History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c., Part 103

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968

USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the original boundaries) ; its past and present, containing a condensed comprehensive history of Ohio, including an outline history of the Northwest, a complete history of Richland county miscellaneous matter, map of the county, biographies and histories of the most prominent families, &c., &c. > Part 103

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

MARSHALL, E. C., salesman ; was born Oct. 9, 1856, in Washington Township, Richland Co .; he served with J. Kelly, of Bellville, as an apprentice ; learned the tinner trade; then attended the Bellville

High School, after which he went to Mount Union Col- lege in Stark Co .; came to Mansfield in 1876; em- ployed as clerk in the Sharp dry-goods store, after which he engaged as salesman in Singer's hat store, which position he still retains.

MARSHALL, JOHN, dealer in farming implements ; he was born in this county March 22, 1835. He mar- ried Mary A. Cookston. He enlisted in the late war as a member of the 7th Indiana Battery ; served two years, and was discharged on account of sickness, after which he returned, and was for a time Lieutenant of Co. E, 2d O. V. C. He is now a resident of this city. He is engaged in selling farming implements of various kinds, and is doing a very extensive business.

MATTHES, ADAM, proprietor of European Hotel ; he was born in Germany Jan. 8, 1832; emigrated to America in 1851, and located in Mansfield. He was married, Aug. 14, 1855, to Caroline Heltmen, who was born in this county in 1837; they have the following family-Louis, born Jan. 9, 1858; Caroline, May 1, 1862; John, June 13, 1864; Adam, Jr., July 13, 1866; May, Oct. 31, 1868; Charley and Frederick (twins), April 10, 1871; Amelia, July 9, 1877 ; An- drew, Oct. 5, 1879. Mr. Matthes is engaged in conduct- ing the European Hotel, and is doing a good business.

MAXWELL BROS., dry goods ; the store is located in a three-story brick building, 20x80 feet, at No. 1] Main street, in which can be found the largest and most complete stock of staple and fancy dry goods, embracing all articles usually found in the best stores, exceeding any other establishment in the city of Mansfield. This house was established in 1860; their increase in the past few years has been all that they could wish, and they now do a business that compares favorably with any similar house in the city ; anything new in the dry-goods line can always be found in the store of the Maxwell Bros., and, as they have but one price, total strangers can buy just as cheap as regular customers. Robert B. Maxwell, the active member and business manager of the house, is a gentleman of over twenty- five years' experience ; he is honest and straightfor- ward in all his transactions, and never fails to gain the confidence and esteem of all with whom he may come in contact. The brothers were born in Scotland -Robert, in 1840, and John, in 1834; they are now taking the lead in this line of goods ; all who call on them will find them congenial gentlemen with one, and they are destined to be successful in business.

MAY, JOHN MILTON (deceased) ; he was born in Conway, Hampshire Co., Mass., Oct. 13, 1787. The ancestor of his race in America was John May, from Mayfield, Sussex Co., England, Captain of the ship James, which sailed hetween the ports of New England and London, from 1635 to 1640, when he settled in Roxbury, Mass .; from this stock descended the Mays of New England, New York and Michigan, known in military and civic life; Theodore May, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a Revolutionary war soldier, who, at the close of his services, receiving his pay in Continental currency, so utterly depreciated that John Milton and his other boys would use it for "thumb-papers" at school. In 1797, he removed with his family to Washington Co., N. Y. In 1811, our Mr. May emigrated thence alone for Ohio, crossing the

