History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 70

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 70
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 70

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HOLMES M. THOMPSON. Through father and son the Thompson family has lived for a good many years on the farm in Green Township where Holmes M. Thompson was born June 22,. 1864, in Harrison County. Samuel Thompson, the father, was born at the same place in 1822, and his wife, Sarah J. (Moorhead) Thompson, a daughter of Samuel and Sallie (Holmes) Moorhead, was born in the same com- munity. Mr. Moorhead, who was among the early settlers in Green Township, was a native of Adams County, Pennsylvania.

In 1850 Mr. Moorhead located in Archer Township, Harrison County, and lived there twenty years, when he moved back to Green Township. He was a member of the Ohio State Constitutional Convention assembled in

1851 in Columbus. He was a man of social and business acumen in Ohio affairs. He was a soldier in the second war with England. His children were: Eliza, wife of Samuel Gray ; John, deceased; Sarah J .; Holmes, a Civil war soldier who died on a hospital boat on the Mississippi ; and Morrison. This pioneer Moor- head family were Presbyterians.

Samuel Thompson, founder of the house of Thompson in Harrison County, and his wife, Elizabeth (Stewart) Thompson, were born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. In 1813 they removed to their farm in Green Township. They had two children when they came to the Osburn farm of 160 acres, and constructed log buildings for their shelter from the storms of Ohio. In 1824 they built a good barn and in 1837 they built a brick house, and they ended their days at this family homestead.

The children in this pioneer household were: Marie, wife of Jonathan Gray; Martha, wife of Johnson Craig; Eliza, wife of Patterson Gray ; Jane, wife of H. Stewart Black; Margaret, wife of Samuel Cochran; Samuel, and Isabelle, wife of John J. Ray. The Thompsons were also Presbyterians. Samuel, the one son in the fam- ily and the father of Holmes M. Thompson, grew to manhood on the place where he was born, and he always lived there. He was a farmer and stockman and made many improve- ments while rearing his family at this old family homestead. He added to it until there are 280 acres in the Thompson farmstead. He died July 23, 1905, and Mrs. Thompson died October 31, 1917. Their children were: Lyra B., wife of John W. Osburn; Jennie, wife of S. A. Hanna ; Walter, wife of Edward Clifford; Holmes M., the one son in his generation, as was his father in the generation before him; and Sallie C. Thompson, who lives in Cleve- land.

Holmes M. Thompson secured his education in the Green Township district school, and as a young man he farmed with his father. Since the death of the father he has farmed alone. On January 27, 1898, Mr. Thompson married Emma McFadden, daughter of George McFad- den. Their children are: Samuel A. and Mary Lucile. They are members of the Presbyterian Church in Cadiz.

JAMES N. WILSON, one of the reliable men and excellent farmers of Rumley Township, was born on his present place February 27, 1875, a son of John A. and Isabel (McKitrick ) Wilson, and grandson of William H. Wilson.

William H. Wilson was born near Westmid- dletown, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1803, and died August 9, 1887. His wife, Margaret (McCombe) Wilson, died March 8, 1884. In 1839 . William H. Wilson came to Harrison County, Ohio, and bought 170 acres of land in Rumley Township, and lived on this farm until his death. The children born to him and his wife were as follows: Eliza, Ann, John A., David, who died in infancy, Mary who died young, William L., Margaret, James R. and Tabitha.

John A. Wilson was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1837, and his

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wife was born May 21, 1840. They were mar- ried April 26, 1866. She was a daughter of Ebenezer and Mary (Ferguson) McKitrick, the former of whom was a farmer and early settler of German Township. The children born to Ebenezer McKitrick and his wife were as fol- lows: Elizabeth, Martha, Nathan, Jonathan. May. Isabel, Alexander. Agnes, Samantha, Juniatta, and one who died unnamed.

For practically all of his life John A. Wilson lived in Rumley Township, where he was en- gaged in cultivating his valuable farm of 108 acres of land. He and his wife became the parents of the following children : David M., who is deceased : Mary Eveline, who died when small ; Maggie Jane, who is deceased; and James N., who was the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were members of the Presbyterian Church, and died firm in that faith, he, June 18, 1911, and she. August 17, 1884.

James N. Wilson attended the schools of bis district in Rumley Township, and has lived on his present farm, which still comprises 108 acres, and he is carrying on a general farming and stock-raising business with gratifying re- sults, for he has good land and knows how to work it.

