History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 72

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 72
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 72

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John F. Merryman gained his preliminary education in the district school near his father's farm in Green Township, and later availed himself of the advantages of the normal school at Hopedale and also those of Scio College, leading institutions in Harrison County. As a young man he gave ten years of effective ser- vice as a teacher in the rural schools, and for two years thereafter was engaged in farm enter- prise in Green Township. He then, in 1905, established his residence at Jewett, this county, where for two years he was engaged in the meat-market business. In 1907 he removed to Cadiz Junction, where he has since continued as one of the leading business men of the vil- lage. He is a democrat in political allegiance, and he served eight years as justice of the peace in German Township, his administration of this judicial office having fully justified his election thereto and having strengthened his secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He is affiliated with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Unionport; the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Cadiz; and holds mem- bership also in the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Both he and his wife are earnest and valued members of the Howard Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is serving as a trustee and in which he served one year as superintendent of the Sunday school.

On the 13th of June, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Merryman to Miss Laura

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V. Sinfield, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Tipton) Sinfield. Thomas Sinfield was born in Bedfordshire, England, June 12, 1833, and his wife was born in Harrison County, Ohio, March 4, 1840, a daughter of William and Jane (McKittrick) Tipton, well known pioneer citi- zens of the county. Mr. Tipton was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and his wife held membership in the Presbyterian Church. They became the parents of eight children- Mary Ann, Drusilla, Edmond, Catherine, Wil- liam, James, Eliza and Julia. Thomas Sinfield was reared and educated in his native land, where his parents, Thomas and Ann (Burr) Sinfield, passed their entire lives. In November, 1858, he came from England to the United States, and within a short period thereafter he established his residence in Harrison County, Ohio, where he engaged in the work of his trade, that of painter. Only a few years elapsed ere he showed his loyalty to the land of his adoption by tendering his aid in defense of the Union at the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted in Company G, Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served three years, as a member of the regimental band. Shortly after his return to Harrison County he married, and both he and his wife were residents of German Township at the time of their deaths, he having followed his trade dur- ing virtually his entire active career. His death occurred in 1910, and his widow passed to eternal rest in 1918. They became the parents of eight children, namely : Jesse Burr, Anna, William, Addie, Alice, James, Laura and Clayton.

Mr. and Mrs. Merryman have five children- Mary A., Nora A., Charles, Kermit S. and Francis, and they contribute youthful joy and good cheer to the pleasant family home, which is known for its generous and unassuming hos- pitality.

JAMES C. BARGAR. For many years actively and prominently associated with the develop- ment and advancement of the agricultural in- terests and prosperity of Stock Township. James C. Bargar is distinguished not only as a native born citizen, but for his pioneer an- cestry, both his paternal and his maternal grandfathers having been among the earlier settlers of Harrison County. A son of Jacob Bargar. he was born in Stock Township. Feb- ruary 22. 1848, and has here spent his entire life.

Peter Bargar. his paternal grandfather. a native of Pennsylvania, came with four of his brothers. John, Henry, Valentine (Feltie) and Jacob, to Ohio, and all settled in Harrison County. Peter Bargar became a pioneer of Cadiz Township. where he reclaimed a good farm from its original wildness. He married Susan Kockler, and they became the parents of seven children. as follows: Abraham, Isaac. Jacob. Julia, McIntosh. Peter and John. He was deeply religious, and at the time of his death was serving as an elder in the Presby- terian Church at Cadiz.

Jacob Bargar was born in 1-23 on the par- ental homestead in Cadiz Township, and there

grew to man's estate. He learned the car- penter's trade when young, and after his mar- riage located in Stock Township, where he bought land, and was subsequently engaged in farming and carpentering until his death, July 29, 1891. He was a member of the Christian Church at Minksville, to which his wife also belonged, and was ever faithful to its teach- ings. He married Abigail Mary Campbell, who was born in Stock Township, where her father, James Campbell. was a prominent pioneer farmer. James Campbell, who moved from western Pennsylvania to Stock Township, Har- rison County, Ohio, in early days, married Lydia Shrieve, and they reared seven children, as follows: Samuel, Hugh, Matilda, Valentine. Abigail Mary. James and Lydia F. Of the union of Jacob and Abigail Mary (Campbell) Bargar three children were born, as follows: James C., the special subject of this sketch ; Susan, who lived but eleven months; and Elmer P., of Stock Township.

