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 41
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
Until 1909 Orville Hulse resided with his widowed mother and his sister, but since that time has lived in Sparta, where he is held in high regard as a man and a citizen, and enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellows to a marked degree. A warm supporter of the principles of the Republican party, he has held various township offices, and has served on the village board, filling the various positions to which he has been elected with ability, and fidelity.
Mr. Hulse married, in 1885, Amarilla Wheatcraft, who was born October 22. 1860, a daughter of Henry Wheatcraft. Guy Hewett Hulse, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Hulse, was born May 9, 1886, and is now residing in Galion, Ohio, where he is agent for the Mutual Insurance Company. He is married, and has one child.
THE GROVE FAMILY .- Other men's services to the people and state can be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legislation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted. What a minister accomplishes is through the influence of speech and written words and personal character, an influence whose value is not to be reckoned with mathematical exactness but which may be worth more by far than material benefits to the one affected by it. At this point attention is directed to the helpful and in- spiring careers of Wilson and Mary Grove, earnest workers and preachers in the Advent Christian church, in which they were or- dained in 1887.
Yours for truth . Mrs. M. Grove.
877
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
The original Grove ancestor in America was Hans Graff (John Grove), who was born and reared in Holland, whence he immigrated to America in an early day. He was the father of seven sons, who settled in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio. Prominent among these were Peter and Michael, of Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania. At the time when these boys were growing up the old Keystone state suffered severely from Indian depredations. At one time a company of hunters, returning home, was met by a band of Indians, who, during their absence, had laid waste the settlement. Among the hunters were Peter and Michael Grove, then young men, to whom the Indians showed their parents' scalps, making grimaces of the face to show how they looked while being scalped. The Grove boys, with others, swore vengeance on the Indians and for years hunted them like animals. Returning to their home they found it in ruins and with one companion they followed the Indians for three days, eventually finding them in the midst of the wilderness. Creeping upon them at night, while they were asleep on the banks of a, creek, where they had stacked their arms, Peter, who could speak the Indian language, called out, "Surround them, boys," at the same time throwing the Indians' arms into the creek. The three boys aimed and fired their guns and the Indians, taken by surprise, were routed and a number slain. It is interesting at this point to note that Grove township, in Penn- sylvania, was named in honor of these brave boys, who protected the settlement.
Peter Grove's son, John, married Mary Welch, of Pennsyl- vania, and to them was born a son, Peter, who was united in mar- riage to Jane Foster. The children born to the latter union were : Mary, Jennie, Clara, Jane, IIenrietta, Alice, Wilson and W. F. Wilson Grove wedded Mary Eakin, a daughter of Alexander Mc- Quistan and Catherine (Pettigrew) Eakin, the ceremony having been performed at Chapmanville, on the 1st of March, 1877. Wil- son Grove was born on his father's farm, a farm two miles from Chapmanville, the date of his birth being the 3rd of September, 1849. He was reared to maturity on the old Grove homestead farm near Chapmanville and received his early educational training in the public schools of his native place. Mrs. Wilson Grove was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of March, 1859. Her father, A. M. Eakin, was a soldier in the Civil war, having been enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth New York Volun- teer Infantry, in 1862. He participated in a number of important engagements marking the progress of the war and after three years' of faithful and valorons service contracted typhoid fever from too much exposure during the unsanitary conditions of the war, meeting death in a hospital at City Point, Virginia. - He passed away at the early age of twenty-eight years and was survived by a widow and two danghters, Mary, now Mrs. Grove; and bula, who is the wife of H. A .. Chase, of Youngsville, Penn-
878
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
