USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 43
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 43
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 43
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James W. Gallant grew up on his fath- er's farm. a tract of 295 acres, and, like his father, has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. He was married May 19, 1855, to Elizabeth Williams, who was born August 20, 1836, daughter of William B. Williams, further mention of whom is given below. Mr. and Mrs. Gallant have eight children, as follows: William E. ; Charles S , a pros- perous farmer of Radnor; Margaret E .. wife of J W. Jones; Mary, wife of Charles Davis; James; Harry; Hannah, and Fred.
William B. Williams, father of Mrs. Gal- lant, was born in Montgomeryshire, North Wales, May 25, 1806, and died in Ohio June 21, 1886. When he was three years old his father died and his mother was sub- sequently married to Elias Jones. In 1818 the family emigrated to America, landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At German- town William B. was apprenticed to a hotel keeper, but soon left that place and came West to Ohio, making the journey to Rad- nor, a distance of 500 miles, on foot, the rest of the family having preceded him to this place. At the age of twenty-one he purchased a farm and proceeded to make for himself a home in Troy township, Dela- ware county. A few years later he pur- chased other tracts, and as the years rolled by he became a prosperous and wealthy farmer. He married Margaret Davis in
1834, she, too, being a native of Wales. They had a family of eight children, of whom Mrs. Gallant was one. The mother died March 25, 1887, aged seventy-nine years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams were members of the Baptist Church, and both were highly esteemed for their many excellent qualities of mind and heart.
Mr. and Mrs. Gallant are also members of the Baptist Church. Politically he is a Republican.
W. CARIS is one of the well- known farmers and venerable citizens of Lincoln township, Mor- row county, Ohio. His parents, Frederick and Rachel (Hoke) Caris, both natives of Pennsylvania, were married in in that State, and before the war of 1812 they came West and settled on a tract of wild land in Portage county, Ohio. There, in the midst of the forest and surrounded on all sides by the Indians, they improved a farm, spent the rest of their lives and there died. Frederick Caris was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, and rendered valiant serv- ice in that conflict. In their religious views he and his wife were Universalists. They were the parents of fourteen children, nine of whom reached maturity. Four of that number are now living, viz .: Mary Price, of New Albany, Indiana, aged eight-six years; M. W., the subject of this sketch, aged eighty-three years; Hiram, of Fulton, Ohio, aged seventy, and Rachel Miller, of Coldwater, Michigan, aged sixty-eight.
M. W. Caris was born on his father's frontier farm in Portage county, Ohio, April 25, 1812, and remained at home until he was twenty-three years of age, his educa- tional advantages being limited to the dis-
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trict schools. When he was twenty-three hc went to Crawford county, this State, and rented a farm which he cultivated five years. Then, in 1845, he came to Delaware county, (now Morrow), and settled on the farm he has since occupied. This part of the coun- try was then almost an unbroken wilderness, -thick woods and no roads. Here he built a cabin and settled down to the work of clearing and improving his land. He also cleared other land in order to secure the money with which to pay for his own farin, as at the time he came here he had only $1. 18. The first corn he raised was planted in holes which he grubbed out between the roots of the beech trees, and when the stalks began to grow he encouraged their progress by clearing away the weeds with the grub-hoe. By this means he raised enough corn to fatten two hogs for winter meat.
He passed through many hardships in his early life, but by honest and earnest toil and by the cheerful assistance of his good wife he secured a competency and now in his old age is surrounded with all the comforts of life. He has given some of his land to his sons and still has seventy acres. left. Of his ten children all are living except one, Albert G., who died in the army. The others are Joel F., John, Squire, Lonzo, Myron C., Isaiah J., Edson B., Harland and Mary A. Mary A. is the wife of Elias Ogg and lives in Knox county, Ohio. Each has had a high-school education. Mrs. Caris is a member of the Christian Church, and all her children belong to the church and live Christian lives.
In his political views Mr. Caris has all his life been in harmony with the Demo- cratic party. His first presidential vote was cast for Andrew Jackson. While he
has never been an office-seeker, lie has served as Trustee of Lincoln township and for fifteen years was School Director, being one of Morrow county's worthy citizens.
