History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 20

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 20
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 20

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Church in their home village, in which he is superintendent of the Sunday School.

In the year 1902 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ruff to Miss Josephine Haskey, daughter of Henry Haskey, a sketch of whose career ap- pears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Ruff have two daughters, Helen, born August 17, 1903, and Esther, born in September, 1912.

CHARLES C. WHITSETT, M. D. Both by inherit- ance and training Dr. Charles C. Whitsett is a physician and surgeon of marked ability, and he has built up a reputation in his locality for dependability and earnest faithfulness which has won for him the warm appreciation of his fel- low citizens. He was born at California, Penn- sylvania, February 19, 1860, a son of Dr. James E. and Clara V. (Martin) Whitsett, and grand- son of Ralph C. Whitsett, the latter being a farmer and owner of a shovel factory of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Ralph C. Whitsett mar- ried Rebecca Estep.

Dr. James E. Whitsett was born at Perryopo- lis, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and his wife was born in the same place, a daughter of John and Mary (Vale) Martin. John Martin was a glass manufacturer and merchant of Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, at the time of his death. For a number of years Dr. James E. Whitsett was en- gaged in the practice of his profession at Beth- any, West Virginia, and died there while still in practice. He and his wife had the following children : Emma, who is deceased; Dr. Charles C., who was the second in order of birth; Annie. Ollie and Ralph, all of whom died when small children ; and John W., who lives at Sardis, Ohio. Dr. James E. Whitsett and his wife be- longed to and worked in the Christian Church. They were people of the highest character who took their religion into their everyday lives, and made the world the better for their having been in it.

Dr. Charles C. Whitsett attended the public schools and college of Bethany, West Virginia. and later became a student at the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1882. Following this he entered upon the practice of his calling at Hendrysburg, Ohio, and remained there until 1908, at which time he moved to Freeport, and has made this city his place of residence ever since. He is recognized as one of the reliable and skilled men of his profession in Harrison County, and be- longs to the County and State Medical Societies. He is a Blue Lodge Mason, and still holds his membership in his lodge at Hendrysburg.

In 1885 Doctor Whitsett was married to Rosa Jones, a daughter of Dr. William and Rebecca Jones, and they had four children, namely : William, Percy and Leona, all of whom died in infancy, and Bessie, who is now married. The first Mrs. Whitsett died in 1894. In 1901 Doctor Whitsett was married to Lena Mclaughlin, a daughter of John and Emily (Glass) MeLaugh- lin. Doctor and Mrs. Whitsett belong to the Disciples Church. They have gathered about them a pleasant circle of congenial companions, and are factors in the social life of Freeport. While much occupied with his professional du- ties, Doctor Whitsett finds time as a good citizen

to take an interest in civic matters, and gives his support to those men and measures which he deems will be for the best of the majority of the people.

Prior to her marriage with Doctor Whitsett Mrs. Whitsett was married to Sherman Penn, of Hendrysburg, Ohio, and they had one son, Har- old Floyd, who is now living with his mother and Doctor Whitsett, and is a very promising lađ.

JOHN M. MCCONNELL. For one full century the name McConnell has been known in Harrison County, the business roster of Cadiz having the name of Michael McConnell, who came from Maryland in 1820 and operated a chair factory and paint shop one hundred years ago. His chil- dren were John A., William, Sarah, Nancy, James, Amanda, Ezra, Rebecca, Samuel B. and Martin A. McConnell. The second son of that pioneer family, William McConnell, became the father of John M. McConnell, the present day dealer in wall paper, paints and varnishes in Cadiz, a business established practically one hundred years ago. In turn it has been owned by Michael, William and John M. McConnell, and has been carried on through three genera- tions in the family.

William McConnell was born March 28, 1828, in Cadiz, and he married Eliza Mary Burns, whose father was an itinerant Protestant Meth- odist minister. She is a daughter of Rev. John and Mary ( Pierson) Burns, and at the time of her birth they were living in Wheeling. Their son. John M. McConnell, was born January 27, 1859, in Cadiz. He has always lived in Har- rison County. While the grandfather, Michael McConnell, was born in Maryland, the grand- mother, Susan (Gallagher) McConnell, was born in Ireland.