Acquiring his education in the district schools of Stock and Nottingham townships, James C. Bargar learned the trade of carpenter when young. and followed it successfully until twenty-nine years of age. Desirous then of establishing himself permanently, he bought fifty acres of his present farm, to which he soon added by purchase another tract. Having that under cultivation and yielding profitable harvests, Mr. Bargar was encouraged to buy more land, finally acquiring title to 276 acres of choice land. He has deeded 100 acres of his farm to his sons, his property now including 176 acres, on which he has made practical and substantial improvements. He carries on gen- eral farming, including the raising of some stock, chiefly sheep, and formerly operated a saw mill during the winter months.

On November 22, 1877, Mr. Bargar was united in marriage with Anna M. Rogers, and they are the parents of five children, namely ; Louie A .; Violet ; Clarence A., deceased ; Lanceolet H .. who married Bess Fulton, and has one child, Robert F .; and Winnifred E., who married R. Park Heavilin, and has two children, Phyllis Jane and Eugene Vincent. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. Bargar took into their home to rear to manhood a lad of nine years, Francis Thomas Rarchie, who graduated from the Deersville. Ohio, School with honors and is now a student in high school. Active and influential in pub- lic affairs, Mr. Bargar was for four years a trustee of Stock Township, and served twelve years as a member of the local school board. Religiously Mr. Bargar is a member of the Christian Church at Minksville, while Mrs. Bargar belongs to the Bethel Methodist Church.

EUGENE C. PARRISH. While the name Parrish is inseparable from the history of Harrison County. Eugene C. Parrish of Green Township was born January 15. 1856. at Mendota. Illi- nois. His father. Charles Parrish, was born in Cadiz Township, and the mother. Mary Jane. daughter of Joseph Clokey, was born in Wash- ington County. Pennsylvania. They had lis- tened to Horace Greeley about going west, "Go

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west, young man, and grow up with the coun- try," and when the son was born they were sojourning for a year at Mendota.

In the Parrish ancestry the grandfather, Ben- jamin Parrish, came from Maryland. He was one among the pioneers of Harrison County. When he came there were only two houses in Cadiz, and he located nearby on a farm, where his active days were passed, and he spent his declining years in the town where he died. His children were John, Joshua, Charles, Susannah, Mary and Eliza. The pioneer Parrish family were Friends. It is through the line of the third son, Charles, that E. C. Parrish repre- sents the Parrish homestead in Harrison County.

As a young man Charles Parrish was a farmer and stockman in Cadiz Township, but a few years after his marriage he and his wife and one child removed to Illinois, remaining one year at Mendota. They returned to Harri- son County, and the father died in 1861. He was a farmer and horse buyer in his days of business activity. The dealer in horse flesh is almost unknown today when almost every fam- ily rides out in an automobile of some de- scription.

The children of the generation to which E. C. Parrish belongs are Benjamin A., Eugene C., Charles and Anna Jane. After the death of Charles Parrish, father of the family, the mother became the wife of John Singer, and there were two children born to them, Cortney, deceased, and Mary Singer, now a teacher in New Athens. The Parrish family are Presby- terians.

After the second marriage of the mother, who removed from Cadiz to Green Township, Eugene C. Parrish went along and thus his early edu- cation was obtained in two different localities. As a young man he began farming in Green Township, but in 1875 he listened to the ad- monition, "Go west, young man," and for two years was a Nebraska farmer. However. he returned to Harrison County, January 4, 1883. E. C. Parrish married Sarah Elizabeth Adams, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Adams (see sketch of Roy H. Adams). As a man of family Mr. Parrish has always lived in Green Town- ship. He owns 135 acres of land and combines farming and livestock production.

The Parrish children are: Charles A .; Frank G .; Cora B., wife of Roy Mcclellan: Mary Myrtle, deceased, wife of Wilmer Smith; Rus- sell Clokey and Ernest Clark. They are mem- bers and Mr. Parrish is an elder in the Pres- byterian Church in Beech Springs. He has served two terms as trustee of Green Township.

