USA > Ohio > Knox County > Past and present of Knox County, Ohio, Vol. II > Part 42
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The father purchased a farm two miles southwest of Fredericktown and engaged in farming, his place consisting of over one hundred acres. He was a sturdy Scot, honest, industrious, and of decided convictions and firm opinions. His death occurred in February, 1876, his widow surviving until in June, 1882; both are buried at Fredericktown. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters, namely: John, of this review; William, of Black River, New York; Robert lives in Fredericktown; James lives in Wayne township; Thomas lives in Arkansas; Sarah is deceased; Catherine lives in Fredericktown.
John Brown, of this sketch, was sent, with his brother, William, when the former was eight years of age, to Scotland for school privileges ; these brothers remained in Scotland several years, finally coming to America to join their parents in Knox county, Ohio, and after coming here John at- tended the district schools and the schools of Fredericktown. He assisted his father on the home place. In May, 1864, he proved his loyalty to his adopted country by enlisting in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he served very faithfully for one hundred days, until in September. 1864, under General Butler on the James river, seeing considerable active service during that brief period. Returning home from the army, he remained on the farm until the spring of 1870, when he moved to Vernon county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming, remain- ing there until 1882, and during that period was married, in April. 1875, to Alice Heskett, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Heskett In 1882 he returned to Wayne township, Knox county, Ohio, and here he has re- mained to the present time, successfully engaged in farming. His wife died in October, 1882, soon after coming to Ohio. Two children, a son and a daughter, were born to this union, Catherine, who married William Galla- gaugher, lives on the farm with Mr. Brown; Clarence lives in New York City.
Mr. Brown owns a well-improved and very productive farm of one hundred and five acres one and one-half miles southwest of Fredericktown, where he carries on general farming and stock raising. He has a good home and his place is well stocked.
Politically, Mr. Brown is a Republican and he has long been active in public affairs. He has served as constable of Wayne township and for seven years was trustee of this township, and after an interval of five years he was re-elected to that office and again re-elected in the fall of 1911, being still the incumbent of the same. While in Missouri he was a member of the board of education in his district. He is regarded as a most able and
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conscientious public servant. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has filled all the offices of the local post, taking much interest in the same. He is a member of the Fredericktown Presbyterian church. He is a man of exemplary character and stands high with those who know him.
JASPER VAN HORN.
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable environment we find an unconscious recog- nition of the intrinsic worth of a character which not only can endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The gentleman to whom the biographer now calls the reader's attention was not favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, but in spite of this, by perseverance, industry and wise economy, he has attained a com- fortable station in life.
Jasper Van Horn. of Centerburg. Hilliar township, Knox county, for many years one of the best known educators in this section of the state, later a progressive agriculturist and civil engineer, which vocations at present claim his attention, was born September 25. 1855. in Danville, this county. He is the son of William and Lucinda ( Robinson) Van Horn, the father a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and the mother of Knox county, Ohio, her family being among the early pioneers, having located here when the country was covered with primeval woods, when settlers were few and the Indian still hunted in the forest's depths, and when wild game was in abun- dance, and here the Robinsons became well known and influential in the affairs of the community. William Van Horn was also an early settler of Knox county, having come here from Virginia in 1836 as a young man, his father having died when he was very young. He had learned the carpenter's trade back in the Old Dominion, and this he followed for years after coming to Knox county, in connection with farming. Politically, he was a Democrat in early life, later supporting the Republican party. He led a quiet life and was never an office seeker. He was a member of the Christian church, as were also his wife and family. His death occurred on June 9, 1888, his widow surviving until March 15. 1905. Both are buried in the cemetery at Danville. They were excellent people and had the respect of a wide circle of friends.
