History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 108

Author: H. J. Eckley, William T. Perry
Publication date: 1921
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 678

USA > Ohio > Harrison County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 108
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 108

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SAMUEL B. BOOR. As president of the First National Bank of Bowerston. Harrison County, and as proprietor of a well equipped hardware, tinning and furnace establishment, Mr. Boor has secure status as one of the representative business men and influential citizens of the thriving village that figures as the place of his birth, with the civic and business history of which the name of the Boor family has been identified since the pioneer days, besides which. on the maternal side, he is a representative of the family in whose honor Bowerston was named.

Samuel B. Boor was born at Bowerston on the 17th of January, 1875, and is a son of Wil- liam Henry Boor and Mary M. ( Bower) Boor. whose marriage was solemnized on the 18th of December, 1855. It is specially interesting to record that the parents continued to reside until their death in the house which became their abode, at Bowerston. at the time of their mar- riage. William Henry Boor was born in a log cabin in North Township, this county, on the 8th of March. 1835, and was the sixth in order of birth in the family of eleven children born to Michael and Caroline (Barantz) Boor. the former of whom was born near Carlisle. Penn- sylvania, February 5, 1897, and the latter near Harrisburg. that state, on the 10th of Septem- ber. 1802, her parents having come from Ger- many to the old Keystone state in the pioneer days, as did also the parents of Michael Boor. About the year 1830 Michael Boor came with his family through the wilderness that extended most of the distance between Pennsylvania and Ohio, and after arriving in Harrison County the family home was maintained in North Township for several years. In the late '30s Michael Boor established his residence at Bow- erston, where for a quarter of a century there- after he operated a grist mill. He then became a pioneer farmer in Van Wert County. Ohio, but in 1855 he removed to DeKalb County, Indiana. and resumed his association with the milling business. Eventually he located on a farm in Defiance County, Ohio, and there his death oc- curred in 1867. his widow having long survived him and having been venerable in years at the time of her death.

William Henry Boor was reared under the conditions that marked the pioneer period in the history of Harrison County, and when about sixteen years of age he entered upon an appren- ticeship to the trade of blacksmith. In Janu- ary. 1855, he rented a shop and engaged independently in the work of his trade at Bow- erston, where he followed this vocation until the Civil war caused him to subordinate all personal interests and to tender his aid in defense of the Union. On the 13th of August. 1862. he enlisted in Company C. One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. and he proceeded with his command into West Vir- ginia. He took part in the various engagements in which his regiment was involved, up to and including the historic battle of the Wilderness, in which he received a gunshot wound in the left shoulder. This injury. from which he never fully recovered. incapacitated him until November, 1864. when he rejoined his regiment

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at the front and participated in the two battles at Petersburg. He was present at the final surrender and was with the Sixth Army Corps when that command was sent forth in pursuit of General Johnston. He took part in the Grand Review in the City of Washington, where he was mustered out. and after returning to Ohio he received his honorable discharge. at Columbus. After returning home Mr. Boor continued to follow his trade, at Bowerston. until 1884, when he turned the active manage- ment of the business over to one of his sons. Thereafter he gave his attention to his under- taking and furniture business until about the year 1899, subsequently to which time he lived virtually retired, though he continued to give a general supervision to his farm property, near Bowerston, until his death, in October. 1917. his wife having passed away in 1898. Mrs. Boor was born in Monroe Township, near Bowerston, and was a daughter of Henry Bower. a member of the representative pio- neer family in whose honor Bowerston was named. Mr. Boor was a staunch republican. and though he never sought public office he gave long and effective service as constable and as a member of the municipal board of trustees of Bowerston. He was a charter member of R. M. Lyon Post, No. 405, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he served as commander. besides holding the office of post chaplain for two years, and he was also a charter member of and influential figure in the local tent of the Knights of the Maccabees. Mr. Boor was the virtual founder of the United Brethren Church at Bowerston, has supervision of the erection of the church building and long held official position in this church, of which he and his wife were zealous and honored members for fully forty years prior to their death. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom six sons and three daughters are living at the time of this writing. in 1921.