In the study of domestic economy pain is rec- ognized as a preserving agency, and Michael Mc- Connell was a painter. His son William McCon- nell was a house painter and paper hanger, being the first man in Cadiz to offer wall paper for sale, and his son has continued the business. The death of William McConnell occurred in 1906, after many years as a business man in the community. It is an unusual record for three generations in one family to round out a century in the paint business, but Michael McConnell, who came to Cadiz in 1820, was a painter. While there is no record that he sold paint, his son William McConnell was a dealer as well as house painter, and the McConnell store today specializes in paints. What other family shows one hundred years in the same line of business? The record is unique in any community.

John M. McConnell was the oldest son born to William and Eliza Mary (Burns) McConnell. A brother, Edwin P., was born July 1, 1860, and died January 16, 1902. A sister. Susannah, was born February 27, 1862, and died July 30, 1863; George was born February 7, 1864: Lizzie, Feb- ruary 16, 1866; Harry B., September 14, 1867 ; Ann J., was born January 3, 1870, and died No- vember 2, 1871; Frederick W. was born October 30, 1871, and died November 18, 1876; and Eliza Gertrude, born July 13, 1874, was the youngest of the family. The father died October 30, 1906,

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and the mother, July 2, 1910, both having at- tained to old age in Harrison County.

After completing his education in the public schools of Cadiz J. M. McConnell learned house painting, and later he became a postal mail clerk, finally traveling as a saleman for a wall paper firm and later becoming a business part- ner with his father in the store he operates today. Because of the emergency occasioned by the World war Mr. McConnell spent another year and a half in the mail service, doing it as a patriotic duty.

In 1912 he married Mary Harriet Mansfield, a daughter of James W. and Samantha Jane Mansfield, of Jefferson County. Mr. McConnell is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge in Cadiz; P. H. P. Chapter No. 171, of Cadiz; Hope Commandery No. 26, K. T., of Bellaire; Aladdin Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Colum- bus, and of the Masonic Veterans of Columbus. Mrs. McConnell is a member of the Eastern Star of Cadiz; White Shrine of Jerusalem, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; and Isis Court, Ladies of the Oriental Shrine, of Wheeling, West Virginia. She is an honorary member of the Supreme Council. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell are members of the Methodist Church in Cadiz. Mr. McConnell's first Sunday School teacher was "Uncle" Matthew Simpson, the man who raised Bishop Simpson. Mr. McConnell was the most active member of the local Red Cross Society during the World war, he having had charge of all the packing and shipping of supplies for- warded by the Red Cross. In politics he is a republican, and is now and has been for the last four years coroner of Harrison County.

ROBERT H. LYLE has had the good judgment to appreciate fully the advantage afforded for suc- cessful farm enterprise in his native county, and has secure vantage-place as one of the substan- tial and representative agriculturists and stock- growers of Short Creek Township, Harrison County, where his birth occurred on the 17th of April, 1882. He is a son of George L. and Nancy J. (Gillespie) Lyle, both of whom were born in Belmont County, this state, and the latter of whom was a daughter of Robert Gil- lespie. David and Mary (Love) Lyle, paternal grandparents of the subject of this sketch, re- mained in Belmont County until their deaths, and the grandfather was there a prosperous farmer. Their children were seven in number, George, John, James, Miller, Annabelle, Ella and Sarah.

George L. Lyle was reared and educated in Belmont County, and there he continued his association with farm enterprise until the late '70s, when he came to Short Creek Township. Harrison County, where he developed a fine farm property and where he remained until his death in 1907. He was a member of the Pres- byterian Church at New Athens. He is survived by his widow and five children. Dr. Walter G. is a successful physician and surgeon at Bloom- ingdale, Jefferson County ; Robert Harvey is the immediate subject of this review; Joseph G. is engaged in farming in Harrison County ; Gretta is the wife of Harvey T. Elliott, of this county ; and David M. is engaged in business with the

Short Creek Coal Company, living at New Athens.

