USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 55
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 55
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
Samuel Snodgrass, father of our subject, was reared in this county and here the
401
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
greater portion of his life was passed. He learned the carpenter's trade and devoted himself to this vocation for many years. He was a man of strong character, true to his convictions and honored for his unim- peachable integrity. In politics he was orig- inally a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party identified himself with the same and continued his allegiance therewith for the remainder of his days; in religion he was a member of the Presbyter- ian Church, as was also his wife. Both he and his wife are deceased.
Samuel and Agnes Snodgrass became the parents of six children, of whom we of- fer the following record: Alvin is a resident of Minneapolis, Kansas; William is the sub- ject of this review; David died in 1862; John resides at Colton, California; Ann G. is the wife of Dr. Spencer Garwood, of Mil- ford Centre, this county; James is a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana; and one son died in infancy.
William G. Snodgrass, subject of this review, is now the only male representa- tive of his father's family in this county. He worked on the farm, attending the district schools during the winter months, until the late civil war was precipitated upon a divided nation, when he determined to do his part toward maintaining the supremacy of the Union, and accordingly, on the 9th of August, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company B, Thirty-second Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and served with his regiment until July 20, 1865, when he was mustered out, at Louisville, Kentucky, receiving his balance of pay and his discharge at Colum- bus, this State, August I of the same year. He was made Corporal of his company, and by successive promotions held the offices of Sergeant, First Sergeant and Second Lieu- 26
tenant, receiving his commission for the last office only a few months prior to his discharge. He was a valiant soldier and never shirked a duty. The records show that he participated in the following engage- ments: McDowell, May 8, 1862; Cross Keys, Virginia, June 8, 1862; Harper's Ferry, September 15, 1862; he then passed along and participated in the Vicksburg campaign, being a member of General John A. Logan's division, which was ever notable as always to the front. At Champion Hills our subject's regiment effected the capture of the First Mississippi Battery. After the Vicksburg campaign Mr. Snodgrass re-en- listed as a member of the same company and regiment, and was with Sherman on his ever-memorable march to the sea. His regiment was in the heaviest of the fight on July 22, when McPherson was killed. Mr. Snodgrass was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, but was forthwith paroled. After the great conflict was ended our subject par- ticipated with his regiment in the grand re- view at Washington.
After the war he once more took up his residence in this county and worked with his father at the carpenter's trade until the time of his marriage, which occurred No- vember 19, 1870, when he wedded Miss Josephine Colver, daughter of Standish Col- ver, one of the pioneers of Union county. After his marriage he began farming in Champaign county and there remained for a period of sixteen years, after which he once more returned to his native county, engag- ing in agricultural pursuits here for seven years, -that is, up to 1892, when he was chosen as the candidate of his party for Sheriff of the county, a position for whose holding he was most particularly qualified. He was duly elected and has since been the
.
402
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
incumbent, proving a careful and discrimni- nating officer and never transcending the functions of his office. That he has been a man whose character has ever been such as to gain him confidence is not more clearly shown, perhaps, than in one instance which we may mention. After the war service was ended he was chosen by the members of his company, at Louisville, Kentucky, to receive and bring home the pay roll of the company, which same represented many hundreds of dollars, -a fact significant in itself and its implication. It is also worthy of note that he is at the present time president of his company's regimental organization.
Mr. Snodgrass held the office as Trustee of Union township for a number of years. He was a member of the Soldiers' Relief Commission from the time the same was created until his election as Sheriff; he was also for a term of years a member of the School Board of his township. Fraternally our subject is identified with Ransom Reed Post, G. A. R., of Marysville; with the Ma- sonic order, being a member of Palestine Lodge, No. 158, Marysville Chapter, No. 99, and Rapier Commandery, No. 19, of Ur- bana; he also retains a membership in Marysville Lodge, No. 100, Knights of Pythias, and in the Union Veterans' Legion, at Columbus.
Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass have three chil- dren: Frank B., Lucy, and William H.
