USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. II > Part 45
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MARION D. WARD.
Marion D. Ward, secretary of the Mechanics' Building & Loan Asso- ciation and prominently connected with many of Mansfield's important finan- cial, commercial and industrial concerns, was born in Weller township, Richland county, Ohio, on the 20th of November, 1841. He spent his boy- hood on the home farm and received his education in the district school and at the Hayesville Academy, which he attended for two terms. When twenty years of age he began teaching and during the winter of 1861-62 taught a country school. On the 7th of August, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a sergeant of Company D, One Hundred and Second Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, remaining with that company during its entire campaign and participating in the battle of Athens, Alabama, and intercepting Hood at Decatur, Alabama. He served throughout the war and was mustered out July 7, 1865. On returning to the home farm he taught school and also singing school for nine winters.
On the 5th of November, 1873, Mr. Ward was united in marriage, at the home of his bride's father, to Mary Stevenson, a daughter of Samuel Stevenson, a farmer and pioneer resident of Weller township. In that township Mr. Ward
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taught school during the following winter and in the spring of 1874 took up his abode in Mansfield. From that time until the fall of 1877 he served continuously as deputy auditor of Richland county, being then elected auditor and serving as such until the fall of 1880. Owing to his reelection at that time he filled the position until the fall of 1883, having for two terms of three years each been the capable and faithful incumbent in the office. Upon retiring from public service he entered the wholesale lumber business and, in association with Merchant Carter, established the firm of Carter & Ward. His connection with lumber interests was thus maintained until 1893, and during that time he was a member of the board of education for six years, serving as its president for one year and as its treasurer for three years. He was also a member of the Richland Agricultural Society from 1875 until 1893, acting as its treasurer until 1887, in which year he was elected secretary. During his incumbency in that position, which continued until 1893, improvements were made upon the grounds and buildings of the society and additional grounds were annexed at a cost of more than twenty-five thousand dollars. In January, 1893, he was one of the organizers of the Bank of Mansfield and became the assistant cashier of the institution, while in the spring of 1897 he became cashier, remaining in the latter capacity until the spring of 1907. He then retired but still retains his interest in the bank, being succeeded in the position of cashier by his son, Stevenson E. Ward. He was likewise one of the original stockholders of the Mechanics Building & Loan Association when it was organized in 1886 and became its secretary in 1891, which office he still holds. He was also one of the founders and organizers of the Mans- field Telephone Company in 1898, which has proven one of the most success- ful and most beneficial institutions of the city, and has been secretary and treasurer since its beginning. He is one of the five equal partners in the May Realty Company, to the credit of which concern there stand many commo- dious and substantial structures in this city. Among the various other enter- prises in Mansfield in which he is largely interested are the Ohio Suspender Company, the Mansfield Lumber Company, the Gallego Coal & Land Com- pany and the Ohio Timber Company, the two last named operating in West Virginia. He has invested to some extent in Mansfield real estate and among his holdings is his home at No. 117 North Mulberry street, where he has resided since 1879. History is no longer a record of wars, conquests and strife between man and man as in former years but is the account of business and intellectual development, and the real upbuilders of a community are they who found and conduct successful commercial and financial interests. In this connection Marion D. Ward is widely known, his cooperation having been sought in the establishment and control of many of the most important enterprises of Mansfield.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Ward have been born four children, two sons and two daughters. The latter, Mabel and Edna, are both at home. Stevenson E., cashier of the Bank of Mansfield, married Miss May L., a daughter of Jerry and Katherine Sullivan, of Mansfield. M. D. Ward, Jr., is a member of the firm of H. L. Bowers Cigar Company, manufacturers of this city. He wedded Hazel, the daughter of Louis and Ella Bowers, of Mansfield.