Jasper Van Horn, of this review, spent his boyhood on his father's
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farm, where he worked during the summer months, and in the wintertime he attended the district schools, later attending school in Mt. Vernon; but his higher education has been obtained by personal application, having ever been a student and a close reader of miscellaneous literature. In 1876 he began teaching in the country district schools and followed this line of en- deavor for a period of twenty-seven years, during which time he became one of the best known teachers in this locality, his services being in great demand, for he gave the utmost satisfaction to both patron and pupil, being both an entertainer and an instructor in the school room and employing advanced methods. In 1887 he began teaching in the schools of Danville, continuing there for four years, and in 1895 he came to Centerburg as principal of the high school, which position he held with his usual satisfaction for a period of eight years. In 1903 he retired from teaching, much to the regret of the pub- lic, and turned his attention to farming and civil engineering. He has been the local engineer on the state road work in Hilliar township and is also the state inspector of the construction work, and he has proven to be a faithful as well as efficient official, performing his every duty in a most satisfactory manner. He also has an excellent farm in Hilliar township which receives much of his attention and which he keeps well improved and well tilled.
Mr. Van Horn has been twice married, first, on January 9, 1879. to Laura R. Howell, daughter of Craven and Amy Howell, an old family of Loudoun county, Virginia. To this union five children have been born, namely : Bulah, Arthur L., Ethel, Lula and Wilbur, all single at this writing. The wife and mother passed to her rest in September, 1898. On June 10, 1902, Mr. Van Horn was united in marriage with Mrs. Della (Ramey) Kerr, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Ramey, of Morrow county, Ohio, a highly respected family there.
Mr .. Van Horn is a member of Bloomfield Lodge No. 422, Free and Accepted Masons, having filled the chairs in the same and is present master of this lodge. Politically, he is a Republican and is always interested in public matters and is a frequent delegate to party conventions. He has been township trustee and a member of the board of education, now occu- pying the latter position. He has always been a friend to education. He and his family are members of the Christian church and he has long been active in church and Sunday school work. He is an advocate of public im- provements, better roads, better public buildings, better school facilities, and every movement having as its object the general improvement of the county has his support.
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JOHN ELMER LITZENBERG.
The subject is a representative of honored pioneers of Knox county, so that a consideration of his genealogical and personal history becomes doubly interesting and doubly apropos in connection with the prescribed province of this publication. Mr. Litzenberg is one of the successful farmers of Hilliar township, having a finely improved landed estate there, and is car- rying forward his operations with that energy, foresight and careful dis- crimination which ever betoken the appreciative and model yeoman.
John Elmer Litzenberg was born in Milford township, Knox county, September 19, 1865, and is the son of John and Abigail Ellen ( Kisor) Litzenberg. His paternal grandparents, John Litzenberg, born June 13, 1786, and Ann (Prong) Litzenberg, born November 7, 1786, were natives of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and were married March 14, 1808. They came to Knox county, Ohio, in 1836, and settled in Milford town- ship. He was a farmer and stock raiser and here they spent the rest of their lives. About the year 1700, a man by the name of Kisor and his two brothers came to the United States from Germany and settled in Philadelphia. Later, when the Shenandoah valley was being settled, he moved into it. In the year 1807, John Kisor, a descendant and the ma- ternal grandparent of the subject of this sketch, moved with his widowed mother, two brothers and three sisters from Rockingham county, Virginia. and settled in Knox county, Ohio, on the Big run, in the southeastern part of what is now Pleasant township. John Kisor and his two brothers, Christo- bel and Frederick, served in the war of 1812, he being detailed as dispatch bearer and scout, belonging to the Light Horse Cavalry. After the war he was married to Elizabeth Bolton, also of Rockingham county, Virginia. At the time of their settlement in Knox county, Ohio, the country was in- deed a wilderness, and here he entered government land, built a cabin, cleared and improved a good farm, and here reared his family of ten children. Later in life he moved to Milford township, and finally to Hilliai township. dying on the place now owned by the subject. He was a man of bravery, courage and never halted at obstacles or hardships.
