USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio > Part 65
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In his political views Mr. Zercher is a stalwart republican and though extensive business interests demand his careful and constant attention, he still finds time to devote to matters pertaining to the public good. While a resident of Wayne county he acted as township clerk for five years and since coming to Ashland county has served his fellow townsmen in the position of assessor and also as a member of the board of education. He is an active worker in the ranks of his party, having for a number of years been a member of the county republican central committee from Orange township, with which he is also at present identified, and has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state republican conventions. The fact that a certain movement or measure has his endorsement and cooperation is sufficient guarantee to many of his fellow citizens that it is worthy of their support and thus his influence has been a potent factor in the upbuilding and development of the county. He is an enthusiastic supporter of all public improvements, such as good roads and liberal educational advantages, and no project instituted to advance the general welfare seeks his aid in vain. He and his family belong to the Progressive Brethren church and are active in the work of both church and Sunday school. His home, which is one of the attractive residences of Orange township, is per- vaded by an air of culture and refinement and there Mr. and Mrs. Zercher dispense a liberal and genuine hospitality that is greatly appreciated by their many friends.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH ROSS REMLEY.
Captain Joseph Ross Remley, one of the worthy, respected and well known citizens of Ashland county, is now residing on his farm of sixty-two and a half acres in Perry township. He was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, February 11, 1842, a son of William and Harriet (Britton) Remley and a grandson of George Remley, who served as a private in the war of 1812.
The birth of William Remley, the father of our subject, occurred in Middle- town, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of January, 1814. He was a blacksmith by trade and after his marriage to Miss Harriet Britton, who was born October 11, 1820, he established his home in Indiana. At the end of about four years he came to Ashland county, Ohio, and engaged in the operation of his father's farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he rented. After a few years George Remley divided his land between his two children, giving eighty
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acres to his son William and eighty acres to his daughter. William Remley subsequently added to his acreage by additional purchase and rented a portion of his land. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and though frequently solicited to hold office, he always declined. He was, however, a most loyal and public-spirited citizen whose aid and influence could ever be counted upon in any movement or measure calculated to advance the best interests of the community. He was one of those who attempted to have the county seat located at Jeromeville and always took an active and helpful part in matters of public concern. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Church of God, of which he was a most devoted and faithful communicant, while his wife was a Methodist in belief. The record of their children is as follows : Joseph Ross, of this review ; John G. ; Mrs. Rachel A. Funk ; Mrs. Maria Elizabeth Cannon; William Wesley; Mrs. Laura S. Hosley; and Charles Winfield, a resident of Youngstown, Ohio.
On the 21st of October, 1861, Joseph Ross Remley enlisted at Camp Wood, Cleveland, as a member of Company F, Forty-first Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel William W. Hazen, who was afterward promoted to brigadier general and became the first chief of the signal service on its establish- ment after the close of the war. Mr. Remley participated in the engagement at Shiloh on the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, in which conflict there were twenty- two thousand killed and wounded on both sides. Shortly afterward he was taken ill and sent to the hospital, where he remained for one month and was then sent home on a month's furlough. On his return to the front he was again placed in the hospital and in October, 1862, was discharged on account of dis- ability. In 1863 a company of volunteer militia was organized at Jeromeville, the state furnishing the arms.
Of this company Mr. Remley was made captain, Carpus Funk first lieutenant and Isaiah Mowry second lieutenant. They re- ceived word from Governor Bruff to prepare for marching orders and on the 2d of May, 1864. went to Ashland and on the same evening to Mansfield. They reported to Colonel Miller, One Hundred and Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, left for Camp Chase to be mustered in and in a few days were ordered to the front as Company I. They were mustered out September 10, 1864, and Captain Remley returned home with a most creditable military record, having done valuable and commendable service as a loyal defender of the Union cause.
On once more taking up the pursuits of civil life, Captain Remley continued to operate his father's farm until the latter sold his property in 1884, and then engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm for two years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the place where he now resides in Perry township, the property comprising sixty-two and a half acres of rich and productive land, in the development and improvement of which he has been continuously engaged to the present time. Through his well directed industry and capable manage- ment he has won a gratifying and richly merited measure of success in his undertakings and is widely recognized as a prosperous and representative citizen.
On the 1st of May. 1864, Captain Remley was joined in wedlock to Miss Margaret R. Goodman and their children are four in number, namely: Clara Bell and Carrie Ida, twins, the former being now the wife of H. C. Brandt and the latter of George Gill; Mrs. Gertrude Goodman Helbert; and Mrs. Edith
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Beatrice Stacker. Each of the daughters attended the common schools and the Jeromeville high school, Gertrude being a graduate of the latter institution.