On May 16, 1894, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage with Anna C. Kuhn, born October 6. 1872. a daughter of Henry A. and Phoebe ( Ell- wood) Kuhn. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the parents of children as follows: John H., who was born August 12, 1895: Wilma V., who was born October 11, 1897: Harold Floyd, who was born November 16, 1899; and Clarence Owen, who was born April 11, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are members of the Reform Church at Jefferson and are highly valued in that con- gregatlon as they are elsewhere. for they are fine people in every respect.

BARCLAY WELCH MOORE. The Moore family was founded in Harrison County in 1808 by William Moore. great-grandfather of the pres- ent generation. He was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1779, and married Sarah Corey. He became prominent in this county and was the first member of the Ohio Legislature elected from Harrison County.

Barclay W. Moore, prosecuting attorney of Harrison County, was born in Cadiz on July 18, 1884. the son of I. Craig Moore and grand- son of John, the son of William, the pioneer.

I. Craig Moore was born July 24, 1854, in Green Township, and his wife, Anna E. ( Welch) Moore, was born January 15, 1859, in Cadiz. She is a daughter of David Barclay and Martha C. (Lyon) Welch, and the Welch family history is contemporary with the history of Ohio. Her ancestry came as early as 1801, and had much to do with the development of the frontier com- munity. They were active in organizing the Presbyterian Church, and the cemetery at Beech Spring Church was given to the community by this pioneer family. The Moores and Welchs were all early citizens in Harrison County.

John Moore. grandfather of B. W. Moore, was born in Green Township July 27, 1813, and his wife, Elizabeth (Mccullough) Moore, was born five years later in the same community.

I. Craig Moore was but a boy when the fam- ily removed to Cadiz in 1868. As a young man he entered the First National Bank of Cadiz, of which he in later years became cashier. In 1897 he was appointed a special national bank examiner and traveled about the country four or five years. In 1902 he became secretary and treasurer of a savings and trust company in Sharon, Pennsylvania, but for the last few years he has been retired from active business, residing at Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Barclay W. Moore was graduated from the Cadiz High School in 1900, and then spent one year in the Kiskiminetas School at Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. Recognizing the advantages of a liberal education, he entered Washington and Jefferson College, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1905, and a year later matricu- lated in the law department of Ohio State Uni- versity in Columbus, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1909. He was admitted to the bar in June, 1909, and since that time has practiced law in Cadiz. For two years he was private secretary to Hon. D. A. Hollingsworth, member of Congress. In 1918 B. W. Moore was elected prosecuting attorney of Harrison County and was re-elected in 1920 by the largest ma- jority on the county ticket. He was local chairman of the War Savings Commission in Harrison County, and he is always active in any community effort. In October, 1918, he volunteered for overseas military service, and had his training at Fort H. G. Wright on Long Island, but the signing of the armistice pre- vented his going overseas and he was dis- charged November 26th of the same year with the rank of corporal. He immediately returned to Cadiz and entered upon his duties as prose- cuting attorney.

On Saint Valentine's day, 1917, Mr. Moore married Persia K. Henthorne, a daughter of the Rev. Charles B. and Catherine (Ryder) Henthorne.

While in Washington and Jefferson College Mr. Moore was a fraternity man, being a mem- ber of Delta Tau Delta, and at Ohio State Uni- versity he was a member of the Phi Delta Phl. He is a member of Cadiz Lodge No. 219. F. & A. M .. and of Chapter 171. By nature and attainment Mr. Moore is suited to the profes- sion he has chosen, and youth and ambition are all in his favor.

JOSEPH MILLER, one of the substantial farmers and sterling citizens of German Township. Har- rison County, is a representative of an honored pioneer family that was here founded in the early pioneer days. His grandfather, George Miller, reclaimed a farm from the forest wilds and became one of the prosperous citizens of German Township. The family name of his wife was Sawvell, and both were earnest com- municants of the Lutheran Church. Of their children the following names are recorded : Solomon, Adam, George, Jr., Melinda, Lydia. Mary Ann and Catherine.

Joseph Miller was born in Loudon Township. Carroll County, January 4, 1851, and is a son of George Miller, Jr., and Catherine (Lowmil- ler) Miller, both natives of German Township,

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Harrison County. Mrs. Miller was a daughter of Harry Lowmiller, who was born in Maryland and was a boy when his parents came to Harri- son County, Ohio, and numbered themselves among the earliest settlers in the present Ger- man Township. George Miller, Jr., was reared and educated in German Township and even- tually became one of the representative expon- ents of farm industry in Loudon Township, Carroll County, where he established his home soon after his marriage and where he continued his residence until his death, May 9, 1888. His wife died in August, 1892, and both were earn- est members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They became the parents of the following chil- dren-Mary Ann (Mrs. Simeon Gotschall), Ab- solom, Jacob, Joseph, Sarah (Mrs. Abraham Baker), Hannah (Mrs. James Ryder), Henry (deceased, aged eight years), and Lydia (Mrs. John Shawver).

