USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 60
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Mr. Ries was land appraiser twenty years ago, and he has held all the offices in the Lutheran church, of which he is a very faithful member.
As a farmer he has made a very comfortable living and has a comforta- ble home; he keeps his place in excellent condition and is spending his de- clining years in comfort and peace, and is well worthy of the friendship which all his neighbors freely accord. He is a good man in all the walks of life, and has so conducted himself as to be worthy of the esteem that has been accorded him by those with whom he has come into contact. His chil- dren, having been reared in a careful manner, are also highly respected by all classes.
WILLIAM EDWIN WEYGANDT.
The gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch is not a man who courts publicity, yet it must be a pleasure to him, as is natural, to know how well he stands with his fellow citizens throughout northern Ohio, especial- ly his native county of Wayne. The public is seldom mistaken in its estima- tion of a man, and had Mr. Weygandt not been most worthy he could not have gained the high position he now holds in public and social life. Having long maintained the same without abatement of his popularity, his standing in the county is perhaps now in excess of what it has ever been. He has by his own persistent and praiseworthy efforts won for himself a name whose luster the future years shall only augment. The term "self-made" may not convey much to some, but when applied to such a man as Mr. Weygandt it has a peculiar force, for he belongs to that interesting class of men, of unquestioned merit and honor, whose life histories show that they have been compelled, very
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largely, to map out their own career and furnish their own motive force in scaling the heights of success, thereby meriting the applause of their fellows.
W. E. Weygandt is a native of Baughman township, where he first saw the light of day on June 1, 1864, and he is the son of J. K. and Mary Wey- gandt. The boyhood days of Mr. Weygandt, like those of so many of our suc- cessful men of affairs, especially the learned professions, were spent upon the farm, where he worked during the summer months, alternating farming with schooling in the district schools. He was an ambitious lad and applied him- self most assiduously to his text books. His principal dependence, as we have before intimated, was very largely upon himself ; however, this is not a regret- table fact, for it strengthened his fortitude, courage and self-dependence, and without such attributes no life is a success. Desiring a higher education than the common schools could furnish, he entered the Normal University at Ada, Ohio, where he made a splendid record and from which institution he was graduated on July 23, 1895. He had decided to become a teacher and accord- ingly entered that profession, which he followed with credit for a period of ten years, during which time he gained an excellent local reputation as an educator, his services having been in great demand, for he had thoroughly equipped himself and seemed to possess all the natural qualifications for the successful teacher. But believing that the law was his proper field of action, he took up its study with A. D. Metz, of Wooster, who was at one time prose- cuting attorney of Wayne county and a lawyer of great ability and fame. This was in April, 1894, and having made rapid progress in the same, Mr. Wey- gandt was admitted to practice at the Ohio bar the following October. He was remarkably successful from the first and soon had a large clientele, figur- ing conspicuously in many important cases in the local courts from time to time. His ability and public spirit attracted the attention of the leaders of the Democratic party and he was selected as the candidate of this party for prosecuting attorney of Wayne county in 1898. He was elected and filled the office with rare credit and acceptance, proving the wise selection of his con- stituents. On April 29, 1908, Mr. Weygandt was nominated for the office of judge of the common pleas court of Wayne county and in the ensuing election he was the choice of the voters, defeating his opponent. W. F. Kean, by a majority of two thousand and seven hundred. He assumed the duties of his office on January 1, 1909, and in this responsible position he has again proved in no uncertain manner his eminent fitness for a position demanding ability of high order and an intimate and discriminating acquaintance with the prin- ciples of jurisprudence. His decisions have uniformly been characterized by
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a high sense of justice, guided by a wide knowledge of law and precedent, and his administration of his official duties has been eminently satisfactory to both litigants and attorneys.
In September, 1886, Judge Weygandt was married to Cora Mock, daugh- ter of Samuel Mock, a well known and highly respected farmer, now retired at the age of eighty-two years. To this union have been born three children, Carl, now a student in Wooster University, Ross and Ola.
