USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 32
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Politically, Mr. Oberholtzer is a Democrat and he has been active in party affairs. He has served Centerburg as mayor and has been a member of the town council, and for the past six years he has been township treasurer.
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For a number of years he served as township clerk. He has been a frequent dlelegate to county, district and state conventions. As a public servant he has given the utmost satisfaction, being faithful and conscientious in the dis- charge of his every duty, reflecting much credit upon himself and to the satis- faction of all concerned.
Fraternally, Mr. Oberholtzer is a member of Bloomfield Lodge No. 422. Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master ; he also belongs to Clinton Chapter No. 26, of Mt. Vernon, and Kinsman Council No. 72, of Mt. Vernon. He also belongs to Hawthorne Lodge No. 228, Knights of Pythias, being a charter member of the same, and has filled all the chairs of this lodge. He affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a member. He is widely and favorably known to all classes and is a genial, obliging gentleman.
LLOYD M. BELL.
In Lloyd M. Bell, well known and capable editor and publisher of the Centerburg Gazette, we have a public-spirited, progressive citizen, belonging to the somewhat rare class that direct and control public sentiment without pushing self forward and without incurring the ill will of those with whom they come into contact, and leave the impress of their strong personality indelibly stamped upon the community, winning the good will of all classes.
Mr. Bell was born on March 8, 1871, near West Carlisle, Coshocton county, Ohio. He is the son of Stephen and Julia ( McKee) Bell, the father a native of Knox county and the mother of Coshocton county, Ohio, she being the daughter of George McKee, a member of the Ohio Legislature at one time and also a soldier in the Mexican war. The father was a farmer and was long a resident of Coshocton county. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Disciples church. His death occurred in January, 1902. The mother is still living, making her home with the son, Lloyd M., of this sketch. These parents were representatives of sterling pioneer families who assisted in the early development of this locality.
Lloyd M. Bell spent his youth on the farm and he attended the country schools. When he was twelve years old the family moved to Croton, Licking county, and there he remained for thirteen years and completed his public school education, later attending the Ohio Normal University at Ada, where he prepared himself for teaching, which profession he followed with much success for a period of five years in the rural schools of Licking county. In
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April, 1896, he came to Centerburg, Knox county, and purchased the Center- burg Gazette, an independent newspaper which, under his able management, wields a potent influence in this locality. He has greatly increased its circu- lation, improved its mechanical appearance and rendered it much more valua- ble as an advertising medium, keeping its columns filled with crisp, important news of the day and its editorial page is ably and convincingly set forth.
Politically, Mr. Bell is a Democrat and he has been active in public and party affairs. He has been a member of the Democratic county executive committee, and a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions. He is a member of the county board of elections and in 1910 he was candi- date for county treasurer of Knox county. Something of his high standing in his own township will be seen from the fact that he received there a majority of two hundred and seventy-six votes, in a Republican township. a record un- precedented in the political history of the county.
Mr. Bell was married on October 20, 1898, to Gertrude Hasson, daugh- ter of Marvin F. and Hattie ( Rinehart) Hasson, an influential Centerburg family. To this union two children have been born, Rusler H. and Hattie Louise.
Fraternally, Mr. Bell is a member of the Masonic order and the Clinton Chapter and Kinsman Council of Mt. Vernon. Also a member of Hawthorne Lodge No. 228. Knights of Pythias. He and his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star. He is a member of the Disciples church, while his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal chruch.
Mr. Bell uses his paper for the encouragement of all measures looking to the general good of Centerburg and adjacent community and he wields a wide influence in this respect.
CLARK SCHOOLER.
