History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 81

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 81
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 81

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having been marked by close association with farm industry. His first wife was survived by two children, Selena and John. For his second wife he wedded Miss Isabelle Maxwell, and they became the parents of six children, all of whom are now deceased-Enoch, Oliver, Lewis N., Andrew, Matilda and Ann (Mrs. John Walker).

Lewis N. Carman was reared and educated in his native county and when the Civil war was precipitated he was one of the gallant young men of Ohio who went forth in defense of the nation's integrity. October 16, 1862. he enlisted as a member of Company E, Fifty-Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with this regiment he continued in service at the front until the ex- piration of his term. January 16, 1863. He then returned to his home, but on the 10th of May of the following year he re-enlisted in Com- pany B. One Hundred and Seventieth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry. with which he continued in service until September 10. 1864, when he re- ceived his honorable discharge. After his re- turn to his native county he was there asso- ciated with the work of his uncle's farm until March 4. 1869, when he was united in marriage to Miss Mahala A. Hobson. In December, 1871. he purchased a farm in Salem Township. Jeffer- son County, and there be remained until 1884, when he sold the property and came to Harri- son County. Here he purchased a farm in Ger- man Township and he developed the same into one of the best stock farms in this section of the county. On this fine old homestead he con- tinued to reside until his death, in 1901, and his widow still maintains her home in this county. she being an earnest member of the Christian Church, as was also Mr. Carman. They became the parents of four children- Sarah B .. deceased. John W .. Oliver H. and Ca- leb. the latter having died in childhood.

John W. Carman gained his rudimentary edu- cation In the district schools of Salem Town- ship. Jefferson County. and after the family re- moval to Harrison County he continued his studies in the district schools of German Town- ship. Thereafter he was a student in the nor- mal school at Hopedale during one year. and attended Scio College two terms. He put his scholastic acquirements to practical test and effective use by entering the ranks of the peda- gogle profession. as a representative of which he was for four years a popular and successful teacher in the district schools of Harrison County. In the early '90s he established a gen- eral store at Carman. a little village developed in connection with a coal-mining enterprise on the farm which he now owns, and he continued this business until 1911. in the meanwhile hav- ing served as postmaster at Carman. Since his retirement from mercantile business he has given his attention to the management of his farm, which comprises fifty acres and which is given over to diversified agriculture and stock- raising. Mr. Carman is affiliated with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Unionport. where both he and his wife also hold member- ship in the adjunct organization. the chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. besides which

they are representative members of the Chris- tian Church in that village.

On the 25th of June, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Carman to Miss Mary A. Wallace, daughter of William and Rachel A. ( Rife) Wallace, both natives of Harrison County. Mr. and Mrs. Carman have one son, Eugene Lewis, who was born March 20, 1902.

THOMAS RAINSBERGER is a sterling citizen who is specially entitled to consideration in this pub- lication, for he is not only one of the venerable native sons of Carroll County, a representative of an honored pioneer family and known for his worthy achievement in connection with farm industry, but he is also a man whose character and ability have gained to him inviolable esteem in the county which has ever represented his home. He resides on and continues in the gen- eral supervision of his excellent farm of sixty acres in Monroe Township, some distance from Sherodsville, from which village the farm receives service on rural mail route No. 1.