J. ELMER TARBERT initiated his active experi- ence in connection with farm enterprise when he was a mere boy, and was but fifteen years of age when he began working by the month as a farm employe. He thus continued his effi- cient services for a period of ten years, and in the meanwhile carefully conserved his earnings, with the determined ambition eventually to engage in the same line of industrial activity in an independent way. He has realized this ambition and is today giving excellent account

of himself as one of the successful agriculturists and stock-growers of the younger generation in his native township of Nottingham, Harrison County, where his activities are centered on an excellent farm of 154 acres and where he gives special attention to the raising of sheep. He has proved himself one of the world's produc- tive workers, and all who know him are grati- fied to note his increasing success in his chosen sphere of endeavor. He takes loyal interest in community affairs, gives his support to the cause of the republican party, and his wife hold membership in Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, the while they are popular figures in the social life of their home community.

J. Elmer Tarbert was born on his father's farm in Nottingham Township December 22, 1881, and is a son of Albert and Mary E. (Pal- mer) Tarbert, both natives "of this county, where they still reside on their farm. J. Elmer Tarbert was reared to the sturdy discipline of farm life and in the meanwhile attended the public schools at Freeport. His good judgment has been shown in his continued adherence to the occupation in which he is fortified by prac- tical experience, and he is doing well his part in upholding the prestige of Harrison County in connection with productive farm industry.

The year 1904 recorded the marriage of Mr. Tarbert to Miss Mary M. Palmer, daughter of Andrew and Rachel (Yarnall) Palmer, con- cerning whom more specific mention is made in an individual sketch appearing elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Tarbert have three children-Francis Wayne, born February 27, 1908: Lawrence Delbert, born January 17, 1912; and Vern Leroy, born August 12, 1919.

CLEMENT W. GOTSHALL, one of the solid, sen- sible and reliable men and steady and indus- trious farmers of Rumley Township, is a man who stands very well with his neighbors. He was born in Rumley Township February 10, 1864. a son of Daniel and Amanda (Wortman) Gotshall, and a grandson of Jonas Gotshall. Jonas Gotshall was one of the pioneer farmers of Rumley Township, coming to Harrison County from Pennsylvania, and here he con- tinued to live the rest of his life. He married Pollie Lacer, and their children were: Anna, Matilda, Elizabeth, John, Jerry, Jacob, Daniel and Samuel. In their religious convictions they were all Lutherans except Samuel. who was a Methodist.

Daniel Gotshall was born in Rumley Town- ship, and was here engaged in farming all his life, with the exception of seven years when he lived in Carroll County, and at the time of his death he owned 160 acres of land. His wife was born in Perry Township, Carroll County, Ohio, and she bore her husband the following children : Mary, who married Samuel Arbaugh, and Clement W., whose name heads this review. Daniel Gotshall was married the second time. wedding Eliza Ann Wood, of Loudon Township. Carroll County, and they had one daughter. Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Gotshall also belonged to the Lutheran Church.

Clement W. Gotshall attended the Rumley Township schools and those of Carroll County.

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His first experience in farming on his own ac- count was gained in Rumley Township, and he has continued to be interested in the agricul- tural matters of this township, where he owns 160 acres, and he also owns eighty-seven acres in Loudon Township, Carroll County. These two farms join each other, so that he has 247 acres in one piece. On this land he is carrying on general farming and stock-raising, with very gratifying results.

On November 11, 1890, he was married to Miriam Cunningham, a daughter of Thomas H. and Elizabeth (McGavran) Cunningham, resi- dents of New Rumley, where Mr. Cunningham was a merchant for many years. He is de- ceased, but is still survived by his widow. The Cunningham family was established in Harri- son County by Mrs. Gotshall's grandfather, Dr. William Cunningham, who came to New Rum- ley from Pennsylvania, and for some years was the only physician of the county. She was born in the house her grandfather built for his family residence. Mrs. Gotshall was one in a family of seven children, of which she was next to the youngest, the others being as fol- lows: John, who lives at Kansas City, Mis- souri; William E., who lives at Scio, Ohio; Ellsworth, who is deceased; George A., who is a painter and decorator of New Rumley ; Thomas H., who is a farmer of New Rumley ; and Finley, who is deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Gotshall have the following children : Elizabeth Marie, who was graduated from the Jewett High School and Oberlin Col- lege, is now a teacher of Hubbard, Ohio; and Pearl, who married Waldo Thompson, and has one son, Kenneth Waldo. Mr. and Mrs. Thomp- son live in Loudon Township, Carroll County, Ohio. For the past five years Mr. Gotshall has been a director in the Jewett State Bank. The Lutheran Church of New Rumley holds the membership of Mr. and Mrs. Gotshall. They are very fine people in every sense of the word, and it would be difficult to find any who are more representative of the best ele- ments of the county and state.