One noticeable fact in writing the history of Knox county is that so many of her citizens have been born and reared here. These people have been content to stay at home, to follow, for the most part, the vocations of their ancestors. It is a very common thing to find farms in the various town- ships composing the county of Knox upon which the same families have re- sided for several generations, some of them having been settled by the grand- fathers a century ago when the country was a wilderness. This is an indica- tion of at least two things-that this is a very favored farming locality, one
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in which the tiller of the soil is suitably rewarded for his pains, and also that the people are contented with their lot, are not unsettled, dissatisfied, and therefore they can accomplish more and make better citizens. One is indeed fortunate who can remain "under the roof that heard his earliest cry," as wrote the poet Tennyson, but for some reason or other very few of us are so fortunate. So Clark Schooler, farmer and stock raiser of Jackson township, this county, is to be envied, for he has spent his life on the same farm, hav- ing been born on the place he now owns here on October 7, 1866. He is the son of William Allen Schooler and Elizabeth, J. (Blunt) Schooler. His paternal grandparents, Joseph and Marion (Clark) Schooler, who were of a large family, were early settlers in Knox county. He became a large land owner and influential citizen, being the wealthiest man in Jackson township at the time of his death. He was twice married, and had two sons by his first wife and about seven or eight children by his second marriage. Both these grandparents died here. The maternal grandparents, James and Mary (Ross) Blunt, were also early settlers here. William Blunt, the great- grandfather, entered the land on which the subject now lives, being a pioneer, having come here from Dresden, Ohio. James Blunt was born here, and was reared and married and reared his family here, devoting his life to farming.
The father, William A. Schooler, was born in Knox county in 1843 or 1844, his wife, Elizabeth J. Blunt, having been born here about the same time. Here they grew to maturity, received such education as the common schools of their day afforded and here were married and spent their lives on a farm, the father dying somewhat suddenly of heart trouble when the subject was sixteen months old; the mother subsequently married Harvey Burch, and they are both still living. One son was born on July 18th, after the death of William A. Schooler. The mother is a member of the Disciples church.
Clark Schooler was reared on the home farm, where he began working very early and he received his education in the public schools of Jackson township. He lived on the home farm until 1881, when he moved to his stepfather's farm and was reared there, and early in life he took up farming as a vocation and lived with his stepfather until he was twenty-one years old, when he hired out and remained with the same man two years, then the mother gave the subject and his brother the privilege of dividing the home farm to suit themselves, and the subject soon added sixty acres to his original sixty, being now the owner of one hundred and fifty acres of well improved and well cultivated land, the equal of any in Jackson township, and here he carries on general farming and stock raising. He has a pleasant home and has been very successful.
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Politically, Mr. Schooler is a Democrat, but has never been, especially active in public affairs. Years ago he joined the Disciples church.
On May 29, 1890, Mr. Schooler was united in marriage with Addie Wolfe, daughter of John and wife, old settlers here, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
To the subject and wife three children have been born, namely : Edith, who married Percy Donohue, lives near Galena, Delaware county, Ohio; Evelyn and Wave.
CHARLES M. GRUBB.
That the plenitude of satiety is seldom obtained in the affairs of life is to be considered a most beneficial deprivation, for when ambition is satisfied and every ultimate aim realized, if such be possible, individual apathy must follow. Effort would cease. accomplishment be prostrate, and creative talent waste its energies in inactivity. The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satisfaction lies ever in the future, who have labored continuously, always finding in each transition stage an incentive to further effort. Charles M. Grubb, long one of the ablest and most popular educators of this locality, now numbered among the progressive business men of Centerburg, is one whose well directed efforts have gained for him a position of prominence in the various circles in which he has been pleased to move, and it is with a feeling of satisfaction that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the salient points in his career.
Mr. Grubb was born on September 29, 1867, on a farm in Morris town- ship, Knox county, Ohio. He is the son of Henry and Mary Ann (Jeffries) Grubb, both parents born in this county, each representing prominent pioneer families. Here these parents grew to maturity, received their educations in the old-time schools and were married ; the father has devoted his life to agri- cultural pursuits and he and his wife are now living in Monroe township. Politically, he is a Democrat and has always been active in the affairs of his community, and is known as a man of upright character.
