History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 4

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 4
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 4

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Crumrine, grandparents of the subject of this sketch, came from the old Keystone State to Carroll County in the pioneer days and settled in Lee Township, where they effected the de- velopment of a productive farm and where they passed the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of six sons John, Isaac, Henry, Peter, David and Madison, and also of one daughter, Mrs. Brown.

John Crumrine was a boy at the time when the family home was established in Carroll County, and here he eventually became a suc- cessful farmer, as the owner of one of the excellent farms of Perry Township, but for more than a quarter of a century he devoted his attention to the operation of what was known as the Dawson Mill in that township, this grist mill having been operated by water power. In Perry Township he and his wife continued their residence until the time of their deaths. Both were originally communi- cants of the Lutheran Church, but later united with what is known as the Christian Union Church in Perry Township. Mr. Crumrine was in the 100-days' service as a soldier in the Civil war, and in later years maintained active affili- ation with the Grand Army of the Republic. His political support was given to the republican party. It should be recorded that the paternal and maternal great-grandparents of Peter A. Crumrine were born and reared in Germany and immigrated to America about the year 1812. John and Margaret ( Binger) Crumrine became the parents of nine children-Mary, Jane, Frank, Emma, Spencer, Peter A., Elizabeth, John and Belle.

Peter A. Crumrine found his childhood and youth compassed by the influences of the home farm and profited duly by the advantages afforded in the public schools of his native town- ship. He has been specially vigorous and pro- gressive as a farmer, his first farm, of ninety- four acres, having been in Loudon Township, and later his operations having been continued on a farm of 108 acres east of Carrollton in Center Township. He also became the owner of property in the city of Carrollton. He finally sold his farm in Center Township and there- after resided at Carrollton about four years. He then purchased a tract of thirty-five acres in Center Township, and this property he improved by the erection of a modern house and other good farm buildings. On this model little farm he continued to reside until 1920, when he sold the property and purchased his present attrac- tive residence at 434 South Lisbon Street, Car- rollton, where he is now living retired. He is a staunch democrat, and while residing in Loudon Township he served several terms as township trustee. Both he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in their home city.

October 14, 1875. recorded the marriage of Mr. Crumrine to Miss Martha M. Abel, who was born in Perry Township, this county, May 28. 1853, a daughter of Nathan and Ruth Ellen (Crim) Abel, both likewise natives of Carroll County. Conrad Abel, grandfather of Mrs. Crumrine, was one of the pioneer settlers in Loudon Township, where he and his wife con- tinued to reside until their deaths. The

maternal grandparents, Charles and Christena (Abel) Crim, likewise became early settlers of Loudon Township, where they passed the residue of their lives. Nathan Abel remained on his farm until his death and was one of the sub- stantial farmers and influential citizens of Loudon Township. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party, and both he and his wife were communicants of the Lutheran Church. Of their eleven children William and Emeline died in infancy, the names of the other children being here entered in respective order of their births: Margaret, Angeline, Minerva, Martha Ann, Jacob, Ruth Ellen, Laura, George and Florence Olive. Mr. and Mrs. Crumrine have no children.

N. A. SMITH owns and resides upon a well improved farm of 105 acres in Cadiz Township, and in Stock Township he owns also one-half of the old homestead. farm of 120 acres, on which he was born, the date of his nativity having been February 15, 1857. He is one of the popular representatives of a family that was founded in this county nearly a century ago, and is a son of John P. and Anna ( Welch) Smith, the former of whom was born in Stock Township, on the same farm that later figured as the birthplace of his own children, and the date of his birth was February 22, 1822. His wife was born in Franklin Township, a mem- ber of another of the sterling pioneer families of Harrison County. John P. Smith was a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Perigo) Smith, whose marriage was solemnized in the State of Mary- land. Daniel Smith was born in the year 1774, either in Germany or Maryland, from which state he finally removed to Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1818. when he came with his family to Ohio and settled in Jefferson County, whence in 1821 he came to the present Harrison County and entered an entire section of Gov- ernment land in Stock Township, where he and his sons reclaimed much of the tract from the forest and developed productive farms. He was one of the organizers of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in his township and was zeal- ous and liberal in its support, as well as one of its influential members. He was a staunch democrat in politics, and as an enterprising and forward-looking citizen he contributed much to the initial development of Harrison County along both civic and industrial lines. He died on the 14th of July, 1856, and his remains were the first to be interred in the cemetery at Pleas- ant Valley. The names of Daniel Smith and his wife have high place on the roll of the honored pioneers of this now favored section of the Buckeye State. They became the parents of ten children : William P., Joab, Maria, Har- riet, Millie, James, Joel Jesse, Nathan and John P.

