History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 94

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 94
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio > Part 94

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CHARLES T. MCDEVITT is a representative of the third generation of the McDevitt family to be actively and successfully concerned with farm industry in Harrison County, where he resides upon his well improved farm of 156 acres, in North Township. His grandfather, George McDevitt, a native of Pennsylvania, was one of the pioneer settlers of this township, where he reclaimed from the forest the farm upon which his son Thomas R., father of the subject of this sketch, was born. By his first marriage George McDevitt became the father of eight children, and his second marriage was with Mrs. Susan ( Rutler) Scott. eight children likewise having been born of this union. Mr. McDevitt died in February, 1869, in his seventy-third year, and his widow passed away in, 1872, aged sixty-two years.

Charles T. McDevitt was born on the old homestead farm which his grandfather secured in the pioneer days, as noted above, and the date of his nativity was November 13, 1875,

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and this farm is that now owned and effectively operated by him whose name initiates this re- view. On this farm likewise was born Thomas R. McDevitt, the sixth in order of birth of the eight children of George and Susan (Rutler) McDevitt. He was born December 8, 1837, and here be was reared to adult age, his educational advantages being those of the pioneer schools. When the Civil war brought menace to the in- tegrity of the nation he was one of the patriotic young men of Harrison County who promptly tendered aid in defense of the Union. In 1862 he enlisted as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, with which command he continued in service somewhat more than three years. The regiment was ordered to Virginia, where it was assigned to the Third Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In the battles of the Wilder- ness Mr. McDevitt received a gunshot wound that eliminated the index finger of his left hand, but after the wound had healed he re- sumed his place with his regiment, the history of which constitutes a record of his valiant and faithful career as a soldier of the Union He took part in many engagements, including the battles of Spottsylvania Court House and Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg. He par- ticipated in the Grand Review of the victorious troops in the national capital after the close of the war, and there received his honorable discharge June 28, 1865.

Returning to his home in Harrison County, Thomas R. McDevitt was here united in mar- riage in the autumn of 1865 to Miss Sarah A. Anderson, who was born in Carroll County, near the Butterfield Schoolhouse, in Perry Township, and who was a daughter of Robert and Esther (Mccullough) Anderson, whose marriage was solemnized in Harrison County, Robert Anderson having been a native of Penn- sylvania and having been a young man when he accompanied his parents to Harrison County in 1838. Thereafter he was for a time en- gaged in farming in Carroll County, but he passed the closing years of his life as a farmer in North Township, Harrison County. Of the Anderson family more specific record is given on other pages of this work, in the personal sketch of Ralph V. Whittaker, whose mother was a daughter of Robert Anderson. After his marriage Thomas R. McDevitt continued his activities as a substantial farmer in North Township during the remainder of his active career, but be passed the last few years of his life in Tuscarawas County, where he died; his wife having passed to eternal rest in Scio and both having been consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. McDevitt was a republican in politics, was influential in com- munity affairs and served as treasurer of North Township. Through his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic he perpetuated the more gracious memories and associations of his career as a soldier in the Civil war. Of his six children Martha and Ella died when young; Jennie is the wife of Harry Lightner, of Can- ton, Stark County ; Bernard died when a young man; Charles T. is the immediate subject of this sketch ; and Robert died when a young man.

Charles T. McDevitt is indebted to the schools of North Township for his early educational advantages, and he remained at the parental home until his marriage, in 1899, after which he was for seven years employed in the steel rolling mills of this section of Ohio. Since 1906 he has resided upon his present farm, which he rented the first five years, at the expiration of which time he purchased the property, as this is the old homestead which was the birthplace of both father and son, as previously noted in the sketch. Mr. McDevitt is aligned in the ranks of the republican party, is affiliated with the lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Scio, and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Hanover.

The year 1899 recorded the marriage of Mr. McDevitt to Miss Olie Lightner, daughter of Michael and Joan Lightner of Stock Township, Harrison County, and of this union have been born eight children : Lucille, married Lloyd Cramblett, of Stock Township, Harrison County ; Gertrude (deceased), Mildred, Ernest, Marie, Charles, Robert and Pauline.