Samuel B. Boor is indebted to the public schools of Bowerston for his early education. and as a youth he learned the tinner's trade. as well as gaining a thorough knowledge of the furnace business. In 1899 he became associated with his brother. D. William, in the purchase of their father's furniture and undertaking busi- ness, and two years later he purchased his brother's interest in this enterprise. In the spring of 1901 he sold the business to William Arbaugh, and in the meanwhile he had been continuously an interested principal in a hard- ware. tinning and furnace business in his na- tive village. To this latter enterprise he gave his attention about three years, and thereafter he was again associated with his brother in the undertaking business until June. 1917, when he sold his interest to his brother. Since 1901 he has conducted a well equipped general hard- ware, tinning and furnace establishment at Bowerston, and the substantial and representa- tive patronage indicates alike the effectiveness of service given by and the personal popularity of the proprietor. In 1904 Mr. Boor became one of the organizers and incorporators of the First National Bank of Bowerston. and he has served continuously as a director of this institu-

tion since 1905. In 1914 he was elected vice president of the bank, and since 1916 he has served as its president, his careful executive policies having done much to further the pros- perity of this substantial and well ordered in- stitution.

The political allegiance of Mr. Boor is given unreservedly to the republican party and his civic loyalty has been shown in effective service as clerk of Monroe Township, a position of which he was the incumbent two terms; by two terms of service as a member of the village council ; and by effective connection with the Board of Education, of which he has been a member since 1912. At Bowerston Mr. Boor holds membership in the organization of the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees; at Leesville. Carroll County, he is affiliated with the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and the adjunct chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is serving as worthy patron at the time of this writing, in the summer of 1920. At Uhrichsville, Tuscara- was County, his Masonic affiliations are ampli- fied by his membership in Cyrus Chapter, No. 114. Royal Arch Masons: Gebel Council, No. 56, Royal and Select Masters: and Saint Ber- nard Commandery, No. 51, Knights Templar. He and his wife are zealous members of the United Brethren Church at Bowerston, and he has served as a member of its Board of Trustees for nearly a quarter of a century.

In June. 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Boor to Miss Nellie May Albaugh, daugh- ter of William J. and Mary Albaugh, of Bowers- ton. and the one child of this union is William A .. who was born April 8, 1911.

DANIEL J. LITTLE, one of the substantial farmers of Carroll County, owns a fine farm of 160 acres in Rose Township. which he has brought into ? high state of cultivation. He is " son of Daniel and Rosanna (Mowe) Little. rnd a grandson of Mathias Little, who came to Ameri-" from Switzerland in 1809 with his wife. Barbara. and four children, and first lo- cated on a small farm near Carrollton, Ohio. Later he moved to Morges, Rose Township, and was engaged in farming and working at his trade as a tinker. Still later he owned a small farm near Lindentree. Rose Township, and there he died in 1840, and is buried at Morges. His wife died in 1856.

Daniel Little was the youngest of his parents' children, and one of his brothers is Frank Little. of Stark County. Ohio. Another brother is Christian Little, of Cedar Rapids. Iowa. One sister. Barbara. now Mrs. John Wagner, lives in Carroll County. Ohio, and the other. Susan Newport. of Owen County, Indiana. Growing up on his father's farm. Daniel Little attended the public schools of Carrollton and Morges during the winter months, and adopted farm- ing as his life work. He and his wife had six children. namely : Rebecca, who is Mrs. Hoob- ler. has three sons and two daughters; Mrs. Sarah Davy, who lived in Rose Township where she died in 1919, has three daughters and one son ; James Harvey, who died in 1891 at the age of forty: Marion, who died at the age of

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thirty-six years; I. Wilkes, who lives in Stark County ; and Daniel J., whose name heads this review. The father of this family died in Rose Township, where he had always resided, in 1905, the mother having passed away in 1889.

Daniel J. Little attended District School No. 2, in Rose Township, during the winter months until he was twenty years old, and in the sum- mertime assisted his father with the work on the farm. On September 2, 1886, he was mar- ried to Molly E. Finefrock, a daughter of Eman- uel and Rebecca Jane ( Robertson) Finefrock, of Rose Township. Following his marriage Mr. Little rented a farm of eighty acres in Rose Township for eighteen months, and then moved to another eighty-acre farm one mile north of the first one. In 1888 he bought this latter farm, and lived on it until 1910, when he bought his present one, on which he has since lived. On September 22. 1920, he sold his first farm at a fair profit. All the time he has been farm- ing he has raised a general line of crops, and has been very successful. He is a democrat, and very staunch in his support of his party. The Lutheran Church of Rose Township holds his membership.

