USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. I > Part 55
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On the 15th of February of that year Mr. Hunter was united in marriage to Mrs. Alverda Chew, nee Ferrell, who was the widow of E. M. Chew, and then removed to his present home in Cass township. In 1898 he purchased the old Hunter homestead, which is now managed by his son, Claude M., who has achieved an enviable local reputation as a teacher. His daughter Ann is now the wife of M. D. Ropp, who lives on the old Ropp homestead in Blooming Grove township. Fenella is also a successful teacher, while Allen, G. T. and J. Garland assist their father in the operation of the home farm.
In 1897 Mr. Hunter was elected to the general assembly of Ohio by a handsome majority, carrying every precinct, and so acceptably did he fill the office that he was reelected in 1899, being member of both the seventy-third and seventy-fourth general assemblies. He was also a delegate to the Chicago democratic convention in 1896, which nominated William J. Bryan for the presidency. Such in brief is the life history of Joseph M. Hunter. In what- ever relation of life we find him-in the government service, in political circles, in business or in social relations-he is always the same honorable and honored gentleman, whose worth well merits the high regard which is uniformly given him.
GEORGE A. SCHAEFFER.
George A. Schaeffer, filling the position of justice of the peace in Mans- field, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, November 13, 1845. His father was a native of Adams county, Pennsylvania, and a shoemaker by trade. In 1867 he arrived in Leesville, Crawford county, Ohio, while his last days were spent in Morrow county, Ohio, where he died September 22, 1882. He was a very devout Methodist, extremely active in church work, especially in the latter part of his life. He was well known and well liked by all who knew him, and something of the esteem and love in which he was uniformly held was indicated by the fact that he was known throughout
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the community as Uncle John. He was a man of domestic taste, specially devoted to his family. He married Susanna Evinger, who was born near Blain, Perry county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of Peter Evinger, who was killed in the Mexican War when his daughter was a small child. The death of Mrs. Schaeffer occurred November 18, 1889, in Mansfield, and was deeply regretted by many who knew her.
George A. Schaeffer is the eldest in a family of three children, and is the only survivor. He spent his boyhood days to the age of seventeen years at St. Peters, near Landisburg, Pennsylvania, and acquired his early educa- tion at the common schools of that place, attending between the ages of four and eleven years. For further mental discipline he entered Mt. Dempsey Academy at Landisburg in August, 1856. The school was situated two and a half miles from his home and he walked, morning and evening, rain or shine, the entire distance, until the summer of 1862. During the long vacation period of that year he pursued a preparatory course under the pri- vate tutelage of Professor Kerr, and thus qualified to enter Franklin & Marshall College at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, but, through the inter- vention of a friend from Philadelphia, he was persuaded to enter a grocery store at Hanover, Pennsylvania. He remained in that employ until he became ill with typhoid fever, July 4, 1864, and when he finally recovered after a three months' illness he secured a position in a dry-goods store, in which he remained until November 1, 1865. The head clerk of the store decided to engage in the hardware business in Dayton, Ohio, in the coming spring and induced Mr. Schaeffer to sever his connection with his old firm, as his year's contract had just expired, and prepare to enter his employ in Dayton. Therefore he left his place there and returned home, but while at home he learned that his prospective employer had changed his plans, and Mr. Schaeffer therefore secured the position of teacher in the school in his home district, teaching the terms of 1865 and 1866 with great success, al- though the school of which he had charge was the largest of ten schools in that township and he the youngest teacher.
Upon closing his school in the spring of 1867, Mr. Schaeffer received a letter from his uncle, Dr. Jacob Schaeffer, at Leesville, Crawford county, Ohio, inviting him to come there and read medicine with him. He did so and remained in his uncle's office until the fall of 1869, when the uncle died. He had promised to meet the expenses incident to George A. Schaeffer's con- pletion of his medical education and, as he was thus deprived of the assistance by his uncle's death, Mr. Schaeffer gave up the study and returned to teach- ing, continuing his efforts in professional lines of that character until the spring of 1884. He then removed to Lexington, where he entered the employ of W. W. Cockley & Company, general merchants, with whom he continued until December, 1889. He then entered the dry-goods store of Reed & Ink. now the H. L. Reed Company of this city. He continued at that point until 1892, when they substituted girl clerks and Mr. Schaeffer entered a grocery store, continuing to act as a salesman in that line until he was elected justice of the peace in 1904. He has since filled the position, being reelected in the fall of 1907.