On the old homestead farm of his father, in Monroe Township, this county, Thomas Rains- berger was born July 27, 1849, a son of John and Patience (Davis) Rainsberger, the former of German and the latter of Welsh ancestry. John Rainsberger, great-grandfather of Thomas Rainsberger, was born and reared in Germany and was a young man when he immigrated to America and established his home in Pennsyl- vania. From that commonwealth he went forth as a loyal soldier of the Continental Line in the War of the Revolution, and after the war he continued his residence in Pennsylvania, as a farmer, until the close of his life. His son John, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article, became the founder of the family in Carroll County, Ohio, where he established his residence in 1812, more than a quarter of a century before this county was created. He obtained a quarter-section of government land near the present village of Sherodsville, in Orange Township, and he reclaimed from the forest wilds a productive farm, this place hav- ing continued to be his home until his death, in 1842. at the patriarchal age of ninety-seven years. This sterling pioneer endured his full share of the hardships and heavy labors that fell to the early settlers of this section of the state, and contributed his quota to the initial development of Carroll County. In the earlier period of his residence here he found it neces- sary to make his way on horseback to Syra- cuse. New York, to obtain the salt required in the proper maintenance of his live stock. He was born in Pennsylvania, on the 25th of June, 1790. Mr. Rainsberger married Miss Susan Al- baugh, a member of the representative pioneer family of that name in Jefferson County, Ohio. In July. 1819. the father of Mrs. Rainsberger took up 146 acres of Government land in what is now Monroe Township. Carroll County, which section was then included in Jefferson County, and here the family home was established in a pioneer log cabin. Mr. Albaugh continued to reside on this farm until his death, in an epi- demic of fever, in 1835, his children having been

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eight in number. It was in the pioneer home of Mr. Albaugh that was organized the little religious society which was the nucleus of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Leavittsville, Carroll County.

John Rainsberger (III), father of the subject of this sketch, was born on the pioneer home- stead farm in the present Orange Township, and the year of his nativity was 1821. Here he passed his entire life, and as a farmer and as a loyal and substantial citizen he well up- held the prestige of the family name. He be- came one of the representative farmers of Mon- roe Township, was a staunch republican in poll- tics, served at one time as road supervisor, and he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife became the parents of three children-Isabelle, George D. and Thomas.

Thomas Rainsberger was reared on the home farm which is still his place of residence, and his youthful education was obtained in the common schools of the locality and period. He attended school during the winter months and during the summer seasons applied himself vig- orously to work on his father's farm, he having been a mere boy when he began to do a man's work, including plowing and other arduous farm service. He continued to attend school until he was eighteen years of age, and upon attaining to his legal majority he further signalized his independence by taking unto himself a wife, his marriage to Miss Margaret A. Pearch, daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth Jane (McDevitt) Pearch, of Monroe Township, having been sol- emnized in the year 1870. After their mar- riage they remained nine years on the old farm of Mr. Rainsberger's father, and then, in 1879, purchased and removed to their present farm, which at first comprised only thirty-three acres and which a subsequent purchase increased to its present area of sixty acres. Here Mr. Rainsber- ger has continued his successful activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower during the inter- vening years, and he has secure status as one of the representative citizens of his native town- ship, of which he served one term as trustee, be- sides which he held for six years the office of constable, and was a director of the county in- firmary six years-1900-1906. He is a staunch supporter of the cause of the republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Rainsberger brief record is given in this concluding para- graph : Electa Laura is the wife of Henry A. Long. of Jewett, Carroll County, and they have one child, Katherine Nellie, sixteen years of age at the time of this writing, in 1920. Homer B. married Miss Alice McCourt, of Loudon Town- ship, this county, and they have three children -Lois Patience. Wilma Edith, and Arthur Bruce. Hattie Violet is the wife of T. I. Tope, of Monroe Township, and their only child is a son, John Clayton. Leroy Ross, the youngest of the children, resides in the city' of Cleveland. He married Miss Una B. Orin, of Monroe Town- ship, Carroll County.

ROBERT S. BUSBY. Numbered among the prosperous farmers of Archer Township is Rob- ert S. Busby, owner of 280 acres of highly de- veloped and valuable land. He was born in Perry Township, Carroll County, Ohio, Febru- ary 1, 1874, a son of Jacob Busby, grandson of Joshua Busby, and great-grandson of Abraham and Deborah (Kemp) Busby. Joshua Busby was born in Archer Township, but in young manhood moved to Perry Township, Carroll County, where he continued to farm the re- mainder of his life. He was married to Cath- erine Bear and their children were as follows: Jacob, who is mentioned below; Deborah, who married William Sthal; and Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Bracker.