To the district schools of Loudon Township, Carroll County, Joseph Miller paid due aca- demic tribute during the period of his boyhood and youth, and in the meanwhile he profited also by the sturdy discipline gained in connec- tion with the activities of the home farm. In 1871 he assumed connubial responsibilities, and it was soon after his marriage that he estab- lished his residence on a farm which he rented in Rumley Township, Harrison County. There he continued his vigorous operations eleven years, and for the ensuing three years he rented a farm in German Township. The next two years found him engaged in farming in North Township, and in 1893 he purchased his present farm, which comprises ninety-one acres of fertile and productive land and is one of the valuable properties of German Township. He has erected substantial and modern buildings on the place, in fact all of the buildings that are here found were placed since the property came into his possession except the horse barn." The house is modern in design and appointments, is equipped with steam heat and has running hot and cold water in all rooms, so that it figures as one of the model farm dwellings of the community. Mr. Miller has had no ambition for political activities or official preferment, but is loyal to all civic responsibilities and gives his support to the democratic party. Both he and his wife are influential members of the Howard Chapel (Methodist Episcopal), and he has served as trustee and steward of the same.

The year 1871 recorded the marriage of Mr. Miller to Miss Nancy L. Zollars, daughter of David and Matilda (Richardson) Zollars, of German Township, Harrison County. Of this union have been born four children : George D. married Miss Carlie Rife and they had three children-Harold, who is deceased; Nellie, who is the wife of William Dedrich and has one child, Harold: and Joseph E. David W. mar- ried Miss Anna Galligher, and of their two children, Josephine and Nancy Ellen, the for- mer is deceased. Joseph Eugene first married Miss Louise Briney, and they became the par- ents of three children, Henry, Doris (deceased), and Lando (deceased). After the death of his first wife Joseph E. married Miss Helen Hard- ington, and they have two children, Marion and

Ruth, the family home being now in the City of Columbus. Jacob S., who resides at Dillon- vale, Jefferson County, married Miss Hazel Petty, and they have one child, Ward Eugene.

SAMUEL D. COLE, still a landowner of Rumley Township, although now living retired in Mar- tins Ferry, Ohio, was formerly one of the active and progressive farmers of Harrison County. He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, July 18, 1847, a son of Moses and Rebecca (Buxton) Cole, and grandson of Samuel Cole.

Samuel Cole was born December 27, 1792, and his wife, Amy Perrine, was born December 7, 1790, and they were farming people of Wash- ington County, Pennsylvania. Their children were as follows: Moses, who was born Febru- ary 26, 1815; Sarah, who was born July 22, 1816; Judah, who was born February 9, 1818; Peter, who was born April 28, 1820; Ann, who was born July 16, 1822; and Harmon, who was born April 25, 1824. After the death of his first wife Samuel Cole was married to Ann Perrine, who was born December 27, 1800, and their children were as follows: Samuel, who was born September 8, 1826; Margaret, who was born February 27, 1828; Nancy, who was born December 4, 1829; Stephen, who was born September 20, 1831; Amy, who was born June 18, 1833; David, who was born May 23, 1835; Mary, who was born March 14, 1837; William, who was born June 15, 1839; Catherine, who was born March 29, 1841; and Caroline, who was born August 26, 1843, died February 22, 1910.

Moses Cole was a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, but his wife was born in Brook County, Virginia, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Davis) Buxton. Jacob Buxton was born February 12, 1774, and became a mil- ler of Brook County, Virginia. He and his wife had the following family : Aris, who was born August 14, 1808; Davis, who was born April 28, 1810; Amos, who was born December 4, 1811; Ezekiel, who was born July 11, 1813; Ezra, who was born November 15, 1814; Han- nah, who was born October 8, 1816; Friend, who was born October 2, 1818; Rebecca, who was born September 1, 1820; Hadder, who was born April 7, 1822; Absolom, who was born March 25, 1824; Amon, who was born June 15, 1826; Elizabeth, who was born May 27, 1828; and Melissa, who was born April 27, 1831.

