USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
803
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
of Abraham and Eliza ( Wells) Rose. To this union were born five chil- dren, all sons : George William, deceased; Abraham F., deceased; Ralph A., deceased ; Charles H., a physician in Belmont county, Ohio, and an infant son who died when only four days old. When married Mr. Cale was teach- ing school and during his teaching period taught in all one hundred and twenty months and all of this in three districts, his home district, Byesville and Hartford. During his time of teaching he attended the summer terms of Muskingum College, of New Concord, Ohio, and graduated in 1871 in the classical course. While teaching he studied theology and was admitted to the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal church. For four years he gave his entire time to the ministry and was connected with Stafford circuit in Monroe county, Ohio. He was later connected with the Methodist Protestant church and from 1889 for several years he occupied the pulpit at Stockport and Zanesville, Ohio. He has always been a very busy man, as his little son once explained by saying : "Father teaches school five days in the week, coon hunts at night, buys wool and sheep on Saturday and preaches on Sunday."
On October 1, 1876, Mr. Cale was made the Baltimore & Ohio railroad agent at Campbell station, now Lore City, and in this position he served the company for twenty-nine years. His son, George William, was connected with him in this duty and died in the service of the company. In addition to all these duties, Mr. Cale was extensively engaged in shipping sheep. He shipped sheep from Vermont and Ohio into the Western states as far west as Oregon. He has been a raiser and breeder of fine stock of all kinds, cattle. horses and sheep, and a breeder of thoroughbred stock. He has been an ex- tensive buyer and shipper of stock, from thirty to fifty cars annually, and buys wool every season extensively and ships sometimes as much as two hundred thousand pounds a year. His stock has always been prize winners at the county, district and state fairs, where exhibited.
Mr. Cale is a Republican in politics and always has been active in affairs. never holding any office, but always working in the party ranks. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He has been for years active in all wool growers' associations and has for thirty years been a member of the Wool Growers' Association. He is now president of the Tri-State Wool Growers' Association, and no man has been more active in the work of these associa- tions. He has become the owner of land amounting to about three hundred acres in Wills, Center and Jackson townships, and a modern home in Lore City, where he lives. He is a man of positive convictions and always a man of his word. His broad views and charitable disposition, as well as his liber- ality, make him beloved by all who know him. A man of wide acquaintance
804
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
and business activities and wherever known he has a reputation for integrity and square dealing in all of his transactions.
Mrs. Cale is a woman of fine instinct and broad, charitable character, active in all good works in which the community in which she lives is in- terested. Always devoted to her family and her home, she has also found time to minister to the needs and wants of those less fortunate. The Cale home in Lore City has always been prominent in the social life of the com- munity and well known for its genuine, yet unostentatious hospitality.
DANIEL L. RANKIN, D. D. S.
One of the leading and best known dentists of Cambridge and Guern- sey county is Dr. Daniel L. Rankin, who is a representative of a fine old family and himself a gentleman of such worthy attributes as to inspire the confidence and admiration of all whom he meets. He was born on July 1, 1871, at Sago, Muskingum county, Ohio. He is the son of Oliver and Ann M. ( Trace) Rankin. Both parents were natives of Muskingum county and were members of pioneer families .. The Rankins are of Scotch descent, and grandfather James Rankin came to America when a child. and grandfather David Trace emigrated to the United States when about twelve years of age. Both families were farmers. Grandfather James Rankin entered forty acres of land on October 5, 1835, the deed being signed by Andrew Jackson, Presi- dent of the United States, and this deed is now in possession of Daniel L. Rankin, the grandson. Grandfather Daniel Trace also entered government land. Both families prospered and became extensive land owners. They be- gan life in the new country with practically nothing and they became promi- nent factors in the life and progress of the community and prominent in public affairs. Both grandfathers were Abolitionists and active in the affairs of the "underground railroad," for the protection of runaway slaves. Many such found food and shelter under their roofs. The father, Oliver Rankin, was a blacksmith at Sago, Ohio, and a land owner and farmer, always active in the affairs of his community. He is a Republican and he is a veteran of the Civil war, having served as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Mathias Trace, uncle of the subject, was captain of the above mentioned company. Oliver Rankin, the father, is still living on the home farm near Sago, at the age of seventy-seven years, and is still hale and hearty. The mother of the subject died in October, 1909, at
805
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
the age of seventy-four years. The family are members of the United Pres- byterian church and devout church people. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Rankin the following children : Mary, deceased; Margaret, now Mrs. Martin W. Young, of Ewing, Nebraska; James A., deceased; Susan, de- ceased; Clara is living at home; Nora, deceased : Daniel L., of this review; Charles, of Knox township, this county; William, of Sago, Ohio: Clovis M., of Norwich, Ohio.
