USA > Ohio > Guernsey County > History of Guernsey County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 49
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Mr. Allison was married on October 21, 1896, to Jessie D. Mckinney, daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Morrow) Mckinney. Her father served in the Union army throughout the Civil war, and he was a man of wonderful physical strength. He was foreman of the Cleveland & Marietta blacksmith shops, working for that railroad company for many years' in this capacity. Prior to that time he was a blacksmith and wagonmaker in Cambridge. His death occurred February 10, 1910. He retired to his farm several years previ- ously and spent his last years enjoying the comforts of life as a result of his former years of activity. His wife preceded him to the grave, dying on February 3, 1897. Both are buried in the Cambridge cemetery.
To Mr. and Mrs. Allison have been born five children, three sons and two daughters. Donald M., Sarah Vemita, Harrold K., Richard M. and Dor- othy. Mr. Allison and wife are members of the Baptist church and are active in church and Sunday school work. Mrs. Allison is a most estimable woman and has a wide circle of friends. Mr. Allison was always a baseball enthusiast and has lost none of his interest in the game,-in fact, he is an advocate of all healthy athletics, especially outdoor sports. He is a man of fine personal traits and is deserving of the confidence which is reposed in him by everyone and of the high esteem in which he is held.
JOHN S. BERRY.
A list of Guernsey county's prominent families would certainly be in- complete were there failure to make specific mention of John S. Berry, a popular and efficient public official and representative citizen, for his life has been one of usefulness and honor, resulting in good to everyone with whom he has had dealings, whether in business, public or social life. His career is exemplary in every respect, and he has always supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own moral worth is deserving of the highest commendation.
Mr. Berry was born on September 24, 1866, in Kimbolton, Liberty
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township, this county. He is the son of William T. and Caroline J. (Sloan) Berry, both parents natives of Guernsey county. The Berry family is of Irish descent, the ancestry coming from Ireland to America in a very early day. The Sloans came here from a German settlement in Pennsylvania. The father was a school teacher in the schools of Guernsey county for many years and he was one of the county school examiners for some time. He was a man of high character and intelligence. His death occurred in August, 1892; his widow still survives.
John S. Berry was educated in the schools of Kimbolton and at the age of fourteen years he left home for the purpose of learning telegraphy in the Guernsey offices of the Cleveland & Marietta railroad, near the north line of Guernsey county. He learned this business and for eight years was railroad agent and telegraph operator at different stations along the Cleveland & Marietta railroad. He then came to Cambridge and for two years he was a trick dispatcher at the Cleveland & Marietta shops in Cambridge. He was then chief dispatcher and train master for the road mentioned above, which service terminated in 1898. He then entered the postal service as a letter carrier when free mail delivery was established in Cambridge. After re- maining in this service eight years, he resigned in 1907 to become deputy sheriff under Sheriff H. K. Moore. In 1910 he was nominated for sheriff by the Republicans of Guernsey county, and his candidacy was looked upon with general favor from the first, everyone predicting his election in the following November, owing to his general popularity with all classes, regardless of party alignment. He has a remarkable record as an efficient officer while serving as deputy sheriff. He has gone into fourteen states for men under indictment and has never failed in landing his man. Seven men out of eight who broke jail during his term were recaptured by him. He also claims the distinction of making the first arrest under the "search and seizure" clause of the present Rose local option law at Pleasant City, Guernsey county, in which two car loads of liquor were taken in charge. The parties to whom the same were consigned were arrested and heavily fined. He has shown himself at all times to be a very courageous officer, always willing to do his duty and serve the people to the very best of his ability. He has always has the courage of his convictions, and, when he knows he is right, goes ahead despite obstacles. He is a Republican in politics and always active in party affairs. Prior to en- tering the postal service he was a member of the city council, resigning his seat in the same for the purpose of entering the postal service.
Mr. Berry was twice married, first, on October 30, 1899. to Helen B. Whitcraft, daughter of James P. and Edith Whitcraft, of Cambridge, Ohio.
