USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 45
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 45
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 45
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Harvey H. Edwards is a son of John and Elizabeth (Adams) Edwards. His mother bore the maiden name of Adams, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. Edwards was the widow of George Garey. Harvey spent the days of his boyhood and youth on the old home place, and throughout his life has carried on agricultural pursuits. He inher- ited eighty-eight acres of good land, which he yet owns, and the place now yields him
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a golden tribute in return for the care and labor he bestows upon it. He votes with the Republican party, but has never had time or inclination to seek public office.
On the 15th of January, 1891, was cele- brated his marriage with Bertha Wilson, the accomplished daughter of Midas and Mary (Thomas) Wilson. They are now residents of Delaware county, but her father was bern in New York, and her mother in Wales. Two children make bright and glad the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, -Carol and Vera.
S OLOMON ROSEVELT, one of the venerable citizens of Ashley, Delaware county, Ohio, has been a resident of this place since 1865, coming here from New York city.
He was born in Alburg, Vermont, April 27, 1807, son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Wildy) Rosevelt, and was reared to farm life in Clinton county, New York. When he was eighteen he went to New York city, and entered upon a three years' apprentice- ship to the trade of ship-builder with the firm of Webb, Allen & Eckford. After he had served his time he continued with the firm as their foreman in the ship-yards. Subsequently he went to Keyport, New Jersey, and engaged in the business for himself, remaining there three years, and during that time constructing five vessels for the coasting trade. Returning to New York city, he accepted the position of fore- man for Brown & Bell, ship-builders, and remained with this firm for several years. While he was with them the company took the contract for building the Baltic and Pacific, the first steamers that crossed the Atlantic. Brown & Bell, finding they could not carry out the contract, sub-let the same
to Mr. Rosevelt and J. S. Joyce, who, under the name of Rosevelt & Joyce, built the vessels and launched them. After they had completed this contract they organized a new firm, the name of which was Rosevelt, Joyce & Co., which existed until 1865, a period of seventeen years, its career being marked by great prosperity. Among the vessels erected by them were those owned and operated by the New York Mail Steam- ship Company, the Cromwell Line of steam- ers, and many of the East and North River ferry boats. They built seven sailing ves- sels for A. A. Low & Bros., and the Horace Beals and Ephraim Williams for C. P. Dixon, and they also fitted out the vessels for the Burnsides & Banks expedition, as well as two for the United States Navy,- the last two being highly commended by the naval officers.
In 1865 Mr. Rosevelt sold his interest in the above-named business, and came West to Delaware county, Ohio, where he had purchased a farm the previous year. He had also purchased land in Morrow county. He built the first brick building in Ashley, a two-story business block, it being the second brick building in the township, and he also erected a number of substantial residences here. Since coming to Ashley, however, he has devoted the most of his time to superintending his farms, and has lived rather a retired life. He has amassed a handsome fortune, and is now enjoying the rest that comes after years of honest toil. Mr. Rosevelt's life has been an exem- plary one. He has been strictly temperate in all things. He never took a drink of whisky, smoked a cigar or took a chew of tobacco in his life.
Politically he is a Democrat. He has served as a member of the Town Council
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of Ashley, and for nine years was Cemetery Trustee. Early in life he was a member of Oak Lodge, No. 28, I. O. O. F., but his business cares subsequently drew him from the order.
Solomon Rosevelt was married in New York city, December 7, 1829, to Miss Eliz- abeth Morris. She was born in New York city, December 25, 1811, and died March 6, 1859. They had ten children, five of whom grew to maturity, and three of that number are still living. These three are as follows: William H., a resident of Colum- bus, Ohio, connected with the Columbus Transfer Company; George W., more ex- tended mention of whom is given below; and Charles E., Postmaster of Ashley. The two who grew up and are deceased were Maria and Margaret E. The former, the wife of Martin Wing, left four children; and the lat- ter, the wife of W. W. Stratton, left one child. In 1859 Mr. Rosevelt married Mrs. Mary A. Stratton, widow of Joseph Stratton, of New York city.
