USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio > Part 69
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101
J. Taylor Smith spent his boyhood on his father's farm, actively engaged in the general routine of agricultural life during the summer months and in the winter attending the district schools, where he acquired his education and, in- heriting the fondness of his grandfather for stockraising. he began to trade in cattle and horses when but a lad of twelve years. Subsequently he bought all classes of stock extensively. shipping many head to eastern markets, and for a 'period of nine years he conducted a meat business in Ashland and Savannah and also engaged extensively in general agriculture. After his marriage in the year 1890, he located in Savannah and in 1894 removed to the farm in Sullivan township on which he now resides, where he has since devoted his entire time to farming and to the dairy business, employing in the latter fifty cows, and with the produce he supplies many local creameries. In 1902, he took up horse breeding and has since been making a specialty of thoroughbred French Percheron and German coach horses. owning seven specimens of the finest breeds of these animals, three of which are stallions valued at nine thous- and dollars and said to be three of the finest animals in any one barn in the state
J. T. SMITH
625
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
of Ohio. His horses are up to the standard in every point demanded by an expert and their prices range anywhere from five hundred dollars at one year old to thirty-five hundred dollars at the age of six years. This business he carries on in connection with that of his dairy and general agriculture and he is known throughout the state and in fact throughout the country as foremost among horse breeders. His farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is tile drained and in a high state of cultivation, while his residence and other buildings are of the most modern patterns, and everything about the place is indicative of industry and thrift.
On August 21, 1890, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Lee, a daughter of J. Martin and Mary (Gordon) Lee, her father having been a large landowner and agriculturist of Jackson township. To this union has been born one son, Lloyd, who is seventeen years of age and a boy of remarkable business ability, who assists his father in the stock enterprise.
In politics Mr. Smith gives his allegiance to the republican party and is very proud of his republican ancestry, being one of the most loyal adherents of that party in the county. Amidst his pressing business affairs he has al- ways found time to do something in the way of public improvements and is one of the township's chief agitators for good roads and the progressive school system. Although he has not found time, owing to the pressure of his business affairs, to serve in any of the local offices, yet with his means he is always ready to further any plans for the public good. He is a member of the Congrega- tional church, in which, together with the members of his family, he is an ardent worker, and for a number of years has served that organization as deacon. Mr. Smith is a man whose industry and aggressiveness have done much toward developing the resources of the community and, being still a young man, the enterprise and aggressiveness which he now manifests promise to make him of still greater use to his fellow citizens, who now hold him in high respect and number him among the most substantial business men of the county.
GEORGE W. LORENTZ.
George W. Lorentz, now residing on his farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 30, Green township, was born in Knox township, Holmes county, Ohio, October 25, 1846, his parents being Jacob end Salome (Gasman) Lorentz, natives of Alsace-Lorraine. One daughter was born to them there and about the year 1838 they emigrated to the United States, taking up their abode in Knox township, Holmes county, Ohio, and spending their remaining days on farms in Holmes and Ashland counties. The father passed away in 1902, at the age of eighty-five years, having for more than two decades survived his wife, who was called to her final rest in 1881, when sixty-five years of age. Their family numbered eight children, one of whom died in infancy, while the others are as follows: Magdalena, the wife of Michael Frankhiser, of Loudonville; Salome, the widow of George Dauber, of Loudonville; George W., of this review ; Margaret, the widow of J. G. Herzog, of Sullivan, Ashland county, who formerly
626
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
served as sheriff of this county; Barbara, the widow of Joseph T. Mumper, of Green township; Philip, who died at the age of thirteen years; and John Fred- erick, a resident of Mansfield, Ohio.
When six years of age George W. Lorentz accompanied his parents on their removal to another farm in Knox township, situated two miles north of Nash- ville, and there resided until he attained the age of seventeen years, when he came with his parents to Lake township, Ashland county, remaining under the parental roof until the time of his marriage. Subsequently he lived on a farm three miles west of Loudonville, in Hanover township, for four or five years and then returned to Lake township, where he bought a tract of eighty acres- the first land he ever owned. At the end of eight years he sold the property and purchased his present home farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 30, Green township, situated a mile and a half northwest of Perrysville on the Richland county line. About a mile to the northeast of this place, he also has another tract of eighty-four acres on section 19. In his farming inter- ests he has met with that measure of success which is ever the reward of untiring, well directed labor and capable business management and is widely recognized as a most substantial, progressive and enterprising agriculturalist of the community.
