USA > Ohio > Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio > Part 50
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widow of Sidney A. Oniohundro; Rosilla, who died in 1870, unmarried; Hannah K., wife of William Evans; Rebecca T., wife of Frank Small; and Blanche, who died in 1900, and was the wife of John Corns.
Adolphus H. Clark, A. M., was born near Salineville, Columbiana county, Ohio, March 26, 1847, on his father's farm. Like the uneventful lives of other boys, his time was passed on the farm and in the schools. At the age of sixteen he became a private pupil of his uncle, a scholarly man. From 1870 to 1875 he taught school in Columbiana county, and then, hav- ing studied law under Nichols and Firestone in New Lisbon, Ohio, he was admitted to the bar in 1874 and in 1875 located in East Liverpool, where he has practiced law ever since. The loyal citizens of that town elected him as their mayor from 1880 to 1882; he was clerk of the town from 1876 to 1880, and city solicitor from 1892 to 1896. These official positions attest the esteem in which he is held by his fellow men.
In 1878 Mr. Clark was married in East Liverpool to Kate E., daughter of Dr. Jacob J. Ikirt, and of this union six children were born, of whom three died in childhood, the other three being named: Walter A., Elizabeth E. and George Jay. Mr. Clark belongs to the Masonic order, to the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Elks; he liberally supports the Methodist Episcopal church, and casts his vote for the Republican party. From this record we see that he is a man of influence, and one who strives to be of benefit to his community.
HENRY ANDRUS EVANS.
Henry Andrus Evans, eldest son of Albert and Sarah Burns Evans, was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1838. His grandfather Evans, one of the pioneers of the west, built a rolling mill at Connellsville, Pennsylvania, very early in the history of that part of the country. His maternal grandfather, Henry Burns, was the first white child born west of the Allegheny mountains.
Mr. Evans received his education in the public and private schools of Pittsburg. He chose the profession of medicine, but after studying a year or more his health failed and he was obliged to give it up. He afterwards entered a rolling mill and became a heater. He was thus employed at the breaking out of the Civil war. He at once enlisted and was appointed a non-commissioned officer of Battery G, First West Virginia Light Artillery. He was severely wounded in the head at the battle of Rocky Gap, but after spending three months in the hospital returned to his company, with which he continued till the end of the conflict.
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He was married to Miss Sarah Robinson Laing, of Pittsburg, Novem- ber 22, 1863, and is the father of five children, Mrs. O. R. Jones, Mrs. H. D. Thompson, Mrs. C. W. Wilson, George R. and Charles Howard Evans.
Mr. Evans came to Youngstown after the close of the war and has resided there since, with the exception of three years, which were spent in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and Portsmouth, Ohio. For many years he was prominently identified with the Cartwright, McCurdy Mills, but, because of ill health, was forced to retire from active business life some years since, and now devotes much of his time to real estate.
He has always felt a keen interest in the public schools and served as a member of the board of education for seven years. He is a leading mem- ber of the Belmont Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Western Star Lodge No. 21, Youngstown Chapter No. 93, and St. John's Commandery No. 20, K. T. He is also a member of Tod Post No. 29, G. A. R. Mr. Evans is admired by all for his sterling qaulities of character-a man whose word is as good as his bond, a man whose entire life has been above reproach, one who is always ready to help in the advancement of any good cause-he has justly earned a place among Youngstown's most prominent and substantial citizens.
WINCHESTER MOHERMAN.
Opportunity for advancement is never denied the business man. In po- litical and military circles only certain prizes can be won, and few there are who can gain these, but in the field of industrial, commercial or professional activity opportunity is almost limitless. There is always room at the top, and it is toward that place that Winchester Moherman has been steadily ad- vancing until he now occupies a very creditable and enviable position in the ranks of the business men of this section of the state. The name borne by our subject is one which has stood exponent for the most sterling personal characteristics, the deepest appreciation of the rights and privileges of citizen- ship, and one which has been indissolubly identified with the annals of Ma- honing county from an early epoch in its history. The first of the name to cast in his lot with the early settlers of the Buckeye state was Frederick Mo- herman, who came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1802, and located on the farm on which our subject now resides. His original entry consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, and as his financial resources in- creased he added to this property from time to time until his landed posses- sions consisted of twelve hundred acres. His life was indeed an industrious
WINCHESTER MOHERMAN.