1 She is also deceased.
George W. Rosevelt, son of Solomon Rosevelt, was born in New York city, September 15, 1844, and was reared and educated there. When he was fourteen he was employed as assistant bookkeeper for the firm of Finken & Wheatley, sugar re- finers on Wall street, which position he filled for two years and a half. When he was seventeen he enlisted in the Un- ion army for service in the civil war, but on account of his youth his father caused his return home. Several times he attempted to enter the army, but each time his father brought him back. Finally, however, he was successful in his attempt, and he went into service with the Twenty-second New York Militia. He was in the battle of Gettysburg and in several skirmishes.
Previous to his entering the army he had gone to work for his father in the ship- yards, first as bookkeeper in the office, and afterward in other departments of the work, and he finally became a skilled mechanic. He continued with his father until the latter sold out and came West, and after that he worked for his father's successors, and con- tinued in the ship-yards until November 30, 1875, when he, too, came to Ashley, Ohio. Here he carried on a general merchandise business until 1884, when he sold out to I. N. Cox, and from 1884 until 1891 he was in the regalia business, at the head of the firm of George W. Rosevelt & Co. In 1885 he accepted the position of United States Storekeeper and Gauger of the Elev- enth District of Ohio, and continued as such until October 1, 1889, when he was relieved. August 1, 1893, he was recalled to fill a vacancy, and he still occupies that position. Since 1891 he has also been en- gaged in the boot and 'shoe business. He has been a notary public since 1887.
Mr. Rosevelt is a stanch Democrat, and is very prominent in the political affairs of the county. He has been a delegate to both county and State conventions, and has offici- ated as president of cacuses. Indeed, few men in Delaware county have been more active, either in business or politics, than George W. Rosevelt. He is a member of the following organizations: the Free & Accepted Masons, in which he has risen to the Scottish Rite degree; the Knights of Pythias; and the Grand Army of the Re- public. In 1893 he was appointed Aid-de- camp on the staff of L. H. Williams, Com- inander of the Department of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic, and is now a dele- gate to the State Encampment.
He was married July 25, 1865, to Miss
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Mary E. Perry, a native of New York City. They have had two children, both of whom are deceased, -Hannah E. and GeorgeA.
ENJAMIN HULL, a man whose memory links the mystic old pio- neer days with those of the period which marks the century's end, and who is one of the oldest settlers now living in the thriving little city of Mount Gilead, Morrow county, must be granted a consistent attention in this connection. He is one who knew much of the arduous toil and the hardships of the pioneer epoch and who has played well his part in life, never shrinking back from duty, nor from the line where industry directs the efforts of her stalwart devotees.
The father of our subject was Mahlon Hull, who was a native of New Jersey, and a farmer by occupation. The latter was a son of Benjamin Hull, also born in New Jersey, a representative of one of the old and prominent families of that State. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Eve Snook, was likewise a native of New Jersey, being the daughter of Henry Snook.
The marriage of our subject's parents was consuminated in Sussex county, New Jersey, and there they continued to abide for several years. In 1825 they came to Ohio and settled on a sixty-acre tract of wild and very poor beech land in Chester township, Knox county (now Morrow county). Mr. Hull built a little log house in the woods and here established his home, remaining until he had cleared up the place, after which he sold the same, for a consideration of $500, and then removed to Indiana, settling in La Grange county,
where he died, in the spring of 1839, his wife having passed away the preceding fall. They became the parents of a family of nine children, seven of whom are yet liv- ing: Benjamin is the subject of this re- view; Alice is the wife of Benjamin Thomas, of Chester township, this county; Lucinda, widow of the late Henry Keiser, is a resi- dent of Mount Gilead; William lives in Mount Gilead; Daniel is a resident of the State of Washington; Phoebe Ann is the wife of Abram Newson, of Gilead township; Henry is deceased, as is also Alfred.
Benjamin Hull, subject of this sketch, was born in Sussex county New Jersey, December 20, 1819, and was but five years of age when his parents removed to Ohio and located in this county. His educa- tional discipline was secured in the primi- tive log school houses of Chester township. After the death of his parents our subject brought his younger brothers and sisters back from Indiana to this township, and, though himself but a mere boy, set valiantly to work to assist in their maintenance. He first secured work on the farm of a Mr. Struble, remaining thus employed for four months, after which he apprenticed himself to learn the mason's trade, with James Beers, with whom he remained three years.
