History of Columbiana County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 77

Author: McCord, William B., b. 1844
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 912

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When this firm failed. Mr. Lawson took over the business, paid the creditors and then formed a partnership with William R. Wells; under the firm name of Lawson & Wells, which continued until 1869. Mr. Lawson continued the business alone until 1879, when he was succeeded by his sons.

In the meantime he had continued his scientific studies and had been particularly in- terested in explosive properties of water and

MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH L. HAHN AND FAMILY

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had written many articles giving his views on the subject and explaining the principles of the non-explosive steam boilers which he later patented. This subject had long been one of general interest and in 1874 a board of experts appointed by the President and the Secretary of the United States Treasury, began experi- ments to determine the cause of boiler explo- sions. For this work Congress had appropriated the sum of $100,000 and after laboring several months in earnest efforts to explode a boiler upon old theories, the effort was abandoned. While these tests were in progress Mr. Lawson was a close observer and later made his own experiments at his own expense and proved that in accordance with the formula which he had discovered, he could explode any boiler at will. In February, 1882, Secretary Folger appointed a committee of experts to witness a test made by Mr. - Lawson and in the report under date of May 6, 1882, they said: "As to the merits of the claims made for Mr. Lawson's theory of steam boiler explosions, in our opin- ion its validity was fully established."

In every public measure of importance to Wellsville, Mr. Lawson has always been a lead- ing organizer. He was the first man to suggest the advisability of a railroad line between Cleveland and Wellsville and he, A. G. Catlett and Henry Cope were appointed by a meeting of citizens a committee to visit Cleveland and urge the building of the road. They drove over the projected line of the road from Wellsville to Cleveland in three days and spent three days in the latter city. On the second day a meet- ing was called in the Court House, which was addressed by Thomas Bolton, a leading at- torney, A. G. Catlett and Mr. Lawson. The next morning the parlor of the hotel was filled with leading citizens, among them being the editor of the Plain Dealer, who suggested that if they would draw up a charter, he would print it and have it ready for them to take back with them and distribute in the towns along the way. The result of their efforts was that the charter was granted in the spring of 1844. More de- tails of this important work, in which Mr. Law- son was so prominent, will be found in another part of this volume.

Poltically, Mr. Lawson has adjusted his views as, according to public affairs, the times demanded, being a Whig, Greenbacker and Democrat. In 1868 and again in 1878 he was nominated for Congress, but the district was too largely Republican to give him success. He has served the city 'of Wellsville in various capacitites and is always ready to promote the town's welfare. He has been an Odd Fellow since 1848.

On April 29, 1841, Mr. Lawson was mar- ried to Frances Ann Wells, a daughter of James and Sarah (Morgan) Wells, a sketch 'of this leading family being found in another part of this work. Their children were: James W., Thomas Clifford, Charles C., Will- iam R., Sarah Esther, Frances Ann and Mary Caroline. Mrs. Lawson was born June 10, 1820, and died March 2, 1905. Both Mr. Law- son and wife were reared in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Lawson is a most in- teresting gentleman, a good ` story-teller and has a fund of interesting reminiscences of early experiences which are well worth hearing. He remains vigorous in mind and body and is still "a factor in the city's life.

OSEPH L. HAHN was born in 1839 on the farm south of his present well- tilled farm of 228 acres, which is situ- ated in section 25. Knox township, and is a son of William and Mary (Sentz) Hahn, and a grandson of Adam Hahn, the founder of the family in Ohio.

Adam Hahn came to Columbiana County from Maryland in 1801. He was accompanied by his family and John Whiteleather and fam- ily, and in 1819 together they entered the whole of section 25, Knox township. The old pioneer died when our subject was very young.

William Hahn, the father of Joseph L., was born near Baltimore, Maryland. in 1796 and was about five years old when his father came to Ohio. He grew up on his father's land and worked mainly in the latter's sawmill until the age of 26 years, when he and his brother, Frederick Hahn, went on the section

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that Adam Hahn had entered, each taking a quarter-section, in dimensions a quarter of a mile wide and one mile long, William Hahn's land lying south of that of his brother. At one time our subject owned the quarter-section taken by his father but subsequently sold it. The mother died March 25, 1848, and the father in 1863. They had nine children, namely: Catherine, who died in infancy ; Rachel, deceased, formerly wife of Peter, Ben- nett, also deceased; Mary, deceased, formerly wife of John Bennett, deceased; Elias, who died in his 77th year in November, 1904, leaving a widow and two children,-Mary and Edna ; William, who is a minister of the United Brethren Church, residing in Florida; John, who is a bachelor and resides .in Ionia County, Michigan; Joseph L., of this sketch; Sarah, who married Michael Wagner and reared six sons and two daughters; Adam, a minister of the United Brethren Church, who has a family of seven children; and Henry, a farmer in Knox township, who married Lydia M Shive- ley and has five children.