As a lawyer Mr. Weygandt ranks deservedly high at the Wayne county bar. His habits of study, research, ability to analyze and comprehend the law, to deduce and apply it, make him an informed, reliable and certain lawyer, and necessarily successful. In his practice before the court he was characterized by fairness in stating the position of an adversary, and strong enough and broad enough to desire no undue advantage. His utterances are expressive of a calm dignity, a tolerant spirit, but a fixed purpose. In his discussion of the law he is terse, clear, precise and incisive, and to the jury he is clear, de- liberate, impressive. In his active practice of the law his character for per- sonal and professional integrity was fully recognized and appreciated. He escaped the suspicion of ever having knowingly failed to fulfill all proper obli- gations of his profession. Combined with the excellent personal and official qualities of the successful attorney and jurist, he is infused with the genius of enterprise and is a man of enlarged public spirit. He always stands ready to identify himself with his fellow citizens in any good work and extends a co-operative hand to advance any measure that will better the condition of things, that will give better government, elevate mankind, insure higher stand- ards of morality and the highest ideals of a refined, ennobling, intellectual culture.
JAMES LEE ZARING.
Of high professional and academic attainments and ranking among the foremost educators of northern Ohio, James Lee Zaring, now the efficient and popular county auditor of Wayne county, has achieved marked distinction in the noble work to which his talents and energies have so long been devoted. and, judging by the past, it is safe to predict for him a future of still greater usefulness and honor. Not only as a teacher and manager of schools has he made his presence felt, but as a citizen in the daily walks of life, his influence has tended to the advancement of the community and the welfare of his
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fellow men, while the several responsible public positions to which he has been called from time to time bear testimony of his ability to fill worthily high and important trusts. His name with eminent fitness occupies a conspicuous place in the profession which he adorns and his career, presenting a series of suc- cesses such as few attain, has gained for him much more than local reputation as a successful organizer and manager of educational interests.
Mr. Zaring was born at Jefferson, Plain township, Wayne county, Ohio, December 4, 1859, the son of Eli and Mary (Stevic) Zaring, both natives of Plain township, this county, the father having been born on January 16, 1836, and the latter in 1832, each representing old pioneer families of sterling worth who came here in the days of the forest primeval when the country was over- run by wild beasts and the council fires of the red men had scarcely died away. They were a sturdy people who delighted to meet and overcome great obsta- cles,-in short, they were true types of empire builders, making it possible for succeeding generations to live in ease and affluence, to ride in modern motor cars over trails which they blazed and over which their ox carts passed. An insight into the characteristics of the subject would indicate that he had in- herited some of the worthy traits of his rugged progenitors.
Eli Zaring grew up on the home farm which he helped clear, and al- though his chances to receive an education in the old ax-hewn one-roomed school houses of- that remote period were indeed limited, he made the most of every advantage and became in after years a well informed man, who was influential in county affairs and who very creditably filled the office of clerk of the local courts for a period of six years. He was for many years solicitor for the Wayne County Democrat and he held every office in Plain township, a Republican stronghold ; this proved his high standing in his native com- munity, for he was always a loyal Democrat. The court appointed him ap- praiser of land in Chester township in 1880. He was a great friend of Capt. Lemuel Jeffries,-in fact, he was a man admired by all who knew him, for he was honest, public-spirited and straightforward in all his dealings with his fellow men.
James L. Zaring was educated in the district schools of Plain township, which he attended during the winter months, working in his father's shoe shop the rest of the year. He also attended the Smithville Normal School, where he made an excellent record in both scholarship and deportment. Being ambitious to enter the career of an educator, he prepared himself very care- fully to that end and during his long service as such he has given the utmost
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satisfaction and his services have been in great demand ; he holds a life certifi- cate and he was county examiner for a period of nine years.
Professor Zaring was married, on June 3, 1882, to Celestia Reamer, daughter of Jacob and Sophia Reamer, a highly honored family of Smithville .. Mrs. Zaring is a woman of culture and refinement and she has been of great assistance to her husband in his manifold duties since their marriage, always encouraging him and counseling him in whatever work he was engaged. This union has been blessed by the birth of four children, two of which died in infancy ; the two living children are Ethel, now twenty-six years of age. and John, who is twenty-four years old.