John Litzenberg, father of the subject, was born in Washington county. Pennsylvania, February 1, 1819, being the seventh child of a family of eleven children, the only one of the family now living being Susan (Litzenberg) Jackson of Liberty township, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. The mother was born in Knox county, Ohio, April 3. 1830. The father spent his boyhood in his native state, coming to Knox county in 1836, with
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his parents, and here he was married March 18, 1855, to Abigail Ellen Kisor. He devoted his life to farming, and lived an honest retired life. Politically, he was a Democrat, and he and his wife belonged to the Church of Christ. They had but one child, John Elmer, of this sketch. The father had been married before, and by his first wife had five children, two of whom are now living, George Nelson and Louis Jefferson. The death of the father occurred on September 14, 1901, and the mother on August 29, 1897.
John E. Litzenberg was reared on the home farm and there worked hard when a boy. He received his education in the school house near the home place. At the age of fifteen, he began teaching in the schools of his native township, being the youngest person to whom a certificate to teach was ever issued in Knox county. He followed this profession for eight years and then devoted himself exclusively to farming for a livelihood. In 1887 he bought thirty-seven acres in Hilliar township, and he is now the owner of one hundred and fifty-two acres in Hilliar and Milford town- ships, which he has placed under excellent improvement, and on which he makes a very comfortable living as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has a good home and has built a large, fine barn.
Politically, Mr. Litzenberg is a Democrat, but has never aspired to office. On January 16, 1881, he and his wife united with the Church of Christ at First Milford.
Mr. Litzenberg was married on January 1, 1887, to Caroline Chrisman, a native of Knox county, and the daughter of Harvey C. and Sarah Eliza- beth (Jaggers) Chrisman, he a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, and she of Knox county, Ohio. One child has been born to the subject and wife, Lenna May, January 24, 1890, and now the wife of Frank Ward Chapman, of this county.
CLARK M. BARBER.
A well known and popular citizen of Knox county is the able educator whose name initiates this biographical review, who for a period of nearly thirty years has labored in his chosen field of endeavor in Pleasant township with remarkable success, his labors making him a much liked public charac- ter, being known as a man of keen perceptive faculties, scholarly attainments, unusual soundness of judgment and upright in all the relations of life. Con- tinuous application for over three decades of advancement has given him a
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clear and comprehensive insight into the philosophy of education and the largest wisdom as to method and means of attainment of ends, while his steady growth in public favor wherever he has labored and his popularity with pupils and patrons have won for him a high educational standing. He possesses the personal charm and tact which make him popular with the young, and by entering into their spirit and pastimes, sympathizing with them in their troubles, listening to and settling their disputes and making their interests his own, he has become the idol, almost, of the juveniles of this part of the county, his being one with then: rendering his work easy and adding greatly to his popularity.
Clark M. Barber was born on May 6, 1862, in Washington county, Pennsylvania. and is the son of Abram and Margaret ( Hindman) Barber. In 1862 the family moved to Pleasant township. Knox county, and here the subject grew to manhood. in fact, has spent his life. Here the father en- gaged in farming, becoming very comfortably established. Politically, he was a Democrat and was active in public affairs. For a period of seventeen years he was treasurer of Pleasant township, Knox county, this being crite- rion enough of the confidence which his neighbors reposed in him. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. He was a man of ex- emplary character and was well liked. His death occurred on November. 3. 1901. and his wife died on August 3d of the same year. They were the parents of six children, five sons and one daughter, namely: John lives in Rock Island, Illinois: Jennie married John Wood, of Mt. Vernon; Samuel M. lives in Hyattsville, Wyoming: Thomas P .. of Pleasant township, this county : Allen S resides in Traverse City, Michigan ; Clark M of this review. These children are all living.
Clark M. Barber spent his childhood and youth on the home farm where he assisted with the general work about the place during the crop seasons, attending the district schools in the winter time. He always had a laudable ambition to be a teacher and when scarcely past the age of fifteen years he began this line of endeavor and has taught in the schools of Knox county every year since, twenty-nine years of this time being spent in the schools of his own township. Pleasant. As already intimated, he is recognized as one of the most progressive teachers of Knox county and he stands high in educational circles in this part of the state. In 1906 he was appointed one of the county school examiners and is still serving in that capacity, having been reappointed for a second term in 1909, and he is clerk of the board. He is a member of the state organization of county examiners and during the year 1911 was a member of the executive committee of that organization.