sylvania. Mary (Eakin) Grove passed her girlhood in the old Keystone state and as a young woman she became a student in the State Normal School, at Edinboro, Pennsylvania. After her mar- riage to Mr. Wilson Grove, they settled down at Chapmanville, Pennsylvania, where they became the parents of one son, Don Welcome, whose birth occurred on the 7th of September, 1887. With the passage of time Mr. and Mrs. Grove became deeply inter- ested in religions work, their attention being given specially to the Advent Christian church, in which they were ordained as minis- ters in the year 1887. Thereafter they held several charges in Pennsylvania, namely : Chapmanville, Wallaceville, East Branch, Eldred, Center and Blooming Valley. In 1894 the Grove family removed to Ohio, locating at Sparta, Mrs. Grove's widowed mother, Mrs. Eakin, accompanying them. In the Ohio Conference Mr. and Mrs. Grove had charges at Sparta, Stantontown and East Porter. They also held a number of tent meetings-one at Mount Liberty, lasting two months, where Elder Grove baptized sixty-eight persons and where eventually they organized a church, of ninety-nine members, and erected a beautiful church. The meeting held at Mount Liberty was said to have been the best ever held in that part of the country; its influence was far-reaching for good. Other tent meetings were held by the Groves, one at Vale's Corners, where they built and dedicated a fine church. Another was held at Claybonrn, in Union county, Ohio, where another church stands as a lasting monument of thorough work. Tent meetings were also held at Olive Green, Marengo and Old Eden. During all these years the presence of Mrs. Grove's mother in her home, to cooperate and counsel with, was a source of great comfort to her. Mrs. Eakin was known far and wide as "Annt Kate" and was deeply beloved because of her kindness of heart and cheery disposition. Although an invalid, she was ever forgetful of herself, always planning for the pleasure and happiness of others. After a brief illness this precious mother, at the age of sixty-four years, fell asleep for the last time, her demise occur- ring on the 19th of January, 1902. Thus the light of the old home went out.
While Mr. and Mrs. Grove were filling a five-years' pastorate at Nevada, Ohio, an incident occurred which changed the trend of public thought in regard to the saloon element, of which the town apparently approved. A little boy, who waited in front of a saloon one cold night for his father, died from the exposure. This occurrence made a lasting impression on the hearts of the townspeople. Mr. and Mrs. Grove began at once to awaken pub- lie sentiment for the abolition of the saloons and for the protection of their sons and daughters. Mrs. Grove accordingly issued a eall to temperance workers and organized a branch of the Womens Christian Temperance Union, the same consisting of eighty mem- bers, of which body she was chosen president. The mayor of
-
879
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Nevada, Henry Kingsley, a fine temperance man, the bankers and all the best business men of the village became honorary members of the Union and publie sentiment was aroused to a marked degree. Subsequently an election was called and for the first time in the entire history of Nevada, the saloon was voted out. Mrs. Grove received numerous letters of congratulation from prom- inent state workers for her partienlar part in the good work.
In 1905 Mrs. Grove visited the Pacific coast and falling in love with the majestic scenery decided to establish the family home temporarily at Rosa, Idaho. Later she did Evangelistic work at Seattle, Snohomish and Trafton. While at Seattle she learned of an Advent Christian church in Vancouver, the mem- bers of which did not favor women preachers. As their pulpit was vacant, Mrs. Grove decided to visit them for one Sunday and finally at their request remained three weeks longer, at the ex- piration of which the they gave her an unanimous call for pastor. The trustees reported her visit to the church paper, saying she was the ablest woman preacher they had ever heard preach the glorious gospel of Christ. Following is the letter as it appeared in the Advocate of Oakland, California.
"Vancouver, B. C., April 28, 1909. "Dear Brother Young :
"We take this opportunity of writing you a few lines. We had the pleasure of a visit from Sister M. Grove, of Ohio. She preached for ns for three Sundays. We enjoyed her visit very much ; she did us good. May God bless her great heart of love. She is the ablest woman we ever heard preach the glorious gospel. She preached one sermon at one of the missions and two young men came out on the Lord's side. May the Lord bless her.
"Your brothers in Christ, "Robert A. Mnir. "Thomas Lobb, Trustees."