Politically Captain Remley is an unfaltering republican and, like his father before him, is interested in the welfare and advancement of Ashland county, which numbers him among its most valued and honored residents. He is a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as treasurer and is also one of the trustees. Throughout the county in which he has so long resided he is held in the highest respect and esteem, having ever manifested those sterling traits of character which endear man to his fellowmen.
WILLIS F. PERSONS, M. D.
Prominent among the members of the medical fraternity of Sullivan is Dr. Willis F. Persons, who for a number of years has been employing his knowl- edge of materia medica and skill in surgery to relieve the sufferings of humanity. His excellent reputation has won him a liberal patronage throughout the town- ship. His birth occurred here Jaunary 9, 1857. He is a son of Anson and Martha Jane (Bowker) Persons, his father a native of Montpelier, Vermont, where his birth occurred November 13, 1806, and his mother having been born in Lunenburg, that state, March 21, 1819. Both came to this state with their parents in the early '30s, when the entire region was an undeveloped state, making the journey to their new western home in wagons and on horseback. In the fall of 1838 they came to Sullivan township, where the father followed cabinet making and also carriage and wagon making, in connection with gun- smithing, painting and farming in a small way, until he departed this life January 3, 1875, surviving his wife by six years, her death having occurred April 1, 1869. He was a man of extraordinary mechanical skill and was recog- nized throughout the county as an inventive genius. In their family were six children, two of whom survive, namely: Herbert, of Homerville; and Dr. Willis F.
When a boy Dr. Persons worked upon his father's farm, engaging in the daily routine of the fields through the summer months and during the winter acquired his preliminary education at the district schools. Subsequently for a period of two years he operated a cheese factory in Indiana, the first of the kind ever established in that state. Previous to going to Indiana, however, he ac- quired his experience in that business by working three years in a cheese factory in the village of Sullivan, where he became thoroughly familiar with the busi- ness. After spending two years in Indiana he returned to Sullivan in 1879 and for three years engaged in the mercantile business from which he retired and took up the study of medicine, as it had all the while been his ambition to become a member of the medical fraternity. For a time he attended the schools here, spent two years at Lodi Academy and the same period of time at Oberlin Uni- versity and was then matriculated as a student of medicine in the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884, standing fifth from the first honor man, the class including eighty-
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five members. Immediately upon his graduation he began the practice of his profession at Gates Mills, Cuyahoga county, where he remained for seventeen years, at the expiration of which time he practiced for one year in Cleveland, Ohio, returning in 1901 to Sullivan where he has since remained. He is a deep student of all branches pertaining to his profession and makes it a point to keep abreast of the times along all lines of scientific investigation which touch upon materia medica and surgery and makes a specialty of treating appendicitis and gall stones, in both of which ailments he has been eminently successful and is considered an authority.
Dr. Persons has been married twice, first on November 27, 1878, to Miss Ella L. Cooper, daughter of George and Martha Cooper, of Friendswood, Indiana, by whom he had four children, namely: Jessie H., who became the wife of George Worts, of Mayfield, Ohio; Wallace R .; Paul F .; and Arthur W. Their mother departed this life September 26, 1896. Dr. Persons then wedded Elva H. Chandler, daughter of John and Luzena Chandler, of Indiana, by whom he has had three children : Raymond C., Mary L. and John R.
Dr. Persons is independent in politics, not allying himself with any particu- lar political party and, deeming the man worthy of more consideration than the party to which he belongs, he votes for such candidates as measure up to his standard of qualifications for public office. Although he is busy meeting the demands of his profession he yet finds time to render service to the township and for three years has officiated as justice of the peace and was active in the organi- zation of the Sullivan Telephone Company, of which he was the first manager and of which he also was secretary for a period of one year. He is a member of, Sullivan Lodge, No. 313, A. F. & A. M., in which for three years he has been junior warden, and Lodge No. 579, I. O. O. F. Amid the pressure of his pro- fessional and business affairs the Doctor always finds time for the performance of his religious obligations and regularly attends divine services at the Congrega- tional church, in which he is a leading worker. Being a man who is in every particular interested in the welfare of the community, striving also to gain such improvements as good roads, schools and public buildings and at the same time striving to be eminently useful in his profession, he is one of the most highly esteemed men in the county, popular within a wide radius of his home, and his upright life is an influence for good among all those with whom he comes in contact.
REV. MILTON T. SCARBOROUGH.
Devoting his life to the moral and spiritual welfare of his fellowmen, Rev. Milton T. Scarborough is now pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church of Nova. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 18, 1856, a son of John T. and Pauline M. (Durkee) Scarborough. His father was a harness-maker of that city, in which he was quite prominent as a business man.