Mr. Lorentz has been married twice. In November, 1871, he wedded Miss Sarah Glasglow, a native of Hanover township, who passed away in 1878, leav- ing one child, Myrtle L., now the wife of William B. Kirshner, of Perrysville. In October, 1879, Mr. Lorentz, was again married, his second union being with Miss Margaret Mumper, who was born near Loudonville, in Green township, Ashland county, Ohio, her parents being Andrew and Eliza (Bryan) Mumper. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lorentz have been born three children: Thurman Allen, who resides on his father's farm on section 19, Green township; Kate, the wife of Harvey Raby, of Loudonville; and Oscar O., at home.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Lorentz has given his political allegiance to the democracy and has been called by his fellow townsmen to various positions of public trust, serving as road supervisor, as trustee of Green township for eight years and as a member of the school board for more than twenty years. He has been a life-long member of the Lutheran church, now being affiliated with the denomination at Perrysville. His resi- dence in the county covers a period of almost a half century and has been marked by uniform devotion to the public good, by activity and enterprise in business and by fidelity to every trust reposed in him.
PHILLIP ANDREW MYERS.
While Phillip Andrew Myers has a world-wide reputation in connection with his invention and manufacturing interests, which are represented in trade circles under the name of F. E. Myers & Brother, he is, moreover, widely known and honored in Ashland as a representative and valuable citizen whose labors have been of the utmost worth in promoting the progress and upbuilding of the
627
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
city. Business activity, public affairs and social interests have constituted well balanced factors in his life and no residents of this part of the state are more honored than are F. E. and Phillip A. Myers.
The latter, who is junior partner of the firm and superintendent of the plants at Ashland, was born in Perry township, this county, about six miles east of the city of Ashland on the 14th of August, 1853. His parents were George and Elizabeth (Morr) Myers. (See sketch of F. E. Myers on another page of
this volume for complete family record.) The boyhood days of Phillip A. Myers were spent on the home farm, his early education being acquired during that period in the district schools. He afterward spent two years as a pupil in Smithville Academy in Wayne county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1875 he became connected in business with his brother F. E. Myers, as a salesman. His brother was then engaged in handling agricultural implements and from that time to the present the two have been closely connected in all of their business affairs. During his first year with his brother Phillip A. Myers pursued a commercial course at the Adrian (Michigan) Business College and he regards this as one of the best investments which he ever made. Following his return he still worked for his brother as a salesman and was very successful in that connection. This period of his life constituted his industrial education.
As a boy Phillip A. Myers had early manifested marked mechanical genius, which has since been developed and stands as one of the most potent causes in the success of the firm. In his boyhood days there was not a gate on his father's farm that was not automatic. Every possible mechanical contrivance that could aid the farmer and make the work easier was produced as the result of the budding genius of this young man. In the early part of 1879 his experiments
resulted in the production of a double acting force pump. He was almost afraid to tell his brother about his work for fear of ridicule but in 1880 he made application for his patent and upon showing the completed practical pump to his brother, who at once recognized its value, they immediately began its manu- facture in the basement of the old Mansfield Clover Hulling Factory in Ashland. There they assembled their pumps, having the machine work done in Wooster and in Canton, Ohio. Their success in handling this product was immediate and enabled them to install their own power plant in October, 1882.
Mr. Myers did not stop with the production of the first pump but continued his experiments and inventions, bringing forth various new and practical articles in this line from that time to the present. He took out his second patent in February, 1882, on the force pump and the third, July 11, 1882. He also secured patents on the 5th of September of the same year and on the 1st of May and the 7th of August, 1883. These dates show how rapidly the young in- ventor developed his ideas and how practical they were.
Mr. Myers did not confine his attention alone to pumps although he worked out that field of development. In June, 1884, he gave the first practical appli- cation of hay tools and in this field he soon became equally prominent, securing his second patent on hay tools November 4, 1884. These include forks and carriers for unloading hay,.etc. He has always been just ahead of competitors and, therefore, it is no wonder that the firm of F. E. Myers & Brother took the leadership in their line in the world-a position which they have never since
628
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
forfeited. P. A. Myers next turned his attention to door hangers for barns, warehouses, etc., and completely revolutionized that field. He took out patents twenty-three years ago that have never been improved upon. He also invented a bicycle stand that immediately sprang into general favor. It was very simple but very practical and there was a great demand for the little article so that the company turned out fifty thousand per year during the time that the bicycle was in popular favor. However, the main part of the manufacturing business has been in connection with pumps and hay unloading tools.
Mr. Myers was asked what was the best thing he ever did and replied "the glass valve seat." This was one of the most important as well as practical inventions which he ever produced. It marked a decided advance which has made the name of Myers stand out alone and far ahead of others. It could not be used by any other pump and today the Myers product of this character is found in every civilized country. Phillip A. Myers devotes his entire time to development and improvement along the line of goods which the firm manu- factures. No more ingenius originality has ever been shown in any concern or in any line of invention than in the perfected ideas of this master mind. There is nothing he enjoys more than to be at work in his shop, studying out some new idea and working for its perfection. Every invention has been of a practical and useful nature. The total number of his patents exceeds something over one hundred and application has been made for many more. He follows out the line of improvement and one thing suggests another until he exhausts the field in that direction. Aside from being a man of marked inventive genius he displays also keen executive ability in managing the factory and producing the goods at the lowest possible cost. He is well known in connection with many important business concerns, being a director of the Faultless Rubber Company and of the First National Bank, both of Ashland; a director of the Cleveland & Southwestern Railway Company, a traction line between Cleveland and Bucyrus, Ohio; a director in the Security Life Insurance Company of America; and a director and president of the Chase Foundry & Machine Company of Columbus, Ohio.