In addition to receiving the advantages of the district schools of his native township Robert Harvey Lyle also attended for one year the cele- brated Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, In- diana. As a young man he was for two years engaged in farming in Athens Township, and he then returned to his native township of Short Creek, where he has since staged his activities on his well improved farm of 104 acres. In con- nection with well regulated agriculture he gives special attention to breeding and raising regis- tered Shorthorn cattle and Poland China swine. His political allegiance is given to the demo- cratic party, and he and his wife hold member- ship in the Presbyterian Church at New Athens.

The year 1909 recorded the marriage of Mr. Lyle to Miss Jennie W. Whittaker, daughter of Dr. John W. Whittaker, of Bloomingdale, Jeffer- son County, and the one child of this union is a winsome little daughter, Frances Irene.

THOMAS E. GEORGE is another of the honored representatives of a family that has been one of prominence and influence in Carroll County for nearly a century and a quarter, and in various other general and personal sketches appearing in this work will be found further record con- cerning this sterling pioneer family ......

. Thomas Edgar George, who is now serving as county clerk of Carroll County, was born in Fox Township, this county, February 9, 1887, and is a son of John C. and Anna E. (McGinnis) George, both likewise natives of Fox Township, where the latter's parents settled upon coming . to the county from Pennsylvania. Their home was later established in Iowa, where the daugh- ter Anna E. remained until the time of her mar- riage. She was born in 1856. John C. George was born May 22, 1842, a son of Thomas George, who was born in Cumberland County, Maryland, and who was a child at the time when ,in 1809, the family home was established in Carroll County, Ohio, his father having settled in the midst of the virgin forest and having reclaimed one of the pioneer farms of Fox Township. After his marriage Thomas George and his wife, whose family name was Walker, settled on a farm near the present village of Mechanicstown, where they endured the full tension of pioneer life but developed the excellent farm on which they passed the remainder of their lives. Mrs. George passed away in 1874 and his death oc- curred in the following year, their children hav- ing been nine in number.

John C. George was reared on the old home farm and received the advantages of the schools of the locality and period, including an old-time select school at Carrollton. He continued his allegiance to the great industry of agriculture during his entire active career and was one of the substantial farmers and influential citizens of Fox Township at the time of his death, April 28, 1919, his widow still remaining on the old home farm, which is one of the finely improved places of Fox Township and situated about one mile south of Mechanicstown. Mr. George was a stalwart republican and was an earnest mem- ber of the United Presbyterian Church, as is

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also his widow. They became the parents of six children : Myrtle, Ethel, Edwin and Thomas (twins), Walter and Ernest. The son Edwin died July 3, 1907.

Thomas E. George early gained experience in connection with the activities of the home farm, and in addition to receiving the advantages of the public schools he pursued a higher course of study by attending Muskingum College. For three and one-half years thereafter he was en- gaged in the general merchandise business at Canfield, Mahoning County, and for an equal period he followed the same line of enterprise at Carrollton, judicial center of his native county. In 1918 he was elected county clerk, of which office he has since continued the efficient and popular incumbent, the preferment indicat- ing the secure place which is his in the esteem of the people of his native county. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and both he and his wife hold member- ship in the United Presbyterian Church at Car- rollton, his father having long served as an elder of the church of this denomination at Mechanicstown.

March 9, 1910, recorded the marriage of Mr. George to Miss Elizabeth Andrews, daughter of Samuel L. Andrews, of Fox Township, and the one child of this union is Carl Edwin, who was born September 26, 1911. .

FREDERICK BUEL has been actively engaged in the lumber business at Malvern, Carroll County, for nearly half a century and has been a resi- dent of this county since he was a child of about three years. As a young man he went forth as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and aside from this patriotic service he has further honored his home county by his worthy achievement as a successful business man. He is now senior member of the firm of Frederick Buel & Son, dealers In lumber, cement, plaster, hardware, and paint and other builders' supplies, and the establishment of the firm is one of the oldest and most important in the vil- lage of Malvern, Brown Township.