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To this union two children were born, Edith B. and James A., both of whom are living. Their mother passed to her rest on September 3, 1896. The sec- ond marriage of Mr. Berry was solemnized on April 25, 1900, to Christine B. Wyrick, the youngest daughter of John L. and Christina ( Brady ) Wyrick, of Washington, Wills township, Guernsey county. This union has been with- out issue.
Mr. Berry is a member of Cambridge Lodge No. 53, Knights of Pythias, and the Uniform Rank of this order, and he is past chancellor of the same. He belongs to Cambridge Camp No. 3542, Modern Woodmen of America. He is also a member of the National Sheriffs' Association. He and his wife belong to the First Episcopal church, having been allied with the same since childhood and they are active in church and Sunday school work. They are prominent and influential in their community, being highly esteemed by all who know them.
EDWARD HALL.
The history of Quaker City and vicinity and that of the career of Edward Hall is pretty much one and the same, for here he has lived and labored for three-quarters of a century, has seen the development of this locality from the primeval forest to the present time and has taken a leading part in the same. It is interesting to hear him recount reminiscenses of those early times. He was born May 12, 1834, in the same neighborhood where he lives, having. as before intimated, spent his entire life here, and he is the son of Cyrus and Ellen (Strahl) Hall. The father was born in what is now Millwood town- ship, then a part of Oxford. he having the distinction of being the first white child born in the township. His father, John Hall, came to Millwood town- ship in August, 1806, and entered raw land. The great-grandfather. Isaac Hall, and his family came to Ohio from North Carolina, the ancestry origi- nally coming from England and settling in that state. In 1805 the family came to Ohio and settled in Belmont county, which was then a dense forest, infested by wild game. The year following John Hall came to Millwood township, and in 1807 the family of John and Phebe Hall came to this town- ship, and John Webster entered eight hundred acres of land, eighty acres for each member of his family of ten children. John Hall was a young man at that time and soon afterwards he married Phoebe Webster, and they began keeping house in the log cabin home that John Hall had already erected on the land, one hundred and sixty acres, which he had entered from the government
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when coming here. He developed a large tract of land. His family consisted of eight children, six sons and two daughters, namely: Cyrus, Isaac W., Thomas, John P., Eli, Jesse, Hanna Ann and Eliza W., all of whom are de- ceased, dying many years ago, and are buried in the Friends' cemetery, just east of Quaker City, the Halls, the Websters and most of the early settlers of this locality having been Quakers. Cyrus Hall, the father of the subject, was a prosperous farmer and a man much interested in the welfare, progress and development of the community, and he was a faithful adherent of the Quaker church. His family consisted of four sons and one daughter. One son and the daughter died in childhood; Edward, of this review, Joel and Thomas C. are living, all three being over seventy years of age, and they make their residence in Millwood township and live adjoining each other. The death of Cyrus Hall occurred on June 16, 1884, his widow following him to the grave in the fall of 1889, aged nearly eighty-one years, and they are buried in the Friends' cemetery at Quaker City, where most of the Halls are buried.
Edward Hall grew to maturity on his father's farm and obtained his education in the log cabin school house near his father's home. He worked on the farm during all the months that work was possible, and being the oldest child in the family he was put to work in the fields very early in life. His schooling was limited to a few weeks during the winter, though by later obser- vation, study and reading at home he became fairly well educated, and he is well informed on all public questions and issues that concern the best interests of the people.
Mr. Hall was married on March 27, 1861, to Phoebe Hollingshead, daughter of Thomas and Mary ( Hartley ) Hollingshead. Both the Hollings- heads and the Hartleys were prominent families here in pioneer days. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall two children have been born, Laura, who was left a widow and is now living at home with her parents, and Isaac A., who is married and resides on the home farm. These parents are living on the farm where they have resided ever since their marriage. Mr. Hall erected a fine, modern brick residence in 1886 on an elevation in a grove and overlooking a beautiful ex- panse of country, and it is an ideal home.