Daniel L. Rankin lived on the home farm until he was twenty-one years of age, assisting in the farm work, and his early education was obtained in the district schools of his native community and at McCorkle College. He went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, when twenty-one years old and clerked in a furniture store for six years. He then entered the Ohio Medical University at Columbus, Ohio, to study dentistry and was graduated from that insti- tution with a fine record in June, 1899. He began the practice of dentistry in the fall of 1899 at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and the following year he went to Fairmount, West Virginia, where he remained one year, and in the spring of 190 I he came to Cambridge, Ohio, and has practiced here continuously ever since, having an extensive and lucrative practice all the while, his patients being of the best people in the county. He has a neat and thoroughly equipped office.
Doctor Rankin was married on October 24, 1907, to Rebecca Alice Le- Page, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth (Smith) LePage. Her parents were at one time residents of Guernsey county, but they moved to Wisconsin later in life and died there, the daughter being left an orphan when a mere child. This was a pioneer family in Guernsey county, having come here from the isle of Guernsey, off the north coast of France.
To Doctor and Mrs. Rankin have been born a son and a daughter, Oliver and Elizabeth Ann. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Rankin was a popular and progressive teacher in the district schools, the Byesville public schools and the schools of Cambridge for several years. She is a refined, well educated and cultured woman.
Politically, Doctor Rankin is a Republican and is active in party matters. He is a member of the county central committee, and treasurer of the Re- publican executive committee, and he is a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions. In November, 1909, he was elected by popular vote president of the city council and vice-mayor of the city. He is a thirty-sec- ond-degree Mason and a member of Cambridge Commandery No. 47, Knights Templar, of which he is a past commander, also a member of the Scioto Con- sistory at Columbus, Ohio. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen
806
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
of America and of Cambridge Lodge No. 718, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and are active in church work. Their home is at No. 712 North Seventh street, which is the best residence district of the city, and the Rankin home is among the best in the city.
JACOB NICHOLSON.
No resident of Guernsey county is better known or more highly hon- ored, nor is any one more entitled to representation in a history embodying the careers of the leading citizens of this locality than Jacob Nicholson, who was born in what is now Noble county, Ohio, on December 15, 1833, the son of Simon and Rachael (Larrick) Nicholson. The mother was born in Virginia on February 17, 1812, and she came to Noble county, probably in 1820. She was the daughter of Jacob Larrick and was one of a family of twelve children, who lived to an average of over eighty years. Simon Nich- olson was born in Pennsylvania in 1809. He was the son of Thomas and Margaret (Mahon) Nicholson. The Nicholson family came to Noble county between 1809 and 1812 and located in Buffalo township, near the Guernsey county line. There Thomas Nicholson died in 1812, and he is buried there. Simon Nicholson was one of a family of nine children, namely: Andrew lived and died near Sarahsville, Noble county; John lived in Buffalo town- ship, Noble county ; Simeon lived in Seneca township, Noble county ; Thomas also lived in Buffalo township: Isabella married Isaac Millhone; Martha married Lambert Newton ; Margaret married Jacob Secrest, of Noble county ; Mary and Eleanor both died in girlhood; Simon married Rachael Larrick; John married Elizabeth Larrick, sister of the former's wife; Thomas married Margaret Larrick, half-sister of Rachael and Mary.
