Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio, Part 9

Author: Summers, Ewing, comp
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 836

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GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

cleared it. His next venture was the purchase of the brick yard of his former employer, but after seventeen months he sold it back. After these many changes he came to the Mahoning Valley in 1866 and bought a tract of land containing brick clay, and in the following spring brought his family. He engaged in making brick and in the limestone business for many years and is now a retired resident of Lowellville, having come from humble circum- stances to his present comfortable competency. He was married in 1853 to a Scotch lady, Catherine Geddes, the daughter of George and Margaret (Far- quhar) Geddes, who emigrated from Scotland to America and settled in Boli- var, Pennsylvania. Six children were born of this union, and after the death of his first wife, Mr. Erskine was married on August 7, 1890, to Miss Ella E. Hicks, the daughter of Isaac and Sarah A. (Whisner) Hicks. By this marriage four children were born, and the three living are Isaac P., Hugh and Sarah.

John G. Erskine, who has the longest established and the largest general merchandise house in Lowellville, was born to James and Catherine Erskine in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1862. He had his schooling in the public schools of Youngstown and then two years in a col- lege in Columbus, Ohio, and two years in Bethany, West Virginia. Leaving college at the age of twenty-one, he went to work for his father in the brick and limestone business, being the clerk and partner of his father. The pres- ent store, which was established thirty years ago, was known as James Erskine & Sons from 1884 to 1891, in which latter year John bought out his brother Robert, a physician, and since 1896 he has been conducting the enterprise most successfully by himself. A full stock of general merchandise with the exception of stoves is carried, and the store occupies two fronts and five rooms, or departments. Even with this extensive place the firm is crowded, and another building must be erected soon. Three salesmen are employed, and Mr. Erskine gives the business his entire attention, and has been re- warded by making it the leading firm in the town.

Mr. Erskine is a Republican and has served as a member of the school board for nine years ; he was one of the original promoters and trustees of the electric light plant and devoted much of his time to the establishment of the system in connection with Mr. McComb, to whom more credit is due for its accomplishment than to any other man. On May 25, 1888, he was married to Miss Minnie A. Davidson, who was born here of one of the early families. Her father, James Davidson, was born in Westfield, Pennsylvania, and after spending most of his life in Lowellville, died here November 12, 1891; he married Lovinah Nessle. Five children of Mr. and Mrs. Erskine are living :

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

James Davidson Erskine was born August 19, 1890; Margaret Esther was born July 6, 1894; William Alonzo, born October 16, 1895 ; Catherine, Febru- ary 15, 1897; and Rachel Becker, March 20, 1900. The family are mem- bers of the Disciples Church, of which he is a deacon, and they have a happy home in the old Davidson place.

DISNEY ROGERS.

A strict interpretation of the law, with absolute fearlessness in meting out even-handed justice to all, is one of the requirements of the judiciary, a violation of which principle would endanger the existence of national gov- ernment. For when the sentiment is spread that the enforcement of law is lax, crime increases and criminals run rampant, so that respect for authority is lessened, and republican institutions run the risk of degenerating into anarchy. It is the boast of Youngstown and Mahoning county that her judiciary are above reproach, and it is with one of this able body of jurists that this brief biography has to deal, the judge of the court of common pleas.

There is an interesting bit of ancestral history connected with the life of Judge Rogers, which it will be well to record at this point. The Rogers family is of Welsh origin, and one of the ancestors was an officer in Cromwell's army, whose name was John Rossell. He afterward came to America and settled in Newtown, Long Island, in 1650. One of his descendants was Judge William Rossell, of Mount Holly, New Jersey; for twenty-two years he was a judge of the supreme court of New Jersey, and in 1826 was appointed judge of the United States circuit court, and served on that bench for four- teen years.

