USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 21
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JOHN W. BELL was in Caldwell be- . fore the war, and attempted to prac- tive law for a time. Ile was after- ward in the newspaper business, and succeeded admirably.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, L'XOX AD TILDEN FOUNDATIONS B
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THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
early life taught school. He read law under the preceptorship of Judge Evans, of Cambridge, and was ad- mitted to the bar September 8, 1863 October 6, 1874, he was admitted to practice in the United States Circuit Court. He removed to Caldwell in the fall of 1864, and practiced here until his decease. He died of paraly- sis, March 22, 1880. He first prac- ticed in partnership with Hon. W. HI. Frazier, and, after the latter was elected judge, formed a partnership - with D. S. Springs, which continued until his death. Mr. Foreman was considered one of the best lawyers in the county. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney, but never held any other office of prominence. Ile took an active part in politics. and was a good stump-speaker. Hle married Anna M. Summers, of Noble County, in 1859, and was the father of six children, who are living.
JUDGE DENNIS S. Giuss is a pro- minent lawyer and an old resident of Noble County. He is the son of Dennis Gibbs, one of the early New England settlers of Olive Township, and was born in that township. Dec. 25, 1825. He was reared on his father's farm and shared the rough experiences of pioneer life. Ile re- ceived such schooling as the inferior subscription schools of the early days afforded. He was editorially con- nected with two of the early news- papers of Noble County. He began the study of law in the office of Hon. Isaac Parrish and finished in the of- fice of Hon. W. Il. Frazier. He was admitted to the bar in 1868, but did not enter upon the practice of the
law until 1875 His early political teachings were such that he became a " free-soiler" and cast his first vote for the nominees of that party. On the formation of the Republican party he became an adherent to its principles and still remains constant to them. He has taken an active part in politics for many years and is a sound and effective public speaker. In 1863 Mr. Gibbs was elected to the office of probate judge and for two terms fulfilled the duties of that posi- tion. In 1870 he went to Kansas where he embarked largely in the real estate business until 1873 when the panic brought financial disaster to him. In 1875 he returned to Noble County and in partnership with William Chambers engaged in the practice of law. Ile has since had a large practice and is a very successful lawyer. Judge Gibbs has been twice married - first, in 1853 to Rhoda Chamberlain, of Beverly, O., who died in 1859; and, second, in 1864 to Ada M. Tuttle. By the first marriage there was one child who died young. Three children have been borne of the second union - Mattie L .. Dennis C. and Ada M. In religious belief, Jugde Gibbs is a Universalist."
HON JAMES M. DALZELL, now an attorney-at-law in Caldwell, was born in Allegheny City (opposite Pittsburgh), Penn., September 3, 1838.
Hle attended school in Allegheny, and was quite proficient in the rudi- ments of a common English educa- tion before he was nine years old Then his father, Robert Dalzell, re-
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
moved to Brookfield Township, and there commenced farming. Ilis youth was spent like that of other boys of that day in the country, working on the farm in summer, and attending school in winter three months in the year. At sixteen he had completed the limited curriculum of that period, and having obtained a certificate set out on foot for Vin- ton County in the winter of 1854, and there taught his first school at $22 per month. With the proceeds he maintained himself at the Ohio University at Athens for a term, and when his money was exhausted, again resorted to " the birch;" and so altern- ately teaching and attending college as he could ; sometimes at Sharon college, again at Oberlin, at Athens, and Washington, Pa The years flew by, and with such difficulties to en- counter and overcome, in making his own way at college. When the war broke out it found him a junior at Washington College, Penn- sylvania. IIe had also graduated from Duff's College, Pittsburgh, but the dream of his life was to finish a full classical course in old Washington ; but the cherished ambi- tion of his youth was frustrated by his enlistment as a common sol- dier in Company H, One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Here he served three years without discredit, and was promoted " Ser- geant Major, for gallant and dis- tinguished service," as his commis- sion reads. At the close of the war returning home to Noble County, he was chosen deputy clerk of the court of common pleas, and acted in that
capacity until July, 1866, when he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Treasury at Washing- ton City, which he held for two years, until he had graduated in Columbia College and was admitted to the bar as attorney at law in June, 1868. This he achieved by night study alone, for his days were devoted to the business of his office. Nov. 29, 1867, he married Miss Hettie M. Kelley, an estimable young lady residing then at her home in Muskingum County. To- gether they spent a pleasant and profitable year at the Capital. But in the fall of 1868 they removed to Caldwell, Ohio, and there have re- sided ever since. Their union has been one of the happiest and blessed with six children, all of whom sur- vive except James Monroe, the eldest son, a very promising youth, whose sudden death at the age of fifteen has cast a deep gloom over the household that mourns his de- parture.