CADMUS A. TOPE owns and conducts a well equipped hardware store in the City of Carroll- ton and is not only one of the leading business men of Carroll County but is also a repre- sentative of a sterling pioneer family of this section of the Buckeye State. He was born in Harrison County, Ohio, on the 8th of June, 1863, and is a son of Dr. Hiram G. and Mary A. (Schultz) Tope, the former of whom was born in Carroll County, July 1, 1839, and the latter of whom was born in Harrison County, where her parents, Solomon and Rachel (Knouf) Schultz established their home in 1832 and where they passed the remainder of their lives.

Dr. Hiram G. Tope was a son of Henry and Catherine (Croghan) Tope, both natives of what is now Carroll County, where the former was born in 1813 and the latter in 1818, they having removed to Peru, Illinois, in 1843, and having there died, just two days apart, in 1849, as victims of an epidemic of cholera. William A., the eldest of their children, sacrificed bis life while serving as a soldier in the Civil war; John H. removed to Michigan and engaged in the lumber business; Catherine became the wife of Craton McCoy and their home was in Van Wert County, Ohio; and Dr. Hiram G. was the second son.

Henry Tope was a son of George Tope, who was born in 1782, and who was reared in what is now Carroll County, Ohio, where he died in 1832, after becoming the father of four sons and two daughters. His father, George Tope. Sr., was born in Maryland and became one of the very first settlers in the present County of Carroll, Ohio, where he secured a tract of heavily timbered land and where he erected the first grist mill in this section of the state, the same having been situated in what is now Union Township. The original American an- cestor came from Germany and settled in Mary- land in the early colonial period of our national history.

Dr. Hiram G. Tope was about ten years old at the time of the death of his parents, at Peru,

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Illinois, and was then taken into the home of his maternal grandparents, who established their home at New Hagerstown, Carroll County, where he was reared to adult age and was afforded the advantages of a well conducted academy, his grandmother having been 100 years old at the time of her death and having. in her girlhood, met and shaken hands with Gen. George Washington. At the age of nine- teen years Doctor Tope entered a medical col- lege at Columbus, Ohio, and after his graduation he was for one year engaged in practice in the western part of the state. He then returned to Carroll County and engaged in practice at Perrysville, which continued to be his place of residence until his death. In 1862 he enlisted in the Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which he later became assistant surgeon, in which capacity he served until the close of the Civil war, his regiment having taken part in many of the important battles of the war and having been with Sherman in the Atlanta cam- paign and subsequent historic "march to the sea." The doctor received his honorable dis- charge, at Little Rock, Arkansas. August 13, 1865, and then resumed the work of his pro- fession at Perrysville. He built up a large and representative practice and was for many years one of the leading physicians of Carroll County, where his name and memory are revered. His death occurred in December, 1907, and his widow, who celebrated her eightieth birthday anniversary July 20. 1920, still resides at Perrys- ville, secure in the affectionate regard of all who know her. Doctor Tope was a republican in politics, was affiliated with the Masonic fra- ternity and was an appreciative member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of the two chil- dren Cadmus A., of this review, is the elder; and Dr. Ulysses I. is his father's successor in the general practice of medicine at Perrysville.

The early educational discipline of Cadmus A. Tope was obtained in the public schools at Perrysville and was supplemented by a higher course of study, in Harlem College, at Harlem Springs, this county. For ten years he was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools, and thereafter he served two terms as county recorder of Carroll County. In 1894 he engaged in the hardware business at Dellroy. this county, but about two years later he found a broader field by engaging in the same line of enterprise at Carrollton. the county seat, where he became a member of the firm of Campbell. Tope & Beamer. Upon the retirement of the senior member the firm name became Tope & Beamer, and in 1918 Mr. Tope purchased his partner's interest and became sole owner of the prosperous business. which he has since con- ducted in an individual way. His establish- ment is supplied with a complete stock of heavy and shelf hardware, and the various accessories that go to make up the modern hardware store.

