History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 74

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162

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their work and its effectiveness, as well as through individual study, reading and investigation, Doctor Brooks has kept steadily in touch with the progress which has made great changes in medical practice since he first located in Orrville, thus rendering his efforts much more effective in producing the desired result of lessening pain and restoring health. He conducts the gen- eral practice of medicine and surgery and has handled successfully many extremely difficult cases. During the past ten years Doctor Brooks has served faithfully and efficiently as health officer of Orrville.

In 1882 Doctor Brooks was united in marriage to Belle Worth, a daugh- ter of Andrew Worth, she having been born and reared near Cleveland, in the public schools of which city she received her education. To this union was born a son, Robert A. On June 26, 1907, the Doctor married Blanch M. Steel, of Orrville, daughter of Reuben and Julia A. Steel, both natives of Ohio. Socially and in a business way the Doctor is a man to make friends, and they are legion, not confined to his home in Orrville, but all over the country where his professional labors have called him.

FRANKLIN WARREN GEORGE.

Few men of Wayne county were as widely and favorably known as the late Franklin W. George, of Congress township, whose death occurred in 1900. He was one of the strong and influential citizens whose lives have become an essential part of the history of this section of the state and for years his name was synonymous for all that constituted honorable and upright man- hood. Tireless energy, keen perception and honesty of purpose, combined with every-day common sense, were among his chief characteristics and while advancing individual success he also largely promoted the moral and material welfare of his community. His death was considered a distinct loss to the community and his memory is held sacred by all who knew him.

Franklin W. George was a native son of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Wayne county on the 14th of July, 1839, and was the son of Andrew and Maria ( Frazier) George, the former of whom was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and the latter of York county, Pennsylvania. Each came to Wayne county single and were married here. Andrew George was a farmer by vocation and was successful in his business affairs, owning about two hundred and twenty-five acres in Congress township. He was a stanch

ANNA E. CEORCE

J. O George

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Republican in his political views and in religion was affiliated with the United Brethren church. Mr. and Mrs. George were the parents of two sons.

The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Canaan township and was reared to the life of a farmer. In young manhood he entered a store in Burbank in the capacity of clerk, but the condition of his health be- came so precarious that he deemed it expedient to return to an outdoor life. and resumed work on his father's farm, in connection with which he ran a threshing machine a number of years. He gave his attention to general farm- ing, raising all the crops common to this section of the country, and in con- nection therewith he engaged in the raising of livestock, in both of which lines he was distinctively successful. He occupied a prominent and influential position in the community and for a number of years rendered signal service to his fellow citizens in the capacity of township trustee, giving to the dis- charge of the duties of the office a careful and discriminating administration. His death occurred on the 5th of September, 1900. He was a Republican in his political views and kept in close touch with the current events of the day. He was public-spirited in his attitude toward all movements looking to the betterment of the community and could be counted upon to encourage all moral, educational or religious movements.

On the 5th of October. 1876, Mr. George was united in marriage with Anna E. McCoy, who, after her husband's death, removed to Burbank, where she now resides. She is the owner of one hundred and sixty-eight acres of . land, to which she gives her attention, being a woman of good business abil- ity and sound judgment. She was born in New Pittsburg, Wayne county. Ohio, August 13, 1844, and is a daughter of David and Nancy ( Reed ) McCoy. Her father was born in Pennsylvania and came to Wayne county in an early day, and there married, his wife being a native of this county. Mrs. George's maternal grandparents, Andrew and Sarah Reed, were natives of Ireland, and emigrated to America in an early day, their first child being born at sea. They were the parents of twelve children, the last of whom died in June. 1900. Mrs. George suffered the loss of both parents when she was quite young and she was reared by an aunt in Wayne township. Mr. and Mrs. George became the parents of one son, Charles F., who died in infancy.

Mrs. George is a woman of many fine personal qualities and in her home community she enjoys the warm regard and esteem of all who know her. She is a woman of kindly ways and winning disposition and delights in the companionship of her friends, who are in number as her acquaintances.

