USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 10
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first, and he has continued in his chosen calling, ranking second to none of his professional brethren in this section of the state and holding a conspicuous rank among the fraternity in this county, being profoundly versed in materia medica in all its branches and keeping abreast of the times in all that per- tains to his profession. He is a member of the Guernsey County Medical Association, the Ohio State Medical Association, and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, being a charter member of the Pleas- ant City lodge in the latter order.
The Doctor was married in March, 1894, to Mary A. Shepler, daughter of R. I. Shepler, of Blue Bell, Valley township, a well known family of that community, and Mrs. Bown being a woman of refinement and many estimable attributes. This union has been graced by the birth of one daughter, Kath- erine, now ten years of age. The Doctor and wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and both take much interest in Sunday school work. he being class leader and a trustee in the church.
Since coming to Pleasant City Doctor Bown has become thoroughly iden- tified with the life of the community, and is one of the best known and most influential citizens here, not only being considered a very able physician and surgeon, but is known to be a man who takes a deep interest in whatever per- tains to the general good of his locality, and he and his wife stand high in all circles.
PERRY MILTON ALBIN.
The present review is concerned with the deeds of one of the oldest resi- dents of Guernsey county, who has during his life witnessed many changes in the customs and manner of living of the people. In the days of his youth the farmers of Guernsey county used to haul six-horse loads of tobacco to Baltimore, and bring back goods for the use of their families; now they are supplied with the best of all manufactured articles at their own homes, and other changes have been proportional to this one. And when his family first came to this county, it was then the home of numerous red men, and the present fertile farming country was then a forest wilderness. But within the life of one man these great changes have taken place.
Perry Milton Albin was born on the old Albin farm, a short distance northwest of Pleasant City, Guernsey county, Ohio, on January 26, 1834, the son of Abraham and Mary Elizabeth (Trenner) Albin. Abraham Albin was
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born in the north part of West Virginia, near Big Capon river, on December 25, 1798, the son of James Albin, who at the age of eighteen enlisted in the Revolutionary army and served through the war. In the spring of 1806, James Albin brought his family, including Abraham as a lad of seven, to Guernsey county, and entered land south of Derwent, where he made his home. He had stopped on his way one year near Wheeling, then finished the journey, which was made by wagon. Then the county was sparsely settled, with only a small settlement at Cambridge. The nearest mill was at St. Clairsville, and they pounded corn in a hominy box to get meal for food. James Albin spent the remainder of his days on this farm. He was twice married, and by the first marriage was the parent of two sons and a daughter, by the second, of four sons, of whom Abraham was one, and six daughters.
Abraham Albin grew up on his father's farm, and on October 4, 1819, was married to Mary E. Trenner, the daughter of Henry Trenner and an aunt of Benjamin Trenner, whose sketch see for the Trenner family. She was born in West Virginia on January 31, 1797. After marriage Abraham Albin looked about for a farm, and decided that land west of Claysville was not worth paying taxes on, though he could have gotten it for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. He came back near his old home and paid four hundred dollars for one hundred and thirty-five acres northwest of Pleasant City, later increasing his holdings to two hundred acres. Here he spent the remainder of his life, and kept store for several years at Pleasant City, and for about a year at his country home. Eleven children were born to Abraham and Mary Albin: Amos, Sarah, Henry, George, Moses, David, Milton, Thomas, Abraham, Peter and Martha Jane. Abraham Albin, Sr., died on April 22, 1863, and his wife on April 15, 1875. Three of their chil- dren are now living : Thomas, on the old home farm; Martha, the widow of Joseph Dyson, who lives near Thomas; and Perry M.
Perry M. Albin grew up on the home farm, and married Margaret E. Trott on May 17, 1855. To this marriage six children were born: Thomas Francis, on April 6, 1856; Asbury Sylvester, on April 1. 1858; Charles Strahan, on June 28, 1860: Viola on October 19, 1862; Michael, on April 20, 1866, and William A., on September 19, 1867. Mrs. Albin died on October 31, 1868: Michael, on May 11, 1866; William A., on September 1, 1868; Thomas F., in June, 1877.