Mr. Tope is well fortified in his political con- viction and has been active in the local councils and campaign activities of the republican party. Both he and his wife are active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in their home city

January 1, 1885, recorded the marriage of Mr. Tope to Miss Ella Beamer. who was born and reared in Carroll County, and they have two daughters: Mary E., a graduate of Mount Union College, is the wife of R. M. Stewart, of Alliance, Stark County, and she has been a specially successful teacher of music, her one child being a daughter, Helen, who was born February 2, 1912. Sarah L. was graduated in the Carrollton High School and the celebrated musical conservatory of Oberlin College. She is a talented teacher of music and china paint- ing, and is now the wife of Roy D. Vasbinder, who is associated with her father's hardware business.

BAZELEEL BLAZER is now one of the more ven- erable of the native sons of Carroll County still residing within its borders, and he remains on and has general supervision of his fine farm estate in Monroe Township. He is an honored representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of eastern Ohio. His grandfather, Bazeleel Blazer, in whose honor he was named, was born and reared in Germany and becam 9

resident of eastern Pennsylvania after his migration to America. In the old Keystone State was solemnized his marriage to Miss Jane Burgett, a member of the family in whose honor the Village of Burgettstown, that state. was named, and of this union were born the follow- ing children-George, Bazeleel (II), John, Wil- liam, Joseph, Hamilton, Mary A., Elizabeth and Philip B. Just prior to the inception of the War of 1812 Bazeleel Blazer (I) came with his family to Ohio and became a pioneer settler in that part of Jefferson County that now con- stitutes Lee Township. Carroll County. Here he reclaimed a productive farm in the midst of the forest wilds, and here he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Though he came from Germany, it is a matter of family tradition that the genealogy traces back to Scotch and Irish stock.

, Philip Burgett Blazer, youngest of the sons in the above mentioned family, was born on the old homestead farm in what is now Lee Town- ship, Carroll County, and the date of his na- tivity was June 20, 1817. As a boy and youth he had full fellowship with the labors and hard- ships that marked the pioneer era in the history of this section of the Buckeye State, but the discipline was such as to beget self-reliance and that sterling character that marks appre- ciation of the true values in the scheme of human thought and action. In 1840 was sol- emnized the marriage of Philip B. Blazer to Miss Mary Allmon, who was born in Jefferson County and who was a daughter of James and Anna (Preston) Allmon, pioneers of that coun- ty. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Blazer located on a partly reclaimed farm in Lee Township, Carroll County, where they remained ten years. In 1850 they removed to a farm in Center Township, and there on the 6th of Feb- ruary, 1853, occurred the death of the devoted wife and mother, who was survived by five children-Wiliam, James, Bazeleel, Silas P. and Anna. William was a resident of Jefferson County at the time of his death: James died

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when about twenty-five years of age; Bazeleel is the immediate subject of this review; Silas P. became a representative farmer of Carroll County, where he still maintains his home; and Anna, who became the wife of Matthias Roude- bush, is deceased. On the 29th of June, 1854, Philip B. Blazer wedded Miss Mary Bothwell, who was born in the City of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, and whose parents, George and Jane ( Armstrong) Bothwell, were natives of Ireland, their marriage having occurred in the City of Philadelphia. For a number of years Mr. Both- well followed his trade, that of weaver, in Pennsylvania, but in 1832 he came with his family to Carroll County, Ohio, and established a home in Lee Township. Later he removed to Harrison County, where his wife died Decem- ber 2, 1868, and where he remained until his death in January, 1877, at the patriarchal age of ninety years.

Shortly after his second marriage Philip B. Blazer established his residence in Center Township, where he developed and improved . one of the finest farms of Carroll County. On this place his death occurred May 9, 1889, and is wife survived him by several years. Eight children were born of his second marriage, namely : Hamilton R., Thomas A., David, Joseph, Philip H., Morris B., John C. and George W. A man whose character was the positive expression of a strong, noble and loyal nature. Philip B. Blazer marked his course by large and worthy achievements and stood ex- emplar of the best in citizenship. He was a republican in politics and was twice elected a director of the county infirmary. He was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as were also his first and his second wives, and he was one of the honored citizens and representative farmers of Carroll County at the time of his death.

