History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 40

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 40
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 40

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wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- copal Church.

March 6, 1894, recorded the marriage of Mr. Shultz to Miss Mary Robinson, daughter of Frank and Mary (Whittaker) Robinson, of Harrison County, and she passed to the life eternal in 1901. She is survived by two chil- dren : Emma is the wife of Ira Fife, of Archer Township, and they have three children-Mary Frances and Kenneth LeRoy; Ruth M., the youngest daughter, remains at the paternal home. On the 26th of December, 1902, Mr. Shultz wedded Miss Susannah Heavilin, who was born and reared in Harrison County and who is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Heavilin and a representative of an honored Pioneer family of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Shultz have three children-Rosa Elizabeth, Ralph H. and Lona Mildred. Into their home was taken Melvin J. Shultz when he was a lad of about eleven years, after the death of his mother, the wife of John W. Shultz, elder brother of the subject of this sketch. Melvin J. Shultz was born December 6, 1896, a son of John W. and Lydia M. (Slutz) Shultz, and he was reared to adult age in the home of his uncle, George S. Shultz, to whom this review is dedi- cated. It was given to this sterling youth to represent his native county and the Shultz fam- ily in the nation's military service in the World war. Entering the service on the 25th of July, 1918, he was assigned to Company D, Three Hundred and Thirty-sixth Infantry, at Camp Sherman, Ohio, and in the following September he accompanied his command to France. There, at Le Mons, he was transferred to Company L, Three Hundred and Sixty-first Infantry, Ninety- first Division, and on the 26th of September he went with this command to the front, in the Argonne offensive. He there served during thirteen days of the stupendous war activities in this sector, and then accompanied his regi- ment into Belgium, where he entered the front line on the 30th of October. He was there in the thick of the fray for five days, and on the fifth day, November 3, 1918, his right hand was injured by shrapnel from a high-explosive shell projected by the enemy. Thereafter his injury necessitated his confinement in hospital, and after having been in several different hospitals in Belgium and France he was sent to the Thirty-third Base Hospital at Portsmouth, Eng- land, where he remained until December 12, 1918, when he sailed for America. He arrived in the port of New York City on the 26th of that month, and after having remained two weeks on Staten Island he was transferred to the Walter Reed General Hospital in the City of Washington, where he remained until he re- ceived his honorable discharge, October 15, 1919. His injury has resulted in the permanent disa- bility of his right hand, the little finger being absent, together with a considerable part of the rest of the hand. Since his discharge he has been living in the City of Canton, Stark County.

T. ELMER GROVE is effectively aiding in the maintaining of the reputation of his native county as a district marked by well improved and well managed farms, and in Cadiz Town-

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ship, Harrison County, are to be found few more attractive and valuable farms than his splendid rural estate of 332 acres, situated about two miles from Cadiz, the county seat, and known as the old homestead of the late Samuel Cochran.

Mr. Grove was born in Cadiz Township on the 19th of January, 1862, and is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Croskey) Grove, the former of whom was born in York County, Pennsyl- vania, and the latter in Green Township, Har- rison County, Ohio, a daughter of William and Mary (Crabb) Croskey; who were sterling pio- neers of the county and of whom more specific mention is made on other pages, in the sketch of John Croskey. Thomas Grove was a son of Francis Grove, who likewise was a native of York County, Pennsylvania, as was also his wife, whose family name was Cross. In an early day they came from the old Keystone State to Harrison County, Ohio, and established their home on a pioneer farm in Short Creek Township, where they passed the remainder of their lives. As a young man Thomas Grove initiated independent activities as a farmer in Cadiz Township, but in the spring of 1889 he sold his farm and removed to Jefferson County, where he purchased a farm in Smithfield Town- ship, this place having continued as his place of residence until his death, in the autumn of 1899. After the death of her husband Mrs. Grove returned to Harrison County and estab- lished her home at Cadiz, where she still re- sides, as one of the venerable pioneer women of the county. Of their children the eldest is William, a farmer in Smithfield Township, Jef- ferson County; Nettie is the wife of William Thompson, another of the prosperous farmers of that township; T. Elmer, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Dr. Augustus C., a representative physician and surgeon of Harri- son County, is engaged in practice in the Village of Jewett; Emma is the wife of Harry Livins- ston, of Cadiz; Carrie is the wife of Joseph Aiken and they reside at Jewett; Lois is a teacher in the public schools at Warren, Trum- bull County.