Jacob Busby was born in Perry Township. Carroll County, and his wife, Nellie Steel, was born in Loudon Township, a daughter of James and Mary (Sells) Steel. Commencing his farm- ing on the same farm that had given his father his start, Jacob Busby remained on it for a quarter of a century, but then came to Har- rison County, and for the past ten years has been a resident of Bowerston, Ohio. Here he and his wife are held in the highest esteem and they are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the place. Their children, living and dead, are as follows: Glenn, who married Mansfield Liggett; Robert S., of this sketch; Wade, who died when about thirty-two years of age; Clyde, who was fourth in order of birth ; Nellie, who married Harry Keys, lives at Canton, Ohio; and Ruth, who married Wal- ter Pender, also lives at Canton, Ohio.

Growing up amid rural surroundings Robert S. Busby gained a practical knowledge of farm- ing from his father at the same time he was attending the district schools of his neighbor- hood. His first farming was done in Perry Township, Carroll County, but in the spring of 1902 he moved to his present farm in Archer Township, and rented it for about ten years, when he then bought. Here he is carrying on general farming and stock-raising, and is now specializing on dairying, keeping a herd of sixty cattle, and milking from thirty-five to forty all the time. Starting out in life with no capital, Mr. Busby has gone a long way on the road of success, and entirely through his own efforts. He is a man who knows how to make his efforts yield him good returns, and may be said to have had no failures in his undertakings.

In 1899 Mr. Busby was united in marriage with Vettie Baker, a daughter of Thomas and Emily A. ( Robertson) Baker, members of old families of this section. Mr. and Mrs. Busby have four children : Lloyd Forrest, Harry Wade. Bessie Blanche, and Roy Baker. Both Mr. Busby and his wife belong to the Methodist church of Jewett.

ROBERT MERRICK. By scientific methods, strict business policies and progressive measures Mr. Merrick has achieved the maximum success in connection with farm industry in Carroll County, where his model farm, "Grand View." of 172 acres, is situated in Monroe Township, half a mile east of the village of Dellroy, which

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is his postoffice address. He is known as one of the most progressive students and exemplars of agriculture and horticulture in Carroll County, and the results have been shown in his reclaiming a run-down farm into one of the most productive in the county. He has conducted careful experimentations in fertilizing and in restoring the integrity of the soil throughout the medium of legume crops of diversified order. He was the first man in the county to mark prac- tical appreciation of the value of powdered lime in restoring so called "sour" land to fer- tility, and he was also the first to plant sweet clover as a means of soil regeneration in this county. Mr. Merrick is a regular correspond- ent of the national Department of Agriculture, which has manifested marked interest in his various experiments and shown a desire to have complete record of results achieved. He has recourse to the leading periodicals representa- tive of farm industry, and has contributed valu- able articles to a number of these farm journals. Mr. Merrick has the largest and finest orchard of Baldwin apple trees in the county, and from the same be shipped fully 2.200 bushels from his crop of the season of 1920. By careful spray- ing. etc., he produces prize-winning Baldwin ap- ples of the finest type, the same commanding the maximum market prices. He is an enthusi- ast in the reclaiming of sour land by means of lime and in the enriching of the soil by means of leguminous crops. With all his success and broad and scientific knowledge gained in these connections Mr. Merrick has been characteris- tically modest in working out his methods and plans, and has accepted both mistakes and suc- cesses with philosophic calm. His example has led to much emulation in Carroll County, and many who at first ridiculed his work are now copying his methods. One familiar with his indefatigable labors and earnest study and ex- perimentation has pronounced him the most valuable citizen of Carroll County in the matter of instituting progressive measures in connec- tion with the various departments of farm in- dustry.

Mr. Merrick was born at Dellroy, this county, in the year 1879, and is a son of Robert and Mary Jane (Smith) Merrick. He is of Scotch- Irish lineage, and his paternal grandfather, Israel Merrick, came from Maryland and es- tablished his home in Harrison Township, Car- roll County, where he became an extensive land- holder and representative farmer.

