USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 74
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He returned to Pennsylvania thereafter and married Jane Hart, of Washington county, when he returned with his wife to his new home on the hillside of the most beautiful valley of the whole county. Here the wedded pair toiled and struggled, and here the problem of life was finally solved.
In 1827 Mr. Newkirk, in conjunction with General Thomas McMillen, constructed the carding factory, the first one ever erected in the township. Mr. Newkirk devoted his attention more exclusively to the farming interests, in which he was highly pros- perous and successful, eventually acquiring competence and. wealth. His family consisted of David H., Sarah, Isaac, Rhoda Maria, Paxton, Emily J. and Nercissa L. Newkirk. David H. died July 3, 1826, aged fourteen months; Sarah married George Bell, and died in the West; Rhoda Maria married A. P. Hopkins, Esq., of Washington county, Pa., and has two children, Henry and Mary ; Isaac married, and is dead ; Paxton married Ellen Po- cock, and died May 3, 1861 ; Emily, a graduate of Washington. Seminary, Pennsylvania, married W. N. Paxton, a prominent law- yer of Pittsburg, Pa., and who served through the Rebellion as a Captain ; Nercissa L., a graduate of Urbana Seminary, Ohio, mar- ried Ben Douglass, the author of this history, June 20, 1861, hav- ing two children, Misses J. Mabel and Anna D. Douglass. The father of this family died August 21, 1847, aged 57 years, 10. months and 27 days, his wife, Jane, dying February 21, 1854.
He was a man of great uprightness of life and purity of char- acter, and his wife was a most gentle, amiable and prepossessing woman, of rare intellectual culture and refinement, whom death relentlessly separated from her family when many of them needed the guidance and counsel of both father and mother. The myste- rious influence which the Christian life of the parent imparts, in this instance left its impression, and all of the children, those dead as well as living, became members of the church.
In early life he and his wife united with the Methodist church, and deeded the grounds on which the church edifice now stands ;. likewise deeding the present beautiful cemetery grounds to the
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public and neighborhood, as a free, open place of interment, and which is now incorporated and bearing the Newkirk name. The lives of Henry and Jane Newkirk illustrated the excellency of the Christian character, and they sleep together in the sacred enclosure which was the gift of their hearts, waiting the resurrection and the ultimate re-union of the scattered but golden links of the riven household.
Isaac Newkirk, son of Henry, was born June 5, 1821, in Clin- ton township, and was married to Sarah O. Gibbon, March 27, 1847, and united with the Methodist church in the winter of 1856. He was suddenly seized with violent illness while attending the grand jury in Wooster, and died December 22, 1870. The fol- lowing is an extract from an obituary written at his death:
The large concourse which followed his remains to the grave, was a beautiful tribute to the might of simple goodness. Riches, rank, fortune, intellect, all have commanded their homage before; but only that rare and beautiful combination of all that is lovely and of good report, which was found in our friend, could have called forth that spontaneous homage from all hearts. Mr. Newkirk was known and beloved by his neighbors, for his lofty spirit of honor, spotless integrity, deli- cacy of conscience, kindness of heart, and promptness of decision. In all the varied relations of Sunday-school Superintendent, Steward and Class-leader, he gave fine satisfaction to the church. During most of his illness he was favored with peace and tranquility ; and when coffined and hearsed, the uniform testimony borne to his life was, " He sleeps well." He was greatly respected and beloved by a large and numerous circle of friends, especially by the society at Newkirks, of which he was a member.
Newkirk Cemetery Association, of Big Prairie, organized and incorporated April 7, 1877. John W. Newkirk was elected Trustee for three years, Asahel W. Shearer Trustee for two years, and Henry M. Newkirk for a term of one year; A. W. Shearer, President; J. B. Odell, Clerk and Treasurer. Members-L. D. Odell, J. W. Newkirk, A. W. Shearer, O. W. Lake, John Pocock, James J. Stewart, John Rainey, Edmund A. Lehr, Allen Metcalf, James Rainey, James Leyda, H. M. Newkirk, T. G. Odell.
Lorenzo D. Odell was born in Adams county, Ohio, October 29, 1810. His father removing to Wayne county the ensuing year, he became a citizen of the county at a very early date. The earlier years of his life were spent upon the farm and assisting his father in the mill. His opportunities for procuring an education were of a limited character, and consisted chiefly in the endeavor he made to procure it himself.