Politically, Mr. Hall is a Republican, as all the Halls have been, and he is always interested in public matters. He has served as a member of the town- ship school board and has always been interested in educational matters. He and his family adhere to the Friends church. The Hall family have been a most potent factor in the development and advancement of Millwood town- ship and surrounding townships, both in business and farming, society, schools,
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churches, etc. Mr. Hall has a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-three acres, well improved and under a high state of cultivation. No family has stood higher in this locality from the early days to the present than the Halls.
WILLIAM EAGLETON.
Four score and seven years have dissolved in the mists of time, the most remarkable years in the history of the world, since the honored and venerable gentleman whose name appears above first saw the light of day. Heaven bounteously lengthened out his life until he witnessed the crowning glory of his wonderful epoch. rewarding him with an unusual span of years as a result of consistent and virtuous living in his youth and the years of his manhood, until in the golden Indian summer of his life, surrounded by comfort and plenty as a result of his earlier years of industry and frugality, he was able to take a retrospective glance down the corridors of the relentless and irrevocable past and feel that his was an eminently useful and successful life. He lived to see and take a prominent part in the wonderful development of Guernsey county, especially Center township, where he resided.
Mr. Eagleton was born August 14, 1823. in Center township, the son of John and Elizabeth ( McCabe) Eagleton. The father came from Ireland when only five years old with his parents, William and Jane ( Walker ) Eagle- ton, and first settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and later came to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where their son John was married to Elizabeth McCabe, who had been formerly married to John McDowell, and she had three children, Sarah. deceased. James and John McDowell, who came to Center township. Guernsey county, Ohio, with their mother and stepfather in 1822. The father entered eighty acres of land in the woods, from Andrew Jackson as President, and forty acres from Martin Van Buren as President, and owned this land until his death. in February, 1864. His widow survived until August 17, 1866. and both are now buried in the cemetery at Washing- ton. John and Elizabeth Eagleton had a family of three daughters and three sons : Eliza. Jane, Rachel, William, Israel and Henry.
William Eagleton spent his childhood and youth with his parents on the farm. He attended the schools taught in the neighborhood and when old enough was on the farm engaged in clearing more acres to be farmed; at night he would read, by the light of a hickory torch, and sometimes a tallow dip candle, such books as were obtainable. Thus, he grew up and spent his
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youth. He was married on March 27, 1847, to Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of James and Jane ( Walker) Stewart, of Washington county, Pennsylvania. originally, but coming to Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1838.
To Mr. and Mrs. Eagleton were born five sons and two daughters, name- ly : John, deceased ; James S., of Denver, Colorado, a teacher in the public schools : William H., also a teacher in the schools of Denver, Colorado; Mat- thew E., a teacher in the Denver schools ; Mack, of Guernsey county ; Mary Jane, now Mrs. James Stillion, in the state of Washington; Amanda, now Mrs. William Mawhoor, of Jefferson township, Guernsey county. After his marriage Mr. Eagleton settled on a farm a mile north of Eagleton's home- stead, where he resided for two years, which farm he bought while living there. He then lived in various places until 1857 when he came to the farm where he lived at the time of his death, which occurred on October 2, 1910. He acquired lands to the amount of three hundred acres and devoted his energies to farming and sheep raising. He prospered and was a man of progressive ideas and of great influence in the community. After his mar- riage, in addition to his farming interests, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, and for a number of years he practiced in the Guernsey county courts. and especially the justice courts of the county, but never gave up his farm interests. . He was a man of marked ability and a broad education, acquired by reading and in the school of experience. His sons were all given educa- tions, the most of which, however, was obtained by personal application to study at home and in the common schools, and three of these sons are now prominent educators in the city of Denver. Mr. Eagleton was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school and was active in public affairs, having served the public in many positions. For many years he was a justice of the peace and he also filled all the offices in the township except constable, which he declined. He was a school director for many years. After being admitted to the bar, he declined all of these offices. No man stood higher in the estimation of the people and no man has been more active in public matters that tended for good, than Mr. Eagleton. He was for many years a member of the Masonic order and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was active in church work for over thirty years and a deacon for many years. His wife died in January, 1896, and is buried in Center township cemetery, where his remains also lie. She was a splendid woman, whose life work and example were always for good.