Another ancestor was Dr. John Rodman, of the north of England, a man of good family, well educated and well-to-do; he was deeply religious and be- came a convert to the teachings of the famous George Fox, the founder of the religion of simplicity and freedom of conscience. This new proselyte to the Quaker faith was called into court at the assizes, and because he would not take off his hat was committed to jail by Judge Louder, and in 1655 was banished from his native land because of his religion. He went to the island of Barbadoes, West Indies, where he died in 1686. A copy of his will, which was proved before Governor Hoode, December 4, 1686, is now in the pos- session of the subject of this sketch. His sons emigrated to this country and settled in Newport, Rhode Island, and they were the forefathers of the Rodmans in America. General Isaac P. Rodman, of Rhode Island, one of the family, was a distinguished soldier. He was mortally wounded while leading his brigade in the battle of Antietam in 1862, at the Stone Bridge.

Disney Rogeren

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

Coming now to the more direct line of family history, the great-great- grandfather of Judge Rogers was William Rogers, born in Wales, it is said. He was commissioned a lieutenant in New Jersey in 1705, by Lord Cornbury, governor of New York and New Jersey. His grandson Thomas was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1740, and died in Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, in 1817; he was a farmer and also a Friend. His son, also named Thomas, was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1770; he remained at home until 1804, when he came west with his wife and family and entered land in what is now Middleton township, Columbiana county, Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1856 at the age of eighty-six years. His son James, who was born on December 30, 1812, was reared on this farm and still resides there. He was married November 3, 1842, to Miss Elizabeth D. Jamieson, and this brings us to the consideration of the maternal line of the family history of Judge Rogers.

The branch of the family from which Elizabeth D. Jamieson is descended lived from 1747 to 1782 in the town of Thornhill, parish of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland. One Allan Jamieson married a Miss Wallace, of Ellerslie, a member of the family of the great Sir William Wallace. There is also some relationship with Robert Bruce. The Rev. John Jamieson, D. D., who came from Scotland to America in 1783, a graduate of St. Andrews University, and a noted preacher of the United Presbyterian church in western Pennsylvania, was a son of Allan Jamieson. In another line, Elizabeth D. Jamieson's great-grandfather was Cornelius Hutcheson, a native of Scot- land, who in early boyhood came to America with his father. During the Revolution he was a private soldier in Captain Matthew Scott's Company, Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line, which was after- ward consolidated with the Second Pennsylvania Infantry, under the command of General Walter Stewart. In this company he participated in all the fights about Philadelphia, including the battle of Monmouth. Archibald Jamieson, the son-in-law of the last named, was a soldier in the war of 1812, so that on both sides the family is well represented in the wars of this country.

The children born to the union of James Rogers and Elizabeth D. Jamieson were eleven in number, and the nine now living are as follows : Disney; Volney, an attorney, ex-city solicitor of Youngstown, the projector of the Mill Creek Park and a member of the board of park commissioners of Youngstown; Minnie J., the wife of R. L. Randall, of Negley, Ohio; Dio, ex-city solicitor of Steubenville, Ohio, and a leading member of the Jefferson county bar ; L. Rogers, M. D., of Negley, Ohio; Bruce, superintend- ent of Mill Creek Park, Youngstown, Ohio; James L., a farmer at South

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

Haven, Minnesota ; Dr. Z. L., of Negley, Ohio; John H., a farmer at Mill Rock, Ohio.

The lines of descent briefly mentioned above converge and meet in Disney Rogers, whose life forms the principal topic of this article. He was born at the old place in Columbiana county, Ohio, December 19, 1844, and passed the entire period of his youth on the farm, acquiring a good common school education in the country schools and at the New Lisbon high school. He began earning his own way by teaching school in his own county when nineteen years of age, which he continued for two years. He took up the study of law with Hon. James L. Smith, of New Lisbon, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. A partnership was then formed with Judge Bertrand Andrews, of Mount Gilead, Ohio, which lasted till 1874, and while a resident of that town Mr. Rogers served for some years as city clerk. In the fall of 1874 he came to Youngstown, and he and his brother, Hon. Volney Rogers, formed a partnership. In Youngstown Disney Rogers took a positive posi- tion at the bar, and besides gaining a good practice soon won his way into the political life of the county. In 1884 he was chosen prosecuting attorney of the county and was re-elected in 1887. He retired at the end of his second term and spent his time in private practice until 1900, when he was elected judge of the court of common pleas of Mahoning county, which is his present official position.