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GEORGE H. IRVIN, M. D.

Professional success results from merit. Frequently in commercial life one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but in what are known as the learned professions advancement is gained only through painstaking and long-continued effort. Prestige in the healing art is the outcome of strong mentality, close application, thorough mastery of its great underlying principles and the ability to apply theory to practice in the treatment of diseases. Good intellectual training, thorough profes- sional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and at- tributes essential to success, have made the subject of this review eminent in his chosen calling and he stands today among the front ranks of physicians in a county noted for the high order of its medical talent.

Dr. George H. Irvin is descended on the paternal side from Irish ante- cedents and on the maternal from German stock. His maternal great-grand- father, Philip Hoff, was a native of Germany and came to America in young manhood, he having apprenticed himself to a blacksmith in order to secure his passage. He lived in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, for awhile and in 1819 he came to Wayne county, Ohio, making the trip from Penn- sylvania in a covered wagon. This old wagon is now the property of the subject and is a highly prized heirloom. David Hoff, son of Philip and the subject's grandfather, was born in 1819 but a few weeks after his parents had settled in Wayne county. He continued to reside on his native farm continuously until about eight years ago, when he removed to Smithville, and three years later came to Orrville, where he now resides. He was ninety years old the 17th of June, 1909. He married Sarah Schaffer, who was a tailoress and it is a matter of fact that she made her husband's wedding clothes. Their only child, Sarah, was the subject's mother.

The subject's paternal grandfather was George Irvin, a earnest and faithful minister of the German Baptist church, who lived near Golden Cor- ners, Wayne county, Ohio, and who died at the age of seventy years. His son, David M., the subject's father, was born in Wayne county, but is now a subject of Canada, having gone to Osage, Canada, five years ago and tak- ing up farming and the real estate business. He married Sarah Hoff, who was born and reared on the old homestead in Wayne county. Her death oc- curred when her son, George H., was but eighteen days old. She had borne her husband four children, namely: Mary, who was the wife of T. E. Steiner, is deceased, leaving one child; John resides on the old home farm;

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Minnie is the wife of Chauncey J. King, of Orrville, and the subject. Sub- sequently the father married Rebecca Kurtz, of Wooster, by whom he also had four children : Augusta, who became the wife of Dr. Joseph S. Steiner, of Bluffton, Ohio; Rebecca, the wife of Elmer Close, living near Orrville ; Ira, of Iowa; Anna, the wife of Isaiah Close, of near Orrville.

George H. Irvin received his elementary education in the common schools and two years in the Orrville schools. He then became a student in Juniata College, at Huntington, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in the English course in 1894. He was then engaged for two years as a school teacher at Wapakoneta, Ohio, and three years at Orrville. In the autumn of 1899 he took up the serious study of medicine, for which he had a de- cided liking, entering the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, where he graduated in 1903. During his last year in college he was house physician at the Cleveland Maternity Hospital and then spent nine months in the Huron Street Hospital, both of these positions being gained by competitive examina- tion. In 1904 Doctor Irvin came to Orrville and entered upon the active practice of his profession. Thus far his career has been all and more than his most sanguine friends predicted. His ability to trace the devious paths of disease through the human system and to remove its effects is widely rec- ognized and a mind well disciplined by severe professional training, together with a natural aptitude for close investigation and critical research, have peculiarly fitted him for the noble calling in which he is engaged. He is a careful reader of the best professonal literature and keeps himself in touch with the age in the latest discoveries pertaining to the healing art. Those qualities of mind and heart that do not pertain to the mere knowledge of the medical science, but greatly enhance the true worth of the family phy- sician, are not wanting in him. He possesses the tact and happy faculty of inspiring confidence on the part of his patients and their friends and in the sick room his genial presence and conscious ability to cope successfully with disease under treatment are factors that have contributed much to the enviable standing which he has attained.