Mr. Buel was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, June 18, 1836, and is a son of David and Fred- ericka (Bendle) Buel, both natives of Wurtem- berg, where the former was born in 1805 and the latter in 1803. The original spelling of the family name was Buhl, and the present Angli- cized spelling was adopted after the Immigration to America. In 1839 David Buel, accompanied by his wife and their three children, Fredericka, Caroline and Frederick, came to America on a salling vessel of the type common to that period, and in that year the family home was estab- lished at Lodi, Carroll County, Ohio, a village to which later was given the present name, Mal- vern. The father here engaged in the work of his trade, that of tailor, and this constituted his vocation for many years. He was one of the venerable and honored citizens of Malvern at the time of his death in 1801, and his widow passed to the life eternal in 1895. Their four younger children were born in Carroll County, and Fredericka, eldest of the three born in Germany, is now the wife of Joseph Fishel, of

Malvern. She was born July 26, 1833, Freder- ick, immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth. Caroline became the wife of Moses Gascon and is now deceased. Henry still resides at Malvern. David, who en- tered the Union service in the Civil war, was wounded in an engagement at Jackson, Missis- sippi, May 14, 1863, and was brought back to the parental home, where he died, on the 30th of the following July. Catherine died in infancy,

as did also the seventh child, a son. David Buel, the father, was a soldier in the Mexican war and also was in active service in the Civil war, as were three of his sons, Henry, of Mal- vern, being a veteran of the latter conflict, as is also the subject of this sketch. This family rec- ord of loyal service bespeaks the loftlest of patriotism.

Frederick Buel acquired his early education in the village school at Malvern, and he attended also the seminary that was here conducted in that early day. In 1859 he entered Mount Union College, where he pursued a higher course of study. In the meanwhile he had become a successful teacher in the district school, and he continued his service in the pedagogic profession until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he promptly tendered his services in defense of the Union. Of the early experiences of Mr. Buel there is one to which special attention may be called. When he was a lad of eleven years he found employment as driver of horses used in transporting the boats on the old canal between Cleveland and Portsmouth.

In May, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and at the expiration of his three months' term was mustered out, August 18, 1861. On the 4th of the following November he re enlisted, be- coming at this time a private in Company A, Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was mobilized at Camp Meigs, whence it went for- ward to Paducah, Kentucky, and then to Co- rinth, Mississippi, where it took part in the siege against that city, including the battle continued during the 4th and 5th of October, 1862. Thereafter Mr. Buel was with his regi- ment in numerous spirited engagements, includ- ing those of Raymond and Jackson, the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Missionary Ridge and participated in Sherman's historic march from Atlanta to the sea. Efficient and faithful serv- ice gained to him promotion to the office of second lieutenant January 15, 1863, and on the 27th of the following April he was made first lieutenant. He was mustered out at Savannah, Georgia, December 21, 1864, at the expiration of his second term of enlistment, and returned with his regiment to Ohio, where he received his honorable discharge.

After the termination of three and one-half years of gallant service as a soldier of the Union Mr. Buel returned to Malvern, and on the 10th of April, 1865, he here engaged in the general merchandise business. He continued this enterprise until February 21, 1871, when he sold the stock and business and became a part- ner of his brother-in-law, Joseph Fishel, in the lumber business. . The business was successfully conducted under the firm name of Fishel & Buel

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for many years, and a few years before his death Mr. Fishel sold his interest to his part- ner, who in 1904 admitted his son Henry V. to partnership, the substantial and well ordered business having since been conducted under the firm name of Frederick Buel & Son.

Mr. Buel has been signally loyal and public- spirited as a citizen and has been unwavering in his allegiance to the republican party from the time when he cast his vote in support of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. He has inviolable place in the confidence of the people of his home county, has served as a member of the village council, as treasurer of Brown Town- ship, and as a member of the school board, be- sides which he gave eight and one-half years of effective service as a member of the board of trustees of the Girls' Industrial Home at Dela- ware. He has been influential in the local coun- cils of the republican party and was a delegate to the national convention at which Hon. Will- iam H. Taft was nominated for the presidency for the second time. He is an appreciative mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He and his wife have long been active and zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in their home village, and in the same he has held various official positions, including those of steward, trustee and class leader.