The district schools of Cadiz Township gave to T. Elmer Grove his early educational dis- cipline, and he continued to be associated with the work of his father's farm until the time of his marriage. He was twenty-six years of age at the time of the family removal to Jefferson County. His marriage occurred in 1898, and he then rented a farm in Smithfield Township, that county, but in the following year, after the death of his father, he purchased the latter's farm in that township, where he continued his successful activities until 1901, when he sold the property and purchased a farm in Short Creek Township, Harrison County. He re- mained on this place of 140 acres for a period of eight years and then, ever alive to advance- ment in his chosen vocation, he sold this farm and bought the William Work farm in Cadiz Township, a property which he sold about one year later. He then, in 1910, made another pro- gressive move, by purchasing the old homestead of Samuel Cochran in Cadiz Township, and to the original tract of 316 acres he has since

added until he now has a splendid farm prop- erty of 332 acres, devoted to diversified agri- culture and the raising of excellent grades of sheep and cattle. Vigor and good management mark Mr. Grove as one of the most progressive exponents of farm industry in his native county, and his success has been cumulative since he initiated his independent activities in this all- important field of industrial enterprise. He has had no desire to enter the arena of political activity, but is a staunch supporter of the cause of the republican party.

In February, 1898, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Grove to Miss Mary V. Rife, who was born in Tuscarawas County and reared in Harrison County. They have four children- Catherine, Donald, Paul and Sarah. Mrs. Grove is a daughter of George and Rebecca (Court- right) Rife. Her father served as bugler in Company H, One Hundred and Seventieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war, and there- after followed his trade in the operation of the leading flour mill at Dennison, Tuscarawas County, until the time of his death. Of his two children Mary Virginia, wife of Mr. Grove of this review, is the younger, and Caroline was the wife of Patterson Guthrie, of Tus- carawas County. She died 18 years ago. .

CHARLES A. BOWER. Bowerston stands as a memorial to the perseverance, industry and thrift of members of the Bower family, which was founded in Harrison County in 1806 by Barnhart Bower, the great-grandfather of Charles A. Bower, postmaster of Bowerston, and the immediate cause for the writing of this article. Barnhart Bower, the sturdy pio- neer, came from Washington County, Maryland, bringing his family with him, it then including ·his wife, Mary, and several children, and after he reached Jewett he found the wilderness so dense he was forced to blaze their way through. A miller by trade, he was looking for a suitable site for a mill, and found what he wanted on the site now occupied by Bowerston, and from then on his family has been very prominently connected with the affairs of this locality. He had six children, and among whom were David, Henry, Jacob and Catherine.

David Bower, grandfather of Charles A. Bower, was born in Washington County, Mary- land, and reared in Monroe Township. As he was growing up he frequently played with In- dian children belonging to friendly tribes. and found them much the same as white ones. In 1856 he was one of the men who laid out the village of Bowerston, and he was engaged in farming and milling all of his life, owning a large amount of land and being a man of im- portance. For a number of years he served as a justice of the peace. He married Elizabeth Swinehart, and they had the following chil- dren : Jeremiah, Iziab, Ezekiel, Obediah, Will- iam, John A., David T., Mary A., Caroline and Margaret.

Ezekiel Bower, father of Charles A. Bower. was born at Bowerston August 18, 1835, and died March 27, 1907. He was a painter and carpenter by trade, and lived practically all of his life im and about Bowerston. In 1860 Eze-

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kiel Bower was married to Sarah E. Jones, born at Westchester, Ohio, a daughter of Sam- uel and Sydney ( Mossgrove) Jones, and they became the parents of the following children : Charles A., who was the eldest; Frank H., who died July 26, 1907; Edwin H., who lives at Dennison, Ohio; James A., who was fourth in order of birth; George T., who lives at Den- nison, Ohio; Wilbur LeRoy, who lives at To- ledo, Ohio; and Olive Blanch, who lives with her brother Charles A., is assistant postmistress.

