History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 114

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 114
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 114

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).

The youngest in a family of four sons and five daughters, Harvey P. Leyda remained at home until his marriage, learning from his father to be an excellent farmer. Until he was sixteen years old he attended the country schools during the winter months, working on the farm the remainder of the year.

In 1908 Mr. Leyda was married to Varilla Johnson, a daughter of Jasper and Mary E. (Wallace) Johnson, of Brown Township. Mr. and Mrs. Leyda have four children, namely : Lela Verne, Walter E., Earl W. and Robert Leland.

After his marriage Mr. Leyda began operat- ing the homestead and was so engaged for eight years, and then moved to Malvern, Ohio, and for two years was occupied in teaming. In 1920 he located on his present farm, where he is carrying on general farming. Having spent practically all his life as a farmer, he has a wide experience in this calling, as well as a liking for it, and is bound to be successful. It is very seldom that a practical farmer meets with failure, it is only those who go on a farm without knowing any of the details of their work who find that they cannot make a living at it. In his political inclinations and actions Mr. Leyda is a republican, but he has not cared to run for office. The local Presbyterian Church has him on its membership rolls, and he is generous in his support of it. Public- spirited, when it comes to improving his locality he is among the foremost in working for meas- ures which will bring about such conditions, and the people of Harrison Township regard his settlement among them as a stroke of good fortune.

JAMES VANCE SMITH AND CHARLES C. SMITH. James Vance Smith and his son, Charles C. Smith, are numbered among the leading farmers of Harrison Township. The former owns land in both Harrison and Center townships, but lives in Harrison Township. He was born in

Union Township, this county, February 13, 1856, a son of David Smith and Margaret Ann (McElderry) Smith, and grandson of David Smith, who married Elinore Hanna and had four children, of whom David Smith. Jr., was the eldest.

At an early day the younger David Smith drove overland from Washington County, Penn- sylvania, to Carroll County, Ohio, and became a farmer of Washington Township. He died at the age of seventy-nine years, and his wife is also deceased. Of their five children James Vance Smith was the first born.

During his boyhood and youth James Vance Smith attended the rural school at Cold Spring Run for three of the winter months, and the remainder of each year assisted his father in operating the farm he had bought in Harrison Township, remaining at home until he was twenty-one years old. He was married to Mary C. Hemming, a daughter of Richard Hemming. and they became the parents of five children. namely : Grace Leyda, who married Edgar Orin, of Elbert, Colorado, and has one child. Morris Edgar; Charles C., who is mentioned at length further on; George Milton, who was killed at Alliance, Nebraska, in a railroad acci- dent in 1908, when twenty-five years old; David Edward, who married Ola Gotschall, of Carrollton, Ohio, and has three children, Pearl E., Moyne E. and Maxine V .; and Richard D., who married May Davis, a daughter of Robert Davis.

Following his marriage Mr. Smith moved on part of his present farm, the original purchase being of thirty-three acres, to which he later added thirty acres. For a number of years he has been engaged in saw-milling, and he oper- ates a thresher in season. In his farming he raises a general line of diversified crops. In politics he is an independent democrat. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership, and he is generous in his donations to it. For some time he has been a stockholder in the Farmers Exchange at Carrollton. Mr. Smith practically adopted a young man named Homer Lutz, who works on the farm and lives with the family. He is a fine young man, a credit to his foster parents, who have given him the same care and affection they bestowed on their own children. He was drafted into the service and called to the colors September 1. 1917. From September 5, 1917, to July 8, 1918, he was at Camp Sherman, as a member of Com- pany Three, Three Hundred and Thirty-second Infantry, Eighty-third Division. On July 8. 1918, the unit sailed from New York and landed at Liverpool, England, from whence after five days they were transferred to Havre. France, and four days later to Longues and placed in the reserves. For nine weeks he was in the offensive at and about Chateau Thierry, and was then sent to Italy, and was in the trenches for two weeks. His ability and bravery earned him promotion and he was first made a corporal and then a sergeant. Mr. Lutz saw action on the Piave River. Following that drive he was sent to Venice and sailed on the Adriatic to Dalmatia at Zelenco, where he was one of the Army of Occupation for five weeks. The com-

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mand was then ordered home, and he landed in New York City in April, 1919, and partici- pated in the big parade of that metropolis. Sent to Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Lutz after some time in Camp Merritt and Camp Sherman mus- tered out of the service May 2, 1919, and then returned to the home welcome awaiting him. His father was Rev. John Herbert Lutz, pastor of the Lutheran Church of Carrollton at one time. He came to Carrollton from Charlotte, North Carolina, and married Lillian Wilson, who died August 9, 1915. Homer Lutz is the second in a family of nine children, and was born in 1894. Until he was eighteen years old be attended school at North Woodstock, Vir- ginia.

