USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 3
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Doctor Haupert was a frequent contributor to literary journals. his style being pleasing and what he had to say convincing, so that his writings were widely read and extensively commented on.
Professor Haupert had observed a tendency of the pupils to drop out of school on reaching the lower high school classes, and, working with the board of education, he determined to make the high school course so attract- ive to the physical, mental and pecuniary inclinations of the students that greater numbers would remain for graduation. To that end the commercial department and practical courses in physics and chemistry were organized in the schools of Wapakoneta. The results of his efforts were apparent in the size of the graduating class of the last year of his life, the number being double that of any previous year.
As already intimated, Professor Haupert's career as an educator gained for him a state-wide reputation, and when Governor Pattison was elected, Professor Haupert was a candidate for state school commissioner and was second highest man on the Democratic ticket. Although a busy man at all times he took an interest in politics and was well versed on all questions on which men and parties divide. At the time of his death he was a member of the board of examiners of Auglaize county.
The chapter in the domestic life of Doctor Haupert dates from August 24, 1880, when he was united in marriage with Anna C. Kinsey, a lady of talent and culture, the representative of a fine old family of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where she was born, reared and educated. She, together with three children, two daughters, Mary and Gertrude, and one son, Paul, sur- vive. One son, Harry, preceded the father to the silent land. The Doctor is also survived by five brothers: Frederick J. and Edmund Haupert, of Tuscarawas county ; Rev. Albert Haupert, a Moravian minister, of Green Bay, Wisconsin ; Rev. Sylvanus Haupert, a Presbyterian minister, of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, and John Haupert, of Dade City, Florida. One sister died a number of years ago.
Professor Haupert was a Mason, belonging to the Wooster Knights Templar, having taken the degrees in the various bodies up to that of the commandery. He also belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Wooster. He was a Christian from his youth and he believed in carrying into his everyday life the sublime principles inculcated by the lowly Nazarene, in whose footprints he delighted to tread as an humble servant. He and his family belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was superintendent of the Sunday school at Wapakoneta when death claimed him, and he took delight in the various phases of church and Sunday school
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work. He was a man of exemplary habits, not so much as the shadow of wrong or the suspicion of evil ever dimming the luster of his brilliant career. He was everywhere regarded as a wide-awake, enterprising man of the times, fully alive to the dignities and responsibilities of citizenship, and, to the extent of his ability, contributed to the general prosperity of the community honored by his citizenship. Courteous, affable and easily ap- proached, he commanded the undivided respect of all with whom he came in contact, and his friends were bounded only by the limits of his acquaint- ance, being universally esteemed in all the relations of life, and his career was eminently creditable to himself and an honor to the community and state.
Professor Haupert is a yet living and present spirit! Of that great and comprehensive truth that "in Him we live and move and have our being," his consciousness was continually cognizant. His spirit was great in omnipresence, in its recognition, in its search after spiritual light. He was industrious, concentrated, tireless in penetration and discovery for that truth, that is God. His faith was faultless, in the observation of one who knew him that an absorbing persistency of mental purpose must evoke a spiritual brilliancy. He had the faculty of light; his mental and moral achievements were radiant; he was harmonious, and breathed cleanliness in manner, in expression, in the thought, in the secret of his comprehension, in the power of his silence: in the benevolent purity of his personality ; there was an unsung music in his eyes. He was a thoughtful spirit. He was a genius! A genius may invent machines ; it is not a study into the distances of thought ; it is an electric existence in the domain of final truth ; it does not travel in syllogisms, it is a flash of the spirit. Genius is instantaneous light. Professor Haupert in his earliest adult and commanding intelligence had this endowment. Full of light, his personality illuminated his schools, his lectures, his work for order and harmony; the deep positive tones of his instruction, the elucidation of complex science, the hypnotic power of impres- sion, were, of this genius, the attributes. Neither weighed nor considered. his profession found him; his duties as a teacher and scientist seemed like the nebulae that are moving in irresistible current to be consumed in the sun! As a pure and religious man, his genius lived in adoration of the divine. He resided in religion, he lived in the temple of the Most High! Optimistic, enthusiastic, devoted, he was the spiritual expression of the organic adhesion and thinking force of all the school phenomenon around him. Of social life. of casual meeting, of criticism of political or moral problems, as a conver- sationalist, he was an ornament and surpassing thinker. Always an orator on the platform, he had profound attention ; in the tones, and in the language.
