History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 26

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 26
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 26

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J. Osborn Cope acquired his early education in the public schools of his native township and was also afforded advantages for the cultiva- tion of his exceptional musical talent. As a young man he devoted six years to the success- ful teaching of music in the public schools of Cadiz and Nottingham townships, and since 1900 he has resided upon and given his close atten- tion to his present excellent farm which is given over to diversified agriculture and the raising of live stock, with preference given to sheep. He also owns fine residential property in the city of Cadiz. A republican in politics, Mr. Cope has been influential in community affairs, he having served two terms as trustee of Cadiz Township. Mr. Cope is a member of the Chris- tian Church and Mrs. Cope is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

July 24, 1897, recorded the marriage of Mr. Cope to Miss Ida E. Blair, who was born and reared in Harrison County, as were also her parents, Albert and Hannah R. (Hines) Blair, whose marriage was solemnized June 4, 1871. Mr. Blair was born in Cadiz Township in . 1838, and his wife in Nottingham Township in 1843, she being a daughter of Abraham and Hannah (Carson) Hines. Mr. and Mrs. Cope became the parents of three children, Alberta Estelle, Dorothy Beryl and Helen Irene, the last named having died in infancy. Albert Blair, a son of William and Sarah (Day) Blair, was the owner of a farm of 180 acres in Cadiz Township, and there he died on the 22d of March, 1882, when still a young man. His widow still resides in Harrison County. Of their children Mrs. Cope is the younger, and the firstborn, Mary Effle, died in early childhood.

WALTER C. TOLAND has built up a prosperous business as a painter and paper-hanger in his native village of Harrisville, Harrison County, where he also gives attention to expert electric wiring service. He was born on the 1st of Feb- ruary, 1871, and is a son of Michael H. and Julia Ann (Dowdell) Toland. Michael H. To- land was born in Mount Pleasant Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, a son of Hugh and Mary Toland, his father having been a mill- wright by trade and vocation and having settled in Jefferson County in an early day. He was a native of Ireland, and both he and his wife con-

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Daviel Robb

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tinned their residence in Jefferson County until their deaths. In his youth Michael H. Toland learned the shoemaker's trade, and as a skilled workman he engaged successfully in the work of his trade at Harrisville, Harrison County, where he maintained his home many years, com- manded unqualified esteem and where he died at the age of seventy-three years. His wife died in 1880. He held membership in the Union Church of Harrisville, and his wife held to the faith of the Methodist Protestant Church. Their eight children were: Alfred W., Catherine A., Lind- ley M., Edgar Allen, Walter C., John, Samuel and Isabel. John, Samuel and Isabel are de- ceased.

The public schools of Harrisville afforded Wal- ter C. Toland his early educational advantages, and at the age of seventeen years he entered upon an apprenticeship to the printer's trade. The first year found him in service in the office of the Ohio Valley News at Martin's Ferry, Bel- mont County, and the remaining three years of his apprenticeship were marked by his connec- tion with the Martin's Ferry Times, beginning with the latter paper when it was established. Thereafter he continued in the work of his trade about one year, and he then returned to Har- risville, where he has since maintained his home and where he has been definitely prospered in his chosen business. During this time he pub- lished a weekly newspaper, "The Independent," for six years. He is a republican in politics and he and his wife hold membership in the Metho- dist Episcopal Church in their home village.

March 30, 1897, recorded the marriage of Mr. Toland to Miss Ada Morris, daughter of Samuel T. and Laura (Hicks) Morris, and the one child of this union is a son, Donald C.

DAVID M. ROBB was one of the representative farmers and highly honored citizens of Green Township, Harrison County, at the time of his death, May 23, 1916, and this memorial tribute to a man of sterling character and worthy achievement is accentuated by the fact that he was a native son of Harrison County, his par- ents, Joseph and Mary ( Porter) Robb, natives of Ireland, having come to America and having established their residence in Green Township, Harrison County, Ohio, more than sixty years ago. It was about the year 1853 that Joseph Robb thus engaged in farm enterprise in Green Township, where he continued to maintain his home until his death, he having been killed in an accident while driving a pair of colts in August, 1850, and his wife having survived him by more than thirty years. She was born in 1815 and passed to eternal rest April 3, 1893, both having been earnest members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. Their children were nine in number : Robert, Samuel, William, Da- vid M., John, Joseph, James, Craig and Mary.