Charles C. Smith, son of James Vance Smith. married Gertrude Hendricks, a daughter of Armstrong and Mary (Swinehart) Hendricks, on February 22, 1910, and they have two chil- dren, Dennis D. and Teddy Dale. Mr. Smith owns a farm of 128 acres adjoining that of his father, and is one of the capable agriculturists of this region.

WILLIAM C. MCCARTNEY is owner of one of the well improved farms of Rose Township, near Dellroy. His life for thirty years has been spent in Carroll County as a practical farmer.

Mr. McCartney was born in Warren Town- ship, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, September 21. 1865. oldest of the four children of Alfred and Mary (Bartholomew) McCartney. He is of Scotch-Irish and German ancestry. His grand- father was Robert McCartney, who brought his family from Pennsylvania in early days and settled in Jefferson County, Ohio. The family came over the mountains with wagon and a four horse team to Ohio. Robert McCartney subsequently moved to Tuscarawas County, where he enjoyed a high place in local citizen- ship and where he died in 1900. Of his eleven children Alfred McCartney was born in Jeffer- son County, but the greater part of his life has been spent in Tuscarawas County, where he is still living. His wife died in 1916.

In the rural community of Warren Township of his native county William C. McCartney grew to manhood, taking advantage of the win- ter terms of the district schools, and working at farm labor the rest of the year. For three years he conducted a general store at Sherrods- ville, but in 1891, when he married, he resumed farming on the place of his wife's father in Rose Township. Since 1907 he has owned and cultivated his present place of 137 acres, and has shared in the general prosperity of this rich agricultural community. He is a member of the Grange of Dellroy, and casts his vote as an independent democrat.

In 1891 Mr. McCartney married Regina Ger- man. daughter of J. T. and Abbie (Hayden) German. of Rose Township. They have two children. Harvey Edison, the son, lives at Dell- roy, and by his marriage to Erma Snively has three children, named Kenneth A., Irene and Doris. The daughter. Ethel, is the wife of El- mer Lindner. of Monroe Township. Carroll County, and has a son. William Edward, born in 1917.

JAMES ROY BAXTER, a leading stockman and farmer in Harrison Township, belongs to the noted Baxter family which has been in Carroll County for more than a century. One of the very definite community names in the county is Baxter's Ridge, where Mr. Baxter's great-grand- father settled in the early part of the nineteenth century and the topography and community were named in his honor.

The Baxters are of English lineage. The great-grandfather was Cornelius Baxter, who came from Pennsylvania. He acquired eighty acres of Government land at Baxter's. Ridge. and in 1814, in his log house, was held the first meeting for organization of a Methodist Church, and the Baxter's Ridge Methodist Church has been in existence ever since. After living at Baxter's Ridge twenty years Cornelius moved to Willow Run in Harrison Township, and died there at the age of sixty. He married in Penn- sylvania Rachel Pillars, and of their seven chil- dren the grandfather of James Roy Baxter was fourth in age. He was born at Baxter's Ridge. but for many years cultivated a farm of 160 acres in Harrison Township, where he died in 1910. His wife was Ianthe McCrary, of Rose Township, who died in 1915, leaving ten chil- dren, nine of whom are still living.

The oldest of these is Finley Baxter. who was born in 1853 and is still numbered among the intelligent and highly respected citizens of Harrison Township. Though retired from farming he still owns a place of eighty acres here. At different times he conducted cider mills and saw mills in connection with his farming. He is a republican, served three years as a director of the local School Board. and four years as township supervisor of Har- rison Township. In 1874 he married Emmeline Suitor, and they have four living children.