OBERT BELL LEVERING, who is recognized as one of the repre- sentative and inost progressive business men of Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, is engaged in an en- terprise which has an important bearing on the commercial prosperity of the cominuni- ty,-that of dealing in grain, -- and in this line his transactions and operations are of extensive scope. Mr. Levering is a native of Ohio, having been born at Woodview, Richland county, (since 1848, Morrow county), September 21, 1846, the son of Morgan Levering, who was born in Bed- ford county, Pennsylvania, in 1808, and who came to Knox county, Ohio, when eight years of age. This was in 1816, when his father. William Levering, who was a native of Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, came to Knox county and took up his abode on a tract of Government land to which he had filed claim in 1810. On this farm he passed the remainder of his life; dying at the advanced age of nearly eighty- five years. He was the son of Henry Lever- ing, a native of the old Keystone State, and of German and French Huguenot extraction. Henry Levering's grcat-grandfather, Rosier Levering, being a member of the Reformed Church of France, fled to Germany to es- cape religious persecution. There he mar- ried Elizabeth Van De Wall, who was born in Wesel, province of Westphalia, Germany. They then moved to Gamen, in the same province, and there they lived, reared their family and died. In 1685 Henry's grand-
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father, Gerhard, came with his older brother, Wigard Levering and family, to German- town, Pennsylvania, where they lived and where both were naturalized in 1691. Soon after they moved to Roxborough, Pennsyl- vania, now a part of Philadelphia, and bought farms. About the year 1700 Ger- hard was married. He resided at Rox- borough until 1730 and there reared his family. He then moved to Whitpain town- ship, now Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he died and was buried. Henry's father's name was Daniel, and Henry was his second child. Thus briefly is it shown that Robert Bell Levering, the subject of this sketch, is of the seventh generation from Rosier Levering and has a complete lineage back to 1648, when Wigard Lever- ing was born.
The mother of our subject was Mary (Bell) Levering, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1813. Her father, Robert Bell, was a native of New Jersey, and his father, who was also named Robert, was born in Scotland or England in 1755. Rob- ert Bell, Sr., had two brothers. One moved to South Carolina about 1790, and the other to the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, about the same time. The latter was the father of Hon. John Bell, of Tennessee, a states- man and, in 1860, a candidate for the Pres- idency, on the Constitutional Union ticket, being associated with Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, the candidate for the Vice- Presidency. In 1780 Robert, Sr. was mar- ried to Mary Yost, in Sussex county, New Jersey, where they lived until 1796. He then moved his family to Belmont county, Ohio, and in 1816 to Richland county, Ohio. Here he laid out, in 1820, the town of Bellville, which was named in his honor, and here he built a block house, which was
a place of refuge for the settlers during the dangerous hours in the Indian uprisings. He was a man of high intelligence and great courage and became one of the leading citi- zens of Richland county.
The father of our subject was reared in Knox county, his paternal homestead hav- ing been located, in 1848, in that section which subsequently became a part of Mor- row county. She who became his wife was reared within three miles of Bellville. After their marriage, in 1836, they located at Woodview, in Richland county, where he had the year previous become engaged in in the mercantile business as an equal part- ner of John Rule, which connection con- tinued for sixteen years, when by mutual consent it was dissolved, Mr. Levering con- tinuing the business in the same building until his death, which occurred January 25, 1860, at the age of fifty-two years. The mother's demise occurred April 13, 1884, in Mount Gilead, and at the time she had at- tained the age of seventy-two years. They were the parents of five children, two of whom died in infancy; Allen is a resident of Mount Gilead; Byron resides at Woodview, this county; and Robert B., subject of this review, is the youngest of the family.
Robert B. Levering was reared in his native town, receiving his rudimentary edu- cational discipline in the district schools and supplementing this instruction by a course of study in the public schools of Bellville, after which he taught school for three terms.
