 and is now deceased; Edwin E., born in 1868; and Harry K., born in 1870. The last named is serving as superintendent of the Youngstown township public school, and the others are extensively engaged in the tilling of the soil. Throughout his long and useful life Mr. Rayen has been guided by principles of right and justice, and he has ever had the respect and es- teem of all who know him.
JOHN SHIVELY.
This gentleman is of German stock, and is the son of native Pennsyl- vanians, George and Maria (Grove) Shively. The former was born in Tyrone township, Cumberland county, in 1798, and came to Ohio when a young man, where he was a prosperous farmer during the remainder of his life. He was noted for his sobriety and industry, was intelligent and sociable by nature, and had many friends. He was a member of the German Reformed church, and in politics was a stanch Democrat. He was the owner of two hundred acres of land, and knew how to make it yield its best crops. His death occurred in this county in 1878. His first wife was Mrs. Brickley, by whom he had two children, and about 1836 he married Miss Maria Grove, who was born March 15, 1806, and died in 1855: By this marriage there were six children, as follows: Elizabeth J., born March 6, 1837; David, deceased, born September 14, 1838; Abraham, December 15, 1839; George W., August 28, 1841 ; Caroline, July 16, 1844; and John, March 25, 1846.
John Shively, whose name and date of birth are mentioned last in the above list of children, is a native of Austintown township and has spent his entire life here. He early decided on farming as his vocation, for which his boyhood training had well fitted him, and in 1885 he bought the farm of ninety-two and one-half acres in Austintown township, which he is still cultivating so successfully. . In 1871 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Wolfcale, and the names and dates of birth of
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their nine children are as follows : Lena U., May 10, 1872; Ora B., September 28, 1873, is deceased; Walton J., April 13, 1875; Mary J., July 8, 1876; Carrie L., January 13, 1879; Myrtle M., August 31, 1882, is deceased; Nellie M., November 3, 1884; Emily M., March 13, 1887; and Wright, November 17, 1891. The mother of these children was born in Austintown township, May 17, 1857, and died November 5, 1895. Mr. Shively has shown his interest in public matters by serving acceptably his township as trustee, and in his social, moral and business life he has been a man above reproach and has won many friends.
J. CALVIN EWING.
To the young and ambitious man there should be much in the life of Judge Ewing, of Mahoning county, which would inspire emulation and ex- cite to stronger efforts for the attainment of the ideals which lie on the dis- tant horizon as the guiding star to the bark of life. Judge Ewing began life on a farm, had to work hard from an early age, gained his education piecemeal, as the money which he earned by teaching gave him opportunity, and perhaps while others slept he was toiling upward along the height of legal learning and preparing for the profession in which he was destined to take a leading place. He made a good record as an educator, and afterward avanced steadily in the law, so that there are few men who deserve more honor for what they have accomplished with the advantages accorded them at the start, than the present probate judge of Mahoning county.
The Ewing family is of Scotch-Irish stock. Great-grandfather Alex- ander Ewing removed from Ayrshire, Scotland, with his family to county Donegal, Ireland, about the middle of the eighteenth century, where he re- sided until his death. His widow, Ann Ewing, with her family, consisting of two sons, Archibald and John, and two daughters, Catherine and Eleanor, emigrated to America in about 1792, and settled in Penn's Valley, Pennsyl- vania, where they resided until about 1802, when the mother, together with her sons and daughter Catherine, removed to what is now Mahoning county, Ohio, but at that time a part of Trumbull county. The son John Ewing set- tled upon land in Jackson township, and in 1805 he married Margaret Orr, of the same township, it being the first wedding to occur in Jackson town- ship. To them were born the following children: Mary Eleanor, Ann, Mar- garet, Alexander, Margery, Sarah, Gibson, Catherine, Martha J., John and Rebecca. The father, John Ewing, lived his life out on the farm, his death occurring in 1842. His wife's death occurred in 1861.
The youngest son, John Ewing, continued to live on the farm and in
.
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1849 married Margaret Sterrett, of Muskingum county, who died in June, 1890. Their children were as follows: Samuel O., Francis G., Mary E., Ella S., J. Calvin and Maggie A. twins, and James G.
J. Calvin Ewing was the fifth in his father's family and was born in February, 1863. The first twelve years of his life were spent on the home farm, and then the family removed to the old county seat at Canfield. He finished his public school course here, and then entered the excellent Normal School located there. But his course in the latter was not continuous, for before his graduation he taught a number of terms of district school. His first school was in Green township, and for his services in training the young ideas of that district he received ninety cents a day. Thus he alternated be- tween the work of teaching and attending normal school until 1885, when he was accorded the diploma of graduation, and as he had such an excellent record in his work he was given the superintendency of his home school at Canfield. That he at once took a prominent position in the local educational field is shown by the fact that in the following year he was elected president of the Mahoning County Teachers' Association, which office he held as long as he continued in the profession of teaching. He remained two years at Canfield and a like period at Lowellville, but during this time he had been eagerly imbibing knowledge of the principles of law, and he now gave up teaching, and after spending a year in the office of General A. W. Jones, at Youngstown, in 1892 was admitted to the bar at Columbus, Ohio, by the supreme court of the state.