The youngest of these two sons and two daughters is James Roy Baxter, who was born in Harrison Township April 19, 1881. He re- ceived his education in the same school as his father attended, the Willow Run School, which he attended during winter terms until he was eighteen. After leaving school he found his time and energies taken up by work on the home farm.

In 1904, at the age of twenty-three. he mar- ried Texas Inez Davy. daughter of Abraham Gardner and Sarah (Little) Davy. of Rose Township. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter had five chil- dren : Helen Beatrice. born in 1907: Sarah Emmeline, born in 1911: Ralph Finley. born in 1914: Verna Evelyn, who died in April .. 1918. at the age of eighteen months: and Wilford Otis. who died in January. 1919. aged nine months.

After his marriage Mr. Baxter became a renter, and for seven years had charge of the eighty-acre Henry Smith farm. While he be- gan in comparatively moderate circumstances he acquired much valuable equipment and live- stock, saved some money, and in 1911 bought land of his own and has since occupied his place in Harrison Township. This is the old Strayer farm and contains 158 acres. Its cul- tivation is well diversified under Mr. Baxter's management, and he has done some advanced

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and profitable work in raising Shorthorn cattle and has a flock of fifty-odd American Delaine sheep.

Mr. Baxter is a member of the National Grange at Dellroy, is a republican in politics, and is a member of the Lutheran Church of Rose Township.

JOHN L. SCOTT has significantly proved in his independent career as an agriculturist and stock-grower that he followed the course of wisdom when he decided to remain on the fine old home farm which was the place of his na- tivity and which has afforded him excellent opportunities for successful achievement. This farm, comprising 102 acres, is eligibly situated in Monroe Township, Carroll County, on rural mail route No. 4 from Carrollton, the county seat, six miles distant. On this farm John Loman Scott was born September 6, 1871, a son of Wilson and Elizabeth Anne (Mcclintock) Scott. On this same ancestral homestead farm Wilson Scott was born and reared, and here he passed his entire life, during which he never found it expedient to sever his allegiance to the basic industry of the farm, in connection with which he gained substantial success. He was a son of Thomas and Isabelle (Carlisle) Scott, who were natives of Scotland and who were numbered among the pioneer settlers of what is now Carroll County, where they established their home at the time when this county was still a part of Tuscarawas County, Carroll County having been organized in 1833. Thomas Scott was born July 28, 1789, and his wife was born on the 18th of the same month and year, their marriage having been solemnized Febru- ary 13, 1817. Upon coming to America from his native land Thomas Scott first settled in Brooke County, Virginia, and it was from the historic Old Dominion state that he came in an early day to Ohio and numbered himself among the pioneer settlers of the present Car- roll County. The quarter section of land which he here obtained from the Government consti- tutes the major portion of the farm now owned by his grandson, John L., of this sketch, who retains in his possession the original parchment deed to the property, the same bearing the signature of James Monroe, who was then President of the United States. Thomas Scott reclaimed his land from the virgin forest and with the passing years prosperity attended his earnest and well ordered activities as a pioneer farmer. He and his noble wife were venerable and honored citizens of Carroll County at the time of their deaths, and remained on the old home farm from the time they came to Ohio until they passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors, Mr. Scott's death having occurred on December 21, 1870, and that of his wife April 20, 1862. They became the parents of four sons and three daughters, of whom Wilson, father of the subject of this review, was the youngest.

After the death of his parents Wilson Scott came into full possession of the old home farm, he having purchased the interests of the other heirs, and here he continued his resourceful and successful activities until his death, which

occurred January 16, 1912, his wife having passed away August 11, 1906. They became the parents of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living, and of the number John L. is the youngest. Wilson Scott, a man of strong mentality and well fortified opinions, gave un- qualified allegiance to the republican party, and his civic loyalty was shown in his effective service in the offices of trustee and treasurer of Monroe Township. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Presbyterian Church at Dellroy.

John L. found the period of his boyhood and youth varied by work on the home farm and attending the district schools during the winter terms. The old farm has continued as the stage of his independent enterprise in connec- tion with progressive agricultural and live-stock industry, in connection with which, as in his civic relations, he is well upholding the high prestige of the family name. He is a republi- can in politics and he and his wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church at Dellroy. He takes a lively interest in community affairs, is a member of the Grange at Petersburg, and is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Carrollton.