718

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburgh on foot, arriving at Marietta, Ohio, by boat. In the fall of that year, he commenced the study of law in the office of Philemon Beecher, in Lancaster, Ohio, having for fellow-students for a time Hon. Thomas Ewing and the late Judge Jacob Parker, of this city ; during his novitiate in the law, he supported himself by teaching in the winter-time ; Hocking H. Hunter was one of his pupils ; he was ad- mitted to the bar July 26, 1815, and in the autumn of the same year, settled in Mansfield, where he resided until his death, which occurred Dec. 12, 1869 ; he was the first resident lawyer in Mansfield, and practiced in his profession until two years previous to his death. HIe was elected Prosecuting Attorney for this circuit in 1816, but resigned the office in 1817, because the de- fenses to prosecutions offered him better compensation ; for many years, he rode the circuit of the northern and western County Courts, and had a large and successful practice. In 1825, he married Miss Artemisia Wolfe, from one of the pioneer families of the county, by whom he had one son, now the Hon. Manuel May, of this city, and one daughter, Miss Lizzie E. May, who died in 1866. In politics, Mr. May was unambitious ; in his profession, he was a fine advocate, as well as an able chancery lawyer, and, during his long life, always maintained a high character as a good citizen and an honest man; in his latter years, among his associate lawyers, he was styled the " Nestor of the bar," and known as " Father May," and to the day of his death maintained the good will, respect and confidence of all. Hle was confined to his house about a month before his demise, but was not bed-fast; he passed peacefully away while sitting in his chair.

MAY, MANUEL, attorney. Mr. May was born in Mansfield, where he has resided continuously since ; he is of pioneer parentage. The biography of his father, John M. May, has been outlined in this book. His mother, in the year 1807, then Artemisia Wolfe, aged 6 years, emigrated with her brothers, sisters and widowed mother from the Wyoming Valley, Luzerne Co., Penn., to Fredericktown, Knox Co., Ohio, then containing the territory of this county ; she, with the Wolfe family, removed thence and settled in Mansfield in 1812, and was married in 1825; one of the issue of the marriage was Manuel May. Among the educators of his boyhood were Rev. James Rowland, Louis An- drews and William Johnson. He graduated at Kenyon College, studied law with his father, John M. May, and graduated at the Cincinnati Law School ; in 1858, he received the honorary degree of A. M. at Kenyon Col- lege ; on leaving law school, he practiced law with his father, under the firm name of J. M. &. M. May ; his subsequent law partners were Thomas McBride, John K. Cowen and S. L. Geddes. At present, he is alone in the law business with the aid of his large library and the office help of his students; he was elected and re-elected Prosecuting Attorney of Rich- land Co., serving in that capacity from 1858 to 1862; he represented the Fourth Ward as a member of the City Council of Mansfield for four years, part of which time he was presiding officer ; he was elected and re- elected to the Ohio Senate and represented Richland and Ashland Cos. in that body from 1866 to 1870, and, during his second term, was a member of the Judiciary

Committee; as a County School Examiner, Mr. May . has for years been connected with the educational in- terests of the county. He is a bachelor, has always voted the Democratic ticket and is active in politics as well as business.

MITCHELL, DR. GEORGE F. (deceased). He was born in Washington Co., Penn, May 8, 1808; he was the youngest son in a large family of children ; his brothers were mostly farmers, who remained in their native county ; his tastes and inclinations were in a different course, and, in his early boyhood, as well as in his later life, he was a constant student; his re- searches were not alone confined to the profession in which he became eminent, but the sciences and litera- ture were not neglected ; in 1827, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Church, of Pittsburgh, Penn., a noted practitioner of that city ; with him he remained three years, when, after practicing a short time in an adjoining county, he removed to Ohio in 1832, and practiced medicine in Olivesburg, this county, until 1846, at which time he came to Mansfield; he was a graduate of the Miami Medical College, of Cin- cinnati, and in after years the honorary degree was again conferred on him by the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa; for a number of years he was elected a Censor of the Medical College at Cleveland, and was an active member of the State and American Medical Associations, in both of which he held positions of honor, and was selected as a delegate to the latter body by the State society ; at home he was interested in all educational and benevolent enterprises, and was one of the originators and Trustees of the Mansfield Female College, while under the control of the Methodist denomination. For forty years, he was actively en- gaged in the practice of medicine, during which time the rich and the poor without distinction received the benefit of his skill. He was married in May, 1831, iu Fayette Co., Penn., to Miss Nancy DeVatte; eight children were given them, two of whom died in infancy, two in early and promising manhood, one daughter just as she was blooming into womanhood, and three chil- dren still live. He died in this city March 31, 1869.