Joseph L. Hahn was educated in Knox township and at Mount Union College and worked on his father's farm until he was pre- pared to start out for himself. After disposing of his part of the homestead farm, he went to Tennessee for a time and upon his return pur- chased his present farm in section 25. This he operated himself for a number of years and still oversees it, although he is not so actively engaged as in former years. It is a valuable property, well improved and finely cultivated.

Mr. Hahn was married in 1861 to Rebecca Haas, who died December 13, 1901, in her 66th year. She was a daughter of Mathias Haas, a farmer of Springfield township, Ma- honing County, Ohio, who died at the age of 67 years, leaving 15 children. Born in Ger- many, he came to America a poor man, worked for a time at shoemaking in Philadelphia and then removed to Mahoning County, where by industry and economy he accumulated 304 acres of land. Mr. Hahn and wife had five sons and one daughter. born to them, namely : Mathias, an ordained minister in the German Baptist Church, in Stark County, Ohio, who

married Alice Fugate and has four children,- Waldo, Charles, Lucy Rebecca and an infant son; Joan, who married Edwin G. Saffle and has three sons,-Byron, Frank and Harold; Curtis, who married Clara Summers, resides at Canton and has two children (twins), Lester and Leroy; Thurman, who married Mattie Lewis, resides in Stark County and has one child,-Joseph L .; Owen C., who married Vin- nie Stroup; and Frank, who remains on the farm, his father's right-hand man.

Mr. Hahn is a leading member of the Ger- man Baptist Church at Reading, two miles west of North Georgetown. He has in his possession a German Bible which was published in 1700, which his father bought at Canton in 1856, paying a $20 gold piece for it. Politically he is a Democrat. A picture of the Hahn fam- ily accompanies this sketch.

AMUEL G. PATTON, senior member of the furniture and undertaking firm of Patton & Arbaugh, located at No. I, East Main street, Salem, is one of the city's old and respected business men. Mr. Patton was born in Fay- ette County, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1836, and is a son of Joseph and Anna (Galloway) Patton.

Fayette County, Pennsylvania, is largely set- tled by members and kindred of the Patton family who own large bodies of rich farming land there. There John Patton, the grand- father of our subject, was born, of Scotch- Irish parentage. The Galloways came origin- ally from Ireland and the father of our sub- ject's mother was a miller in Fayette County, where she was born. She lived to the age of 93 years. Joseph Patton was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and removed in 1842 to Harrison County, Ohio, where he spent his active years as a farmer, dying at the age of 85 years. He left to his descendants a well- improved farm of 162 acres. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. His children were: John, deceased; Robert T., a farmer of Bergholz, Jefferson County, Ohio; Mary,

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of Salem; Samuel G., of Salem; Nancy, of Salem; and Joseph Ross, of Minerva, Ohio.

Samuel G. Patton was reared on his father's farm, where he remained engaged in agricul- tural pursuits until he was 28 years old. In the fall of 1864 he left home and soon after es- tablished himself in the milling business at Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio, beginning with the operating of a sawmill and finally going into the steam flouring mill business. He continued this until .1875 and then sold his mill and worked for three years at the carpen- ter's trade, having skill as a millwright. In 1878 he built a steam flouring mill at Scio, Harrison County, where he lived for 12 years and then bought a farm. He did not operate the farm himself, merely overseeing the work, as during this time he was head miller and manager of the City Mill at Uhrichsville, Ohio, which was destroyed by fire in August, 1891. In 1901 Mr. Patton entered into the furniture and undertaking business at Salem with his son-in-law, William S. Arbaugh, under the firm name of Patton & Arbaugh.

In 1862 Mr. Patton was married to Mary Smith, who was born in Carroll County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Jacob Smith. They have one, daughter, Eva M., who is the wife of William S. Arbaugh, junior member of the firm of Patton & Arbaugh.