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He is a member of the Ohio State Teachers Association and also a member of the Knox County Teachers Association and has been active in its work. In addition to his common school certificate, he has an eight-year high school certificate. He is an occasional contributor to the state educational publica- tions.
Mr. Barber was married on May 19, 1885. to Belle Busenburg, daughter of David and Elizabeth ( Ulery ) Busenburg. The mother is deceased, but the father is living in Harrison township, this county. The union of the subject and wife has been graced by the birth of one daughter, Gertrude Marie, now a student in the Mt. Vernon high school, where she is making a splendid record.
Politically, Mr. Barber is a Democrat and he has always been an active participant in public affairs. He served as clerk of Pleasant township for a period of eight years. He has served as a member of the Democratic county committee for several years and he has been a frequent delegate to county, district and party conventions. Fraternally, he is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 316, at Mt. Vernon; Timon Lodge No. 45, Knights of Pythias ; also the Masonic order and the Knights of Mac- cabees. He and his family belong to the Disciples church at Union Grove and are active in church and Sunday school work.
Mr. Barber is an advocate of healthful outdoor sports and general ath- letics, and for recreation he enjoys an occasional hunt. His home is just on the outskirts of Mt. Vernon, a modern, attractive and neatly furnished resi- dence, well equipped with current and standard literature The family stands high in the social life of the community.
EDWIN F. HAMILTON.
The name of Edwin F. Hamilton, of Clinton township, Knox county, is too well known in this locality to need any introduction to the readers of ยท this work: his record as a private citizen and public servant speaks for itself.
Mr. Hamilton was born in Morgan township, this county, on August 8, 1856, and is the fourth son of William and Elizabeth ( Sellers ) Hamilton. The father was born in Harrison county, Ohio, on November 26, 1822, and the mother's birth occurred on July 15, 1817, in Pennsylvania. They were married on January 20, 1848, and lived happily together for a period of sixty years, William Hamilton dying on May 17, 1908, his widow surviving until
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April 19, 1910. They were the parents of five children, two of whom, John and Craig, are deceased: W. M. and G. S. reside in Morgan township, this county, and Edwin F., of this sketch.
The subject of this biographical review was reared on the old home- stead where he assisted with the general work during his boyhood. He re- ceived his education in the district schools.
Mr. Hamilton was trustee of Morgan township for several years, and in 1895 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners, on which he served for four years. He belongs to Sycamore Lodge, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, at Brandon, and Utica Lodge, Knights of Pythias.
Edwin F. Hamilton was married on December 14, 1881 to Ida V. Guy, daughter of John and Emeline (Lafever) Guy, of Clinton township, Knox county. The family finally moved to Mt. Vernon, where the parents spent their last years, the death of Mrs. Guy occurring on July 20, 1899, and that of Mr. Guy on January 12, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have one child, Frank. who was born on December 29. 1884, and is living at home.
FRANK L. BEAM.
The name of Frank L. Beam is too well known to the people of Knox county to be formally introduced by the biographer here, for he has long been one of the progressive business men of Mt. Vernon, the efficient presi- dent of the local telephone company. He was born November 14, 1858, near Mt. Vernon, Ohio. He is the son of James A. and Martha (Letts) Beam, both natives of Knox county; his father was born in 1832 and died at the age of thirty-six years.
Frank L. Beam grew to manhood here and received his education in the local schools. He began his business career as clerk in a hardware store in Mt. Vernon. In 1880 he engaged in the crockery and wall paper business here, which he continued successfully until 1901. He became in- terested in the telephone business in 1894, and he has been president of the Mt. Vernon Telephone Company since its organization and its great success has been due very largely to his efforts. He became general manager of the Columbus (Ohio) Telephone Company in 1899, which position he retained for a period of six years. In 1904 he was elected president of the Ohio Independent Telephone Association, which he now holds. On ac- count of the duties connected with the state association work, he resigned.