P. M. Albin was married to Lydia M. McCoy, on August 9, 1869, and of this marriage six children, were born: Edward M., on October 23, 1870; Osborn O., on August 9, 1873 ; Jennie Mabel, on April 22, 1878; Perry E., on February 10, 1877: Blanche L., on October 23, 1881 ; and Elva, on July 26,
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1882. Lydia M. Albin died on September 19, 1885. Osborn, Jennie and Blanche all died in infancy. On August 1, 1892, Mr. Albin was married to Mrs. Jane (Spaid) Secrest, the widow of Melville A. Secrest and the daughter of J. E. Spaid, whose sketch see. She bore to Mr. Secrest two children, Arthur M., and Virgil, now the wife of Roy Kackley. To Mr. Albin she bore two children, Ira C., on February 10, 1893, and Octa AV., on April 21, 1904, both of whom are at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Albin are both members of the Methodist church. Mr. Albin has been a successful farmer, has many friends, and is a man of ster- ling and upright character.
OSMOND M. BAYLESS.
Although primarily interested in his own affairs, as is quite natural and right, Osmond M. Bayless, a popular city councilman of Cambridge, Guern- sey county, manifests an abiding regard for the advancement and welfare of the community and for any measure or enterprise by which his fellow men may be benefited. He encourages churches and schools, is a respecter of law and order and has no use or sympathy for any calling or business which tends to lower the moral status of the country or degrade the youth of the land, and because of these noble ideals he has won and retained the esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in his native county.
Mr. Bayless was born in Wintersett ( formerly Winchester), Guernsey county, Ohio. September 4, 1874. He is the son of John Henry and Nancy (Fleming) Bayless. The Fleming family have long been residents of Ohio. John H. Bayless was the son of James and Nancy Bayless. James Bayless was a picturesque character, an old stage driver in the early days. He came to this county from Maryland in pioneer times and was well known and influential among the first settlers. John Henry Bayless was a carpenter and was a very skilled wood workman and builder. He moved to Cambridge, Ohio, when his son, Osmond M., was a small boy and when the son was fif- teen years old the family moved to Ross county, this state, and remained there twelve years, then returned to Cambridge, and here both the father and mother still reside, Mr. Bayless being a well known contractor and builder here.
Osmond M. Bayless received a very good education in the common schools, and when the family returned to Cambridge he went with Brant- hoover & Johnson and learned plumbing, steam fitting and gas fitting and
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he has remained with this firm ever since. He is a master of his line of work and has been very successful in the same. About 1905 this concern was made a stock company and Mr. Bayless became a member of the same and has re- mained as such.
Mr. Bayless was married in 1900 to Mary E. Durant, of Tarlton, Picka- way county, Ohio. She is the daughter of Josepha and Sarah (Calvert) Durant. One daughter, Josephine, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bayless.
Politically, Mr. Bayless is a Republican and he has long taken an abid- ing interest in public matters, especially whatever concerned the upbuilding of Cambridge, and in the fall of 1908 he was elected to the city council, rep- resenting the third ward, and he is filling this position with much credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a plain, unassuming man, upright and honora- ble, industrious and thorough and is well thought of.
THOMAS EAGLESON.
Spending the greater part of his life in the country of his birth, Thomas Eagleson, now living in retirement in his cozy home in Cambridge, deserves to rank as one of the honored representatives of one of the old and highly esteemed families of Guernsey county, and he himself has lived to see the county develop from a partial wilderness to its present proud position among the leading counties of Ohio and is justly proud of his nativity and citizen- ship.
Mr. Eagleson was born July 17, 1840, in Center township, this county, and he is the son of Alexander and Martha (McConnell) Eagleson. The father was born in Ireland, where he was reared and educated, coming to America when about nineteen years of age. Two brothers, Joseph and James, came later, reared large families and lived to old age. Martha McConnell was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania. Alexander Eagleson first settled in Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, and he came to Guernsey county, Ohio, about 1830, the McConnell family coming from their home in the old Keystone state some years before. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Eagleson were married in Guernsey county and began their married life on a farm here, becoming well established, Mr. Eagleson finally becoming a large land owner. They had a family of four sons and one daughter, namely : Joseph,
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now residing in Illinois; Catherine, now the widow of Hiram Geary, living in Cambridge ; Thomas, of this review : Alexander died in California in 1864; William is farming in Guernsey county. The father of these children died in May, 1868, and his wife died in April, 1845.