Mr. Eagleton spent his last days on the old home farm of one hundred and eighty-six and a half acres, where he spent so many active years, highly respected by all and living to see his sons holding honorable positions in the
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educational and business world. He was very successful in a financial way, as in others ; his farm never bore a mortgage and he was never in arrears for taxes. He has never been sued and never sued but one man, and that was not until he was past his eightieth year, and done with great regret. Mr. Eagleton was regarded as an authority upon most questions that involved the interests and welfare of the community where he had so long lived and his counsel and advice were often sought by many.
ROBERT W. ZAHNISER.
Although living in retirement in his cozy home in Cambridge, Robert W. Zahniser occupies a conspicuous place among the representative citizens of Guernsey county and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him. His record demonstrates that where there is a will there is a way and that obstacles to success may be overcome by courage and self-reliance. His career has been fraught with good to his fellow men and he is held in high favor with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Zahniser was born March 28, 1848, in this city, and he is the scion of a worthy old pioneer family, being the son of Mathias and Mary ( Hanna ) Zahniser, both natives of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where they grew to maturity, were educated and married in 1843. Shortly afterwards they came to Cambridge, Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The father became the village blacksmith, and, like Longfellow's famous character under the "spreading chestnut tree," he was a sturdy, honest, conscientious and well liked man, and he plied his trade here until he became blind, in 1877. His death occurred in January, 1891, his wife having preceded him to the silent land in 1859, leaving a family of five small children. Mathias Zahniser was a devout churchman, a member of the United Presbyterian church, in which congregation he was active and popular.
Robert W. Zahniser was educated in the public schools of Cambridge and when only fifteen years of age he proved his patriotism by enlisting for service in the Union army during the Civil war, becoming a member of Com- pany G, Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served very faith- fully for a period of one year and nine months, or until the close of the war, his regiment being a part of the Army of the Cumberland and it was in many hard campaigns and great battles. After returning from the army Mr. Zah- niser engaged as clerk in a drygoods store for a period of five years. In
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1870 he engaged with the firm of Green, Joyce & Company, of Columbus, and represented them in the capacity of traveling salesman for a period of twenty- seven years, during which time he did much to increase the prestige of the firm and gave them the utmost satisfaction. Since then he has lived a retired life.
Mr. Zahniser was married March 12, 1902, to Luella McFarland, daughter of William and Lydia A. (Campbell) McFarland. Her father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and the mother in Wheeling, West Virginia. Mr. McFarland was a soldier during the Civil war, seeing considerable hard service, losing an eye and becoming very much enfeebled from hardship and exposure. In 1865 he moved to Cambridge for the school advantages for a large family of girls, five of whom became teachers, Mrs. Zahniser was a dry goods clerk for twelve years. Mr. McFarland's death oc- curred in March, 1896, and his widow died in July, 1901. To the subject and wife one son has been born, Robert J., now seven years of age.
Mr. Zahniser is a member of the Masonic lodge, having attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish rite and the Knight Templar degree in the York rite. He is also a member of Cambridge Lodge No. 448, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and he stands high in fraternal circles of the county. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they are workers and of which they are liberal supporters. Politically, he is a Republican and has always been interested in public mat- ters, but he has never held office, not caring for such positions. He keeps well posted on current topics of the day and is a man whom it is a pleasure to know, being genial and a good mixer.
JACOB W. SALLADAY.
A member of a well known and prominent family of Valley township, the gentleman whose name heads this sketch is one of the enterprising farm- ers and stock dealers of that neighborhood, in which he is popular and in- fluential, and his life is such that its history is one interesting and instructive to young and old.