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A firm believer in the democracy, Mr. Ward took an active part in the local work of that organization for many years. That he has labored unselfishly for the good of the community is shown in the fact that while serving as trustee of the Orphans' Home for three years he appointed a man of opposite political belief as superintendent. On account of this he was asked to resign but refused to do so, saying that politics should not enter into consideration in caring for the children of the county who were orphans. He was also instrumental in having the Western Union Telegram Company's stock and other stock taxed. He is a member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Westbrook Country Club, and his religious faith is indi- cated by his identification with the First Methodist Episcopal church. He is very fond of music and all out-of-door sports but of recent years has indulged in the latter only as a spectator. He owns an automobile, which furnishes him his principal source of recreation, and he likewise has a fine library, being a lover of good literature. Though modest and retiring in disposition, his friends find him a genial, social companion, and he stands today as one of the foremost citizens of Mansfield by reason of his long residence here, by reason of his active, honorable and successful connection with its business interests, and by reason of the helpful part which he has taken in promoting those plans and measures that have been of direct benefit to the city.
P. S. BAUGHMAN.
P. S. Baughman, a native son of Richland county, has now passed the seventy-first milestone on the journey of life, yet he is still actively engaged in agricultural pursuits and is numbered among the substantial citizens of Monroe township, where he owns a good farm property comprising one hundred and twenty acres of land. He was born May 6, 1837, a son of Aaron and Catherine (Schrock) Baughman, the former a son of Abram Baughman. The grandfather was born in the state of Pennsylvania and came to Richland county, perhaps about 1810, presumably with three brothers, they being among the first residents of Richland county. The mother of our subject was born in the Keystone state and was brought to Richland county by her parents during her infancy. By her marriage she became the mother of nine children, namely: P. S., whose name introduces this review; John, a farmer residing near Bellville, Ohio; George, who served in the Civil war as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Regiment, and died during his term of enlistment; Silas, who died in childhood; A. P., a farmer of Monroe township; Solomon, who resides in the west; Mrs. Mary Jane Robin- son, a widow; Harriet, who lives in Monroe township; Martha, the wife of Squire Wolf. The mother of this family passed away in 1899.
P. S. Baughman was reared on the home farm, assisting his father in the operation of the home place until he attained his majority. His education was acquired in the common schools, wherein he mastered the ordinary branches of learning. After attaining his majority he engaged in teaching
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school and at the expiration of his first term returned to the home farm, whereon he remained until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted as a member of Company A, McLaughlin's Squadron of Cavalry, and took part in many important engagements, participating in the celebrated march to the sea. After serving three years he was mustered out January 28, 1864, being at that time commissary and quartermaster sergeant.
Following his discharge from the army, Mr. Baughman again took up school teaching and taught for a period of eight terms, after which he resumed farm labor. He is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land, situated in Monroe township, all of which has been acquired through his own thrift and energy. On his farm are seen excellent buildings, including a good house and substantial barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. He is engaged in raising the various cereals best adapted to soil and climate and makes a specialty of the raising of wheat, in which he is meeting with excellent success.
Mr. Baughman married Miss Rebecca Peterson, whose father bore the name of Thomas Peterson and came to Richland county from the state of New Jersey. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Baughman has been blessed with four children: Lucina, the wife of George Applegate, a farmer of Mifflin township, Ashland county, this state; Sidney, who assists in the operation of the home farm; Viola, deceased; and Grace, the wife of Ira Mathews, of Lucas, Ohio.
The political allegiance of Mr. Baughman is given to the men and meas- ures of the democratic party. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity and with the Grand Army of the Republic. He attends and supports the Baptist church while his wife is a member of that denomination.
He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. He is always kindly and affable and those who know him personally have for him warm regard. He ever has the interests of the community at heart and is as loyal to the public welfare as he was to his country during the dark days of the Civil war and no citizen of this section of the state is held in higher esteem.
BENJAMIN E. MILLER.
