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 9
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W. Frater, of Seattle, Washington ; Nellie, who was born on the 1st of May, 1861, became the wife of Franklin Coe and died in the state of Washington, in 1908; and Vietor L. who was born Novem- ber 20, 1867, and who married Miss Sarah Feigley, of Canaan township, Morrow county, resides upon and has charge of his father's old homestead farm in Gilead township.
LENO R. JAMES, a teacher in the schools of Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, belongs to one of the representative families of the county. Ile was born February 18, 1888; received his early education in the district schools, and pursued his advanced studies in the Ohio Northern University. During the past three years he has been engaged in teaching, and at this writing is employed in the People's distriet.
Mr. James is a son of R. B. and Anna Selma James. R. B. James was born in Franklin township December 28, 1855, a son of Samuel and Ellen (Crothers) James. Samuel in early manhood was a carpenter, but spent the most of his life as a farmer, and is now living retired in Cardington, Ohio. His wife died in 1887. Anna Selma. James, mother of Leno R., was born November 23, 1863, a daughter of Abednigo Pittman, a pioneer of Morrow county, who died here in 1885, at the age of eighty-two years. Her mother, Effie Slack Pittman, second wife of Abednigo, died in 1872, at the age of sixty-six years. R. B. James and wife have three sons: Clifton, born in 1886, is engaged in farming in Perry township. He married, March 7, 1909, Miss Roby Rinehart, and they have children, Leona and Fleetwoods. The subject of this sketeh is the second in order of birth, and the youngest, Noble, was born September 12, 1894.
The Jameses for the most part have been engaged in agrieul- tural pursuits, and R. B. James is not an exception. His first farm, which he purchased in 1885, was two miles east of his present farm, where he has a commodious and attractive residenee, and fifty-one acres of land well-stoeked with fine horses and eattle.
The James family are members of the Waterford Disciple ehurch.
WILLIAM LEPP .- Enterprising, energetie and self-reliant, Wil- liam Lepp, of Canaan township, is a fine representative of the aetive and hardy men who are so ably assisting in the development and advancement of the agricultural interests of Morrow county. He has not only taken an important part in promoting the industrial prosperity of his community, but by his sagaeity and foresight has at the same time been enabled to aeeumulate a fair share of this world's goods, his industry and thrift being well rewarded. A son of Henry Lepp, he was born November 15, 1866, in Marion county, Ohio, coming of substantial German aneestry.
Born in Germany in 1830, Henry Lepp wac brought up and
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educated in the Fatherland, where he lived until after his mar- riage. In the latter part of the year 1853, accompanied by his bride, he embarked on board the sailing vessel "The Atlantic," and after a rough voyage of forty-two days landed in New York city. Then, by way of Albany, Buffalo and Cleveland, he made his way to Galion, Ohio, where both he and his wife had many friends and relatives. Securing employment with Daniel Eich- horn, he attended to the stock during the winter and assisted on the farm during the summer, reeciving for his labor six dollars a month the first twelve months. His employer dying soon after, Henry Lepp rented the Eichhorn estate on which he had formerly worked and was there engaged in general farming for nine years. Saving his money, he purchased in 1861 a tract of land situated a mile and a half from Three Locusts, now Martell, in Marion county, and there continued his operations most successfully for a period of eighteen years. In 1879 he bought seven hundred acres of land in Morrow county, on what is called the Boundary road, paying from forty dollars to sixty dollars an acre for the tract. Assuming its possession, he was there prosperously em- ployed in general farming and stock raising for eighteen years, when he removed to the Beach settlement, four miles west of Galion, Ohio, where he lived for two years. Purchasing then a residence in Galion, Ohio, he has there lived retired from the active rares of business since 1899, being an esteemed and respected resident of that place.