Charles M. Grubb spent his childhood and youth on the home farm and assisted with the general work there when he became of proper age. He re- ceived his education in the county schools, later entering the Ohio Northern University at Ada, Ohio. Prior to entering this institution he taught several years. After spending two years in the university, he continued teaching in the country district schools. In 1899 he became connected with the public
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schools at Howard, this county, and during his ten years' service there he established a graded school system, also a high school, and his work there stands as a monument to his progressive and thorough methods and stamps him as a leader in educational work. For a period of seven years prior to taking up his work at Howard he taught in the Berry district in the same township. In September, 1904, he was appointed one of the board of school examiners of Knox county, and he served two terms or six years. He not only did his work conscientiously and according to the best modern methods, but he was always trying to raise the standard of the public schools, and he has done as much as any one for the cause of education in Knox county and for the same he has the esteem of all classes. During 1908 and 1909 he was president of the Knox County Teachers' Association, and during all the years of his teaching he was an active member of the same, also a member of the Ohio State Teachers' Association.
Resigning as superintendent of the schools of Howard in 1909, Mr. Grubb moved to Centerburg and engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, under the firm name of Purdy, Kasson & Grubb, being associated with Denman H. Purdy and Willie M. Kasson. The firm also has a monu- ment department and they carry on an extensive business in all lines, han- dling the best of materials and goods, carrying a complete and carefully se- lected stock of furniture, prompt service and efficiency being their watch- word. The store contains a stock that would do credit to a city much larger than Centerburg, and their many customers come from all over a wide radius of territory. On September 1, 1911, the above firm dissolved partnership, Kasson & Grubb retaining the furniture and monument business and Mr. Purdy the undertaking business.
Mr. Grubb was married on November 5, 1890, to Jennie Loney, daugh- ter of William and Mary (McClurg) Loney, an excellent family of Brown township, where Mr. Loney had a good farm, and where the mother is still living, he being deceased. Mrs. Grubb passed to her rest on July 1, 1903. dying without issue. On July 22, 1905, Mr. Grubb was united in marriage with LaVilla Critchfield, daughter of Rolland and Margaret (McElroy) Critchfield, a prominent Howard township family, the Critchfields being among the early pioneers here and have been influential in local affairs for several generations. The parents of Mrs. Grubb are both still living. This second union has also been without issue.
Politically, Mr. Grubb is a Democrat and he has always been an active .
participant in public matters, a close student on current affairs and conditions of the masses, and every movement having as its object the betterment of
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his locality has received his hearty support, but he is not an office seeker. Fraternally, he is a Mason, a member of the chapter and commandery at Mt. Vernon, and the Danville lodge has bestowed upon him the master's degree ; his membership is now with the Bloomfield Lodge No. 422 at Centerburg. He and his wife are members of the Church of Christ, he being an elder in the same, having held this office for a number of years : he is also an active Sun- day school worker and for many years was superintendent of the Sunday school at Howard, also teacher of a Bible class. While not a teacher, he still continues his interest in educational matters and has been largely instrumental in securing for Centerburg an excellent lecture course. He and his wife are prominent in the social life of the county, and few men are more widely or more favorably known in this locality than he.
EMANUEL RINE.
One of the young farmers of Knox county who has succeeded in life because he early learned to depend upon himself and to have system about his work and at the same time dealing honestly with his fellow men is Emanuel Rine, of Butler township. He is a man who believes in progress, in adapting himself to new and changing conditions, in following twentieth-century meth- ods of farming and therefore his place presents a pleasing appearance and shows at a glance that a gentleman of good taste and correct ideas has its management in hand. He comes down from a sterling old Buckeye ancestry, many of whose commendable qualities he seems to have inherited, being the son of Henry and Sarah Ellen (Jones) Rine, a complete sketch of whom is to be found on another page of this work, and he is the grandson of Rudolph Rine. His maternal grandparents were Samuel and Patsy (Miller) Jones. His parents were born in Coshocton and Knox counties, respectively. and were reared and married in the latter. The father became the owner of a good farm here. His family consisted of eleven children, nine of whom are still living, four sons and five daughters.
