USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 66
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at Wooster, and ranks high among his old comrades, as well as among the citizens of the county generally. He has been successful in business, promi- nent in politics, and one of the factors in developing his part of the county.
On March 13. 1862, Mr. Boor married Elizabeth C. Carl, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, February 16, 1841. She is a daughter of Philip and Otilla ( Bush) Carl, who came from Germany and were early pioneers of Ashland county. He died in 1844 and his widow married Philip Beck. but both are now deceased. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Boor, named as follows: George Clement, born January 23, 1863, is a druggist in Rocky River, Ohio, and married Adeline Wagner; Edwin Nich- olas, born September 3, 1866, is electrician for the Cleveland, Columbus & Southwestern Electric Company, married Ora Hershey and has two children, Ruth and Helen; Dr. Seymour C., born July 7, 1868, was educated at Cleve- land and Baltimore, married Amanda Gingery and lives in Burbank, Ohio; Effie Gertrude, born February 10, 1872, married F. O. Miller, a farmer of Wayne township, and has three children, Marie, Harold and Gladys.
ISAAC N. HOUGH.
County auditor from 1903 to 1909 and for many years an educator of wide repute, Isaac N. Hough is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, born in Chester township on July 12, 1849. He springs from an old and well known Pennsylvania family that figured in the early history of various parts of the Keystone state, but for many years the name has been a familiar sound in northern Ohio, his father, David Hough, moving with his parents to Wayne county when but six years old and spending the remainder of his life on the family homestead in Chester township. By occupation David Hough was a tiller of the soil, which useful and honorable calling he followed for many years with gratifying success. He was a man of high character and eminently respectable social standing, wielded a strong influence for good among his neighbors and friends and was long esteemed one of the leading citizens. He departed this life at the age of sixty years, one month and one day, and left to his posterity the memory of noble deeds and high ideals and a name un- stained by the slightest suspicion of dishonor.
Mary Showalter. wife of David Hough, was also of Pennsylvania birth and, like her husband, came to Ohio in early life and spent her youth and young womanhood in the county of Wayne. She combined many noble qual-
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ities of mind and heart, which were reproduced in her offspring, and ended her earthly course in. the year 1895, esteemed and honored by all who knew her.
The children of David and Mary Hough, eleven in number, are as fol- lows: Lucy, wife of Edmund Keyser, of Wooster, Ohio; Daniel, who lives in Cass county, Missouri; John, deceased; William, of Belding, Michigan ; Matilda, deceased, who was the wife of George W. Forbes, of Cleveland, Ohio; Sarah Jane, who is unmarried and lives in the city of Wooster: Isaac N., the subject of this review ; James A., deceased; Margaret W., who mar- ried J. W. Crummel, of Apple Creek, this state ; Ida A., wife of C. B. Burch- field, also a resident of Apple Creek, and Clara M., who was basely murdered some years ago in the city of Mansfield, Ohio.
Isaac N. Hough is descended from sturdy and eminently honorable ancestry and inherits to a marked degree many of the sterling qualities of his antecedents. He was reared in close touch with nature on the farm and grew to the full stature of well-rounded manhood under excellent home in- fluences, learning while still young those lessons of industry and thrift which make for success in material matters and the principles of morality and probity which constitute such important parts of every symmetrically devel- oped character. Under the wholesome discipline of farm labor he laid broad and deep the solid foundations upon which his subsequent career as an educator and public spirited official rests and to this rugged school of experience attributes much of the success which has made him an influential factor and recognized leader among his fellow men. At the proper age he entered the district school of his neighborhood, where his progress was commendable, and he later attended Smithville Academy several terms, in which he made rapid advancement in the higher branches of learning. Leav- ing the latter institution with a well disciplined mind, he engaged in teach- ing and during the thirty years ensuing devoted his attention very closely and conscientiously to that useful and noble work, attaining, in the mean- time, much more than local repute. as an educator. It is a fact worthy of note that Mr. Hough's long experience as a teacher was confined to a very small area of Wayne county. All of his thirty winter and twenty-two summer schools, with the exception of four terms, were taught in four districts, his frequent retention for long periods of service in the same place bearing elo- quent testimony to his ability as an instructor and to his great personal popularity with pupils and patrons.