A well improved and highly developed farm of eighty acres, situated three miles southwest of Ganges, on section 13, Jackson township, is the home of Benjamin E. Miller, who was born in Richland county, October 24, 1839. He is a son of Isaac H. and Catharine Miller, the former born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1816, while the mother's birth occurred in Ger- many, in 1818. She was sixteen years of age at the time of the emigration of her parents to America, the family home being established in Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were married in the Keystone state about 1848, coming to Ohio shortly afterward. They located near Ganges on a farm
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and some four years later removed to a farm one mile east of Shelby, where John Arnold now lives and where they spent their remaining days. Both passed away when they had reached the age of seventy-seven years. Their family numbered eleven children, of whom seven still survive, the family record being as follows: Benjamin E., of this review; Mrs. Margaret Reese, of Jackson township; Mrs. Anna Sutter, of Shelby; Mrs. Lina Roush, of Wil- liams county, this state ; Mrs. Eva Newman, also of Shelby ; Isaac E., of Ada, Ohio; Henry J., of Williams county, this state; Amos, who died at the age of sixteen years; and David, Jacob and John, all of whom died in infancy.
Benjamin E. Miller, whose name introduces this review, was a little lad of three years when his parents removed from their farm near Ganges to a tract of land near Shelby in Jackson township. There the son was reared to mature years, remaining under the parental roof until he had attained the age of twenty-two. He then started out in life on his own account, locating on a farm which he cultivated for one year. He then removed to his present home, which at that time belonged to his father-in-law, David Finicle. This comprised sixty-five acres and after Mr. Miller purchased the same he added an additional tract of fifteen acres, making in all eighty acres. He has improved the place with good buildings, has set out apple, peach and pear trees, and now has a model property. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising and both branches of his business are proving a profitable source of revenue to him.
At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Miller put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted for service, becoming a member of Com- pany D, Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he became identified on the 18th of April, 1861. He made a creditable military record and after his return from the war resumed farming, which has been his occupation to the present time.
The marriage of Mr. Miller occurred in 1862, the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah Finicle, who was born in Jackson township, September 22, 1842, a daughter of David and Margaret (Hershiser) Finicle, the former a native of Pennsylvania, born April 20, 1816. The mother was born March 18, 1820, and their marriage occurred on the 13th of September, 1838. The father was prominent in democratic circles and was assessor of Jackson township. He passed away in October, 1893, when more than seventy-seven years of age, while his wife reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. Their children, seven in number, were as follows: Mrs. Mary Ann Landis, of Shelby ; Mrs. Barbara Ellen Landis, now deceased; Sarah J., now Mrs. Miller; Mrs. Elizabeth Winton who has departed this life; Willard S., of Lima, Ohio; Elmer, who has departed this life; and Clara, who died at the age of two years.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller has been blessed with nine children, as follows: Willard A., a resident of Kansas; Ida, the wife of Isaac Stein, of Plymouth township; Clara, at home; George, of Cass township; Cora, who died at the age of eleven years; Florence, the wife of William Bushey, of Shelby; Ira, of Cass township; Jennie, a resident of Angola, Indiana; and Charles, at home.
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Mr. Miller's study of the political questions and issues of the day has led him to give stalwart support to the republican party. He has never been an office seeker, however, preferring to give his undivided time and attention to his private business affairs. He has brooked no obstacles that could be overcome by honest and persistent effort, and this, coupled with his sound judgment and excellent business ability, has won him the deserved success which is today his, and now in the evening of life he can look back over a life well spent, enjoying the comforts and many luxuries which have been made possible by his former life of activity and usefulness.
HON. W. S. CAPPELLER.
Among the prominent men of Mansfield the Hon. W. S. Cappeller is in the front rank for everything that represents good citizenship, public enter- prise and business push. By his observance of fundamental rules of business, based upon rectitude and fidelity to the confidences reposed in him, he has won the highest public esteem, resulting in his success. Mr. Cappeller has done more for the success, growth and upbuilding of the city of Mansfield than has any other man within its borders.
The ability of a man to rise above the ranks and attain a position of prominence in the world presupposes a strength above the average, a stability of character that will endure all discouragements and disappointments and in the end triumph over every impediment that obstructs the pathway of suc- cess. Mr. Cappeller is a gentleman who has obtained honor in the state of Ohio by his personal merit, his integrity of character and a strict adherence to the highest standard of principles. He has not only achieved an enviable reputation as the editor of the Mansfield Daily News, but he is well known throughout the state as an aggressive and uncompromising republican, and few gatherings of any importance are considered complete without his presence.