Charles A. Bower attended the district schools of Monroe Township and the Heller School. He learned the trade of a painter, and also that of a carpenter under his father, but later worked at railroading and was in several railroad shops. In 1901 he began clerking in a general mercan- tile establishment, and continued in that line of endeavor until January 2, 1919, when he left in order to prepare himself for the duties of postmaster of Bowerston which he assumed on January 21 of that year, although he was only acting postmaster until August 5, when he re- ceived his appointment from President Wilson. Mr. Bower is a member of the Knights of Pyth- las and the Maccabees, both of Bowerston. He has always taken a very active part in the work of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bowers- ton, of which he has been a member of its council for several years. For twelve years he has been superintendent of the Sunday School, and he is leader of the choir. Both as a man and public official Mr. Bower is worthy of all commendation, and is living up to the high standards of his forebears.

JOHN BUSBY. Harrison County has some of the most progressive farmers of this part of Ohio, men who have not been slow in inaugu- rating improvements on their properties, and are proud of the fact that they have taken ad- vantage of modern inventions so as to increase their capacity and decrease the cost of pro- duction. One of these modern agriculturalists is John Busby of Archer Township, whose fam- ily is a well known one in this vicinity. He was born on his present farm on January 7, 1860, a son of Martin Van Buren Busby, who was also born on the old Busby farm on February 5, 1834. His wife, Malinda Healea, was born in Cadiz Township in 1836.

The paternal grandfather was Abraham Busby, who was born in Baltimore County, Maryland. He was married to Deborah Kemp, also born in Maryland, and following their mar- riage they came with a horse and wagon to Harrison County, Ohio, locating in Archer Town- ship, where he entered 160 acres of land from the Government, and this is the farm that is now owned by his grandson, John Busby. Here he rounded out his useful life. dying respected by all who knew him. The children born to him and his wife were as follows: Joshua, Sheridan, John, Benjamin, Abraham, Shadwick, Martin V., Elizabeth, Amanda and Deborah.

The maternal grandfather, Edward Healea. was one of the early farmers of Cadiz Town- ship, Harrison County, and here his daughter. Mrs. Busby, was born. He and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Busby, had the

following children: Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, Edward, George, John, Rachel, Anna, Jane, Sarah and Malinda. Both the Healea and Busby families were members of the Methodist Church.

Martin V. Busby spent all of his life upon the farm where he was born, but lived in a differ- ent house. He became the owner of 245 acres of land. and was one of the well-known men of his community, in which he was always es- teemed. He and his wife became the parents of the following children : Edward. John, George A., Sarah, Abraham M., Clara J. (who married Noah Ballehugh, is deceased), Jessie (who married Daniel Tucker), Abbie, Emmett Thompson, Mary (who became the second wife of Noah Gallehugh), Joseph ( who died at the age of nineteen years), Mattie (who married J. A. Stewart). Clark and Clyde.

Growing up in a neighborhood and at a time when children were taught to make themselves useful and were early trained in habits of help- fulness and thrift, John Busby was no exception to the rule. While he was learning the funda- mentals of a public school education in his home district he was also engaged in assisting his father in the operation of the homestead, and in the course of time through inheritance and purchase has become its owner, the farm now comprising eighty acres, on which he is rais- ing diversified crops and stock.

In 1888 Mr. Busby was united in marriage with Maggie E. Creagh, a daughter of William and Hannah (Webb) Creagh. Mrs. Busby died in 1890, leaving one daughter, Abbie, who mar- ried Pearl Stewart. Both by inheritance and conviction Mr. Busby is a Methodist, and he maintains membership with the church of that faith at Jewett. For five years he served his township as assessor, and was elected a trustee of Archer Township, assuming the duties of that office on January 1, 1920. Archer Town- ship is fortunate in having Mr. Busby as one of its official representatives, for he is a man who fully recognizes the importance of agricul- ture, and the fact that in both peace and war the lives, liberty and well being of the world depend upon the production of a proper amount of foodstuffs, and he is anxious not only to maintain old standards, but to increase the pro- duction from each acre, encourage the young people to remain in the rural districts, and to give to his section all necessary improvements, especially those bringing about good roads.

