USA > Ohio > Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio > Part 57
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CHARLES PRATT LEONARD.
A popular public official and a man of substance and prominence in Columbiana county, Ohio, Sheriff Charles Pratt Leonard was born in Wells- ville, Ohio, in 1855, and is now an esteemed citizen of Lisbon. The parents of Sheriff Leonard were Thomas Pratt and Annie (Stockman) Leonard, and his ancestry on both sides reaches to Revolutionary heroes. Great- grandfather Samuel Leonard owned the farm on which the battle of Brandy- wine was fought, and he took part as a patriot soldier. His son Thomas, the grandfather of our subject, was born at Phoenixville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and there also occurred the birth of Thomas Pratt Leonard. The latter came to Salem, Ohio, in 1829, and opened the first hotel at the forks of the Georgetown road, and in 1842 opened a hotel at Wellsville. Our subject's grandmother belonged to an old Quaker family of Chester county named Massie, and the family all became members of that society. Thomas P. Leonard died on February 10, 1880, in Wellsville, at the age of seventy years.
The mother of Sheriff Leonard was a daughter of Jacob Stockman, who came of a Pennsylvania German family and who settled in Elk Run town- ship, Columbiana county, Ohio, about 1836. A brother of Mrs. Leonard, Frank Stockman, is the agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad at Ravenna.
Until 1876 Charles Pratt Leonard resided in Wellsville, but the years
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intervening between that date and 1897 were spent in California, Oregon and Colorado. For thirty-two years Mr. Leonard has been a contractor and builder. For five years he was connected with the Fuller Construction Com- pany of Chicago, Illinois; for four years was with the Hammer Construction Company of Omaha ; and was engaged individually in the same business in Spokane, Washington.
Mr. Leonard's ability was recognized upon his return to Wellsville by an appointment as inspector of public works, and this office claimed his close and careful attention until, eighteen months after acceptance, he was honored by his Democratic friends by an election to the office of sheriff of Columbiana county, in 1901. The vote was a flattering one and a testi- monial to his personal popularity, his majority over his opponent being 4258 votes.
The marriage of Sheriff Leonard was to Miss Sarah McIntosh, who is a daughter of Hugh McIntosh, of Jefferson county, Ohio. The family name on the maternal side was Caldwell, and both families came of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Leonard is connected with fraternal organizations in Wells- ville. His reputation as a man of strict adherence to duty is well deserved, and Columbiana county is fortunate in her selection to so important an office as sheriff.
JOHN S. LEWIS.
For a long period John Saunders Lewis has been identified with the manufacturing interests of Youngstown, and he is now serving as superin- tendent of the machine shops of the William Tod Company, in this city. His long identification with the place and his prominence here entitle him to more than a passing notice in a work of this character, devoted, as it is, to the portrayal of the lives of representative men and women of the county.
Mr. Lewis was born in Abercarn, Monmouthshire, South Wales, on the 5th of May, 1859. In that locality his paternal grandfather, John Lewis, was born in 1792, and there he spent his entire life, passing into eternal rest in 1864. As a means of livelihood he followed the vocation of a miner. Henry Lewis, his son and the father of him whose name heads this sketch, was born in Tredgar, South Wales, in 1831, and in 1866 he crossed the At- lantic to America, taking up his abode in Youngstown, Ohio, where he passed away in death in 1880. Before leaving his native land he was united in mar- riage to Harriet True, and their union was blessed with eleven children, eight of whom grew to years of maturity and still survive, namely : Mary A., the widow of James A. Hopton; Margaret W., the wife of Thomas T. Davis; Eliza J., the wife of Wallace Trigg; John S .; Henry R .; Alfred E .;
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John & Lewis
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Harriet P., the wife of William N. Nottingham; and Martha, the wife of Albert J. Couch. Mrs. Lewis joined her husband in the spirit world in 1893.
John S. Lewis was brought by his parents to America when but seven years of age, and in Youngstown, Ohio, he was reared and received his ele- mentary education. At the early age of twelve years he entered upon his business career, becoming an employe of the Youngstown Rolling Mills, . which has since become a part of the American Steel Hoop Company, and there he was first engaged in "catching hoops," and then promoted in regular order to the more responsible positions, thus continuing until the age of twenty years. For the following six months he was connected with the Mahoning Valley Iron Company, now a part of the Republic Iron & Steel Company. On the 16th of June. 1880, he entered the employ of William Tod & Company, commencing with that corporation as an apprentice, but by his close attention to business and honorable methods he has risen step by step until he is now holding the important office of superintendent of their machine shops. Success has indeed crowned his efforts, but it is but the merited reward of unremitting toil, close application and capable management.