Mr. Dalzell has always contributed to the daily newspaper press, and it is probably not going too far for us to say that no name is better known than his among newspaper writers. Ilis business for eighteen years has been that of a lawyer, in which he has been fairly successful. In 1869 he was elected prosecuting attorney and served two years ; and so vigor- ous was his prosecution of liquor sellers that at the end of his term there was not an open saloon in his county. In 1875 he was elected to the General Assembly of Ohio, and represented Noble County so wlle
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that in 1877 he was re elected for two years more. During his en- tire four years in the legislature he was a member of the judiciary com- mittee, the most influential and im- portant of all the committees, and the one to which lawyers only are eligible.
The entire body of Ohio statutory law passed through the hands of this committee for the laws were then being codified and re-enacted. In 1882 he was strongly supported in the Congressional convention at St.Clairs- ville for the nomination to Congress, and was balloted for unsuccessfully nearly three hundred times in the most exciting contest for Congress ever witnessed in Ohio The con- vention broke up in confusion, with- out nominating any one, and then and there Mr. Dalzell retired from politics and resumed the practice of law more assiduously than ever. For many years he was on the "stump" in various States, and in 1879 was called to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and in 1880 to Indiana. He was in demand everywhere and was regarded one of the best stump- ers in the United States. He was always a Republican. He advocated the election of every Republican can- didate, both with voice and pen, from Fremont to Garfield. The confiden- tial friend of Sumner, Frederick Douglass, James A. Garfield, Ruther- ford B. Hayes, Gen. W. T. Sherman, Ilenry Wilson, John Sherman, O. P. Morton, Thaddeus Stevens, Schuyler Colfax and a host of their great con- temporaries. Mr. Dalzell confesses to not a little pride in their letters
testifying their high regard for him. As is elsewhere fully detailed in this work, Mr. Dalzell was the originator and author of the popular soldiers' reunions now held annually in all parts of the country. It is doubtful if there is a soldier in the United States who does not know " Private Dalzell " (as he is familiarly called) at least by reputation, for at the first and other reunions since established he has addressed most of them in his patriotic speeches. Besides, he has always taken a pride in all mat- ters relating to soldiers ever since the war, and devoted a large portion of his time and means to the further- ance of their interests not only in this but in almost every other State.
But since he quit politics and re- sumed the practice of the law, he has passed his time very quietly. When not engaged in the courts or at professional business elsewhere, he devotes himself to his books. He is regarded as one of the first forensic orators in Ohio, and on all public oc- casions he is in demand. To these calls, however, he seldom responds, for he finds more pleasure and profit in the plain, plodding practice of the law and the presence of his family to whom he is doubly devoted.
ALLEN MILLER came from Zanes- ville about the close of the war and opened a law-office in Caldwell. Ile was a young man and only a brief resident. He has since gained an enviable reputation as a lawyer in Zanesville, Columbus, and else- where.
GEO. JENNINGS, now of Woods- field, studied law with D. S. Spriggs,
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
and practiced in Caldwell a year or more.
COLONEL WILBERT B. TETERS served as clerk of courts in Noble County. Ile was the only soldier that went from the county who attained to the rank of Colonel. He was in the ! One Hundred and Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was ad- mitted to the bar about 1868, but never practiced. He is now a resident of Bowlder, Colorado, and is marshal of that city.
WILLIAM CHAMBERS, a leading law- ver, was born in Calvert County, Maryland, in 1842. His father, William Chambers, was a sea-faring man in his early life, but afterwards became a farmer. The subject of this notice was reared on a farm. In 1853 he came to Ohio with his par- ents. His father settled on a farm in Monroe County where he died in 1866 at the age of seventy years. William lived on the farm and fol- lowed school teaching a portion of the time until 1867. when he entered upon the study of the law. In 1869 he was admitted to the bar and in 1871 began the practice of his pro- fession in Caldwell. In 1872, on the incorporation of the village, he ! became its first mayor, holding the office four years. In 1875 he was elected prosecuting attorney. He · served one term in that office. Mr. chambers is a Republican and has been an active worker for his party. Ile is a man of extensive and varied information and is thoroughly versed in the law. He was married in 1870 to Martha A., daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Phillips, of the Pittsburgh