In September, 1900, Doctor Irvin was married to Letitia Bechtel, of Huntington, Pennsylvania, who died October 31, 1901, without issue. In September, 1905, he married Anna Pricc, a daughter of W. H. Price, a well- known resident of Norwalk, Ohio, where she was born and reared. This union was first blessed by the birth of one child, Catharine Sarah, and on November 21, 1909, Mrs. Irvin presented her husband with a fine pair of twin boys, George Hoff, Jr., and Albert Price, of whom the Doctor feels justly proud.

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Doctor Irvin is a member of the Eastern Ohio Homeopathic Society, the Ohio State Homeopathic Society and the American Institute of Homeopathy. He is a member of the German Baptist church and, though his professional work precludes a very regular attendance upon religious worship, he gives the society a generous support. He is found on the right side of every moral movement and as a man is held in the highest regard by all who know him.

ISAAC PONTIUS.

The record of an honorable, upright life is always read with interest, and it better perpetuates the name of the subject than does a monument, seen by few and soon crumbling into dust beneath the relentless hand of time. Those who have fought and suffered for the country in which their lot is cast are especially deserving of an honored place in its annals, and their posterity will turn with just pride to these records of the preservers of a prosperous, united nation.

The subject of this sketch is descended from good old German ances- try, his Hessian forefathers having settled in the state of New York many years prior to the war for independence, and from there removed to Penn- sylvania, where they lived for several generations. The subject's paternal grandfather was Nicholas Pontius, who was born in Union county, Penn- sylvania. He was a farmer by vocation and cleared his farm from the primeval forests. His son Frederick, father of the subject, was also born on the homestead farm in the Keystone state and was brought to Stark county, Ohio, when a boy. He was reared to the life of a farmer and se- cured his education under a private tutor. In 1852 he removed to Summit county, this state, and remained there until 1864, when he came to Orrville, Wayne county, and engaged in the tanning business for a short time. His death occurred in 1872, at the age of about seventy years. He mar- ried Mary Ann Wise, a native of Stark county, Ohio, but whose parents were born in Union county, Pennsylvania, being also of Pennsylvania-Ger- man stock. Her death occurred in 1877, when she was fifty-seven years old. In religion the father was a member of the Reformed church, while his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the following now survive: Jefferson, of Orrville; Mrs. J. F. Seas, of Orrville; Mrs. Hal Perkins, of Moss Point, Mississippi, and the subject.

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Isaac Pontius was reared on the home farm in Stark county, Ohio, until he was eighteen years of age. He received a common school educa- tion and supplemented this by attendance at the Greensburg (Ohio) Sem- inary. At the age mentioned he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in August, 1862, and served until the close of the war, and during this period he participated in a number of hard-fought battles, besides many lighter engagements and skirmishes. He saw much arduous service and received an honorable dis- charge.

After the close of his military service Mr. Pontius returned to Orrville and for a short time worked with his father in the latter's tannery. In 1865 he entered the hardware store of J. F. Seas in the capacity of sales- man and has been identified with this house continuously since, a period of forty-four years. In 1875 Mr. Pontius engaged in the coal business, which he still conducts. He has been a member of the Orrville Banking Company since its organization in May, 1881, and on its re-organization as a national bank he was elected the vice-president, which position he still retains, being also a member of the board of directors. He has also large landed interests and is identified as a stockholder in several local enterprises, including the Millersburg and Wooster Telephone Company. He has given his support and encouragement to every enterprise that has promised to be of definite benefit to the community and is accounted one of the leading men of the city.

On the 18th of October, 1876, Mr. Pontius married Martha E. Tag- gart, the daughter of James N. and Elizabeth (Kimberlin) Taggart. She was born, reared and married on a farm located about two miles southwest of Orrville. Her mother was a native of Pennsylvania, while her father was a native of Wayne county, Ohio. Her grandfather, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, came to this country and entered land in Washington county. Pennsylvania, subsequently coming to Wayne county, Ohio, where he ob- tained a government patent to three-quarters of a section of good land. On this land a large part of the business and residence section of Orrville now lies, including the lot on which the subject of this sketch erected his present residence in 1876. To Mr. and Mrs. Pontius has been born one child, Howard Taggart, born September 19, 1893.