Simon Nicholson followed farming in Noble county. He and his wife became the parents of six children, namely: Jacob, of this review; Margaret Ann, deceased, who had married James Williams; Catherine, deceased, had married Lambert Millhone ; Mary Elizabeth married John Cale, deceased, and she lives one mile west of Byesville ; Thomas lives in Kansas, and Benjamin lives in Byesville. Rachel Nicholson died about 1847. Simon Nicholson then married Mrs. Nancy (McLaughlin) Vorhies, widow of E. I. Vorhies. Six children were born to that marriage, namely: William lives at Stop 7, near Byesville : Rachael is the wife of Daniel Orr, a retired farmer at Byes-
807
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
ville : Jane, deceased, was the wife of Joseph Spade : Fannie married Samuel Coyle and lives at Akron : Rose is the wife of David Dixon, a contractor and builder who lives in Byesville ; Simon, the youngest of the six children, lived in Byesville until his death. The Nicholsons have been Methodists back as far as we know anything of them and they have nearly all been members of the church. Simon Nicholson lived in Noble county until about 1853, then traded for three hundred and twenty acres of land near Hartford, where he resided until about 1873 or 1874, then sold part of his farm to his son, Jacob, and the balance to others, and bought a farm northwest of Byesville, where Stop 7 is now located, and there he lived until his death. in 1878, at the age of sixty-nine years.
Jacob Nicholson was married on September 2. 1857, to Mary Jane Cramblett, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Lukens) Cramblett. She was born in Noble county, but when two years old her father moved two miles west of what is now Derwent, where he engaged in farming and stock feeding. He kept large pastures for passing drovers who were constantly driving thou- sands of herds of livestock to Baltimore, passing this way. There Mrs. Nichol- son grew to maturity and lived until her marriage, after which she and Jacob Nicholson went to his farm. They became the parents of six children, namely : Ida Samantha, widow of Luke Thompson, and the mother of Prof. Bert M. Thompson, whose sketch appears herein: Eli Elmer, who lives in Buffalo township. Noble county, married Sarah Shriver and they had two children. a girl and a boy ; the mother died and he married Josephine Bershon, by which union two children have also been born, a son and a daughter, Edna. who married Ebenezer Johnson, and they have one son, John Nicholson, who lives in the southeast edge of Byesville, has a personal sketch in this work : Ulysses Grant and Tecumseh Sherman are twins; the former lives at Hart- ford on a farm, and weighs coal at the mines ; he owns a good farm, and he was married to Etta Secrest, and they have four children living and one dead ; Tecumseh Sherman. who lives in Derwent, married Matilda Bess, of Marietta, and they have two children ; he is boss weighman at the Derwent mine, and is also the owner of a farm. Hobart Moody Nicholson, who is a clergyman in the Lutheran church, now located near Mansfield, Ohio, married Bertha Keckley and they have four children living and one deceased.
Through her maternal grandfather, Mrs. Nicholson is descended from John Lukens, the architect of old Independence Hall, at Philadelphia, "the cradle of American liberty." John Lukens was a native of Holland, who came to America in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and here he became an intimate friend and associate of David Rittenhouse. John Lukens'
808
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
son, Jacob Lukens, left Philadelphia in 1780 and located in Little York county, Pennsylvania. He became the father of Eli Lukens, who was born in 1783. In 1804 the latter married Julianne Tollinger, who was of Holland parentage. They became the parents of the following children: Naomi, Jacob, George, Elizabeth, Eli, Alexander and Nathaniel. Of these, Elizabeth was born near Baltimore, Maryland, and while a girl in her teens the family moved to Deersville, Harrison county, Ohio, where both the parents died.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson lived west of Derwent, in Noble county, until 1887, when they moved to where the village of Derwent is now located, and the town has since grown up partly on his ground. He has two houses in this place, also a store building. He and his wife were both reared Metho- dists, but in 1861 they joined the Lutheran church and have continued in the same ever since.
On September 2, 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson celebrated their golden wedding ; it was a notable event in this neighborhood, one hundred guests being present. Both are still living, hale and hearty. Mrs. Nicholson is re- markably well preserved and does not look to be much over fifty, being strong. cheerful, genial and industrious. They are a remarkable couple whom every- body highly respects and honors. This is a happy family ; the children, hav- ing been reared in a most genial and wholesome home atmosphere, have never given their parents any trouble and are living honorable lives, their parents being justly proud of them.
JAMES W. SECREST.