In 1867 he entered into partnership with Dr. Ainos Rule for the carrying on of a mercantile business at Woodview in the same store-room that was formerly occu- pied by his father, and as Mr. Rule was a son of his father's old partner, they used
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the same old signs and style of firm name, -Levering & Rule. This association was maintained for six years, after which our subject disposed of his interests in the en- terprise and assumed charge of his mother's farm, where he remained until 1879, when he came to Mount Gilead, and here engaged once more in mercantile business, remain- ing thus concerned for six years, after which he sold out, and, in company with Mr. Upton J. Cover, began operations in that business in which he is still engaged. The firm now conducts a very extensive business, as may be discerned when it is stated that between July 25 and August 24 of the present year (1894) they shipped thirty carloads of oats alone. They handle all kinds of grain, -wheat, corn, oats, bar- ley, flax-seed, etc., -besides conducting a large business in the buying and selling of hay and farın produce.
Mr. Levering has other interests aside from that implied in the enterprise noted. He is financially concerned in the Mount Gilead Dry Goods Company, and is a stock- holder in the Hydraulic Press Company. At one time he was a stockholder and director and was vice-president in the First National Bank of Mount Gilead, and in 1889 was cashier of the institution.
Fraternally he is identified with the Ma- sonic order, retaining a membership in Mount Gilead Lodge, No. 206, and Gilead Chapter, No. 59. Religiously he is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, and is prom- inently identified with the same, being an Elder and a Trustee of the local organiza- tion. At the time of the building of the short-line railroad from Edison to Mount Gilead, in 1879, he was appointed by the Judge of Court, Moses Dickey, as one of the trustees, and he still holds that position.
On the 6th of April, 1871, Mr. Levering was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Louisa J. Dillon, daughter of Dr. Alex- ander Dillon, a prominent physician of Woodview, Morrow county, which is the native place of Mrs. Levering.
Our subject and his wife are the parents of six children, namely: Hibbard B., Ruth K., Morgan Alexander, John Allen, Mary Blanch and Willis Robert.
REINER & SHIRK, proprietors of the Marysville Steam Laundry, Marysville, Ohio, are successors to the firm of Wilgus & Shirk, and are among the most enterprising young busi- ness men of their city, the members com- posing the firm being J. W. Greiner and H. A. Shirk. They began business July 18, 1894, have a complete steam plant, and are thoroughly equipped for their line of work, and have thus far rendered a high degree of satisfaction to their many customers. A personal mention of both Mr. Greiner and Mr. Shirk is appropriate in this work, and is as follows:
H. Arthur Shirk was born in York Cen- ter, Union county, Ohio, January 7, 1871, son of John H. and Phœbe (Hornbeck) Shirk, his father being a resident of Marys- ville, and his mother having died in 1875. Young Shirk spent the first nine years of his life on a farm, then went with his father to Mount Victory, Ohio, and four years later returned to Union county. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of this city, and at eighteen began life on his own responsibility, first in the employ of the Robinson & Curry Company, of Marys- ville, with whom he remained three years. He then turned his attention to the laundry
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business in the establishment of M. E. Smith, and later took charge of the man- agement of the laundry of D. S. Price, operating the business for him until July, 1893. In August of that year he purchased the hand laundry of A. Drake. This he conducted alone until March 12, 1894, when he consolidated with the steam laundry, under the firm name of Wilgus & Shirk. This firm, as above stated, was succeeded by Greiner & Shirk. Mr. Shirk gives his whole time and attention to this business, and in its management has evinced a marked ability. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Marysville Lodge, No. 100, and in politics is a Republican.
John W. Greiner was born in Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, April 20, 1863, son of Louis and Levina (Hess) Greiner, resi- dents of Somerset. Louis Greiner was born in Germany, and when fourteen years of age came to America with an uncle, and settled in Perry county, Ohio, where he learned, with this uncle, the shoemaker's trade, at which he has worked all his life. He was married in Somerset, Perry county, to Miss Hess, whose parents were natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Greiner have had ten children, of whom six are living, namely: Augustus A., a resident of Somerset, Ohio; Minnie A., a teacher in the Orphans' Home at Richmond, Indiana; Seigle H., of Somer- set; John W .; Clio E., a member of the home circle; and Earle, also of Somerset. John W. attended the schools of his native town until he was thirteen, when he hired out to do farm work, and was thus em- ployed five years. After this he went to Columbus, Ohio, and entered the employ of P. Hayden & Co. in the saddlery hardware business, remaining there two years. In November, 1884, he returned to Somerset,
and began to learn the trade of a printer in the Somerset Review office, where he worked until the following April, when he came to Marysville. Here he completed his trade in the office of the Marysville Tribune, and continues there still. Since July, 1894, however, he has given only half of his time to the Tribune, the other half being de- voted to his laundry business.