John P. Smith remained on the old home farm until 1858, when he removed to an ad- joining farm, which continued to be his place of residence during the remainder of his sig- nally active and useful life. He became the owner of a valuable landed estate of 475 acres, the greater portion of which he retained until his death, and he was one of the leading farmers and influential citizens of Stock Township.

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where he served several years as township trustee. Both he and his wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pleasant Valley. They became the parents of ten children : Margaret E. became the wife of Lewis Brown; William K. became a successful physician and surgeon at Deersville, Harrison County; Susan is the wife of B. W. Havener ; Mary Jane married Samuel Miller; Edna is the wife of John Logan; Amanda was the next in order of birth; N. A. is the Immediate subject of this sketch: McKinney resides in Harrison County; Martha is the wife of William E. Cramlet : and David is engaged in the practice of medicine at Newark, Licking County.

In Stock Township N. A. Smith profited fully by the advantages afforded in the public schools, and his entire active career has been marked by close and successful association with farm industry in his native county. He continued a farmer in Stock Township until 1892, when he purchased and removed to his present well improved farm in Cadiz Township. The house on the place was erected before he came into possession of the property, but the other excel- lent farm buildings have been erected by him and indicate his progressiveness as well as the prosperity that has attended his well directed activities as an agriculturist and stock grower. As before stated, he also owns a part of the old home farm on which he was born, in Stock Township. Mr. Smith has always taken a loyal interest in community affairs, though never a seeker of official preferment, his politi- cal allegiance being given to the republican party, and he and his wife being members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In December, 1883, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Kate McGuire, a daughter of Sampson McGuire, of Stock Township, and they became the parents of three children : Carl C .. Mary and John. Carl C. Smith was one of the gallant young Americans who sacrificed their lives in the great World war, and the name of this patriotic young man shall ever be held in high honor in his native county and state. He entered service in July, 1917, and was made first lieutenant in the medical corps with the Thirty-seventh Division of the American Ex- peditionary Forces in France, where he was in active service in the sanguinary campaigns of the Argonne Forest and the St. Mihiel sector. He died in France February 17, 1919, and the grief of his parents, his young wife and his many friends is tempered by the memory of his heroic service and tragic death in the cause of humanity. He went with his command to France in July, 1918, and there remained until his death. His body lies interred in the blood- stained soil of heroic France. He married Miss Lottie Punteny, who remains in Harrison County, and is survived also by their two chil- dren, John P. and Martha C. Mary, only daughter of the subject of this review, is the wife of John E. Warren. John, the surviving son. remains at the parental home.

LAVERTON O. SNYDER, whose whole life has been spent in Harrison County, where. begin- ning at the bottom of the agricultural ladder, he has progressed through his innate qualities of

industry, perseverance, economy and integrity to the ownership of a highly productive farm in Freeport Township and the position of a sub- stantial, influential and useful member of the community, was born in Nottingham Township, Harrison County, November 7, 1862, a son of Levi and Rhoda ( Bell) Snyder.