He came to Mount Gilead in 1844 and here continued to work at his trade for a full score of years. Somewhat later he be- came concerned in a speculation in connec- tion with the Ohio Central Railroad, and as a result sustained a financial loss of $1, 200. This loss was one for which he felt that he owed an expiation, and accordingly he again resumed work at his trade until he had made good the amount. For the past fifteen years he has been retired from active business.
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In 1847 Mr. Hull was united in marriage to Elizabeth Newson, daughter of Abram Newson. She was born in Maryland, and was an infant when her parents removed to Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Hull are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which our subject has been identified for half a century, having held prominent pref- erment as Steward and Class-leader. In politics he was originally a supporter of the Democratic party, but now gives his in- fluence and vote to the Prohibition cause, being a most earnest worker in its behalf.
An honest man and a true one, he is held in the highest esteem in the community, where he has lived and labored for so many years.
ASHINGTON GARDNER, who resides on a farm in Lincoln township, Morrow county, Ohio, is one of the octogenarians of the
county.
His father, John Gardner, was born in Edinburg, Scotland, and came to America with the British soldiers during the Revolu- tionary war; was in Cornwallis' army and surrendered at Yorktown. After the close of the war he settled in Loudoun county, Vir- ginia, where he was subsequently married to Miss Elizabeth Groves, a native of Mary- land, and of Dutch descent. As early as 1795 they removed to the Western Reserve and settled at what has since been known as Zanesville, Ohio, where they lived until 1816. John Gardner was the second man to build a cabin at that place. In 1816 he moved to Delaware county, now Morrow county, and located in Peru township, this part of the country then being almost an
unbroken wilderness. Here he and his good wife spent the residue of their lives and died, honored and esteemed by all who knew them. Both were members of the Baptist Church, in which he was a Deacon. Dur- ing the whisky rebellion in Pennsylvania he was one who helped to put a stop to the troubles there. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, namely: Rebecca, Nancy, John L., Elizabeth, Mary, Wash- ington and Fannie.
Washington Gardner is the only survivor of this family. He was born November 2, 1814, at Zanesville, Ohio, and was a child when he came with his parents to Peru township, where he was reared and educated, remaining with his parents until their death. He was married September 5, 1847, to Miss Mary Wiseman, a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John and Hannah (Culver) Wiseman, both natives of Pennsylvania, the father being a farmer. The Wiseman family moved to Ohio in 1829 and settled on a farm in Co- lumbiana county. In 1835 they located at Bucyrus, and some years later moved to Lincoln township, this county, where the father and mother both passed away. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom five are living, viz .: Mrs. M. W. Caris, Mrs. Gardner, John, Isaiah, and Mrs. Sarah Martin. Mrs. Gardner was educated at Bucyrus and at Kenton Seminary, and was for some years engaged in teaching, be- ginning in Morrow county when she was sixteen. She received $1. 50 per week and "boarded around."
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Gard- ner settled at Westfield, Morrow county, and in 1865 removed from there to their present farm in Lincoln township. He was for seventeen years engaged in the milling
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business, and for some years also worked at the carpenter's trade.
In politics Mr. Gardner is a Republican, and has all his life taken an active interest in public affairs. He has been a delegate to both county and State conventions, has served as Trustee of Westfield, Peru and Lincoln townships, and now, at the age of eighty years, is serving as School Director. When the civil war came on he was among the first to tender his services for the pro- tection of his country. He enlisted July 25, 1861, in Company G, Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as teamster, and was in the service for eleven months, partic- ipating in the battle of Booneville, West Virginia. He is a member of the G. A. R. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gardner are members of the United Brethren Church.
Of their nine children, only four are liv- ing, and of these we make record as follows: W. S. is married and has two children and lives in Denver, Colorado; Maggie, wife of John W. Howard, lives in Lincoln township, this county, their family consisting of three children; John, married, is the father of one child, and lives in Delaware, Ohio; and Lola, wife of Conrad Hoffmire, of Fulton, this county.