As a companion on the journey of life Mr. Lewis chose Miss Alice, daughter of Evan Williams, their wedding having been celebrated in Youngs- town in 1883. Four children have come to brighten and bless their home, namely : Blanche A., Naomi M., Elizabeth and John S. In matters of po- litical importance Mr. Lewis gives his support to Republican principles, and in his fraternal relations he is a thirty-second degree Mason. In 1889 he was created a Mason in Hillman Lodge No. 481, F. & A. M., at Youngs- town; belongs to Youngstown Chapter No. 93, R. A. M., St. John's Com- mandery No. 20, K. T., of which he is a past commander, and a member of the Lake Erie Consistory and its subordinate bodies at Cleveland, Ohio. His religions preference is indicated by his membership in the First Baptist church. He is a man of fine personal appearance, generous-spirited and broad-minded and embodies the spirit of American progress and advancement.
REUBEN B. SPRINGER.
The authentic genealogy of the Springer family begins with Christopher Springer, who was born in Germany in 1598, and who died in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1669. He married three times and had thirteen children born to him, all of whom died without issue, with two exceptions, Lawrence and Charles Christopher. The latter was born in 1658, and was the founder of the American branch of the family. In Germany the Springer head had at- tained to the rank of a baron, and owned large estates, which were confiscated
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when he fled to Sweden to escape religious persecution. He was welcomed by King Gustavus Adolphus, and was given lands and money in his new home, and his son Charles was sent to London in order to be educated under the Swedish minister. There he was kidnapped and carried to Virginia, where he was sold, according to the practices of the time. He escaped to Wil- mington, Delaware, where he married Mary Hendricks, and he died in 1738.
A well known representative of this old family is found in Reuben B. Springer, an esteemed resident of Lisbon, Ohio, and an honored survivor of the Civil war. His birth took place in Lisbon, in a residence located about two hundred yards from his present home, on January 14, 1832, and he is a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Clever) Springer. The former was born at Ellicott Mills, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1799, and he is a son of Joseph Springer, who came to Columbiana county in 1804, locating in Lisbon. Here grandfather Springer took up land and lived through life. He was a prominent physician and was the first recorder of Columbiana county. His son Daniel also became a physician and practiced here.
The children born to our subject's parents were the following: Mathias, of Zanesville, Ohio; Peter; John; Henry; Samuel; Elizabeth, Mrs. Adams; Jacob; and Reuben. In 1851 Joseph Springer made the trip to California and took one of his sons with him, who located there, and forty-seven years later the daughter of this son wrote to Lisbon for facts concerning her father's family. The children were reared in Lisbon, and our subject attended the public schools. At the outbreak of the Civil war, on September 2, 1861, he offered his services to his country, entering Company E, Nineteenth Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Army of the Cumberland, in the Fourth Army Corps, General Wood's division, and General Beatty's brigade. Our subject has a noble record, entitling him to the honor and es- teem of every fellow citizen. He participated in the following battles: Shi- loh, April 6, 1862 ; Corinth, May 30, 1862; Stone River, December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863 : Liberty Gap, June 25, 1863, followed by Chickamauga on September 19-20; Chattanooga, November 23; Missionary Ridge, Novem- ber 25; Rocky Face Ridge, May 5-9, 1864; Cassville, May 19-20; Pickett's Mills, May 27; Kenesaw Mountain, June 9-30; Atlanta, July 22; Lovejoy Station, September 2-6; Franklin; Nashville, December 15, 16, 1864. He was honorably discharged on October 25, 1865. This record cannot close without mentioning the sad fact that our subjects now suffers from total blindness on account of a cold caught in the exposures incident to army life of November, 1863. After his return from the army in 1865, he first located at West Point, but later came to Lisbon and has resided here ever since.
