USA > Ohio > Morrow County > History of Morrow County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 14
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Upon retiring from the probate judgeship, in 1903, Dr. Ben- nett resumed the practice of medicine and surgery at Mount Gilead, to which place he had moved to discharge his offiical duties. Since that year he has been alone identified with the profession which he loves and in which he is a leader, and his numerous patients are all his warm and admiring friends. His professional fra- ternalism connects him with the County, State and American Med- ical Societies; in the Masonic Order he has advanced to the Mystic Shrine, being a member of Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 206, F. and A. M., Mt. Gilead Chapter, R. A. M., Marion Council, No. 22, R. and
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 603
S. M., Morrow Commandery, No. 36, K. T. and Aladdin Temple of Columbus, Ohio.
Dr. Bennett and his family reside in a comfortable home on West High street, in which centers not only a happy domestic circle but which is the nucleus of a widely-extended and elevating soeiability. His wife, formerly Miss Belle Reed, is a daughter of William Reed and a matron of charming and strong character ; a faithful Christian mother to eight children. The three married daughters are: Mary E., wife of Carl Beebe; Aura, widow of George Smiley ; and Helen, who married C. Q. Carlisle, of Saginaw, Michigan. Those living at home are Margaret, Reed, Elizabeth and Edith, and four of the children-Aura, Helen, Edith and Elizabeth-graduated from the Mt. Gilead High School. The Doctor and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
JOHN W. EVANS .- The thriving, industrious and prosperous agriculturists of Morrow county have no more worthy representa- tive than John W. Evans, who stands high among the business-like men who are so ably conducting the farming interests of Chester and Harmony townships. He comes of substantial Welsh stock, his parents, John and Mary (Jones) Evans, having emigrated from Wales to this country in 1840.
Taking up land in Harmony township, Morrow county, Ohio, John Evans devoted his energies to the clearing and improving of a homestead. Industrious and energetic, he made good progress in his pioneer labors, working with energy throughout each year. Misfortune, however, overtook him in early life, the falling of a large tree which he was cutting for fuel in his sugar camp in- juring him so seriously as to cause his death, April 10, 1845. The accident was witnessed by his son, John W. Evans, who was then a mere lad. His widow, with her four children, survived him, there being two boys, John W. and Thomas, and two girls, Mary and Anna. Thomas died in 1848, aged three years.
John W. Evans, with his two sisters, was educated in the district schools of Harmony township, and as soon as old enough to work found employment, his wages amounting to a dollar a week, a sum which he proudly gave to his mother to assist in paying the family expenses. Both Mr. Evans and his sisters obtained an excellent knowledge of books, and became teachers in the public schools. Mr. Evans taught two terms in his home distriet, and likewise taught in Delaware county, and at Bethel, being eminently successful in his pedagogical labors. Among his pupils in Bethel was B. T. Jinkins, who was afterwards one of Morrow county's successful and popular educators, and Rilla Harris, who became distinguished throughout this part of the state as a preacher in the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
Many years ago, at the time of General Bragg's threatened invasion of Ohio, Mr. Evans went with the Ohio Volunteer Militia
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to Cincinnati, the troops furnishing their own blankets and fire- arms. This military demonstration was known as the "squirrel hunt," obtaining its name on account of the brief time the squad was out and for the variety of guns carried by the men. Forty years later, in 1910, Mr. Evans reecived from the government of Ohio the sum of thirteen dollars for his service at that time, it being a soldier's regular monthly pay.
After his marriage Mr. Evans made his first purchase of land, buying sixty-fonr acres, which he managed to such good purpose that he subsequently added to his possessions, becoming an exten- sive landholder and a successful farmer. He has since sold at different times, at one sale disposing of seventy-five acres, and at another fifty acres, and finally selling a tract of twenty-five acres, his present farm containing one hundred and fifteen acres of rich and productive land.
Mr. Evans married, in 1868, Viola Marsh, of Delaware county, a daughter of Alexander and Catherine (Evans) Marsh, and into their household ten children have been born, namely: Ida May, deceased ; Mary Catherine, deceased, was the wife of D. D. Ulrey ; Stella P., wife of John West; Alexander married Delilah Mystel Herrod; John married Chloe James; Alfred married Maud Brown ; Blanche, wife of Dayton Kirby; Nellie, wife of Charles Hoy Gard- ner; Olive, wife of John W. Bowen; and Cecil, who is unmarried, resides with his parents.