O RMAN KINGMAN, deceased. - The following memoir, which relates somewhat concerning the life his- tory of one who stood as an hon- ored resident of Morrow county for the long span of an active and useful life; one who was a native son of the county, and whose days were part and portion of the indis- soluble chain which linked the annals of the early pioneer epoch with those of latter day progress and prosperity, is offered as a
slight tribute to a man who stood four square to every wind that blew, and whose strength was as the number of his days.
Orman Kingman was a lineal descendant of the eighth generation from Henry and Sarah Kingman, who fled from England on account of religious persecution, and settled with the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth, Mas- sachusetts, in 1630. He was born in Lin- coln township, Morrow (then Delaware) county, Ohio, November 21, 1823. His father was Joseph Kingman, who was born and reared in the State of Vermont. In an early day, just after the close of the war of 1812, in which he was a solder, he re- moved his habitation from among the green- clad mountains of his native State, and took up his abode in the forest wilds of that portion of Delaware county, Ohio, which was subsequently included in the organiza- tion of the present county of Morrow. He settled in the woods, at a point five miles distant to the south of Mount Gilead, the present thriving seat of the county, and here he remained until the time of his death, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was a son of Alexander Kingman, who likewise was a native of the old Green Mountain State, a member of a prominent family, and one of the brave men who took up arms and participated in the great conflict of 1776, by which the colonies determined their independence from the dominion of the mother country. He came to Ohio a few years after his son Joseph, and with him settled on the pioneer homestead al- ready noted. Here he passed the residue of his life, dying October 18, 1849, at the age of eighty-five.
The mother of our subject, nce Susanna Wood, was the daughter of Jonathan Wood, an early settler of this county, and one to
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whom more specific reference is made in the sketch of his son, Thomas A., as appearing elsewhere in this volume.
Orman Kingman was the fourth in order of birth of the eight children of Joseph and Susanna Kingman, and all of this number lived to attain mature years. Orman passed his childhood and youth on the par- ental farmstead, receiving his scholastic dis- cipline in the primitive log school-houses of the place and period. He remained on the old farm until the time when he married and assumed for himself the responsibilities of life, thereupon locating on a farm in Lincoln township, where he continued his residence for five years, devoting his atten- tion to general farming. At the expiration of the period noted he effected the purchase of the place where his widow now abides, in the same township.
He was a man of broad intelligence, sturdy rectitude of character, progressive in his methods, and honorable in his dealings with his fellow men, -attributes which must ever eventuate in gaining the respect and esteem of all within a person's sphere of action and influence. He was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which body he had been prominently and actively identified for a period of nearly a half century, having been a Class-leader, and having held official preferment as Stew- ard for a term of many years. Fraternally he was identified with the several Masonic bodies, having been initiated into the mys- teries of that noble order when a young man. Politically he was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he transferred his support and sympathy to that party. He served as Township Trus- tee, and had also been the incumbent in other minor offices of public trust. Mr.
Kingman was well known in the county, was genial and sympathetic in temperament, and enjoyed a distinctive popularity, being an excellent conversationalist, and a man whose friends were in number as his ac- quaintances. He entered into eternal rest on the last day of August, 1891, and in his death the community mourned the loss, not of a great man, for his talents and oppor- tunities were not such as to render possible the achievement of great ends, but of "a good man," and what higher honor can be accorded than in the recognition of the in- trinsic worth of character ?
The widow of our subject, Mary C. (Cun- ard) Kingman, who lives to bear and rever- ence his name, was born in Loudoun coun- ty, Virginia, September 27, 1827, and was a daughter of Stephen T. Cunard, a native of the same county in the Old Dominion State, where he was born February 3, 1803. He was reared in Loudoun county, receiving somewhat limited educational advantages, and early in life learning the carpenter's trade. He was a son of Edward and Edith (Thatcher) Cunard, both of whom dated their nativity in Virginia. His father, Ed- ward Cunard, Jr., served in the war of 1812, as Lieutenant of his company, and lost his life in one of the engagements of that memorable conflict. In his later years he had followed the vocation of civil engineer, being possessed of distinctive ability.