Mr. and Mrs. Little became the parents of the following children: Walter Curtis, who married Sarah Jones of Harrison Township, has one child, Irvin Daniel: Verna May, who is Mrs. George Borland of Harrison Township, has one child, Ralph Howard: Ralph Forest. who married Nannie Dunlap, of Magnolia, Ohio, has one son. Roy Donald : and Donald Wilbur, who is now at home. Forest was drafted into the I'nited States Army in September, 1918, at Car- rollton, Ohio, and sent to Camp Sherman, later to Camp Cole, at Gettysburg. Pennsylvania, and three weeks later was transferred to Camp Dix. New Jersey. After three weeks in the last named camp, he was returned to Camp Sher- man, and honorably discharged.

OLIVER J. DAVIS has resided since the year 1910 on his present farm of eighty acres. in Monroe Township, Carroll County. the place be- ing situated seven miles southwest of Carroll- ton on rural mail route No. 4 from that city. He is known as one of the enterprising farmers and loyal and progressive citizens of his native township and county, and is here a representa- tive of the third generation of the family. his grandfather. George Davis, having been one of the substantial pioneer farmers of Carroll County and having here remained until his death. The elder of his two children was David, father of Oliver J .. of this sketch.

Oliver Jackson Davis was born in Monroe Township. this county. in the year 1874. and is a son of David and Margaret ( Pittenger) Davis. David Davis was born June 5. 1839, in Monroe Township and passed his entire life in Carroll County. where he paid close allegiance to farm industry from the time of his youth until his death, which occurred March 10, 1919. his wife having passed to the life eternal in December. 1914. Oliver J. Davis was the third of their four children. The parents were earnest mem- hers of the Presbyterian Church and the father

gave his political support to the republican party.

The district schools of his native township afforded Oliver J. Davis his early educational advantages, and when a mere boy he began to aid in the work of the home farm, in which connection he learned the lessons of practical industry and came to place true value upon honest toil and endeavor. At the age of eight- een years he varied his experience by finding employment in a saw mill, and with this line of industrial operations he continued his asso- ciation at intervals until 1906. His independent farm enterprise was initiated by his renting a farm of seventy acres. in Monroe Township. where he remained three years. He then, in 1910, purchased and removed to his present farm, which he has since continued the stage of his successful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower. Mr. Davis pays allegiance to the republican party and takes loyal interest in community affairs, though he has manifested no desire for political activity or public office. He and his wife hold membership in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church at Leavittsville.

In the year 1906 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Davis to Miss Mary M. Brower. daugh- ter of Israel and Rebecca (Rutledge) Brower. of Monroe Township, and the four children of this union are Dora Ann. David Israel. Wilbur Evan and Helen Nancy.

VALLANDIGHAM MAY. As a class the farmers of Carroll County are way beyond the average both as to methods and production, and among those who are maintaining this commendable prestige none stands higher than Vallandigham May. owner of 102 acres of valuable land in Rose Township. He was born in Rose Town- ship. March 24, 1873. a son of James B. and Catherine (Bowers) May. The paternal grand- father was born in Ireland, but came to the United States in an early day and located in Pennsylvania, where he was first engaged in hauling merchandise from Pitsburgh to Phila- delphia and back again. In those days horses and wagons were used and on one occasion he hauled a four-horse load of money. gold and silver put up in bags. He later became a farmer and continued his agricultural opera- tions after he moved to Rose Township, where he died. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Bailley, also died in this township. They had five sons and three daughters, of whom James B. May was the youngest, and he lived on his father's homestead until he retired. His death occurred September 9. 1918, and his wife passed away August 10. 1898. Of their family of five sons and two daughters. Vallandicham is the eldest.