When quite a boy, and before he began teaching, he visited Michigan and became associated with a corps of surveyors, who
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were running off Government lands, with which body of men he remained for a period of six months. 'After his return, and in the fall of 1829, he began teaching, and continued in this pursuit until 1832, when the next year he purchased a portion of his father's farm, when he devoted himself to agriculture and sur- veying.
He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1836, holding that posi- tion for twelve years, being elected the two last terms without opposition. He acted in the capacity of County Surveyor from 1847 to 1850, and was elected to the Legislature of the State of Ohio from Wayne county, serving in that honorable body two terms-from January 7, 1856, to January 2, 1860.
He took an active part in the construction of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and was instrumental in procuring the station at Big Prairie.
He was married July 12, 1832, to Annie Gibbon, of Lycoming county, Pa. Mr. Odell has been a member of the Baptist church since 1841. Thomas Odell, who settled in Wayne county in 1810, soon began preaching, and continued his ministry until 1829, when he removed West, dying in Kansas, July 23, 1861.
Lorenzo D. Odell, in his more active years, was a man of prominence and influence in Wayne county, of which he has been a citizen for nearly sixty-seven years. On his arrival there was not a township organized in the county, and the city of Wooster had but a paper existence. He has witnessed its growth, its sudden transition from wilderness misrule and darkness to unprece- dented prosperity and enlightened civilization. Few men in the county have had such an experience, and few indeed possess the recollection of its scenes and its early history, with the certainty and vividness of Mr. Odell. He is a man of strong and self-poised intellect, of extraordinary memory, of sound and solid judgment, and matured, disciplined and cultivated mind. He is an excellent judge of human character, and his perceptive powers are re- markably acute and brilliant. He is possessed of calm reflection, arrives at his conclusions cautiously, and reasons and deduces from the tangible premise to the logical conclusion. When en- trenched in his opinions he knows how to defend them. He dis- criminates keenly, and while he believes there is purity in the world, he has looked at it long enough through the spectrum of the observing man to detect its flaws, shams and frauds. He is secretive, reserving his thoughts and forces, only putting them i
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motion as occasion requires; hence he is a reliable adviser, a trust- worthy counselor, whose suggestions compel attention and gravity of consideration.
His official life is unclouded by errors of heart or action. As County Surveyor he ably sustained his already achieved reputa- tion, and in the Legislature of the State he established a record such as his successors may worthily imitate. He is a life-long Democrat of the original school ; has ever maintained in his course a true consistency, and in this respect he has punctuated his record with its jewels.
Reuben Newkirk, a native of Washington county, Pa., removed with his brothers, John and Henry, to Wayne county, settling in Clinton township in 1814, and, with his brother Henry, was an un- married man. He and John set to work and built a saw-mill, the first one erected in the township. That season he returned to Pennsylvania, and whilst there married Miss Margaret Leyda, of Washington county, returning with his wife to the scene of his former labors in 1815. They made the passage in wagons, cross- ing the Killbuck near what was known as Sharp's Bridge, the water being so high that the horses had to swim across the stream. They then fastened grape-vines to the wagons, and, hitching the horses to these, drew the wagons over. The year before this Reuben, assisted by his brother Henry, had constructed a house. Mr. New- kirk immediately proceeded to clearing up and improving his farm, and in the course of time made it both attractive and beau- tiful. He was a man of great energy and determination, and in the end his labors were largely compensated. Physically he was a fine specimen of manhood. He was a man of strictest integrity, rigid morality and unimpeachable private character. He died Sep- tember 14, 1863, and in his 72d year. His son John occupies and owns the old homestead, and O. S. Newkirk, another son, lives in Ashland, Ohio. He is a land-owner, and is comfortably fixed, having retired from the farm possessed of a competence of this world's goods. He is a first-class citizen, and has raised a fine, intelligent family.
John W. Newkirk, son of Reuben, and a native of Clinton township, was born on the spot where he lives, July 4, 1826, and therefore is as indigenous to the soil as the trees upon his farm. His boyhood life was spent with his father upon the farm and in the
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mill. He availed himself of the advantages of such an education as the district school presented, and soon acquired a business bent of mind, which has subsequently characterized his whole career.
He was married March 1, 1849, to Rebecca Wells, daughter of William Wells, of Holmes county. He is a professional farmer, and an active, enterprising, wide-awake citizen. His incli- nation at times induces him to indulge in politics, in which sphere he is a strong opponent and shrewd manager. He has served pretty nearly through the whole scale of township promotions, and in 1871 was elected Commissioner of Wayne county, and his three years of service in that capacity marks an epoch in its his- tory. He is a man of decided views, resolute determination, strong moral courage and stern and independent convictions.