In the year 1897 Mr. Hough entered the auditor's office as deputy
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under A. B. Peckinpaugh, and continued in that capacity until 1902, when he was nominated for the position by the local Democracy and triumphantly elected in the fall of that year. Being familiar with every detail of the office and obliging in his relations with the public, he discharged his duties in such a capable and satisfactory manner that he was chosen his own successor in 1905. As an official he was industrious and painstaking and his loyalty to the people's interests as custodian of one of their most important trusts has earned for him the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow men as a public servant and sterling worth as an intelligent, broad-minded and progressive citizen.
Mr. Hough was united in marriage on the 10th day of March, 1887, with Lillie A. Martin, of Wooster, daughter of John Martin, a well-known resi- dent of the city, the union proving mutually happy and resulting in the birth of six children, of whom two are deceased. Howard E., the first born of the family, died in infancy ; Waldo O., the second in order of birth, was grad- uated from the city high school at the early age of sixteen and then entered the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, where he completed the full course and attained to high honor as a student. On graduating from the latter institution he became bookkeeper for the Gerstenslager Buggy Company of Wooster, but two years later resigned the position to enter the Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. After one year he had to give up college work on account of his father's illness. He is now assistant state examiner of county records. He is an exceptionally intelligent young man and, actuated by a laudable ambition to succeed, has before him a promis- ing and brilliant future. Beulah M., the oldest daughter, like her brother, is much given to study and literature and is one of the brightest and most intelligent young ladies of the city in which she lives. She, too, made a remarkable record as a student, completing the high school course when she was but fifteen years of age, being the youngest person ever graduated from that institution. Later she took a full course in bookkeeping, stenog- raphy and typewriting in the business college at Wooster, served as first deputy auditor under her father, and is now in the Citizens National Bank. Blanche I., the second daughter, sustains the high reputation of her brother and sister, being an ambitious student and standing among the first of her classes in the city high school. The fifth in order of birth died in infancy, the next being a daughter, Clara M., a bright and interesting young lady who is prosecuting her studies in the high school, where she has already achieved a creditable record.
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Mr. Hough is proud of his children and has provided them with excep- tional educational advantages, which, to their credit, they fully appreciate. They heartily second all of his efforts in their behalf and thus far have fully realized his ardent hopes and high expectations, proving, as already indicated, remarkably intelligent and ambitious and giving promise of future honor and usefulness in whatever stations in life they may be called to fill. Mrs. Hough is a lady of fine mind and beautiful character whose refining and elevating in- fluence has contributed much to the moral discipline as well as the intellectual advancement of her offspring. She has been an able and judicious counsellor to her husband, assisting him in all his efforts, encouraging him in his aspira- tions and presiding over his home with the grace and dignity characteristic of the intelligent and broad minded American housewife of today. The entire family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are deeply interested in the various lines of religious work under the auspices of the organization, be- sides giving their assistance and influence to all enterprises and movements for the general welfare of the community.
· JAMES LLOYD GRAY.
A due measure of success invariably results from clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life, but in following out the career of one who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view the in- trinsic individuality which has made such accomplishments possible. Such attributes were evidently possessed by James L. Gray, for many years promi- nent in the commercial and industrial life of the city of Wooster and he suc- ceeded in leaving the indelible imprint of his personality upon the lives of all with whom he came into contact. He was born in Milton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1832. His father was of Scotch and his mother of German ancestry. They came to Pennsylvania in what historians are pleased to call "an early day," the mother dying there when her son, James L., was a small child, consequently he was reared by his uncle, Samuel Blain, who lived on a farm near the birthplace of the subject.
