USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 3
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On May 7, 1889, Rev. Mr. Hull was united in marriage with a lady of culture and refinement, known in her maidenhood as Wenona H. Weimer, daughter of Philip and Sarah J. (Horney) Weimer, a prominent family of
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Springfield, Ohio. One son and two daughters have graced the union of Rev. and Mrs. Hull, namely : Philip W., now a student at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio; Ruth E. and Alice L., both students in the Mt. Vernon high school.
Rev. Mr. Hull is a member of the Masonic order and he has been prelate of the commandery for ten years. In his political affiliations he is a Repub- lican. The family home is at No. 117 East Chestnut street and its refined influences permeate the moral and social life of the entire community.
JOHN B. WAIGHT.
John B. Waight was born on May 14, 1854, at Scio, Harrison county, Ohio. He is the son of George A. and Biddy (Gordon) Waight, the father born near Frankfort, Germany, and from there he emigrated to America when nine years of age with his mother, his father having died in Germany. They came direct to Tuscarawas county, Ohio. The mother of the subject was born in Ohio, and the father was a merchant in the town of Scio for many years and there his death occurred in 1891, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1887. The Gordons were of Revolutionary stock and were prominent in their communities from the early history of the country.
John B. Waight was reared in Scio, Ohio, and was educated in the pub- lic schools there and in Scio College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1871. His father was one of its financial backers and its popularity was due in no small degree to his efforts for many years. He was a mem- ber of the board of trustees during his life, from the founding of the college in 1866 until his death. He was a successful business man and was influ- ential in all circles in which he moved.
John B. Waight took up the study of law immediately after his gradu- ation with Hon. Lewis Lenton, a prominent attorney of Cadiz. Ohio, and, having made rapid progress, he was admitted to the bar in the winter of 1874 and in 1875 he came to Mt. Vernon and opened an office and here he has been engaged in practice ever since, having met with success from the first and his clientele has continued to increase until today he is one of the busiest attorneys in this section of the state. He practices in all the courts of the state and in the United States court.
Mr. Waight was married on April 13, 1882, to Kate M. Ready, a lady of culture and refinement, the daughter of A. T. and Jennie (McBane)
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Ready, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, a prominent and influential family of that city. This union has been graced by the birth of two children: Armi- sted T., who was graduated from Cornell University in 1908, is in business in Chicago where he has made a successful start in the world of affairs; Jennie M. married Carl Rickets, of Columbus, Ohio.
Politically, Mr. Waight is a Republican and has long been prominent in the affairs of his party. He has been city solicitor of Mt. Vernon and he was common pleas judge for one term. As judge he has an enviable and commendable record, his decisions having been characterized by fairness and a knowledge of the law in all its ramifications. He has never been an office seeker, though he has been frequently urged to run for various offices or to become a candidate for high official positions.
Mr. Waight is interested in the gas development of this section and he has been successful in a business way and is one of the substantial men of affairs at Mt. Vernon.
Fraternally, Mr. Waight belongs to the Masonic order and all degrees up to Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge. Religiously, he belongs to the Presbyterian church, being a regular attendant, and he is a high-minded Christian gentleman, advocating clean politics and wholesome living and honesty in all the relations of life, hav- ing had these principles inculcated in him by his sterling father, who was a man in whom honesty and integrity were cardinal principles. The Waights have always been prominent in the social 'life of the community and their pleasant, modern home is known to a wide circle of friends as a place of hospitality of an old-time genuine sincerity and of good cheer, and is one of the social meccas of the city.
GEN. GOSHORN A. JONES.