M. E. Conference. They have four children.
JOHN M. AMos, now editor of the Cambridge Jeffersonian, was reared and educated in Noble County. He taught school in early life, studied law under Spriggs & Foreman and was admitted to the bar. After prac- ticing law for a time he engaged in the newspaper business, building up the Democratic organ of the county and making it, for almost the first time in its history, a paying newspa- per property. At the same time he practiced law and took a leading part in politics. Ile sold out his newspaper in 1884 and removed to Cambridge. Mr. Amos was a Re- publican until 1871 but has since acted with the Democrats.
FRED W. MOORE was born in 1845, and died in April, 1874. Ile attended college at Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1865-6, and after- ward studied law in the office of HIon. F. W. Wood, in McConnels- ville. IIe was admitted to the bar at Pomeroy, Ohio, in 1871, and soon after began practice in Caldwell, in partnership with J. F. Young, Esq. In July, 1873, he became associated with John M. Amos, Esq, in the publication of the Citizen's Press, but the state of his health soon com- pelled him to retire from active labor.
JOHN F. YOUNG, from St. Clairs- ville a graduate of the college at Washington, Pennsylvania, located in Caldwell, in 1871, and practiced until 1874; a part of the time in partnership with Fred W. Moore. Hle wert to Bellaire where he prac- ticed law several years.
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THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
NATHAN B. WHARTON, was born JAMES W. BARNES was reared at Summerfield, in this county ; studied law under Ilon. J. M. Dalzell, and was admitted to the bar about 1872. After his admission he practiced in partnership with his preceptor for a short time. He is now in the gov- ernment printing office at Wash- ington, D. C. in what is now Marion Township, May 10, 1844. He received such advantages for education as were offered by the district schools of that day. At the age of eight- teen he enlisted in Company D. Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. Ile was a member of that command until March, 1863, when he JAMES M. MCGINNIS is a well-in- formed and prominent lawyer. Ile was born in Tuscarawas County in 1847, and came to Summerfield when voung. He secured an education through his own exertions, attend- ing the common schools and Mount was a successful teacher, adopting this profession to obtain means with which to pursue his studies. In Feb- ruary, 1865, he became a member of Company D, One Hundred and Eighty fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until mustered out the following September. From 1873 to 1878 he was principal of the Sum- merfield schools, He read law in the office of Spriggs & Foreman in I the meantime, and was admitted to was discharged at Carthage. Tennes- see, by reason of disability con- tracted in the service. May 2, 1864, he again entered the service. this time as a member of Company C., One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio Na- . tional Guards. Ile served in this . Union college. For several years he company until it was discharged from the service, at Camp Chase, , September 6, 1864. On his re- | turn to his home he began the study of the law in the office of IIon. J. M. Dalzell, and was admit- ted to practice by the district court of Columbia County, April 26, 1871, At the October election of 1881, he was elected prosecuting attorney of Noble County, which position he filled creditably for three years. In July 1885, he was appointed special agent ( the bar Ile was elected prosecuting for the General Land Office with | headquarters at St. Cloud, Minne- sota. He married Miss Amelia A., daughter of Kinsey and Louisa John, April 27. 1865, and has a fam- ily of ten children.
JOHN F. YOUNG, from St. Clairs- ville, a graduate of the college at Washington, Pa .. located in Caldwell in 1871 and practiced until 1874, a part of the time in partnership with Fred W. Moore. He went to Bellaire where he practiced law several years.
attorney in 1877, removed to Cald- well in 1878 to assume the duties of his office, and has since been in suc- cessful practice here. In 1879 he was re-elected prosecuting attorney, and held the office during another term. Ile was in partnership with Ilon. J. M. Dalzell for five years, and is now a member of the law firm of MeGinnis & Weems. Mr. McGinnis is an earnest Republican. He was married in 1879 to Miss Emma, daughter of William Peregoy.