ARON JULIAN, a prominent farmer of Peru township, Morrow county, is a son of John and Margaret (Hedge) Julian. The mother was a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Aaron Hedge. The grandfather of our sub-
ject, John Julian, was of Welsh descent. John Julian, Jr., came to Ohio in 1800, lo- cating in the woods twelve miles east of Circleville, Pickaway county, and lived for a time in a sugar camp. He married for his first wife Allie Hedge, and their children are all now deceased. In 1835 he removed to Peru township, Morrow county, locating on the farm now owned by our subject. He bought 100 acres, of which he cleared thirty-five acres. Mr. and Mrs. Julian had nine children, four now living: Aaron, our subject; Sarah, now Mrs. Baughman, of Union county, Ohio, and has two children; Samuel, of Delaware county; and Margaret, a widow, resides in Madison county. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a Democrat in his political views.
Aaron Julian, the subject of this sketch, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, August 4, 1822, but received his education in Peru township. He began work for himself by farming on rented land in this township for five years, after which he bought eighty acres of land here, but afterward moved to West Liberty, next returned to his old home farm, and in 1870 came to his present farm of 217 acres. His place is under a fine state of cultivation, and he is engaged in general farming. In political matters Mr. Julian is a life-long Democrat, and has voted fifty-one times, never having missed an elec- tion. He has served as Justice of the Peace, as Township Trustee, and for the past forty years has held the position of School Di- rector.
In 1854 Mr. Julian was united in mar- riage with Lucinda Hancock, and they have had five children, three now living, viz. : Willis C., who married Carrie Steward, and resides in Peru township; Edgar married Dora Daston, and lives with his father, and
403
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
Lillian, wife of Frank Steward, of this township. Mrs. Julian was reared in the Quaker faith.
0 R. E. G. GRAY, one of the lead- ing medical practictioners of South Woodbury, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, March 7, 1867, son of James Gray, a native also of this State, of Irish descent, and a farmer in Porter township, Delaware county. His father, James Gray, came from Pennsylvania to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in an early day, and thence to Delaware county. . Our sub- ject's mother, née Ellen Riggle, was a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Will- iam and Mary Riggle, natives also of that State. She came with her mother to Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. James Gray were married in Delaware county, and located in Porter township, where they still reside. They are the parents of six children, -Minerva, wife of Pat Trimmer, of Logan county, Ohio; Mary, deceased ; Alice, wife of Daniel Beard, of Porter township; George E., who married Josie Cooney, and resides in Porter township; Elmer G., our subject; and Ethel, deceased at the age of eighteen months.
Dr. Gray was reared on his father's farm, attended the district schools, also the Galion College, and completed his preparatory course in the Lebanon Normal. At the age of sixteen years he began teaching, follow- ing that occupation five years, and during that time also studied medicine with Dr. G. F. Foster, of Olive Green, Delaware coun- ty. In 1892 he completed a course of lec- tures at Columbus Medical College, and in the same year located at South Woodbury,
where he has ever since been actively en- gaged in the practice of medicine.
The Doctor was married in 1889, to Addie Huddeston, a native of Knox county, Ohio, and a daughter of Lucius and Mari- etta Huddeston. They are the parents of three children, -Nora, Fred, and Eddie.
Q HARLES E. DAVIS, -- We now di- rect attention to the life history of one who has held conspicuous posi- tion at the head of one of the most important and unique manufacturing indus- tries of Marysville, Union county, Ohio, - the product of said manufactory being the practical expansion of an invention of his own, -a man whose influence in the musical world has been marked and whose talent in that line is of high order.
A native of the Buckeye State, Charles E. Davis was born on the paternal farm- stead in Franklin county, September 19, 1852, the son of Charles and Catherine Davis, both of whom date their nativity in Franklin county and both of whom are of Welsh extraction. Our subject grew up on the farm and attended the district schools until he had attained the age of sixteen years, when he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, where he continued his studies for two years, after which he matriculated in the Baxter University in New York city, and there remained for an- other two years. He then returned to Ohio and for two years gave his attention to teaching in district schools, after which he once more gave himself to subjective educa- tional work, entering Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, where he continued his study for six years, devoting the final two years
404
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
almost entirely to the study of music, for which he had marked native talent and ap- preciation. In connection with his musical work he also carried along a line of special study in a literary way.