David M. Robb was born in Green Township, Harrison County, May 3, 1852, and was about seven years of age at the time of the tragic death of his father. His widowed mother re- mained on the home farm, and there he was reared to adult age, his educational advantages having been those afforded in the district schools of his native township. His initial activities as

an independent exponent of farm industry were staged in Green Township, where he remained until about the year 1871, when he went to Iowa and found employment at farm work and where he also became associated with his brothers Samuel and John in the ownership and develop- ment of a tract of land. He remained in the Hawkeye State three years, and he then returned to his native county and resumed farm opera- tions in Green Township. About 1885 he here purchased eighty acres of land, to which he later added an adjacent tract of 120 acres and thus became the owner of a valuable farm estate of 200 acres. With characteristic energy and dis- crimination he so ordered his operations as to make his place one of the model farms of his native township, the same having been devoted to diversified agriculture and the raising of live stock. During the last forty years of his life he controlled also a prosperous business in the buying and shipping of cattle. His political support was given to the democratic party, and he was a member of the Presbyterian Church, as are also his widow and their only daughter. His life was guided and governed by high princi- ples and ideals, and he commanded the unquali- filed confidence and respect of his fellow men.

On the 20th of August, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Robb to Miss Martha Eliza- beth Caldwell, who likewise was born and reared in Green Township, and after his death she remained on the old home farm until 1917, when she sold the property and purchased the old Thompson McFadden farm of 206 acres in Cadiz Township, where she and her daughter, Mina May, the only child, now maintain their home. this being one of the valuable and attrac- tive farm estates of Harrison County.

Mrs. Robb is a daughter of Ankrum and Elea- nor (Reed) Caldwell, whose marriage was sol- emnized in January, 1849, and both of whom were natives of Harrison County, the father having been born in Green Township July 23, 1823, and the mother having been born August 22, 1828, a daughter of Thomas and Nellie (Stone) Reed, pioneers of this county. Ankrum Caldwell was a son of John Caldwell and his second wife, Sarah (Reed) Caldwell, the former of whom was born June 1, 1780, in Westmore- land County, Pennsylvania, and the latter of whom was born in March, 1797, in Harrison County, Ohio, her father, Robert Reed having been one of the very early settlers of this county. John Caldwell learned in his youth the trade of blacksmith, to which he applied himself in the old Keystone State until 1808, when he came to what is now Harrison County, Ohio, and set- tled in the midst of the forest in Green Town- ship. Here he erected a rude blacksmith shop, in which he applied himself vigorously, besides which he cleared and reclaimed a small tract of farm land. He died on his farm near Hopedale, this county, at the patriarchal age of eighty- eight years and honored as one of his sterling pioneer citizens of the county. His widow sur- vived him and died February 16, 1871. He was a democrat in politics and served in various local offices of public trust, including those of township trustee, county commissioner and jus- tice of the peace, in which last mentioned po-

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sition he served many years. Both he and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian Church. John Caldwell first married Miss Eliza- beth Birney, who died a few years later, the only child of this union having been Robert Reed Caldwell, who was a resident of Wood County, this state, at the time of his death, when seventy-five years of age. Of the second marriage were born ten children: Samuel M., who removed to Clarke County and there estab- lished his home and is now deceased; Elizabeth Ray, deceased, who became the wife of James Davidson ; Ankrum, father of Mrs. Robb of this review; William H., deceased, who became a prosperous farmer in Cadiz Township; John, deceased, who removed to the state of Kansas;

Isaac Shannon, who died in youth; Martha Mc- crea, deceased, became the wife of James Eng- lish ; James, deceased, established his home at Fort Wayne, Indiana; and David Hilbert and Albert Hamilton, both of whom became resi- dents of Guernsey County, Ohio, and both are deceased. Ankrum Caldwell passed his entire life in Green Township, where he became a suc- cessful farmer and a man of prominence and influence in community affairs. There he died on the 8th of December, 1883, and his venerable widow, revered by all who knew her, passed away January 18, 1900, both having been earnest members of the Presbyterian Church. Of their children the eldest is Sarah, wife of Smiley Mc- Bride, of Guernsey County; Martha Elizabeth is the widow of the subject of this memoir; John T. is a resident of the state of Oregon; and Miss Ella M. resides with her sister, Mrs. Robb.