Another article of appreciation concerning Mrs. Grove's services appeared in the Advocate, under date of June 13. 1909, and the same is considered worthy of reproduction in this sketch. "The recent notice in the Advocate concerning the work of Sister M. Grove in Washington brings to my mind the time of her first appearance in Snohomish, where I had the pleasure of hearing her. However prejudiced one might be against a woman. preacher, it would be entirely dispelled after hearing one of her sermons. For she presents the Word, modestly but forcefully. in sweetness but convincingly, so that when she has finished her theme the hearer must either receive or reject the message. I wish she might be secured as a permanent worker in the Washing- ton Conference. But whenever the Lord calls her I believe she will do most acceptable work for God.
"In the Master's service. "Reverend Charles P. Kittredge,
"Pastor of Snohomish A. C. church."
880
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Mrs. Grove is considered a woman of strong personality and she is everywhere accorded recognition as an eloquent and forcible speaker. While pastor of the John Day Advent church in Ore- gon, Mrs. Grove edited a little book entitled "Broken Links in Error's Chain," which caused more commotion among the minis- try than anything they had heard for years and which was strongly opposed by religious editors and pastors. The work, advocating freedom from traditional errors, by which the human mind has been bound for centuries of tradition and superstition, insists that the Satan, which the human family has been taught is an unseen personality, should be relegated to the realms of oblivion and man made to understand that "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, etc.," thus teaching the important lesson "Know thyself." After this book was published a number of editors and preachers wrote scurrilous criticisms of it and in reply to them Mrs. Grove issued an open challenge to debate the question openly. In her quest, however, she failed to find a single man who was willing to meet her in the arena of fair and open discussion. Many broad-minded men heartily endorsed her work and from Maine to California she received hundreds of congratulatory testimonials.
While a resident of Idaho, Mrs. Grove rode her saddle horse a distance of forty miles to vote for President Taft and during the campaign she herself was elected justice of the peace in Bingham county. Mrs. Grove has acted as delegate to the state convention of the Women's Christian Temperance Union both at Cleveland and at Salem, Ohio. In 1911 she was one of Morrow county's delegates to the Ohio State Sunday School Convention, held at Dayton. While a pastor in Ohio, Mrs. Grove has officiated in one hundred funerals and has solemnized a large number of marriages.
In connection with Mrs. Grove's work at John Day Advent Christian church in Oregon the following appreciative statements are here incorporated.
"In acknowledgement of the services of Sister M. Grove as our pastor for the past nine months, the John Day A. C. church desires to say, that in Sister Grove we found an earnest and con- genial co-worker, and an able exponent and defender of Adventual truths, who never presents a theme without being thoroughly con- versant with it. As a result our church has been strengthened, and increased in numbers, and we feel encouraged and better equipped for work because of the instructive school we have been attending.
"A fine reception was tendered Brother and Sister Grove by their friends before their leaving for their home in Sparta, Ohio, We would have been pleased to have them remain with us, and hope they may return.
"For the church at John Day, Oregon, "F. I. McCallum, Trustee, "J. A. Laycock, Trustee, "M. C. Timms, S. S. Supt."
881
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
The entire careers of Mr. and Mrs. Grove have been eharaeter- ized by deep human sympathy and that innate kindliness of spirit which begets comradeship and cements to them the friendship of all with whom they have come in contact. They are everywhere accorded the unalloyed confidence and high regard of their fel- low citizens and their exemplary lives serve as lessons and incen- tive to the younger generation.