Politically Mr. Evans is an earnest adherent of the Democratic patry. He is active in public affairs, and has filled various offices of responsibility and trust. He was assesor of Harmony township while residing there; has been assessor of Chester township three terms; for twelve years he was justice of the peace; he has also served as township trustee ;and is at the present time a member of the township board of education. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Evans are valued members of the Chester Baptist church, of Chester township, in which he has served as deacon for many years.
The father and mother of Mr. Evans came from the little country of Wales in 1840, in a sailing vessel and landed in New York city, the voyage across the Atlantic ocean covering six weeks duration.
CHARLES A. RUHLEN, D. D. S., has been engaged in the work of dental surgery at Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, since 1900, and in the field of his chosen profession he is a skilled and scientific worker. He is one of the most prominent Masons and Pythian Knights in this section of the Buckeye state and in the Republican party is chairman of the county executive committee in 1911. Dr. Charles A. Ruhlen was born in Union county, Ohio, on the 2nd of August, 1877, and is a son of Samuel H. and Susan (Dort) Ruhlen, both of whom are living in retirement on their splendid farm in Madison county, this state. The father was a
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gallant soldier in the Civil war, having served for four years in that sanguinary struggle-four months in the Ohio volunteer infantry and the remainder of the time in the Ohio cavalry. After the close of the war he engaged in agricultural pursuits in Madison county, Ohio, and there is recognized as a most successful and public-spirited citizen.
In the public schools of his native place Dr. Ruhlen received his early educational discipline, which he later supplemented with a course in the New California High School, in which he was graduated in 1895. Thereafter he worked on his father's farm for some two years, at the expiration of which, in 1897, he was matricu- lated in the Ohio Medical University, at Columbus, Ohio, that institution being now a part of the Sterling, Ohio, Medical Col- lege, in the dental department of which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Immediately after his graduation, in the spring of 1900, he located at Mount Gilead, where he has built up a large and lucrative patronage and gained distinctive prestige as one of the leading dentists in Morrow county.
On the 24th of December, 1902, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Ruhlen to Miss Ethel Iden. of Caledonia, Ohio. To this union have been born two children-Ruth, whose birth occurred on the 23rd of August, 1903; and Roscoe, born September 17, 1910. Dr. and Mrs. Ruhlen are devout members of the Methodist Episco- pal church, in which he is one of the officers and a teacher in the Sunday school. Both are popular factors in the best social circles of Mount Gilead and their attractive home is recognized as a center of refinement and most gracions hospitality.
Fraternally Dr. Ruhlen is affiliated with Charles Hull Lodge, No. 195, Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancellor and past representative in the Grand Lodge of the state. He is also con- nected with Mount Gilead Lodge, No. 206, Free and Accepted Masons; Gilead Chapter, No. 59, Royal Arch Masons; Marion Council, No. 22, Royal and Select Masters; and Marion Com- mandery, No. 36, Knights Templars. He and his wife are valued and appreciative members of the adjunet Masonie organization, the Order of the Eastern Star. In the Modern Woodmen of America Dr. Ruhlen holds membership in Camp No. 3575, and in the sons of Veterans he is a member of Lemnel H. Breese Camp No. 64. Politically he has ever been aligned as a staneh supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and at the present time he is chairman of the county executive committee. As a citizen Dr. Rullen has ever adhered strictly to the highest principles of honesty and integrity and in all measures advanced for the general welfare he has taken a prom- inent part. He is a man of high ideals and fair and honorable business methods and no citizen in the town commands a higher degree of popular confidence and esteem than does he.
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FLORENCE R. WHITE, M. D .- To few women has it been given to achieve such noteworthy success as that gained by Dr. Florence R. White, who is engaged in the active practice of her profession at Cardington, Morrow county, Ohio. For nearly a quarter of a century she has been identified with the medieal profession and the years have told the story of a successful career due to the possession of innate talent and acquired ability along the line of one of the most important professions to which one may devote his energies-the alleviation of pain and suffering and the restora- tion of health, which is man's most cherished and priceless posses- sion This is an age of progress in all lines of achievement and Dr. White has kept abreast of the advancement that has revolution- ized methods of medical practice, rendering the efforts of physicians of much more avail in warding off the inroads of disease than they were even at the time when she entered upon her professional career.