Human life is like the waves of the sea-they flash a few brief mo- ments in the sunlight, marvels of power and beauty, and then are dashed upon the relentless shores of death and disappear forever. As the mighty deep has rolled for ages past and chanted its sublime requiem and will con- tinue to roll during the coming ages until time shall be no more, so will the waves of human life follow each other in countless succession until they mingled at last with the billows of eternity's boundless sea. The passing of any human life, however humble and unknown, is sure to give rise to a pang of (29)
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anguish to some heart, but when the fell destroyer knocks audibly at the door of the useful and great and removes from earthly scenes the man of honor and influence and the benefactor of his kind, it not only means be- reavement to kindred and friends, but a public calamity as well. In the largest and best sense of the term, the late Gen. Goshorn A. Jones, of Mt. Vernon, was distinctively one of the notable men of his day and generation, and as such is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of his city, county and state, for as a citizen he was public-spirited and enterprising to an un- wonted degree, as a friend and neighbor he combined the qualities of head and heart that won confidence and commanded respect and as a business man he stood second to none in Knox county.
General Jones was born in Burnt Cabins, Fulton county, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1812, and after a long, useful and strenuous life, he passed to his rest on April 18, 1904, at the advanced age of ninety-two years, his long life being due, no doubt, in very large measure to his exemplary habits and right thinking. He was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Goshorn) Jones, both natives of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. In 1813 the parents emi- grated to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and located at Claysville and West Alexandria. In this locality the son, Goshorn A., spent his youth and obtained his education in the public schools there. In 1834 he came to Mt. Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, and began active business as a merchant, deal- ing also in produce and wool, continuing this business with gratifying re- sults until 1850, in which year he gave up business for the purpose of ac- cepting an appointment as United States marshal by President Zachary Tay- lor for the district of Ohio, the duties of which important position he dis- charged in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. At the expiration of his term of office he, in connection with John H. Winterbotham, engaged in the manufacture of agricultural implements, employing the convict labor of Fort Madison, Iowa. He continued in this business for about eleven years with much success, then spent several years in prospecting, visiting several of the most important min- ing regions of the United States.
General Jones was the originator of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Co- lumbus railroad, now the Akron & Cincinnati railroad, and better known as the Akron division of the Pennsylvania lines, and in 1869 was made su- perintendent of the road, in which position he continued until William N. Monsaratt became president of the road. He managed its affairs in a man- ner that stamped him as an up-to-date business man, a natural born organizer and promoter and won the hearty commendation of the stockholders.
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General Jones was married in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, to Sarah Raymond, daughter of Rev. Nathan Raymond, a popular minister in the Methodist Episcopal church who resided in Mt. Vernon for a number of years, having come here from New York. The death of Mrs. Jones occurred a number of years prior to that of her husband. Five children were born to them, as follows: Mrs. Mary J. Baker, Fanny, Mrs. Rachael Tilton, Ada, who married James Israel, whose sketch appears in another part of this work; Fred W. (deceased).
General Jones was a Whig and later a Republican in politics. . He was a general in the Ohio state militia prior to the Mexican war. He was a man of strong mental caliber and courageous in defense of his opinion when once convinced that he was right. He was one of the strong and important factors in this community. He is buried in Mt. Vernon cemetery, and his influence and many good deeds will cause his memory to be cherished through coming generations.
JUDGE GEORGE COYNER.
An enumeration of the representative citizens of Knox county who have won recognition and success for themselves and at the same time con- ferred honor upon the community, would be incomplete were there failure to make mention of George Coyner, whose name has long been a household ยท word in this and Delaware counties, where he has held worthy prestige in legal and political circles. He has always been distinctively a man of affairs, wielding a wide influence among those with whom his lot was cast, ever having the affairs of his county and state at heart and lending such aid as he could in whatever pertained to their general progress, and it has been due to such men as he that this locality could justly claim a high order of citizen- ship and a spirit of enterprise which conserved consecutive development and marked advancement in its material upbuilding. This section has been, and is, signally favored in the class of men who have controlled its affairs in offi- cial capacity, and this is one of the connections in which Judge Coyner de- mands recognition, having served faithfully and well in positions of distinct trust and responsibility. He achieved a brilliant record at the bar at an age when most men are merely starting on their life work, for from the beginning he was intensely methodical and unswervingly scientific in search and seizure of the true light and of the essential morality and inspiration of the legal
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foundations, and in sources of legal conception and thought, conscientious and intensely pure, having an exalted firmness with which he recognized the ethics of the fixed principles of judicial systems, holding tenaciously to em- bellished records of equity, the invariable theorems of law, the sure, certain. invincible methods of practice; therefore abundant success could not help crowning his efforts and placing him on the topmost rung of the legal and judicial ladder and winning for him the well merited laudation of his fellow men.