John Rainey was born November 5, 1799, in Washington county, Pa., and was married in November, 1824, to Luzerba New- kirk, of the same county with himself, by which marriage there resulted eight children. His wife dying September 16, 1864, he was married a second time to Elizabeth Wells, May 18, 1868. He is a farmer by occupation, and the owner of a large tract* of real estate, which may be ranked with the superior lands of the township. He is a citizen of sterling worth, strictest integrity, and great kindness and simplicity of character. He has long been a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he is a zealous and devoted member.
Isaac Lake, or, as he is sometimes denominated, "the Jerusalem Pilgrim," immigrated to Wayne county in 1814, from the State of New York in company with his father, who was a farmer, and with whom the subject of this notice, we believe, spent his earlier life.
The disposition to "orate " vociferously and promiscuously, on multitudinous and incomprehensible themes, together with a stalwart proclivity to travel, in more mature years violently exhib- ited itself. He precociously developed an instinct for "isms," notably so of those pertaining to the church. The Universal idea at once prevailed in his mind ; at another time he danced to the
*Near to, and perhaps partly upon his farm, Isaac Newkirk, father of John, Henry and Reuben, laid out a town, called Perriopolis, September 26, 1816, the plat of which was recorded the same day, and is found on pages 168-9, Vol. I, Re- .corder's office. No lots were sold and no buildings erected.
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music of Alexander Campbell; again he tumbled to the dogmas and tenets of the immortal Wesley ; and again hoisted the " Bull's eye " motto of Brigham Young, the fibritudinous father, the multiferous husband, the king and priest, the blinger and byzal- cuum of the Valley of the Saints.
Notably, latterly, and lastly, he started on a solemn pilgrimage to Jerusalem on horseback, with one hundred dollars in his pocket, to set the remaining pawn-brokers of that village right on the sub- ject of religion. He had a lively time getting there, and on his arrival found a queer people, with a strange language with which he was unacquainted, though he was heard to speak in an unknown tongue himself during the Mormon excitement. He found the Jerusalemites sound on his doctrines, and after an absence of about two years he returned with maps, charts, etc., footing it from Philadelphia to his home without money. He is a man of intelligence, of good morals, a farmer, and always a busy man. He is now far advanced in life.
Shreve, named after Thomas Shreve, was originally called Clin- ton Station. It had its beginning and date of existence with the completion of the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railway, and is one of the most enterprising villages in Wayne county. The north part was laid out by D. Foltz and George Stewart, and the south by Thomas McConkey and D. K. Jones-ten acres on each side-but now has far extended beyond these limits. The first sale of lots took place in March and April, 1853, at private sale, and some dis- posed of at public sale in May, the same year. The first lots bought and sold in the village were by D. K. Jones, on which he built a store-room and residence, the same being at present owned and occupied by him. The first house built in Shreve was a two-story frame, erected by Neal Power in 1853. D. K. Jones was the first postmaster, and opened the first dry goods store. Christian Roth, now living in Wooster, built the first hotel. Dr. W. Battles was the first physician, locating in 1855. James Number's child was the first one born in Shreve, and the first woman that died was Miss Barbara Muterspaugh.
It was incorporated as a village December 26, 1859, the citizens most instrumental in this enterprise being Albert Richardson, V. D. Manson, D. K. Jones, John Robison, Joseph Dyarman and William Batdorf. The first election of village officers was held at the hotel of Captain W. H. McMonigal, on March 10, 1860, and
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resulted : Mayor-V. D. Manson ; Recorder-William M. Knox ; Trustees-D. K. Jones, John Robison, Joseph Dyarman, James Taylor, William Johnson. The officers since have been as follows :
Mayors. 1861-Abraham Tidball; 1862-Henry Everly; 1863-William J. Bertolett, M. D .; 1864-Zephaniah Lovett; 1865-V. D. Manson; 1866-V. D. Manson.
1867. Mayor-Elmer Oldroyd; Councilmen-Albert Richardson, Daniel Gil- lis, William M. Knox, Z. B. Campbell, J. H. Hunter; Recorder-J. H. Todd; Treasurer-A. Seeberger.
1868. Mayor-John Pomeroy; Councilmen-A. Richardson, A. E. Becker, E. H. Montgomery, W. J. Bertolett, John Robison; Recorder-W. M. Knox ; Treasurer-S. D. Adams.