Mr. Patton has been a member of the Presbyterian Church since boyhood. He be- longs to the Masonic fraternity, having been made a Master Mason in 1866.

OSEPH BARLOW, a director of The Colonial Company, a leading pottery manufacturing concern of East Liver- pool, and manager of its dipping de- partment, kiln shed and warehouse de- partment, was born at Smallthorn, Stafford- shire, England, December 8, 1852, and 'is a son of Samuel and Lucy (Bath) Barlow. His grandfather was Samuel Barlow, a native of Cheadle, England, where he engaged in farming.

Samuel Barlow, father of Joseph, was born

at Cheadle in 1819 and worked in the potteries there, rising to the position of kiln foreman. About 1869 he came to America and for three years worked at his trade in Trenton, New Jersey, then returned to England where he worked until his death, which occurred in 1884. He married Lucy Bath, whose father was Thomas Bath, of Burslem, England. Of the 14 children born to them, nine reached matur- ity, viz. : Ellen, widow of Edward Mountford, of Smallthorn, England; Sarah, widow of Elijah Bennett, of Hanley, England; Joseph ; Matthew, of East Liverpool; Mark, of Long- ton, England; Samuel, who died in East Liver- pool; Luke, of East Liverpool; and John, of Fenton, England. Mrs. Barlow was born in 1819 and died in 1891. Both parents were members of the Church of England, and the father was for many years teacher of the Bible. class in the Sunday-school.

Joseph Barlow has been a resident of East Liverpool since October 15, 1873. His oppor- tunity of securing an education was very limited as he entered a pottery at the age of 10 years. He mastered the various details of the work and became manager before he was well out of his "teens." Coming to East Liver- pool, Ohio, he at once entered the employ of Knowles, Taylor & Knowles, remaining with them until the great lockout of 1882 and work- ing in the dipping department. He next be- came identified with the Potters' Co-Operative Company, of which he was a stockholder and director for eight years. In July, 1890, he be -. gan work for Chetwyn & Wallace and . has continued in that pottery through all the. changes of ownership since. When the pres- ent owners of the pottery, The Colonial Com- pany, organized, he was one of the chief pro- moters of the scheme and is a director of the company at the present time. He is manager of the dipping department, kiln shed and ware- house department.

Mr. Barlow. married Elizabeth Massey, who is a daughter of William Massey and was born in' Bursalem, England, in 1854. Their family consists of William J., Jethro M., Maude E. and two children who died in childhood. They are members of the Protestant Episcopal

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Church. Mr. Barlow is past sachem of Iroquois Tribe, No. 40, I. O. R. M .; past noble chief of Hope Castle, No. 33, Knights of the Golden Eagle; was Powhatan of Pochahontaş Osceola Council, No. 8, Independent Order of Red Men ; a member of Josiah Wedgewood Lodge, No. 235, Sons of St. George; and a member of the Mystic Circle. He has a hobby which he cultivates and which affords him a pleasant relaxation from business cares. This hobby is his great love of flowers; his garden is a source of beauty and pleasure, not only to him and his immediate family but to scores of his friends and neighbors. He has a green- house ,12 by 20 feet in dimensions which is filled with blooms when cold weather prevents outdoor culture. He has 73 distinct varieties of roses. His chrysanthemums are equal in size and beauty of coloring to the product of the most finished florist, while his Easter lilies, which are his specialty, always reach perfection of blossom. These flowers are given away freely to his friends, to the poor, especially in their times of trouble and affliction, and to the children who will always bear a kindly remem- brance of "Uncle Joe Barlow" and his many beautiful flowers.

Mr. Barlow has been a member of the City Council of East Liverpool for the past five years and is at present a member, being one of the councilmen at large.

A LBERT GEON, one of Liverpool's leading business men, senior member of the firm of Geon Brothers, grocers, of this city, was born Sep- tember 10, 1856, at East Liverpool, Ohio. His parents were Nicholas and Eliza- beth (Beckler), Geon.