Mr. Cappeller was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1839, and after attending the public schools, finished his education at Farmers College, located near Cincinnati.
He was chairman of the republican state committee in 1880, 1886, 1887 and 1888, during which time his management of the campaigns was char- acterized by great executive ability. He was state commissioner of railroads and telegraphs of Ohio in 1887, 1888 and 1889, and while in office he amicably adjusted, satisfactory to all concerned, matters of difference between railroads and employes, alleged freight discriminations and other complicated questions referred to his department for arbitration.
Mr. Cappeller came to Mansfield in the spring of 1885 and established the Daily News, the first daily paper published in this part of Ohio. The beginning was a modest one; the way was beset with obstacles, but the in- domitable will of Mr. Cappeller would not bend, and by perseverance, patience, application and good management the Daily News secured a firm footing, and today ocupies its own home, a four-story brick building especially erected by him for its use, and is equipped with type-setting machines, fast web color perfecting presses and receives associated press reports direct to
W. S. CAPPELLER.
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operators in the office. The News is one of the leading republican newspapers in north-central Ohio, is a live, up-to-date sheet and enjoys the distinction of being one of the most widely quoted papers in Ohio.
In 1886 Mr. Cappeller headed the call for the organization of the Ohio Associated Dailies and was president of the organization for several years. He was president of the National Editorial Association 1892-1893 and with George W. Childs took part in the opening exercises of the Childs-Drexel Printers Home at Colorado Springs, May, 1892.
Mr. Cappeller, while auditor of Hamilton county was the author of "The Taxpayer's Manual," a work on taxation of individuals, banks, and corpora- tions which was highly endorsed by the leading judges and lawyers of the state. For a number of years Mr. Cappeller has been prominent in a num- ber of fraternal orders and in 1878 was grand master of Ohio of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Cappeller was elected and served as president of the Mansfield Chamber of Commerce for the years 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905.
The Ohio State Journal recently had this to say about the subject of this sketch:
"The Hon. W. S. Cappeller is well known as a man of broad views and unfaltering in his allegiance to his party and friends. At home, in the sanctum or on the stump, he is ever the courteous, genial gentleman, whose pleasing address and fine social qualities have drawn about him a large circle of friends, and these same attributes, combined with industry and honesty of purpose, have conduced to bring about the success which he now, in the prime of life, is enjoying."
Mr. Cappeller is now serving his second term as postmaster of Mansfield; has done a great deal for the benefit of the city and is a man in whom our citizens take a commendable pride.
MILTON W. GRIFFITH.
Milton W. Griffith, who is living on section 23, Plymouth township, was born in Crawford county about three miles west of his present home, December 19, 1852. His parents were John and Elmiro (Trago) Griffith. The father was born on the farm where his son Milton now resides and represented one of the old Ohio families, his parents being Benjamin and Priscilla (Hultz) Griffith, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Griffith was born in Bedford county, that state, and came to Ohio in 1819, entering from the government one hundred and sixty acres of land. He afterward returned to Pennsylvania, was married, and with his young wife came to Ohio the following year. He had built a cabin on his first visit and it is still standing upon the Griffith farm, one of the mute reminders of the many changes which have occurred as the county has taken on all of the evidences of a modern civilization. He cleared away the timber and brush and brought the farm under cultivation. He lived in true pioneer style, occupying the log cabin, while a log barn was used to shelter the cattle and horses. He took an active
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and helpful part in the development and upbuilding of this portion of the state and was prominent in community affairs. He became one of the first justices of the peace in his township and so served until his death. His family numbered five children: John; Levi, who died in this county; Mrs. Lucilla Kirkendall, deceased; Mrs. Jennie Pattent, of Mount Pleasant, Michi- gan ; and David, who died of fever in Cincinnati while attending school there.