Robert Merrick, Jr., subject of this review, acquired his youthful education in the public schools of his native county, and his broader education has been gained through self-disci- pline, well directed study and active association with the practical affairs of life. At the age of eighteen he took the position of engineer at the Dellroy coal mines, and he continued his serv- ice in this capacity for a period of fifteen years. With the money which he had saved he then purchased sixty-four acres of his present farm, to which he subsequently added an adjoining tract of 108 acres. Here he has achieved re- markable results in general agriculture, besides developing one of the finest apple orchards in

this section of the state. He operates a coal mine on his farm, the product of the same being used largely in this and adjoining counties. Mr. Merrick has been emphatically one of the world's constructive workers, and his success and prestige have been worthily won. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Car- rollton and has other financial interests. Though never a seeker of political preferment, he accords a loyal allegiance to the republican party, and be and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church at Dellroy.

In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Merrick to Miss Mary E. Booth, daughter of Jeremiah and Matilda (Parker) Booth, of Har- rison Township. she being the youngest in a family of six children and the original repre- sentatives of the Booth family in America hav- ing come from the north of Ireland. Jeremiah Booth was. the owner of a farm of sixty acres in Harrison Township and for many years worked to a greater or less extent at the trade of blacksmith. His death occurred in 1913, and his wife has also passed to eternal rest. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Merrick are: Harry, Doyle and Earl, aged respectively fifteen, eleven and nine years, in 1920. The attractive family home is known for its generous and refined hos- pitality.

WILLIAM MOKIBBEN. Worthy achievement is that of productive activity in connection with the basic industries of agriculture and stock- raising, and he whose name initiates this para- graph has the distinction of being not only a representative farmer of his native county and township but also a scion of a sterling family that was founded in Ohio prior to the admission of the state to the Union. His well improved homestead farm, of sixty-five acres, is attrac- tively situated in Moorefield Township, Har- rison County, and in addition to this farm he has also the management of another fine farm estate of 248 acres not far distant from the home place, and in connection with well diver- sified agriculture he gives special attention to the raising of sheep of excellent type, making this an important feature of his farm enter- prise. The progressiveness and prosperity of Mr. Mckibben are clearly indicated in the ad- mirable appearance and facilities of his landed estate, and he is a citizen whose sterling char- acter has given him secure place in popular confidence and good will.

William Mckibben was born on his father's old homestead farm in Moorefield Township, Harrison County, and the date of his nativity was July 30, 1861. He is a son of John and Isabelle (McMillan) Mckibben, both natives of Athens Township, Harrison County, where the former was born January 27, 1833, and the lat- ter on the 6th of October, 1829.

John Mckibben was reared under the condi- tions that marked the pioneer period in the history of Harrison County where he was reared on the old home farm and where he received the advantages of the common schools of the day. He was a son of George and Martha (Bro- kaw) Mckibben. George Mckibben was the

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youngest of eight children born to Richard and Sarah Mckibben, and it was about the year 1790 that Richard Mckibben immigrated from his native state of Pennsylvania to Ohio, where he obtained a large tract of land in Jefferson County. Within a short time, however, he re- moved to Belmont County, later he resided in Harrison County, and finally he removed to Morgan County, where his death occurred in 1827. He was born and reared in Allegheny County. Pennsylvania, where his father settled upon coming from Ireland to America. George Mckibben, grandfather of William Mckibben, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, September 15, 1804, and in that and Belmont counties he was reared. The family name of his first wife was Brashers, who lived only a short time after the birth of her only child, Jesse, who eventu- ally established his home in the state of Illinois. In 1830 George Mckibben married Miss Martha Brokaw, and they became the parents of two sons. George and John. After the death of his second wife George Mckibben wedded Miss Elea- nor Morrison, and they became the parents of three children-William, Eleanor and Richard. The mother of these children passed to the life eternal and George Mckibben thereafter con- tracted a fourth marriage, with Jane Beall, who died in 1887. George Beall developed one of the productive farms of Moorefield Township and was one of the most venerable men of the county at the time of his death.