Thomas Eagleson, of this review, spent his youth, until he was twenty- one years old, on his father's farm, assisting in the general work about the home place. He was educated in the district schools of his native township. When twenty-one years old he went to California, making the long trip by water, and there he engaged in mining and prospecting, remaining five years on the Pacific coast, then returned to Ohio in 1866, making the overland trip. His experiences in the West were beneficial to him in many ways, giv- ing him a knowledge of the outside world, courage, fortitude and self-reli- ance, all of which have been of much subsequent value to him. Upon his return home he engaged in farming and stock raising and buying and selling stock; he also engaged in the milling business in Washington, and his efforts were successful in all these lines.
Mr. Eagleson was married on November 5, 1868, to Jennie R. Spence, daughter of James and Harriet (Saltgavier) Spence; both have been de- ceased for a number of years. Mr. Spence was a large land owner and old time drover.
To Mr. and Mrs. Eagleson five children have been born, namely : Wil- liam F., a dentist in Concordia, Kansas ; Freeman T., a lawyer living in Cam- bridge ; he was in the seventy-second General Assembly, where he was prom- inent, being speaker of the House the last term and he is now assistant attor- ney-general of the state of Ohio. Joseph I. is a lawyer in Denver, Colorado; Hattie A. died in young womanhood; Cora L. married Homer Forsythe, a prominent coal operator of Guernsey county. The mother of these children passed to her rest in October, 1895, and on May 2, 1900, Mr. Eagleson was again married, his second wife being Mrs. Agnes Sterling, widow of J. F. Sterling and the daughter of John and Mariah (Larimor) McBride, of Guernsey county, Ohio.
Mr. Eagleson is a Republican in politics, as are all his sons. While a resident of Center township he served as township trustee and was always active in public matters. He moved to Cambridge in May, 1890, but con- tinued to engage in farming and stock raising for about five years. Since 1905 he has been retired from all active work. He is now president of the board of city real estate appraisers, and is regarded as a man of excellent judgment and business ability. He has been a Mason for more than a quar- ter of a century and he has always endeavored to live up to its high pre-
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cepts. Ile and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are active church workers.
Mr. Eagleson is one of the county's substantial citizens, and of that sterling Scotch-Irish parentage that count for much in character. A man of firm convictions, yet generous to those holding opposite opinions.
JACOB B. SIEGFRIED.
That the career of such a person as Jacob B. Siegfried, well known citizen of Cambridge and one of the oldest merchants in Guernsey county, besides being treasured in the hearts of relatives and friends, should have its public record also, is peculiarly proper because a knowledge of men whose substantial reputation rests upon their attainments and character must exert a wholesome influence upon the rising generation. The life of Mr. Siegfried has indeed been a busy and successful one and the record is eminently worthy of perusal by the youth who would learn the intrinsic essence of individuality and its influence in winning success in life's battles.
Mr. Siegfried was born in Westmorleand county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, and he is the son of John and Frances ( Brindle) Siegfried, who were natives of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandparents of the subject came to America from Germany in an early day, located in the old Keystone state and for several generations this name has been prominent there. Jacob B. was next to the youngest of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. John Siegfried. His mother died when he was between three and four years old, then the family came to Ohio and lived in Noble county, near Calais, which city is just across the line in Monroe county. There the father followed farming and tobacco raising for about four years; later they lived near Pleasant City for two years, then lived in other communities of the county a good many years. When about eleven years old Jacob B. Siegfried began learning the stone mason's trade, which he followed with success, and he followed contracting for about ten years, during which time he lived in Cambridge, and he handled some large jobs and did well with them. An injury received in a stone quarry disabled him for active work for a period of four years. This seemingly untoward circumstance turned his attention from his former voca- tion to that of merchandising, and he then entered the grocery business in Cambridge in which he was successful from the first. He has added to his grocery stock various other lines of general merchandise and he has now been
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in this business for a period of twenty-eight years, which constitutes a longer period than anyone else now in the same business in the city of Cambridge. He has enjoyed a very liberal trade with the city and surrounding country and always carries a carefully selected stock of goods. A criterion of his honesty in business and his desire to please is seen from the fact that many of his customers have remained with him through all these years. He is also interested in various other lines of business ; he sells machinery, automobiles, and is the distributing agent for the great Washburn-Crosby flouring mills of Minneapolis, Minnesota, also for the Pillsbury mills of the same city.