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one, and with untiring energy he performed the arduous task of developing new land and transforming it into richly cultivated fields. His political sup- port was given to the principles of the Whig party. Ere his removal from the Keystone state, Mr. Moherman wedded Miss Mary Horn, who was born in 1793, and they became the parents of nine children, John, Abraham, Daniel, Robert, Anna, Betsy, Austin, Rachel and Winchester, but the last named is now the only surviving member of the family. The mother was called to her final rest on the Ist of May, 1855, and two years later, on the 4th of Decem- ber, 1857, her husband joined her in the home beyond, he having then passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey.
Winchester Moherman, whose name introduces this review, is a native son of Mahoning county, for his birth occurred in Austintown township on the 16th of December, 1825. In the common schools of his native town- ship he prepared himself for his future life of usefulness, and throughout the period of his active business career he has been engaged in general farming and stock-raising. At one time he was the owner of sixteen hundred acres of land, but much of this he has given to his children, although he is still the owner of a large estate, which is divided into several farms, and he is also the owner of a farm in Trumbull county. His business efforts have been crowned with a degree of success richly merited, and now on his beautiful and valuable homestead he is spending his declining days, surrounded by the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
The marriage of Mr. Moherman was celebrated in 1850, when Miss Samantha A. Orr became his wife. She, too, is a native of this common- wealth, her birth occuring in Milton, in 1831, and she is a daughter of John and Sarah Orr. The Orrs were also among the early pioneers of Ohio, and the grandfather of Mrs. Moherman, James Orr, was a native of Ireland. In a very early day he came to Mahoning county, settling in Jackson town- ship, where he rose to prominence in agricultural circles. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Bailey, and they became the parents of ten children, all of whom grew to years of maturity. John Orr, one of the sons of the above family, became the father of Mrs. Moherman, and he, too, occupied a foremost place among the representative farmers of Mahoning county, where he owned three hundred acres of land. The family were highly respected for their social worth, and were classed among the true and loyal citizens of their time. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Moherman has been blessed with four children, Sarah, Leander, Maud and Blanch. The family are members of the Presbyterian church, and in politics Mr. Moherman upholds the principles of the Republican party. He has now passed the psalmist's span of three score
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years and ten, and his is an honorable old age, in which he receives the veneration and respect which should ever accompany advanced years. This is accorded him by reason of his well spent life, which furnishes many ex- amples of industry, fidelity and integrity which may well be followed by those of younger generations.
THE CRUM FAMILY.
Of the pioneer families which have materially contributed to the pros- perity of Mahoning county, and particularly to that of Youngstown town- ship, is that of Crum. As early as 1812 Mrs. Elizabeth Crum, a widow, removed from Washington county, Pennsylvania, to the Western Reserve, taking up her abode in Youngstown township, and on this journey she was accompanied by her children, Nicholas, John, Jacob, Allen and Eliza, who were then young. Some time after their arrival the mother married a Mr. Wilson. Her sons grew to be men of means and influence, two having be- come ministers of the gospel, one of the Disciples and the other of the Meth- odist church. Nicholas, the eldest of the children, became a tiller of the soil, his landed possessions consisting of sixty acres, and he was well known and honored through his community. He was born in 1806, and was three times married, his first union occurring in 1830, when Nancy Falconer be- came his wife. They had six children, as follows: John W., who was born June 12, 1831 ; Elizabeth, born March 6, 1833; Nancy E., born June I, 1834; Sarah, born October 28, 1836; Nancy P., born March 12, 1839; and William N., born November 5, 1841. For his second wife Mr. Crum chose Sarah Dickey, and their children were as follows: Emeline, born in 1842; Samuel, in 1844; Harriet, in 1847; and Areate C., in 1849. His third wife bore the maiden name of Agnes Lafferty, and their children were as follows : Eliza J., born in 1851 ; Frances A., in 1854; Emma J., in 1859; and Almeda A., in 1863. Of all the above mentioned children only John Wesley, his two sisters and two half-sisters are living.
