USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio > Part 33
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Judge Stewart was a stalwart champion of the cause of education and he did all in his power to promote the interests of the public schools and to raise
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the standard of instruction. The project of the Loudonville Academy origi- nated in a conversation between the judge and one or two of his associates. He did not rest until it was an established fact and was always untiring in his efforts to sustain and cherish the school. His house was a favorite resort with its students and was always open for their reception. He was appointed the first assessor of internal revenue and discharged his duties with great faith- fulness and general acceptance. He also held the office of assistant provost marshal in his district at the time of the Civil war and his patriotism was of the highest and most unselfish character. His early political allegiance was given to the whig party but when the republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks and remained one of its stal- wart advocates until his demise. However, with him the general welfare was ever ahead of partisanship and the good of the community before personal aggrandize- ment. His life was the antithesis of self-centered interests and no movement for the benefit of his fellowmen or for the county at large failed to receive his endorsement and, wherever possible, his cooperation. For nearly forty years he was an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and was one of the eight charter members of Hanover Lodge of Loudonville. He also belonged to the chapter and was in hearty sympathy with the organization in its recognition of the brotherhood of mankind and the fatherhood of God. He was a faithful adherent of the Presbyterian church, loyal to its teachings and generous in its support.
It was in 1837 that Judge Stewart was united in marriage to Miss Emeline Chappell, a daughter of Caleb Chappell, who was born at South Kingston, Rhode Island, in 1768. When quite young he removed to northwestern Vermont, where he married Charlotte Sperry, a native of Connecticut. During his residence there he was not only active in the business life of the community but was also a sergeant and lieutenant and held the commission of captain of the militia. At length the stories which he heard concerning the opportunities of the west proved irresistible and with his wife and children, two sons and two daughters, he started for Ohio in the autumn of 1813, traveling all the way by wagon. The roads were often in an almost impassable condition owing to the rain which made the mud very deep. Mrs. Chappell rode in a one-horse wagon, driving all the way herself, and after six weeks the little party halted upon the bank of the Owl creek, in Knox county, and were cordially welcomed by John Shrimplin and his family, who extended to them the generous hospitality which was a feature of pioneer life. The following spring Caleb Chappell located on the present site of Loudonville, made a clearing and built a log cabin a few rods from a spring on what is now the Whitney place. The following spring he removed his family to the new home and in the meantime he had assisted the surveyor in laying out the town of Loudonville. There were no roads down the Black Fork, hence the family and household goods were moved upon a keelboat which landed near Bull's meadow. The children made their way through the high prairie grass to the cabin of Stephen Butler, which stood on the site of the Ohio House, and all the land save a little spot around the cabin was covered with a dense thicket. Mr. Chappell not only took up the task of clearing and improv- ing the place for himself but also in making the first improvements of a public
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nature, including a bridge over the Black Fork. It was very different from the modern structures that now span the streams, as one had to mount to the bridge by a ladder at either end. In a short time the Chappells moved into their own cabin which as yet had no fireplace, while a blanket was hung across the opening where the door is usually found. Yet this house was an improvement upon many of the early cabins, as it had a shingle roof and a glass window and a floor of sawed boards. Up to that time most of the houses had clapboard roofs, greased-paper windows and puncheon floors. In the warm weather it was a common practice to suspend a thick blanket from a joist in front of the fireplace, thus forming two rooms and making a more comfortable sitting and dining room. After a few months a twelve light glass window was added, it being the first and only one in the county for many years. The Indians were frequent visitors at the Chappell and other cabins. Deer were to be had in abundance, together with many other kinds of wild game, and there were also bears and wolves in the forests. Mr. Chappell was not only a farmer but also a carpenter and joiner and a first-class mechanic and assisted in building the first mill at_that locality. He also built another mill in which the lumber for the gristmill was
sawed. He likewise erected the first frame buildings in this region and in 1820 built a frame barn for himself. In 1819 he built the first schoolhouse of Loudon- ville and it served as well for the meeting house and town hall until about 1836. Mr. Chappell continued to improve his place and work at his trade until his death, which occurred in 1834. He could recollect the Revolutionary war, saw the arrival of the French fleet and frequently entertained his neighbors with accounts of his own and the experiences of others. Mrs. Chappell survived her husband only three years, dying in February, 1837.
It was in the pioneer home of this worthy couple that Mrs. Emeline Stewart was reared. She was born in Charlotte, Chittenden county, Vermont, March 3, 1812, and had come with her parents to Loudonville, as previously described. Her girlhood days were thus passed on what is now known as the Whitney farm and as a member of the Chappell household was connected with many of the early events which are now points of historic interest. Mrs. Stewart received her early educational training from her mother and attended the first school taught in the first schoolhouse built in Hanover township. When a young woman she engaged in teaching. She was a lady of strong intellect, firm pur- pose and great perseverance and yet of warm heart. In April, 1837, she gave her hand in marriage to Judge George H. Stewart, and in Loudonville they reared their family, the children as well as the parents always being identified with the best interests of the town. The lot of the first Methodist Episcopal church of Loudonville and also of the first German church were donated by Judge Stewart, and in all of his good work Mrs. Stewart shared, while in the home she was the presiding genius of love and hospitality.