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Mr. Schaeffer was married at Marion, Ohio, December 6, 1868, to Miss Katherine Schwartz, a daughter of Jeremiah Schwartz, a tailor of Shelby. They have become the parents of ten children, of whom seven are living: Harry, aged thirty-six, who is head clerk in a wholesale jobbing house at Los Angeles; Charles W., who is traveling for W. A. Hamilton, of Mansfield ; Claude, who is bookkeeper for W. A. Hamilton, while formerly he was con- nected with the First National Bank of Cleveland; Clyde, the wife of Roy Swisher, a grocery merchant of Mansfield; Minnie B., a teacher in the public schools, who also has charge of the choir in the United Presbyterian church; Ivan F., an expert accountant, living at Cleveland, Ohio; J. Floyd, who is studying mining engineering in the Ohio State University.
It has always been Mr. Schaeffer's aim to supply his children with good educational privileges, and for this purpose he came to Mansfield. He has also endeavored to prepare them at home for school while small by instilling into them a love for education and providing them with literature and period- icals suitable to their age. Mrs. Schaeffer is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, having been born near Wooster. She has also been very devoted to her family and in the care of her children and household her entire interest is centered. She has made one trip to California for her health and to visit her eldest son, and a trip to Florida on a visit, on which occasion she was accom- panied by her two youngest sons. Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer are members of the First Congregational church and they were formerly members of the choir of the Mayflower Congregational church, and while a member of that church Mr. Schaeffer served as deacon for eight years, while all of the children seem to have inherited their musical talent.
In politics Mr. Schaeffer is a republican, but was a radical democrat until the war. He has never been active in the party ranks, nor does he seek and desire office. He belongs to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, his membership being in Purity Council, No. 98. He has always had the highest regard for those things which tend to develop character and promote substantial growth, and his record in commercial and in professional circles, as well as in office, has always been characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty.
VERNER Z. REED.
Verner Z. Reed was born in Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, October 13, 1863, his parents being Hugh Fulton and Elizabeth Amanda (Wolfe) Reed, both of whom were born and reared in this county. They are now deceased. Hugh Fulton Reed was the son of Joseph and Nancy (Miller) Reed, who came from Cross Creek township, Washington county. Pennsylvania, to Ohio soon after their marriage, in 1829. Joseph Reed was the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Fulton) Reed. After their arrival in Ohio, Joseph Reed and wife settled in Monroe township, Richland county, where Mr. Reed bought land which he cleared, cultivated and improved, and
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upon which he resided until his death. The Reeds are of Scotch-Irish descent and the family was prominent in the east during the War of the Revolution.
Hugh Fulton Reed was born August 13, 1837, and was reared on the home farm and attended the district school. He was married to Elizabeth Amanda Wolfe, February 17, 1859, by Abraham Baughman, Esq., an uncle of the bride. The mother of our subject was the daughter of John and Margaret (Baughman) Wolfe, who were married in 1825. John Wolfe was the son of Adam Wolfe, a Revolutionary soldier, and was born in Pennsylvania, August 13, 1794. He came to Ohio with his parents in 1816. John Wolfe was a school teacher in his early manhood, but later became a farmer, and owned and resided on a farm near Pinhook, Monroe township, Richland county, where he died in 1876. The Reed and the Wolfe families are widely and favorably known as upright, honorable people.