Among Valley township's worthy families are the Secrests, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work, so for the present the biographer confines his remarks to one of the best known of this old and honored house- hold, James W. Secrest, who was born near Hartford, Guernsey county, in 1867. He is the son of William Secrest and wife, of the same locality, whose sketch appears herein.
Their son, James W., grew to maturity on the home farm, on which he worked when old enough, remaining under his parental roof until he married, having alternated farm work with schooling in the district schools. In 1894 he led to the altar Lizzie Mary Laughlin, daughter of James and Mary (Secrest) Laughlin. See sketch of James Laughlin. She was born near Pleasant Grove, in the east part of Noble county, and when she was
809
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
about seven years old her parents moved to Pleasant City, later moving to one mile east of that town, where she attended school and lived until her marriage.
Since his marriage Mr. Secrest has followed coal mining for the most part. He has also had a farm in partnership with his brother, George M. Secrest, the place consisting of two hundred and twenty-eight acres of ex- cellent land, which they kept in a high state of cultivation and did well with.
Mr. Secrest built his present cozy home, just east of Hartford, in 1895. It is a substantial and pleasant place, and he and his wife are known to be people of hospitality to their wide circle of friends who delight to gather at their home and pass many sunny hours of pleasure. Their union has been blessed by three children, namely : Clyde died when six months old; Hattie was born November 30, 1899: the youngest was a boy who died in early in- fancy.
Fraternally, Mr. Secrest is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Pleas- ant City, this county, and he and his wife belong to the Lutheran church at Hartford, standing high in the congregation there and being faithful in their support of the same.
JOHN LOGAN NICHOLSON.
Success has been achieved by John Logan Nicholson not because fate or influential relatives or friends were kind to him, but because he has worked for it along legitimate lines, and has not permitted any obstacle to down him, believing in such time tried maxims as "A dead fish can go down stream, but it takes a live one to go up." He comes of an old and highly honored family, the reputation of which he has endeavored to keep untarnished.
Mr. Nicholson was born in Valley township, Guernsey county, Ohio, on July 24, 1863, on the day that Morgan's raiders were in this vicinity, hav- ing passed within one-half mile of the Union forces here, and some of them came to the Nicholson home and traded horses. He is the son of Jacob Nich- olson, whose sketch appears herein. When John L. Nicholson was about seven years of age, his parents moved into the north edge of Noble township, a mile south of Pleasant City, and the family lived there about twelve years, and from there they moved just south of Byesville, then two years later to the present site of Derwent, and lived there two years, the father engaging in farming and stock raising. On November 26, 1888, he came to Byesville and formed a partnership in the meat business with his uncle, William Nich-
810
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
olson. He was in the retail business thirteen years, having bought out his uncle's interest a year and a half after starting business. In the fall of 1893 he was appointed postmaster of Byesville, which place he held over four years, giving the utmost satisfaction to all concerned, during which time he also continued the meat business,-in fact, continuing that business until Novem- ber 26, 1901, when he entered the hardware business under the firm name of Nicholson & Secrest, and continued for two years. Then he sold out and started a wholesale meat business. It has been his custom for years to buy most of the stock near home, at least the best grades offered for sale, and he makes regular trips to Chicago, buying cattle and hogs by the car load, which he ships to Byesville, and slaughters them on his farm northeast of the city. He does a very extensive business and has a wide reputation in the meat line. Mr. Nicholson is the owner of a very desirable and valuable farm of one hundred and ninety acres of land adjoining Byesville on the east. In 1904 he assisted in organizing the Cambridge & Byesville Driving Park Associa- tion, which has since been changed to the Guernsey Valley Fair Company, having been reorganized in 1909. At the time of the reorganization Mr. Nicholson was made president of the association, and its large success has been due for the most part to his judicious management. He is also a director in the Noble Brick Works at Glenwood, Noble county, where paving bricks are manufactured. He is successful in whatever he turns his attention to, being a man of good business ability, executive talent and indomitable energy, and the honorable methods he has ever employed in his dealings with the business world have resulted in gaining and retaining the confidence and good will of all.