Mr. Siegfried was unexpectedly elected on an independent ticket as a member of the Cambridge school board, without seeking the place.
Mr. Siegfried was married on May 15, 1873, to Matilda J. Steele, of Noble county, Ohio, the daughter of William and Nancy Steele, and to this union seven children were born, namely: John W., proprietor of the Sieg- fried Bakery; Walter D. is engaged in the grocery business at Eleventh street and Wheeling avenue, Cambridge; Homer is with his father in the general mercantile business here; Frank B. is a traveling salesman for a Zanesville firm; Carl R. is in the office of the Inter-State Iron & Steel Company ; Oliver and Della are both at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried and several other members of the family belong to the Methodist Protestant church. He is universally considered one of the old, well established and substantial business men of Cambridge, obliging, gen- teel, kind and is well spoken of by everyone who knows him.
JOHN B. GREGG.
Although yet a man young in years, the life of John B. Gregg, one of the best known citizens of Cambridge, Guernsey county, has indeed been a busy and successful one and the following record of the same is eminently worthy of perusal by the student who would learn the intrinsic essence of in- dividuality and its influence in molding public opinion and in giving character and stability to a community. He has successfully met and overcome the usual obstacles that lie in the pathway of every ambitious man in his efforts to reach the goal sought.
Mr. Gregg was born on April 5. 1879, near Senecaville, in Noble county, Ohio, and he is the son of James M. and Cynthia (Finley) Gregg, both par- ents also natives of Noble county. Both these families were among the earli-
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est pioneers in this section of the state, and they were prominent in both busi- ness and social life. James M. Gregg is a successful farmer and prominent in the affairs of his county, and he and his wife have a host of warm per- sonal friends there.
John B. Gregg spent his youth on the home farm and engaged in the usual farm work. He obtained his early education in the country schools and was graduated from the high school at Senecaville. He subsequently entered the university at Lebanon, Ohio, and received the degree of Master of Science ; he also obtained the degree of Civil Engineer from the Ohio North- ern University at Ada, and a year later he took a special course in mathe- matics at Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. During the years of his college course he taught school for some time, and after leaving college he taught for one year in the high school at Cambridge in the department of mathematics, and one year prior to that he taught mathematics and physical science in the high school at Franklin, Ohio. He was among the most popu- lar educators of the county and his services were in great demand. He was popular with both pupil and patron and was both an instructor and enter- tainer in the school room, and no doubt had he continued in this line of en- deavor he would have ranked with the leading educators of the state. Since leaving the Cambridge high school in 1902 he has been devoting his time and attention to civil engineering of a general character, and during the year 1907 he was employed by the city of Zanesville as city engineer, during which time some very important city improvements were under construction. Since 1907 he has been associated with his brother, James E. Gregg, in the lumber business, operating in Guernsey, Tuscarawas and Noble counties, Ohio. They deal in timber, cord wood and mine props, operating their own mills, and they are doing an extensive and very successful business, having met with a large degree of success and ranking among the leading lumber men of east- ern Ohio.