George Coyner was born on June 5, 1858, in Lexington, Richland county, Ohio, of a sterling pioneer family of the Old Dominion. He is the son of Rev. David H. and Eliza Catherine (Snodgrass) Coyner, the father born in Augusta county, Virginia, and the mother in Hardy county, West Virginia. The former was reared and educated in Virginia, having at- tended Washington-Lee University, later graduating from Princeton Theo- logical College. His ministerial work was confined mostly to the Northern states, especially Pennsylvania. He was compelled to leave the South be- cause of his loyalty to the Union. He was three times married. His first wife was Catherine McNeal, a member of the famous McNeal family of Virginia, wealthy and active in the Confederate service, both as soldiers and advisers; his first wife died in early life, at the birth of their first child, Catherine McNeal Coyner, now deceased, who mharried Samuel Alexander, a prominent figure in the Confederate army. Rev. Mr. Coyner's second wife, Eliza Catherine Snodgrass, was the mother of the subject. Soon after their marriage they came to Indiana, the father becoming superintendent of public schools at Indianapolis, the duties of which he discharged for two years ; then went to Ohio and engaged in the ministry, that being his chief life work. He was located at Lexington, Ohio, when his son George, of this review, was born, and there his second wife died, leaving a family of seventeen children. He subsequently married Frances Snodgrass, a sister of his second wife and she is still living, making her home in Delaware county, Ohio. To this last union three children were born, making the Rev. Mr. Coyner the father of twenty-one children in all. The Snodgrass family were also Virginians, and after the death of his second wife the father re- turned with his large family to the old home at Moorefield, West Virginia, which was during the Civil war. His well known stand for the Union aroused public sentiment against him and he was forced to return to the North, his life being threatened, in fact, he was only saved through the in- tervention of a relative of the McNeals who was in command of a Con- federate band who sought to make the Rev. Mr. Coyner prisoner. He
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brought his family to Columbus, Ohio, and was appointed chaplain of the Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Governor Todd, of Ohio, and he and three of his sons were in the Federal army, one of the sons, Harvess, dying while in the service, from the effects of a wound; William was a member of the Tenth Ohio Cavalry, and Luther of the Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry with his father, serving until the close of the war. After his return home when hostilities had ceased, Rev. Mr. Coyner married Frances Snodgrass, a sister of his second wife, as before stated. He re- mained in the ministry for many years in Ohio. His death occurred in 1883 at Eden, Delaware county, Ohio. He was prominent in his denomina- tion in that section of the state and ranked high in church life.
George Coyner, of this sketch, was reared mostly in Ohio and he was educated in the public schools of Eden, this state, later entering the Cin- cinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1893. But prior to taking up the study of law he taught school for a number of years, winning a reputation as a progressive and able educator.
In March, 1879, he was united in marriage with Emma Hipple, daugh- ter of George W. and Anna (Ferris) Hipple, of Delaware county, Ohio, both being now deceased. To the subject and wife three sons were born, namely : Charles S. and Leon, deceased; Carl, the youngest, lives in Akron, Ohio.