On October 14, 1853, in the Fatherland, Henry Lepp married . one of his early schoolmates and playmates, Elizabeth Eichhorn. She was born April 15, 1830, in Baiertael, Baden, Germany, a daughter of Adam and Margareta Eichhorn, life-long residents of Germany. John Eichhorn, a brother of Adam Eichhorn and an uncle of Mrs. Henry Lepp, immigrated to the United States in 1835, and with his brother Philip, who crossed the ocean with him, located in Galion, Ohio. Philip Eichhorn subsequently migrated to Indiana, becoming a pioneer of Wells county. He settled in Rock Creek township, where numerous of his descendants now live, among them the Hon. William H. Eichhorn, a prominent attorney of Bluffton, Indiana, and Professor Lewis W. Eichhorn. Of the union of Henry and Elizabeth ( Eichhorn) Lepp children were born as follows: Charles, who died at the age of twenty-seven years; John Henry; William, the special subject of this brief review ; George; and Lizzie. The mother passed to the life beyond Sep- cember 21, 1910, her death occurring at her home in Galion. Both she and her husband united with the German Reformed church in early life and were among its most faithful members.
Brought up on his father's farm, which was located two miles east of Martel in Marion county, Ohio, William Lepp worked as a farm hand during the summer seasons, attending the winter terms of school at Bunker Hill. In 1881 he came with the family
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to Morrow county, locating east of Climax, where he assisted in the clearing and improving of a fine farm. Finding both pleasure and profit in tilling the soil, Mr. Lepp has continued his agricul- tural labors ever since, and has met with genuine success as a farmer and stock raiser. He now owns two hundred and forty acres of rich and fertile land in Canaan township on the Boundary road, his home being four miles north of Edison. It is well located, and in its improvements and appointments compares favorably with any in the community. Mr. Lepp is a man of excellent finan- cial ability, and in addition to his valuable real estate holdings is a stockholder in the National Bank of Morrow county and in the Morrow County Telephone Company. Politically he is a steadfast Democrat, active in the party and has served as township trustee.
Mr. Lepp married, February 29, 1892, Mina Parks, of Canaan township, Morrow county. She was born in Sandusky, Ohio, February 14, 1870, a daughter of William and Rebecca (Rinehart) Parks, both of whom died when she was a child of twelve years from samllpox, leaving her to the care of relatives. Mr. and Mrs. Lepp have two children, namely : Harley D., born October 15, 1895, attending the Mount Gilead High School; and Forst, born June 20, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Lepp are valued members of the German Reformed church, and have brought up their children in the same religious faith. Their beautiful farm is known as "Maple Lawn."
GEORGE W. HESKETT .-- Civilization will hail riches, prowess, honors, popularity but it will bow humbly to sincerity in its fellow men. The exponent of known sincerity, singleness of honest purposes, has its exemplification in all bodies of men; he is found in every association and to him defer its highest officers. Such an exemplar, whose daily life and whose life work have been dom- inated as their most conspicuous characteristic by sincerity, is George W. Heskett, who has resided during the major portion of his long and active career in Morrow county, Ohio, and who is now living virtually retired on his old homestead farm in Harmony township, passing the evening of his life in the enjoyment of former years of earnest toil and endeavor.
In Franklin township, two and a half miles east of Mount Gilead, Ohio, on the 24th of December, 1831, occurred the birth of George W. Heskett, who is a son of Norval V. and Massey (Nickols) Heskett, the former of whom was born and reared in the old commonwealth of Virginia, whence he immigrated, with his father, Benjamin Heskett, Jr., to Ohio about the year 1827. The Heskett family was one of prominence and long-standing in Lou- doun county, Virginia, the original representatives of the name in America having come to this country in the early Colonial era of our national history. Benjamin Heskett, Sr., was the great-grand- father of him to whom this sketch is dedicated and he was a planter of note in the Old Dominion. After their arrival in Ohio,
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Benjamin Heskett, Jr., settled in Belmont county, and Nathan Nickols,, maternal grandfather of our subjeet, entered a tract of land in Morrow county, the same being now known as the Jack Gordon farm. Norval V. Ileskett made a clearing on his land and there built a house, but after maintaining his home in this section of the state for several years he went to Missouri, later returning to Ohio and settling in the northern part of Card- ington township where he passed the residue of his life, his death having occurred in February, 1853, and his first wife, whose maiden name was Massey Nickols, having passed to eternal rest on the 4th of April, 1840. For his second wife Mr. Heskett wedded Miss Emily Howell, who became the mother of four children. Con- cerning the children born to the first marriage, the following brief data are here offered: Adelaide A., died at the age of nineteen years; George W. is the immediate subject of this review; Nathan W., deceased, married Miss Louise Parrott and she resides in Mor- row eounty ; Matilda A. wedded Isaac G. Speck and now lives at Lima, Ohio; Charles S. married Sarah Wood and both are de- ceased ; John M. married Louise Norval and resides in Missouri; Benjamin F. was summoned to the life eternal at the age of seven years.