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in the construction of sentences, in the force of his manner, in the unbounded faith of his convictions, he was eloquent; his thought and argument were not a sound, but a projectile. As a debater, his excellence had the peculiar strategy of superseding all the miscellaneous obstacles that might possibly afford contention. He was unequaled in his knowledge of literature and especially of history. In the Century Club, of which he was an honored member during all his life in Wooster, he was distinguished for the depth of his reasoning and the advanced thought of his profession. Formed of the professors of the University of Wooster and of the State Agricultural Experiment Station, of the leading physicians, ministers, lawyers, bankers, and other intellectual men of Wooster, the Century Club was capable of the highest criticism, and Professor Haupert ranked as particularly com- prehensive of the most involved and often occult presentation of the most elegant and varied subjects of discussion. He was the embodiment of energy, high and aggressive. He was wise and provident, and at an early day lived in a beautiful dwelling on College avenue in Wooster, where his wife and children now reside, grateful for the legacy he left them of being one of the purest, most useful and most intellectual men that lived in his native state.
JOSHUA H. MORGAN.
It will always be a badge of honor in this country to have known that a person's father, or even his uncle, enlisted in the service of his country when the great Rebellion broke out, to assist in saving the Union and in eradicat- ing slavery from our soil; descendants of these gallant soldiers will boast through coming generations of the bravery and self-sacrifice of their fathers or their relatives. It is a pleasure to write of the career of J. H. Morgan, who was one of the "boys in blue," who willingly went forth to do his duty on the field of battle or in the no less dangerous fever camp, for the salvation of the country. He is a native of New York, having been born in the great Empire state in 1836, the son of Joshua and Betsie (Hull) Morgan, both na- tives of that state. Daniel Morgan, grandfather of J. H. Morgan, had the honor of serving as a soldier of the war of 1812, and the latter's paternal great-grandfather, also named Daniel, was a soldier in the Revolution; con- sequently the Morgan family of the present generation may well be proud of the military record of their ancestors.
Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Morgan settled in Canaan Center, Wayne county,
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Ohio, in 1843, purchasing a home there. Mr. Morgan was a wagonmaker by profession, and a very skillful one, his products being eagerly sought after. He spent the remainder of his life at the above-named place. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, Emiley (de- ceased), Esther, Lydia, Ephraim, Emiley, Annis, Edward, Daniel, and Joshua H., of this review.
Joshua Morgan, Sr., was twice married ; his first wife's name was Betsey Hall, whom he married April 8, 1819; the date of his second marriage, which was to Abigail Pratt, was October 6, 1839. He retired from active business several years before his death.
Joshua H. Morgan, of this review, first attended the district schools, then learned the carriage painter's trade at Wooster, having worked in that city from 1853 until 1856. He then attended the Canaan Academy for a few terms. But at the first call for troops to suppress the rebellion he left text- book and paint brush to do what he could toward restoring order, enlisting in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the end of three months he re-enlisted for three years in Company K, of the same regiment. During the first three months of his service he took part in the battle of Philippi and several skirmishes, and during his last enlistment he participated in the fight at Cumberland Gap and Vicksburg; during the siege of the latter place he was taken prisoner and held there for four weeks, at the end of which time he, with the other prisoners, were taken to Jackson, where they remained six weeks, when they were sent to New Orleans, thence to New York City. Still prisoners of war, they were then sent to St. Louis, and while passing through Wooster, Ohio, the mayor told the officer in charge that the troops would remain in Wooster under the mayor's personal care. The mayor was supported by the governor of the state, and the troops remained at home. However, they were instructed to be in readiness to de- part at any time that it might be desired to exchange them. Later they were sent to New Orleans and exchanged, thence up Red river to re-enforce Gen- eral Banks on his famous expedition. Their time being nearly expired, they were sent home in a short time and discharged.
