USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 18
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Mr. Ewalt was born on May 7, 1840, one mile west of Mt. Vernon in
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Clinton township. He is the son of a sterling old pioneer family, Henry and Elizabeth ( Pratt) Ewalt. The paternal grandfather, John Ewalt, came to Knox county in 1813 from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, with his wife, seven sons and four daughters, and they settled two miles west of what is now the city of Mt. Vernon, on land he bought from the government and began life as a pioneer. In due course of time he became one of the prom- inent and well-to-do farmers of this section of the state. He gave his sons each one hundred and sixty acres of land as they came to manhood. For many years he was prominent in the affairs of this locality. He and his sons were all farmers except the oldest son, John, who was a blacksmith and who built a shop on the lot where the Knights of Pythias hall now stands on West Gambier street in Mt. Vernon, and it was the first blacksmith shop in the town.
Henry Ewalt, father of John M., of this review, was a farmer and he developed two good farms from the woods west of Mt. Vernon and became one of the leading farmers and stock men of the county, and he was promi- nent in local public matters. He was a great supporter of James K. Polk for the Presidency in 1844. He was a man of positive convictions and took a delight in forwarding any worthy movement looking to the general good of his community, and while he was always active in public affairs he was no office holder. He voted the Democratic ticket straight. His family consisted of three sons and four daughters, namely: Ann married Samuel Bartley, who moved to Iowa; Mary married Benjamin Iles: Andrew Jackson, who went to California as a gold hunter, being a member of the famous band of "forty-niners;" Henry, who first moved to Illinois, later to Kansas; Sarah A. married Frederick Rodgers: Caroline remained single; John M., of this review, is the only member of the family now living. The parents of these children were Presbyterians and devout church people. The father's death occurred in 1878 and the mother died in 1872; they are buried in Mound View cemetery.
John M. Ewalt spent his youth on his father's farm and attended the district school until he was nineteen years of age. He began life for himself by teaching school in the home district when he was nineteen years of age. Later he attended the Mt. Vernon schools and the high school, he being the first boy to enter the new high school building. It still stands, but has been enlarged and remodeled. He also attended the private school of R. R. Sloan prior to entering the high school. While a senior in the latter, the Civil war came on. William Mitchell, principal of the high school, organized a com- pany of which he became captain, Company A, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer
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Infantry, and Mr. Ewalt enlisted in the same, in August, 1862, and he served very faithfully until the following April, when he was discharged on account of physical disability. He was sergeant of his company. He participated in Sherman's repulse from Vicksburg and other engagements, including the battle of Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863. He was sent to St. Louis with a boat load of three hundred sick and wounded soldiers, one hundred of whom died on the way. He was discharged from the service at Jefferson Barracks, eleven miles below St. Louis. Upon leaving the army he re- turned home and was married on November 5, 1863, to Sarah Ward, daugh- ter of Levi B. and Mary ( Freeman) Ward, a prominent pioneer family of Mt. Vernon, where Mr. Ward was successfully engaged in the mercantile business for many years. He and his wife are both deceased.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ewalt two sons and one daughter have been born, namely: Harry, an optician in Pittsburg. Pennsylvania: M. Cora is at home: J. Lewis is practicing dentistry at Lorain, Ohio: both sons are mar- ried, the daughter having remained single.
After his marriage Mr. Ewalt engaged in farming and teaching school, alternating the two with the seasons of each year up to 1871. Mrs. Ewalt's death occurred in December, 1890, and she is buried in Mound View - ceme- tery. Mr. Ewalt was married a second time, in October, 1893. his last wife being Bell S. Scott, daughter of John and Mary (Ankeny) Scott, an excellent family of Cambridge, Ohio. This union has been without issue.
Mr. Ewalt has always taken an abiding interest in local affairs, and in 1871 he was elected county auditor on the Democratic ticket and he served two terms of four years. In 1865 he was appointed one of the county school examiners and he served in this capacity until 1876. He was a member of the city board of education for a period of three years. He discharged his duties very faithfully in every position of public trust.
In 1874 Mr. Ewalt was one of the organizers of the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company, of which the present bridge company is the continuation. Mr. Ewalt was then the first secretary and treasurer of the company, which posi- tion he held with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the stock- holders for several years. In 1875. while still serving as county auditor, he was elected cashier of the then Knox County National Bank, and he served with much success in that capacity until the expiration of the bank charter in 1885, when the institution was chartered as the Knox National Bank, and he continued as cashier until the expiration of that charter in 1905. With the new charter the bank became the New Knox National Bank, under which charter it is now operating. Mr. Ewalt retired from the cashiership with the
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expiration of the Knox National Bank, after a most faithful and commend- able service of thirty years, during which time he became one of the county's leading figures in banking circles and won a wide reputation for his able, conservative and judicious ability and services, which were always of a very high order and his pleasing personality, courtesy and straightforward deal- ings with the thousands of patrons won the confidence and respect. Since his retirement as cashier he has been vice-president of the New Knox Na- tional Bank. Of the thirty-seven stockholders in the bank when Mr. Ewalt became cashier, he is now the only one remaining. He is a banker of the old school, yet he has all the while kept fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his line of endeavor, and all modern methods of bank- ing are familiar to him. Liberal, yet conservative, his bank has had a very successful career, and is one of the sound and safe as well as popular financial institutions of Ohio.