W. M. AND J. G. CULBERTSON. Because they are associated in a business way and live in the same home William M. and John G. Culbert- son, of Athens Township, united in commemo- rating their ancestry in the History of Carroll and Harrison Counties. They are sons of John and Sarah Jane (McDowell) Culbertson, who were among the thrifty, conservative pioneers of Harrison County. These brothers are the oldest and the other children are: Samuel C., Charles A., Robert H., George W., Frank C., Mary Jane, Emma Florence, Clarence C. and Hugh W., beside one still-born child, and all are well-to-do citizens of the community.

Robert Culbertson, who founded the Ameri- can branch of the Culbertson family, was a native of Ireland. He was twice married be- fore leaving the Emerald Isle, the first wife leaving four children : James, John, Samuel and Ezekiel. In 1811 they all came with their father to the United States. They located in the wilderness of Harrison County. The father married a second time in Ireland, and there

were ten children from this union: Thomas, Robert, Benjamin, William, Hugh, Joseph, George, Annie, Mary and Gillespie. It is the youngest son, Gillespie, through whom the pres- ent day Culbertsons are descended, and he was born in October, 1816, in Harrison County.

Gillespie Culbertson remained with his par- ents as long as they lived, the father, who was the first Culbertson in the community, attain- ing to eighty-seven years and being buried in 1840 on Christmas day. He had been a stone mason in Ireland, but in Ohio he gave his un- divided attention to agriculture in helping to develop the new country. He had been a mem- ber of the Seceder Church in Ireland and cast his ballot with the democrats in America.

On December 17, 1840, Gillespie Culbertson married Dorcas Holt, of Guernsey County. Their children were: John, Mary, Sarah Ann and Robert. The mother died August 15, 1865, and Mr. Gillespie married Eliza Jane, a daugh- ter of James and Elizabeth (Mckinney) Dun- can. She was also from Guernsey County. One daughter, Dorcas Eliza, was born to them. In the meantime the parents had retired from the farm and were living in New Athens when on September 11, 1890, Gillespie . Culbertson entered the life beyond the grave. The family homestead passed into the hands of his son John Culbertson, and for more than a century the Culbertson farm has been a landmark in Harrison County. John Culbertson, father of W. M. and J. G., was born September 20, 1841, on the old Robert Culbertson farm, in Athens Township. His wife, Sarah J., was born in Athens Township August 1, 1846, and died September 19, 1890. He married Sarah Jane Robinson, who was born March 27, 1843, and died July 15, 1906.

William M. Culbertson was born August 20, 1867, on the old McDowell farm in Athens Township, and after leaving the district school he attended Franklin College in New Athens. In 1898, he married Marie Gillespie, a daugh- ter of Barclay and Susan ( Barnes) Gillespie. Within a year he and his brother John G. Cul- bertson entered into a partnership business relation. and they buy, sell and invest their money together. Mrs. Culbertson died June 3, 1919, and the two brothers live alone. Since 1899 J. G. Culbertson has lived in the home of his brother. W. M. Culbertson has been trustee of Athens Township and a member of the Board of Education in the community. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church in New Athens.

EDMOND S. GOODWIN. After many years of hard work as a farmer, during which he pros- pered on account of his industry and thrift, Edmond S. Goodwin, of Short Creek Township, is now living practically retired on his small farm of thirteen acres. He was born in Short Creek Township June 30, 1850, a son of Kinsey and Alice (Shields) Goodwin. The Goodwin family was brought to Harrison County many years ago by Jesse Goodwin, grandfather of Edmond S. Goodwin, who became one of the prosperous farmers of Short Creek Township.

Kinsey Goodwin was born in Pennsylvania, and came with his father to Short Creek Town-

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ship, Harrison County, where he was engaged in farming for a time, and in 1863 moved to Morgan County, Ohio, and died there in 1865. Following his demise his family returned to Harrison County. Kinsey Goodwin and his wife had the following children born to them: Ed- mond S., who was the eldest; Lydia, who was an invalid for thirty years and is now deceased ; Sarah Emilie, who also was an invalid for thirty years and is now deceased ; William and Oliver. Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin were consistent members of the Presbyterian Church.