September 12, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Scott to Miss Jessie B. Johnston, who was born February 14, 1876, in Harrison County, Ohio, a daughter of Andrew J. and Samantha (Smith) Johnston, of Harrison County. The father of Mrs. Scott was a son of Andrew Johnston, Sr., who was born and reared in the north of Ireland, and at the time of his arrival in the United States his financial resources were reduced to the lowest limit, though he was well fortified in energy and self-reliance. He married Margaret Humphreys, likewise a native of Ireland, and they became the early settlers in Harrison County, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their lives and where Mr. Johnston was a farmer by vocation. Of the eight children Andrew, Jr., was the seventh in order of birth, and is the only one of the number now living. He is one of the substan- tial farmers and highly respected citizens of Harrison County, where he and his wife reside on their excellent farm in Stock Township. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have four children-Eliza- beth, Milton K., Mildred and Mary Smith.

WILLIAM WATSON, one of the men of Carroll County who have assisted very materially in developing this portion of the state with refer- ence to agriculture, owns 121 acres of valuable land in Harrison Township, and is recognized as one of the best farmers of this region. He was born in Brown Township, Carroll County, October 7, 1869, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Moorhead) Watson. The paternal grandfa- ther came to Brown Township from Pennsyl- vania, and here spent the remainder of his life. In his family there were three sons. Henry Watson was reared in Brown Township, and learned the carpenter trade, following it at Pekin, Ohio, where he died in 1902, but his widow survived him until 1915, when she, too, passed away. They had eight children, of

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whom William Watson was the second in order of birth.

William Watson grew to manhood in Brown Township, and attended the country schools un- til he was seventeen years old, during the win- ter terms only. Upon leaving school he worked as a teamster until he was twenty-two years old, at which time he embarked in a teaming business of his own and conducted it for seven years. He then bought timber land in Brown Township, sawing down his timber in the woods and selling it under contract, and did the same thing in Harrison and Monroe Townships. During this period he lived at Dellroy, Ohio, and was engaged in this line of business for nine years. In 1905, having been saving, he had sufficient money to buy ninety acres of his present farm. From time to time he added until he now has 121 acres, all well improved, and he takes great pride in having everything thoroughly modern. Ever since he began farming he has raised a general line of crops, and has met with success in this calling as he did in the others in which he has been engaged.

In 1897 Mr. Watson was united in marriage with Mary Hoobler, a daughter of Elias and Elizabeth Hoobler, of Rose Township. Mr. and Mrs. Watson have three children, namely : Wayne Elias, Miriam Elizabeth and Kenneth Alfred, all of whom are at home. Active as a republican Mr. Watson has served as township trustee for two terms, and has been eminently acceptable to his constituents in this office. The Presbyterian Church of New Harrisburg holds his membership. An intelligent man, he takes great interest in the improvement of his neighborhood, has always been a friend of good schools and good roads, and is willing to sup- port those measures tending to further main- tain what he believes are necessities to the people.

SOLOMON E. TURNEY is the fortunate owner of Liberty Hall Stock Farm, one of the best im- proved and most valuable rural estates in Car- roll County. He purchased this fine property in the year 1919, and his management of it has added to the high prestige which it had gained under the control of a former owner. Liberty Hall Stock Farm is situated seven miles distant from Carrollton, the county seat, and twenty- four miles south of Canton, the metropolis and judicial center of Stark County. It has been authoritatively pronounced the best equipped stock farm in eastern Ohio. There is running water in every field, and it has given splendid yields in the agricultural department as well as maximum returns in the domain of stock raising. The excellent soil produces the best of fruits, and the land shows also several veins of coal. The modern house of ten rooms, with large stone cellar, is heated by furnace, supplied with gas from an acetylene plant, receives its running water from the private water system installed on the place at a cost of $800, and has other modern facilities of the best order. The other buildings on the place are of equally modern order and the property represents a conservative value of fully $17.000. From these

brief statements it becomes evident that the initial sentence of this paragraph is fully justi- fled. The farm comprises 16212 acres and is eligibly situated in Monroe Township.