MITCHELL, GEORGE, physician and surgeon. Dr. George Mitchell was born July 19, 1837, in Olivesburg, Richland Co., Ohio, and is a son of Dr. G. F. and Nancy DeVatte Mitchell ; his father was a native of Pennsyl- vania, but practiced for forty years in Richland Co., with great success ; Dr. George Mitchell received his elementary education in Mansfield, and in due course of time entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and pursued the full course of four years' study, graduating from that institution in 1858, with the degree of A. B .; in 1860, he matriculated at the Western Reserve Medical College, where he attended one course of lect- ures, and during the following winter, entered the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he gradu- ated as Doctor of Medicine in 1862 ; immediately after receiving his degree, he entered the United States service as Assistant Surgeon of the 102d O. V. I .; he continued in active service in different campaigns until the close of the war, being twice promoted for valuable services rendered; in 1865, he retired from the army and located in Mansfield, where he has since resided and engaged in the practice of his profession ; he is one of

719

CITY OF MANSFIELD.

. the Censors of the Medical Department of the Wooster University, and is also a Trustee of his alma mater ; in the winter of 1876, he was appointed by Gov. Hayes one of the Board of Trustees of the Central Ohio In- sane Asylum ; he is a member of the American Medi- cal Association, and also of the Ohio State Medical Society, and has at various times contributed to the literature of his profession.

MITCHELL, WILLIAM, surgeon dentist ; was born in Weller Township May 1, 1841, and came with his parents to this city in 1846 ; he received his elementary education in the public schools he was a member of the first class that graduated in the Mansfield High School, he afterward completed his studies at the Dela- ware University ; in 1860, he began the study of den- tistry and graduated at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia in 1863 ; he practiced his profession for a number of years in this city and Galion, Ohio ; he was employed by the publishers of this work as a biographical writer, and he collected many of the portraits of the early settlers that appear therein. He was married May 15, 1872, in Mansfield, to Miss Sallie Strickler ; they are the parents of four children-George Frank, Charles Wesley, M. Eugene and Sallie.

MOWRY, JOHN N., physician and surgeon; was born in Pittsburgh, Penn., March 2, 1824, the second son of Daniel and Jane Wiley Mowry, of Western Penn- sylvania, of German-Scotch descent; after receiving his elementary education in Pittsburgh, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. R. B. Mowry, of that city, and afterward attended lectures and graduated at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, March 9, 1850; in the fall of 1852, he removed to Mansfield, having previously practiced in Allegheny City for two years; he was appointed surgeon of the O. & P. and the P., Ft. W. & C. R. R., which positions he held for twenty-four years ; he entered the army as assistant surgeon of the 15th O. V. I., and was at the first battle of the war, Philippi, W. Va .; then he was appointed surgeon of the 32d O. V. I .; then discharged after eight months' service, for disability ; he then returned to Mansfield, then Gov. Tod telegraphed him to meet Surg. Gen. Webber, in Cincinnati, and proceed at once to Pittsburg Landing for the relief of the wounded ; after his return, he was appointed Surgeon of the 86th O. V. I., and remained until expiration of service ; he then resumed the practice of his profession in Mans- field, where he resided until 1875, when he removed to Tiffin, Ohio; not liking it, he returned to this city in 1877, where he has since resided. Dr. Mowry was married, Sept. 7, 1854, to Miss Elisebeth Sherman Park- er, who died April 16, 1855 ; he was again married, Nov. 25, 1856, to Miss Mary L. Armentrout, by whom he raised five children ; she died Jan. 10, 1872; he was married in Tiffin, Ohio, Feb. 17, 1874, to Mrs. Ellen J. Graham, of that city ; the Doctor has always taken an active interest in the prosperity of the city, and sub- scribed liberally to all the railroads, and was active in securing the location of the Aultman & Taylor Co.'s shops in Mansfield.