The public schools of his native city afforded Rev. Scarborough his prelimi- nary education and in the year 1870 he came to this state, making his home with
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relatives in Millersburg, Holmes county, where he attended school for a time and subsequently became a student at Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio. After completing a two years' course in that institution, he taught in the district schools of Holmes county for several years and upon giving up that profession he took up the study of law in the offices of Critchfield & Huston, of Millersburg. While there he finally changed his purpose and decided to prepare himself for the ministry. He successfully pursued the conference course of study and was ordained as a clergyman in 1889 by the North Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. During the period he followed school teaching and also while he was studying law he was a member of the Ohio National Guard, being second lieutenant of Company H, Seventeenth Regiment, which was on duty in Cincinnati during the riots of 1884 on which occasion the courthouse was burned. He was also on duty in the Hocking Valley mining district during the strike of 1884 and 1885.
Upon being admitted to the ministry his first charge was at Lockport, in Tuscarawas county, now a part of New Philadelphia, and there he remained for two years when he was appointed to the charge at Wilmot, Stark county, where he conducted a successful and useful ministry for five years, at the expiration of which time he was assigned to the congregation at Apple Creek, Wayne county, where he performed the duties of his office for two years. His next appointment was to Kilbuck, Holmes county, where he remained for three years, when he was assigned to Fredericksburg, Wayne county, and after a four years' ministry there was appointed, in 1904, to the Methodist Episcopal church of Nova where he is now in his fifth year as pastor. In addition to the congregation here he also has charge of the church in Ruggles township. He is one of the most suc- cessful pastors of this part of the country and, being a man of noble Christian character with his heart filled with zeal for the cause he represents, he has been instrumental in building up many a congregation and in greatly advancing the work of the several churches over which he has presided.
On October 18, 1877, Rev. Scarborough was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Cline, daughter of Abraham and Mary (Spencer) Cline, of Holmes county, where her father was engaged in farming and stock raising. In politics he is a republican but does not bind himself so rigidly to that party as to feel under obligation to vote for every candidate whose name it may place upon the ballot but reserves the right to cross out the names of those who do not come up to his standard of morals and whom he deems unfit to serve in public offices. In several of the localities where he has resided he has taken an interest in com- munity affairs and has served as township clerk, assessor and school director and has always been an advocate of public improvements along all lines wherein the community might be benefited. He has been a particularly strong advocate of the best educational system and as well has always been ready to further measures which have for their object good roads and the general betterment of the community. Wherever he goes it is his object to inspire the people with a desire for the best in life morally, spiritually and physically and among other improvements he likes to see modern churches and business buildings. He is prominent in fraternal organizations and is a member of Sullivan Lodge, No. 313, A. F. & A. M .; Sylvian Lodge, No. 240, I. O. O. F., of Loudonville; Wilmot
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Lodge, No. 246, K. P .; and Mount Eaton Council, No. 236, Royal Arcanum, in all of which he has a host of warm friends.
Rev. Scarborough is a man of strong personality and his noble and zealous Christian character has not only endeared him to the members of his congrega- tion but also to the citizens of the entire community in which he is an evidence of the power of the faith he teaches and for the moral and spiritual uplift for which he daily labors.
THOMAS W. MILLER.
Thomas W. Miller is a prominent representative of Ashland's industrial interests, being president of the Faultless Rubber Company. Since starting in life on his own account he has made steady progress, working his way upward through determined energy, unfaltering loyalty and undaunted perseverance. He is now at the head of a successful and growing enterprise which is a feature in the city's business development as well as his own prosperity. Born in Summit county, Ohio, on the 12th of February, 1874, he is a son of Freeman and Rebecca (Fisher) Miller. The parents were both natives of Summit county, Ohio, where they spent their entire lives and were highly respected and worthy citizens. The father was a blacksmith and carriage builder by trade and was engaged in business along that line in the village of Manchester during his active life.
Thomas W. Miller spent his boyhood days under the parental roof, was a pupil in the public schools of Manchester and also attended a boarding school at Uniontown. As early as his sixteenth year he became a teacher in the district schools and after following that profession for a year went to Akron, Ohio, where he pursued a business course. Later he secured a position in the factory of the Akron Silver Plate Company, and after serving his apprenticeship he was sent out on the road as a commercial traveler, acting in that capacity for the firm until 1896, during which time he secured for the house an extensive patronage. Ambitious to engage in business on his own account, when his labors had brought him sufficient capital he established a rubber manufacturing industry, forming a copartnership with some business men of Rochester, New York. They orga- nized the Faultless Manufacturing Company which was succeeded in 1900 by the Faultless Rubber Company, a West Virginia corporation. About 1903 Mr. Miller and H. B. Camp organized the Camp Rubber Company and established a plant at Ashland, Ohio. The following year the Camp Rubber Company and the Faultless Rubber Company merged their interests with a capital stock of three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, conducting the business under the name of the Faultless Rubber Company with a large and well equipped plant at Ashland. Mr. Miller became treasurer and general manager of the Faultless Rubber Company and acted in the same capacity for the Camp Rubber Company after the merging of the two industries. He continued to act as treasurer and general manager until the illness of Mr. Camp in July, 1907, when he was chosen president and is now the chief executive officer, bending his efforts to adminis-
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trative direction. This company manufactures druggists' sundries, specialties, novelties and sponge rubber products, having practically a monopoly on the manufacture of the last named article in this country. The business has now gained extensive proportions under the capable management and direction of Mr. Miller, whose enterprise has made him one of the foremost business men of this city.