Mr. Coyner is a Republican in politics and has long been a potent factor in party affairs, his first public office being that of township clerk, which he held for a period of five years; then he was superintendent of the Delaware County Infirmary for four years. During three years of that time he read law during his spare moments, and it was in 1891 that he entered the law school, graduating from the same in 1893. He at once began practicing in Delaware county, where he met with instantaneous success and in 1895 he was elected prosecuting attorney of that county, his record being so emi- nently satisfactory that he was re-elected for a second term in 1898, serving for six years in an able and praiseworthy manner. In 1901 he was elected common pleas judge for five years. He brought to the bench a dignity becoming the high position, and in the line of duty was industrious, careful and singularly painstaking, which, combined with his sterling honesty and fearlessness of purpose, made him one of the most popular and efficient men ever called to preside over the affairs of that court. His opinions and de- cisions attested his eminent fitness for judicial positions, being always lucid. unstrained, unbiased and vigorous, his statements full and comprehensive, and his analysis and interpretations of the law conspicuous and complete, with a profound knowledge of all phases of the law and the statutes.
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Judge Coyner has always stood high in his profession and after his term as common pleas judge expired he moved to Mt. Vernon in 1907 and here he has built up an extensive practice in this and other counties, being frequently called in important cases in courts remote from his place of resi- dence. In 1910 he was elected a member of the Mt. Vernon board of edu- cation and is secretary of the board. He still maintains his interest in public affairs, especially educational matters.
The Judge is a member of the Masonic order, the council and chapter at Mt. Vernon; also the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks. He is a member and the present commander of Henry B. Banning Camp No. 207, Sons of Veterans. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church.
In point of critical legal scholarship, keen intellectuality and profes- sional success, Judge Coyner easily stands in the front rank, while in all that constitutes the upright man, the public-spirited citizen and the high-minded gentleman his position in the social circle and the world of affairs has been firmly established, and he stands today among the leaders of thought and molders of opinion in a county prolific of men of distinction.
JAMES ISRAEL.
Self-assertion is believed by many people to be absolutely necessary to success in life, and there are good reasons for the entertainment of such be- lief. The modest man very rarely gets what is due him. The selfish, aggressive man elbows his way to the front, takes all that is in sight and it sometimes seems that modesty is a sin with self-denial the penalty. There are, however, exceptions to all rules and it is a matter greatly to be regretted that the exceptions to the conditions referred to are not more numerous. One notable exception is the honorable gentleman whose life history we here present. who possesses just a sufficient amount of modesty to be a gentle- man at all times and yet sufficient persistency to win in the business world and at the same time not appear over bold, and as a result of these well and happily blended qualities Mr. Israel has won a host of friends throughout Knox county, being well known as a man of influence, integrity and business ability, and as a patriotic citizen who has ever had the welfare of his county and state at heart.
James Israel, of Mt. Vernon, was born in this city on October 1. 1843, and he is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Harper) Israel. The father
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1136361
was born on October 8, 1810, at Bedford, Westchester county, New York. and when a young man he learned the trade of brick mason. In 1830, being influenced by better prospects, he proceeded to the West, a companion ac- companying him from New York to the land of promise. They first went to Detroit, Michigan, where they remained only a short time, then crossed Lake Erie to Sandusky and there put all their earthly belongings into a one- horse wagon and started for Mt. Vernon, which they reached in due time. Here Mr. Israel found employment at his trade as brick mason and soon found favor with the people. On January 28, 1831, Samuel Israel and Elizabeth Harper were married. The latter was a member of a prominent family of Muskingum county, living near Zanesville, and she was born May 9, 1808. Establishing his permanent home here, Mr. Israel continued to work as a brick mason. He always had an insatiable ambition to obtain a high education, but he had few advantages in his youth. He wanted to be a lawyer. Mrs. Israel had been better provided with text-book training and she became her husband's tutor. About this time he was employed at his trade in erecting some of the Kenyon College buildings at Gambier, Ohio, five miles east of Mt. Vernon. While thus engaged he walked to and fro between these towns every day, working all day and eating a cold lunch at noon. After supper he would pore over his books until ten or eleven o'clock, repeating his ordeal day after day. As he made progress in general educa- tion his desire to become a lawyer increased and Blackstone was added to his studies. He made progress rapidly and in time became a student in the office of Hon. Columbus Delano, becoming his partner after being admitted to the bar, and this partnership continued successfully for several years. In due course of time Mr. Israel became a prominent and successful member of the Knox county bar and was engaged in many of the most important cases in the courts of his district. His entire time and energies were given to his profession, with the exception of about six years, when he became in- terested with Gen. Goshorn A. Jones and Colonel Hard in the extension and construction of what is now the Cleveland, Akron & Cincinnati Railroad, known as the Akron division of the Pennsylvania Lines, from Millersburg, the county seat of Holmes county, to Columbus. After this was completed and in successful operation, Mr. Israel resumed the active practice of law, which he continued with his usual marked success until his death, August 15, 1889, his wife having preceded him to the grave on September 11, 1882. They were the parents of seven children, only three of whom are now living, namely : Francis is deceased; Adeline is deceased; Amanda, deceased; Sarah, deceased ; Lavinia, of Mt. Vernon; James, of this review, and Samuel H., president of the Knox County Savings Bank.