MURPHY, JOHN A., farmer ; was born in Madison Township July 7, 1850, and received his elementary education in District No. 3. He was married in the

spring of 1877, since which time he has resided in this city.

NEWLON, J., groceryman; was born in this county in 1828. He was married in 1855, to Sarah Shoup, who was born in Wood Co., Ohio, in 1834; they have two children-Harmon D., born in 1856, and Williard B., in 1859. Mr. Newlon is engaged in the grocery business in this city in company with R. C. McFarland,

NEWMAN, ANDREW S. (deceased). He was born March 1, 1811, in Richland Co., in the Newman cabin, on the Rocky Fork, near the present site of Campbell's mill. A short time after his birth, his father, Jacob Newman, removed to Mansfield, and thenceforth An- drew continued to reside there ; in the fall of 1812, he and his mother were sent to the block-house, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and, while at this place of comparative safety, his brother, Joseph, was born ; when the army passed through Mansfield in 1813, under the command of Gen. Crooks, his father was requested, by the com- manding officer, to act as guide through the wilderness, and during this expedition he contracted the disease which terminated his life shortly after his return ; though thus early deprived of his father, in his sur- viving parent he was abundantly compensated; his mother was a woman of very extraordinary ability, and while she devoted herself to her children and their wel- fare, she was universally beloved by her neighbors ; the native good sense and sound judgment which so characterized him as to make him a man of mark in the community, he inherited largely from his mother ; his early intellectual advantages were meager, but, possessed of good natural abilities, with only such assistance as a winter school in a log cabin afforded, and with a thirst for reading, he became one of the best-informed men in the country ; he was a man of strong convic- tions, and singularly gifted with the power to express them, had little reverence for place and position, but warm charity for the lowly and oppressed ; he was possessed of a most excellent judgment of men and af- fairs, and always regarded a wise counselor. He was married, April 2, 1839, to Eliza A. Armentrout, who bore him two children, Mary S. and Harriet (who died in infancy). His wife died July 3, 1855, leaving an only child, the late Mary N. Cummins, so well and fa- vorably known in this community. In 1841, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and ever afterward led a consistent Christian life. After a brief illness of typhoid pneumonia he died, Jan, 31, 1872

NEWMAN, MICHAEL (deceased). He was born in New Holland, Lancaster Co., Penn., in 1785; he came to Ross Co., Ohio, about 1800, and in 1806, he was married to Elizabeth Copsey, who was a descendant of the family of the Longs, in England ; he came to this county, as is shown by the history, in April, 180.8, and settled at Beam's (now Campbell's) Mill ; he lived a year or two in his brother Jacob's cabin, and then moved across the creek, near the mill, into a cabin that was built by Moses Fountain, who probably aided in building the mill on which Mr. Newman worked in the summer of 1808 ; he next moved to Section 16 in Madi- son Township, where he resided until after Hull sur- rendered Detroit, Aug. 16, 1812; it was about this time that troubles with the Indians arose, and as it was not