When sixteen years of age, Mr. Gray began life for himself, first obtain- ing a position as clerk on a steamboat that plied the waters of the Mississippi. for the life of a riverman in those days was a fascinating one and appealed very strongly to the boyish imagination of the subject. This life he followed for three years, during which time he had occasion to ascend and descend all
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the navigable rivers tributary to the Mississippi, one of the most notable and interesting trips being to the Yellowstone Park in quest of furs.
But finally, tiring of life on the river, Mr. Gray returned to his home town, Milton, Pennsylvania, and served an apprenticeship in the saddler's trade, after which he located at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. There he met and afterwards married Eunice Magaw, a native of Beaver county, Pennsyl- vania, and soon after his marriage he brought his young bride to Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, where he at once engaged in business, and eventually became one of the leading business men of the county.
Mr. Gray was one of the loyal sons of the North who sacrificed the pleas- ures of home and opportunities of business to aid in suppressing the rebellion, enlisting in 1864 in Company E, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with credit in the famous Army of the Po- tomac, having been in the quartermaster's department a part of the time. After the war he returned to Wooster and for a time was superintendent of the Home mills. In 1875 he began dealing in coal, lime and builders' supplies, which business grew until it reached very large proportions and which he con- tinued until his death, which occurred on June 8, 1886, at the age of fifty-four years.
Mr. and Mrs. Gray were the parents of the following children : Charles M. Gray, a well-known resident of Wooster, Ohio ; Mrs. Cora B. Plummer, de- ceased ; Mrs. Emma E. Orr, deceased; Mrs. Eunice Jeffries, of Charlotte, North Carolina ; William L. Gray, a resident of Wooster.
James L. Gray was a man of pleasing disposition, honorable in public and private life, and he merited the high esteem in which he was universally held. He was a loyal Republican, taking a very active interest in political affairs. He served as a member of the volunteer fire department, which in his day was an important factor in the life of Wooster. Fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor, and he also be longed to the Grand Army of the Republic. He was one of the pillars of the English Lutheran church, having served as a member of the building committee in the erection of the Tabernacle on North Mar- ket street.
JOHN MEIER.
Admired and respected for his general intelligence, as well as for his sterling qualities as a neighbor and a citizen, no man in the town of Fred- ericksburg stands higher in public esteem than the worthy individual, the salient facts of whose life and character are herein set forth.
John Meier
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John Meier is a native of the little republic of Switzerland, having been born at Brugg, in the canton of Aargau, on the first day of September, 1831. He received some education in his native land and also attended school one term after coming to the United States. He learned the trade of shoe- making in his youth, at which he became an expert. In 1853 he determined to try his fortunes in the New World, and accordingly set sail for the United States, landing in due time at the port of New York. From there he went to Cleveland, Ohio, remaining there from June to November, in which month he located in Saltcreek township, Holmes county, Ohio, which was his home during the following six years. During this time he was employed at his trade of shoemaking. Locating then at Fredericksburg, Wayne county, he remained there three years, working at the shoemaker's bench, and at the end of that time he moved onto the farm which he now occupies and that has been his home continuously since. The farm, which is located in sec- tion 23, is a splendid piece of rural land, about seventy acres of it being in cultivation. The improvements on the place are complete and substantial and all things about the farm indicate thrift, industry and general prosperity. the property being now considered a valuable one. In 1860 Mr. Meier went to Switzerland for his two brothers, and in 1862 he sent for his parents and family and they made their home here with him until their deaths, a num- ber of years ago. After coming to the farm, Mr. Meier also carried on the occupation of shoemaking to some extent, more as a matter of accommo- dation than necessity, but he has relinquished that work, being now too old for steady, hard work. In his first coming to Ohio he met with some peculiar and occasionally exciting experiences. The country was extremely wild and at that time there were yet many Indians in the northern part of Ohio, the town of Fredericksburg being an important trading post. Bridges were practically unknown and roads were few and far between, the common routes for travel being simple trails through the dense forests. Massillon was the nearest town of any considerable size, and the early settlers were compelled to endure hardships and inconveniences little appreciated at the present day.