George W. Heskett was reared to the age of eight years on a farm in Franklin township and after his father's removal to Cardington township, Morrow county, in 1839, he attended the district schools and the public schools of Hester and Mount Gilead. After attaining to years of maturity he beeame a teaeher, continu- ing to devote his attention to that line of work from his nineteenth year until 1855. He was one of the pioneer teachers in Morrow and Muskingum counties and for his first term as a teacher he received the munificent salary of twelve dollars a month of twenty- four days. Subsequently he received fifty cents a day and he then boarded at the homes of his pupils. Eventually he drew a salary of twenty-five dollars a month and out of this he managed to save a round little sum. After his marriage, in February, 1854, he and his wife set up housekeeping in Cardington township, he being the owner of a team of horses and a cow and she having a small "set-ont" in the way of household goods. They were very congenial as man and wife and were prosperous from the first. In due time Mr. Heskett purchased a share in the old homestead farm and in 1866 he purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Harmony township, Morrow county, this being the nuclens of his present fine estate of two hundred and forty- four acres. In addition to diversified agriculture Mr. Heskett has been deeply interested in the raising of short-horn cattle and blooded horses. In 1855 he purchased a heifer that was registered in Volunne 4 of the American short-horn herd book, and he still has in his possession descendants of that animal. She was ex- hibited at the Morrow county fair in 1855, and as a prize for her
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Mr. Heskett was awarded a subscription for the Ohio Farmer, to which paper he is still a subscriber. Mr. Heskett and his son Ralph have been extensive breeders of road horses, which have been exhibited at the Ohio State Fair. For one team they were awarded a prize of a silver cup and later the team sold for five hundred dollars. The Heskett place is widely known as the Highland Forest Farm and it is an attractive, eligibly located estate, one of the finest in the country.
On the 28th of February, 1854, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Heskett to Miss Margaret A. Jackson, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of April, 1832, and who came with her parents to Ohio in 1835, location having been made in Knox county, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of George W. and Mary (Hobbs) Jackson, the former of whom was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of whom was a native of Cumberland, Maryland. To this union were born eight children, seven of whom are living in 1911, namely : Mary E., who is the wife of John Wright; Norval W., who married Alice Burr; Clara C., who is now Mrs. George II. Brown; John W., who wedded Louise Miller; Charles O., who married Emma Jackson; George W., Jr., who married Iva Rinehart; and Jay R., who wedded Edith Ackerman. Mr. and Mrs. Heskett have thirteen grandchildren and four great-grand- children, the latter of whom are Margaret and Ruth Long and Clayton and Dorris Wright.
Mr. and Mrs. Heskett are charter members of the Harmony Grange and he has served as president of the Morrow County Fair, having represented it at Columbus, Ohio. In his political convictions he is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party and while he has never been desirous of political preferment of any description he has given efficient service as township trustee. Ile and his wife are old and honored people and while they have reached the age of four score years they are still hale and hearty and are looked upon with admiration and respect in their home community, where they are beloved by all with whom they have come in contact.