In 1896 Mr. Pontius was elected a member of the Orrville board of education, in which position he served continuously six years, part of the time as president of the board, and in 1907 he was again elected to this position

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and is now a member of the board. He was also a member of the city coun- cil for six years, from 1884 to 1890. He is now a member of the Board of Industry, an organization for the advancement of the commercial and indus- trial interests of the city, and he is now serving as a member of the executive committee of this organization. He exerts a large influence and is consid- ered a desirable man to have back of any movement for the betterment of the community.

In politics Mr. Pontius is a Democrat, though he does take a very active part in party politics, looking beyond party lines in local elections and taking the broad-gauge view that the best interests of the community demand that the very best men shall be chosen for the offices. Mrs. Pontius attends the Presbyterian church and takes a deep interest in its various activ- ities. His present prosperity is the outcome of earnest and diligent effort, guided by sound judgment, and he occupies an enviable standing in the com- munity because of his sterling qualities of character.

T. E. RICE. -

There is no nation that has contributed to the complex makeup of our American social fabric an element of more sterling worth and of greater value in supporting and fostering our national institutions than has Germany. From this source our republic has had much to gain and nothing to lose. Germany has given us men of sturdy integrity, indomitable perseverance, higher intelligence and much business sagacity,-the result being the incor- poration of a strong and strength-giving fibre ramifying through warp and woof. A man who may well look with pride upon his German-American origin is the subject of this review, who is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Wayne county, where he has passed practically his entire life, and where he is personally recognized as a representative citizen, having attained a gratifying success in his business operations and occupying an en- viable standing in the community because of his personal worth as a man.

T. E. Rice was born at Cedar Valley, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 26th of January, 1874, and is the son of Thomas and Susan ( Pfeiffer) Rice. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, though of sturdy German stock, his parents having emigrated to America directly from Switzerland, and settling in the Keystone state. Thomas Rice came to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1840, and lived here during the remaining years of his life, his death occurring in

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1894, at which time he was sixty-three years of age. He was here engaged in the saw-mill business, in which he was fairly successful. He was widely known throughout this and adjoining counties and was a highly respected citizen. Susan Pfeiffer Rice was born in Wayne county, where her parents settled a short time prior to her birth. They were farming folk and lived at Cedar Valley, Chester township, during the remainder of their lives. The old home is still in the family, and is occupied by the subject's mother, who is now seventy-five years old. To Thomas and Susan Rice were born six children, briefly mentioned as follows: C. C., of Lonoke, Arkansas; Mrs. Dr. W. H. Winkle, of Apple Creek, Ohio; Mrs. Emma Strauss, of Wooster, Ohio; Mrs. William Craven, of Cedar Valley, Ohio; Mrs. H. W. Berry, of Cedar Valley ; the subject of this sketch is the youngest of the family.

Mr. Rice was reared to young manhood on the paternal homestead, and received his education in the common schools. At the age of fourteen years he entered the drug store of his brother-in-law, Dr. W. H. Winkle, at Apple Creek, where he remained seven and a half years. He was a careful sales- man, took a healthy interest in his work and finally decided to make that his life work. To this end, he entered the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, where he pursued the pharmaceutical course, and subsequently took the examination before the state board of pharmacy, being granted a certificate. He then clerked in a drug store at Sherodsville, Ohio, where he remained about a year and a half. He then came to Orrville and purchased of C. D. Swan the drug store which he now owns. He has been very successful in this enterprise and has enjoyed his full share of the public patronage. He carries a full line of drugs and pharmaceutical goods, as well as all the lines generally to be found in an up-to-date drug store. He is accommodating in his dealings with the public and his honesty and fair dealing has won for him the confidence and good will of all who have had dealings with him. Mr. Rice has also engaged in the piano business, having a separate store room devoted to this line, and in this enterprise, too, he has achieved a distinctive success. He carries a splendid line of instruments and has placed a large number of them in the homes of this city and surrounding country. He has other mercantile interests, being a stockholder in the Orrville National Bank and the Cyclone Drill Company, as well as other investments, which return to him a fair income. He takes a commendable interest in local pub- lic affairs and has rendered valuable service to this city as a member of the board of public works.