I'ntil he was seventeen years old Vallandig- ham May attended District School No. 4. Rose Township, during the winter months, and then became self-supporting. assisting his father in operating the homestead of 147 acres of land. working for the neighbors, and helping with threshing, saw-milling. and other tasks in order to get a start in life. After he was married he rented fifty acres of the home farm, and while conducting it, also worked in the coal mines at

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Lindentree, Ohio. Still later he spent four years as a coal miner and machine boss for L. Davis R. R. Mining Company at Hoff's Run. A thrifty man, he saved his money and in 1909 was able to buy his present farm of 102 acres, and since then has devoted himself to its cul- tivation. A hard worker, he has made many improvements upon his farm and takes a pride in keeping everything in good order. He has many warm friends.

In 1899 Mr. May was united in marriage with Anna Dieringer, a daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth (Locker) Dieringer. of German stock. Mr. and Mrs. May have two children, namely : William Ambrose and Lyle Dieringer, both of whom are at home.

During the late war Grover C. May. a younger brother of Mr. May, entered the United States Army at Carrollton, Ohio, as a member of the First Remount Squadron. Three Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment, and served overseas in France.

MOKINNEY V. GAULT now resides in the Vil- lage of Germano, German Township. Harrison County, but still gives a general supervision to his farm properties in this township, which has represented his home from the time of his birth. On both the paternal and maternal sides he is a scion of sterling pioneer families of Harrison County. and one of his sons repre- sented the county as a gallant young soldier with the American Expeditionary Forces in France in the great World war. in which he sacrificed his life, as will be more definitely noted in a later paragraph.

Mr. Gault was born in German Township on the 6th of February. 1868, and is a son of George M. and Lucinda (Betz) Gault. whose marriage was solemnized October 23. 1849. George M. Gault was born in Washington County. Pennsylvania. September 24. 1826, and was a son of John and Nancy (Mckinney) Gault. both likewise natives of the old Keystone state. John Gault did not become an early settler in Harrison County. Ohio, but the county had not yet emerged from pioneer conditions at the time when he established himself as a farmer in German Township, where he and his wife continued to reside until their deaths. both having been members of the Presbyterian Church. They became the parents of four chil- dren-George M .. Eliza, Mary and Margaret. John Gault was a miller by vocation in the earlier part of his career in his native county (Washington ) in Pennsylvania. whence he came to Harrison County. Ohio, in 1837. the re- mainder of his active life having been given to farming.

George M. Gault was about ten years old at the time of the family removal to Harrison County. where he was reared to manhood in German Township. That he made good use of the educational advantages afforded him. is shown by the fact that as a young man he was a successful teacher in the district schools. in both Harrison and Jefferson counties. He was a man of energy and ambition, achieved prece- dence as one of the substantial farmers of Ger- inan Township, where he accumulated ก

valuable property of more than 200 acres, and no citizen commanded higher place in popular confidence and good will. He served as town- ship trustee and justice of the peace, was in- fluential in public affairs in the community, and both he and his wife held membership in the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Lucinda ( Betz) Gault was born in Jefferson County. Ohio, on the 10th of January, 1830, and was a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Viers) Betz. Wil- liam Betz was born in Northumberland County Pennsylvania, November 8, 1778, and his early education included instruction in both English and German. April 22, 1812, recorded his mar- riage to Elizabeth Viers, who was born August 2. 1795, and they were numbered among the early settlers of German Township. Harrison County, Ohio, where he reclaimed a farm from the forest wilds and where he and his wife were honored pioneer citizens at the time of their deaths. As a young man Mr. Betz was a suc- cessful school teacher, and he served six months under General Harrison in the Mexican war, after having established his home in Ohlo. William and Elizabeth (Viers) Betz became the parents of seven children-Rebecca, Eliza. Per- milia. Margaret Eve, Lucinda, Brice Edington and John McCourtney. Mr. Betz died on the 3d of April. 1881, his wife having passed away June 6, 1863.

George M. Gault was about seventy-nine years of age at the time of his death and his wife passed away at the age of sixty-three years. They became the parents of five children : John and Lauretta are deceased; Iantha is the wife of William J. Whigham, of Carroll County ; William V. is deceased; and Mckinney V., of this review, is the youngest of the number.