Politically, Professor Zaring is a Democrat and he has held many of the minor village offices and is now auditor of Wayne county, filling the office in a manner that is winning universal approval. He stands high in Masonry, being a member of the Knights Templar, Wooster Commandery, No. 48; Cedar Lodge, No. 430, Free and Accepted Masons, of Orrville, and Wooster Chapter. No. 27, Royal Arch Masons.
Although a school man in the broadest and best sense of the term, Pro- fessor Zaring has never become narrow or pedantic, as have so many whose. lives have been spent in intimate association with the immature minds within the four walls of a school room. He is a well rounded, symmetrically de- veloped man, fully alive to the demands of the times, thoroughly informed on the leading questions before the public and takes broad views of men and things. By keeping in touch with the times and the trend of current thought he has ever been enabled to discharge the duties of citizenship in the intelligent manner becoming the level-headed American of today, and his acquaintance. with the history of the country and its institutions makes him also a politician, but not necessarily a partisan. He believes in progress in other than the pro- fession to which he belongs and to attain the end manifests an abiding interest in whatever makes for the material advancement of the community, encourag- ing all worthy enterprises and lending his influence to means whereby his fel- low men may be benefited and made better. He is in hearty accord with laudable and healthful pastimes and sports, such as base ball, basket ball, hurdle and foot racing and all kinds of athletes that tend to develop and. strengthen the physical powers. These he has always encouraged among his pupils, believing that development of the body as well as the mind and heart to be essential to the make-up of the scholarly and well-rounded man. Wayne county owes a great debt of gratitude to Professor Zaring for the great good: he has done in educational, political, social and material affairs.
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M. M. VAN NEST.
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves to a position of honor and responsibility in a community is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities and who have put the impress of their individuality upon the business . and growth of their place of residence and affect for good such institutions as are embraced within the sphere of their usefulness, unwittingly, perhaps, build monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. Of such we have the unquestioned right to say belongs the gentleman whose name appears above. As a business man, as member of the city legislative body, and as its chief executive official, as well as in the more humble walks of life, he has borne well his part and his public spirited and unselfish devotion to the highest and best interests of the community have won for him the high regard of all, regardless of political lines.
M. M. Van Nest was born at Rowsburg, Ashland county, Ohio, on the Ioth of December, 1864. He is descended from Holland antecedents, the family name having originally been Van Ness. The subject's paternal grand- father was John Van Nest, who was born in Pennsylvania, but came to Ohio in 1839, settling in Ashland county. He was a harness-maker by trade and followed this occupation all his active life. He died in 1903, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. The subject's parents were J. P. and Mary E. (Gardner) Van Nest. J. P. Van Nest was born at Rowsburg, Ohio, and upon taking up a business career entered upon that of insurance in which he was successful. In the spring of 1873 he removed to the city of Wooster, and here continued in the insurance business until his death, which occurred on April 3. 1905. Mr. Van Nest was a public-spirited man and took a keen interest in public affairs, serving for two terms as a member of the Wooster city council. Early in the great Rebellion, Mr. Van Nest enlisted for service in the defense of his country's flag, joining the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three years, taking part in some of the most sanguinary struggles of that great conflict. Among these battles were the following : Chickasaw Bayou, December 28-29, 1862; Arkan- sas Post, January 11, 1863; Thompson's Hill (Port Gibson), May 1, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4, 1863; Big Black River, May 17, 1863; Jackson, Miss., July 9-16, 1863 ; transport "City Belle," near Snaggy Point, Louisiana, May 3, 1864. Mr. Van Nest enlisted as a private, but, by faithful and meritorious service, he retired from the service with the rank of second lieutenant. At the battle of Vicksburg he was severely wounded by a frag-
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ment of shell. Prior to entering the military service Mr. Van Nest had fol- lowed the trade of harness-maker, but on his return home he gave that up and took up the insurance business. He married Mary E. Gardner, who was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, as were also her parents. She is still living in Wooster, at the age of sixty-seven years. By her union with Mr. Van Nest she became the mother of the following children: John, of Wooster; M. M., the subject of this sketch; Carrie, the wife of William L. Derr, of Cleveland, Ohio; Gertrude, deceased ; Maud M., the widow of John Griffith and living in Wooster; Ellen, deceased; Charles W., of Wooster ; Mabel is unmarried and remains at home.