On the 31st of May, 1879, Mr. Myers was married to Miss Samantha Alice Chase, of Polk, Ashland county, Ohio, a daughter of the Hon. James E. Chase, a prominent leader in political circles. Their only son, Guy Chase, born in 1881, is a graduate of Dummer Academy, spent three years at Harvard and is nov. with the firm of F. E. Myers & Brother, occupying an important position with that concern. The only daughter, Grace, died at the age of eight years.
Mr. Myers is a member of the Colonial Club of Ashland, also of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has become a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. In many public relations his work has been of a most important character. No citizen has done more for the development and upbuilding of Ashland than have the Myers brothers. For the past twenty-seven years P. A. Myers has been chief of the Citizens Relief Fire Company of Ashland, a volunteer organization, in which he has been greatly interested and which is a source of much pride to him. He is the president and one of the trustees of the Ashland Cemetery Association, a member of the board of education and is also a member of the board of the Ashland Library
629
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
Association and at one time was its president. He has been very active in civic and charitable organizations, withholding his support from no movement or measure that he deems of benefit to the community at large. He has never sought nor desired political preferment but has never regarded the duties of citizenship lightly. On the contrary he recognizes his responsibility in this connection and fully meets the obligations which devolve upon him as a citizen of wealth and prominence. His religious belief is manifest in his membership in and support of the Trinity Lutheran church.
Mr. Myers is very fond of fishing and hunting and also of motoring. He has a small cottage on Mullet lake on Cheboygan river, Michigan, and owns a beautiful home in Ashland. There is not one phase in his life over which there falls a shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He is always uniformly polite, courteous and affable, conforms his actions to high standards and at the same time is a capable, energetic and farsighted business man, who understands human nature and correctly judges of life's contacts and its experiences. He exhibits none of the time honored idiosyncrasies of the usual inventor but is a high type of the business man and genius who recognizes the worth of his own productions and is not unmindful of the obstacles which stand in the way. His attention in business lines is given to the development and improvement of practi- cal devices, while his brother manages the financial and executive interests of the firm, constituting a combination of rare strength, the labors and abilities of the one forming a complete complement to the work of the other. As the years have passed P. A. Myers has remained the same approachable, genial gentleman as his old time friends have always found him, his material success leaving him unchanged. A splendid example of the self-made man and the ideal American citizen, he stands out as one of Ohio's best, and there have been many.
WILLIAM SMITH BUDD.
William Smith Budd, who is numbered among the extensive and successful agriculturists of Ashland county, was born in Vermillion township, this county, on the 22d of January, 1852. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Budd, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio in 1827, settling near Jeromeville, Ashland county. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that line of activity exclu- sively until he passed away here. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was widely recognized as one of the prominent and respected early settlers of the community. His family numbered eight children, three of whom attained adult age, namely : Susanna, who became the wife of Caleb Edwards, of Illinois; Thomas, who first wedded Rebecca Black and subsequently was married to Clarissa Edwards, of Ashland county; and Samuel, the father of William S. Budd, of this review.
The last named was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1821, while the year 1828 witnessed his arrival in Ohio. In 1847 he was joined in wedlock to Miss Temperance Woodhull, whose birth occurred in New Jersey, October 19, 1823, and who was brought to Ashland county, Ohio, in 1837, when
630
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
a maiden of fourteen years, by her parents, William Smith and Mary Louisa (Peterson) Woodhull. William S. Woodhull was born in New Jersey in 1799 and followed agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career, passing away in this county in 1879, while his wife also died here. He was a stalwart republican in politics, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Baptist church. His family numbered seven children, of whom Mrs. Budd, the mother of our subject, died on the 30th of April, 1903. Samuel Budd the father of William S. Budd, was called to his final rest in June, 1884, when he had attained the age of sixty-one years. In his family there were four children, as follows: Mrs. Mary Amanda Dent, deceased; William Smith, of this review ; Araminta, who has also passed away; and Mahala, the wife of Orland McGuire, of Noble county, Indiana.