Owing to his wide acquaintance in the county and his known qualifica- tions, Mr. Ewing did not experience, perhaps, as trying a novitiate in the early years of his practice as did some others, and he soon built up a fine practice and took a leading position in the political circles of the county. In the fall of 1899 he was elected probate judge of the county by a majority of over seven hundred, and his increased popularity was shown by his re- election in 1902, by a majority of over twenty-seven hundred. Mr. Ewing was elected on the Republican ticket, and he has been active in the support of the principles of that party for years, having been a delegate to county and state conventions. Judge Ewing was married in 1893 to Miss Eva L. Cal- vin, of Canfield, Ohio; the family of which she is a member came from New Jersey, and were early settlers in Mahoning county. The only child born to the Judge and his wife is Allen C. As Judge Ewing is now in the very prime of his life, it is safe to predict that a very successful and useful career lies before him, and his worthy record in the past makes him deserving of the best that may be in store for him in the future.
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Mention must also be made of another phase of Judge Ewing's life, his predilection for the country and for the raising of fine stock. Adjoining the village of Canfield he owns a fine farm of two hundred and seventy-five acres, which is especially adapted to stock-raising, and which is known as the "Fair- mont Stock Farm." On this farm is maintained a fine herd of registered Gal- loway cattle, it being the only herd of this breed in northeastern Ohio, and also a fine flock of Rambouillet sheep as well as a select herd of Duroc Jersey swine. Judge Ewing aims to keep choice registered stock on his farm and takes much pride in breeding and raising fine animals, from which he de- rives both pleasure and revenue.
MILTON DAVIS.
The above named gentleman is one of the brave band of adventurous mechanics to whom Salem owes the industry which is one of the boasts of the city, and enjoys a reputation beyond the limits of the state in which it is established. Over half a century has passed since the first steps were taken in a small enterprise which grew from little to the magnificent plant now known as the Buckeye Engine Company, and whose product is now found wherever man is engaged in manufacturing on a large scale. All the choice spirits engaged in the inception of this enterprise deserve special honor in the community they did so much to serve, and the publishers of this volume are pleased to be able to contribute their share in this direction by presentation of suitable memoirs of the moving spirits. But Mr. Davis's activities and pub- lic services have by no means been confined to his connection with the Buck- eye Works, as will be seen as his life work is unfolded in these pages.
Isaac Davis, father of our subject, was born in North Carolina during the latter part of the eighteenth century, in 1795, came to Columbiana county in 1806 and learned the carpenter's trade, which afterwards afforded his prin- cipal means of livelihood. In early life he married Mary, daughter of John Antrim, member of a Quaker family who came to Ohio about 1806. In 1821 Isaac Davis removed to Portage county, settled on a farm in Atwater township and there he and his wife lived to the end of their days.
Their son Milton Davis was born in Portage county, Ohio, on the parental farm in Atwater township in 1822, and under the direction of his father became proficient in the carpenter's trade. This he continued as his principal occupation until 1848, when he entered the works of the Sharp Brothers at Salem, Ohio, to learn pattern-making. He was given charge as draughtsman and pattern-maker, his business being to set up the work of the firm in different parts of the country. He was one of the founders of
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the Sharp, Davis & Bonsall, in 1851, in connection with the Sharp Brothers and Joel S. Bonsall, which was incorporated in 1871 as the Buckeye Engine Company with the following list of officers: Joel Sharp, president ; Milton Davis, vice president ; T. C. Boone, secretary and treasurer ; Joel S. Bon- sall, superintendent; and Simeon Sharp, as assistant superintendent. At the beginning all four of the partners did the work in their respective de- partments and only about a dozen men in all were employed; but as the busi- ness prospered the works were enlarged and additional help secured, until at the present time the company employs several hundred men. The Buck- eye engine, which they turn out, is sold extensively in all the industrial cen- ters of this country and also shipped to other parts of the world. For over twenty years Mr. Davis looked after the pattern work of the company and brought to bear fine mechanical talent, skill and judgment in the details of the department entrusted to his care. He retained the vice presidency until 1895, when he was succeeded in that position by his son, D. W. Davis, and since then he has been in retirement, enjoying a much needed rest. Though eighty years of age, Mr. Davis is in the enjoyment of excellent health and takes the same interest in the growth and development of his country as characterized him during his long and active career. In a quiet and unostentatious way he has always supported the Republican party, but has not allowed ambition for office to lure him away from his important business enterprises. In 1851 Mr. Davis was married to Sarah Anthony, of Massachusetts, and has two sons, who are proving worthy successors in the same lines of industry in which their father accomplished so much good; a daughter, born in 1861, died in 1874.