George Snyder, the paternal grandfather of Liverton O. Snyder, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, whence he moved with his wife, Polly, to Coshocton County, Ohio, when his family was still small, and there passed the rest of his life in farming. He and his worthy wife were consistent members of the Presby- terian Church and the parents of five children : Levi, Samuel, Margaret, Hannah and another daughter. Levi Snyder was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was still a child when taken by his parents to Coshocton County, Ohio. There he secured his education in the public schools and carried on farming until his marriage, following which he moved to Not- tingham Township, Harrison County, and took charge of his father-in-law's farm. There his wife died in 1875, and in 1876 he returned to Coshocton County, Ohio, for one year, after which he came back to Harrison County, settling in Freeport Township, where he was engaged in farming until his death. He died in 1891, in the faith of the Presby- terian Church. Mr. Snyder married for his first wife Miss Rhoda Bell, who was born in Nottingham Township, Harrison County, a daughter of Alexander Bell. Mr. Bell was one of the pioneers of Nottingham Township, to which community he came alone and settled on a tract of land on which but two acres had been cleared. Here he erected a small log cabin, and then returned to his eastern home and brought back his wife and two children, and settled down to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged during the remainder of nis life. He was one of the substantial men of his community and a faithful member of the Pres- byterian Church, having helped to build the first church of that faith in his adopted township. He and his worthy wife were the parents of seven children : Alexander, Liverton, Colmer, Robert, Hiram, Rhoda and Sarah Jane. Levi and Rhoda (Bell) Snyder became the parents of four children: Sarah Jane, who married J. E. Lafferty ; Anna Bell, who married M. M. Richie, Liverton, Ohio; and Leora, who married Boyd Kerr. After the death of his first wife Mr. Snyder married Julia A. Moore.

Liverton O. Snyder attended the public schools of Nottingham township and Freeport township, and as a young man engaged in agricultural pur- suits on his own account. On October 22, 1891, he was united in marriage with Laura A. Longs- worth, daughter of Warren and Mary (Smith) Longsworth, natives of Guernsey County, and granddaughter of Basil and Elizabeth (Boyer) Longsworth and John and Elizabeth (Edwards) Smith. Warren Longsworth was born in 1831, and spent his entire life in agricultural opera- tions on the farm on which he was born in Washington Township. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant Church and the parents of the following children : Laura A .. Ulysses S. Grant, John W .. Elwood R ..

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and Mary Elizabeth. During the first year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Snyder moved to Guernsey County, where they spent one year, then returning to Freeport Township, Harrison County, where they have continued to maintain their home. During the past twenty-five years they have resided on their present well-culti- vated farm of 144 acres. Mr. Snyder has met with success in his farming and stock raising operations, his good management and modern methods having combined with his industry to bring him prosperity. He is well known throughout his section of Harrison County, and within his wide circle of acquaintance enjoys the reputation of an intelligent. upright, public- spirited and well-disposed citizen.

Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of one son : Seth L., born February 8, 1894, a farmer of Freeport Township. He married Miss Belle Cummins and has one child, Ruth Marian. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are consistent members of the Presbyterian Church at Freeport, the move- ments of which they have supported liberally. Having managed his own affairs so capably, he has been called upon by his fellow-citizens to manage public matters, and during a period of seven years was a member of the Board of Trustees of Freeport Township.

MAHLON SHAW. In the vigorous little indus- trial city of Minerva, situated on the line be- tween Carroll and Stark counties, is essentially one of the most influential citizens and men of affairs, as he is here vice-president of the Mi- nerva Savings & Trust Company, one of the sub- stantial financial institutions of this part of the state, and is also vice president of the Owen China Company, a substantial manufacturing concern.

Mr. Shaw was born in Washington Township, Carroll County, Ohio, August 23, 1844, and is a representative of a prominent and honored pio- neer family of this county. He is a son of Jo- siah C. and Maria ( Walton) Shaw, the former of whom was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, October 30, 1816, and the latter was born in Augusta Township, Carroll County, August 6, 1823, a daughter of Gabriel and Mary (Town- send) Walton.