Mr. Greiner was married April 18, 1889, to Miss Lillian M. Shirk, daughter of John H. and Phoebe (Hornbeck) Shirk, and they reside on Ninth street, in the west part of the city. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and, like his partner, Mr. Greiner is a Republican.
J OHN H. SHIRK, of Marysville, Ohio, was born in York township, Union county, this State, May 15, 1840, son of Aaron and Rosemond (Tobey) Shirk, natives, respectively, of Hardy coun- ty, Virginia, and Saratoga county, New York, the father of German descent and the mother of English.
Aaron Shirk was born June 12, 1810, and when he was a boy came from Virginia to Ohio with his parents, John and Sarah (Brake) Shirk, their first settlement being in Ross county. About 1817 they came to Union county and settled in Liberty town- ship on what was known as the old Joshua Judy farm, where they remained for a few years. John Shirk then bought a tract of 700 acres of wild land, two miles west of Newton, in the same township, where he made permanent settlement, and where he died about 1864, at the age of eighty-seven years, his wife having died earlier. He was a member of the Disciple Church, and donated the ground on which to erect a
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church. He and his wife had fourteen chil- dren, Aaron being the second. Aaron Shirk was reared on the farm, but worked at the trade of shoemaker the most of his life. He owned a good farm in York township, on which he settled after his marriage, about 1831, and where he spent the rest of his life. He was one of the first settlers of York township, and in his log cabin was held the first election of the township, he casting the first vote, and being elected Constable. When a boy he assisted in cut- ting timber from off the Public Square of Marysville. He was a great reader, a pub- lic-spirited man, a Republican, and a mem- ber of the Baptist Church, and he passed to his reward January 17, 1887, his wife having preceded him by some three years. They had a family of five children, viz .: Sarah Ann, Hannah R., Herman T., John H. and Malinda.
John H., the subject of this article, is the only one of the family now living. He was reared on his father's farm and helped to clear and improve it, and he may be considered a self-educated man as his facil- ities for schooling in early life were limit- ed. He remained at home until he attained his majority, when he rented land and en- gaged in farming on his own account. April 5, 1862, he married Miss Phoebe Horn- beck, a native of Madison county, Ohio. Mr. Shirk rented his father-in-law's farm for three years, two before his marriage and one after, and he then took charge of his own father's farm, which he oper- ated until May, 1864. At that time he enlisted in the three months' service, as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out September 1, 1864. He then re-enlisted, becoming a member of
Company C, One Hundred and Ninety- first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was on duty until he was mustered out, Septem- ber 1, 1865, at Winchester, Virginia, as Corporal.
The war over, Mr. Shirk returned to York township and bought a small farin ad- joining his father's, and operated both places until 1873, when he traded his land for an interest in a grist and saw mill at York Centre. In 1876 he closed out his inilling business there and went to Mount Victory, Hardin county, Ohio, where he continued milling for four years, at the end of that time returning to Union county and again settling in York township. A year later he came to Marysville. Here for two years he was with the Robinson & Curry Company, and the following two years was in the warehouse business. Then he was elected Street Commissioner, which office he filled four years. Since that time he has not been engaged in any active business, and is living retired in his com- fortable home on Fifth street. While in York township he officiated for twelve years as Constable, and in Marysville he has served six years in this office. He is a member of Ransom Reed Post, No. 113, G. A. R., and was one of the charter mem- bers of the G. A. R. post at Mount Vic- tory.
Mr. Shirk's wife died April 5, 1876, leaving two children: Lillian M., wife of J. W. Greiner, of Marysville; and Henry A., also of this city.
September 27, 1878, Mr. Shirk mar- ried Miss Emma Garner, his present com- panion, a native of Knox county, Ohio.
In concluding this sketch of Mr. Shirk and his ancestry, we make reference to a little incident in the life of his grandfather,
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John Shirk, and although a little incident, it serves to show the character of the man, - and of such an ancestor his descendants may well be proud.