Unto Judge and Mrs. Stewart were born eight children. Miss Charlotte Ann Stewart, to whom we are indebted for the interesting material concerning her honored parents and ancestors, was born in Loudonville January 20, 1838, pursued her education here in the public schools and the Loudonville Academy and later entered the Ashland high school and subsequently the Olome Institute at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, where she was graduated with first honors
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September 26, 1860. She then began teaching and most of her work has been in connection with the high schools of Ohio. About thirty years of her life .were devoted to that profession and during much of that period she was a high-school principal. In 1887 she was one of the guests of honor at the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Ohio Teachers Association and she has also been active in the National Educational Association. In 1896 she became one of the organizers of the Progress Club of Loudonville, formed to promote literary investigation and knowledge. Her influence has been a most potent factor in the educational progress of this state and few are so thoroughly and widely informed concerning the history of Ashland county as is Miss Charlotte A. Stewart. Eliza Thompson, the second daughter of the family, was born in Loudonville, January 14, 1840, and pursued her education in the Loudonville Academy and the Vermillion Institute at Hayesville, Ohio. . She became noted for her spicy writings and entertaining essays. She taught in the high schools of Ohio and Iowa unti' her marriage and since that time has continued private classes. In 1876 she became the wife of Enos S. Culver, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. £ Mary Emeline,
who was born in Loudonville, August 23, 1842, became the wife of Dr. A. B. Fuller, December 31, 1868, and died May 9, 1891, her death striking a cord of sympathy in every heart. She received a liberal education in what was then Loudonville Academy and engaged in teaching until her marriage. At the age
Her literary of sixteen she became a member of the Presbyterian church. taste and Christian refinement fitted her for social influence as well as to reign in the happy home circle. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Fuller were born four children, two daughters and two sons, but one of the sons passed away before the mother's death. With her husband and daughter, Mary, she spent the winter prior to her death in Florida, but the sojourn in the sunny south did not avail, as her many friends had hoped it would, to prolong her health. She took an active
interest in the Ladies Missionary Society of the Presbyterian church and in all those movements which were of benefit in promoting the social, intellectual and moral progress of the community. James Thompson, the fourth member of the family of Judge Stewart, died in infancy. Sutiah Margaret died in childhood. George Harris, born in Loudonville May 17, 1849, has been a banker of Zanesville throughout his entire business career.
Xenophon Chappell was born at
Loudonville January 18, 1852, and died at the old family home in that town July 4, 1904. He was educated in the public schools and the Loudonville Academy, with some study at Oberlin. During most of his business life he was connected with Zanesville, although for a few years he was in New York city. He had been for some time with the Zanesville Railway Light & Power Company. On the 9th of March, 1882, in Zanesville, he married Miss Clara Rishtine, who died two years prior to his demise. Margaret Harris, the youngest member of the Stewart family, was born in Loudonville, Ohio, August 6, 1854, and died May 3, 1909. She was educated in the public schools of the town and was the wife of Dr. Cyrus Levi Buckwalter, of Loudonville, the only son of Levi and Saba (Beals) Buckwalter, the former a native of Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, and the latter of Berks county, Pennsylvania. Dr. Buckwalter was born on a farm near West Lebanon in Paint township, Wayne county, Ohio, Novem- ber 9, 1845. His education was acquired in the district schools and in private
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academies and in 1864 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Regiment of Ohio National Guards Volunteers. After being discharged he taught school during the winter months for some time. He commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Fuller and Dr. Wirt in Loudonville, Ohio. In the spring of 1872 he graduated from the medical department of the University of Wooster and commenced the practice of his profession in New Washington, Crawford county, Ohio, and remained there about five years. During this time he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret H. Stewart at her home in Loudonville, Ohio, May 14, 1874. He then moved with his family to Millersburg, Holmes county, Ohio, to engage in the practice of dentistry with his uncle, Oliver Buckwalter, with whom he remained until 1879, when he opened an office of his own in Loudon- ville and continued until 1903, when almost total deafness compelled him to give up his professional work. This was a great disappointment to an active, industrious man with a growing family, depending upon his exertions. He did not give up in despair, however, but employed his mind in perfecting various devices for use in dentistry. In January, 1905, he was granted a patent in the United States and Canada for the Eureka suction plate, which has proved a very successful invention and is now in general use. He later invented and patented a new and useful improvement in audiphones. With this instru- ment he was enabled once more to hear the voices of his friends in ordinary conversation. He became interested in ærial navigation and invented and had patented an air ship which involves a principle contained in no other up to this date. The only surviving members of his family of five sons and one daughter are: Ware J. Buckwalter, an expert engraver and etcher on gold and silver, employed in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the youngest son, Ralph G. Buckwalter.