Both these gentlemen are Republicans in politics, but they are not active in party affairs, though always interested in public matters and all move- ments having in view the betterment of conditions affecting the general pub- lic have their hearty support. On January 1, 1910, James B. Gregg was ap- pointed director of public safety for the city of Cambridge, which important trust he is filling to the satisfaction of all concerned. Although a Republican, he was appointed by a Democratic mayor, because of his eminent fitness for the position. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason and is prominent in this time-honored order. He has never married. He is a gentleman of pleasing personality, unassuming, refined and cultured, profoundly educated, courteous
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in his relations with his fellow men and he retained the warm and abiding friendship of all with whom he associates. His individuality, which is very distinct, is impressed upon any work with which he is connected, and in the accomplishment of a purpose he is willing to assume any amount of labor required or any measure of responsibility incurred. In brief, he is a broad- minded, genial young man without pretense, whom to know is to respect and honor.
JOEL MOORHEAD.
When one passes the shop of W. C. Moorhead at Hartford, this county, and sees the "flaming forge" and "hears his bellows blow." one is reminded of the picture so familiar to every school child of Longfellow's "village smithy" under "a spreading chestnut tree," Mr. Moorhead reminding us of that historic blacksmtih not only because of his "brawny arms and sinewy hands," but also in that more important analogy-a truly honest and kind- hearted man, who, like the poet's subject, "can look the whole world in the face" because of his sterling and honorable characteristics.
Mr. Moorhead was born and reared in the southwestern part of Rich- land township. this county, having been born on May 16, 1826, and he is the son of Alexander and Anna (Foreman) Moorhead, both of whom came to this county from eastern Virginia prior to 1826 and settled here like the rest of the pioneers, locating on Wills creek, near "Thompson's Riffle," buying a farm there which he improved and established a good home. He also de- voted a great deal of his time as a "wagoner," hauling goods and produce between here and Baltimore, Maryland, with his six-horse team, making such trips as long as he lived, making farming subsidiary to teaming.
When Joel Moorhead was sixteen years of age he went to Hartford and learned the blacksmith's trade under Joe Sigman. After working three years with him, he went to Beverly and tended the locks on the river. He then worked a short time at gunsmithing, continuing thus until his marriage, on August 19, 1847, to Amy Secrest, who was reared in Noble county and who was the daughter of Henry Secrest, of Virginia, who came to that county from the Old Dominion in the early days. She had five sisters, all of whom are living, one of them being now eighty-nine years of age, another one be- ing older than Mrs. Moorhead, who is now eighty-four.
After his marriage Joel Moorhead ran a blacksmith shop at Perryopolis, in Noble county, for one year, then moved to Greenwood, a small suburb of
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Senecaville, maintaining a shop there for over a half century, becoming widely known throughout the locality, which he saw develop from the wilderness. Ilis family consisted of six sons and three daughters, one of the sons dying in infancy, the other five growing to manhood, and all became expert black- smiths. They were: Thomas, who married and his family consisted of two children : he died comparatively early and his wife gave the children to his father before her death and they were reared by the subject and family ; Solomon married and reared a family : his son, Harrison, became an excellent mechanic and was killed on a railroad; Chase, third son of the subject, was easily the ablest blacksmith of this gifted family, and his equal was seldom seen ; he has been known to frequently shoe wild, fractious horses turned loose in the shop without being tied in any way. He could turn out more work and do it better than any blacksmith in his township. He was a very powerful man physically, six feet two inches in height, and well proportioned, muscular and had unlimited endurance; his family consisted of six children. He was killed on a railroad while on his way home, in August, 1894. John Moorhead, son of Joel, lives in Senecaville, is married and has six children ; he formerly lived at Cambridge about sixteen years. Walter Moorhead worked at black- smithing in Cambridge about ten years, and later ran a shop with his brother, Solomon, at Senecaville, where the latter now lives and has a family.
Joel Moorhead's death occurred on December 17, 1896. He was a Re- publican and prominent in the local affairs of his party, but he never sought office. He and his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church at Seneca- ville. He was always cheerful, kind and was well liked by all who knew him, being very hospitable. Customers waiting to have work done were always invited to share his noon-day meal. He often had as many as twenty guests, and Mrs. Moorhead frequently served as high as seven meals a day. He did not accumulate a fortune, but he had a friend in every acquaintance. His customers came from other towns of the county to get him to do their work, for he was an expert in all kinds of blacksmithing and horseshoeing.
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