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The marriage of Mr. Springer was to Miss Nancy B. Welsh, who is a daughter of Peter Welsh, an old pioneer family of the county. His chil- dren were: Union, who is a resident of Cleveland and a conductor on the Erie Railroad; William, who is an engineer on the Fort Wayne Railroad; Charles, who resides in Lisbon; Marcus, who died on January 14, 1902, aged thirty-seven years; and Louisa and Ida, both deceased. In Star Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lisbon, our subject is much honored. His affliction is borne with heroic patience, and calls for the respect of his neighbors and the tender care of his family, which he receives.
CYRUS W. PRITCHARD.
Among the prominent young business men of Lisbon, Ohio, is Cyrus W. Pritchard, who is paymaster of the American Tin Plate Company at their works in Lisbon. He was born in this city in 1872, and is a representative of one of the leading families of this section, and a son of Cyrus B. and Mary (Moore) Pritchard, the latter of whom is a daughter of Dr. William Moore, one of the county's leading men. Cyrus B. Pritchard was for some years associated with his father in the drug business in Lisbon, and died here in 1875, aged thirty years, leaving but one son, Cyrus W.
The Pritchards have been identified with the progress of Columbiana county for generations. James Pritchard, the founder of the family in Ohio, was born November 1, 1763, and after coming to this state located in Jefferson county. On March 25, 1784, he married Tabitha White, who was born on December 31, 1763. Their children were: Rebecca, who was born December 29, 1784; Keziah, who was born February 19, 1786, married Lewis Kinney, who laid out Lisbon in 1804; Jane, who died young ; Tabitha, who was born February 15, 1789, married William Crane and lived to a great age, on a farm near Salem: William, born December 10, 1790; Zeph- aniah, born on November 17, 1792, reared a family: Benjamin mentioned below; Jane, the second, who was born November 20, 1797, died young ; Reason, who was born September 31, 1798, died young; Reason, second, who was born December 6, 1800, died August 9, 1855, in Des Moines, Iowa, leaving a large family; Nancy and Hannah, twins, born July 6, 1802, died young ; and the youngest, Sarah, was born August 21, 1812. James Pritchard became a prominent man in Ohio, and was a member of the state legislature when the first constitution of Ohio was formed, and died during his term of service, at Chillicothe. He left a large and intelligent family.
Benjamin Pritchard, the son of James, was born April 21, 1795, and on November 14, 1816, married Mary Arter, a daughter of John Arter, who
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was born March 8, 1768. He was an old pioneer settler of the county, and a native of Germany, and died June 10, 1808. The children of Benjamin were as follows: John Arter, born November 6, 1818, was a physician and married Mary Jane King, of Virginia; Keziah, born October 13, 1820, mar- ried June 4, 1846, James Paul, of Lisbon, where he was a merchant, and they had two sons; Reason Beall, born February 6, 1823, is an esteemed resi- dent of Lisbon; James, born October 25, 1824, married Cecelia D. Parmelly, of Sullivan, Ohio, where he was a merchant until his death; Catherine Arter, born November 10, 1826, married Bazil Chapman on November 4. 1851, a resident of New Cumberland, West Virginia; Mary Jane, born July 23, 1828, died unmarried; David Arter, born September 3, 1830, will be men- tioned later ; Benjamin White, born July 23, 1832, was a merchant in Cleve- land, where he died; Harriet. born April 13, 1834, married Dr. Lewis Kin- ney Wilcox, a grandson of Lewis Kinney, and they moved to Indiana, where she died; George W., born March 21, 1836, died in young manhood: and Franklin, born June 4, 1838, married Anna Watson, of Lisbon, where he died. Benjamin Pritchard, with others, organized the Columbiana County Mutual Insurance Company, in 1837, and he was the general agent for many years, resigning the position in 1868. He died at the age of seventy-three years. He was an elder and the leading member of the Disciples church at this point, and through life was one of its most interested supporters.
David Arter Pritchard, who is the general agent of the great company partly founded by his father, was born in Lisbon and attended the district schools. He was a member of the Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry for a time during the Civil war, but later engaged in the insurance business with his father, and has been connected with this company for forty-one years. In politics he is a zealous Republican, and fraternally is a Knight Templar Mason and for fifty years has been an Odd Fellow, in which order he has passed all the chairs. David A. Pritchard was first married to Theresa Hostetter, who was a daughter of William Hostetter one of the old settlers of this locality. Their children were: Laura H., the wife of Dr. L. O. Williams, of East Liverpool; Susan Hostetter Pritchard, the wife of C. M. Jackman, of Okla- homa ; James Franklin, a merchant of Cleveland, Ohio; and William Hostet- ter, in business in New York city. Mrs. Pritchard died March 13, 1872. The second marriage of Mr. David A. Pritchard was to Miss Augusta Mc- Elroy, on September 24, 1873. She is a daughter of James and Margaret (Dutch) McElroy. The children of this union are: Howard, a law student at Washington, D. C .; Rose McElroy; David Reason; and Margaret McEl- roy.