Politically, Mr. Ewalt is a Democrat, but in 1896 he voted for William Mckinley as President ; since then he has called himself an independent Democrat. He is a member of Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Re- public, and he and his family belong to the Baptist church and are active in church work, Mr. Ewalt being a deacon and a Sunday school teacher. The family home is a modern, commodious and attractive one, located at No.120 East High street in one of the choice residence districts of the city, and it is an important factor in the best social life of the community. Mr. Ewalt is a strong and likable character of sterling worth and is highly regarded by all classes.
JOHN B. STINEMETZ.
For nearly three score and ten years, or indeed all his life, an esteemed and worthy resident of Clinton township, Knox county, John B. Stinemetz is entitled to special mention with the successful and representative men of the western part of the county. His name has long been inseparably connected with the agricultural and industrial growth and development of the com- munity and in the equally important matters of education and public morals he has taken more than a passing interest. He has lived to see the great development of this favored section of the great Buckeye state and has played well his part in the same, for here, on his ancestral hills, he has been content to spend his life and he has so ordered his footsteps in the paths of rectitude that he has kept untarnished the escutcheon of the worthy pioneer name of Stinemetz.
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Mr. Stinemetz was born on the farm where he still resides in Clinton township, this county, two miles west of the city of Mt. Vernon, on November 21, 1842. He is the son of George and Rachael (Liter) Stinemetz, both born in Washington county, Maryland, where they grew to maturity and were married, soon afterwards coming to Knox county, Ohio, in 1826, when the country was sparsely settled and little improvement had been made. They settled just west of Mt. Vernon and two years later bought the land which is still in possession of the family. It was then all timbered. The elder Stine- metz first cleared just enough for a place on which to build his cabin, then began the work of carving out a farm in the woods, and here he became very well established, the log cabin giving way to a more pretentious home in due course of time and he followed farming all his life, becoming one of the substantial men of his neighborhood, and he was a man of upright character and a most worthy citizen. His death occurred in June, 1873, his widow fol- lowing him to the grave a few months later, on December 7th of the same year, and both are buried in Mound View cemetery, Mt. Vernon. They were the parents of nine children, only three of whom are now living, namely : Mary, who married Reason Welsh, is now a widow, as is also Ellen, who married Clark N. Craig; John B., of this sketch.
John B. Stinemetz grew up on the home farm and received his education in the district schools of the locality and his opportunities for an education were meager, but he made the best of what he had. He was married on October 29, 1868, to Belinda Allen, daughter of Asahel and Content ( Wing) Allen. A sketch of the Allen family will be found on another page of this volume.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stinemetz, namely : Charles E., deceased; George A. A., married Jennie M. McGagin, and is liv- ing on a farm in Monroe township; Cora E. married Clinton M. Graham and she lives with her parents on the home farm.
The subject and his wife began housekeeping on the old home place and here they have continued to reside to the present time and they have kept the old place well improved and well tilled, so that it has lost none of its old-time fertility. His place of one hundred acres has yielded him a very comfortable annual income as a result of his industry and good management.
Politically, Mr. Stinemetz is a Republican and he has ever been a careful, intelligent voter, but never an office seeker. However, he has served his community as road commissioner and school director. He is a member of the Clinton Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. He and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are devout church people.
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HIRAM W. WORKMAN.
Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free outdoor life of the farm has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance which characterizes true manhood, and no greater blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country and the majority of our nation's great statesmen, famous warriors, renowned scholars and distinguished men of letters were born on the farm and are indebted to its early influence for the distinction which they have attained.
Hiram W. Workman, of Union township, Knox county, is a farmer and he comes of a family of tillers of the soil, who have been thus engaged for a livelihood for generations. He was born on February 26, 1861, in Tiverton township, Coshocton county, Ohio, the son of Stephen and Mary (Johnson) Workman, both natives of the same vicinity in which the subject was born and there they were reared, grew to maturity and married, the father spending his entire life on the old homestead on which his birth oc- curred. He farmed all his life and was a substantial and influential citizen. Politically. he was a Democrat and adhered to the Baptist belief religiously. His death occurred in December, 1907, having survived his wife thirty years, she having preceded him to the grave on February 12, 1877, and they are both buried in the Baptist cemetery, near Tiverton Center, Coshocton county.
Sixteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Workman, six of whom are living at this writing, four having died in infancy, and twelve grew to manhood and womanhood, namely : Hiram W., of this sketch ; Robert W. lives in Holmes county, Ohio; Elizabeth married William R. Parsons, of Holmes county; Emma married Charles Englehart, of Howard township; Allen Thurman lives in Holmes county, and Asa is a resident of Orville. Wayne county.
Hiram W. Workman was reared on the home farm and there worked in the summer months as soon as he was old enough, attending the public schools in the winter time. He remained under his parental roof-tree until he was married, on November 17, 1881, to Alice Singer, daughter of John and Ellen ( Prost) Singer, the mother having died when Mrs. Workman was an infant. The father is now a resident of the state of Idaho.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Workman, named as
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follows: Sadie, who married Earl Ackert, of Tiverton township, Coshocton county ; Grover C. is at home assisting with the work on the place; Walter is deceased.
Hiram W. Workman began farming on the home place in Tiverton township, Coshocton county, and in 1886 he came to Union township, Knox county, locating one mile west of Cavilla, where he is the owner of eighty acres of good land which he farms and on which he raises live stock and feeds considerable stock each year.
Politically, Mr. Workman is a Democrat and he has always been an ac- tive party man. He was assessor of Union township for two years. His popu- larity in his home community is shown by the fact that this is a strong Re- publican district and that he was elected on the Democratic ticket. He has also served as a member of the township board of education for several years, and he has been a frequent delegate to party conventions where he has always made his influence felt for the good of the community which he represents and the party in general.
HENRY M. JACOBS.
One of the honored young men of Knox county, a native son who has been content to remain in this favored section of the great Buckeye common- wealth, is Henry M. Jacobs, the present efficient and popular postmaster at Gambier. In all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and con- fidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact as is evidenced by his selection to fill the important trust which he now holds.
Mr. Jacobs was born in the town of Gambier, this county, on October 6, 1875, and he is the son of Charles W. and Minerva (Benedict) Jacobs, both natives of Knox county, where the father devoted his life to farming. In later life he was a Republican in politics, but not active, though he filled a number of the township offices. He was a highly respected gentleman who led a clean, industrious life. His death occurred in December, 1906; his widow is living in Gambier, where, like her husband before her. she has many warm friends.
The son, Henry M., of this review, was educated in the public schools of Gambier. His first employment after finishing school was in the office of the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus railroad at Gambier, remaining with the company four years, rendering high grade and eminently satisfactory service. In 1897 he became assistant postmaster at Gambier, and served in
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this capacity in a most capable manner until November. 1910, when he was appointed postmaster, succeeding E. P. Webster, whose death occurred at that time. He has given both the department and the peo- ple faithful and conscientious service and proven to be one of the best post- masters the town has ever had. Politically, he is a Republican and has been active in party matters since attaining his majority. He was the representa- tive from Gambier on the Republican county central committee for several years, and he has been a frequent delegate to county and district conventions. He has served as township clerk for thirteen years, from the time he became old enough to vote until he was appointed postmaster. He is now a member of the board of education of Gambier. This postoffice is a presidential third class office and three rural routes start from here, Route No. I being one of the first in the county.
Mr. Jacobs was married on July 26, 1901, to Eva Webster, daughter of Erwin P. and Sarah (Chaney) Webster. Mr. Webster was for many years agent for the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus railroad at Gambier and from 1897 until his death, in the fall of 1910, he was postmaster at Gambier. His wife preceded him to the grave several years. They were highly respected people.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs have one child, Edwin W. Mr. Jacobs is a member of Mt. Zion Lodge No. 9, Free and Accepted Masons, at Mt. Vernon, also a member of the chapter. He affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a member. They are popular in the best society of the county and are pleasant people to meet.
WILLIAM M. CARLISLE.
One of the progressive and respected men of affairs in the county of Knox is William M. Carlisle, of Gambier, a man who has always taken a great interest in the advancement of his locality and endorses every move- ment which he believes will prove a benefit to humanity. He is a sociable gentleman and is held in the highest regard by all who know him. His achievements represent the result of honest endeavor along lines where ma- ture judgment has opened the way. By pluck and energy, controlled by correct principles and founded upon unswerving honor, he has attained to a position meriting the respect and admiration of his fellow men which they gladly give.
Mr. Carlisle was born on March 28, 1861, in Olive Green, Delaware
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county, Ohio, and is the son of Zachariah and Jennie (Caldwell) Carlisle. The father was born in Licking county, Ohio, and the mother in England, from which country she emigrated to the United States when seven years of age. The father was a physician and during the early years of his professional career he lived at Newark, Licking county, Ohio. He served through the Civil war, enlisting as a musician, having been connected with a band in Newark as a young man, but later was transferred to the hospital corps. He enlisted at the first call for troops and was at the front all through the strug- gle. After serving three months, he re-enlisted in the Eighteenth Infantry, regular army and served in the hospital service, in this splendid body of fighting men until the close of the war. Following the war, he gave up his practice and settled in Gambier for a few years, then went to Arkansas City, Arkansas, and there he continued the practice of medicine and there he spent the balance of his life, dying in 1904; his widow is living in Oklahoma.