JOHN W. OSBURN. Much data of marked in- terest as touching the history of Harrison County to be recorded in connection with the career of this representative farmer and hon- ored citizen of Cadiz Township. He is a native son of this county and a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families, and it was given him to go forth from this county as a gallant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and his loyalty in civic life has always been on a parity with that which he thus manifested in his serv- ice in the great conflict which perpetuated the nation's integrity.

Mr. Osburn was born in Archer Township, Harrison County, October 3, 1840, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Welch) Osburn, both

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natives of Pennsylvania, the former having been born in Wesmoreland County April 4, 1813, and the latter in Lancaster County August 26, 1816. Samuel Osburn was a son of Alexander and Mary (Barnes) Osburn, whose marriage was solemnized in Pennsylvania, May 10, 1808, and who became the parents of seven children : William, Susanna, Samuel, John, Jane, Martha (died in early childhood) and Mary. After the death of his first wife Alexander Osburn mar- ried Martha Rankin, of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and two children were born of this union, James D. and Rebecca.

Alexander Osburn was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1785, and was a son of Samuel and Susanna (Garven) Osburn, whose marriage was solemnized in County Derry, Ireland, Samuel Osburn was born either in Scotland or Ireland and was a representative of one of the sterling old Scotch families that left their native land to escape the indignities showered upon those of the Seceder religious faith and who found refuge in the north of Ire- land, which has continued a Presbyterian stronghold through the long intervening years, the Osburns having been rigid Presbyterians at the time of the memorable and historic exodus of those of this faith from Scotland into the northern part of Ireland. Samuel Osburn im- migrated from Ireland to America about 1770, and established his residence in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He served as a soldier in an infantry regiment in the War of the Revo- lution, and also assisted in driving the hostile Indians out of the western part of the Keystone State. He and his wife were zealous members of the Presbyterian Church and continued their residence in Westmoreland County, Pennsyl- vania, until their deaths. Their children were the following: Archibald (born in Ireland), Elizabeth, John (killed by accident when a young man), Martha, Jane, Matthey, Alexan- der and Mary.

Early in the year 1816 Alexander Osburn came with his family from Pennsylvania and numbered himself among the early settlers in what is now Harrison County, Ohio. He had previously acquired a tract of wild and heavily timbered land in the present Athens Township, and on the same he had erected a long cabin, so that a modest home was ready for his family upon their arrival in what was little more than a wilderness. On this pioneer farm the devoted wife and mother died January 5, 1824. aged forty-three years, and in 1828 he removed from this original homestead of 160 acres to the land which he then purchased in Archer Township. where he passed the remainder of his life and where he died at the venerable age of eighty- two years, his second wife having passed away December 25, 1848. Mr. Osburn was a man of marked vigor and progressiveness in his day and generation and did much to further the de- velopment of agricultural and live-stock indus- try in Harrison County, where it is believed he was the first to introduce fine wool sheep into Archer Township. He enlisted for service in the War of 1812, but the conflict came to a close soon afterward. He was a staunch whig in politics, and he and his family were most

zealous members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he served as ruling elder and in which he represented the Steubenville Presbytery at the General Assembly of the church in the year 1846.