Mr. Morgan then returned to Canaan Center, Wayne county, Ohio, but shortly afterwards made a visit to Wausaukee, Wisconsin, but in a few years he returned to Canaan Center, Ohio, and here he was married in 1865 to Anna Johnson. He then followed his trade at that place until 1870, at which time he moved with his wife to Kansas, in which state they remained two and one-half years, then moved to Illinois, where they lived until about 1903. In that year they returned to Wayne county, Ohio, locating in Creston, where
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they have since lived, Mr. Morgan being retired from active business. He was very successful in his life work and has a comfortable home. He and his good wife are members of the Presbyterian church, Mr. Morgan being an elder in the same, having held this office since his return from the West. In politics he is a Republican.
ALEXANDER E. STEPFIELD, M. D.
The old Empire state has furnished a large number of her best citizens to Wayne county, Ohio, who have contributed very largely to the development of the same. One of the best known professional men of the county is Dr. Alexander E. Stepfield, who was born in Elmira, New York, December 5. 1857. the son of Daniel S. and Eliza O. (Henry) Stepfield. His paternal grandparents were natives of Germany and New York, respectively, the grand- father having been drowned when his son, Daniel S. Stepfield, was three years old, the accident occurring in the Delaware river. The maternal grandparents, Benjamin and Lucinda A. (Lewis) Henry, were of Irish descent, the latter being the sister of the famous Meriwether Lewis, explorer of the Northwest. They were natives of Connecticut, but lived and died in New York. Benja- min Henry was a minister in the Christian church. Three of their sons were soldiers in the Civil war, two giving their lives while in the service of their country : the third son is still living. A remarkable coincidence worthy of notice here was the fact that the Doctor's great-grandparents on his mother's side both lived to be one hundred and three years of age.
Daniel S. Stepfield was born in Orange county, New York, April 18. 1832. and his wife. Eliza Henry, was born in Schuyler county, New York, September 30, 1835. They married in the Empire state and lived in Chemung county on a farm. Daniel S. Stepfield was a stanch Whig, and later a Re- publican when that party was organized. He lives a quiet and retired life, giving his attention exclusively to farming. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife belonged to the Baptist church. The former is now deceased, the mother having passed to her rest in 1902. To them two sons and four daughters were born, namely : Ella, who died when five years of age; Alexander E., of this review; John W .; Mary E .; Jennie E., who died when twenty years of age : Alice B.
Alexander E. Stepfield received his education in the public schools of Elmira, New York, also the county schools at his native home. In 1878 he
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took a business course, graduating from Eastman's College at Poughkeepsie. In 1880 he completed a special course in penmanship, and in that year took up the study of medicine in Horseheads, New York, with Dr. Orlando Groom. his preceptor, where he remained for three years as a student, attending col- lege in the meantime and graduating from the Cleveland Homeopathic Col- lege, February 28, 1883. He made a very commendable record there. and at once began the practice of medicine at Big Flats, New York, where he re- mained one year, being associated with Dr. T. W. Reed, then came to Ohio, January 16, 1884, locating in Doylestown, Wayne county, where he has since remained. He intended to remain here but two or three years when he came, but his practice was encouraging from the first and has steadily grown until it is now all that could be desired, patients coming to him from all over this locality.
In 1891 Doctor Stepfield founded the Tri-County News and edited that meritorious publication for a period of two and one-half years, when he sold out. It was independent and had a wide and profound influence in Wayne county politics for several years. It was very largely responsible for electing the Republican ticket in 1895, the paper declaring that the bond movement for the payment of an experimental station was unconstitutional, and it won out. Politically the Doctor is a Republican, and he very ably served as coroner of Wayne county from 1895 to 1897, one term. He has also served as a mem- ber of the school board for a period of four years and is now president of that body. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Ohio State Homeopathic Society and the Northeastern Ohio Homeopathic Society. of which he is vice-president. Fraternally he is a member of Masonic Lodge No. 284, Free and Accepted Masons, in New York; he also belongs to the Maccabees and Knights and Ladies of Security.