John Griffith, the father of our subject, was born on the old homestead farm and his entire life was spent upon this place, with the exception of about seven years passed in Crawford county after his marriage. His wife was a native of Crawford county. His death occurred at the age of sixty-four years, while Mrs. Griffith passed away in 1877 at the age of fifty-five years. An earnest Christian man, he held membership in the Baptist church, and the cause of education found in him a faithful friend who did active service in its behalf while filling many school offices. His political allegiance was given to the republican party. Unto Mr. and Mrs. John Griffith were born four children : Milton W .; Sarah, wife of J. C. Werchkeel, of Portland, Oregon ; Orissa, the wife of Otis Moore, of Middletown, New York; and Howard, of Crawford county, Ohio.
Milton W. Griffith was reared to farm life, spending his first seven years on the farm where he was born and then coming with his parents to the farm upon which he now resides. It has since been his home with the exception of a period of two years passed in Ellsworth, Kansas, where he engaged in the hardware business soon after his marriage. He now owns and cultivates seventy-five acres of land on section 23, Plymouth township, which is a part of the claim that was entered from the government by his grandfather, but in addition to the tilling of the soil he also works at the carpenter's trade and leads a life of activity and enterprise.
In 1876 Milton Griffith was married to Miss Amanda Morse, a native of Crawford county, Ohio, and a daughter of Amos and Mahitable (Carlisle) Morse, both of whom were natives of New York. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Griffith have been born four children: Frank; Bertha, wife of Harry Oswiler, of Shelby; and Lucy and Harry, both at home.
Mr. Griffith is now filling the office of justice of the peace and has been the only one in the southern part of the township for twenty-eight years. His decisions are strictly fair and impartial. He has been president of the board of education of Plymouth township and has held various school offices, the duties of which he has discharged with promptness and fidelity. In politics he is a republican and socially he is connected with Paris Lodge, I. O. O. F. of Plymouth. All who know him esteem him for his genuine worth, as he is classed with the representative agriculturists of the community and is always loyal to the work of public progress here.
JESSE CASHELL.
Jesse Cashell, residing on his valuable farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 12, Washington township, was born in Medina county, Ohio, March 19, 1841, his parents being George and Sarah (McDonald) Cashell, the
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former born near Wheeling, West Virginia, in April, 1802, and the latter in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1812. After leaving his native state the father was married in Mifflin township, Richland county, Ohio, in 1838, and subsequently located in Medina county, Ohio, where he lived for five years. On the expiration of that period he came to Richland county, purchasing forty acres of land which is now a part of his son's farm. He cleared the land and developed a good property, later adding forty acres to his original purchase. Here he was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until called to his final rest on the 20th of May, 1875, the county thus losing one of its honored and respected pioneers. He owned and operated the first threshing machine ever brought into the county. He was a stanch repub- lican in his political views and was a public-spirited and enterprising citizen. His wife survived him until April, 1893, when she, too, passed away. Unto this worthy couple were born three children, namely: Wesley, whose death occurred in 1907 at the age of sixty-eight years; Jesse, of this review; and Chester, who died in 1891.
Jesse Cashell was but three years of age when brought by his parents to Richland county and he was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. At the outbreak of the Civil war in April, 1861, he enlisted for three months' service as a member of Company D, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in October, 1861, reenlisted in Company C, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1864 he once more enlisted in the same company and regiment, taking advan- tage of the veteran enlistment and receiving a bounty of four hundred dollars. He participated in the engagements of Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Lovejoy Station, Adairsville, Georgia, and Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee. Many hazardous experiences fell to his lot and a number of times holes were shot in his clothing. On one occasion when he leaned over to assist a wounded comrade to the rear a bullet struck him in the crown of the head and passed out through his hat band. At another time his clothes were cut across his breast but he escaped serious injury, and was one of two men who took part in all of the engagements and were unin- jured out of ninety-eight members of his company who left Mansfield. He was honorably discharged in December, 1865, and mustered out at Columbus, arriving home on the 4th of January, 1866. He had been a loyal defender of the Union for four years and six months, which is a longer period of service than that of any other Civil war soldier in the county. In the darkest hour of our country's history he stood loyally by the Union and fought bravely until its supremacy had been established forevermore.
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