Leaving Oberlin in 1879, Mr. Davis went to Columbus, this State, and was there en- gaged for three years in teaching both vocal and instrumental music, proving a most efficient instructor and putting to prac- tical test the thoroughness of his knowledge in both theoretical and executive music. He then married and continued to teach in a private way until 1888, when he accpeted a position as instructor in the musical de- partment of Otterbein University, at West- erville, Ohio, where he remained until 1890. The succeeding two years Mr. and Mrs. Davis passed in that great art center, Bos- ton, Massachusetts, where they took a special course in music. Within this time Mr. Davis conceived the idea of the piano chair, which he subsequently perfected, and patented. In 1892 Mr. Davis came to Marysville and, enlisting local capital in his enterprise, effected the organization of the Davis Chair Company, which at once secur- ed the necessary mechanical equipment and began manufacturing his invention. The products of the factory were soon placed on the market, and such was the manifest superiority of the Davis chair that its intro- duction into all sections of the Union was most rapid. It would be incongruous in this connection to enter into details con- cerning our subject's invention, but we may state briefly the fact that the various styles of chairs manufactured have a spring back whose adjustment is automatic, proving a boon to those who give attention to practice on the piano, as well as those who use the sewing machine, typewriter, or are other-
wise employed at any work which requires long sitting in one position. There have been many devices in the line of piano chairs, but this is conceded to be the only one that approaches perfection when a practical test is applied.
Mr. Davis was married in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in March, 1883, to Miss Minnie Castle, daughter of Dr. A. B. Cas- tle, who is now a resident of Columbus, this State. Mrs. Davis has given her at- tention to music since she was a child of thirteen years, and is a most skillful pianist and vocalist, possessing a finely trained contralto voice of excellent timbre. She was engaged in teaching music for a num- ber of years, and after her marriage was also connected with the musical department of Otterbein University, in company with Mr. Davis.
It was but natural that our subject and his wife should have at once taken a lead- ing position in the social and musical circles of Marysville, and in the latter their in- fluence and enthusiasm did much to advance local musical interests. They were promi- nently identified with the Married People's Musical Society, an association representa- tive of much talent. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have one child, Miriam. In politics Mr. Davis is a stanch Republican.
In August, 1894, Mr. Davis disposed of his working interest in the Davis Chair Company, and with his family removed to Boston, where they now reside, devoting their attention entirely to music, in which line their success is assured, while from such work they will derive the maximum of satisfaction and pleasure, surrounded by the best musical atmosphere that our country affords.
405
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
A. WHITNEY, County Auditor, Mount Gilead, Ohio, is ranked with the self-made men of Morrow county, and it is with pleasure that we present the following sketch of his life in this work:
Mr. Whitney's father, Lyman Banks Whitney, was born in Connecticut, one of the eight children of Samuel Whitney, also a native of that State, and Lyman B. was a small boy when he came with his parents to Ohio. Here he grew up and was married to Elizabeth Vail, the eldest of a family of ten children. She was born in Morrow county, Ohio, daughter of B. T. Vail, a na- tive of New York and an early settler of this county. After their marriage they settled in Bloomfield, and he engaged in business, being one of the first merchants of the vil- lage. About 1840 he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he continued in business until his death, which occurred in October, 1842, at the early age of twenty-three years.
A. A. Whitney was born in South Bloom- field township, Morrow county, Ohio, Jan- uary 18, 1842, and was only a few months old when his father died. After that sad event, the mother took her only child and returned to Bloomfield, where he remained with her until he was ten years of age. His first schooling was in the district school at Vail's Crossroads, in Bennington township, this crossroads being named in honor of his grandfather, who at one time kept a hotel there. He afterward attended the Sparta, Chesterville and Mount Gilead schools, and from the time he was thirteen he made his own way in the world. His first work was in the woolen mills of Mount Gilead. At sixteen he began clerking for Burr Russell, and spent one year in his store at Sparta, and after that accepted a clerkship in a store
at Mount Vernon, where he remained in the employ of one man for sixteen years and seventeen days. Next we find him at Sparta. There he opened a general store on his own account and carried on business at that point for ten years.