In 1861 Mr. Meier was united in marriage to Matilda Merilat, a sister to Captain Merilat and a daughter of David Merilat. She was a native of Switzerland and at the age of seventeen years was brought to this country by her parents. In his native land David Merilat was a school teacher. but after coming to this country he became a prominent and successful farmer of Wayne county. To Mr. and Mrs. Meier have been born eight children, brief
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mention of whom is made as follows: Sophia married first Charles Fletcher, later Charles Hipp, is the mother of five children, and lives at Marion, Ohio; Ida is the wife of Jacob Barnes, of near Nashville, Holmes county, and is the mother of nine children; Fannie is the wife of Hiram Sanderson, of Salt- creek township, and is the mother of four children : Mary is at home ; William, at home ; John, who married Sadie Kane, lives in Saltcreek township and has one child, Matilda; Emma married Eugene Rouhier, of Stark county, and they have six children; Charles, who married Maria Fellows, lives at Garretsville, and they have one child.
In politics Mr. Meier is a Democrat and has always taken a wide-awake interest in public affairs, though not a politician. However, he has during his long life here served his fellow-citizens acceptably in a number of local offices. In religion he is a member of the Reformed church at Mount Eaton. He is widely known and has the respect and confidence of a large circle of friends. His long and busy life is drawing to a close, but when he finally passes over the river it will be with the knowledge that his life has been well and honorably spent.
DAVID MYERS.
The true spirit of progress and honorable achievement has been manifest in the career of the well known and highly esteemed citizen whose name in- troduces this sketch and who, since discontinuing the strenuous life which was characterized by such signal success, has been living in honorable retirement in the city of Wooster. His life has been one of fulness and completeness of vigor and inflexible integrity and while engaged in the vocation to which in the main his attention has been devoted, he accomplished great and lasting good for the material progress of various cities and communities and at the same time failed not to reap the reward which his industry and skill so richly deserved.
David Myers is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and a descendant on the paternal side of a long line of sturdy German ancestry, which was first rep- resented in America by his father, Daniel Myers, who came to this country from Wurtemberg about the year 1814 and settled in Wilmington, Delaware. After spending a few years in that city he removed to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, thence when a young man to Wayne county, Ohio, where in 1828 he married Martha DeWese, who was born and reared in the county of Columbiana, this state. In his younger days Daniel Myers was a cooper,
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but in after life he became a farmer, which vocation he followed until his death, in 1873. Mrs. Myers survived her husband five years, departing this life on the home farm in Chester township in 1878. She sprang from an old and highly respected family, that figured actively in the early history of eastern Ohio and, tracing her ancestry further back, it appears that several of the De Wese family were soldiers in the Revolutionary war and that two of Mrs. Myers' brothers served with distinction in the war of 1812. By reason of this connection with the struggle for independence, three of Mr. Myers' daugh- ters hold membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, a pa- triotic society composed of female descendants of the soldiers of that war. Daniel and Martha Myers were parents of eight children, of whom five are living at the present time, viz: Mrs. Rebecca Reichard, whose home is in Iowa near the town of Knoxville; David, of this review; Mrs. Elizabeth Berkey, of Ashland county, Ohio; John, a resident of Chester township, Wayne county, and Mrs. Anna Powers, who lives in the city of Wooster.
David Myers was born December 16, 1833, and spent his childhood and youth on the family homestead in Chester township where he early became familiar with the practical duties of the farm and learned to appreciate the true dignity and worth of honest toil. In the free, outdoor experience of wood and field he grew up strong and rugged and well fitted for the active career upon which he subsequently entered and while still a young man he be- gan to formulate the plans for his future course of action. In a little log school house not far from the parental home he obtained a fair knowledge of such branches of learning as were then taught and, having early manifested decided predilection for mechanical work, he began, ere attaining his majority, to learn the trade of a carpenter, in which he soon acquired much more than ordinary efficiency and skill. Having mastered his craft, he worked at the same for some time in a subordinate capacity, but, actuated by a laudable am- bition to extend his operations, he afterwards became a contractor and it was not long until the high reputation of his work caused a wide demand for his services.