1869. Mayor-J. H. Hunter ; Councilmen-D. S. Smith, T. F. Bedford, G. W. England, Obed Smetzer; Recorder-C. M. Kenton; Treasurer-S. D. Adams.
1870. Mayor-W. J. Bertolett; Councilmen-P. H. Ebright, H. Everly, John Thomas, V. D. Manson, Wm. M. Knox, J. B. Pomeroy ; Recorder-J. H. Todd; Treasurer-Z. Lovett.
1871. Mayor-C. M. Kenton ; Councilmen-John C. Thomas, John B. Pome- roy, S. D. Adams; Recorder-J. H. Todd; Treasurer-Z. Lovett.
1872. Mayor-John Robison; Councilmen-Isaac Brown, David Smith, B. F. Mohn; Recorder-John H. Boyd; Treasurer-B. F. Mohn.
1873. Mayor-John Robison; Councilmen-J. C. Thomas, A. Tidball, Obed Smetzer, Isaac Brown, David Smith, B. F. Mohn; Recorder-E. G. Oldroyd ; Treasurer-John M. Robison.
1874. Mayor-John Williams; Councilmen-John Jones, Jacob Eberhart, Lenry Lefever, J. C. Thomas, A. Tidball, Obed Smetzer; Recorder-E. G. Old- royd; Treasurer-John M. Robison.
1875. Mayor-John Williams; Councilmen-John Thomas, Benj. H. Palmer, John B. Pomeroy, John Jones, Jacob Eberhart, Henry Lefever ; Recorder-William W. Wise ; Treasurer-John M. Robison.
1876. Mayor-Daniel Barcus ; Councilmen-W. H. Grossjean, Lemuel Wilent, Jacob Weiker, John Thomas, Benj. H. Palmer, John B. Pomeroy : Recorder- William W. Wise; Treasurer-John M. Robison.
1877. Mayor-J. D. Barcus; Councilmen-John Jones, B. H. Palmer, Jacob Eberhart, W. H. Grossjean, Lemuel Wilent, Jacob Weiker ; Recorder-William W. Wise; Treasurer-D. B. Pocock.
Shreve School .- In 1868 the corporation limit of the village of Shreve was con- stituted a school district, separately and by itself. An election was held on the Ist of May, at the instance of the Board of Education, authorizing them to select grounds and adopt measures to procure funds to construct a school-house. It was resolved that a house be built, and that it be of brick. Bids were received, and on motion of Henry Everly the contract was let to John P. Wise, June 13, at his offer of $788. Edwin Oldroyd was the first teacher occupying the new house. In May, 1867, it was resolved to build a new school-house. After due deliberation contracts were let, and a committee, consisting of A. Richardson, A. Seebarger and John Jones, appointed to superintend its construction. The first members of Board of Education in Shreve were John Robison, W. S. Battles, Henry Everly, Albert
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Richardson, Daniel Bertolet and W. G. Crossman. John Robison was appointed President, W. S. Battles, Clerk, and A. Richardson, Treasurer. They were elected April 16, 1860, and organized with President, Clerk and Treasurer, same day.
Shreve Journal .- Charles M. Kenton first established a newspaper in Shreve in the spring of 1868. It was issued monthly, and called The Home Mirror. Its name was subsequently changed to The Shreve City Mirror, and it was published weekly. In May, 1874, Mr. Kenton removed to Marysville, Ohio, and Dr. J. C. Dalton and James N. Brady introduced the Shreve Journal. In January, 1876, Dr. Dalton dis- posed of his interest in the Journal to Mr. Brady, who is the present proprietor. The Journal is a finely printed eight-page paper, and under the influence of its present conductor has attained considerable notoriety.
D. K. Jones, eldest son of Hon. Benjamin Jones, was born in Wooster, July 21, 1815, and on February 3, 1842, married Eliza- beth Rayl, of Franklin township. They had six children, viz : Benjamin T., Lake F., Hannah E., Ella, Susan C. (dead), and Delilah K. Since 1836 Mr. Jones has engaged in commercial pur- suits, commencing in the dry goods trade in Wooster, with A. H. Trimble, and during late years successfully following that business in Shreve, where he is an enterprising and prominent citizen.
William S. Battles, M. D., was born at White Hall Station, at that time one of the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, A. D., 1827. His ancestry being somewhat illustrious in its bearings, we shall briefly advert to it. On the paternal side he is half Scotch, his father being a descendant of an old Pittsfield family, of Berk- shire county, Mass. On the maternal line the old English blood is strongly infused, so that he presents a felicitous ancestral com- bination of two of the most intellectual and cultured civilizations 1 of Europe.