In 1889 he was elected County Auditor, and that same year moved to Mount Gilead, where he has since resided, now being the incumbent of the Auditor's office, and the only Democrat in office in the county. As an official he has rendered a high degree of satisfaction, his duty here, as elsewhere, being performed with the strictest fidelity. At this writing Mr. Whitney is a director of the Morrow County Bank.
He was married in 1876 to Miss Jennie Henderson, of Mount Vernon, who died some years later, leaving three children, viz: Allen Banks, Clarence Chester, and Horace Warren. For his second wife he married her sister, Miss Ella Henderson.
Mr. Whitney is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Commandery at Mount Vernon, and of the Consistory at Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also identified with the Odd Fellows at Mount Gilead and the Knights of Honor at Mount Vernon. In church and Sabbath- school work he is prominent and active, be- ing a Steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church and Superintendent of the Sunday- school at Mount Gilead.
0 ANIEL KREIS, a prominent farmer of Cardington township, was born in Richland township, Marion county, Ohio, August 20, 1859. His father, Jacob Kreis, was born in Baden, Germany, where he remained until sixteen years of age, and then came alone to America, landing at Baltimore,
406
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
Maryland, with only $1 in his pocket. He worked on a farm in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, for three years, receiving $5 per month and board. He was there mar- ried, and shortly afterward came to Marion county, Ohio, in a one-horse wagon, lo- cating in Richland township. He traded his horse and wagon in part payment for a forty-acre farm, on which he built a log house. Mr. Kreis then left his wife in charge of the place, and began work on the National Pike, near Dayton, Ohio, receiv- ing 50 cents per day, and walked back and forth every two weeks to his home. In that way he earned the money to pay the balance on his farm. He added to his place from time to time, until in 1859 he owned 900 acres. In 1862 Mr. Kreis re- moved to Cardington township, and located on a farm known as the Brooks farm, east of Cardington city. In 1870 he erected and moved into a fine brick residence in that city. His first business venture there was the opening of a hardware store, which he conducted about thirty years, and was also engaged in the dry-goods and clothing business. At one time he was president of the Cardington Banking Company, and was a stockholder in the National Bank of Galion, and in the First National Bank of Cardington. Mr. Kreis built what is known as the J. Kreis Block in Cardington, the best business place in the city, and was also owner of a large brick block in Columbus.
He was united in marriage with Miss Helena Smith, born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. When very young she was bound out, and but little can be learned of her parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Kreis were the parents of ten children, namely: Joseph (deceased), Jacob, Elizabeth, Helena (de- ceased), George (who represented Morrow
county in the State Legislature four years), John, Cassius (deceased), Mary, Daniel and Samuel. Mr. Kreis was a Democrat in his political views, and was a member of the City Council at the time of his death, which occurred in 1884, in his seventy-fourth year. He was a member of the German Reformed Church. Mrs. Kreis also departed this life in her seventy-fourth year.
Daniel Kreis, the subject of this sketch, was three years of age when he came to Mor- row county, and his education was com- pleted in the Cardington schools. He com- menced clerking for his father when four- teen years old, remaining with him two years after his marriage. In 1885 he located on his present farm of seventy-six and a half acres, and, in addition to general farming, makes a specialty of Shropshire sheep. In political matters he affiliates with the Democratic party, and for four years held the office of Assessor, having been elected in a Republican district of 300 majority. Socially he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Cardington Lodge, No. 427.
Mr. Kreis was married in November, 1882, to Anna Smith, who was born and reared in Cincinnati, Ohio, a daughter of Ferdinand Smith, a prominent business man of that city. They have no children of their own, but have an adopted son, Earl Ferdinand.
a HARLES LEROY RUSSELL, Postmaster of Mount Gilead and senior member of the clothing firm of Russell & Simis, was born in this city March 17, 1857, and has been identified with its interests all his life.