Doctor Stepfield was married on May 5, 1888, to Mrs. Metta W. Manter nee Lyon, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Lyon, old settlers from New York, and this union has resulted in the birth of five children, namely : Roscoe A., who graduated at Eastman's Business College in the class of 1909, and is now a student in the Cleveland College of Medicine ; Eugene W., a student of the Doylestown high school: Ruth, also attending the high school at Doylestown; Stanley L ... who died on February 4, 1909, and Esther W.
Doctor Stepfield's time is pretty much taken with his extensive practice. but he has other interests, among which is a large stock in the telephone ex- change at Doylestown, practically owning the same. He is also the owner of several very valuable farms, aggregating about two hundred and fifty acres.
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all in Chippewa township. He is a large tobacco grower, averaging about twelve to fifteen acres per year. He has also started a ginseng garden and will soon have five acres, now having about three hundred thousand plants. The Doctor is having constructed a beautiful private vault in the cemetery, it being the first structure of this character here. He has prospered by reason of his excellent management. and his honorable dealing with his fellow men has won their undivided confidence and esteem.
DANIEL W. MCILVAINE.
No family in Wayne county is better known than the McIlvaines, and certainly none have played their roles better in the drama of civilization in the northern part of the Buckeye state from the early pioneer days down to the present day. We first hear of John McIlvaine, grandfather of Daniel W., of this review, who was born November 7, 1788, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and who reached a remarkable age, dying April 5, 1880. Little is known of his antecedents except that his father was George McIlvaine, an early Pennsylvania farmer. In 1818 John McIlvaine brought his wife and two small children horseback across the mountains, over rough and indis- tinct roads, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, fording the Ohio river, each parent carrying a child, then making their way through dense and almost interminable forests, finally reaching Wayne county, Ohio. They settled on a quarter section which now forms a part of Jackson township, and is owned by three of his grandsons, who reside there. After clearing away a small spot, this old pioneer built a log cabin. The spot is now marked by a mammoth elm tree which John McIlvaine set out nearly one hundred years ago. His first wife was Margaret Smith, who bore him nine children. His second wife was Annis Martin, and by his second wife one child was born. When John McIlvaine came to Wayne county, the city of Wooster had not been thought of, much less founded, and the place where he settled was a vast wilderness infested by numerous kinds of wild animals, and the Indian was to be found now and then. With the assistance of Selvina and Jason Jones, John McIlvaine laid out the city of Jackson. The latter, being a stanch Democrat and an ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson, insisted on giving the village and postoffice that name. On account of another postoffice in the state bearing the name Jackson, it was not possible to give the name desired to this village; however, the old pioneer did the next best thing and
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had the postoffice here named Old Hickory, Andrew Jackson's soubriquet, through which office the residents of this vicinity received mail until the coming of the rural free delivery. Mr. McIlvaine was a very influential man in this county and, being a Presbyterian, he donated land for a church and the cemetery at Jackson. The church which now stands there is one of the most substantial and attractive in the county and the cemetery is excep- tionally well kept. Here the remains of John McIlvaine lie buried, although he died at Canal Fulton. All the children of this old settler, with the excep- tion of Jackson, Smith and George, migrated to the West, the three men- tioned remaining in Wayne county. Jackson was a farmer, later in life managing a hotel at Alliance, where he died. Smith was also a farmer and his death occurred at Creston. George devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits on the old homestead. John McIlvaine built his second log house on the pike road near where his grandson, Daniel W., of this review, now lives; later the old pioneer built the frame house where Daniel W. now lives.
George McIlvaine, son of John, bought the homestead and he lived there, following farming, until his death, March 16, 1888. He was first married to Lucinda Akin, December 1, 1842, and his second marriage was to Sarah Baker, November II, 1863. By his first marriage the following children were born : John J., Margaret J., Hannah E., George A., Daniel W., Mary A., James B. and Sarah C. By his second marriage the following children were born: David E. and Arthur F. Lucinda Akin was the daughter of George and Hannah (Davis) Akin, of Scotch-Irish descent. They settled near Doylestown, Wayne county, Ohio, in an early day. Sarah Baker was the daughter of David and Melinda (Cockrell) Baker, of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. In pioneer days they came to Medina county and settled near Seville. A few years later they came to Canaan township, Wayne county .