When Verner Z. Reed was yet a child his parents removed to Iowa, where he attended the public schools and later attended two terms at the Eastern Iowa Normal School, an institution that has since ceased to exist. At the age of twenty-three he engaged in the real-estate business in Colorado with his father, and at the time of the discovery of gold in the Cripple Creek gold fields he was among the first to secure interests there. He later did a very large business in compromising litigation between the big mining companies and in securing outside capital for the purchase of large mines, and in building irrigation works, constructing factories, etc., having brought many millions of dollars of outside capital into Colorado and adjoining states for investment. At the present time he is extensively engaged in gold, silver, copper and coal mining properties, in national banking, sugar manufacturing, irrigation enter- prises, and is also developing a very large fruit-growing industry in the Grand Valley of Colorado, where with some associates he is also establishing a new town.
In spite of his large business interests Mr. Reed lives much of his time abroad, his business being so systematized, and his associates and employes having been with the business for so many years, that it can, when he is away, be managed by letter and cable. Since 1901 Mr. Reed and his family have resided in France, having for a part of the time lived in a chateau in the lower Loire region, and at other times in Paris or on the Riviera. Mr. Reed has returned home every year. and his entire family passes part of the time in the United States. During his residence abroad he has traveled very extensively in the north of Africa and in almost all of the European countries.
Verner Z. Reed has also devoted a part of his time to authorship and is the author of three books, namely, "Lo-To-Kah," "Tales of the Sunland," and "Adobeland Stories," the first two of which are now out of print. He has also contributed essays, stories and articles on ethnology, travel, etc., to the Atlantic Monthly, New England Magazine, American Anthropologist, Cos- mopolitan Magazine, etc. He has made extensive studies of Indian legends and has passed a great deal of time with various tribes of American Indians. Mr. Reed is a strong advocate of country life and devotes a great deal of time and expends large sums of money in investigations and actual experiments looking toward the intensification of cultivation and the solving of the "bread and
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butter question" for families on small tracts of highly cultivated land, and he has amassed a wealth of statistics on these lines, some of which he from time to time publishes or gives out in interviews to the press.
Mr. Reed was married on July 18, 1893, to Mary Dean Johnson, a native of Columbus, Ohio. They have three children. Mr. Reed was the founder and is the president of the Reed Investment Company of Colorado Springs, which is one of the best known financial institutions in the west, and whose operations extend largely over the state of Colorado as well as into Kansas, Wyoming and parts of California. His American address is Colorado Springs, Colorado, and his European address, care Credit Lyonnais, Paris, France.
S. FINN BELL.
S. Finn Bell, president of the board of public service in Mansfield and a veteran of the Civil War, is today as loyal to the welfare of his home locality and his country as when he followed the stars and stripes on southern battle- fields. He was born in Washington township, near Lexington, Richland county, Ohio, January 31, 1847. His grandfather, Robert Bell, and his great-grandfather, who also bore the name of Robert Bell, came to Richland county from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1821, and located on what is now the old homestead farm. It was upon that farm that Robert Bell, the father, and S. Finn Bell, the subject of this review, were likewise born. There Robert Bell, the father, continued to engage in farming throughout his entire life and made the old homestead his place of residence until his death in 1898. He married Sarah Pollock, who was a native of Madison township, Richland county, her parents being also pioneers of this part of the state, her father dying here at the venerable age of ninety-two years. Mrs. Bell passed away in 1855, when her son S. F. Bell was but eight years of age. He was the second in a family of three children, all of whom are yet living, his elder brother being Robert P. Bell, of Milton, Iowa, while the younger brother is J. Franklin Bell. He also has one half-brother, Thomas M., who was cor- poral in Company M, Eighth Ohio Regiment, in the Spanish-American war, and who lives in Mansfield, being a guard at the reformatory.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for S. F. Bell in his boyhood and youth. He attended the public schools in the winter months and through the summer seasons worked in the fields, remaining upon the home farm until he enlisted as a member of Company F, Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, when but fifteen years of age. He served with that command for three months and then became a member of Company E, Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served throughout the war, being mustered out with the rank of corporal on the 26th of July, 1865. He participated in the battle of Thompson Hill, Ray- mond, Jackson, Champion Hill, Baker's Creek and the entire siege of Vicks- burg, in which he was under fire for forty-five days. He was wounded at that place and also at Baker's Creek. He afterward engaged in the battle