RANSOM T. BOCKOVER .- It can not be other than gratifying to note that within the gracious borders of Morrow county there vet remain many of her native sons who are scions of pioneer fami- lies of the county and who have found ample seope for produetive effort along normal and beneficient lines of productive enterprise. Such a citizen is Ransom T. Boekover, who has maintained his home in Morrow county from the time of his nativity and who has here lent added prestige to a name honored in connection with the eivie and material development and upbuilding of this section of the fine old Buckeye commonwealth. To his credit stands a long and active identification with the great allied industries of agricul- ture and stock-growing, and he continued to reside on a fine home- stead of one hundred aeres, in Chester township, until impaired health rendered it imperative for him to resign the cares, labors and responsibilities that had so long been his, and he thus disposed of his farm and established his home in the village of Chester- ville, where he has lived virtually retired since the opening of the twentieth century. He was one of the loyal sons of Morrow county who went forth to aid in defense of the Union in the climacteric period of the Civil war, and in the "piping times of peace" he has shown the same loyalty that prompted him thus to enter the military service of his country when he was a mere youth. His success in temporal affairs has been the direct result of his own energy and ability and his high sense of personal stewardship has been manifested in a life of signal integrity and honor, so that he has not been denied the fullest measure of popu- lar confidence and esteem in his native county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. In his pleasant home, surrounded by friends that are tried and true, he is now enjoying the well earned rewards of former years of earnest toil and eadeavor.
Ransom T. Bockover was born on the old homestead farm of his father, in Chester township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 8th of December, 1846, and is a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Adams) Bockover, both natives of New Jersey, where the former was born in the year 1797 and the latter on the 24th of October, 1818. she having been a daughter of Una and Ritta Adams. Jona- than Boekover and his wife were reared to maturity in their native state, where their marriage was solemnized, and they came to Ohio about the year 1835. They numbered themselves among
.
882
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
the pioneers of Chester township, Morrow county, where he se- enred a tract of fifty acres of land, two miles south of the present thriving little town of Chesterville. Ile reclaimed the major portion of this tract from the forest and eventually developed the same into one of the productive farms of the county. Ile was a man of energy and well directed industry, and he gained indepen- dence and measurable prosperity, the while he made the best pos- sible provision for his children and was true to all the responsibili- ties devolving upon him as a citizen. He was influential in local affairs of a public order and was a man of superior intelligence and broad views. He continued to reside on his old homestead until death, in 1882, at the venerable age of eighty-five years, and his cherished and devoted wife survived him by twenty years. She was summoned to the life eternal on the 17th of April, 1902, at the age of eighty-three years and six months. The names of both merit enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Morrow county, where they lived and labored to goodly ends. They became the parents of eight children, whose names are here entered in the respective order of birth: James, Jacob. Ira, Isaac, Minerva, Rebecca and Ransom T. (twins), and Jason. James, Jacob and Ransom T. still survive.
Ransom T. Bockover gained his early experiences in connee- tion with the work of the pioneer farm on which he was born, and in the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. He has profited by the lessons gained through years of active association with men and affairs and is known as a man of broad information and well fortified opinions. At the ineeption of the Civil war he was too young to be eligible for military service. but his youthful loyalty and patriotism eventually found definite manifestation. In the month of May. 1864, when seventeen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with this command he served until the close of his one hundred days' term enlistment, his company having been commanded by Captain Meredith. For a considerable por- tion of this term he was engaged in garrison service, and he was mustered out on the 31st of August, 1864, after which he duly received his honorable discharge. In later years the government has shown recognition of his services as a soldier of the republic by according him a pension of thirty dollars a month.
During the major portion of his military eareer Mr. Bockover was with his regiment in the state of Virginia and after reeciving his discharge he returned to Morrow county and engaged in farm- ing on his own responsibility, in Chester township. Ilere he applied himself with all of energy and zeal, and in the course of years the tangible results of his well directed efforts were shown in his ownership of a well improved and highly productive farm of one hundred acres. He continued there to be actively identi-
.
883
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
fied with farming and stock-growing until 1900, when impaired health compelled his retirement from active labors. He met this exigency by selling his farm and he then removed to Chesterville, where he purchased the attractive residence property that has since continued to be his place of abode.