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as general manager of the Columbus Citizen Telephone Company in 1905. He is also interested in a great many telephone plants in central Ohio. He has mastered thoroughly every phase of the telephone business and is by nature an organizer and promoter, carrying to successful completion what- ever he undertakes.
Mr. Beam is also president of the Coshocton Gas Company, of Coshoc- ton, Ohio; also president of the Canton Roofing Tile Company, of East Sparta, Ohio, each of which is doing a large and constantly growing busi- ness.
Mr. Beam was married first to Mellie Greer, of Mt. Vernon, this county, and the daughter of H. H. Greer and wife. Mrs. Beam was called to her rest in 1903, leaving two children, Henry Greer Beam and Margaret Josephine Beam. The former is a graduate of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, also of the law department of the State University of Ohio at Co- lumbus.
The second wife of the subject was known in her maidenhood as Anna Louise Bogardus, daughter of W. P. Bogardus, a well known Mt. Vernon merchant. To this union two children were born, James A. and Frances Louise.
Fraternally, Mr. Beam is a Mason, holding membership in all the branches of the same, including the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Columbus, Aladdin Temple. Politically, he is a Republic- an, and he and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
WILLIAM LEWIS.
The gentleman whose name heads this sketch has long enjoyed prestige as a worthy, public-spirited citizen of the community in which he resides, a widely known carpenter and builder of Pleasant township, Knox county, and as an official against whose record no word of suspicion was ever uttered, his prominence in the community being the legitimate result of genuine merit and ability and in every relation, whether in the humble sphere of private citizenship or as a trusted public servant with large responsibilities resting upon him, his many excellencies of character and the able and impartial man- ner in which he discharges his every duty has won for him an enviable reputa- tion as an enterprising and representative self-made man.
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William Lewis was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 4. 1847. He is the son of Uriah and Mary ( Bignell) Lewis, who spent most of their lives in the county where the subject was born, moving to Montgomery coun- ty about 1850, never coming to Ohio. In the veins of the subject flows the blood of a long line of sterling pioneer ancestors, his first progenitor having landed on American soil from Wales in 1717. settling in what was then Buck's province. The great-grandfather. Isaac Lewis, was a Revolutionary soldier. and John Lewis, brother of the subject, served in the Civil war as a member of Battery C. Pennsylvania Artillery. The subject served nine months in the quartermaster's department in front of Petersburg, Virginia, in 1864 and 1865.
William Lewis, of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and when a young man learned the car- penter's trade. In 1869 he came to Ohio, first locating in Cleveland where he remained about a year, engaged in carpenter work. Following this he visited various places, remaining for brief periods in each, finding employ- ment at his trade as carpenter. Part of this time was spent in Knox county. and in 1877 he permanently located here, first in Butler township. He con- tinued at carpentering and, being a skilled workman and a conscientious busi- ness man, his services were in good demand and many of the best buildings in the county stand today as monuments to his skill as a builder.
Mr. Lewis was married in February, 1871, to Lucinda Ely, daughter of John and Sarah Ann ( Underwood) Ely, of Butler township, where the mother still resides, the father being deceased. Two children, a son and a daughter, have been born to the subject and wife: W. Frank is married and is a physician in Utica, Licking county, Ohio; the daughter, Jennie B., mar- ried Fred Hunter, of Gambier, Ohio.
Mr. Lewis moved to Mt. Vernon in 1883 and there continued carpen- tering, but in 1885 moved to his farm three miles southeast of Mt. Vernon, in Pleasant township, and followed his trade until 1908, when he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Knox county. He is a Democrat politically and has always been active in party affairs. For a period of ten years he served as treasurer of Pleasant township, and for three years was a member of the township school board. Having made such a praiseworthy record as a county commissioner, he was re-elected for a second term in the fall of 1910 and the duties of this office he continues to discharge in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the eminent satis- faction of all concerned. He is a man of good character, and among all classes of people his reputation for capability and fair dealing is the very best.
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