S. F. BELL.
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of Kennesaw Mountain and Atlanta and went on the celebrated march from Atlanta to the sea, under Sherman, while later he took part in the battle at Savannah, Georgia. After the capture of that place the command to which Mr. Bell was attached proceeded by boat to Buford, South Carolina, and from that point took up the line of march through the Carolinas on to Richmond and thence to Washington, where he participated in the grand review, which was the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western continent. From the capital city the troops went to Louisville, Kentucky, and thence were ordered to Columbus, Ohio, where they were honorably discharged. Thus Mr. Bell had done valiant service for his country for three years and with the most creditable military record returned to his home, although he was then only about eighteen years of age.
Locating in Mansfield Mr. Bell spent twenty-eight years as a traveling salesman, continuing in that line of business until he was elected a member of the board of public service in 1895. That he discharged his duties to the satisfaction of his constituents and the general public is indicated by the fact that he was reelected in 1907, and on the 1st of January, 1908, was chosen president of the board, in which position he still continues.
Mr. Bell was married at Bryan, Ohio, to Miss Jennie Keegan, a daughter of John Keegan, of Cleveland, and they have two sons: Harry F., thirty years of age, who is an attorney here; and Frank W., who is a traveling sales- man for the National Biscuit Company, of Chicago. Mr. Bell owns some real estate in the city and county, including his home at No. 272 Marion avenue, and a farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres five miles south of Mansfield. The supervision of the latter is a matter of interest to him and brings him recreation from the cares of office.
In politics he has been a republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and has been an earnest worker in the local ranks of the party. He belongs to the MeLaughlin Post, No. 131, G. A. R .; to the Elks Lodge, No. 56; and to the United Commercial Travelers, No. 13, of which he is a past senior councilor. He also belongs to the Congregational church. He is a typical American in that he is never too busy to be cordial and never too cordial to be busy.
JAMES A. NIMAN.
James A. Niman, engaged in the undertaking business in Mansfield, is one of the oldest representatives of commercial life in this state and none connected with the business interests of Richland county enjoy in any fuller degree or deserve in larger measure the respect and esteem which are every- where entertained for him. He was born in this county May 4. 1828, and is therefore one of the oldest pioneers, having witnessed the development and growth of the county for four score years.
His father. John Niman, was born in Pennsylvania in 1800 and arrived in Richland county in the summer of 1816. A decade and a half had not
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yet passed since the state was admitted to the Union, and great stretches of territory had not yet been explored by the white man, while the Indian popu- lation was still very numerous. Meeting with the experiences, hardships, privations and also the pleasures of pioneer life, John Niman assisted in the work of laying broad and deep the foundation upon which now rests the prosperity and progress of the county. He secured a tract of land and per- formed the arduous task of bringing it under cultivation, carrying on the farm work year after year until he reached the age of sixty, when he retired and removed to Mansfield, where he died in 1862.
James A. Niman was reared upon the home farm and thus became acquainted with the duties and labors of the fields, but, thinking to find other pursuits more congenial, he left the farm at the age of eighteen years and was bound out as an apprentice for three years to the cabinetmaker's trade. After learning his trade he commenced work for the firm of Baker & Elder, fur- niture dealers and undertakers, with whom he continued for a year as an employe. He was then admitted to a partnership in the business, and when another year had passed by he bought out his employers and continued alone. After carrying on both branches of the business for some time, he at length discontinued the furniture department, but remains as one of the best known and most successful undertakers of this part of the country. During the first year in which he conducted business he officiated at sixty-four burials, al- though but a boy at the time. Since then his business has steadily increased, until in one year the interments of which he had charge numbered over three hundred. In all of his business relations he has ever been found strictly fair and honorable, and has enjoyed to the fullest degree the confidence and good will of those with whom he has been brought in contact in every relation of life.