M. M. Van Nest was nine years old when his parents removed to Wooster and in the public schools of this city he secured a good education. After the completion of his education, he took up the trade of harness-maker, following this in the footsteps of the two generations preceding him. He was thus em- ployed for nineteen years and was considered a good workman. Subsequently he entered the insurance business with his brother, under the firm style of J. P. Van Nest Sons, and they have built up a large business in fire insurance, theirs being considered one of the most important agencies in this city.
Mr. Van Nest is a Democrat in politics and in 1899 he was elected a mem- ber of the city council from the fourth ward, and was re-elected in 1901, serv- ing as president of that body during 1901 and 1902. In the spring of 1903 he was elected mayor of the city, and so eminently satisfactory was his ad- ministration of the office that he has been twice re-elected, in 1905 and 1907. Mr. Van Nest applied to the administration of the affairs of his official posi- tion the same careful business principles which he would apply to his own business affairs, and in his attitude towards public improvements he has been progressive, though at the same time exercising a wise conservatism which has been a guarantee against extravagance or a useless expenditure of the city's money. During his administration great strides have been made by the city in the way of street paving, cement sidewalks, sewerage, and increase in the city's water supply. Not only have the material necessities of the city been regarded, but considerable attention has been paid to the esthetic, and in many ways the city has been beautified, being now considered one of the most pleasing cities of its class in the state.
In 1905 Mayor Van Nest was appointed by the judge of the common pleas court, and re-appointed in 1908, a member of the soldiers' relief com- mittee of Wayne county, the appointment bearing special distinction from the fact that he is the only man not a veteran of the Civil war who ever served on this committee. The mayor is also second vice-president of the Wooster Board of Trade.
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In 1887, the subject was united in marriage to Amanda E. Ray, who was born and reared in Wooster, and to them have been born two children, Fred, deceased, and Florence H. The family reside in a pleasant and comfortable home on Columbus avenue, and here the spirit of hospitality ever abides. Fraternally Mayor Van Nest belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in which he has risen to the Uniform Rank, and to the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Yeomen. He and his wife belong to the English Lutheran church, of which they are liberal supporters. The family occupy a position of promi- nence in the social life of the community and all who know them hold them in the highest regard.
HENRY H. STRAUSS.
Henry H. Strauss, president of the Orrville National Bank, has been a potent factor in the commercial and social life of Orrville and Wayne county for over forty years. He is one of those solid men of brain and substance so essential to the material growth and prosperity of a community and whose influence is willingly extended in behalf of every deserving enterprise that has for its object the advancement or moral welfare of the community.
The Strauss name is found to be one of the early pioneer family names in America. The family is of German origin and the progenitor of the family in the New World is thought to be Nicholas Strauss, a native of the Father- land, who came to America in 1732. Henry Strauss, paternal grandfather of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania, in which state several generations of the family lived and reared their families.
Peter Strauss, father of the subject of this biography, was born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, removing when a young man to Saegers- town, Crawford county, that state. He was a farmer and pursued that call- ing with fair success. In 1850 he removed to Wayne county, Ohio, and set- tled on a farm in Plain township, where he continued to reside until his death. which occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. He married Julia Renner, who was also born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. She pre- ceded her husband in death a few years, dying at the age of sixty-seven years. Of the six children born to this worthy couple, three are now living, namely : Abigail, the wife of John Martin, of Reedsburg. Ohio; Marietta. the wife of William Gill, of Plain township, this county, and Henry H .. subject of this sketch.