On November 8, 1899, Mr. Rice took unto himself a helpmeet in the

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person of Maud P. Miller, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Miller, both of whom were natives of Wayne county, Ohio, and are now residing at Orrville, where Mrs. Rice was born. One son has been born to this union, Belmont.

Socially Mr. Rice is an appreciative member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, to which they give an earnest and generous support. Mr. Rice and family are well known in the community and their home has a reputation for hospitality. He is one of the leading business men and public-spirited citizens of the com- munity and is held in the highest regard.

EDMOND Z. FLUHART.

The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are instruc- tive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of stead- fast purpose and inflexible integrity strongly illustrate what is in their power to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life; apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened and developed their faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate success. The instances of success in the face of adverse circumstances would almost seem to justify the conclusion that self-reliance with ordinary opportunities can accomplish any reasonable object. The gentleman whose life history is here briefly outlined has lived to good purpose and achieved a definite success in life. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the esteem and admiration of his fellow citizens and earning the reputation of an enterprising man of affairs which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.

Edmond Z. Fluhart was born in Saltcreek township. Wayne county, Ohio, February 9, 1853. His paternal grandfather, Zacheus Fluhart, was a native of Pennsylvania, and emigrated from Meadville, that state, to Wayne county, in a very early day, accompanying his parents. The father bought a tract of land that had just been entered by a prior comer and he at once en- tered upon the task of clearing the land and developing a farm, in which he succeeded with the help of his sons. Zacheus married and reared a family and here his death occurred. Among his sons was James H., the father of the subject. James H. was born in 1825 in Saltcreek township and was reared to the life of a farmer, which vocation he followed all the days of his life.

JACOB FLUHART

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On reaching manhood's years he married Margaret Poorman, who was born in Pennsylvania, coming from that state to Ohio with her parents when she was but seven years old. She experienced the novelty of walking almost the entire distance, as did the other members of the family, their only convey- ance, a light one-horse wagon, being used to carry the household furniture. They first located at Wooster, which at that time consisted of but one store and a few houses. Here she met James Fluhart and they were married on Jan- uary 22, 1849, the ceremony being celebrated in the Presbyterian church at Fredericksburg. To them were born seven children, namely: George, de- ceased ; Albert, deceased ; Edmond Z .; Mary E., who died in infancy ; Thomas Willard, deceased; James Finley, deceased; Nettie, who married a Mr. Cris- well. James Fluhart followed farming all his life and was numbered among the successful men of the township. He was a Republican in politics and was active in local public affairs, but was never an office seeker. By dint of much hard work and good management he accumulated two hundred and fifty acres of fine land, which he cultivated with eminent success. His religious affilia- tion was with the Presbyterian church at Fredericksburg, in which he took a prominent place. He was sixty-eight years old at the time of his death, and in his passing away the entire community felt that it had suffered a distinct loss.

Edmond Z. Fluhart has lived on the farm where he now resides since he was seven years old and he secured a fair education in the common schools of the neighborhood. His youthful days, when out of school, were required in the work on the farm, and during all his life he has remained a tiller of the soil. He is a good manager and a progressive worker, keeping in close touch with every detail of his work, so that everything he does is characterized by completeness in detail. The farm is nicely kept up, its general appearance in- dicating the owner to be a man of excellent taste and sound judgment. He has followed general farming and in connection has raised considerable live- stock, being successful in everything he undertakes.

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History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 74

Author: Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1162

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162