When about nine years of age William Smith Budd accompanied his parents on their removal to a farm in Green township, in which place he has since made his home. After eleven years spent on that farm he took up his abode on the place on which he now resides, there remaining until the time of his marriage, while subsequently he lived on another farm for a short period and then returned to his present property. The place comprises two hundred nine and a half acres of rich and productive land on section 17, Green township, and is situated two and a half miles north of Perrysville. Here he has erected a commodious and attractive residence and likewise has good outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. The fields indicate his careful supervision and practical methods, bringing forth rich crops which are a merited reward for his labor. He is also engaged quite extensively in raising and feeding stock, for which he finds a ready sale on the market. His landed holdings also include a farm of one hundred and two and a half acres in Vermillion township, Ashland county, while his wife there owns a tract of one hundred and eight and a half acres, and they are numbered among the prosperous and representative residents of the community.
On the 1st of January, 1874, Mr. Budd was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Hawks, whose birth occurred in Vermillion township, Ashland county, Ohio, May 18, 1855, and who has always been a resident of this county. Her parents, James and Martha (Bell) Hawks, were both natives of County Tyrone, Ireland, born on the 15th of March, 1814, and on the 12th of May, 1815, respectively. They came to the new world when twenty and eighteen years of age respectively and were married in Philadelphia when James Hawks was twenty-six years old. Subsequently they made their way to Vermillion township, this county, and continued to reside here throughout the remainder of their lives, the father passing away January 31, 1900, while the mother of Mrs. Budd died on the 8th of July, 1893. Their family numbered nine children, namely: Eliza, deceased; Jane, the wife of William Patterson, who is residing on the old home place in Vermillion township; John, who died in 1909; William, Anna, Martha and Robert, all of whom have passed away; Mrs. Budd; and Katharine, the wife of Norman Mowery, of Vermillion township. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Budd have been born two children. Samuel, who resides on a portion of his father's farm, married Miss Anna Snyder and has two children, Mary A. and William Franklin. James Floyd is clerking in Ashland.
631
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
In his political views Mr. Budd is a stalwart democrat and has served as township trustee for six years, discharging his official duties with promptness and capability. Both he and his wife have spent their entire lives in this county and enjoy in large measure the friendship and regard of those who know them so that it is with pleasure we present this record to our readers.
MORGAN MINAMYER.
In a history of Ashland's business development mention should be made of Morgan Minamyer, now the manager of the Diamond Flouring- Mills and con- nected with other interests in a financial way. He is widely recognized as a man of keen business discernment, readily recognizing opportunities and with power to coordinate forces until he brings them into working unity. What he undertakes he accomplishes, for his resolute spirit cannot be quelled by trifles' or even by more important obstacles, but pushes on to the successful attainment of the end in view. He was born in Bellaire, Belmont county, Ohio, August 23, 1869, and was one of ten children of William T. and Elizabeth (Jackson) Minamyer. The parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, the father coming to Ohio when eighteen years of age, while the mother was brought by her parents in her early girlhood days. Both became residents of Bellaire where they were married. The father learned the miller's trade after arriving in Belmont county and devoted his remaining days to that pursuit, which he successfully followed up to the time of his death which occurred in 1890, when he was fifty-two years of age. He had for a decade survived his wife, who passed away in 1880 at the age of forty-two years. He was prominent in the Masonic fraternity and served as master of the Bellaire Lodge for a number of years. Five children of the family' are still living: George M., a resident of Bellaire; Margaret, the wife of R. W. Farris, also of Bellaire; Albert B., of La Jara, Colorado; Lee, of Ashland, Ohio; and Morgan, of this review.
While spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, Morgan Mina- myer acquired his education in the public schools and at the age of fifteen years apprenticed himself to the miller's trade in the Stewart & Ward Mills at Bel- laire, there remaining until he had completed the regular term of indenture. At nineteen years of age he went to Franklin, Kentucky, where he was employed by the College Roller Mill Company, operating a mill there for two years, after which he went to Harrisville, Michigan, and purchased an interest in the Harris- ville Mills. He operated that plant for six years and then returned to Bellaire, being employed through the following year in the office of the Carnegie Steel Company. In 1898, he came to Ashland and accepted a position in the Diamond Mills then conducted by Robert McAdoo, thus serving until 1903, when he resigned his position to take up the study of law, entering the Indian- apolis Law School at Indianapolis, Indiana. After a year devoted to the study, however, he abandoned the idea of pursuing a legal career and returned to Ashland and again accepted the management of the Diamond Mills. In April, 1907, he was offered and accepted the management of the Reliable Match Com-
632
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY
pany, in which capacity he served until September, 1908, when he returned to the Diamond Mills which are now being operated under his immediate super- vision. His comprehensive knowledge of the best methods of flour manufacture well qualify him for the onerous duties that devolve upon him in this connection. He readily understands business situations and is accurate in his solution of intricate business problems, his energy and enterprise carrying him into im- portant commercial relations.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.