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Henry H. Strauss was born on the parental farmstead at Saegerstown, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, on August 15, 1839, and removed to Wayne county, Ohio, with his parents in 1850. His early life was spent on the farm, and he attended the public schools during his boyhood, supplementing this by attendance at the Wooster high school and the Fredericksburg Academy. Eight years were spent in teaching school during the winter months and at- tending school during the summer seasons. In 1867 Mr. Strauss came to Orrville where he has since been a recognized influence. In that year he en- gaged in the dry goods business with the late Henry Shrieber, the partner- ship, however, only continuing six months. In 1868 he and the late C. R. Beckley bought a dry goods stock located in the present stand of W. L. Des- Voignes. Here Mr. Strauss was in business for twenty years, buying Mr. Beckley's interest after twelve years of partnership. Here was first estab- lished Mr. Strauss's splendid reputation for honorable and upright business methods, which his long and successful career has since maintained inviolate.
In 1881 the Orrville Banking Company, a private bank, was organized, and Mr. Strauss, being one of the organizers, became the cashier, accepting the position with reluctance. Being at this time engaged in the mercantile business, he divided his time between the bank and the store until 1888, when he sold the store and since that year he has devoted his time exclusively and continuously to the bank.
On July 3, 1902, the bank was reorganized as the Orrville National Bank and its capital stock increased to fifty thousand dollars. The bank is one of the solid financial institutions of northern Ohio. At its reorganization as a national bank, Mr. Strauss was elected president, which title designates his present official position with the bank.
Mr. Strauss's other business interests include a directorship in the Orr- ville Bedding Company and numerous other investments. He has also ex- tensive land interests, having a fine farm in Greene township, one in Baugh- man township and part owner of one in Chippewa township.
Mr. Strauss was married September 20, 1870, to Mary Leinninger, who was born in Dalton, Wayne county, Ohio. She is a daughter of Frederick and Anna Leinninger, both of whom were natives of Germany. Four chil- dren constitute their family, namely : Bessie E., who holds a responsible posi- tion in the bank : Frank L., cashier of the bank; Harry H. graduated from Wooster University in 1904, was later a student at Chicago University, Chi- cago, and was professor and instructor in Latin and Greek at Miami Univer- sity, Oxford, Ohio; he has been a member of the faculties at Tullane College New Orleans, the State University of Iowa and the State University of North
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Dakota, and next year will return to Tullane College as an instructor; Dr. Robert Todd is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and is now a successful dentist at Alliance, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Strauss are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Strauss is an elder and has served on the official board. Fraternally, Mr. Strauss is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellow's and the Knights of Honor. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican party, having cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He served for twenty years on the Orrville city school board and manifests a keen interest in educational mat- ters.
Mr. Strauss as a business man is a representative type of that fine old school where the highest integrity, implacable justice and rugged honesty are the prerequisites to success. Personally, he is of kindly demeanor, a whole- some optimism pervading his nature, and his engaging frankness disclosing a heart mellowed with human sympathies.
CAPT. JAMES B. TAYLOR.
A man who stands admittedly among the leaders of the legal profession in the northern part of the Buckeye state, where he has long been practicing in all the courts, often handling many of the most important cases on the various dockets, is Capt. James B. Taylor, of Wooster, Wayne county. Being cour- teous, well informed and enterprising, he is recognized as one of the repre- sentative men of a community widely noted for the high order of its citizen- ship, and in his life record is much that should be an incentive to the youth standing at the parting of the ways, whose destinies are matters for future years to determine, to have higher ambitions and accomplish more for their fellow men, for his life has always been led along a plane of high endeavor, always consistent with the truth in its higher forms and ever in keeping with honorable principles, while at the same time he has been eminently successful in his chosen profession. He is the scion of pioneer ancestors of the most sterling qualities who did much in their day for the communities in which they lived, and the Captain is a worthy descendant of his forbears, thus for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he was one of the patriotic sons of the North, who, when the tocsin of war sounded, left his comfortable hearthstone and his business affairs to do what he could toward saving the national union from disruption and dishonor, he is accorded conspicuous men-
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