Until 1848 Moses Cole continued to be a farmer of Washington County, Pennsylvania, but in that year migrated to Harrison County, Ohio, and bought the farm in Rumley Township now owned by his son Samuel D. Cole, and here he continued to reside until his death, at which time he was the owner of 300 acres of land. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was an elder for a number of years.

Samuel D. Cole went to the district schools of his neighborhood, and grew up on his pres- ent home farm, where he spent his life since coming to it with his parents in 1848 until he removed on October 8, 1920, to Martins Ferry. He owns 168 acres of land, and until about 1917 was engaged in a general line of farming

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and stock-raising, but since then has been taking life less strenuously.

On March 31, 1885, Samuel D. Cole was married to Esther Patton, of Scio, Ohio, a daughter of James and Mary (Maxwell) Pat- ton, and they became the parents of the follow- Ing children : Mary, who lives at Martins Ferry, Ohio; Alonzo D., who was married August 25, 1915, to Ina Markley; Margaret K., who was married June 1, 1909, to Paul L. Henderson, and has the following children, Leroy K., born March 28, 1911; Lynn Paul, born November 20, 1913; Martha Mary, born October 16, 1918, and Ralph Cole, born October 17, 1920; Paul L. lives on the old Cole homestead, which he is managing; Bessie Martha, who is now prin- cipal of the public schools of Bowerston, Ohio; and James D., who married Florence Lucile Henderson October 25, 1916, lives at Cleveland, Ohio. The Ridge Presbyterian Church holds the membership of Mr. and Mrs. Cole and Mr. Cole has been an elder in it for a number of years. He is a man who is held in the highest respect all over the county and deserves the prosperity which has attended him. He and his wife have reared a fine family, their sons and daughters doing them credit, and playing their part in the world's work.

HOWARD ISAAC HEAVILIN, M. D. The Heavi- lin family of which Dr. H. I. Heavilin of Cadiz is a member has been in Harrison County al- most from the beginning of its history. He was born January 30, 1880, in Archer, although his father, Frank M. Heavilin, is a native of Stock Township. Frank W. Heavilin married Jennie Anderson, of the same community. She is a daughter of Hugh and Catharine (Stewart) Anderson. The Heavilins and Andersons were all early residents of Harrison County.

The grandfather. Isaac Heavilin, was born in 1811 in Cadiz Township, and his wife, Susan ( Bricker) Heavilin, was a native of Green Township. While Isaac Heavilin lived on a farm in Stock Township, he was a shoemaker and his sons did the farming for him. He died in 1900, having lived eighty-nine years in Harrison County. His sons were: Frank, Henry and Albert, but the last named died in 1918.

Frank M. Heavilin, father of the Doctor, is a farmer in Archer, where he owns 320 acres, and combines general farming and stock-rais- ing, making a specialty of sheep. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. F. M. Heavilin are : Anna, wife of Arthur Beck; Anderson, a Cadiz Town- ship farmer and oil man; Howard I .; Beatty. who died in 1915; LeRoy, principal of the high school at Mycliff; Harry, at home; Park, a Tuscarawas County farmer : Vincent, at home; Pearl, who died in 1916; and Nellie, the wife of William Gibbin. They all attended Gilmore School in Archer Township, and for six years Dr. H. I. Heavilin was a teacher in public schools, attending Scio College between times while he was a teacher. At spare times he worked as a carpenter while securing his edu- cation.

In the fall of 1906 H. I. Heavilin entered Starling Medical College in Columbus, and in

1910 graduated from there with the Doctor of Medicine degree. He immediately located in Cadiz and began the practice of medicine, and since that time has been a successful physician and surgeon. On August 3, 1909, Dotor Heavi- lin married Laura B. Morris, a daughter of Andrew J. Morris, and there are two children : Frank Morris and Gertrude. The Doctor is a member of the American Medical Association and president of the Harrison County Medical Society. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge. and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Church in Cadiz.

OLIVER BIRNEY. Aside from the prestige that is his as one of the now venerable sons and representative farmers of Harrison County, Mr. Birney has the further distinction of being a scion of an honored pioneer family that was here founded a century ago, when this section of the Buckeye State was little more than a forest wilderness.