720

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

possible for Mr. Newman always to be at home-the nearest flouring-mill being at Mt. Vernon-he took his family to Fredericktown, in Knox Co., Ohio, where there was quite a settlement, a block-house and a few soldiers stationed ; he returned alone to take care of his property, but found all his stock and grain had been taken for the use of U. S. troops, under Gen Beall ; his provisions and stock being all gone, he returned to Fredericktown and took his wife and children to her relatives and friends, at Chillicothe ; he left them there and returned late in the fall to this county, only to find his house burned ; he never was able to find out whether the Indians or soldiers perpetrated this outrage ; having no shelter, he went to Chillicothe and remained there dur- ing the winter; in the spring of 1813, he returned to Richland Co., built a new house, and that summer, in August, he brought back his family and began again ; he had five sons and six daughters ; their names, in the order of their births, are Mary, Henry, Susan, Jacob, Jane, Margaret, Harriet, John, Elizabeth, Andrew and Michael C .; Mary married B. Goldsmith ; they had five children ; Goldsmith is now deceased, and his widow lives in Pierceton, Ind. ; Henry married Hannah Mar- ing and both are deceased ; they had one son, John M. Newman, who married Eva J. Miller ; Susan married William Waugh; they have no chil- dren, and they are living in Van Wert Co., Ohio; Jacob married Catharine Stoudt : they had two children, John H. Newman and Lizzie Newman; his wife died soon after the birth of John H., since which time Jacob has been a widower, and lives in Van Wert Co., Ohio; Jane died when a young lady ; Margaret married John C. Snow : they have no children ; Mrs. Snow is now deceased, and John C. Snow is now living in Illinois ; Harriet died in infancy ; John is not mar- ried, and is now serving his eighth term as County Sur- veyor of Richland Co .; Elizabeth married Rev. N. F. Bell; Mr. Bell is now deceased, and his widow lives in Huron Co., Ohio : Andrew is now living somewhere in Cali- fornia ; Michael maried Carrie Wilson ; they have four children, and reside in the city of Mansfield. Mr. Newman died in 1862, and his wife died in 1872.

NEWMAN, JACOB (deceased). The Newman fam- ily, of whom Jacob was the oldest, were of Holland descent, and settled at an early day in Lancaster Co., Penn .; the children, Jacob, Polly, John, Christena, Andrew, Michael and a sister whose name is not now' known, were born here. This sister married a man by the name of Cline ; went South with him, and was lost trace of by the family. Jacob and Michael, when they became young men, went to Franklin Co., Penn., where Jacob married Catherine Freymeyer, by whom he had four children-John, Catherine, Jacob and Henry ; Mrs. Newman died when the last named was but 2 or 3 weeks old; the death of the mother, in a measure, broke up the family. This was in October, 1802. Mr. Newman gave all the children but the youngest to their grandparents (their mother's parents) to keep, and taking with him the youngest, whom he kept by the aid of nurses, he went to the vicinity of Greensburg, and lived there on a farm three or four years. He desired a frontier life, and, hear- ing of the West as it then existed, and the easy terms upon which poor people could obtain land | that month he died. IIe left a widow and three

in the military and other districts in Ohio, he deter- mined to emigrate there. He came to Stark Co. and located some land near the town of Canton, then a frontier place. Not long after, he had a good chance to sell the land, and did so, and determined to remove still farther out. His kinsman, Gen. James Hedges, had been surveying in the new country, now comprised in this county, and had informed him of some of the choice selections of land and the probable location of a county seat, as the General knew a new county would necessarily be made in this part of the State. In the summer of 1807, he left his family at Canton, and, moving his few effects, came to the Rocky Fork, where he or Gen. Hedges had undoubtedly selected a location and erected a cabin. Ile brought, as a housekeeper, his niece, Catherine Brubaker, who did the cooking for him and his hands, who were probably her brothers, the Brubaker boys. As this early settlement is fully given in the pioneer history elsewhere printed in this volume, its history need not be repeated here. Mr. Newman remained here improving his land till the spring of 1808, when he took his niece back to Canton, and his brother Michael and his wife came out and en- tered the cabin. That fall, he brought Henry, his youngest son, out and left him here, while he went to Pennsylvania, where he was married to Susan Snively, and remained in the East during the following winter. Returning to this county, he remained in the Rocky Fork and improved his claim and run his saw-mill, which he had erected a year before. The removal of the site of the county seat from the vicinity of the mill, and its sale by Mr. Newman to Mr. Jacob Beam, caused Mr. Newman to remove again. He, in company with Gen. Hedges and Joseph Larwell, of Wooster, had laid out the town of Mansfield on its present site, and had begun improvements there. Mr. Newman built his cabin on the east side of South Main street, about two hundred yards south of the creek, and, in the latter part of 1811, brought up his family, and the next sum- mer raised a crop on his land here. In August, the Indian troubles occurred, and Mr. Newman took his wife and son Andrew to Mt. Vernon for safe-keeping, while he and Henry remained to guard the cabin and the town. While Mrs. Newman was in Mt. Vernon, Joseph was born (Sept. 25, 1812). Not long after, a company of soldiers came up to help guard the town- the killing of Jones having excited the people consider- ably-and Mr. Newman, considering all things rather safe, went to Mt. Vernon and brought his wife and children home. Gen. Crook's army came to Mansfield soon after this, on their way to the Upper Sandusky country, and Mr. Newman, being a practical, sagacious woodsman, was engaged to pilot the army through from Mansfield. Most accounts state that the army left about the middle of December. Mr. Henry New- man says this can hardly be true, as he distinctly re- members the event, and is sure his father did not leave till later in the winter, probably in February. This march, in an open winter, was very trying on the sol- diers, and even the hardy frame of Mr. Newman could not endure the strain. He contracted a pulmonary complaint, which, after reaching home about June 1, 1813, continued to grow worse, and on the 20th of