Mr. Russell's grandfather, Charles Rus-
407
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
sell, was born in Virginia in 1792, and in 183I came to Ohio and located on a farm near Mount Gilead, where he spent the rest of his life, and where he died in January, 1872. His son, B. S. Russell, the father of our subject, was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, September 3, 1828, and was three years of age when he came with his parents to Ohio. When he grew up he learned the trade of tailor, and was one of the first mer- chants of Mount Gilead, where he was in business for a number of years. He now resides on the farm on which his father located when first coming to Ohio. The inother of our subject was before her mar- riage Miss Melinda Ackerman. She was one of a large family of children, and was reared by a Mrs. King, of Delaware county. The Ackermans are of German descent. B. S. Russell and his wife have had eight chil- dren, two of whom died when young. Those living are : Mrs. Belle Mills, widow of W. S. Mills, she being a noted singer of Columbus, Ohio; Charles Leroy, whose name heads this article; Mrs. Maggie Ran- dolph, wife of Chas. E. Randolph, Spring- field, Ohio; Edward B., a clerk in his brother's store at Mount Gilead; Mrs. Kate Kuqua, wife of Elmer E. Kuqua, a member of the firm of Kuqua & Son, manufacturers of carriages and buggies, Springfield, Ohio; and Mrs. Blanch Brollier, wife of Arthur Brollier, Mount Gilead.
Charles Leroy Russell began working at the tailor's trade when he was twelve years old and has been in a store ever since, working for his father for some years. The firm of Russell & Sims was formed in 1880 and continued successfully, Mr. Russell's long experience in the business giving him a thorough knowledge of its every detail.
In 1871 Mr, Russell was married to
Susan Mooney, of Cardington, Ohio, daugh- ter of M. L. Mooney, deceased. Her father was one of the pioneers of that place, was the first to engage in the drug business there, and was in business for thirty years or more. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have two chil- dren,-Clarence B., born in 1884; and Ethel Corinne, in 1888.
Fraternally he is identified with Ma- sonic Lodge, No. 206, and Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M. Politically he is a Dem- ocrat. April 17, 1894, he received the ap- pointment of Postmaster of Mount Gilead, and is now serving most efficiently in this position.
J OSEPH HOBSON, a venerable citi- zen of Gilead township, Morrow county, Ohio, and for forty years identified with the ministry of the Friends' Church, forms the subject of this article.
Mr. Hobson's father, Joseph Hobson, was a native of Maryland and a son of Joseph Hobson, the latter emigrating to Jefferson county, Ohio, about 1800 and making permanent settlement on a half sec- tion of land, he being one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the community. The mother of our subject was before her marriage Miss Rebecca Tal- but, she being a native of Maryland and a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Johns) Talbut. She first came to Ohio with her brother Joseph about 1800 and settled in Jefferson county. She and Mr. Hobson, however, were married in Pennsylvania, and they made the trip from there on horse- back to Jefferson county, taking up their abode on a piece of land owned by his father in a Friends' settlement. There he
40
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
ran a mill for a few years, and afterward re- moved to Stark county and settled on a piece of land his father had entered for him. This tract he cleared up and devel- oped into a farm, and on it he died in 1828 or '29, leaving a widow and seven children, five sons and two daughters. The mother kept her children together and returned with them to Jefferson county, where she bought a small farm and resided for many years. Only two of the family are now liv- ing, Joseph and Abraham J., the latter still a resident of Jefferson county.
Joseph Hobson was born December 14, 1818, in Stark county, Ohio, and remained with his mother until he was nineteen years of age, his educational advantages being limited to the common schools. Leaving home, he went to Columbiana county, Ohio, and for two years cultivated a farm there on shares. In 1842 he came to Morrow county, then a part of Marion county, making the journey here on horseback, and at that time having no capital save his will- ing hand. April 27, 1842, he married Miss Amy P. Stanley, a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, born July 30, 1815, daughter of James and Rhoda (Cobbs) Stanley, her family having settled in this county in the spring of 1839. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hobson located on forty-eight acres of land, the property now owned by Nelson Newsom, and from there removed to his present farm in 1850. At one time he owned 160 acres here, but has disposed of thirty acres of it. He cleared the greater part of this farm and made all the improve- ments upon it, including buildings, fences, etc , and now, in their old age, he and his good wife are enjoying the fruits of their honest toil, and are surrounded with all the comforts of life. They have had six chil-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.