D. W. Davis, the eldest son, was born November 3, 1851. He entered the Buckeye Engine Works at an early age, learned the draughting and machin- ist trade, and is at present vice president of the Buckeye Engine Company. He is a skilled workman and in every way fit to follow in the footsteps of his honored father. In 1885 he married Miss Ora, daughter of Simeon Sharp, one of the brothers who founded the Buckeye Engine Works and whose biography is presented in another part of this volume. One son was born of this union, but died in infancy.
D. L. Davis, the second son, was born January 3, 1855. He married Emma T. Harvey, of Ithaca, New York, in 1882, to whom one son, Leon H. Davis, was born in 1892. His wife died in 1898. Mr. Davis is an elec- trician and has been connected conspicuously with some of the most im- portant enterprises of Salem. In partnership with his father, Milton Davis, he owns the electric lighting plant of Salem, which they erected and have
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always controlled; Milton Davis is president; D. W. Davis, vice president, and D. L. Davis, secretary and treasurer of this company. They also con- trol the Salem Street Railway, the father being president and the son secre- tary and manager of the company. Thus it will be seen how intimately and influentially the Davis family are connected with the business of Salem and to what extent they have contributed to the growth and prosperity of that thriving Ohio city.
BARTON R. SHOVER.
It is only necessary to consider that a little over a century ago such a scientific pioneer as Franklin was making his tentative efforts to put a har- ness on that well known fluid element, electricity, and that to-day this still unanalyzed power is the principal force behind the greatest civilizing agen- cies of the world, in order to realize how rapid has been the progress of science, and also how high a position both the theoretical discoverer and stu- dent as well as the practical inventor and electrical engineer hold in the life of the twentieth century. It is with one of the latter type, who has mas- tered the intricacies of this wonderful science and is able to apply his know- ledge in the direction of the vast machinery of modern manufacture, that this brief biography has to deal. Barton R. Shover, who has depended on his own exertions to aid him through life, has, by successive steps of advance- ment, become one of the leading electricians of the country, and at present holds the important position of superintendent of the electrical department of the Ohio works of the great National Steel Company, a place which no man of mediocre ability in this special line could fill.
The parents of the above named gentleman are Garrett H. and Ella (Crull) Shover, the former of whom was born at Richmond, Indiana, in 1840, and the latter at Dublin, the same state, in 1844. Mr. Shover has spent all his active career in the carriage and wagon business in Indianapolis. For over three years he was one of the soldiers in the Civil war, and bore his full share of that great struggle. Both these worthy people are now re- siding in Indianapolis.
Their son Barton R. was born at Dublin, Indiana, February 13, 1868, but as his parents soon moved to Indianapolis, he gained his education in the public schools of that city, being graduated from the high school in 1885. His bent toward the profession of electrical engineering was satisfied by a full course at the Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, where he was graduated in 1890. For the four years following his graduation he was con- nected with electric railroads and lighting plants, at various places, Minne-
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apolis, Minnesota ; Indianapolis, Indiana; Richmond, Indiana ; and at Asbury Park, New Jersey. In 1894 he came to Youngstown, Ohio, and until Novem- ber of the following year was employed by the Youngstown Street Railway Company, but at the latter date he became turn foreman in the electrical de- partment of the Ohio Steel Company. This was the position he held until his advancement to his present place, that of superintendent of the electrical department of what was then the Ohio Steel Company, but since absorbed and made the Ohio works of the National Steel Company ; this promotion took place in June, 1899. Mr. Shover has devoted all his energies to his profes- sion and certainly deserves the honor and pecuniary advantages of his present position.
While he was a resident of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Mr. Shover took his first degrees in Masonry, on March 28, 1893; on May 22, 1900, he became a member of the chapter in Youngstown, and in 1902 he was advanced to membership in St. John's Commandery No. 20, K. T. Politically he is a Republican, and belongs to the Youngstown Club. What he considers his most important relationship outside of his regular business is his connection with the Young Men's Christian Association as a member of the educational committee, and during his five years on this committee he has been the in- structor of the class in electricity, a position where he has been able to assist many aspiring young men in the realms of electrical science.
CHARLES W. HARRIS.
Northeastern Ohio is filled with the worthy sons of pioneers who made the Western Reserve noted for its educational, religious and industrial ad- vancement in the early day, and who in their turn are keeping up that reputa- tion. The gentleman whose name heads this article is the son of one who was prominent in Salem in the days before the great Civil war, and he is now one of the leading business men of this section. Mr. Harris was born in Salem in the year 1845, and is the son of Dr. John Harris. The latter was a native of the Keystone state, born in Adams county in 1808, where he re- mained with his parents until he arrived at man's estate. About 1839 he, with his parents, Jacob and Mary (Wright) Harris, removed to this lo- cality, where he continued to reside until the death of his parents. Jacob Harris, the grandfather of our immediate subject, was a worthy representa- tive of the agricultural class in the Keystone state, and resided there during the time of the Revolutionary war. He also removed to the locality of Salem, where he settled on a farm one and one-half miles southwest from the village. He later removed to Stark county, Ohio, where he died. Dr.
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