JOHN W. BARRY .- Ambition is the vitalizing ideal that trans- forms dreams into deeds, and this spur on the heel of purpose has ever proved a force in the conquest of obstacles. Success repre- sents the attainment of laudible desires, and the successful man is he who faithfully performs his duty toward himself and the world, thus fulfilling the divine purpose of his being. Among the native sons of Morrow county who have well merited the title of self- made man, none is more worthy of such classification than John Wesley Barry, of Mount Gilead, for he lifted himself from the plane of obscurity and ignorance to the lofty level of high accom- plishment. He has gained prestige as one of the representative
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Minnie Barry
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members of the bar of his native state, and in accomplishing this he overcame the great handicap of previous laek of education, as he began the work of preparing himself for the legal profession when twenty-seven years of age and under conditions that would have baffled a less ambitious and determined soul. His educa- tion at the time may consistently be summed up in his ability to read the simpler English, and that haltingly, but he came from the farm, uncontaminated, single of purpose, determined to develop his dormant powers and willing to subordinate all else to the realization of the desired ends. Such men well obey the mandate given in the exhortation to certain Corinthians: "Quit you like men; be strong." Animated by such a spirit it is impossible to live and not find it worth while, and to such valiant souls success comes as a natural prerogative. It is pleasing to witness the progress of one whose success has been won through such individual effort, and the high standing of Mr. Barry, both as a lawyer and as a man among men, may offer lesson and incentive to others who would likewise wrest success from the hands of fate. The man who fails is he who has not force to sustain him in his purpose, who is lacking in moral fiber and worthy ambition, and in noting the many examples of such supineness and vacillation, it is pleasing to turn aside to the wholesome spectacle afforded in the career of such a man as the one to whom this brief sketch is dedicated. It is much to say that "I am master of my fate; I am captain of my soul," but the significance of the statement has been shown in the achievement of Mr. Barry, though he has arrogated naught of credit to himself for what he has accomplished. He is the same sincere, earnest, whole-souled man that he was when he left the farm, crude and untrained, but full of possibilities. He searched for and found his "potential," and he believes that every normal man can do the same and thus be of use to himself and to the world.
John Wesley Barry is a scion in the third generation of one of the plain but sterling pioneer families of Morrow county, with whose history the name has been identified for more than four score of years. Elisha Barry, grandfather of him whose name initiates this sketch, was a native of Baltimore, Maryland. and in the same state was born his wife, whose maiden name was Raehel Cook, both having been of stanch English ancestry and the respec- tive families having been founded in America in the Colonial era of our national history. Elisha Barry came to Morrow county in the year 1829 and purchased a tract of heavily timbered land in Westfield township, where he reclaimed a farm from the wilderness and where he and his wife passed the residne of their lives-earnest, industrious and God-fearing folk. They became the parents of five sons and six daughters.
John W. Barry was born on the homestead of his father in Cardington township, Morrow ocunty, Ohio, on the 17th of Decem-
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ber, 1852, and was the second in order of birth of three sons and two daughters born to Yelverton P. and Hannah E. (Benedict) Barry. Eli, the eldest of the number, is a representative agri- culturist of Harmony township, this county ; John W. is the imme- diate subject of this review ; Jane is the wife of Elliott A. Brenizer, a prosperous farmer of Westfield township; Charles B. is engaged in farming and stock-growing in Cardington township; and Rachel E. is the wife of James W. Gillett, of Blue Creek, Paulding county, this state.
Yelverton P. Barry was born on the pioneer farm of his father in Westfield township, Morrow county, on the 12th of March, 1832, and his wife was born in Morrow county (then Dela- ware county), on the 13th of December, 1832. They continued to reside in Morrow county until they were summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors, his death having occurred on the 21st of October, 1905, and she having passed away on the 10th of the following February, so that in death they were not long divided. Known for their integrity in all the relations of life, earnest and devoted in their labors, they passed side by side down the pathway of life, sustained and comforted by mutual affection and sympathy. No dramatic incidents marked the lives of this worthy couple, save when the husband and father went forth to serve as a valiant soldier of the Union, but "the short and simple annals of the poor" are fruitful in lessons of value when properly interpreted. Yelverton P. Barry reclaimed his farm to effective cultivation and a due measure of prosperity eventually attended his efforts. He gave his entire active career to the great basic industry of agriculture and his old homestead farm, still in possession of the family, is now one of the valuable places of Morrow county. When the dark cloud of Civil war cast its pall over the national horizon he subordinated all other interests to go forth in defense of the Union, though he left his wife and children with but meager resources with which to face the problems of bare existence during his absence. The eldest son was not more than fourteen years of age at the time, but the devoted mother, aided by her children, provided for the needs of the family and her self-sacrifice proved the deepest patriotism, for during the long and weary period of the Civil war the women of the country endured as much in care and anxiety as did the brave husbands and sons in hardships and dangers of another order. Yelverton P. Barry enlisted as a mem- ber of the Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company K, and he continued in active service as a soldier for thirty months, at the expiration of which he received his honorable discharge. He never lost interest in his old comrades in arms and signified the same by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. ITis political allegiance was given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife were earnest members of the United Brethren chureh.