Left fatherless when still a lad, as the eldest in the family Edmond S. Goodwin early became self-supporting, and chose farming as his life work. His farming ventures have taken him from Short Creek Township, where he began them, into Jefferson and Belmont counties, but he has since returned to his native township.

The first wife of Mr. Goodwin was Catherine Henderson, a daughter of Mathew Henderson, and they had the following children: Ola V., who married Charles Holmes; Sarah, who mar- ried J. A. Frazier; John H., who died in 1910. Mrs. Goodwin died February 14, 1891. After her death Mr. Goodwin was married to Mattie Moffett, who was born near Beech Springs Church in Green Township, the daughter of John and Margaret (Moore) Moffett. There are no children by his second marriage. Both Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Harrisville, Harrison County, Ohio. They are held in the highest esteem not only in their immediate neighborhood but elsewhere, and deservedly so, for they are good friends of and always will- ing to render assistance to those with whom they are brought into contact.

THEODORE N. VAIL. Of distinguished Ameri- cans who were native sons of Carroll County one was the late Theodore N. Vall, who as chief executive of the American Telephone and Tele- graph Company was head of the largest tele- phone system in the world. He was not only its nominal head but was from the first the genius that promoted the popular use of the telephone, was the first to establish long dis- tance communication by telephone, and when past seventy years of age was still the initia- tive head of a system that numbered nine million telephone subscribers and represented an investment of a billion and a half dollars.

He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, July 16, 1845, a son of Davis and Phoebe (Quinby) Vail. Four years after his birth his parents moved to Morristown, New Jersey, where he was educated at the old Academy, and for a time studied medicine. Subsequently, in view of his distinguished services, he was honored with the Doctor of Laws degrees by Dartmouth, Middlebury College, Princeton University and Harvard. Abandoning medicine through his in- terest in the telegraph, he became an operator and was employed on the Union Pacific Rail- road. in Wyoming in 1868, soon after the open- ing of the first transcontinental railway. In 1873 he was appointed assistant superintendent in the railway mail service at Washington, and served as assistant general superintendent in

1874 and as general superintendent from 1875 to 1878. In 1878, two years after the telephone instrument was demonstrated as a commercial achievement, he became identified with that business and in the next ten years did much to popularize and extend its use. There was a period from 1887 when impaired health com- pelled him to seek recreation in travel, and from 1893 to 1896 he was a Vermont farmer. In 1896 he went south to Argentine, South America, and was engaged in the promotion of electrical enterprises, introducing American elec- tric system of street railways to Buenos Ayres and telephone systems in principal cities. In 1907 Mr. Vail was elected president of the American Telegraph & Telephone Company, and continued as its chief executive officer until his death on April 16, 1920.

For many years he called his home the farm community in Vermont known as Lyndonville. He was a member of many learned and techni- cal societies, both in this country and abroad, and altogether was one of the most constructive men of business produced in his age.

MARION B. BARRETT. By a series of cross- references, with incidental index facilities, it has been possible in the preparation of this work to incorporate more detailed and complete family records than would have been possible were the attempt made to repeat such data in the various Individual sketches of the different representatives of these numerous leading fam- ilies. Thus in the case of Marion B. Barrett ready reference may be made to the amplitude of family data that appear on other pages, in connection with the personal sketch of his older brother, Meredith M. Barrett, and the repeating of this record is therefore not required in the article here presented.

.Marion B. Barrett, a scion of one of the prominent pioneer families of Harrison County, was born in Cadiz Township, this county, on the 16th of June, 1840, and in the schools of that township and Nottingham Township he received his early education. He was one of the gallant sons of the county who served as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war. On the 9th of August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Ninety-eighth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, with which command he participated in the battle of Perryville, an engagement in which he was struck in the ankle by a spent minie ball, besides having his haversack shot from his back. He took part in various other en- gagements, mostly of minor order, and remained with his regiment until June, 1863, when he received his honorable discharge. After the close of his military career Mr. Barrett engaged in farming on his present fine farm, which has continued his home during the long intervening years and which comprises about 165 acres of the valuable soil of Nottingham Township. He has made the place the stage of well ordered industry in the departments of diversified agri- culture and stock-growing, and in the gracious evening of their lives he and his wife find themselves compassed by ideal surroundings, having the high regard of their home commun- ity and the companionship of friends who are

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 72

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