Nicholas Geon was born in Alsace, when it was a French province, and died at East Liver- pool, Ohio, in July, 1901, aged 72 years. In boyhood he learned the trade of glass blowing and after he came to the United States, at the age of 18 years, he worked in glass houses in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, as long as the nature of the business permitted. He was about 22 years old when he went into Bennett Brothers' pottery in that city and worked there until

1854 when he came to East Liverpool as an employee of the Bennett pottery here. He con- tinued .work in this and other potteries until 1872 when he engaged in the grocery business, opening a store in his home on Third street, the site of the grocery business of the present firm of Geon Brothers. He conducted this business under the name of N. Geon until 1882, when he retired and was succeeded by our sub- ject. From this time he gave his entire atten- tion to pushing the sale of "Geon's . Cough Syrup," a remedy which he compounded from a recipe which he had brought from Germany. It is now one of the best selling cough medi- cines in all this section, possessing undoubted curative powers. In politics he was a Demo- crat. He married Elizabeth Beckler, of Pitts- burg, and they had 14 children, II of whom grew to maturity, namely : Albert; Joseph, of East Liverpool; Caroline, deceased, who was a Sister in a Pittsburg convent; Mary, who mar- ried C. A. Smith, of Chester, West Virginia; Laura, of Chicago; Edmund A., junior mem- ber of Geon Brothers; Annie, of San Fran- cisco; Elizabeth, of Allegheny ; Margaret, who married Charles Pittinger, of Chester, West Virginia; and Frank, of Scranton, Pennsyl- vania. The mother still survives, having reached her 70th year. The entire family be- long to St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church. Our subject's grandfather spelled his name "Gion," but when the father took out his naturalization papers he changed the spelling to conform phonetically with the pronuncia-

The eldest of a large family, our subject had few educational opportunities and when many other lads were at school, Albert Geon, even as a child of six years, had tasks appointed. A place was found for him in the potteries where he could earn a small wage and he could only go to school during the few weeks when the potteries were closed. These early deprivations made him, perhaps, attend all the more closely to his books in the short time allotted to their study,, and a long and active business life with its varied experiences has put Mr. Geon in touch with all that is necessary in the general course of life.

During the 21 years he worked in the pot- teries, he mastered all branches of the trade

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in the clay department. When the famous strike occurred in 1882, a matter of important local history, Mr. Geon left the pottery trade never to reenter it. He then entered the em- ploy of the "Industrial Cooperative Store" in East Liverpool, and remained connected with it for two years and then assumed charge of his father's grocery store, which he managed about six months under the name of Albert Geon. Then his brother Edmund A. became a partner and the firm name was changed to its present style of Geon Brothers.

Politically Mr. Geon is a Republican but he has not been able to entertain the suggestions of his many friends that he should run for office. the demands made upon him by his busi- ness absording his time and energies. He is a citizen who has the welfare of the community at heart and is a liberal contributor in support of laudable civic enterprises.

Mr. Geon married Mary Ann O'Malley, who is a daughter of Timothy O'Malley. She was born in England but came to America with her parents, who were old residents of Wolver- hampton, when 17 years of age. Of Mr. and Mrs. Geon's 10 children, seven reached ma- turity, namely : Walter F .. a rising young busi- ness man, who has charge of the Geon Broth- ers' store on Third street : Edmund, employed at the Sixth street store; and Margaret, Camilla, Caroline, Gertrude and Marcella. all at home.

His fraternal relations are of years dura- tion. He belongs to the Emeralds in which he has held all the official positions ; was the first president of the C. M. B. A. and for a long term of years was treasurer; and he is the father of the Knights of Columbus organiza- tion in East Liverpool, being chancellor of Council, No. 509, at the present time.

AMES J. WAGGONER. manager of the Ceramic Bottling Company, of East Liverpool. the oldest business in its line in the city, is one of the city's well-known and respected citizens. Ile was born at Manchester. „ Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, November 30, 1851. and is a son of Robert and Sarah ( Bradley ) Waggoner.

Robert Waggoner, father of James J., was born in 1809 in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and died in 1878 at the home of our subject, where he had lived retired for some years. His business was that of a stationary engineer. For 15 years prior to 1870, when he came to East Liverpool, he had been actively engaged in his profession at Allegheny. In politics he was a supporter of the Democratic party. In re- ligious views he was a Presbyterian, while his wife adhered to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their three children, the two sur- vivors are our subject and his brother, Martin, a resident of Rochester, Pennsylvania.

James J. Waggoner was educated in the public schools of Allegheny and there served an apprenticeship in a printing office and be- came a skilled job pressman. He has not fol- lowed his trade to any extent, however, his tastes seeming to incline, in manhood, more to a mercantile life. His first store he opened at Freedom, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, which he conducted for a year and a half. going then to Hutchinson, Kansas, where he was engaged about the same length of time in a second mer- cantile enterprise. After selling his business there, he moved to Pratt County, Kansas, where he took up a quarter-section of land, on which he continued to reside and farm for the next 1412 years.