William M. Carlisle grew to manhood in his native community and he went to Arkansas with the family, later returning to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and here he studied medicine with Dr. J. F. Hess and was admitted to practice in 1884, then went to Arkansas City where he engaged in practice for about one year. then returned to the home of his uncle. William Oliver, in Gam- bier, in whose family he had spent so much of his childhood. Mr. Oliver was a prominent factor in the affairs of Gambier for many years. His wife died in 1885 and the subject returned to Gambier to be with Mr. Oliver, who was thus left alone. On May 28. 1885, Mr. Carlisle was married to Adelia Hanlen, of Columbus, Ohio. After his marriage he moved to one of Mr. Oliver's farms in Monroe township, Knox county, and there engaged in farm- ing. The subject has one daughter, Mary Olive, now the wife of Wilfred Perry, of Cleveland. Mr. Carlisle lived on this farm until November, 1905, when he built a modern home in Gambier where he has since resided. It is an attractive, commodious and modernly equipped residence, the equal of any in this part of the county. He has engaged most successfully in gen- eral farming and stock raising, making a specialty of shorthorn cattle and fine hogs. By diligence and good management he has met with a large measure of success and laid by a competency. He owns over two hundred acres of as fine land as the county can boast, all well improved and under a high state of cultivation. He employed all modern methods in his agricultural work, believing in keeping abreast of the times and for years he has been regarded as one of the most progressive of local farmers. As a physician, he met with success and enjoyed a large practice, as did his father, but the freer life of the country appealed to him most and he gave up practice.
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Politically, Mr. Carlisle is a Republican and he has long been actice and influential in public matters. In 1910 he was land appraiser for Gambier and College township. He has served as a member of the Republican county central and the executive committees and has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions. He was one of the promoters of the Knox County Agricultural Fair and was a member of the board of di- rectors until 1910. Much of its success was due to his efforts. His support may always be depended upon in the advancement of all matters pertaining to the general good of the community and county, and his advice is often sought in public matters.
Mr. Carlisle has been much interested in improved conditions of farm- ing and stock raising and has done as much, if not more, than any other man in his locality to bring about a better condition. He has made a careful study of sois, rotation of crops, fertilizers, climatic conditions, grains and the relation of each to the other, and has long been an advocate of scientific and "intensive" farming. employing such methods as would bring the max- imum returns for the least amount of labor and expense.
Mr .. Carlisle is a member of the Sons of Veterans, William Harding Camp No. 63, at Gambier; he also belongs to Pleasant Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and has been active in Grange affairs as well as in all organiza- tions of farmers. He is an enthusiastic advocate of farmers' institutes. corn associations and all organizations calculated to improve farms and the condition of farmers, and he is frequently a speaker at these meetings. He and his family are members of the Episcopalian church and are active in church work. Mr. Carlisle finds recreation about his own home. He is fond of a good horse and also all athletic games and out-door amusements. He is also a chicken fancier, making a specialty of raising brown Leghorns and keeps a large number in his poultry yards. The Carlisle family is prominent in the social life of the community, and their pleasant home is the frequent gathering place for their many friends.
WILLIAM L. WARD.
Among those men of Knox county who, by the force of their person- ality, have forged their way toward the front ranks of the class of citizens who may justly be termed progressive, is William L. Ward, the well known liveryman of Mt. Vernon, and who also has a fine farm in this vicinity which he has taken a great interest in and which he has improved in a most system-
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atic way until it is the equal of any in the community where it is so admirably located. He is a man who has dealt honestly with his fellow men and there- fore has their confidence and friendship.
Mr. Ward was born on October 24, 1870, in Miller township, this county. He is the son of Joe M. and Alethea ( Rowland) Ward, the father a native of Ashland county, Ohio, and the mother of Richland county, this state. After their marriage they came to Knox county, Ohio, in 1863 and located in Milford township, later moving to Miller township, where the subject was born. The father was a carpenter and contractor and owing to his skill and fair dealings his services were in great demand and he turned out many important jobs from year to year, and many of the substantial buildings of various kinds throughout the locality stand today as monuments to his ability in this connection. He also farmed a great deal during the latter years of his life. He was a soldier in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, serving gallantly until the close of the struggle. Politically, he was a Demo- crat and while he was always a voter, was never an office seeker. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife was a member of the Baptist church. He was a man of exemplary character, and his death occurred on August 28, 1903, his wife having preceded him to the grave in September, 1896.
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