Solomon E. Turney was born in Crawford County, Kansas, on the 2d of August, 1880, and is of Pennsylvania-German ancestry. Two brothers of the name immigrated to America from Germany in an early day and became pioneer settlers of the old Keystone State. Later one of them removed to the south and the other, the ancestor of the subject of this re- view, became a pioneer in Ohio. Solomon Tur- ney, grandfather of Solomon E., became a sub- stantial farmer in Holmes County, Ohio, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives and where both died in the decade of the '50s. Of their twelve children the third was Jesse, father of him whose name initiates this article. Jesse Turney was born on the old homestead farm in Holmes County, Ohio, and there he continued his activities as a farmer until his removal to Kansas. shortly after he had returned from serving as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. At Wooster he enlisted as a member of the Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with this command continued in active service two years, three months and nine days, at the expiration of which he received his honorable discharge. He participated in the various battles and minor conflicts in which his regiment was involved, and in an engage- ment on Graham's Plantation was slightly wounded. After the close of his military career he returned to Ohio, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Catherine Hetrick, and within a short time thereafter they numbered them- selves among the pioneer settlers of Crawford County, Kansas. They became the parents of nine children, of whom Solomon E. was the seventh in order of birth.

Solomon E. Turney received the advantages of the public schools of his native county. and from his youth to the present time has been one of the world's constructive workers in connec- tion with farm industry. He continued to be associated with the work and management of the old home farm in the Sunflower State until his marriage, at the age of twenty-two years. when he came to Ohio and established his resi- dence on a farm of fifty acres in Knox County. He there remained one year and the ensuing seven years he passed on another farm of sev- enty-one acres in the same county. He then assumed charge of the old homestead farm of his father in Liberty Township, that county, and on this place of 150 acres he continued his successful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower for a period of eight years. He then purchased his present farm, and in the management of this model rural estate has proved himself admirably fortified for progres- sive achievement of most substantial order. his attention being given to diversified agriculture and stock-growing.

Mr. Turney is not self-centered, but takes a loyal interest in all things pertaining to the communal welfare and is always ready to sup- port progressive measures and enterprises tend- ing to advance the civic and material welfare.

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He is a staunch republican, is actively affiliated with the Grange at Petersburg in Carroll County, and he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church.

On the 11th of February, 1903, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Turney to Miss Fran- cis J. Milt, daughter of Henry C. and Elizabeth Ann ( Kenner) Milt, of Liberty Township, Knox County. Ohio, her father being a representative farmer of that county and of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. His wife is of English lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Turney have made their beautiful home a center of generous and gracious hos- pitality, and its precincts are brightened by the presence of their three children-Edith May, Dwight S. and Velma Anne.

EVAN JONES established his home in Carroll County, Ohio, in the year 1880, and for seven years thereafter was employed in connection with the coal-mining industry in this county, a line of service with which he had become more or less familiar in his native land. A man of energy, ambition and resolute purpose. he has made the best of the opportunities that have presented themselves, and through his own ef- forts, fostered by the devoted co-operation of his wife, has gained place as one of the sub- stantial citizens of the county. The well im- proved farm which he owned comprised eighty acres, being situated in Harrison Township, on rural mail route No. 1 from the village of Dellroy. In March, 1921, he sold his farm and removed to Dellroy where he is now living retired.

The north of Wales figures as the place of birth of Evan Jones, who was there born April 25, 1853, a son of John and Mary Jones, repre- sentatives of families long established in that part of Wales. There the Jones family had been tenant farmers for many generations, the large landed estates being held by wealthy pro- prietors, under the old English tenant system, and the tenant farmers having no opportunity to acquire ownership of the land which they cultivated. Evan Jones was reared to manhood in his native land, received a common-school education and early began to work on the farm, besides gaining experience in the coal mines for which the north of Wales has long been noted. In 1876, a few years after his marriage, Mr. Jones left his family in Wales and came to the United States for the purpose of making inves- tigations and formulating definite plans for es- tablishing a home in this country. He made his way to Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and there worked in coal mines one year, at the expira- tion of which he returned to Wales. Three years later. in company with his wife and their four children, he came again to the United States. and it was at this time that he made Carroll County, Ohio, his destination. He es- tablished the family home at Sherodsville, and for the ensuing seven years was engaged as a workman in the coal mines of this locality. He and his wife practiced the utmost frugality and economy, and finally his savings justified him in the purchase of a farm. to the management of which he gave his attention, until recently, the while definite independence and prosperity

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 114

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