John Wesley, the eldest child of Nicholas Crum, is a resident of Youngs- town township, where he owns and resides on a small farm. He has been twice married, first to Phebe Wilson, who was born in Weathersfield, Ohio, and who bore him three children, two of whom are living, Edson N., born December 10, 1853; and John W., born February 13, 1858. The wife and mother was called to her final rest in 1858, and in the following year Mr. Crum married Susan Peters, by whom he had one son, Lewis S., who is now engaged in the real estate business in Youngstown. He was born February I, 1864, and on August 25, 1887, was united in marriage with Ella, a
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daughter of Isaac Phillips, and who was born July 13, 1864. Three children were born to them: Gertrude E., June 20, 1888; Adda J., September 23, 1889; and Lora S., January 10, 1893.
Edson N., the eldest son of John Wesley and Phebe (Wilson) Crum, now owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and is recognized as one of the leading agriculturists of his township. On the 25th of February, 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C., the daughter of Daniel and Susan Moherman, and who was born in Austintown township, Mahoning county, on the 30th of November, 1855. This union has been blessed with four children, namely: Warren W., who was born April 25, 1880; Howard A., born August 9, 1881; Mary A., born March 29, 1883; and Margery M., born June 2, 1885. Howard, the second child. married Miss Emma Guynn in 1902.
John W. Crum, Jr., the younger son of John Wesley and Phebe (Wil- son) Crum, is a resident of Austintown township, where he owns and oper- ates a small farm, and is recognized as a young man of enterprise and push. After his schooldays were over, he worked for the Trumbull Iron Company, after which he entered the employ of the Girard Iron Company and later was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1883. Previous to this date, how- ever, he had been appointed to the position of assistant postmaster, and he is now and has been for a number of years past the efficient weighmaster for the Ohio Steel Company. On the 22d of February, 1883, he was united in marriage to Clarry, a daughter of Edwin and Maria Yager, and they are the parents of three children: Lovilla, born December 8, 1883: Ilo G., born December 15, 1885; and Stella F., born August 4, 1887. The mother of these children was born in Canfield township, Mahoning county, Ohio, on the 19th of December, 1864. The Crum family are members of the Church of Christ, and in their political views they uphold the principles of Democracy. They are indeed worthy citizens and loyal to all good and just principles.
JOSEPH S. SIEFERT.
One of the most interesting of the surviving veterans of the Civil war. and one whose experiences in that great conflict were of the most strenuous character, thrilling in hair-breadth escapes and in the performance of many duties outside of the regular duties of the soldier, is found in the person of Joseph S. Siefert, of Youngstown. His own personal narratives have been drawn from in the compilation of the following sketch of his career as a soldier and a citizen, and, while this brief article must necessarily lose much
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of the flavor of his own words, absorbing interest will ever attach to the reminiscences of the warriors of the last century, who, because of the won- derful advance in military tactics and equipments, must ever remain sep- arated from the present by a wider interval than the mere intervening years.
Joseph S. Siefert was born in Kuppenheim, near Rastadt, Baden, Ger- many, July 22, 1838. He was in school until he was fourteen years old, and then began to learn, under the direction of his father, the cabinet-maker's trade, which has been his principal occupation for obtaining a livelihood. To increase his efficiency he took drawing lessons under his uncle Hubert Siefert, a professor in Sinzheim. The profession of soldiering appealed to his imagination from his earliest years, and one rather humorous incident which occurred in the revolution of 1849 in Baden, when Joseph was but eleven years old, will illustrate his boyish propensity for the conflict of arms.
Joseph was an eager listener, when, after the first day's engagement at Kuppenheim, June 28, Lieutenant Karl Stephan, a cousin of Joseph's father, came to the latter's house and asked for refreshments and portrayed the day's hard fighting, saying that the next day would be even worse. Joseph and his schoolmates witnessed this battle at a distance for a couple of hours, but gradually made their way to the front, and when one of the sharpshooters was killed and was carried to the rear, Joseph picked up his fallen gun, thinking that his relationship to the lieutenant gave him a better title to it than anyone else, and fired one shot in the direction of the enemy. But his joy was short-lived, for the captain yelled to the boys to "make tracks," and the lieutenant caught Joseph by the collar and gave him a sound thrashing with the flat of his sabre, which accentuated his desire to travel homeward. But his sufferings were not all over, for on his arrival at home his mother gave him an additional strapping with a bayonet scabbard. This corporal chastisement and a locking in the cellar were continued nearly every day throughout the six weeks of the siege. Mr. Siefert says that he missed his dinner nearly every day, but never failed to receive the regular meed of bayonet scabbard-in fact, the latter was a regular diet as long as he remained in Germany.