In 1869 Judge Rogers was married to Miss Ida S. Andrews, the daugh- ter of Judge Bertrand Andrews, at that time his law partner. One son was born to this union, James B., a mining engineer of Leetonia, Ohio. Judge Rogers has believed in and supported the policies of the Republican party since his youth ; he is a member of the Baptist church, and affiliates with the Odd Fellows and with the Sons of the American Revolution.

ISAIAH J. NESSLE.

This gentleman is one of the prominent citizens of Lowellville, Mahoning county, Ohio, and has been known for a number of years as a mechanic and stonemason and contractor. His father, John B. Nessle, was also a prominent man in this county, was born in Montgomery county, New York, April 24, 1818, and came to Poland township, this county, in 1835. He was a shoe- maker by trade and worked at that occupation most of his life. He went with his father to Chautauqua county, New York, and helped him to clear up a farm, after which he was a raftsman and pilot on the Ohio river to Pitts- burg and Cairo. He was a Whig and later a Republican ; was active in pro- moting anti-slavery agitation, and helped run the "underground railroad;"

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

was interested in public affairs, came within seven votes of being chosen county commissioner, was justice of the peace and school trustee, and was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln, holding that office for nearly twenty-five years. He came to Lowellville in 1836 and in 1839 he married Jane Pettigrew, who was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1821. The following are the children of this marriage: Catherine Jane was born April 10, 1840, and died August 16, 1847. William Henry, born July 9, 1841, was a captain in the Civil war, was in the Hayes regiment and in the same company with William Mckinley, entered the service as orderly ser- geant and came out as captain; he had a wife and three children, and his death occurred in Washington city while in the treasury department under Hayes, March 11, 1880. The third child is Isaiah, whose life will be sketched in the following paragraph. Louisa H., born December 22, 1845, was the wife of Frederick Heiliger and died April 5, 1890, leaving eight of her nine sons. John B. is a confectionery jobber in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and has a wife and five sons living ; he was born April 24, 1847. Darlin T. was born Feb- ruary II, 1849, and died August 25, 1898. Frank S., born July 17, 1853. is a commercial traveler in New York city. The mother of these children passed away July 22, 1870, at the age of nearly forty-nine, and the father died September 6, 1898, and they sleep in the beautiful Lowellville cemetery. Most of these records were taken from the old Bible of 1839, which is preserved as a precious heirloom.

Isaiah J. Nessle, the son of these parents, was born in Lowellville Septem- ber 22, 1843. Up to his thirteenth year he attended the common schools of the neighborhood. When the Civil war came on he enlisted with his brothers and served in the Western Army. He was with Sherman on the march to the sea and on the last day of the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, he was shot through the thigh. He served three years, went in as a corporal and was advanced to the sergeantcy. On his return from the war he married and then built with his own hands the house which he has lived in for the past thirty-five years. He has made money at stone contracting, and during a part of the time he was station agent here for the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Rail- road.

On September 18, 1867, Mr. Nessle was married to Miss Mary A. Little, a native of this county, and the daughter of Andrew and Lizzie Little. An- drew Little was born in Maryland in 1794, and died at the age of ninety-two in Beaver township, Mahoning county, physically and mentally strong to the last. Mr. and Mrs. Little reared all of their twelve children. Their first son, Samuel Little, was a soldier in the Civil war, went into the Sixtieth

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

Ohio when he was eighteen years old and was killed at the battle of Weldon Railroad, and now sleeps in an unknown grave. Of these twelve children three sons and three daughters are now living: Adam Little, at North Lima, Mahoning county; Eli, of Youngstown; Daniel, in Beaver township; Ho- sanah, wife of John Weland: Elizabeth and Mrs. Nessle. The first child born to Mr. and Mrs. Nessle was John B., whose birth occurred June 20, 1868, and he is now the freight agent at Mckeesport for the Pittsburg and Lake Erie, with fourteen men under his supervision. He has been in the service of this road since he was fourteen years old and has never lost a month's pay. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner, and is a very popular man with the railroad company. May, the daughter, is the wife of David Davis, and they live in the house which her father built, and have a son and a daughter. Mr. Nessle is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. in which he has held official position, and belongs to the Veteran Legion. In politics he is a Republican and has held the offices of assessor and consta- ble. His wife and her children are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Nessle is the oldest resident of the town, and never lost a vote since he became of age; he voted while in the army, being credited with the vote at Lowellville. He is one of the landmarks of this part of the state of Ohio.