CITY OF MANSFIELD.

721

children-Henry, Andrew and Joseph, the latter about 7 months old. She soon after took the logs Mr. N. had prepared in his lifetime to build a better cabin, had them moved to the north side of the square, where Capt. A. C. Cummins now lives, and had a cabin built there. The house was improved at times, and a brick addition built afterward by Henry Leyman. It is part of Capt. Cummins' house now. Mrs. Newman resided here until her death, 1834. By this time, the chil- dren were grown. Henry and Andrew were married and had homes of their own, and Joseph was a young man beginning life for himself.

NEWMAN, HENRY, Bryan, Williams Co., Ohio. Mr. Newman is the fourth child of Jacob Newman, and, since 1849, has resided in Williams Co .; he was born Oct. 17, 1802, in Franklin Co., Penn .; his mother dying a few weeks after his birth, his father took him to Westmoreland Co., where he went to reside, keeping him under his own care; about 1805, his father emi- grated to Stark Co., Ohio, and in 1807 to Richland Co .; Henry remained in Stark Co. until the fall of 1808, when he was brought by his father to the cabin home on the Rocky Fork ; he was left here by his father while he went to Pennsylvania, where he was married; Henry lived with his uncle Michael and wife, who came on and kept house while Jacob went East ; after his father's return, both families occupied the cabin until about 1810, when Michael and his wife moved into the cabin built by Moses Fountain north across the creek, and near the mill; Jacob Newman remained on the Rocky Fork until the fall of 1811, when he came to Mansfield, and remained here until his death in June, 1813: in the summer of 1812, he raised a crop here, and that winter piloted Gen. Crook's army to the Mau- mee country. Henry Newman says the accounts con- cerning his absence from December until June are in- correct ; he states that his father was not gone that length of time, and that he did not leave Mansfield until March ; he is quite certain concerning this, as he cannot remember his father being absent so long; after his father's death in 1813, Henry assisted his mother in the care of her property, and gathered what meager education the schools of the day afforded ; in 1828, he went to New Orleans in search of a man named Thomas G. Shield, who had absconded in debt to the Newman estate about $1,400, but failed to find him. A few years after his return, he was married to Jane Ward, a member of the Ward family, in Weller Township, to which locality he removed, and entered 80 acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. Newman lived on this farm-to which many acres were added-until 1849; they brought it to a high state of cultivation, and gained a competence from its soil ; all their children, but one, were born here. Their names are Jacob, born in 1832, (now a resident of La Grange, Ind.); Joseph (who lost his life in the late war, being mortally wounded at Mission Ridge); Andrew (also a soldier, and, who after his return, died from the exposure of a soldier's life); all three of these men went into the army as Lieu- tenants, and all were promoted ; Mr. Newman's daugh- ters are Harriet, Sarah, Francis and Elizabeth. Mr. Newman moved to Williams Co. in 1849, where he pur- chased a large farm, and erected a saw-mill, which en- terprises, with the aid of his son, he conducted suc-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 968

Author: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Mansfield, O. : A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 968