Josiah C. Shaw was a son of Nathan and Ruth (Crawford) Shaw, whose names have high place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of Car- roll County. Nathan Shaw and his wife were both natives of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where the former was born June 17, 1777, and the latter July 25, 1782. their marriage having there been solemnized on the 15th of May, 1802. Nathan Shaw was for a time engaged in boat- building on the Monongahela River in Pennsyl- vania, and it was in the early part of the nineteenth century that he came with his wife to Ohio and settled in Jefferson County, and when a few years later they came to the present Car- roll County and numbered themselves among the earliest settlers in Washington Township. which was at that time an untrammeled forest wild. Mr. Shaw reclaimed a farm from the forest, and concerning him the following state- ments have been written: "Nathan Shaw was one of the best farmers of his section and time. He took great pride in fruit-growing and devel-

oped one of the finest pioneer orchards in Car- roll County. The public road through his prem- ises was lined with black-morella cherry trees, and his apple orchard consisted of numerous varieties of the choicest kinds." Mr. Shaw's death occurred October 28, 1853, his wife having passed away October 13, 1836, the remains of both being interred in the Herrington Cemetery in Augusta Township, where the first grave was that of their son-in-law, George Long, who was accidentally shot and killed in October, 1823, while hunting deer in that township. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw became the parents of one son and six daughters: Mary became the wife of George Long, mentioned above, and after his tragic death she finally married John Morgan, with whom she removed to Scioto County, where she passed the remainder of her life; Cassandra married Simeon Westfall, and both were resi- dents of Carroll County at the time of their deaths; Elizabeth became the wife of Robert Denniston. and her remains rest in Corinth Cemetery at Mechanicstown ; Christena, the wife of Joseph Caskey, remained in Carroll County until her death; Margaret, wife of Silas Caskey, likewise died in this county : Josiah C., the only son, was the next in order of birth; and Mary, who first married Peter Abrahams and after his death became the wife of Henry Pedler, was a resident of Columbiana County at the time of her death.

Josiah C. Shaw was reared to manhood on the pioneer farm of his father and gained his edu- cation in the common schools of the locality and period. He was a boy at the time of the fam- ily removal to Carroll County, and he so effec- tively applied himself to his studies that he became eligible for pedagogic honors and as a young man was for several years a successful teacher in the rural schools. He became one of the representative farmers of Washington Township, where also he operated a saw mill Ior a number of years. In 1852 he removed with his family to Brown Township. where eventually he became the owner of a fine landed estate of nearly 600 acres, on which he erected a large residence on the line between Brown and Au- gusta Townships. There his death occurred on the 10th of January, 1883, and his remains rest in the cemetery at Minerva. He was one of the progressive and influential men of the county, was first a whig and later a republican in poli- tics, and he filled various offices of local trust. besides having been elected ni 1870 a member of the Board of Equalization for Carroll and Stark counties. He was a charter member of Oak Ridge Grange No. 661, and in connection with his farm enterprise he became one of the leading sheep-growers of this section of the state. A man of generous and affable nature, tolerant and kindly in all of the relations of life, he commanded the unqualified confidence and esteem of all who knew him and his mem- ory is held in lasting honor in the county that represented his home during virtually his entire life. His widow, who will celebrate on the 6th of August, 1921, the ninety-eighth anni- versary of her birth, still resides in Carroll County, as one of the most venerable and re- vered pioneer women of her native county, she being held in affectionate regard by all who

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have come within the compass of her gentle and gracious influence. Mrs. Shaw is a daugh- ter of Gabriel and Mary (Townsend) Walton, both natives of Pennsylvania, where the former was born November 17, 1777, of English lineage, and the latter September 8, 1781, of Welch an- cestry. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Walton was solemnized, March 12, 1801, at New Garden, Columbiana County, Ohio Territory, and they became the parents of eleven children. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Walton returned to Pennsylvania, where they remained three years in the city of Philadelphia. They then came again to Columbiana County, Ohio, whence, about the year 1815 they came to Carroll County, where Mr. Walton took up 640 acres of Govern- ment land in the present Augusta Township. Here he died April 18, 1845, and his widow passed away November 15, 1862.

