USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio > Part 43
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Mr. Kunkel gives his political allegiance to the democracy and for seven years has served continuously as a member of the city council, proving a faithful and efficient publie official. He is interested in the city's welfare and has taken an active and helpful part in every movement or measure instituted for its advancement along moral, intellectual and material lines. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, with which his wife is also identified. He has made his home in this county from early boyhood and the principles that have actuated his life have ever been such as to win for him the highest esteem and good will of his fellow townsmen.
ARTHUR LeROY GARRISON, M. D.
Dr. Arthur LeRoy Garrison is one of the younger members of the medical fraternity, and although he has been located in Sullivan only for the past six years, he has a well established practice, which is constantly increasing each year. He is a native son of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in Rochester township, Lorain county, his parents being George M. and Almeda (Jones) Garrison. The father was formerly engaged in merchandising in Rochester and both he and his wife still survive.
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Dr. Garrison pursued his early education in the schools of Rochester, this being supplemented by a course in Berea College, at Berea, this state. Being favorably impressed with the profession of medicine as a life work, to this end he matriculated in the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Cleveland, com- pleting his course, however, in Western Reserve University of that city with the class of 1902, his expenses being met by the money which he had saved from teaching for three years in the schools of Lorain, after he had completed his literary course. Following his graduation in 1902, he spent one year in hospital work in Cleveland, whereby he gained practical knowledge of the science of medicine and surgery and thus he was well qualified to engage in practice on his own account, when in 1903 he opened an office in Ravenna. However, Sullivan seemed to offer better opportunities for a general practitioner and after six months spent in Ravenna, he came to the latter city, opening an office here in January, 1903. From the beginning he met with success and it was but a short time ere he had a well established practice for he has demonstrated his skill and ability in the handling of many complex medical problems and his services are in almost constant demand.
Dr. Garrison chose as a companion and helpmate for the journey of life Miss Frances M. Campbell, the wedding ceremony being performed on the 8th of June, 1901. £ Mrs. Garrison is a daughter of Frank and Hannah (Lewis) Campbell, the former a prominent agriculturist of Lorain county, Ohio, and a veteran of the Civil war. The marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Garrison has been blessed with two daughters, Christine J. and Hortense L., but the latter is now deceased.
Politically the Doctor is a republican, while as a public-spirited citizen he is a strong advocate of good roads, good schools and all public movements which are calculated to better conditions and the best interests of his home locality. As a diversion from his professional duties he gives his leisure hours to the raising of chickens, being a fancier of high grade poultry and he is also a great lover of all kinds of thoroughbred animals. The Doctor is highly esteemed in Sullivan and vicinity, not only as a professional man but also as a citizen and friend of humanity who lives for the good he can do to his fellowman.
JOHN A. CREVELING.
John A. Creveling, who since September, 1905, has served as postmaster at Nankin, was born in Orange township, Ashland county, Ohio, on the 27th of April, 1867, his parents being Francis and Rebecca (Duck) Creveling. The father, whose birth occurred in November, 1840, followed agricultural pursuits in Orange township throughout his active business career. He was an upright, industrious citizen, interested in all movements pertaining to the general wel- fare, and gave his political support to the republican party. For many years he was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which he passed away on the 1st of February, 1908. His wife still survives and is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community in which she resides.
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John A. Creveling, the eldest in a family of six children, four of whom are still living, a brother and sister being deceased, was reared upon the old homestead place and divided his time in his youthful years between attendance at the schools of Nankin and the assistance which he gave his father in the work of the home farm. When twenty-four years of age he was married and for eleven years afterward was actively engaged in general agricultural pursuits. Failing health, however, convinced him of the necessity of securing employment requiring less physical exertion and in the spring of 1902 he came to Nankin with his family, accepting a clerkship with I. L. Fortney, who conducted a general mercantile store. He remained in that position until September, 1905, when he was appointed postmaster at Nankin, in which capacity he has served in a satisfactory and efficient manner to the present time. He has also studied photography and has become quite an expert in the use of the camera, making a specialty of postcard work, which proves a source of diversion as well as of revenue.
On the 4th of March, 1891, Mr. Creveling was united in marriage to Miss Sarah M. Murray, a daughter of Wilson and Isabelle (Stowe) .Murray, of Richland county, the father being a prominent agriculturist. Unto our subject and his wife have been born four children, namely: Connor M., Virgil W., Esther M. and Rhea A.
In his political views Mr. Creveling is a stanch republican and has been prominent and active in the local councils of the party. He and the members of his family belong to the Presbyterian church and take a helpful part in both church and Sunday school work. They are likewise popular and prominent in social circles, their many excellent traits of character having won for them the warm esteem and regard of all with whom they have come in contact. Mr. Creveling has always lived in this county, so that his acquaintance is a wide one, and that he is best liked where best known is an indication that his salient characteristics are those which command respect and good will.