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Samuel Israel, father of these children, was a Democrat of the old school, but during the Civil war he was a staunch supporter of the gov- ernment. He was never an office seeker or an office holder, but he was fre- quently active as a stump speaker during campaigns, upholding the princi- ples of his party in an able manner. He was a man who always applied himself with full force to the task in hand. He was a man of broad and liberal views and thorough information upon all subjects of public import. He was a conspicuous example of what a young man may aspire to and ac- quire in a country like ours, without money, without influence and without the advantages of even a preliminary education ; he acquired all of these af- ter reaching his majority and attained a place in the public estimation that might satiate the ambitions of any man.
James Israel, the immediate subject of this review, obtained his edu- cation in the Mt. Vernon public schools and in his youth assisted with the work on his father's farm near the city. In the spring of 1864 he enlisted for service in the Union army, as a private in Company K, One Hundred and Forty-Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the one-hundred-day ser- vice. He contracted typhoid fever and after recovering from a protracted illness he went to Chicago in the fall of 1864 and was employed in the wholesale hardware house of Seiberger & Breakey, remaining in their em- ploy for five years, during which time he learned the ins and outs of this line of business and gave the firm entire satisfaction. Returning to Mt. Vernon in the fall of 1869, he engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil and a general grain business, in which he met with success. He closed out his oil and grain business in 1897 and at the re-organization of the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company he became secretary and treasurer, also gen- eral manager of the same and he continued in this capacity until January. 1910, when he became president of the company and was succeeded by his son George, as secretary and treasurer. During Mr. Israel's able and ju- dicious management he has seen the company grow from a concern of very modest proportions to one of the largest and most important factories of its kind in the state and the Middle West. He is a man of splendid business acumen, tact and foresight, with fine executive ability and keen discernment, succeeding at whatever he turns his attention to, being methodical and sys- tematic in everything. He is also vice-president of the Knox County Sav- ings Bank, of which his brother, Samuel H., is president, and they have a very potent influence in the financial circles of this locality.
Mr. Israel is a Republican in politics, and for many years was active and influential in party councils and party affairs. During the administra-
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tion of President Harrison, Mr. Israel was postmaster at Mt. Vernon and during his term of office the free mail delivery system was established for Mt. Vernon. He also served as a member of the city board of education for ten years. He is a member of the Joe Hooker Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Israel was married on June 17, 1872, to Ada B. Jones, a lady of culture and refinement, daughter of Gen. Goshorn A. and Sarah ( Raymond) Jones. a prominent Mt. Vernon family, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely : George is married and he is secretary and treasurer of the Mt. Vernon Bridge Company, as before stated; John W. is now deceased; Sarah married Edward Dunnick, of Mt. Vernon. The family home is lo- cated at No. 105 East Gambier street and is the favorite gathering place of the best people in this vicinity, the family having long been important factors in local social circles.
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