Dr. Florence R. (Smith) White was born in Marion county, Ohio, on the 17th of November, 1861, and is a daughter of Seneca A. and Naney E. (West) Smith, both of whom were likewise born in the fine old Buckeye state, the former at Westfield, Marion county, and the latter at West Rushville, Fairfield county. Mr. Smith was born on the 5th of October, 1836, of Seotch-Irish parentage, and the date of Mrs. Smith's birth was October 13, 1839, her ancestors being of English extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married on the 10th of October, 1858, and began housekeeping in a log cabin which he had prepared on sixty acres of heavily wooded land in Marion county. There they continued to reside until 1876, when Mr. Smith disposed of his farm and removed to Westfield township, Morrow county, where he resided for one year, at the expiration of which he established his home in Lincoln township, this county, in order to obtain better educational ad- vantages for his children. There they have resided during the long intervening years and they became the parents of seven children four sons and three daughters, concerning whom the following brief record is here incorporated: Claremont R. is a master mechanic and resides in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana; Dr. White, of this review, is the next in order of birth; Charles W. is a farmer and dairyman in Whatcom county, Washington; James S. is engaged in agricultural pursuits on the old home farm; Daisy A., who is unmarried, is a seamstress at Laramie, Wyoming; Arthur A. is a resident of American Falls, Idaho, where he is a member of the Fall Creek Sheep Company; and Imogene A. is a nurse and maintains her home at Los Angeles, California. She was graduated from the Lakeside Hospital Training School for Nurses at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1896.
Dr. Florence White received an excellent common school education in her early youth and after attending the high school at Cardington she taught school for one term in Morrow county,
Springdale," Residence of hraud Mr. S.a. Smith
.
Flimmer Smith White m. J
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Ohio. In 1881 she began reading medicine under the able pre- ceptorship of Dr. M. M. Sheble, at Ashley, Ohio, and one year later she was matriculated in the Cleveland Homoeopathic Hospital College of Medicine, at Cleveland, Ohio, in which excellent insti- tution she was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. One month after her graduation she entered upon the active practice of her profession at Carding- ton and here she has built up a large and representative patronage, soon gaining recognition as an able and alert physician. In 1891 she journeyed to Europe, where she pursued post-graduate work in Germany and Austria. Since her return her success has been of most unequivocal order and she holds a high place in the confidence and esteem of her fellow citizens as a woman of refinement and ability. In connection with her work she is a valued and apprecia- tive member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy and the Ohio Homeopathie Medical Society, and she is a stockholder in the Ohio Sanitarium Company at Marion Ohio. She has served as a member of the board of education for a number of years and she manifests a deep and abiding interest in all matters tending to advance the general welfare of the community. She has some valuable real estate holdings in Cardington and the same are highly improved. Her religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Protestant Episcopal church and she is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
On the 1st of May, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. White to Theodoric S. White, a native son of Cardington, Ohio, the date of his birth being October 3, 1854. He was a prominent lawyer in Morrow county during his life time and gave efficient service as prosecuting attorney of the county for a number of years. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a Mason of high standing. In his political convictions he was ever a stalwart Republican and he was active in the local councils of the party. He was summoned to the life eternal on the 5th of April, 1905, and his death was a cause for deep grief to his fellow citizens. He lived a life of usefulness such as few men know. God-fearing, law-abiding, progressive, his life was as truly that of a Christian gentleman as any man's can well be. Unwaveringly he did the right as he interpreted it and he ever held a high place in the regard of his fellow men. Mr. and Mrs. White had no children.
Dr. Florence White, is a cultured lady and her library com- prises about one thousand volumes of medical and choice standard literature. Her surgical department is complete as to instruments and operating chair, and she has her own laboratory of medicines, fresh, and of the latest compounds.