In 1893 Mr. Waggoner sold his Kansas farm and returned to Ohio, and shortly after- ward entered into partnership with his brother Martin, at Rochester, where the firm of Wag- goner Brothers opened up a retail store for the sale of china and notions; a few months later. however, our subject sold his interest and came to East Liverpool. Here he first engaged in a restaurant business which he continued for five and a half years. and then, in 1897. sold on account of ill health. Later he entered the employ of E. W. Thompson, who was then the proprietor of the business which Mr. Wag- goner now conducts. In 1904 he bought an interest in the business, at that time changing the name of the concern to the Ceramic Bottling Company. the business being the manufacture of carbonated drinks. This is the original pioneer business of its kind here, and was started by David Boyd. who was succeeded in

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1896 by Thompson & Company and in 1904 by the Ceramic Bottling Company, with Mr. Waggoner as manager. It is a prospering in- dustry and under its present head has become a very important one here. Mr. Waggoner gives his time to it and keeps three men con- stantly employed.

Mr. Waggoner married Wilhelmia Wolfe, who was born at Bolivar, Westmoreland Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, of German parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Waggoner have three children, viz. : Charles Walter, Harry and Clara M.

All of the family have church connections, although circumstances have led them in dif- ferent directions. Mr. and Mrs. Waggoner are members of the First Presbyterian Church, Clara M., of the Christian Church, and Charles Walter, of the Salvation Army.

R OBERT IRWIN, a retired merchant of East Liverpool, now residing in his well-appointed home at No. 556 Calcutta street, was born in 1831 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a son of James and Ann ( Bailey) Irwin.

The parents of Mr. Irwin were both born in County Derry, Ireland, and were married at Cincinnati, Ohio. James Irwin arrived in Pittsburg, in 1825, a well-educated young man, and entered into the practice of the law in that city where his uncle, James Gray, had previously located. In 1833 he removed to Jackson township, Monroe County, Ohio, and there opened a general store near the present town of Lodi, which he conducted until 1845, when he moved to Sistersville, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a wharf- boat and remained there until 1852, when he rented a large farm in Ohio one mile above Sistersville, which he conducted until 1860. Then he removed to the town of Sardis, Ohio, buying a good property there, but subsequently went to Putnam County, Virginia, where he died in 1870, his wife having passed away previously at Sardis. They had five children, the subject of this sketch being the eldest. The survivors of the family exclusive of himself

are : James C., of Matamoras, Ohio, and Sarah Ann, the wife of Isaac Foutty.

Robert Irwin attended the local schools wherever the family lived during his boyhood, and had also the advantage of an educated father, who took a deep interest in the welfare of his children. In 1864 Mr. Irwin started in the grocery business at East Liverpool and this he carried on until 1877. For 13 years he also was engaged here in the livery business be- ing succeeded in the same by Isaac Walter. Since 1877 he has been practically retired, al- though he still handles real estate occasionally, having control of a large body of land. He has always been looked upon as one of the representative business men of the city and dur- ing his active years was held in high esteem by his business associates and competitors.

Mr. Irwin married Elizabeth H. Buchheit, who was a daughter of George Buchheit, a well-known merchant tailor of East Liverpool,; who settled here in 1836. While Mr. and Mrs. Irwin have no children of their own, they have brought six children into their home and edu- cated them and now all have homes of their own except Orma Buchheit, who still resides with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Irwin are de- voted members of St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church.

NDREW A. WATSON, one of the leading business men of East Liver- pool, proprietor of the "Watson Cash Hardware Store," of this city, was born here, October 30, 1866, and is a son of Robert B. and Mary Watson.

The father of Mr. Watson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1837. In boyhood he learned the tinner's trade and followed it in his native land until he came to America in 1871, when he resumed it after locating in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1877 he came to East Liverpool, Ohio, and here opened a store which was the nucleus of the present large es- tablishment owned by his son. In 1883 the present commodious building at No. 104 Sixth street, was erected and here Mr. Watson con-

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History of Columbiana County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 77

Author: McCord, William B., b. 1844 Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 912

Author: McCord, William B., b. 1844
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 912