Such in brief is the life history of Judge Stewart and those who were most closely associated with him through family ties. Death came to him February 2, 1883, when he had reached the age of seventy-three years, three months and twenty-four days. For fifty years he was well known in Loudonville and the county and his public-spirited and unselfish interest in every enterprise made his life one of acknowledged worth to the community. He performed countless little ministries to those with whom he came in contact and his life was character- ized by a generous support of every movement of benefit to the individual and to the district at large. He outlived every resident who was in Loudonville at the time of his arrival, he witnessed the building of every church and gave liberally of his means to those enterprises. He was generous almost to a fault and it might be said of him, as it was of Goldsmith's village preacher, "E'en his failings leaned to virtue's side." An honorable, upright man and a con- sistent Christian, his memory is yet enshrined in the hearts of all who knew him.
EDMUND P. SMITH.
Edmund P. Smith, deceased, was one of those men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle excited the admiration of his fellowmen. He was, moreover, well known throughout Ohio as a successful farmer and stock
OPSmith
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raiser. He was born in Wayne county, this state, August 31, 1834, a son of Robert W. and Priscilla (Hatch) Smith, the former being, in his day, a well known agriculturist who devoted the greater part of his time and attention to the raising and feeding of Durham cattle.
Reared to farm life, Edmund P. Smith made that line of activity his life work, his time and attention being divided between the cultivation of a fine farm which he owned in Milton township and the raising and feeding of stock. He became well known throughout the community as a feeder of Durham cattle, while he made a specialty of raising sheep, in which connection he became very successful. He was recognized as the leading sheep raiser in Ohio, while his reputation as a judge of that animal extended even beyond the boundaries of this state and his word was taken as authority on all matters pertaining to the sheep industry. His unfaltering perseverance and untiring industry were factors in his success and at the time of his death he was one of the prosperous and representative citizens of the community, having acquired a well earned and gratifying competence as the result of his earnest labor.
In 1861, when the country became involved in Civil war, Mr. Smith espoused the cause of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company C, under Captain Bushnell, and this company became a part of the Forty-second Ohio Regiment under the command of Colonel Garfield. IIe served for almost four years, for a time on General Garfield's staff and later filling the position of quartermaster sergeant. In 1864, however, he was called home by the death of his eldest brother and while there was taken ill with a fever which subsequently developed into rheumatism. Unable to return to his regiment on account of ill health, he was relieved from further service. The duties of his private business, which had been laid aside at the time of his country's call for aid, were again resumed and he devoted himself to farming and kindred interests until his demise.
On the 24th of November, 1857, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Smith and Ellen E. Hoy, born August 28, 1835. She was the daughter of Charles Hoy, of Jackson township, Wayne county, Ohio, who fought in the war of 1812. Unto this marriage was born one daughter, Julia Moore Smith, who passed away in 1888. In his wife Mr. Smith found indeed a true helpmate, who, while her husband was away fighting for the honor of his country, remained at home, conducted the affairs of the farm and successfully fought the battles there with as much skill and bravery as was shown by many a soldier at the front.
The 14th of December, 1890, Mr. Smith was called to his final rest, leaving his widow upon the beautiful farm that had been her home throughout her entire married life and upon which she still resides. Both were members of the Congregational church and Mr. Smith kept up close relations with his old army comrades in his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, while his wife belonged to the Women's Relief Corps. He was an ardent republican, exerting all his influence toward the success of the party that had upheld the Union in her darkest hour. Noble and trustworthy in citizenship, his devotion to the general good was unquestioned, while in his home he was a kind and loving husband and an affectionate father. A high type of manhood, he stood for all that was honorable and upright in man's relation with his fellowmen and never lost an opportunity to do a kind act. The circle of his friends was coextensive
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with the circle of his acquaintance, and thus the news of his demise came as a blow to the community in which he had been so loved and respected. Few have ever enjoyed more completely the confidence and respect of their fellow citizens, none have more richly deserved such confidence or more sincerely appreciated it.
OLIVER B. RICHARDS, M. D.
Among the worthy men devoting their time and talents to the practice of medicine in Nova, Troy township, this county, is Dr. Oliver B. Richards, whose birth occurred in Orange township, April 9, 1849, a son of Samuel and Rachael (Bowman) Richards, natives of Mahoning county, who came to this place in 1829, shortly after they were united in marriage, settling on a tract of land in Orange township, which was at that time practically covered with forests. His mother was the last born of a family of twelve children while her son, Oliver B., was the eleventh child in a family of the same number. His father cleared the timber off the land upon which he located and engaged in farming until the year 1859, when he removed to the village of Nova, where he lived in retirement, at the same time supervising the management of his farm until he departed this life, in the year 1878, having survived his wife by four years.