LAWRENCE A. BARRY, a teacher of the Black Bird School, Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, is one of the promising
e
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young men of the township in which he lives, and belongs to one of its highly respected families. He was born in Union county, Ohio, September 5, 1886, a son of E. E. and Emily J. Barry, and grand- son of Y. P. and Hannah Barry, all farmers. His grandparents lived to ripe old age, and died in the same year, 1902.
E. E. Barry was born near Cardington, Ohio, August 28, 1851. Until he was twenty-one years of age he worked on his father's farm. Then he bought forty acres of land near Carding- ton, where he lived eight years, after which he sold out and moved to Union county and settled on a farm two miles from Marysville. After five years spent in Union county he went to Van Wert county, this state, which was his home for six years. In 1892 he moved over into Indiana and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Martin county, where the family home was maintained until 1898. Then they came back to Ohio, and for a year and a half lived within Morrow county with Mrs. Long, Mrs. Barry's mother, after which he bought a farm in Harmony township. His first purchase there was fifty-two and a half acres, to which in 1904 he added by an additional purchase of forty-two and a half acres, making a tract of ninety-five acres, where he and his family have since resided.
In Angust, 1880, E. E. Barry and Emily J. Long, daughter of John Long, were united in marriage, and the children born of this union are as follows: Della Berringer, Marion, Ohio; Lillie Earl, Cardington ; John, Rochester, New York ; Lawrence A., whose name introduces this sketch ; Hannah, Columbus, Ohio; and Hazel and Lottie, at home. Mrs. Barry was born March 30, 1856.
Lawrence A. Barry is a graduate of the Cardington High School, received a certificate to teach in 1909, and is now teaching his second school.
WALTER H. RAMEY .- Among the able representatives of the great basic art of agriculture in Gilead township, Morrow county, Ohio, is Walter H. Ramey, who has figured prominently in public affairs in this township and who owns some valuable real estate in Mount Gilead. He was born in South - Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 6th of August, 1862, a son of John W. and Catherine (Kile) Ramey, the former of whom was born near Jersey, Licking county, Ohio, and the latter of whom claims South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, as the place of her birth. Mr. Ramey's grandparents, Peter Kile and wife, were among the first settlers of South Bloomfield township, locating when the Indians were natives and their first home was a log house. He was a carpenter by trade and erected the first house in Frederick- town. The Kiles entered the land from the government and the deed is vet held in the family. John W. Ramey was born on the 25th of February, 1827, and his wife on the 12th of February, 1832. Their marriage was solemnized on the 15th of August, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Ramey commenced housekeeping at Mount Liberty,
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Knox county, Ohio, where he worked at his trade, that of a shoe- maker. In 1852 they removed to Clark street, now South Bloom- field, where he was identified with the work of his trade until 1859, in which year he purchased a farm in the vicinity of the village of South Bloomfield, where they continued to reside until the 1st of September, 1882. In that year he bought a farm located one and a half miles northwest of Mount Gilead, where he has continued to maintain his home during the long intervening years to the present time. He began life with practically nothing exeept per- sistency of purpose and a determination to sueeeed and to-day he is worth no less than fifty thousand dollars, all of which he accumu- lated through personal labor and thrift. Mrs. Ramey is still living and has now attained to the venerable age of seventy-eight years, while her husband is eighty-three years of age. They became the parents of two children: Charley W., who is engaged in farming in Marion county, Ohio, and Walter H., the immediate subject of this review.
Walter HI. Ramey received his preliminary educational train- ing in the common schools of his native township and in the graded schools of Sparta, Ohio. Later he supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Northern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso, Indiana, and after leaving that institution he was engaged in teaching school for a period of two years. Thereafter he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in this county, where he devotes his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of high grade stock. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies of the Republican party, in the local councils of which he has taken a most active part. He has been township assessor of Gilead township on three different occasions and has served as assistant surveyor of Morrow county for some four years. He has considerable property in Mount Gilead and in all his financial ventures has met with the most gratifying success. Mr. Ramey is a man of influence in Morrow county, where his business ability and genial kindliness of disposition have gained him the high regard of his fellow men.