Jacob W. Salladay was born in Valley township, Guernsey county, Ohio, on February 9, 1857, the son of George and Mary Salladay, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. He grew up on the home farm, in the usual pursuits of a country boy. In 1880 he was married to Charlotte Adair, who
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was born and reared in his own neighborhood. the daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Johnson) Adair, and a sister of William J. Adair, whose sketch here- in gives her ancestry. Jacob W. Salladay followed his father in combining farming with stock and wool buying, which he learned from him, and for several years he and his father carried on their dealings together. For a short time Jacob owned a farm just west of the old home, but in 1892 he bought the farm of one hundred and twenty acres, where he has since lived.
In politics Mr. Salladay is a Democrat, and his personal popularity and high standing in popular estimation is shown by the fact that he has held in a Republican township the office of trustee for seven or eight years, being elected by both Republicans and Democrats, regardless of politics. In his fraternal relations Mr. Salladay is a member of the blue lodge of Masons, No. 360. at Pleasant City, and Chapter No. 53, Royal Arch Masons, at Cambridge. He and his wife are both members of the Evangelical Lutheran church at Hartford, and are active in church work, he being for some time an elder in the church.
Mr. and Mrs. Salladay are the parents of two children. Waltz Sumner Salladay, who is a pharmacist at Pataskala, Ohio, married Martha Watson, of Valley township. the daughter of James and Martha Watson. Roy Wesley Salladay married Myrtle Lewis, of Valley township, the daughter of Charles Lewis. He is a bookkeeper and paymaster of the Cambridge Collieries Com- pany.
Mr. Salladay is a successful business man and farmer, and a very agree- able companion. His excellencies of character and his geniality are the fac- tors which account for his great popularity, which is entirely deserved.
SAMUEL C. VANKIRK.
There is always a lesson to be gained in the careful contemplation of life records such as that of Samuel C. Vankirk, one of the prominent citizens of Salesville, Millwood township, Guernsey county. for he has worked along well established lines and has won a reputation for fair play among his fellow- men.
Mr. Vankirk was born September 3. 1871. in Salesville, the son of John O. and Sarah J. (Mendenhall) Vankirk. The father was born in Norwich, Muskingum county, Ohio, and the mother in Noble county. They both came
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to Salesville when single and were married there May 31, 1865. The father was in the mercantile business in Salesville for some years and he was agent for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad at the time of his death, April 10, 1878. His widow died September 6, 1886. The father is buried in the cemetery of his native place, Norwich, and the mother is buried in the cemetery at Sales- ville. The father was a Republican in politics and served during the Civil war, having enlisted three separate times. Being too young, his father got him out of the army the first two times, but the third time he remained and was taken prisoner and confined to Libby prison for a considerable time. He also had three brothers in the army, he being the youngest : Stephen, who was killed at the battle of the Wilderness; Samuel H., now living in Columbus, Ohio, and Joseph, who died some years ago. The father was a man of active public affairs, was justice of the peace for a number of years, and a man of sterling character. The parents had a family of three sons and one daughter : William T., deceased ; John, deceased ; Susan R., now Mrs. H. V. Stoneburner, of Millwood township, and Samuel C., the subject of this sketch, who is the second child in order of birth.
The maternal grandparents, Thomas and Rebecca (Gildow ) Mendenhall, are still living in Salesville and have been married sixty-five years, Mr. Men- denhall being in his eighty-seventh year, and his wife in her eighty-sixth year. These grandparents came with their parents from Pennsylvania, and settled at Cannonsburg, Noble county, Ohio, in the early days of the settlement of that locality and have been residents of Salesville since 1865, where Mr. Mendenhall was in business for many years. The subject of this sketch, Sam- tel C. Vankirk, spent his childhood and youth in Salesville and was educated in the Salesville schools. When eighteen years of age, in 1889, he went to New Mexico, and was at Raton for almost two years, engaged in railroad work. He then came to Kansas City, where he was engaged in railroading for about six months. In 1893 he returned to Salesville and has since resided here. On his return he engaged in farming until February 4. 1899, when he was appointed postmaster at Salesville and gave up farming and has been giv- ing his entire attention to the postoffice ever since.
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