Since the death of her honored husband Mrs. Robb has shown marked discrimination and abil- ity in the management of her farm and business interests, and in her native county she has a ' wide circle of loyal and valued friends.

ELMER COULTER is found aligned with the ster- ling yeomen who are upholding the precedence of Harrison County in the domain of farm in- dustry and is one of the representative agricul- turists and stock-growers of Short Creek Town- ship.

Mr. Coulter was born in Wheeling Township, Belmont County, Ohio, on the 17th of Decem- ber, 1866, and is a son of James S. and Hannah A. (Henderson) Coulter, both likewise natives of the county, the latter having been a daugh- ter of Alexander and Hannah ( Hawthorne) Henderson. Alexander Henderson was a young man when he came from Pennsylvania to Bel- mont County, Ohio, where he continued for many years to be successfully engaged in farm industry, the last five years of his life having been passed at Harrisville, Harrison County. His children were eight in number: Andrew, William, James (captain of his company in an Ohio regiment in the Civil war), Alexander Y., Martha, Mary Jane, Elizabeth and Hannah A.

James S. Coulter was born in Belmont County in the year 1841 and was a son of Thomas and Mary Ann (Sloan) Coulter, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Belmont County, Ohio, where her parents settled in the early pioneer days. Thomas Coulter was a child at the time of his parents' immigration to the

United States, and he was but nine years of age at the time of his father's death. He was in- dentured, or "bound out," to a man named Smith in Belmont County after the death of his father, and in that county he was reared to manhood. There he continued his association with farm enterprise until 1845, when he came with his family to Harrison County and settled in Short Creek Township, where he developed a productive farm and where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. They be- came the parents of seven children : James S., Sarah Jane, Robert, Angeline, John R., Thomas and Laura Bell.

James S. Coulter was about four years old when his parents came from Belmont County to Harrison County, and he was reared on the old home farm in Short Creek Township. After his marriage he removed to Wheeling Township, Belmont County, but after having there been engaged in farming for two years he returned to Harrison County, where he followed the same vocation during the remainder of his life, his death having occurred in February, 1916, and his widow having passed away on the 14th of August, 1918. In 1866 they became members of the United Presbyterian Church at Harrisville, and they maintained their active affiliation with this church until they passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors. Of their two children Elmer, of this review, is the elder, and Miss Mary B. resides in the village of Harrisville.

Elmer Coulter is indebted to the district schools of Short Creek Township for his early education, and from his youth to the present time he has been actively identified with agri- cultural and live-stock enterprise in this town- ship, where he is the owner of a well-improved farm of 170 acres. Upon the death of their parents he and his sister inherited the old home farm of 145 acres, and this property they sold in 1919. Mr. Coulter is vigorous and enterpris- ing in both the agricultural and live-stock de- partments of farm industry and is one of the substantial men of the township in which the major part of his life has thus far been spent. He is a republican in political allegiance and he and his wife are zealous members of the United Presbyterian Church at Harrisville, in which he has served as trustee and also as an elder.

On the 29th of October, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Coulter to Miss Anna M. Ferguson, daughter of James P. Ferguson, of Belmont County. Mr. and Mrs. Coulter have three children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here designated: 'Alma Katherine, November 17, 1903; Thora Eliza- beth, May 6, 1908; and Maryanna, October 30, 1913.

THOMAS H. CUNNINGHAM. When Harrison County was still in its formative period there came to this region a physician, Dr. William Cunningham by name, who built a house in what is now New Rumley and entered upon the practice of his profession. His skill and kindly sympathy made him the friend of all with whom he was brought into contact, and he earned and held the respect and confidence of the peo- ple of the county. With his location here the

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family of Cunningham was established in Har- rison County, and his descendants have lived up to the standards he raised, one of the most representative of them being Thomas H. Cun- ningham, a farmer of Rumley Township, al- though he lives at New Rumley in the same house his grandfather built so many years ago. Doctor Cunningham continued in active practice until his death, and for some years after he came here was the only one of his profession in the county. His wife's first name was Nancy, and they had the following children: Thomas H., William, John and George. Both Doctor Cunningham and his wife belonged to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.