Without following in detail Mr. Myers' long and eminently honorable career as a contractor and builder, suffice it to state that from the beginning he was animated by a desire to excel and that during his active years he erected many buildings in various cities of his own and other states which still stand as monuments to his superior mechanical skill. Among the more notable pub- lic edifices under his direction in Wooster are the Methodist Episcopal church, the City Hall, a number of the university buildings, the Overholt residence,
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pronounced the finest private dwelling in the city, besides many others, to say nothing of numerous structures throughout the country. His fame as a me- chanic extending far beyond the limits of his own county, he contracted for a number of buildings in New York City and Brooklyn, including residences, churches, halls and various other public edifices, and later did much work in his line in several eastern and central states and throughout the northwest. The beautiful and imposing. Methodist Episcopal church at Duluth, Minne- sota, one of the finest and most attractive temples of worship in the state and representing a cost of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was erected by him, as were also similar edifices in Burlington, Iowa, Monmouth, Illinois, New Rochelle, New York, and in many other cities and towns, all of which bear evidence of a high order of architectural skill and efficiency of workman- ship, bespeaking a thorough mastery of the builder's art.
Mr. Myers was in Iowa when the country became disrupted by the late Civil war and, being loyal to the government and its institutions, he did not hesitate when the call came for volunteers to help put down the rebellion. Enlisting in the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry in 1861, he was soon at the scene of action, rendering valiant service for the Union and during his three years at the front his conduct under all circumstances was that of a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger and was ever ready to go where duty called. He shared with his comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war in a number of noted campaigns and battles, including Corinth, where he served under General Belknap, and won promotion to a lieutenancy by meri- torious conduct while under fire at Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, siege and capture of Vicksburg and numerous other engagements, receiving at Corinth a pain- ful wound in the arm, which, however, did not long incapacitate him from service.
At the expiration of his period of enlistment, which included three of the most strenuous years of the war, Mr. Myers was discharged with an honorable record and, returning to civil life, resumed contracting and building, which he followed with success and profit until 1886, when he discontinued active labor to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. By industry, judicious management and wise economy he amassed a handsome competency, amply sufficient indeed to enable him to spend the future free from anxiety and care and, being thus fortunately situated, he is enjoying that rest which he has so well earned and the many blessings which have come to him as the result of his many years of endeavor.
Mr. Myers returned to Ohio soon after the war closed and in 1865 was
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united in marriage with Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, of Somer- set county, Pennsylvania. When five years old she was brought to Ohio by her parents and at the celebration of her nuptials was living in Wayne county, where she had made her home for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had five children, namely : Viola, deceased; Martha, who married ex-County Clerk David Mussleman, of Wooster; John, assistant cashier of the Wayne County Bank; Blanche, wife of John Ames, chemist of the Ohio Experiment Station at Wooster, and Miss Claude Myers, who is still with her parents.
Mr. Myers manifests a commendable interest in all matters pertaining to the progress of the city of his residence and the good of the people and keeps in touch with the times on the leading questions and issues of the day. He is a director of the Wayne County National Bank, and in addition to a beautiful home on Beall avenue and other property in Wooster, owns a fine farm in the county to which he gives much personal attention. Fraternally, he holds membership with the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Royal Arcanum orders and politically wields an influence for the Democratic party. The Methodist church holds his religious creed, and with his wife and certain of his children he is a regular attendant of the congregation worshiping in Wooster, also a liberal contributor to its support and to the various lines of work under its auspices. His son John and daughter Mrs. Ames subscribe to the Presby- terian faith, both being active and consistent members of the church of that denomination in Wooster. Personally Mr. Myers stands high in the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens and is regarded as one of the enterprising and well-to-do men of the city in which he resides. Courteous and kindly in his relations with others, an influential factor in the business world and ready at all times to assist laudable measures for the general wel- fare, he has lived to high and noble ends and the future awaits him with bounteous rewards.
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