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Reason Beall Pritchard, the grandfather of Cyrus W. Pritchard, and brother of David Arter Pritchard, was born in Columbiana county, where he still resides, and for many years was engaged in a drug and a hardware business. His first marriage was to Sarah Bosworth, a daughter of Rev. Cyrus Bosworth, a minister of the Disciples church at Newton Falls, Ohio. She died in 1851, leaving two children, Cyrus B., the father of our subject ; and Lina, who died young. The second marriage of Reason Beall Pritchard was to Joanna McElroy, a daughter of Joseph McElroy, formerly sheriff of this county, and at her death she left these children: Mary, the wife of Alan Ramsay, at attorney of Lisbon and the secretary of the. Lisbon Loan Asso- ciation ; Edwin W., of this city; Porter, a farmer of Lisbon: Helen, the widow of Sloan Bowman, of Lisbon; Hattie, the wife of Walter Laferty ; and George, a resident of Buffalo, New York. The third marriage of Mr. Pritchard was to Harriet Dibble, who is a daughter of Ira Dibble, of Lisbon.
Cyrus W. Pritchard, whose ancestry we have so clearly traced, was educated at Bethany College, West Virginia, where he graduated in 1894. In 1895 he became connected with the Tin Plate Company. He was interested in the Buckeye Publishing Company for one year, and for six years has been the efficient city clerk. Mr. Pritchard married Miss May Jones, who is a daughter of W. W. Jones, of Lisbon, and their three sons are: Frank, Horace and William. Mr. Pritchard is a young man of great executive ability, and efficiently discharges his duties with the great corporation with which he occupies so important a position.
BERTRAM RENKENBERGER.
The gentleman here mentioned is the efficient and popular mayor of the old Western Reserve town of Columbiana, Ohio. He was elected to that office first in 1898, and re-elected in 1900. Prior to that date he had been for nine years the honored treasurer of Fairfield township. He is also interested in matters of education, having served a term of six years on the board of education. For four years during the administration of President Cleveland he was the representative of the government in the Columbiana postoffice. Mr. Renkenberger located in business in Columbiana in 1872, where he has since conducted a general harness store. Prior to 1872 he resided on a farm in Beaver township, Mahoning county. He is a native of that county, born in 1843, the son of Christopher Renkenberger. The latter came to Mahoning county in 1817, and later removed to Columbiana county. He was a German by nativity, having been born in Würtemberg, Germany. He
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was a man of fine influence in his community in his day, being very active in church work. He died in 1886, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. The mother of our honored subject was Barbara Schenevenberger, also a native of the same portion of the fatherland as her husband. She died at the age of seventy-nine years, in 1879, being the mother of seven sons and three daughters : Lewis, deceased; Katherine, Mrs. Benjamin Sheets, Noble county, Indiana ; Benjamin, Noble county, Indiana ; John, of the same county, and a prominent farmer and politician; Solomon, Mahoning county Ohio; Jacob, living on the old homestead in Mahoning county; Leah, Mrs. Leo Wandling, Mahoning county; William, Mahoning county; Lucy Ann, Mrs. Bomsberger, of Missouri; and Bertram; the subject of this paragraph.
Mr. Bertram Renkenberger was married in Columbiana to Miss Elmira Close, a daughter of Robert Close, of a pioneer family of Mahoning county, where they settled in an early day from Washington county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Renkenberger is a very companionable and social gentleman, being a popular member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which or- ganization he has filled all the chairs. He has taken a very active and help- ful part in the councils of the Democratic party of the county, having served as chairman of the county executive committee for a period of six years. With a just conception of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, Mr. Renkenberger stands high in the estimation of his fellows. He is a stanch political friend, and a fair political enemy, and honest above all things. He receives, as he merits, the kind wishes of a very large circle of friends in his home town and county.
DR. J. H. TRESSEL.