Josiah C. and Maria (Walton) Shaw became the parents of four children: Jesse W., who was born in Washington Township August 26, 1842, developed one of the finest farm properties in Brown Township and is one of the venerable and honored citizens of his native county, where he has continuously , maintained his residence save for a period of fifteen years passed in the city of Alliance, Stark County. He was a gal- lant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he served as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He took part in many important en- gagements, including the battle of the Wilder- ness, in which he received a severe wound which fractured the bones of his right leg and incapaci- tated him for further service, besides entailing injury that has caused him a measure of trou- ble during his later life. He has been an appre- ciative and honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic for many years. Mahlon Shaw, immediate subject of this review, was the second son. Eli D. likewise upheld the prestige of the family name in connection with farm industry in Carroll County, and he served twenty years as county surveyor. He achieved distinctive success in life and was president of the Minerva Savings & Trust Company at the time of his death in 1915, at the age of sixty-three years. Ida Theona, the only daughter, was born March 19, 1860, and she died on the 8th of April, 1876, at the age of sixteen years.

Mahlon Shaw was reared on the old home farm and received the advantages of the district schools and of well conducted seminaries at Minerva and Malvern, after which he entered Mount Union College, in which he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1871. In the meanwhile it had been his to give four months of service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. In May, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company K, One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he con- tinued in service until the close of his term, when he received his honorable discharge. After leaving college he was for a time employed in a white-lead factory at Alliance, Stark County, and in 1872 became actively associated with operations in the oil fields of Butler County, Pennsylvania, where his original service was in the drilling of wells. He continued his alliance with the great oil industry about thirty-five

years, and he achieved marked success in which connection his operations extended into Ken- tucky and Indiana, as well as in Pennsylvania. He became well known as a successful oil opera- tor and was a member of leading oil exchanges in Pennsylvania. In 1908 Mr. Shaw became a substantial stockholder in the Owen China Com- pany of Minerva, and after having served for some time as its president and treasurer he abated his executive activities to a certain ex- tent, though he is still a director of the com- pany and as its vice president is influential in the directing of its policies. He has been for about fifteen years actively identified also with the Minerva Savings & Trust Company, of which he became vice president upon the death of his brother Ell D., who had been its president.

In politics, though never animated by any de- sire for official preferment, Mr. Shaw is a staunch republican, and as a liberal and public- spirited citizen he takes deep interest in all things pertaining to the welfare of his native county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances, his popular- ity being not curtailed by reason of the fact that he has remained in the ranks of eligible bachelors.

JOSEPH F. STRAUSBAUGH. To those who have never had the opportunity of visiting a modern Harrison County farm, the mention of farming may bring to mind a team of hot, tired horses, a hand plow and a horny-handed, dusty son of the soil, tolling endlessly from sun-up to sunset. Those who have such ideas would be consider- ably surprised if they visited the farm of Joseph F. Strausbaugh of Archer township, where they would find powerful machinery taking the place of the ordinary plow of former years, and com- fort and recreation in plenty for the farmer and his family. No longer are the rural districts isolated. First the telephone and then the auto- mobile brought the farmer into close contact with the centers of industry. and many who in former years left the farm for the city are re- turning to the soil, realizing that the land makes better returns for the time and money expended upon it, and at the same time affords healthful and happy living conditions difficult to secure in the more congested districts.

Joseph F. Strausbaugh belongs to a family of agriculturalists, and he was born in his present county, in Green Township, on July 17, 1852, a son of Michael Strausbaugh, who was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and died in Archer Township. Harrison County, Ohio, in 1870. His wife, who was Mary Morehead before her marriage, was born in Adams County, Penn- sylvania, a daughter of James Morehead. Mi- chael Strausbaugh was one of the early settlers of Green Township, but in 1864 moved to Archer Township, which continued to be his home the remainder of his life. He and his wife had the following children : Daniel S., James M., Joseph F., and Mary Jane, who married Charles Dud- geon. The parents were Presbyterians, and roared the children in the faith of that church.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 4

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