John W. Barry was reared to the sturdy and invigorating
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discipline of the farm, and, as already intimated, his early edu- rational advantages were of the most meager order. He continued to be identified with farm work until he had attained to the age of twenty-seven years. It would be interesting to study the mental processes through which the sturdy young farmer passed while laboring early and late in the fields and meadows. There must have been somewhat of objective as well as intrinsic inspiration to prompt his desire for a wider sphere of endeavor and to fortify him in the formulating of definite plans. He had the mental ken and alertness, though equipped with little education, to realize the onerous task that confronted him when he determined to leave the farm and begin the work of preparing himself for a profession that calls for the greatest intellectual strength, mature judgment and wise study. He did not falter in his purpose, and that he realized his ambition need not be said, in view of his prominence and success in connection with the work of his profession. When the young man essayed to become a disciple of Blackstone he had not even completed the study of decimal fractions and was unable to read a paragraph in the "Fourth reader" without stopping to spell out some of the words in the text. The specified initial step taken by the young yeoman has been told in an interesting way by a representative of this publication who had the pleasure of a personal interview with him, and the account thus rendered is as follows: "One day in June, 1879, Mr. Barry threw a blanket over one of the work horses on the farm, mounted the animal and rode into the village of Cardington. There he made his way to the office of Robert F. Bartlett, long numbered among the representa- tive members of the bar of Morrow county, where he was engaged in practice, and this honored attorney accosted the young farmer with the query, 'Well, my young man, what 'can I do for you?' The reply was, 'I want to read and study law.' Mr. Bartlett looked at the youth with ahnost incredulous amazement, and finally asked, 'Where have you attended school ?' . It may readily be under- stood that his astonishment was not lessened when he learned the limited scope of the applicant's education, but Mr. Bartlett is a judge of men and evidently had a prescience in regard to the possi- bilities involved in this connection. He told young Barry to return to him in one week, and when this was done he handed Mr. Barry a copy of Blackstone's Commentaries to read. The embryonic barrister could not read a line in the text-book without stopping to spell out unfamiliar words, the meaning of which was to him of the most vague order, but grit and determination were in full play, and the young student set himself enthusiastically into the study of the text of this prosaic and monotonous tome that has ever been the 'Fidus Achates' of the aspiring law student, and he applied himself with all of earnestness and indefatigability not only to the study of law but also to making good his education along the general lines that he had theretofore been unable to
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touch. For the kindly preceptorship, interest and careful dis- cipline given him by Mr. Bartlett, who proved indeed a guide, counselor and friend, Mr. Barry manifests the deepest apprecia- tion and he ascribes much of his success in his profession to his honored preceptor, whose interposition has been secured as one of the associate editors of this history of Morrow county. Four years of incessant application on the part of Mr. Barry brought to him the reward that he had coveted and to the securing of which he had bent every energy. In October, 1883, he was duly admitted to the bar of his native state, and it must be understood that in the mean- while he had not only gained an excellent knowledge of the science of jurisprudence but that he had also raised himself from the level of mediocre general education to the standard that justified his entrance into the profession of his choice."
Immediately upon his admission to the bar Mr. Barry was admitted to partnership by his honored preceptor, and he continued in the active and successful work of his profession as junior mem- ber of the firm of Bartlett and Barry, at Cardington, until October, 1891, when he became the nominee on the Republican ticket for the office of prosecuting attorney for his native county. He was elected by a gratifying majority and his official duties necessitated his removal to Mount Gilead, the judicial center and metropolis of the county, where he has since maintained his residence. In the autumn of 1894 Mr. Barry was elected as his own successor, and this gave the most emphatic and significant evidence of the efficiency of his service as public prosecutor and of the estimate placed upon the same by the voters of the county. He thus served six consecutive years as prosecuting attorney, and since his retire- ment from office he has been engaged in the general practice of his profession. It may be said without fear of legitimate contra- diction that no member of the bar of this section of the state con- trols a larger or more representative practice, and this is adequate voucher for the ability and personal popularity of the former farmer boy. His law preceptor has said, "His management of a trial in court, has always exceeded expectations."
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