Mr. Siefert's father had taken considerable part in the revolution, and, on one occasion, to prevent the enemy from crossing the river Murg, carried out the command of his superior officer and cut down a bridge, which deed was afterward traced to him and caused his arrest. His brothers, who were state officials, secured his release, but in 1853 they advised him to leave the country to avoid persecution for his complicity in the matter. He
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sold all his property, and in December, 1853, took his family to Strasburg, then a part of France, thence to Paris, and after a few weeks to Havre, where the elder Siefert was furnished with one thousand dollars by his brothers, and embarked on a sailing vessel for New Orleans in the latter part of February, 1854. The expatriates landed in the new world of free- dom in the latter part of April, and thence took passage up the Mississippi and Ohio, landing at Cincinnati, May 10, 1854. The father and his brother Frank went to work in the Michel and Romelsbourgh factory, but Joseph entered the office of his uncle Bachman, an architect, and worked at draw- ing and tracing. In December, 1854, the family went to Lowellville, Ma- honing county, Ohio, where Joseph did various kinds of works, mining iron ore, pumping water from the mines and hauling coal from the mines, etc. He went to Poland to finish learning his trade of cabinet-maikng, but quit after one year, and then went to Lowellville and worked a year at the car- penter trade under the instruction of John Reed. After his novitiate was ended, he went to Cincinnati and worked at the trade for some months, then came home on a vacation, but in March, 1860, returned to Cincinnati and was employed by Mr. Franz Benz, who had a great amount of work to be done.
This was the year of Lincoln's candidacy for the presidency, and one of the incidents which remain in Mr. Siefert's memory from that year is how he won the offer of twenty-five dollars made to one who would climb a tall and limber campaign pole and place the rope in the pulley so that the flag might be hoisted. In November, after the election, he was attracted by an offer in southern papers for mechanics at three dollars a day, and, al- though he had good inducements to stay in Cincinnati where work was plentiful, he embarked one day on a steamboat bound for Little Rock. Ar- kansas, accepting the proposition to work on the boat for thirty dollars and board for the trip. When he arrived at Little Rock, he found that the men who were seeking the three-dollar jobs were many times more numerous than the jobs themselves, and he returned on the boat to Cincinnati, with the intention of giving up the idea of steamboating. But the next day the mate of the steamer came to his lodging and said that the regular ship's carpenter was sick, and offered Mr. Siefert forty-six dollars a month and board with the officers and a berth in the texas. He did not hesitate, but shipped at once, having many experiences on the passage, space alone pre- cluding their interesting recital. It was during the passionate months just preceding the Civil war, and altercations and broils over national and sec- tional politics were of daily occurrence, even with the most peacefully in-
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clined. On this trip young Siefert had occasion to soundly thrash a drunken bully, and leave him on the banks of the Mississippi to recover from his sottish rage. The boat was not allowed to come up the river farther than Memphis, and at that point Mr. Siefert took the train and arrived at Youngs- town only a short time before the pent up passions of the north and south broke loose in fratricidal strife.
Mr. Siefert enlisted in a company made up of the "young bloods" of Youngstown, but as they were out for only three months they were in but one battle and endured some marching. After being mustered out of Com- pany B, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteers, on August 29, 1861, he was enrolled on September 2, 1861, in Company I, Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteers, for three years' service. He was in many of the engagements and skirmishes in West Virginia during the following year, being sent on many daring missions, and on more than one occasion risking his own life for that of others. He often had charge of the pickets, and it was then that he passed through his most exciting adventures, which, when told by his own lips, form narratives of surpassing interest. He was commanded by the colonel, with ten men, to march in the rear of the rebel camp, to catch a rebel officer, which was done by him. Once he was ordered by what proved afterward to be a rebel sym- pathizer to leave his picket post and capture a bushwhacker. At the house of the latter he was surprised by a battalion of Confederates, who killed or took prisoner all his companions, and he with difficulty made his escape, and after many wanderings over the mountains, where the stones and bushes tore his bare feet, he arrived at the camp and made his report to the colonel, who was in a rage when he found how badly the whole affair had been managed, and severely reprimanded the offending officer.