Emanuel Rine was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, on September 9, 1871, and in early life he came to Jackson township, Knox county, and here grew to manhood on the farm and received his education in the public schools, and early in life he took up farming for a livelihood. After leaving the home place he bought a farm of one hundred and fifty-two acres in Butler town- ship and here he has prospered through close application and good manage-
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ment, adding to his holdings from time to time until he is now the owner of about five hundred acres in Jackson and Butler townships, of valuable and highly productive land, which he has placed under a high state of improve- ment and cultivation. He carries on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, being widely known as a breeder of Delaine sheep, Poland- China hogs and Percheron horses, and owing to the superior quality of his fine stock he finds a very ready market for all he offers for sale. He has also bought live stock for some time and has been very successful in this line of endeavor. He also operates a threshing outfit during the summer months. Thus he is always very busy and he has won a large measure of success, being now one of the substantial and progressive men of the eastern part of Knox county.
Politically, Mr. Rine is a Democrat, and while he takes an abiding in- terest in whatever tends to promote the general interest of the community and county, always lending his support in such measures as have for their object the material, civic and moral well-being of his locality, he has never aspired to positions of public trust.
Mr. Rine was married to Mary A. Allen, a native of Butler township, Knox county, and the daughter of George Allen and wife, Mr. Allen being an old settler here, now about eighty years of age, the Allen family having long been a well known and highly respected one here. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rine, named as follows: George Henry, born July 23, 1890, and Howard, born April 8, 1892, are both living at home ; the third and fourth children, twin sons, unnamed.
Personally. Mr. Rine is a pleasant gentleman to meet, genial, obliging and straightforward in all the relations of life.
HENRY RINE.
Few lives in Knox county furnish a more worthy example of the wise application of sound business principles and safe conservatism as that of Henry Rine, well known farmer of Butler township. The story of his suc- cess is not long nor does it contain many exciting chapters, but in it lies one of the most valuable secrets of the prosperity which it records; his career is replete with interest and incentive, no matter how lacking in dramatic action. The record of a noble life, consistent with itself and its possibilities in every particular, and the youth whose destinies are yet matters for the future to
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determine may well contemplate it with a view of gaining valuable lessons therefrom, for Mr. Rine has been a man of indomitable industry, public spirit and exemplary habits, thus eminently deserving of his material success and the esteem in which he is held by all who know him.
Mr. Rine was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, October 16, 1847. He is the son of Rudolph and Mary Ann ( Underwood) Rine. The paternal grandparents, William and Nancy ( Rine) Rine, were first cousins; they were born and reared in Maryland and came to Ohio in a very early day, locating in Coshocton county, where he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land, for which he paid only one dollar and fifty cents per acre. This he cleared and improved, and there established a good home, in which he spent the rest of his life. The maternal grandparents, Obed Underwood and wife, were also natives of Maryland, from which state they came to Coshoc- ton county about eight years after the Rine family came here, and also en- tered government land in Jackson township, Knox county, which he cleared and lived for a number of years, later moving to another farm on which his death occurred, in the same neighborhood where he first settled.
Rudolph Rine, the father of the subject, was born in Coshocton county and his wife, Mary Ann Underwood, was born in Knox county and here they were married. He was a farmer and became the owner of about two hundred acres of land in Knox and Coshocton counties. Politically, he was a Democrat and was active in party affairs. He served as assessor in Knox county and as justice of the peace in Coshocton county. His family con- sisted of four children, three of whom are still living, namely : Henry, of this sketch; Casper, and Mrs. Malinda Jones, a widow. The first wife of Ru- dolph Rine dying, he subsequently married Elizabeth Bucy, of Jefferson township, and to this union thirteen children were born, of whom about eleven are still living. The death of Rudolph Rine occurred on March 12, about 1896, and his first wife, mother of the subject, died in 1849.