Hugh Birney, grandfather of him whose name introduces this review, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 17,80, and he was reared and educated in his native land. In 1801, at the age of twenty-one years, he came to America in company with two of his brothers, and he first established his residence in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in which commonwealth his marriage to Elizabeth Brown was solemn- ized in 1807. In 1819 Mr. Birney came to Ohio and purchased 121 acres of wild land in the present Green Township, Harrison County. Later he added 160 acres to his pioneer farm property, and he endured his full share of the hardships that marked that period of the county's history. He eventually reclaimed much of his land to cultivation, and on the old homestead he and his wife passed the re- mainder of their lives, his death having oc- curred in September, 1862. The children of this sterling pioneer couple were eight in num- ber-William, Wesley, Rebecca, Martha (Mrs. Samuel Hitchcock), Jane ( Mrs. George Leas), Elizabeth (Mrs. Jacob Hitchcock), Samuel and Asbury.

Asbury Birney was born on the pioneer farm of his father in Green Township, Harrison County, and the date of his nativity was March 15, 1815. The primitive log schoolhouse was the scene of his early application to study. and the curriculum was very limited in scope, his broader education having been gained by self- discipline and association with the practical affairs of life. He continued to be engaged in farm enterprise in his native township during his entire active career, and was the owner of a well improved farm of 126 acres at the time of his death this having been the place on which he was born and reared. On the 23d of April, 1840, he was united in marriage with Miss Eleanor Mccullough, who was born May 29, 1821. a daughter of Hugh and Isabella (Cun- ningham) Mccullough, natives of Ireland and early settlers in Jefferson County, Ohio, where they established their home in the year 1810, the remainder of their lives having been passed in that county. Their children were six in number-Alexander, John, Isabella, Margaret,

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Catherine and Eleanor. Mr. and Mrs. Asbury Birney continued to reside on their old home- stead farm until the close of their lives, were earnest members of the Methodist Epscopal Church and commanded the high regard of all who knew them. Mr. Birney died November 30, 1898, and his wife died May 26, 1903. He was a man of marked energy and business ability, and in 1875 he erected as a family home one of the finest farm houses of the county at that time. Of the children the first- born was Isabella, who died May 22, 1863; Oliver, immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth; Almond has long been a resident of Labette County, Kansas; Hugh W. remained on a part of the old home- stead in Green Township until he removed to Cadiz and was one of the representative farmers of that section of his native county, his death having occurred November 24, 1916; John William, a resident of German Township; Elizabeth became the wife of Joseph McCul- lough, of Archer Township; and Rebecca J., now deceased, was the wife of Henry K. Ford, of Salem Township Jefferson County.

Oliver Birney was born on the old home farm in Green Township April 5, 1843, and is in- debted to the common schools of the locality and period for his early education. As a young man he began independent farm activities in his native township, where he remained until 1871, when he removed to his present farm of 125 acres in German Township. Though he is now nearing the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, he is hale and alert, of mental and physical powers and takes pleasure in giv- ing a general supervision to the affairs of his fine farm, besides which he has for more than half a century owned and operated a threshing outfit in his native county. He is a staunch democrat in politics, has served as trustee of German Township, and he and his wife in the gracious twilight of their long and worthy lives have the affectionate regard of the people of their home community, both being earnest members of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church in their home township.

On the 24th of August, 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Birney to Miss Elizabeth Beatty, who was born in Licking County, Ohio, a daughter of William and Charlotte (Law) Beatty, who there remained until their deaths. Mr. Beatty having been a prosperous farmer of that county. He was venerable in years at the time of his death in 1902, his wife having passed away in 1894 and both having been zealous members of Protestant Methodist Church. They became the parents of a fine family of twelve children, namely : Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Maria, John Wesley, Margaret Jane, Martha, Lucy, Sarah, William Law, Wilbur, Olive and Etta. In the autumn of 1860 eight of these children died within a single week, they having suc- cumbed when attacked by diphtheria, then com- monly known as "black tongue." At the time when this epidemic thus brought death in its wake there were only nine children in the Beatty home, and of the number Elizabeth, wife of the subject of this sketch, was the only one that survived, the other children having been

born subsequently to that fateful year. In con- clusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Birney : Etta Belle is the wife of Wesley Mattern, of Green Town- ship; Elmer Emmett, now a resident of El Paso, Texas, married Miss Martha Bush and they have one child, Arlene; Charlotte Eleanor re- mains at the parental home; Jennie Olive is the wife of Elmer Hall, of Green Township, Harrison County, and they have one child, Lauress; Wilbur B. is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Clara married Ernest Morgan, deceased, of German Town- ship; and Mae is the wife of Rolla Henry, of Uhrichsville, Tuscarawas County.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 70

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