HON. GEORGE W. BRUBAKER.
Hon. George W. Brubaker is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. He is accounted one of the leading farmers of Lake township and while successfully controlling his agricultural interests he has at the same time been a factor in the public life of the community and has been honored by his fellow townsmen with various local offices while twice he has been called to represent his district in the state legislature. A native of Pennsylvania he was born in Bedford county, January 12, 1828, his parents being George and Elizabeth (Burkhart) Brubaker. The father was born November 17, 1798, in Pennsylvania, and the mother's birth occurred near Altoona, that state, on the 5th of October, 1801. They were married November 28, 1819, and spent several years of their early married life in Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, after which they went to Fayette county and in 1834 arrived in Ohio. The journey westward was made in a covered wagon drawn by three horses and after
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE W. BRUBAKER
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a long and weary trip through the forests they reached Mohican township and established their home near Mohicanville in that part of Wayne county which is now a part of Ashland county. Mr. Brubaker at once built a log cabin, eighteen by twenty feet in the midst of the dense forest. It had a puncheon floor and its furnishings were of a most primitive character. The father at once began to clear his land and place it under the plow while the family ex- perienced many of the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life. Both he and his wife spent their last days in Lake township where his death occurred in January, 1862, while his wife passed away March 18, 1887. He had devoted his entire life to general farming, thus providing a comfortable living for his family while his labors were also an element in the reclamation of a wild western district which through the work of Mr. Brubaker and others was converted into a prosperous and populous section. In politics he was a Jacksonian democrat, stanchly advocating the principles promulgated by "Old Hickory," for whom he voted. He also cast a presidential ballot for James Monroe and as the years passed he continued to support the democratic nominees until he was called from this life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also belonged. Their family numbered ten children: John, Ephraim and Joseph, all now deceased; Margaret, who became the wife of the Rev. A. K. Owen, both of whom have now passed away; George W .; Elias P., living in Shandon, California; Mary Elizabeth, who married Dewitt Kean, both now deceased; Harrison A., who has departed this life; Thomas M., who died in early life; and Nancy Magdalene, the deceased wife of A. C. Kean, a brother of Dewitt Kean.
The Hon. George W. Brubaker was an infant at the time of the removal of the family to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and was but six years of age when he arrived in Ohio so that practically his entire life has been passed in Ashland county. He was reared amid the wild scenes and environments of the frontier and remained upon the old homestead until twenty-one years of age, aiding in the work of clearing and cultivating the land. From early boyhood he was very active and at a time when most boys are concerned with the duties of the schoolroom and the pleasures of the playground he was engaged in driving a team in the fields taking part in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. He became an expert cradler. When he began work of that character the cradle which he used was a very inferior construction but he kept making demands for a better cradle until he had one that suited him and with it he cradled eight acres of wheat in a day while later he cut ten acres in a day. Afterward he cut oats at the rate of eleven acres in a day on a field of seven acres. His cradle had an edge of fifty-four inches. His record surpassed any that has ever been made in this part of the state. He was blessed with great strength, vigor and endurance and could split one thousand rails in a day. He learned how best to conserve and use his energy and in his sixty-eighth year he cut one hun- dred shocks of corn with one hundred hills to the shock. He remained upon the old homestead until he attained his majority, at which time his father purchased a farm near the present home of our subject in Lake township and a removal was made to that place.
Mr. Brubaker's educational privileges in his boyhood were extremely limited but when nineteen years of age he became a student in Hayesville
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Academy for three years and afterward took up the profession of teaching as a part of his regular work, continuing in active connection with the schools from 1848 until 1884, teaching each winter in the district schools. That he enjoyed a most excellent reputation in this direction goes without saying for his long connection with the schools at once manifests the ability which he displayed in his work. For one year he was superintendent of the Loudonville schools but most of the time taught in the country. In the summer months during his early manhood he worked on farms in the neighborhood and eventually took up farm- ing on his own account. He has done considerable clearing, having cleared about sixty acres in Lake township in addition to the work which he did in that direc- tion in Mohican township. He was married in 1852 and purchased a small farm of fifty-seven acres in Green township in 1854. In the spring of 1855 he removed to his present home on section 6, Lake township, where he has since resided. His first purchase made him owner of seventy acres to which he has added from time to time until he now has three hundred acres in his home farm and an additional tract of one hundred and eight acres in Green township. The present substantial buildings on his place were erected by him and much of the land was cleared by Mr. Brubaker who has always been an energetic, indus- trious man, accomplishing what he has undertaken by reason of his persistency of purpose and capable management. He now makes a specialty of raising horses and at one time he also engaged quite extensively in raising sheep and hogs, his live-stock interests being an important feature of his place although he also gave considerable attention to the cultivation of grain. He practiced the rotation of crops, gave his soil needed rest and as the years passed annually. gathered large harvests.