Samuel Osburn was about three years old at the time of the family arrival in Harrison County, where he was reared under the condi- tions of the pioneer epoch. He received the advantages of the schools of the locality and period and remained on the old homestead farm of his father in Archer Township until 1906, when he and his devoted wife removed to Cadiz, the county seat, where both died in the year 1908, after a wedded companionship of seventy- two and one-half years. The fine old homestead farm of 172 acres was made by him one of the most attractive and valuable in Archer Town- ship, and he was an honored leader in com- munity sentiment and action. He was originally an ardent whig, but united with the republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward continued a staunch supporter of its cause, the while he was specially active in sup- port of the Government during the period of the Civil war. Mr. Osburn was one of the lead- ing members of the Presbyterian Church in Har- rison County and served many years as ruling elder, besides which he thrice represented the Steubenville Presbytery in the General Assem- bly of the church, his wife likewise having been a devoted member. It is worthy of special record that Mr. Osburn had the exceptional dis- tinction of serving simultaneously as elder, dea- con, trustee and Sunday School superintendent of the Presbyterian Church in Archer Township, besides serving at the same time as leader of the singing at the church services. He and bis wife were venerable and revered pioneer citizens of the county at the time when they passed from the stage of their mortal endeavors. Mrs. Osburn was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, a daughter of John and Jane (McClel- lan) Welch, her father having been a native of Ireland and having come to America with his parents when he was a youth. John Welch came with his family to Harrison County, Ohio, about the year 1822, and settled in Archer Town- ship, where he obtained 160 acres of Government land and where he remained until a few years prior to his death, when he rented the farm to one of his sons and moved to another farm in Stock Township, where he passed the remainder of his life, as did also his wife, both having been active members of the Presbyterian Church. They became the parents of ten children : Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Samuel, John, Matthew, Jane, James, David and William. All of the children are now deceased with the exception of William, who resides at New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County. Samuel and Elizabeth (Welch) Os- burn became the parents of six children: Alex- ander died July 24, 1875, at the age of thirty- four years, the maiden name of his wife having been Sarah Hedges; John W., immediate sub- ject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Jane is the wife of Morrison Moorehead, of Green Township; Martha is the wife of Gran- ville Dickerson, of Nodaway County, Missouri; Amanda is the wife of Lyons A. Welch, of

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Archer Township,. Harrison County ; and Mat- they Beatty remains on his father's old home farm in Archer Township.

John W. Osburn gained his early education in the schools of Archer Township, and con- tinued to be associated with the activities of the home farm until the outbreak of the Civil war, when his youthful patriotism soon found ways and means to manifest itself. On the 9th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany F, Ninety-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but in 1863 was discharged for physical disabil- ity. After recuperating his health he responded to the call for volunteers by enlisting, in May, 1864, in Company K, One Hundred and Seven- tieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he was made sergeant of his company and with which he took part in two battles and several skir- mishes. He was discharged September 10, 1864, and mustered out at the expiration of his term of service. After the close of his mili- tary service Mr. Osburn remained on the old home farm of his father until 1874, when he purchased and removed to his present farm of 126 acres in Cadiz Township, one and one-half miles southwest of the county seat. As an agriculturist and stock-grower Mr. Osburn's success has been based on long experience and upon vigorous and progressive policies, with the result that he has long been known as one ·of the representative exponents of farm indus- try in his native county. He is a staunch re- ;publican in politics, is affiliated with the Grand .Army of the Republic, and he and his wife and ttheir elder daughter are active members of the Presbyterian Church in the city of Cadiz.

In 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Osburn to Miss Lyra Belle Thompson, who was born in Green Township, Harrison County, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Jane ( Moore- head) Thompson, and of this union have been born two children, Elizabeth Gertrude and Sarah Alice. The elder daughter remains at the pa- rental home and is popular in the social life of the community, and Sarah Alice is the wife of Oliver H. Dickerson, of Duluth, Minnesota, where both hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their three children are sons-John Osburn, Joseph Holmes and Samuel.

Jane (McClellan) Welch, maternal grand- mother of Mr. Osburn, was a daughter of Sam- uel and Elizabeth (Oliver) Mcclellan, who were living in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, at the time of the Revolutionary war, in which conflict he served as first lieutenant in the cavalry, then known as the "flying camp." He was taken prisoner at the surrender of Fort Washington and was confined on Long Island, New York. He managed to escape, but was re- captured and was held as a prisoner of war un- til his exchange was effected.

MILTON B. Ross is a representative of the fourth generation of the Ross family in Har- rison County and is one of the substantial farm- ers and influential citizens of Cadiz Township. His great-grandfather, John Ross, settled in the county about the year 1816, having here bought land in the midst of the virgin forest. John Ross was born in Scotland, and was a young

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 40

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