On the 15th of January, 1852, Mr. Niman was united in marriage to Miss Plessy Egner, who was born in 1832. They have two living children : Charles and Mrs. Ada Strock. The parents traveled life's journey together for more than a half a century, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows and the adversity and prosperity which checker the careers of all. In 1904, however, they were separated in death, Mr. Niman being called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who was indeed a most estimable lady and had many friends.
In his political faith Mr. Niman is a republican, having supported the party since its formation. He holds membership in the Presbyterian church and also belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has lived to see the city of Mansfield grow from a village of two thousand to a thriving and beautiful city of over twenty thousand inhabitants.
Mr. Niman is a man most highly esteemed by all who know him. He has ever been just, upright and enterprising, not only in business but in all life's relations. He is a most sympathetic man and the poor and needy have found in him a friend whose quiet generosity has been most helpful in their hours of need. He has been most free from ostentation in his benevolence, and yet there are many who have reason to bless his memory for his timely
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assistance. Mr. Niman has now reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey and can look back over the past without regret, for he has adhered closely to honorable, manly principles, and as one of Richland county's native sons and pioneer citizens he well deserves mention in this volume.
DAVID ZARTMAN.
The attractiveness of Ohio as a place of residence is plainly indicated in the fact that many of her native sons have retained their residence within her borders after reaching man's estate. Feeling content in the fact that the opportunities and advantages are equal to those offered elsewhere in this country. David Zartman of Butler is numbered among the native sons of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Licking county, November 10, 1849. His parents were Joshua and Lydia (Clingler) Zartman, both of whom were natives of Perry county, Ohio. The father was a gunsmith and followed that trade his entire life, which covered a period of seventy-seven years. They were the parents of eight children, of whom five are yet living, as follows: Joshua, who is located in Newark, Ohio; Aaron, also living in Newark; David, of this review; Mrs. Elizabeth Stevens, of Philadelphia; and Mrs. Mary Neff. The mother of this family, who survived her husband, is lately deceased.
In his boyhood David Zartman, living upon his father's farm in Licking county, attended the common schools and therein mastered the elementary branches of English learning. He afterward spent two years as a student in Berea College, and in 1876 he made his initial step in the business world as a salesman in a drug store at Newark, where he remained for two years. He afterward went to Utica, Ohio, where he spent two years, when he returned to Newark. He was leading a most strenuous life, working from seven o'clock in the morning until eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and in this way he almost ruined his health. In fact, his physician told him that he could not live, but his determination and strong constitution overcame the ill effects brought on by his arduous labor. He has been a resident of Butler since 1880, or for a period of twenty-eight years. Upon his removal to this town he purchased a store and has been in business since that time in the conduct of a drug store. During this period he has had eleven competitors, but he has always kept the lead in the matter of trade, and others have found that they could not prosper because of the extensive patronage so freely accorded Mr. Zartman.
On his removal to this town Mr. Zartman purchased fifty acres of land adjoining the corporation limits, and a part of this now lies within the boundary. It was run down and in bad shape when it came into his posses- sion, but he at once began to cultivate and improve it, and to his labors in the outdoor air he accords the credit for the restoration of his health. More- over, he brought his place under a high state of cultivation and made many excellent improvements upon it. As he has prospered in his undertakings
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he has made judicious investments in realty and was the owner of several properties in Newark, Ohio, which he disposed of and erected a building con- taining two business rooms and two flats in the same city. He also owns the finest residence in Butler, a pressed brick house containing thirteen rooms, and when the building was going on Mr. Zartman handled every brick him- self, partly because he could not get help and partly because he liked the hard work, as it gave him a chance to remain away from the store. He also owns the property in which he has conducted his drug business, and in the fall of 1907 he erected a modern hotel of twenty-five rooms, which he rents. He also has a fine lot in the center of a business block and expects to improve it soon by the erection of a substantial structure there. He is endeavoring earnestly to upbuild the town of Butler, and his work will remain long after him, while the community will thus benefit by his labors for years to come.
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