On the 21st of October, 1852, Mr. Brubaker was united in marriage to Miss Susanna Smith, who was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, July 14, 1829, and came to Ohio with her parents in the fall of 1834. She is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Barkdale) Smith, who were natives of Maryland, but spent their last days in Green township, Ashland county. On the journey westward they had a single horse hitched to a wagon in which they put their. three little children and the household goods, while the father and mother walked most of the way. At length they settled in Jeromeville, which was then a part of Wayne county and subsequently took up their abode in Green town- ship, where Mrs. Brubaker remained until her marriage. She was one of a family of six sons and six daughters and by her marriage she became the mother of ten children : Emma Elizabeth, the wife of Abel Goudy, who resides near Jeromesville; Simpson A., who died at the age of three years; Saphronia, the wife of H. A. Cooper, of Ashland; Mary L., the wife of S. E. Mckinley, of Hayesville : Rosella, the wife of R. F. Helbert, now deceased; Diantha, the wife of Reuben M. Butler, of Wayne county, Ohio; Edson O., of Lake township, who is living on the farm where his grandparents died; Anna Belle, the wife of Willis McGuire, of Vermillion township; George W., living in Green township; and a son who died in infancy.
Mr. Brubaker has been a lifelong democrat, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party. He cast his first presidential vote for James Buchanan and he can remember the presidential campaigns of William Henry Harrison, Polk, Taylor
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and Pierce. He has filled several local offices, serving as clerk and trustee while for nine years he was justice of the peace, his decisions during that time being strictly fair and impartial. In the fall of 1893 he was elected to the lower house of representatives and served so faithfully in the assembly that he was reelected for a second term in 1895. He thus aided in shaping the legislation of the state, giving to each question which came up for settlement his earnest consideration. When fifteen years of age he united with the Methodist Episco- pal church and his Christian faith has been the guiding spirit of his entire life. He has served as class leader and recording steward in the Mohican church, has taken a very active part in this work and contributed generously to its support. Mr. Brubaker is a remarkably well preserved man for though he has now passed the eighty-first milestone on life's journey he possesses the strength and vigor of many a man in his prime and in spirit and interest seems yet in middle life. He has never felt, as so many do, that with advancing years he should withdraw from the activities and interests of the present and concentrate his thoughts upon memories of the past but is alive to all of the vital questions of the day, keeping informed on all of the issues which affect local and national progress. His memory, however, forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present and few men of this part of the county are more thoroughly informed concerning its history or the events which have shaped its annals. He has himself borne a most active part in the transformation of the county as it has emerged from the conditions of pioneer life and taken on all of the evidences of a modern and progressive civilization. No man of the community is more honored and respected than George W. Brubaker and no man more fully deserves the confidence and good will thus extended.
GEORGE P. RIEBEL, M. D.
Although one of the younger members of the medical profession in Ashland, his age does not seem a bar to his progress, for since opening his office here Dr. Riebel has become well known as a physician and surgeon, with a large and growing practice. He is one of Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Columbus, March 9, 1881. His parents were Augustus and Margaret (Seeger) Riebel, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to the United States with his parents when about fourteen or sixteen years of age, the family home being established upon a farm in Franklin county. Margaret Seeger came to the United States with two sisters and two brothers when she was fourteen years of age, her parents having died in Germany. The Seegers also made their way to Columbus and there the marriage of Augustus Riebel and Margaret Seeger was celebrated. Turning his attention to farming, he followed that pursuit in Franklin county and was closely associated with agricultural , interests up to the time of his death, which occurred June 6, 1892. While he never sought to figure prominently in public life, he was a man of genuine personal worth, straightforward and reliable in all dealings and enjoyed to the
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full extent the confidence and good will of those who knew him. His widow is 'still living and resides with a daughter in Dublin, Ohio.
Dr. Riebel spent his youthful days in his parents' home and the district schools afforded him his early educational privileges, while later he attended high school at Jerome, Ohio, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1901. He then attended two terms at the Ohio Northern University at Ada, Ohio, and in 1902 he began the reading of medicine under the preceptorship of his brother, Dr. J. A. Riebel, of Columbus. In order to thoroughly equip himself for his chosen calling, in the fall of 1902 he entered the Ohio Medical University of Columbus and was graduated therefrom as a member of the class of 1906. He then took the examination for an interneship in the Protestant Hospital at Columbus and was successful in winning the appointment, serving as interne for one year, during which time he gained much valuable knowledge from the broad and varied experience of hospital practice. He also took a post-graduate course in general work at the New Pork Post-Graduate Hospital College.