John Mckibben's marriage to Miss Isabelle McMillan, daughter of Charles and Rosanna (Gilmore) McMillan, was solemnized January 3. 1856, the parents of his wife having been na- tives of Ireland and having become early set- tlers in Harrison County, Ohio. After his mar- riage Mr. Mckibben continued his residence in Athens Township for two years. and in 1859 he purchased a farm of sixty-four acres. in section 31. Moorefield Township, where he continued his successful career as a farmer until the close of his long and useful life. He was a republican in politics and he and his wife were earnest members of the Presbyterian Church. They became the parents of six children-George, John C .. Mary E., Sarah B., William and Thomas C.

William Mckibben grew to manhood on the farm which was the place of his birth. and his youthful education was acquired in the district schools of Moorefield Township. None can doubt his wisdom in having never abated his al- legiance to farm industry, for in connection therewith he has won substantial success and lived a life of independence, with a home of which any man might well be proud. For three years after his marriage he was engaged in farming in Nottingham Township, and he then removed to the fine farm which has since con- tinued his place of residence and which is one of the model places in Moorefield Township. In politics he is a staunch advocate and supporter of the cause of the republican party. and both he and his wife hold membership in the Presby- terian Church, in the faith of which they have reared their children.

On the 15th of December, 1886, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Mckibben to Miss Lydia S. Porter, who was born in Cadiz Town- . ship, Harrison County, August 15, 1864, a daugh- ter of John and Sarah (Dunlap) Porter. Con- cerning the children of this union the following brief record is consistently entered: John Al- len, who was born October 13, 1887, remained at the parental home, and he continued as his father's valued coadjutor in the work and man- agement of the farm until January, 1920, when he entered service in the position of rural mail carrier on one of the routes from Piedmont. Inter he gave up his work as mail carrier and removed to Piedmont, where he is now resid- ing. On November 24, 1920, he married Melva E .. daughter of Everett Leyster, of Guernsey County, Ohio.

J. Frank, the second son, was born August 10, 1890, and is giving his attention to farm enterprise in his native county. He married Miss Cora Simpson and they have had two chil- dren, Bertha Clara, who was born January 29, 1892, died on the 2d of February, 1918, and Al- , berta Lenore Sherman, who was born Septem- ber 24, 1894, is engaged in farming in Moore- field Township. Sarah Emma, who was born November 23, 1897, is the wife of Wilbur Lee, of Moorefield Township, and they have two chil- dren, Dorothy May and William. .

WILLIAM FINNICUM has long been numbered among the substantial farmers of Carroll County, which has been his place of residence from his childhood and in which he is a repre- sentative of sterling pioneer familles-on both the paternal and the maternal sides. He was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, on the 18th of March, 1853, and is a son of James D. and Eleanor (Moorehead) Finnicum, both of whom were born and reared in Carroll County, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they soon afterward removed to Jefferson County and established their home on a farm near Steu- benville. In 1858 they made the venturesome journey by water to California, where the gold excitement was still at its height. and they lo- cated at Forest Hill, Placer County, that state, James D. Finnicum did not give much time to the search for gold in the mines, but for thirty- six years he drove stage for the Wells-Fargo Express Company, within which long period he had many interesting experiences in connection with frontier life. He now resides at Chico, as a patriarchal citizen of ninety-three years. his birth having occurred on the 6th of October, 1827. His devoted wife passed to the life eter- nal in August. 1903. Of their children the first, Angeline, is deceased ; William, of this review. was the next in order of birth; Meriman died March 19, 1921, in Chico, California; and at Chico reside also Mary, who is the widow of James Barnes, and Elizabeth, who is the wife of Harry Kregger.

The paternal grandparents of William Finni- cum were William and Maria (Richards) Finni- cum. the former a native of the north of Eng- land and the latter of Carroll County, Ohio, where her parents settled in the early pioneer

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days. Thomas and Mary (Hill) Moorehead, the maternal grandparents, likewise were numbered among the early settlers of Carroll County, where they obtained land from the government and did well their part in the initial develop- ment of the county.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 81

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