The medical profession of northeastern Ohio has for many generations been noted for the high character of its devotees. They have been men singu- larly alert to the grave responsibilities of the branch of science they had adopted for a life work, and from their ranks have sprung men whose reputa- tions were world-wide, and who left to the profession many important dis- coveries. The gentleman of whom we here have the privilege of making brief biographical mention has been an honored and active member of the profession at Alliance, Ohio, for the past three decades, and during that time has established a splendid reputation as a skilful surgeon and general prac- titioner. A large part of the practice of Dr. Tressel, especially in later years, has been in connection with the different railroads centering at Alliance. He began the practice of his profession in 1874, and in the following year was appointed surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railway, his territory extending
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from the Pennsylvania state line on the east to Louisville on the Fort Wayne road, and on the Chicago & Pittsburg from Olinville to Atwater. This posi- tion he has filled most acceptably ever since that date. In connection with this work he has also charge of a division on the Pennsylvania from Alliance to Youngstown, and also is surgeon for the whole line of the Lake Erie, Alliance and Wheeling road. Dr. Tressel is prominently identified with the different medical associations of the state and county, and in the different yearly meetings he takes an exceedingly active and helpful part. He is a member of the International Association of Railway Surgeons, of which organization he has served a number of terms as secretary. He also holds membership in the American Medical Association, the Ohio State Associa- tion, and is a member of the Union Medical Association of Northeastern Ohio. He has membership in what is known as the Medical Tribunal, which is composed of the three medical societies of Ohio, and he has filled the presi- dential chair and is at present date its acting secretary. Dr. Tressel is also prominently identified with the educational life of this section of the state, being at the present time city school examiner for Alliance, a position which he has occupied for the last twelve years. Politically he favors the policies of the Republican party. He has never, however, given anything more than a voting interest to matters political.
Dr. Tressel is a native of Carroll county, Ohio, born in 1837, on the 17th day of March. He is the son of Mathias and Catherine (Harsh) Tres- sel. He is of pure German extraction on both sides of the family, and his father was a native of the state of New Hampshire. Great-grandfather Tressel was a captain in the king's guard in German Prussia. He became dissatisfied with his sovereign and engaged with a number of others in a rebellion against the existing government. The insurrection was unsuc- cessful, and the participants had to flee the country for their lives, the Captain taking refuge in England, where he lived for the remainder of his lifetime. The family remained in England for a number of years, and finally located in New Hampshire. On the maternal side of the family grandfather Harsh was a native of Germany, and was connected with the same insurrection which caused Captain Tressel to leave the fatherland. Mr. Harsh also came to England, but afterwards located in the state of New Hampshire.
Dr. Tressel passed the period of adolescence quietly at home, where he was given an excellent foundation for his later literary and medical education. He was graduated at Mount Union College in the class of 1859. He then entered the Western Reserve Medical College, where he graduated in 1863. In the meantime, however, he had an experience as a clerk and assistant sur-
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geon at different points throughout the south, in connection with the hospital service of the Civil war. At the time of the call for troops he enlisted in 1861, but almost immediately was unfortunate enough to suffer a broken limb, a catastrophe which made it impossible for him to carry out his inten- tion of following old glory in active service. He thereupon became attached to the sanitary commission, and was on duty for a number of months in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and other points where the army was carrying on operations. He began practice about the close of the war at Malvern, Ohio. He continued active practice at this point until his re- moval to Alliance in 1874.
About the year 1867 there occurred a little episode in the life of Dr. Tressel which will go toward showing the impulsive and generous nature of the man. It was a time of great excitement concerning the Cuban ques- tion, and appeals were being made all over the country for aid in the insur- rection which was going on in the island of Cuba against the cruel Spaniards' regime. The Doctor, in company with some twenty students from Mount Union College, resolved to aid the Cubans in their struggle and, repairing to the island, for a period of some twelve months was actively engaged with the insurrectionists. During that time they participated in some of the notable engagements, and were helpful in many ways in aiding the Cubans in their losing cause.
Dr. Tressel was married in Malvern to Miss Susan T. Hawkins, daugh- ter of Mrs. Mary Hawkins. They had three children: Laura L .; Gertrude H .; and John K., at present a student in medicine. Dr. Tressel is a genial, whole-souled gentleman, and has a fine conception of the grave responsibilities of his profession, and is a man who numbers his friends by the scores in northeastern Ohio.
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