Thomas H. Cunningham, of the above men- tioned family, and father of the Thomas H. Cun- ningham, whose name heads this review, was born at New Rumley, but not in the house erected by his father. When old enough to sup- port himself he became a clerk in a store, and in time owned and conducted a store of his own at New Rumley, and was a merchant of the place for half a century, being actively engaged in this line of business at the time of his death in 1906. He was married to Elizabeth McGav- ran, a daughter of Stephen and Julia (Haines) McGavran. Stephen McGavran came from Stark County, Ohio, where Mrs. Cunningham was born, to Harrison County, Ohio, and located in the village of New Rumley, where he worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. In the early days when the necessity arose for a coffin the cabinetmaker would be called upon to make it, and Stephen McGavran furnished these last cov- erings for many of the early settlers who passed away after his advent in the neighborhood. He and his wife had two children: John and Eliza- beth. The children born to the elder Thomas H. Cunningham and wife were: John, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri ; William E., who lives at Scio, Ohio; Elsworth, who is deceased ; George A .. who is mentioned further on in this article; Thomas H., of whom we write; and Myram, who married C. W. Gotshall.

Thomas H. Cunningham, the younger, Was born in his present house March 12, 1869. He was reared at New Rumley, where he has spent his life, and his education was acquired in its schools. From the beginning of his career he has been interested in fur buying and farming, and now owns seventy acres of land in Rumley Township.

On October 30, 1895, Mr. Cunningham was married to Jennie Graham, a daughter of John and Lydia (Amos) Graham. . Mr. and Mrs. Cun- ningham have two sons, Stephen Merle and Dwight.

Stephen Merle Cunningham is one of the vet- erans of the World war, having entered the ser- vice in September, 1918, at which time he was sent to Oberlin, Ohio, and was beginning his training when the signing of the Armistice made it unnecessary for any further sending of troops abroad, and he was discharged December 28, 1918. He was graduated from the Scio Normal College, and is now engaged in teaching school, being principal of the public school at New Rum- ley. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham are members

of the Methodist Episcopal Church at New Rumley.

George A. Cunningham, a brother of Thomas H. Cunningham, is another solid and reliable member of the Cunningham family. He was born at New Rumley February 25, 1866, and at- tended its public schools. When he reached young manhood he learned to be a painter and paperhanger, and has been engaged in these lines of work all his life. He has made New Rumley his place of residence, but oftentimes has contracts in territory outside the village.

In 1891 George A. Cunningham was married to Valeria Shuss, a daughter of John and Mary Jane Shuss, and they have two children, namely : Ethel Fay, who married Robert Montgomery, has a daughter, Elleen; and Nellie May, who married William Vanfossen, and has a child, Lamoin. George A. Cunningham and his wife both belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church of New Rumley, in which he has been a member since reaching man's estate, and he has also been superintendent of the Sunday School. ·

LEMUEL W. FISHER. Some of the most pro- gressive men of Harrison County are those who own and operate farm land within its confines, and through them and their efforts many new methods are being adopted and improvements made which are proving of general benefit to all. Lemuel W. Fisher, of Freeport Township, is one of these energetic men of affairs who has not confined his efforts to agricultural matters, but has been connected with a number of other un- dertakings of his neighborhood.

Lemuel W. Fisher was born in Londonderry Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, March 26, 1859, a son of Edwin and Sarah (McGuire) Fisher, and grandson of Perry G. and Mary E. ( Williamson) Fisher. Perry G. Fisher was one of the early farmers of Belmont County, Ohio, and he and his wife became the parents of the following children : John, George, Perry, Edwin, Sarah J., Lecretia, Keziah, Eliza and Mary. They were religious people and worshiped and worked in connection with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, of which they were consistent members.