In his political views Mr. Miller is a stalwart republican, keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day but never seeking nor desiring office for himself. His religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Dutch Reform church. He has made for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, evincing the utmost concern in the conduct of the enterprise that its product may be all that is represented and that the business shall be carried on with the strictest regard to commercial integrity.
SAMUEL WALTER.
Samuel Walter, who is numbered among the successful, enterprising and representative agriculturists of Ashland county, is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred acres on section 20, Green township. His birth occurred five miles west of Lockport, New York, on the 26th of August, 1833, his parents being Benjamin and Katharine (Shambaugh) Walter, who were natives of Pennsylvania but of German parentage. The paternal grandfather, Christian Walter, was born in Germany, as was also George Shambaugh, the maternal grandfather. Benjamin Walter, the father of our subject, brought his wife and six children to New York, in which state he carried on agricultural pursuits until the time of his demise, owning a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres. His death occurred when his son Samuel was but nineteen months old. His family numbered nine children, of whom eight reached years of maturity and were married, but Samuel Walter, of this review, is the only one who still sur- vives. The mother was called to her final rest while a resident of Ashland county.
In October, 1838, Samuel Walter was brought by his mother to Green town- ship, Ashland county, and with the exception of the period of three and a half years following his marriage, which he spent in Knox county, he has lived here continuously since. In 1873 he took up his abode on the farm on which he has since resided, the place comprising one hundred acres on section 20, Green township, situated on the Perrysville and Wooster road, a mile and a half northeast of Perrysville. He cleared a part of this farm and made many improvements thereon, erected good buildings and equipped the place with all of the accessories and conveniences of a model farming property of the twentieth century. Throughout his active business career he has been engaged in farming and the success which has attended his efforts is but the well merited reward of earnest, persistent labor and indefatigable energy.
In 1855, Mr. Walter was united in marriage to Miss Judy Oaks, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania, April 16, 1834, and who was brought to Tuscarawas
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county, Ohio, by her parents when only two years of age, there residing until the time of her marriage. Her parents, George and Mary Ann (Davis) Oaks, subsequently came to Ashland county and became neighbors of our subject, residing here until called to the home beyond. They were both natives of Pennsylvania and had a family of thirteen children, nine of whom grew to maturity. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Walter have been born seven children, namely : Amanda Ellen, the wife of Joseph Weirick, of Green township; Thomas Allen, who passed away at the age of four years; George, a resident of Loudonville, who formerly served as county commissioner ; Thomas Curtis, of Green township ; Nathaniel, who is likewise living in Green township; Sarah, the wife of Martin Oswalt, of Mansfield; Adaline, who died when sixteen years of age. Mr. Walter also has six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Politically Mr. Walter is a stanch democrat and has served as road super- visor, while for twenty-one years he has acted as school director, the cause of education ever finding in him a stalwart champion. In religious faith he is a Lutheran, exemplifying the teachings of the church in his daily life. Although he has now passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey, he is still numbered among the active and progressive citizens of the community and throughout the long period of his residence in this county, covering almost the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, he has gained the respect and esteem of an extensive circle of friends.
WILLIAM HENRY GATES.
William Henry Gates, of the Ashland Press, was born at Petersburg, now Mifflin, in Ashland county, Ohio, March 10, 1846. He is a grandson of Peter Gates, who was born in 1778. His father, Isaac Gates, was the second sheriff of Ashland county, to which position he was elected in 1848 and again in 1850. Two years afterward he was chosen county auditor, was reelected in 1856 and again served from 1862 until 1866. During his second term as sheriff his official duty required that he hang Charles Steingraver on the 30th of January, 1852, and on the 16th of May, 1885, he hung Horn and Gribben, so that the only men who suffered capital punishment in the county were hung by him although thirty-three years elapsed between the events. Isaac Gates was married to Miss Susan Newcomer, a daughter of Christian Newcomer, who served as county commissioner from 1849 until 1852. He also conducted a hotel in Petersburg during the stage-coach days.
W. H. Gates was a pupil in the Ashland schools between the years 1852 and 1857. The family then removed to the country and he attended the district schools in the winter months from 1857 until 1862, while in the summer seasons during that period he worked on the farm. He had no other educa- tional opportunities but learned many lessons of value through actual business experiences on the farm and elsewhere. In the spring of 1863 he entered the auditor's office as clerk, his father having been elected county auditor in the fall of 1862. He was employed in the auditor's office and in other positions
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