Bazeleel Blazer, to whom this sketch is dedi- cated, was born in Lee Township, Carroll County, on the 8th of November, 1846, and his early education was obtained principally in the rural schools of Center Township, where his father became the owner of a landed estate of 1.000 acres. He continued to attend school, principally during the winter terms, until he was seventeen years of age, and he continued his association with the activities of his fa- ther's extensive farm until his marriage, at the age of twenty-four years. After his mar- riage Mr. Blazer rented a farm of 160 acres in Lee Township, whence he removed four years later to a farm of the same area in Washing- ton Township. There he continued his vigorous activities seven years, at the expiration of which on the 21st of March. 1882, he purchased and removed to his present homestead farm, which comprises 162 acres and which lies adjacent to the Village of Dellroy. In addition to giving careful supervision to the management of his farm Mr. Blazer conducted a meat market at Dellroy for a period of three years, and he also has the distinction of having been the pioneer mail carrier after the rural free-delivery service was instituted in his native county. He became carrier on route No. 1 from Dellroy, and re- tained this position eleven years. He was ap-

pointed at the time of the administration of President Mckinley, and continued his service in this capacity until January, 1903. He has since lived virtually retired, though he still has the general management of his excellent farm. He is a staunch Republican and his secure place in popular esteem is attested by his having served two terms as trustee of Monroe Town- ship. He is affiliated with the Dellroy Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Presby- terian Church at Dellrov, in which he is serv- ing as a trustee. In his farm enterprise be has been an extensive and successful breeder and grower of Shorthorn cattle and Chester White swine.

October 27, 1870, recorded the marriage of Mr. Blazer to Miss Susan Martha J. McCaus- land, who was born on the 25th of March, 1849, a daughter of the late Thomas McCausland, of Lee Township. Mr. and Mrs. Blazer became the parents of two sons: Thomas Walter, who was born June 2. 1878, was for eight years a Government clerk in the Army and Navy Build- ing in the City of Washington. District of Co- lumbia, and he now has the active management of his father's farm. He married Miss Laura Beam, and they have one child. Drusilla. Rob- ert Warner Blazer, the younger son, was born September 6, 1881, and was thirty-six years of age at the time of his death, February 17, 1918.

JOHN E. WARNER. One of the men who has found it profitable to devote himself to agri- cultural pursuits in Harrison County is John F. Warner, of Monroe Township, whose finely cultivated farm shows the effect of hard work and careful planning. He was born in Monroe Township, February 17. 1888. a son of Simon Henry and Florence (Fierbaugh) Warner, and grandson of Jeremiah Warner, one of the early settlers of the township.

Simon Henry Warner was born in Monroe Township, and was reared in it, and attended its schools for a period. but completed his edu- cation in the Hagerstown Academy at Hagers town, Ohio, where he remained for several years. Because of ill health. however, he did not graduate, and returned home. His father and Emanuel Bell owned the first threshing machine of the neighborhood, and Simon Henry Warner began operating the outfit, and was also interested later on in life in saw-milling. A natural mechanic he built himself the first saw-mill he ever owned, and secured very good results with it. His death occurred August 4, 1907. His wife was born in North Township, Harrison County, a daughter of John Fierbaugh. She survives him and makes her home at Can- ton, Ohio, where she is active in the United Brethren Church, to which her husband also belonged. Their only child is John F. Warner.

Growing up in Monroe Township, John E. Warner attended its schools and the Bowerston High School for nearly two years, but on ac- count of his father's failing health he could not complete his courses for his services were re- quired on the farm. He has always lived on his present farm of 145 acres of valuable land, and here he is profitably engaged in general

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farming and stock-raising, his property being known as the "Rising Sun Stock Farm."

On November 30, 1916, Mr. Warner was united in marriage to Mary A. Smith, a daugh- ter of N. A. Smith. They have no children. Mr. Warner belongs to the United Brethren Church of Bowerston, while Mrs. Warner is a member of Asbury Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. His fraternal connections are those he maintains with the Bowerston Lodge, Knights of Pythias. A hard-working and thrifty man, Mr. Warner has exerted himself to produce the best results, and his farm is a credit to him and his township. While he has never cared to go into public life, he has always taken an intelligent part in local affairs, given his support to the good roads and similar move- ments, and is recognized as one of the repre- sentative men of this region.