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
CAPELL L. WEEMS is an able young lawyer, who is fast carning for him- self an honored place in the ranks of the profession. Ile was born at Whigville, Marion Township, July 7, 1860. He attended the common and normal schools until the age of six- teen, when he began teaching school, and taught with occasional interrup- tions until he began the practice of law. Ile studied law under the tui- tion of Dalzell & McGinnis, begin- ning at the age of nineteen, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1881 He then took a position as superin- tendent of schools at Senecaville, Guernsey County, where he remained until 1883. In the spring of that year he settled in Caldwell, and en- tered upon the practice in partner- ship with James M. McGinnis, Esq. Mr. Weems was elected prosecuting attorney in 1884, and has ably dis- charged the duties of that position. In November, 1883, he was married to Mary B. Nay.
CLARK M. WATSON, was born in Seneca Township, Noble County, June 15, 1847. The Watson family were among the early settlers of that township. Ile was educated in the normal schools and at the Ohio Wes- levan University, graduating from the classical department of that in- stitution in 1874. For the three years succeeding his graduation he served as superintendent of schools in Chesterville, Morrow County, Se- ville, Medina County, and Frederick- town, Knox County, meantime read- ing law in his spare moments. Hle next entered the law office of IIon. L. R. Critchfield, ex-attorney-gen- . ent assistant prosecuting attorney.
eral of Ohio, at Cleveland, and in the spring of 1878 was admitted to the bar in that city. In the fall of the same year he removed to Caldwell, where he still practices his profes- sion. Mr. Watson is a Republican and a Methodist. IIe was married in 1874 to Miss Lettie A. Brown, a native of Cuyhoga County, and is the father of one child.
E. II. ARCHER, now a clerk in the adjutant-general's office at Columbus, was reared and educated in Noble County. He read law with Hon. J. M. Dalzell, was admitted to the bar about 1877, practiced in Caldwell with success until 1885, when he went to Columbus to assume the duties of his present position.
ADAM J. SMITH, from Muskingum County, studied law in Caldwell, and was admitted to the bar about 1877. He practiced here for a short time. Ile then removed to Kansas, where he now holds the position of prose- cuting attorney.
RUSSELL. W. SUMMERS, son of Dr. R. P. Summers, was born near Sum- merfield in 1854. After receiving an academical education he began the study of law in the office of Bel- ford & Okey, and in September, 1878, was admitted to the bar. He began to practice, in Caldwell, in 1879. IIe married Miss Lillie Moore, of Renrock, Noble County.
IRVIN BELFORD, son of Jabez Bel- ford, served as clerk of courts from 1872 to 1878, and about the close of his second term as clerk was admit- ted to the bar. After a few years he removed to Toledo, where he is at pres-
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
CHARLES T. LEWIS, who served for a time as cashier of the Noble County Bank, began his legal studies in Ma- rietta and finished them in Caldwell, where he was admitted to the bar about 1878. Forming a partnership with Irvin Belford, he practiced with him in Caldwell until 1882, when both removed to Toledo.
D. A. JENNINGS, editor of the Prex®, is among the younger repre- sentatives of the legal profession in Caldwell. See Chapter XIV.
CHARLES A. LELAND was born in Sharon, Noble County, in 1860. He is the son of B. M. Leland, a prominent citizen of this county. Ile received a common-school edu- cation, read law in the office of Dalzell & McGinnis, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1881. Mr. Leland has been a teacher since he was sixteen years old, and is at present (January, 1887) the teacher of the Caldwell grammar school.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
REMARKS UPON THE PHYSICIAN'S VOCATION - EARLY MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS IN NOBLE COUNTY - DR. ZIBA LINDLEY, OF BROOKFIELD, 1815- DR. DAVID MCGARRY, THE PION- EER PHYSICIAN - AN ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER - HE DIED IN 1851 - THREE OF ILIS SONS SUCCESSFUL DOCTORS - DR. WILLIAM MCKEE - MR. JAMES F. CAPELL AND OTHER PHYSICIANS OF SARAHSVILLE - MEDICAL HISTORY OF SHARON, SUMMERFIELD AND BATES- VILLE - THE PHYSICIANS OF CALDWELL, EARLY AND LATE - THE PROFESSION IN OTHER TOWNS AND VILLAGES - HIRAMSBURG - MOUNT EPHRAIM - HARRIETTSVILLE - CAR- LISLE, EAST UNION AND MIDDLEBURG - JACKSON TOWNSHIP, DEXTER CITY AND FULDA.
A poet who was also a physician, said :
"God and the doctor we alike adore Just on the brink of danger - not before, The danger past, both are alike requited - God is forgotten and the doctor slighted."