On the 21st of April, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Buel to Miss Julia A. Fishel, who was born in Brown Township, Carroll County, May 25, 1840. She is a sister of the late Joseph Fishel, who was long her husband's associate in the lumber business, as noted in a preceding paragraph. Mrs. Buel is a daughter of Henry and Margaret (McClurg) Fishel, who were born in Pennsylvania but their marriage was solemnized in Ohio and they were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Carroll County, where they passed the closing period of their lives. The concluding paragraph of this review offers brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Buel :

Agnes Roberta is the wife of Henry H. Tracy, of San Francisco, California. Joseph F. married Miss Lillie Thompson, and they now reside at Lodi, California. Henry V., who is junior mem- ber of the firm of Frederick Buel & Son, was born at Malvern in 1873, and after completing the curriculum of the local high school he con- tinued his studies in and graduated from Mount Union College, which his father had attended in his youth. Henry V. likewise proved his pow- ers as a successful teacher in the public schools, and he continued to assist his father in the management of the latter's lumber interests un- til 1904, when he was admitted to a partnership in the business, the greater part of its active supervision and direction now devolving upon him, the while he is well upholding the prestige of the family name both as a progressive citizen and as an able business man. In politics he is a republican, and he holds the office of notary public. He has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, is affiliated also with the Knights of Pythias, and he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal

Church. Mr. Buel wedded Miss Vinnie Pearson, of Malvern, and they have two children, Elta and Harlan. Frederick H. Buel, youngest of the children of the subject of this review, re- sides at Youngstown, Mahoning County, and is a successful lumber salesman.

ELI H. PRETTY is one of the executive heads of the Carrollton Motor Company, which is giv- ing the most effective service with its well equipped garage in the city of Carrollton, judi- cial center of Carroll County, and it has been due to his initiative and progressive policies that this city has gained this up-to-date estab- lishment, which is the only garage at Carrollton that maintains a battery-service station and carries a full line of automobile supplies, be- sides having a repair department that affords the best of service to patrons. The company have the local agency for the celebrated Chevro- let and Overland automobiles and the popular Tuscan tires, which latter they sell to patrons at factory prices, with a guaranty of 6,000 miles of service. Fair and honorable dealings and the maximum excellence of service have gained to this concern a substantial and representative supporting patronage.

Mr. Pretty, a representative business man of the younger generation at Carrollton, was born in Center Township, Carroll County, January 13, 1886, and is a son of William and Elizabeth Pretty, both natives of England, where the for- mer was born in 1854 and the latter in 1852. The parents were reared and educated in their native land, where their marriage was solem- nized, and they became residents of Carroll County, Ohio, in 1880. Here the father con- tinued his successful activities as a farmer in Center Township until his death in 1902, and his widow still maintains her home in the county. They became the parents of ten chil- dren, all of whom are living, namely: Mary, Emma, William, Allen and Eli H. (twins), George, Ralph, Albert, Howard and Frank.

Eli H. Pretty passed his childhood and early youth on the home farm and was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Carrollton, including the high school. In 1914 he effected the organization of the Carrollton Motor Com- pany, which was incorporated in 1919, and of which he has since been the vice president and manager. The modern and finely equipped gar- age of the company is situated on East Main street. Mr. Pretty is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. His name is still found on the roll of eligible young bachelors in his native county.

JAMES S. MORGAN is the owner of a productive and well-improved farm of seventy-five acres in Short Creek Township, Harrison County, where he has maintained his home since 1901 and where he has made an admirable record as a progressive and successful agriculturist and stock-grower. His farm enterprise includes a prosperous dairy department, and since 1905 he has been known as a breeder of registered Jer- sey cattle of the finest type.

Mr. Morgan was born in Wheeling Township,. Belmont County, Ohio, on the 13th of March, 1859, and is a son of Levi and Margaret Jane

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 20

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