WILLIAM TOBIAS THORLEY. One of Carroll County's most enterprising and best known citi- zens is William Tobias Thorley, of Dellroy, Monroe Township. Mr. Thorley during an ac- tive career of thirty years or more has figured as a business man, merchant, farmer and pub- lic official. He owns one of the large and well improved farms of Monroe Township, and has also developed some of the important coal de- posits of this section and is president of the Dellroy Coal Mining Company.

Mr. Thorley was born in Monroe Township -June 29, 1868, a son of John and Phoebe ( Bar- rick) Thorley. The father, born in Pennsyl- `vania, came to Ohio as a young farmer in Mon- :roe Township, where he died when seventy- four years of age. He was a democrat and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife died on the homestead at the age of eighty-four years. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had two children, William and Laura J. The daughter married Beldon Davis, of this township, and of whom mention is found else- where in this work.

William T. Thorley is a member of one of the old families of eastern Ohio. He grew up on a farm, attended public school at Atwood to the age of eighteen, and then began an ap- prenticeship at the carpenter's trade. After completing his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman and also as a contractor and builder altogether for ten years. For seven years he was a hardware merchant at Dellroy, and on leaving commercial lines bought 150 acres of land near Dellroy and has enjoyed marked prosperity through his agricultural enterprise. All of his land is underlaid by coal, and for the purpose of developing this and marketing it he incorporated the Dellroy Coal Mining Com- pany, of which he is president. Mr. Thorley is also a stockholder in the First National Bank at Carrollton, and is a charter member of the Dellroy unit of the National Grange.

He is a democrat in politics, and among vari- ous public officers has served as township clerk, as a member of the School Board of Monroe Township, and as a member of the City Council of Dellroy. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Dellroy.

In June, 1894, he married Miss Dora E. Hoobler, daughter of Adam and Rebecca (Little) Hoobler, of Rose Township. They have three children, Olin Forrest, born in 1895; John Adam, born in 1898, and Laura Jeanette, born in 1910. Olin Thorley was called to service during the World war at Carrollton March 4, 1918, and was first assigned to Fort Ogle- thorpe, Georgia. For three months he served as medical private. From New York he went overseas to Liverpool and to London and landed in France at Havre. At Nevres he was trans- ferred to the Ninety-fifth Motor Transport Corps as an ambulance driver, and was on duty as such until the armistice, and continued with that branch of the army practically a year, re- turning home in June, 1919, as a first class private.

LINCOLN E. NEWELL, who resides upon fine old homestead farm which was the place of his birth, in Monroe Township, Carroll County, and which comprises 146 acres, is to be designated as one of the representative agriculturists and stock-growers of his native county, and in con- nection with his farm enterprise he gives st. cial attention to the raising of fine Percherod horses, for which he finds a ready and apprecia- tive demand in this immediate section of the state. He is a popular representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Carroll County, with whose history the family name became identified long before the county was created. His paternal grandparents, Peter and Christena (Garbrant) Newell, came from Hamden, New Jersey, to Ohio, and settled on a tract of Gov- ernment land in what is now Orange Township, Carroll County, in the year 1919. Here the grandfather reclaimed from the forest wilds a productive farm of 160 acres, and here he and his wife endured the full tension of the early pioneer days, when Indians were still numerous in this section of Ohio and when droves of deer roamed through the wooded hills and val- leys of Carroll County. On the old homestead the grandparents passed the residue of their lives, and they became the parents of a fine family of thirteen children.

On his present farm, which was purchased by his father in the year 1848, Lincoln Elmer Newell was born March 27, 1861, a son of Jacob and Catherine (Boutrager) Newell, who established their home on this farm shortly after their marriage. Here the father con- tinued his active association with productive farm industry until his death, which occurred when he was about sixty-five years of age, and the devoted wife and mother long survived him, she having been eighty-seven years of age at the time of her death, in 1908. Of the ten children Lincoln E. of this sketch was the ninth in order of birth, and of the number five sons and five daughters, he is the only one living.

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History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Part 94

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