The following members of the McIlvaine family served in the Civil war: John, son of George, fought in an Ohio regiment; two brothers-in-law of George, Alex Weideman and George Walkenberger, served three years; Marcus, son of Smith McIlvaine, also served in the Union army.
All members of this family as far back as can be traced have been loyal Democrats and members of the Presbyterian church; four generations have now belonged to the church, for the erection of the first building of which John McIlvaine, the first member of the family to come here, gave the land. George McIlvaine, the eldest son of John, was a believer in education, and he sacrificed considerable in order to educate his children, most of them having been educated at the Canaan Academy, five of them becoming school teachers and influential in their professions.
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Daniel W. McIlvaine, whose name heads this review, is the fifth child of George and Lucinda (Akin) McIlvaine, his birth occurring on April 6, 1853, in the village of Jackson. He now resides on the place where his father came to live when the former was yet a boy-the old McIlvaine homestead. Daniel W. was educated at Jackson and the Canaan Academy. He farmed on the home place until his marriage when he entered the retail meat business in Creston, this county, which he followed successfully for seven years. He then dealt in livestock and commercial fertilizers, building up an extensive busi- ness in each. Later he became a traveling salesman for Morris & Company of Chicago, handling wholesale meats. However, he resided the major part of the time on a part of the old farm. In 1906 he retired from the road, and since that time he has followed farming. He was married in 1876 to Hattie Houghton, daughter of Franklin Houghton, of Sterling, this county, whose father was a very early settler north of Creston. Franklin Houghton is a lawyer of considerable note, having practiced law many years in Ashland county, Ohio. He also engaged in merchandising in that place.
To Daniel W. McIlvaine and wife the following children have been born: Cloyd A., born February 22, 1877, was educated at the Creston high school and the Ada Normal, also attended the University of Wooster. He taught school several terms, having finished his first term before he was six- teen years of age. He later went to Cleveland and attended business college. after which he went to New York City where he was employed two years as a stenographer. In 1904 he accepted a position as stenographer for the chief engineer of the Panama Canal, and in time became chief clerk for the entire enterprise, and is now assistant to the chairman of the commission in charge of the construction of the canal. He was married in 1902 to Louise Brigman. He is a young man of unusual business ability. La Verne, the first daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel W. McIlvaine, was born December 12, 1879, educated at Creston, this county, passing through the high school there. She married Edgar Ewing and they are the parents of three children. Sumner, Edgar Clair and Cloyd E. Bruce R., born January 23, 1881, was educated at the Creston high school, married Alice Wells, and they are the parents of two children, Clarence and Lew. Bruce has always been em- ployed in railroad and express work. Mary was born May 1, 1887, educated at the Creston high school, married Jesse Broomall, and they have two ch'l- dren, Noris Mack and Dorothy LaVerne.
Franklin Houghton, father of Mrs. McIlvaine, was born in Cortland county, New York, in 1826, the son of Ambrus and Lucy ( Powell) Hough-
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ton. About 1830 they came to Wayne county, Ohio, and settled just north of Creston, in the edge of Wayne county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres which was mostly timber; they cleared this land and there made their future home.
Daniel W. McIlvaine, as might be expected, is a Prebyterian and a Dem- ocrat, and he takes considerable interest in whatever tends to promote the welfare of his county.
ELI METSKER.
Back to the days of the first settler-that interesting, thrilling, comedy- tragedy time in the history of our civilization-the biographer traces the Metsker family and finds that its members have been well and favorably known in Wayne county, Ohio, for several generations, identified principally with the agricultural interests, and of the number who have figured promi- nently in their respective localities Eli Metsker is one of the best remembered. Quoting from Whittier, "He has gone on the journey we all must go," but his influence still affects the lives of those who knew him best, for he was a man of exemplary character as well as successful in his line of work beyond his contemporaries. His birth occurred in Milton township, March 10, 1845. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Metsker.
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