Henry Rine, of this sketch, was reared on the home farm and was edu- cated in the subscription schools of his time and when a young man he took up farming for a livelihood. He worked by the day for four years, then rented land of his father for four years, then bought forty acres to start on and finally became the owner of one hundred and forty acres in Knox county. where he has been engaged successfully in general farming and stock raising, keeping his place well improved and highly cultivated, and he has a pleasant home and substantial outbuildings. He has lived retired since 1907, in which year he was stricken with paralysis in one side.
Politically, Mr. Rine is a Democrat, and he has served his township as supervisor, and in other capacities.
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Mr. Rine was married on November 12, 1868, to Sarah Ellen Jones, a native of Knox county and the daughter of Samuel and Patsy ( Miller) Jones, old settlers here, having come from Pennsylvania, and he devoted his life to farming. His family consisted of eight children. Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat, but not active. His wife is a member of the Baptist church.
Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rine, named as follows : Willis Howard died when one year old: Emanuel, a farmer of Butler town- ship, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Emma Jane is the wife of Lewis Bucy; Orpha Dell: Andrew; Rebecca is deceased; Harfer, Grover Cleveland, Hattie May, Ada and Clara.
ROSS E. HUNTER.
The record of the gentleman whose name introduces this article contains no exciting chapter of tragic events, but is replete with well defined purposes which, carried to successful issue, have won for him an influential place in the business circles of Knox county and high personal standing among his fellow citizens, among whom he has spent his earthly years, having been content to remain in his native locality. Mr. Hunter's life work has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has ever followed have resulted not only in gaining the confidence of those with whom he has had dealings, but also in the building up of a large farming industry and the accumulation of a competency, own- ing a valuable estate in Union and Jefferson townships.
Ross E. Hunter was born on January 16, 1860, on the farm where he now lives one mile south of the town of Brink Haven, Ohio, and he is the son of Richard and Lavina (Workman) Hunter and a brother of Osborne Hun- ter, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work. The father of the subject, who was born in Union township, Knox county, Ohio, spent his life here engaged in agricultural pursuits on the farm where he was born. The mother of the subject was a native of Coshocton county, this state. The paternal grandfather, Richard Hunter, was one of the earliest pioneers of Knox county, having emigrated from the state of Maryland to Union town- ship in 1812 and here spent the remainder of his life. He began in an humble way and in due course of time had a good farm and was one of the leading men in his community. On the farm which he settled the father of the subject of this review was born, reared and, in fact, spent his life. He was
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very successful as a farmer and was a highly respected man. He was a Democrat, but not a seeker of public favors. He and his family were members of the Baptist church. The death of Richard Hunter, Jr., oc- curred on December 9, 1891, his widow surviving until 1903. Their family consisted of five children, named as follows: Osborne, a farmer of Union township, this county; Norman lives in Buckeye City; Ella, wife of Charles H. Biggs, of Union township; Ross E., of this sketch; Ham is a practicing physician of Columbus, Ohio.
Ross E. Hunter has always lived on the place where he now resides. He was educated in the country district schools and the normal school at Dan- ville. He was married on December 23. 1887. to Laura M. Hess, daughter of John H. and Susan E. (Calhoun) Hess, of Danville, this county, a prom- inent pioneer family from Maryland, and here Mrs. Hunter grew to woman- hood and received her education in the local schools.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hunter : Archie D., who is married and living in Johnstown, Nebraska, is proprietor of a telephone system, of Brown county, that state ; Donna Opal is teaching in the schools of Knox county ; Naomi Lucile is attending the high school in Danville.
Mr. Hunter has kept the old home place well improved and under an excellent state of cultivation, keeping the soil from growing thin with ad- vancing years. In connection with general farming he carries on stock rais- ing of all kinds extensively. He is the owner of two hundred acres of valu- able land, one hundred and sixty lying in Union township and forty in Jef- ferson township. He has a commodious, modern and attractive home, excel- lent barns and stock sheds. His home is picturesquely located on the east bank of the Mohican river amid most attractive surroundings, and, the family being prominent in the social life of the community. this hospitable and cheer- ful home is frequently the gathering place for their many friends. He is the only representative of the original pioneer families of this vicinity who still resides here.
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