Thus well qualified for the general practice of medicine, Dr. Riebel came to Ashland in May, 1907. In the meantime, however, during the summer of 1905, he attended the Ohio Northern University, where he completed his scientific course. After coming to Ashland he opened his office in this city and had been here but a short time when he was accorded an enviable patronage. His ability is marked and his devotion to the interests of his patients unquestioned. He is very careful in the diagnosis of his cases and is making continued advancement in his chosen field of labor. He belongs to the Ashland County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and thus keeps in touch with the onward march of the profession.
Pleasantly situated in his home life, Dr. Riebel was married September 25, 1907, to Miss Helen Scott, of Granville, Ohio, and they are well known in the social circles of the city. They hold membership in the Presbyterian church and Dr. Riebel gives his political allegiance to the republican party where state and national issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He has never sought nor desired office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his profession, in which he is meeting with signal success.
THOMAS R. SHINN.
From an early period in the development of business activity in Ashland, Thomas R. Shinn has been connected with its mercantile interests, having long figured as one of its foremost business men. He is at the head of the firm of Shinn, Stockwell & Company, conducting an extensive business as dealers in dry goods. In matters of trade his judgment is sound and reliable, his sagacity keen and along well defined lines of labor he has won merited success.
Mr. Shinn was born in Mount Washington, Hamilton county, Ohio, October 31, 1845, and is a son of Job R. and Maria (Miller) Shinn, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of the state of New York. They came to Ohio
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prior to their marriage, which was celebrated in Salem, after which they located on Walnut Hills in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the father engaged in farming, with which pursuit he was identified during his active life. He died in Mount Washington in 1872 when seventy-two years of age. After his death the mother removed to Marion, Ohio, where she passed away in 1887 at the age of seventy- nine years.
Thomas R. Shinn was educated at the Mount Washington Academy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1863. Almost immediately afterward he joined the army, enlisting on the 13th of May of that year as a member of Company H, Onc Hundred and Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He thus served until honorably discharged December 15, 1864, with the rank of first sergeant of his company. While at the front he was with the eastern army and took part in the battles of the Wilderness, Oak Harbor, White House Landing and Petersburg, together with a number of lesser engagements. He proved a loyel defender of the old flag and the cause it represented and after receiving his discharge he returned to Delaware and resumed his interrupted education by entering the Ohio Wesleyan University. There he was graduated with the class of 1866 on the completion of a scientific course.
For some time after completing his studies Mr. Shinn remained in Delaware as a salesman in the mercantile establishment of S. B. and J. J. Sherr, dry-goods merchants. For four years he remained with that firm and there laid the foundation for his future successful career in the thorough business training which he there received.
While a resident of Delaware, Mr. Shinn was married in 1869 to Miss Mary Bieber and in 1871 he returned to Marion county, Ohio, establishing him- self in the dry-goods business in the town of Agosta. While living there his wife died and on the 24th of February, 1879, he was again united in marriage, his second union being with Miss Emma Stockwell. He continued in Agosta until 1886, when he disposed of his interests there, came to Ashland and pur- chased the Central Shoe Store. Subsequently he purchased the dry-goods stock of J. J. Shoemaker, after which he consolidated the two stores and in 1888 removed the business to its present location at the corner of Main and Church streets, where he conducted the enterprise under his own name until 1906. In that year he admitted his son-in-law, John M. Stockwell, and his son, T. E. Shinn, to a partnership under the firm style of Shinn, Stockwell & Company. For years past he has been one of the foremost business men of Ashland, con- ducting his store along progressive, modern lines and through his straight- forward dealing and enterprising spirit securing a liberal share of the public
patronage. Aside from his interests in that connection Mr. Shinn is also the president of the Ashland Steel Range Company, which he aided in organizing and at that time was chosen its chief executive officer. Aside from his individ- ual interests he has contributed to the welfare of the city through his membership with the Ashland Board of Trade. He has been a member of its board of direc- tors since its organization and has been foremost in securing new industries for the city. The work of this organization, combined with that of other progressive business men, has been so effective that within the past eight years the population of Ashland has doubled.
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Unto Mr. Shinn and his first wife there were born two children: Ada, now deceased; and Myrtle, the wife of John M. Stockwell, who is now her father's partner in business and by whom she has one son, Harold. Of the second marriage there were two daughters and three sons. Eva is the wife of H. B. Gates, superintendent for the Pittsburg Mining Company at Joplin, Missouri, and they have two children, Dorothy and William. Rea is at home. T. Ellsworth, who is associated with his father in business, married Louise Carter, of Ashland, and they have one child, Jane Louise. Carl M., residing in Ashland, wedded Miss Marcia McClelland, a daughter of Dr. W. M. McClelland, of Ashland. Guy Blaine, the youngest of the family, is deceased.
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