His grandfather, Edward Cunard, Sr., was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in October, 1781. The family is of English origin, tracing lineal descent from the Hirsts, of Yorkshire. The original representative of the Hirst family to locate in the New World came here in 1680 and settled near Baltimore, Maryland. The
1
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MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
mother of Mrs. Kingman was Vashti B. (James) Cunard, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1805, the daughter of David and Charlotte (Bradfield) James, who were pioneers of Morrow county, having moved to Morrow county, Ohio, in 1835 from Loudoun county, Virginia. The par- ents of Mrs. Kingman were wedded in their native State, November 26, 1826, and in 1835 they removed to the forest wilds of Morrow county (then Delaware county), Ohio, where but little had been done in the way of felling the forests, and where the log cabins of the settlers were few and far be- tween. In 1835 there were twenty-eight votes cast at the general election in Lincoln township, and S. T. Cunard was one of the number of depositors. At the time of his death, in 1881, there were only three of these voters living, and the last of the num- ber died in 1891.
When the parents came from Virginia their entire earthly possessions were trans- ported in an old-fashioned carryall, in which the mother rode in state, with her little daughter (Mrs. Kingman) by her side, and the younger child (Ludwell M. Cunard, then a babe of five months, now a promi- nent citizen of Mount Gilead, this county) in her lap. The journey was made in this primitive conveyance along the old national road to Wheeling, West Virginia, and thence forward to the destination in this township. The available cash capital of the family was represented in the sum of $50, which Mrs. Cunard carried in her pocket. The father walked the entire distance, accompanied by his two faithful watch dogs, Castor and Pollux. Arriving here he built a diminutive log cabin, in which he installed his family, the place being located five miles south of Mount Gilead, which place was named
by Daniel James, an uncle of the moth- er of Mrs. Kingman. The father set valiantly at work to clear and improve his little farm of 160 acres, and in time he gained the reward for his in- dustry and good management, being the owner of 1, 100 acres of finely improved land at the time of his death. He was originally a Whig; later a Republican and was an enthusiastic supporter of the Union during the late civil war. His death occurred March 3, 1881, his wife having passed away in May, 1871.
They were the parents of six children, namely: Mary C., relict of the honored subject of this sketch; Ludwell M., of Mount Gilead, this county, of whom indi- vidual mention is made on another page; Henry Edward, who was killed at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, as Captain of Company I, Third Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry; Thomas Corwin, a very prominent citizen of Fulton, this county, having filled many places of trust, includ- ing that of Notary Public for many years: the town of Fulton is located on a farm which he bought many years ago, and he has the honor of having erected the first house in the town, and of doing more toward its advancement than any other of its resi- dents; Alexander H., deceased; and Amanda E., deceased wife of Dr. A. E. Westbrook, of Delaware county. All of the four sons were soldiers in the late war of the Rebel- lion, the youngest of which (Alexander H.) enlisted at the age of fifteen and served four years.
Mrs. Kingman was the eldest child, and was seven years of age when her parents came to Ohio. Her education was received in the log school-houses which obtained in these early pioneer days, and as the eldest
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child much of her time was demanded in assisting in the domestic duties of the little cabin home, where she waxed strong in health and years, becoming an example of that intelligent, wholesome type of young womanhood which the frontier life produced.
July 17, 1845, she was united in mar- riage to Mr. Kingman, and she became the mother of six children, of whom we make record as follows: Ada Ellen died in in- fancy; Elmore Y. is a prosperous farmer in Lincoln township. His early education was obtained in the district schools, and he af- terward taught in the same school where he had been a pupil. He then attended the high school in this county for several sum- mers, teaching during the winter months. By economy he managed to save a part of his small salary, and with a little assistance from his father, he was enabled to attend the Baldwin University for several terms. He married Belle Smith, a very amiable lady, and they settled on the farm where they now reside. They have two sons, William Orman and Charles Cunard, both exemplary, promising young men. Stephen Cunard Kingman is a representative young attorney of Mount Gilead, where he has practiced law for the past twenty years. He received his early education in the schools of his own district, afterward attending the high school and Baldwin University. After returning from college he commenced the study of law. Soon after this he married Ada Eu- dora Coe, a lady of great moral worth. She died within a few years, lcaving two little girls. The elder, Mary Letitia, a child of unusual promise, died when eleven years of age. He remained a widower for two years, when he married Mary Alexandria Ireland, a very talented young lady, and they have four interesting children: Helen Valeria,
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