Edwin Fisher was born in Flushing Township, Belmont County, Ohio, in 1828, and his wife was born in Londonderry Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, in 1826. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Fulton) McGuire. During the greater portion of his life Edwin Fisher was engaged in farming in Belmont County, Ohio, and died there in 1901, his widow surviving him until 1911. Their children were as follows: John M., who lives in North Dakota; Mary J., who was second in order of birth; Lemuel W., whose name heads this review; and Lafayette, who lives at Belle Center, Logan County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher and their children all joined the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Although the family lived in Belmont County, the children all went to school in Londonderry Township, Guernsey County, Ohio, and later Lemuel W. Fisher became a student of the nor- mal college at Lebanon, Ohio, leaving that insti- tution after a year to study for another year at Mount Union, Stark County, Ohio. For fifteen

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years he was engaged in teaching school, and during that period did a large amount of read- ing and kept himself posted upon current mat- ters, and has never lost the habit of going into a subject thoroughly before he makes a decision. Leaving the educational field, he became a farmer, and in 1894 moved to Freeport Town- ship, Harrison County, Ohio, and now owns 140 acres in his homestead and fifty acres more not far away in the same township. Here he is en- gaged in raising a general line of crops and stockraising, specializing on breeding Durham and Holstein cattle. Mr. Fisher and his sister Mary J. have always lived together, and she looks after the affairs of the household, making a pleasant home for the two. He was appointed war food and crop commissioner of Harrison County by Governor Cox, and served as such during the period of the war. From 1909 to 1913, Mr. Fisher was a commissioner of Harri- son County, and is now a member of the Har- rison County Board of Agriculture. Since its organization as a state bank he has been the president of the Piedmont State Bank. Both he and Miss Mary belong to the Methodist Epis- copal Church of Smyrna, Ohio, and their fellow members look to the Fishers for effective work no matter what may come up to receive atten- tion, and are never disappointed of generous as- sistance from both. For some years Mr. Fisher has been a trustee of the church.

FRANCIS A. HILLIGAS. The family name borne by this sterling citizen of Short Creek Town- ship, Harrison County, is one that has been of significant influence in connection with the civic and industrial development and progress of the county, which has represented his home from the time of his birth and with the history of which the family name has been identified since the early pioneer days.

Mr. Hilligas was born in Short Creek Town- ship December 6, 1847, and is a son of William M. and Jane (Sparrow) Hilligas, the former of whom was born in Cadiz Township, this county, August 9, 1818, and the latter was born in Green Township November 8, 1819, she having been a daughter of Eli and Nancy (Dihal) Spar- row. Eli Sparrow was born and reared in Montgomery County, Maryland, and he came to the western frontier as a soldier in the War of 1812, but it was not until about the year 1816 that he removed from Maryland to Harrison County, Ohio, the long and hazardous overland journey having been made with team and wagon and he and his wife having become early set- tlers of Green Township, where he not only followed his trade, that of shoemaker, but also instituted the reclamation of a farm, both he and his wife having here passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of five children : Samuel, Jane, Lorena (Mrs. Elias Case), John and Benjamin F. (a physician by profession).

William M. Hilligas was a son of Conrad Creighton Hilligas and Elosia Selvada (Maffitt) Hilligas, the latter's parents having been natives of Holland. Conrad C. Hilligas came from Fay- ette County, Pennsylvania, to Harrison County, Ohio, about the year 1802, and he was one of

the very early settlers at Cadiz, the present judicial center of the county. Here he engaged in the work of his trade, that of carpenter, and all of his sons, Tunnis, David, William M. and Conrad, likewise became skilled workmen at this trade, their apprenticeship to which was served under the effective direction of their father. Conrad C. Hilligas and his wife were honored pioneer citizens of Harrison County at the time of their deaths, and Mrs. Hilligas was a zealous member of the Disciples Church.

William M. Hilligas was reared under the conditions marking the pioneer epoch in this history of Harrison County, was afforded the advantages of the primitive schools of the lo- cality and period, and in his youth he learned the carpenter's trade under the tutorship of his father. He followed his trade to a greater or less extent for many years in Short Creek Town- ship, where he owned a home, both he and his wife having remained in this township until the close of their earnest and worthy lives, and Mrs. Hilligas was a devout member of the Disciples' Church. They became the parents of three chil- dren, of whom the subject of this review is the youngest ; Mary did not marry and was about sixty-five years of age at the time of her death ; and Louise, who became the wife of Harry Jones, died in October, 1883.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 26

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