His mother's name was Susan Snowden, a native of Philadel- phia, all of whose ancestors were Quakers for 200 years. Her mother's name was West, a not distant relative of the celebrated Quaker painter, Benjamin West, of Chester county, Pa. Her grandfather, a Quaker, was excommunicated by the brotherhood in the war of the Revolution for joining a Colonial regiment and performing soldier-service.
Thus it will be seen that the ancestral origin of Dr. Battles is eminently significant and noteworthy, yet in a country like ours, neither birth, titles nor distinguished family connections enter into the composition of American manhood, nor are they stepping- stones by which their possessors climb to greatness or renown. The mold of the American society is so uniform, and so equal-
Como Siny M Bantes
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ized are its various classes, that in the competition for honors the solid merit alone of the competitors is called in question.
Thomas S., the father of Dr. Battles, removed from Philadel- phia to Cumberland county, Pa., where he sojourned for less than two years, thence directing his steps to what was then called the farther west, located in September, 1833, one and one-half miles north of what is now known as the village of Shreve. His father being a farmer, young Battles had an agreeable future, such as we record of Firestone, plying the arts of husbandry and the tillage of the soil. Here he discovered the true alchemy of transforming a clod into a loaf of bread; and as he uprooted saplings with his mattock, and leveled the golden grain with his old-time cradle, we fancy that whatever was ideal in his nature became grossly real- istic. There can be no doubt, however, but that the Doctor ex- alted the province of agriculture ; and he absolutely claims that whatever honor attaches to the profession of a rail-splitter he is enti- tled to a share of it, as well as Hanks, or Abe Lincoln. At the age of nineteen a change came over the spirit of his dream ; he resolved to abandon the farm. His first adventure in academic fields was at Hayesville, Ashland county, where in the skirmish of research and the battle of books, he concluded his course at the end of sev- enteen weeks. At the age of twenty he taught his first school. On the 6th of August, 1847, he entered the office of Dr. T. H. Baker, of Millbrook, with whom he remained for a term of four years, teaching school during all this time, with the exception of six months, both winter and summer.
He attended his first course of lectures at Starling Medical Col- lege during the winter of 1850-51, in the spring of the latter year beginning practice with his preceptor, the winter following com- pleting his course at Columbus, graduating February 22, 1852. On his return he resumed practice with Dr. Baker, continuing with him till the winter of 1853, which he spent in Cleveland, Philadelphia and New York, in attendance upon the hospitals of those cities, at the termination of which time he once more re- newed his professional labors with his old preceptor. In the spring of 1855 he went to Edinburg, in East Union township, where he staid seven months, during which time he became a member of the American Medical Association.
On the 20th of November, 1855, he was married to Miss Ma- hala Kister, of Millbrook, daughter of J. A. Kister, Esq. In December of the same year he proceeded to the village of Shreve,
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where he practiced till the spring of 1865, when, owing to pul- monary hemorrhage, from which he had been suffering for a series of years, he abandoned practice and indulged in travel for a year. In 1866 he was one of four gentlemen who organized the Citizens' Bank of Ashland, his residence at this time, and for one year, being there. Thoroughly dissatisfied with a strictly commercial life, he dissolved his connection with the concern. His health being re- stored, he again returned to Shreve, re-commencing professional work, in which field he has labored with great assiduity and signal success ever since.
Dr. Battles is devoted, body and soul, to his profession, and, notwithstanding its drudgeries and annoyances, has endeavored to shed pleasure upon its labors. He is philosopher enough to know that it is the very wantonness of folly for a man to search out the frets and cares of his profession and give his mind every day to the consideration of them, for there is no vocation or calling that, in all its aspects, is wholly agreeable.
Moreover, he has great faith in medical societies and associa- tions, where a presentation and interchange of professional opin- ions become of the utmost importance. While a student, in 1851, he joined the Wayne County Medical Society, and as before stated, in 1856 became a member of the American Medical Association, representing the home society at its meeting in Philadelphia, in 1856; again at Chicago in 1863, and at St. Louis in 1873. In 1858 he connected himself with the State Medical Society, of Ohio, and in 1873 united with the Union Medical Association, of north- eastern Ohio, of which he has been Vice President.
Dr. Battles is not a specialist, but has been, and is successful in the different branches of his profession. In it he has attained respectful and eminent rank, and by application and punctuality has secured the confidence and patronage of the people.
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