Among their children was Oliver B. Richards, who spent his boyhood days assisting his father in the duties of the farm, in the meantime acquiring his preliminary education in the district schools and later completing a course of study at Oberlin College and Savannah Academy. He entered upon the study of medicine with his brother-in-law, Dr. George Weidman, of this place and sub- sequently obtained his degree from the medical department of Wooster Univer- sity in 1874, having also a diploma from the Western Reserve University. The year he received his degree from Wooster University Medical School he began the practice of his profession at this place, locating in his present office thirty- five years ago. His natural talents and disposition fit him for his profession and he stands high in the confidence of the people and draws a liberal patronage from the surrounding community. Scholarly in his tastes he keeps abreast of the times regarding the advancement made in sciences pertaining to his profession, being very proficient in the several departments of materia medica. At the same time he has acquired the reputation of being a careful and skillful surgeon. He belongs to the County Medical Society.
On March 26, 1874, Dr. Richards wedded Miss Sarah Rickett, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Shopbell) Rickett, whose father followed farming in this county for many years and is now living in retirement at the advanced age of eighty-six years, while her mother departed this life in 1900. To Dr. and Mrs. Richards were born four children, namely : Edwin S., a rural mail carrier; Wilbur S., deceased; John O., an agriculturist of Sullivan township; and Elizabeth, deceased. Dr. Richards is a republican in politics, well informed upon all matters pertaining to political economy and the nation's affairs. Although he has repeatedly refused the requests of his associates to become a candidate for office, his interest in local affairs has led him to serve in a number
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of township positions and for ten consecutive years he has been treasurer and also a member of the school board for a number of terms. He was clerk of the board when the new brick school building was constructed. Religious matters also receive the attention of Dr. Richards and he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in which organization he has held every office and for sixteen years was superintendent of the Sunday school. His son now holds that office while the doctor still is a zealous Sunday school worker and teacher of a large Bible class. He is a public-spirited man, advocating all measures designed for the good of the community and upon the whole he occu- pies a prominent place in the estimation of the citizens of the community and enjoys their utmost confidence.
EZBON H. SMITH.
Ezbon H. Smith, of Savannah, who is now serving as road commissioner, was born in Clear Creek township, Ashland county, Ohio, on the 14th of Janu- ary, 1848, his parents being John and Eleanor (Bailey) Smith, natives of Troy and Clear Creek townships respectively. The first representatives of the family in this state came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, while the paternal grandfather, Henry Smith, who was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, eventually took up his abode in this county and became a prominent factor in its early development and upbuilding, being an extensive landowner and influential citizen. John Smith, the father of our subject, who successfully carried on agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career, passed away in Savannah a number of years ago. In 1849 he had made his way to California but returned to Ohio after a period of four years. His family numbered two sons, namely: John M., a resident of Oklahoma; and Ezbon H., of this review.
Ezbon H. Smith spent his youthful days on the home farm and acquired his education in the country schools. In 1864 he enlisted as a member of Com- pany E, Fifth Ohio Cavalry, for three years or during the war, and saw active service until the close of hostilities. He went with Sherman through Georgia and when at last the supremacy of the Union had been established, he partici- pated in that celebrated military pageant-the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. Though often in the thickest of the fight, he was fortunate in that he was never wounded and reurned home with a most creditable record as a soldier. In 1867 he went to California, being there engaged in mining for a time, and on his return to this county he became identified with farming pursuits in Clear Creek township, where he thus continued until 1904, since which time he has made his home in Savanah.
On the 27th of December, 1870, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss May Sellers, a daughter of Elias C. and Eleanor (Bowers) Sellers, of Richland county, who came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and Columbiana county, Ohio, respectively. Elias C. Sellers was a farmer by occupation and at an early day assisted in clearing land in this portion of the state, being a
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helpful factor in its pioneer development. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born three children: William A .; Etta B .; the wife of Arthur Fair, an agri- culturist of Clear Creek township; and Horace B.
In his political views Mr. Smith has always been a democrat and is interested in the growth and success of his party. He has been township trustee and school director and at present is serving in the capacity of road commissioner, ever discharging his official duties in a prompt and capable manner. He gives loyal support to every measure and movement calculated to prove of public good or promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community. He , and his family are devoted members of the Baptist church, in the work of which they take an active and helpful interest. He finds recreation in fishing and the game of checkers, being an expert player. Practically his entire life has been spent in this county and he is widely recognized as one of its most sub- stantial, representative and progressive citizens.
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