Mckinney V. Gault found his childhood and youth compassed by the invigorating influences of the home farm. and his early educational advantages were those offered in the district schools of German Township. His entire active career has been marked by association with pro- gressive farm industry in his native township, where he is now the owner of 1771% acres (in separate tracts) and where he still maintains supervision of the various details of farm enter- prise. though he and his wife have resided in the Village of Germano since the year 1906. His political allegiance is given to the demo- cratic party and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Germano, in which he has served as a member of the Board of Trustees.

June 12, 1890. recorded the marriage of Mr. Gault to Miss Cora Davidson, daughter of Cicero and Mary (O'Connell) Davidson, of Jef- ferson County. Of this union have been born five children-Wilma C., Rose D .. George M .. Arthur L. and John C., all of whom are living except George M. Wilma C. is the wife of John W. Kohler. Rose D. married McCoy Benedict, and became the mother of two children, Kenneth and Eileen, of whom. the former is deceased. Her second marriage was to Frank Johnson. of Tuscarawas County.

George M. Gault, eldest son of him to whomn this review is dedicated, entered the nation's military service on the 27th of May, 1918. and

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after having been stationed seven weeks at Camp Gordon, and on the 21st of July. 1918. he embarked on the transport that conveyed him to France, where he was assigned to the Fifty-ninth Machine Gun Battalion of the Fourth Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. He arrived at the front on the 15th of September, 1918, had his full share of the heavy and hazardous service thus implied, and after the signing of the historic armistice he became a part of the allled army of occupation in Ger- many. There he was attacked with bronchial pneumonia, was sent to an American hospital, and his death there occurred four days later, on the 4th of December, 1918. The name of George M. Gault has place on the honor roll of Ohio's gallant young men who thus made the supreme sacrifice in connection with the na- tion's participation in the World war.

WILLIAM J. CALDWELL is, with all of consist- ency, to be designated as one of the representa- tive exponents of farming in German Township, Harrison County, where he has maintained his residence since 1909 and where he is the owner of a fine farm of 235 acres, this being the effective stage of his progressive and well or- dered activities as an agriculturist and stock- grower.

William James Caldwell was born in Wheel- Ing Township, Belmont County, Ohio, on the 23d of May, 1885, and is a son of William T. and Mary E. (Price) Caldwell, the latter a daughter of James and Nancy ( Williams) Price and a granddaughter of the late James Price, who was a prosperous farmer in Belmont County for many years prior to his death. James Price and his wife were active members of the United Presbyterian Church, in the faith of which they reared their three children-John, Luther and Mary E. William T. Caldwell was born in Richland Township, Belmont County, where he and his wife still maintain their home and where he has long been numbered among the representative farmers of Wheeling Town- ship, both he and his wife being members of the Presbyterian Church, as were also his par- ents, William and Mary J. ( Bell) Caldwell. who were honored pioneers of Belmont County. where the father became a successful farmer. he having been a native of Ireland. William and Mary J. ( Bell) Caldwell became the par- ents of eleven children, and the names of those who attained to years of maturity are here noted : John, Patrick B., Jennie, Anna, Robert B .. William T., George A. and Sarah. William T. Caldwell is the owner of an excellent farm of 160 acres and is one of the prominent citi- zens of Wheeling Township. Belmont County, where he and his wife are zealous members of the United Presbyterian Church at Uniontown. To them have been born ten children-Colena (died in young womanhood), Mary B. (Mrs. Charles H. Campbell), Nancy ( Mrs. Frederick C. Wilkinson), William James, Charles. Ethel. George (deceased). John. Walter and Sarah.

To the district schools of his native township is William J. Caldwell indebted for his early education, and he continued thereafter to be associated with the work of his father's farm

until he assumed connubial responsibilities and established a home of his own. After his mar- riage. in 1909. he and his wife established their residence on their present fine homestead farm, and here he has had no difficulty in maintain- ing prestige as one of the enterprising and suc- cessful representatives of agricultural and live- stock industry in Harrison County, the while he and his wife have secure place in the con- fidence and esteem of their home community. They hold membership in the Presbyterian Church in the neighboring Village of Annap- olis, Jefferson County, and in politics he is aligned in the ranks of the Democratic party.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 108

Author: H. J. Eckley, William T. Perry Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Number of Pages: 678

Author: H. J. Eckley, William T. Perry
Publication date: 1921
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 678