Although the physician's vocation is justly regarded as among the most important of human pursuits. it is nevertheless true that, considering the qualifications and the labor re- quired, it is among the least profita- ble, in a pecuniary sense. Especially
is this true of the country doctor who attends faithfully to his work and holds himself in readiness to at- tend to all calls, by day or night, in "winter's cold or summer's heat." Such a man is a public benefactor; and although he is often poorly paid, even in thanks, the world could not do without him.
In this chapter it has been the en- deavor of the editor to give the name of every physician of promi- nence who has resided in the county,
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HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
together with such facts in the his- tory of his life as could be gathered | from trustworthy sources.
DR. ZIBA LINDLEY was one of the pioneer physicians. HIe settled in Brookfield Township about 1815, and for several years was a successful medical practitioner. Ile was prob- ably the first regular doctor who set- tled within the limits of the county. IIe was a son-in-law of Judge Wil- liam Rannells, one of the early pioneers.
DR. EBENEZER BOWEN and his brother, Dr. George Bowen, of Waterford; Dr. John B Regnier. Dr. Hodge and Dr. Benjamin Brown, of Macksburg, all had more or less practice in the valleys of Duck Creek in early years.
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Dr. George Bowen, of Waterford, Washington County, had a large practice throughout the western por- tion of Noble County. Dr. Clark of Seelysville, Morgan County was another early doctor who practiced in the same field. Dr. McGarry, of Olive, and Dr. Ziba Lindley of Brook- field were the only .resident physi- cians at an early day in the western part of the territory now forming the county.
DR. DAVID MCGARRY may prop- erly be regarded as the pioneer physi cian of the county, inasmuch as he was the first medical graduate to settle in this section of the country, and had through life an extensive practice. Ile died at his home in Olive Township Oct. 6, 1831. The Investigator of the same date said of him : " In his death we shall not mourn the loss of any political
signification, but the departure of one who, hving. was worthy the noblest name with which the Almighty stamps his creat- ures-a man: one of those very few who regard their neighbor's welfare as their own and do unto others as they would that others
should do unto them * * * * The poor may bless his beneficence ; the rich, his talent and skill; his friends his never-failing radiance of affection ; his enemies, if any he had, his kind and forgiving disposition, and a merciful and all-wise God will take charge of the rest." Dr. MeGarry was a native of Ireland, and graduated in medicine at the university of Glasgow. He came to America when a young man and about 1816 settled in Olive Township, near what afterwards became the village of Olive. He was the first physician of prominence in the county, and with the exception of Dr. Wm. McKee, and one or two others, prob- ably the only medical graduate in the county up to the time of his death. Ilis practice was extensive. He was sound in judgment, and in every way well-fitted for his calling. He was therefore one of the most respected and honored citizens of the community in which he resided. Ile married Miss Reed after coming here, and was the father of several sons. Three of these sons, Samuel, Robert and John, adopted their fath- er's profession and were all prom- inent as good physicians. Though not having the educational advanta- ges which their father enjoyed, they had a good knowledge of medicine,
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and were competent practitioners. Dr. Samuel McGarry, who died at Olive in 1874, was an unusually ex- cellent physician and was held in high esteem. ITis brothers, John and Robert, also practiced in the county until their deaths, and were gener- ally popular.
DR. WILLIAM McKEE was one of the best of the pioneer physicians of the county, and for many years had an extensive practice. He was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1797; received an academic education and in 1828 graduated in medicine at the university of Glasgow, Scotland. He practiced in Belfast, Ireland, a few years, and in about 1832 came to America, whither some of his rel- atives had preceded him. He re- mained only a few years, meantime teaching a few terms of school in Zanesville and Sharon. He then re- turned to his native country, but came back again about 1836, and lo cating at Olive, made his home with his cousin, Robert McKee. Good doctors were then very few in the newly settled country ; his practice soon became extensive, and he had calls by day and night to attend pa- tients in the country for twenty miles around. He led a busy and use- ful career and was greatly esteemed by all. He continued to practice in Noble County until his death, July 1, 1865. Ile was a man of modest, unassuming ways; of sound and re- liable judgment and thorough knowl- edge. Ile married Martha J. Cly- mer of Olive Township in 1841, and was the father of seven children, five of whom survive and live in
Noble County - Andrew C., Isaac E., Flora F. (Lund), Orvil O. and Charles W.
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