Politically, Mr. Nicholson is a Democrat, and he takes an active part in the party councils, attends all the county conventions, also those of the state, and is very active in these gatherings, always making his influence felt for the good of the party and his locality. He is at present a member of the county board of elections. He was trustee of the township for seven years and township clerk for two years, and he has always performed his public duties in a manner that reflected credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned.
On October 22, 1890, occurred the marriage of Mr. Nicholson and Alice N. Rogers, the talented and genial daughter of George and Sarah Rogers. She was born and reared near Trail Run in Jackson township, where her people were always influential. This union has resulted in the birth of two children, Wilbur Harold and Dwight R. The former is in his junior year at Scio College, taking the philosophical course.
SII
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
On July 17, 1894, occurred the death of Mrs. Nicholson. She had been a member of the Methodist Protestant church, while Mr. Nicholson had been a Lutheran, but after their marriage they both united with the Methodist Episcopal church.
On April 2, 1896, Mr. Nicholson was married to Nannie M. Trott, daughter of Benjamin G. and Eliza Jane ( Martelle) Trott. She was born in Center township, but moved to Byesville when about twelve years old and there she grew to maturity. She is a sister of Elza D. Trott, county clerk, who is represented in this work. Two children have been born to this second union, Ila Martelle and Jacob Edwin. Mrs. Nicholson is a woman of many admirable attributes and she is like her husband in that she has a wide circle of warm friends. Mrs. Nicholson was for eight years a teacher in the schools of Hartford, Pleasant City and Byesville.
Mr. Nicholson is a member of the Knights of Pythias, having joined this order twenty-one years ago; he has also belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for many years.
JOHN M. COMBS.
Although a young man, John M. Combs, successful druggist of Byes- ville, Guernsey county, has succeeded in establishing an envied reputation in industrial and social circles of Jackson township, for he has shown that he is a very capable business man and that his character is above reproach. having at all times sought to maintain the high standard of honor set by his progenitors, who have been well known in this county since the pioneer days.
Mr. Combs was born near Winterset, this county, on October 16, 1882. and he is the son of James G. and Allie J. ( McColley) Combs, who are given proper mention in a separate sketch in this volume.
John M. Combs grew to maturity on the home farm, which he began working when a mere lad and where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. He attended the neighboring schools and later took a course in the Ohio Northern College, graduating from the department of pharmacy, in 1903. He made an excellent record here, and, thus well equipped. he went into the drug business at Cumberland, but something over three years later he removed to Columbus, continuing in the same business. On June 1. 1908, he came to Byesville and he and his father entered the drug business together and they have continued with great success, having one of the best equipped
812
GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO.
and most attractive drug stores in this locality and they have been well pat- ronized from the first.
Mr. Combs was married on March 28, 1907, to Hulda Webber, of Colum- bus, Ohio, where her people are well and favorably known, she being the daughter of William and Fannie Webber. Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Combs, Herbert Haydon and John William.
Fraternally, Mr. Combs is a Knight Templar in the Masonic York rite, and he has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish rite of that order. He and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian church, and are prom- inent in the social life of the community.
JOSEPH KOREN.
A large part of the population of Byesville and the mining regions of Guernsey county are Slavs from Austria. As a rule, they are a good class of citizens, industrious and law-abiding ; they build their own homes and are examples of thrift and industry, and, while retaining a certain affection for the mother country, they are very loyal to our institutions and to the Stars and Stripes. One of the best known and one of the most successful-in fact, a leader-of this large class of our citizens, is Joseph Koren, proprietor of the flour mill at Byesville, Jackson township, and a man of excellent char- acteristics of head and heart.
Mr. Koren was born in the county of Zemplen, Austria, in 1876, and he is the son of John and Mary (Gacy) Koren. He grew to maturity on a farm in his native country and attended school there, remaining in Austria engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1898 when he emigrated to America, landing in New York, but soon thereafter came on to Braddock, Pennsylvania. There he found employment in the steel plant, and remained there one year, then went to the coke regions of Pennsylvania. He was married in 1899 to Margaret Petrus, also a native of Austria, having been born in the county of Zemplen, the daughter of George and Julia ( Hric) Petrus. She had come to this country only a short time previous to her marriage, but they were ac- quainted in the old country. Her brother had married Mr. Koren's sister, the two families were thus well acquainted.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.