John Shirk was one of the most prosper- ous and wealthy farmers in his settlement, and always had plenty of corn on hand. One day one of his well-to-do neighbors, Joshua Judy, drove up to Mr. Shirk's with a four horse team and asked if he had corn to sell, saying he understood it was twenty- five cents per bushel. "Yes," replied Mr. Shirk. "Well," said Mr. Judy, "I will take all you have." "Have you got the money, Joshua?" asked Mr. Shirk, to which he an- swered "Yes." And, looking out, Mr. Shirk continued, "You have a good team." "Yes." "Well Joshua, I guess you can drive further on, as you have a good team and the money, and I will keep my corn for those whe have no team and no money."
J AMES W. TILTON .- The subject to whose life history we now direct particular attention has been a resi- dent of Marysville, Ohio, for more than a decade and has become closely and and conspicuously identified with the ma- terial progress and interests of the thriving little city, where he conducts in its line a representative enterprise in the way of a general real-estate and loan agency.
Mr. Tilton is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Licking county, July 2, 1843, the son of William and Jane A. (Reid) Tilton, the former born in New Jersey, the latter in Virginia, the parental lineage on either side tracing back to good old British origin. The paternal great- grandfather of our subject, Joseph Tilton, was a stalwart patriot who took up arms in
maintenence of independence when the col- onies united to thwart the unjust dominion of the mother country. He was an active participant in the war of the Revolution, and contemporary annals bear record of his efficient service in that ever memorable conflict which marked the inception of ours, the grandest republic the world has ever looked upon. The original American an- cestors of the Tilton family represented two collateral strains, one portion having been established for several generations in the State of Maryland, and the other in New Jersey. From the latter, whose history was identified for many years with that of Mon- mouth county, New Jersey, our subject traces a lineal descent. Both branches of the family turned their attention principally to the tilling of the soil, and ever stood as types of the more intelligent, progressive and prosperous yeomanry of the nation, - a God-fearing, industrious and honorable peo- ple, such as ever constitute the bulwarks of a country's defense and stable prosperity.
William Tilton, the father of our sub- ject, came to Ohio when but sixteen years of age, locating in Licking county, where he passed the residue of his life, save the four years prior to his demise, during which time he was a resident of Knox county, where he died in 1888 at, the age of sixty-nine years. His widow is still living, maintaining her home in Martinsburg, Knox county, and having attained the venerable age of seventy- one years. William and Jane A. Tilton be- came the parents of four children, of whom we here offer brief record in consecutive order of birth: James W., our subject; Noah H., a prominent merchant of Martins- burg; Sarah, wife of Simon Shrake, who is engaged in merchandising at Fallsburg, Licking county, Ohio; and Martha, wife of
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L. H. Robinson, a prosperous farmer of Licking county, Ohio.
James Tilton passed his youth on the paternal farm, where his duties, his pas- times and his privileges were practically analogous to those of the average boy of that period and section. He had been en- abled to attend the district schools during the winter terins and had assisted in the cul- tivation of the farm during the intervening summers, -this routine being but slightly varied up to the time he attained his eigh- teenth year. At this time grim-visaged war reared its horrid front, soon plunging a di- vided Union into a desperate fratricidal con- flict in which the eternal principle of right was clearly involved. Like many another pa- triotic youth, our subject became fired with enthusiasm, and promptly made ready to render to his country that service which is the true patriot's votive offering. He accord- ingly enlisted in Company A, Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Captain Thad. Lemert, and was sworn into service Octo- ber 5, 1861. Mr. Tilton's regiment was one that rushed into the thick of the fray, and the list of battles in which he participated stands in sufficient evidence that the service rendered was not short of the earnest which his patriot spirit had inspired. The princi- pal engagements in which he took part were those of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Lookout Mountain, Ringgold, At- lanta campaign, Jonesboro and others. He was with Sherman in the memorable march to the sea, and his last appearance in battle was at Goldsboro, North Carolina. He was mustered out, at Columbus, Ohio, July 23, 1865, as Sergeant.
His military career ended, Mr. Tilton turned his attention once more to the gain- ing of those no less renowed victories which
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