In all ways has Mr. Bockover shown a deep interest in the material and social progress of his native county, and he has thus given his cooperation and influence in support of measures and enterprises tending to further the well being of the community. In politics he maintains an independent attitude, by giving his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment rather than by following strict partisan dictates. He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and both have secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He has retained a definite interest in his old comrades of the Civil war and manifests the same by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic.
In the year 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bockover to Miss Mary K. Lanning, who was born in Chester township, Mor- row county, on the 12th of May, 1851, and who is a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Lanning, who were well known and highly esteemed pioneers of the county, where they continued to reside until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Bockover became the parents of four children, of whom the first-born, Artemas, died at the age of seven months; Carper, the second son, is individually mentioned in an appending paragraph; Alice is the wife of Charles Fitz- geralds, who is identified with the oil business in Wood county, this state; and Burton, who resides in Chesterville, follows the vocation of an auctioneer.
Carper Bockover, the second in order of birth of the children of the honored subject of this review, was born on the 21st of April, 1874, and he was reared to adult age under the sturdy dis- cipline of the home farm. He continued to attend the district schools of Chester township at intervals until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, and he then secured employment for three months on the farm of A. L. Caton, in the same township. He continued to be variously employed until he had attained his legal majority, and soon afterward, in the year 1896, he was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Webb, who was born in this county, on the 15th of March, 1876, and who is a daughter of Henry and Lydia (Shaffer) Webb, both of whom were born and reared in the state of Pennsylvania. After his marriage Carper Bockover engaged in the buying and selling of horses and other live stock, and he built up an extensive and prosperous enterprise in this line, in addition to which he also conducted a well equipped meat market in Chesterville for a number of years. He has recently been giving much attention to the investigating of the agricultural ad- vantages of the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, Vol. IT-23
884
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
where he has purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land and in the year 1911 he removed to that section of the Wol- verine state and established his home in Lake City, Missaukee county, where he now resides. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he held various official chairs in the lodge at Chesterville, and both he and his wife are members of the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs .. Bock- over was worthy matron of the Chesterville Chapter in 1910.
HARRY S. ANDREWS .- This in an age of bustle and energy and the man who succeeds in any undertaking is the one who has initiative power and general versatility. Harry S. Andrews is naturally a hustler and as optician and jeweler at Mount Gilead he has gained distinctive precedence as one of the most enterpris- ing business men of the younger generation in this city.
Harry S. Andrews was born at Hebron, Porter county, Indi- ana, on the 7th of August, 1882, a son of Stillman F. and Anchor C. (Deathe) Andrews, both of whom were born in the state of Indiana. The father was a man who possessed business acumen in several vocations and seemed to make a success in each venture. He dealt in real estate and was an undertaker, as well as a good mechanic. He was a veteran in the Civil war, member of the Seventh Indiana Cavalry, and served four years. He was severely wounded while in service, and he received his honorable discharge at the close of the war. He was a devoted member of the Chris- tian church and was one of the elders as well as organizer of the church at Hebron, Indiana. He died in 1883. The mother was also a native of Indiana. She traced her lineage to the English, although her early ancestors were of French birth. The name Deathe was spelled "De Athe." She was a devout member of the Christian church and one of its charter members. She died May 15, 1910.
To the public schools of his native town Mr. Andrews of this review is indebted for his preliminary educational training, the same including a course in the local high school, in which he was a member of the class of 1900. After leaving school he learned telegraphy and for a time was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In 1905 he went to the city of Chicago, where he worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company for one year, at the expiration of which he learned the baker's trade, being identified with that line of enterprise at Hebron, Indiana, for eighteen months. Thereafter he pursued a course of study in ophthalmology in the McCormick College, in Chicago, in which in- stitution he was a student in the class of 1903. He initiated the active work of his profession at Columbia, Tennessee, where he remained for two years and where he began to learn the jewelry business. IIe came to Mount Gilead in 1905 and purchased the bankrupt stock of A. T. Breese, having as a partner in the business
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.