WILSON S. POTTS.

The Potts family has been established in America for many generations, and is probably of Welsh extraction. There was in the early history of the country a Jonas Potts, a native of Virginia, and his son John was probably born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. James, the son of John Potts, was born in western Pennsylvania, and became a noted character in his section of the country, being a farmer, a captain of the militia and a jus- tice of the peace. He married Jane Maple, who was born in Carroll county, Ohio, and was the daughter of John Maple, also a native of Ohio.

Wilson S. Potts is the son of the last mentioned parents, and was born at Wattsville, Carroll county, Ohio, February 9, 1846. He was reared on a farm and had the common experiences of farmers' boys. While attending the common schools he gained a liking for studious pursuits from participation in the old-fashioned literary exhibition, and thus became ambitious to attend col- lege. He accordingly entered Mount College at Alliance, Ohio, but as he had to rely mainly on his own resources, his course was not completed without more difficulties than fall to the lot of the average college boy. He taught several terms of school to defray his expenses, and in 1871 was graduated, having completed the classical course. He had decided upon the law as his

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

profession and began delving into its depths as soon as he left college, but for the three years immediately following his graduation he was superintendent of the public schools at Salineville, Ohio. In the meantime he had been ad- mitted to the bar and in 1874 was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of Columbiana county. January 1, 1875, he came to Lisbon (then New Lisbon), Ohio, and embarked in the newspaper business in October of the same year, which he has now followed continuously for twenty-eight years, at the same time practicing law. And in both these professions Mr. Potts has been successful and has reaped the reward of his earlier efforts. The newspaper of which he became the editor and publisher in 1875 was the Ohio Patriot, and he now publishes it as a daily and semi-weekly.

Mr. Potts is a Democrat of the old Jeffersonian school, and has an abid- ing distrust of all protective tariffs, trusts and imperialism. The only secret society of which he is a member is the Knights of Pythias, and while he is liberal and independent in religion, he leans toward the Methodist faith. On June 17, 1873, he was married at Lisbon to Miss Elizabeth M. Wisden, and the children of this union were Mayme W. and Willis W. Potts. The former died November 26, 1890, and the latter March 19, 1902, aged twenty-six. On September, 1887, Mr. Potts married Mary E. Wisden, and they have one child, Wisden J. Mr. Potts has also adopted his little granddaughter, Eliza- beth W., into his family. The subject of this brief biography is a man of temperate habits, loves his home, and is always firm in his adherence to what he considers right.

CHARLES N. EVERSON.

Since 1892 Charles N. Everson has carried on his present business in East Liverpool as a manufacturer of and dealer in monuments. He was born in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, in 1839, and comes of a family of English origin. The great-grandfather was Richard Everson, who was born in England and became the founder of the family in America. Crossing the Atlantic to the new world, he located in Maryland, where he died at the age of one hundred and ten years. His son Nathaniel was born in Maryland and removed to Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred.

Eli Everson, the father of Charles N., was a native of Redstone, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, his natal year being 1808. He was a cooper by trade, following that pursuit throughout his active business career. He married Elizabeth Dunn and they became the parents of eleven children, ten of whom reached years of maturity, while eight are yet living, as follows: Charles N., Thomas H. B., William P., Eliza J., the wife of William Booth; David C., Lewis R., James B., and Sarah M., the wife of Sanford Wilmoth.

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

Charles N. Everson spent the first seven or eight years of his life in the place of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Washington county, Pennsylvania. They did not tarry long there, however, but went to Harrison county, Virginia, now West Virginia, where Charles N. Everson remained until 1859. In that year he became a resident of Gib- sonton, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he worked in a distillery for about two years. He afterward went upon the river as a fireman, occupy- ing that position for a year and then made his way to the oil fields of Penn- sylvania. In 1869 he took up his abode in Wellsville, Ohio, and in 1892 he came to East Liverpool, where he opened his present marble works. In the decade which he has since passed he has acquired a liberal patronage. He does a fine line of work in cutting and preparing monuments, and is now en- joying a profitable trade.