Mr. Siefert was in the engagement at Brinston, Logan Court House, Cotton Hill, Charleston, Fayetteville, West Virginia, and at that time saw some of his most arduous service in fighting, marching and picket duty, and also participated in some of the adventures which veterans now rejoice to recount as the spice of their military career. In November, 1862, his regiment received orders to go down the Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky, and join the forces which were assembling for the grand campaign in the west which culminated in the capture of Vicksburg. He spent the winter around the latter city, fighting, throwing up embankments to keep out the floods of the Mississippi, toiling as only a soldier must. The wonderful series of strategic battles and marches by which the key-point of the west was finally captured on July 4, 1863, are too well known to history to here recapitulate, and it is sufficient to record that our subject was often in the thickest of the fray.
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After the fall of Vicksburg his division started for Jackson, Mississippi : They were without water on a part of this march. At their camp on Black river they had daily drill, and also had revival camp meetings every evening. While here Mr. Siefert was offered one dollar a gun for every one that he would fish up out of the bottom of the river, a raft loaded with eighteen men and arms having been overturned one day, and when he had accomplished the task, the lieutenant who had made the offer gave him only fifty cents a gun. A few days later Mr. Siefert utilized a chance to "get even." While a number of the officers, the aforesaid lieutenant included, were regaling them- selves on the choicest of the land, especially numerous fine brands of liquor, Sergeant Siefert and two others helped themselves to two boxes of brandy and one of wine, and had a banquet of their own which entirely recompensed Mr. Siefert for his loss.
Thence the command went up the river to Memphis, and from there toward Chattanooga, frequently having brushes with Forrest's cavalry. On the 24th of November, 1863, Mr. Siefert was in command of one of the boats which transferred the troops down the Tennessee river to the vicinity of Chattanooga, and on the next morning he was in full view of the glorious battle on Missionary Ridge. He was in this engagement as orderly ser- geant, and on the following day was sent to Knoxville, making a forced march to reach there, but after one day returned to Chattanooga, where the regiment received their first rations since November 21. While camped at Larkinsville, Alabama, he re-enlisted, and went home on a veteran's furlough, and it is needless to say that he enjoyed himself. He and his companions re- turned to Nashville, having met with a serious railroad accident on the way, in which he had sustained several severe injuries, but he rejoined his regi- ment and was with it in all the arduous campaigning that followed through Georgia. On one occasion he was captured, but was retaken by his friends, and although many of his comrades fell in the hard fights with Hood and his army, he seldom or never missed roll call. Then followed the great march to the sea. Mr. Siefert was ordered to do first lieutenant duty in Company C, Thirty-seventh Ohio, and two days later was ordered to take charge of the Second Brigade, "Pioneers," which he held till the capture of Fort Mc- Allister, after which he returned to his regiment and took command of Com- pany G, and after leaving Beaufort, South Carolina, he had command of Company A with Company G. At Bentonville, North Carolina, Lieutenant Meilen was commissioned captain of Company G, but Lieutenant Siefert held the command of Company A till the muster out.
After the surrender of Johnston the command proceeded to Washington,
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and there took part in the grand review and in the happy reunion of those who had been separated since the beginning of the war. At the review the order was given out by General Sherman that the best commanding officers should lead the respective divisions, and of the third division of the battle- stained Thirty-seventh the commander was Lieutenant Joseph S. Siefert, who, in relating this part of his history, says that he was as proud as General Sherman himself. From Washington he was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he received his pay, and was then ordered to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was to join the expedition against Maximillian on the Mexican border; this latter disturbance, however, was soon quelled, and on August 12 the order came to Little Rock for the troops to be mustered out. He was then sent to Cleveland and discharged, and went home to hang up the imple- ments of war and turn his efforts to the labors of peace.
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