On the 22nd of September, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ramey to Miss Kate Wieland, who was born at Mount Gilead on the 24th of May, 1863, a daughter of George and Mary Wieland. She was graduated in the Mount Gilead high school as a member of the class of 1882 and prior to her marriage was engaged in teaching in the public schools of Morrow county for three years. To this union have been born five children : Wesley Merle, born on the 29th of July, 1886; Edith G., born on the 14th of March, 1888, and for three years a successful teacher in Morrow county, was summoned to the life eternal on the 31st of October, 1910; Helen Josie, born November 20, 1889, is a trained nurse at Columbus, Ohio; Hazel D., born April 18, 1893, was graduated in the Mount Gilead high school at the age of fifteen years; and Catherine Ruth, born May
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5, 1895, died on the 25th of December, 1895. On May 11, 1891, Mrs. Ramey also passed away. She was a valued member of the Universalist church at Mt. Gilead, Ohio.
ALEXANDER PEARL, distinguished as one of the oldest native- born citizens of Bloomfield township, Morrow county, is an honored representative of the brave and courageous men who boldly pushed their way to the western frontier in the early part of the last century, and by sturdy pioneer labor established homes for them- selves and their descendants in this vicinity. Since the days of his boyhood wonderful changes in the face of the country have been wrought, and in the development of its varied resources he has taken an active part, at the same time accumulating for himself a competency. He was born January 6, 1837, in Morrow county, his birth occurring in Bloomfield township.
His father, William Pearl, was born, bred and educated in Maryland. After his marriage with Nancy Doty, a Maryland girl, he came with his bride to Morrow county, Ohio, locating in Bloom- field township, not far from Chesterville township, where members of the Doty family were then well established. The long trip was made with ox teams, the way being marked in many places only by blazed trees. Taking up sixty-three acres of timbered land, he cleared and improved a good farm, and a few years later erected the first frame house in the township. On that homestead his ten children were born and reared, eight sons and two daughters completing their household, as follows: Peter, Alexander, the special subject of this brief sketch; Jackson, deceased; William, Jim, Isaac, deceased, Oliver, George, Jane, and Ellen. William Pearl was a zealous supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and a prominent member of the Christian church.
In common with the sons of the neighboring farmers, Alex- ander Pearl obtained his early education in the district schools, attending the long winter terms, but assisting on the farm during seed time and harvest. Beginning life for himself at the age of twenty-one years, his first important step was to take unto himself a wife. Ile then embarked in agricultural pursuits, and by means of untiring industry, combined with skill and practical judgment, found himself, ere many years, proprietor of a highly-improved and productive homestead of eighty-three acres, with a good set of farm buildings. In his political relations Mr. Pearl is a sound Democrat, and has served as trustee of Chesterville township. Religiously he is an active member of the Advent church at Sparta.
Mr. Pearl married, in 1858, Lovinia Dupy, who was born in Bloomfield township, Morrow county, on a farm on which her parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Denina) Dupy, located on coming to Ohio from the Empire state. Of this union five children were born, namely: James, deceased; Joseph; Malinda ; Alfaretta; and Kelley, deceased. Since the death of Mrs. Pearl, which occurred
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in 1905, Mr. Pearl has resided with his son Joseph, who was born June 4, 1875, and is now actively and prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits. His daughter, Malinda Pearl, born Feb- ruary 25, 1880, also makes her home with her brother Joseph.
VICTOR E. BROWN, who figures as one of the enterprising and progressive farmers of Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, was born in the township in which he now lives October 20, 1869, a son of Edmund W. and Lurana Brown. When he was five years old the family home was moved to Knox county, Ohio, where he was reared and received his early education. Later he attended school elsewhere, including Bryant & Strattan's Business College at Mead- ville, Pennsylvania, where he graduated when he was twenty. Then for a time he was employed as bookkeeper. Duty called him from the office back to the farm, and he took charge of the property con- sisting of three hundred and sixty acres in Franklin township, Morrow county, and one hundred and seventy-seven acres in Knox county, which was in jeopardy from designing relatives. The farm in Knox county is jointly owned by him and his sister, Lillie Hill, his step-mother having a life interest in it. The Levering farm has been the cause of litigation, the widow claiming the right to dispose of it and the step-son finding it necessary to bring suit in order to defend his title to it. Thus far Mr. Brown has been successful in his legal proceedings. The case is now pending in
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