The home life of Mr. Everson has been very pleasant. He was married in 1869 to Elizabeth Hamlin, and they have become the parents of three chil- dren who are yet living, having lost two children. Those who still survive are Nathaniel R., Ada L. and Zelma V. The last named is the wife of Charles Knoblock and they have two children, Mildred A. and Martha. Mr. Everson belongs to the Church of Christ and is a valuable addition to the ranks of East Liverpool business circles because of his enterprise and reliability.

JESSE CUNNINGHAM.

Arthur Murray Cunningham, the father of the above named gentleman, was born near Kittaning, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1840, and was deprived of his mother's care when he was ten years old. He grew up in his native state and at the age of twenty-one came to Lowellville, Ohio, taking his first meal at the old hotel which stood where the Pittsburg and Lake Erie station is lo- cated. He had no capital and began work as a carpenter for the old firm of Andrew Brothers and Company at Haselton. He helped build one of the first blast furnaces in the Mahoning Valley, and on one occasion was nearly killed by a fall of twenty feet, some brick also falling from the same height upon him and he was picked up for dead. He is now a pattern-maker with the old firm and is still an active man. He was twice married and has sur- vived both his wives. In 1866 he was married to Miss Ellen Bentley, who was born in Coitsville township, Mahoning county, and died April 10, 1890, at the age of forty-three, leaving twelve children. The son John is a struc- tural iron worker in Newcastle, Pennsylvania; Lois is the wife of Albert Rock, at Elgin, Illinois; the third child was Jesse, whose life forms the basis of this biography; Lucy is the wife of Joseph Stone, in Coitsville township:

GENEALOGICAL AND FAMILY HISTORY.

Charlotte, the wife of Adam Stone, lives in Youngstown; Clarence lives at the old home with his father; William lives in Coitsville township with his sister; Ellen is the wife of Darley Little, near North Lima, Ohio; Frank is in Coitsville township; Blanche lives with her brother and sister; Arthur Murray is a youth of seventeen at home and in school; Marietta is still in school.

Jesse Cunningham was born in Coitsville township, near Haselton, Feb- ruary 17, 1872, and had a common school education up to his seventeenth year, and then one year in the high school. But at the age of eighteen he left home and went to Freedom, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in carpentering for six months. He had acquired this mechanical skill by working with his father. He then began working in a casket factory and was there five and a half years, becoming so proficient that during the last two years he was foreman of fifteen or twenty men. In 1896 he came to Lowell- ville and established his present undertaking and furniture business, begin- ning on a small scale. For the first year he was alone, Cunningham and Headland were in business one year, then he was by himself for two years, and in September, 1900, the present firm of Cunningham and Davidson was established. This is now one of the largest and most prosperous houses in the town, although it was the only one of its kind and limited in size when it started. It occupies three floors, forty by thirty-six, and another building forty by sixty, two stories, with a basement barn, in which are kept the seven horses of the establishment, there being two especially good teams for the two hearses. A man and a woman are employed as salesmen, and in con- nection with the main business is a picture frame and repair shop. In 1903 they will erect another building for the furniture business.

Before leaving Freedom Mr. Cunningham was married on June 6, 1894, to Miss Mary E. Groah of Belleview, Pennsylvania, and the daughter of William Groah. Two of the children of this union are living: Jesse Lawrence was born in Freedom May 3, 1895, and Virginia Marie was born October 7, 1898. Mr. Cunningham has been prominent in fraternal relations : he has passed all but the last of the chairs in the Knights of Pythias; he is a charter member of the Protective Home Circle, which was established in Lowellville May 16, 1900, and he has passed all the chairs, was the delegate to the Grand Lodge in Toledo in June, 1902, and was there elected to the posi- tion of alternate representative to the Grand Lodge to be held in Buffalo in 1903. He is a Republican, a member of the United Presbyterian Church, a member of the board of education and clerk of the board of health. He was one of the three charter members of the Electric Light Company of Lowell-

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Genealogical and family history of eastern Ohio, Part 9

Author: Summers, Ewing, comp Publication date: 1903 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 836

Author: Summers, Ewing, comp
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 836