Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 56

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 56

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whose rise is the result of honest, conscientious labor. No man is smart enough to be a good law- yer without work, and Mr. Southard has never shown any inclination to slight the drudgery of the profession. He is faithful in the discharge of his duty to his clients and at the same time a fair antagonist to the litigants of a case."

Mr. Southard's study of the political issues and needs of the country has led him to give his sup- port to the democracy but he has never taken an active part in political affairs or accepted a nom- ination for an elective office. He was, however, nominated for congress in his district in the sum- mer of 1896, during a temporary absence from home, but on his return he declined the nomin- ation. Fraternally he affiliates with the Masonic order.

Mr. Southard was married in 1872 to Laura L., a daughter of John Laughry, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and they have one son, Carlisle M. South- ard, who is a practicing physician.

T. B. TOWNSEND.

For almost a half century Ohio has numbered T. B. Townsend among its most prominent and progressive citizens and in fact so varied and ex- tensive has been his business operations that he may well be termed one of the "captains of in- dustry" and likewise one of the founders of the city of Zanesville, where he makes his home, for he has been the promoter of many of its lead- ing business enterprises, the growth and devel- opment of the city depending upon its commer- cial and industrial activity. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous outcome of the same for it is in his nature to carry for- ward to successful completion whatever he is as- sociated with. He has earned for himself an en- viable reputation as a careful man of business and in his dealings is known for his prompt and honorable methods which have won him the de- served and unbounded confidence of his fellow- men. He was one of the builders of the first street railway line in Zanesville, has been a builder of its bridges and sewers, was the pioneer in the marble business here and has been connected with general contracting in many other states. He is now practically living retired but is financi- ally interested in many enterprises of magnitude and importance.

Mr. Townsend is a native of Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, his birth having occurred on the 8th of September, 1837, on what was then called Boyd's Hill, near the entrance of the Pennsylvania rail- road tunnel which passes underneath the ground at Seventh avenue. At that time, however, there was neither railroad nor telegraph line in Pitts-

burg and all transportation was done by wagon or boat. His parents, William and Harriet (Bur- gess) Townsend, were both natives of Glouces- tershire, England, and came to America about 1834 or 1835, crossing the Atlantic on the same vessel. Soon after their arrival in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, their marriage was celebrated. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom T. B. Townsend is the eldest. Six of these children are still living. The mother, how- ever, died in Beverly, Ohio, in 1859, being long survived by William Townsend, who passed away in Columbus, in 1900. He became a resi- dent of Ohio in 1846, settling on a farm near Beverly, where for a considerable period he made his home.

T. B. Townsend was at that time only nine years of age and being the eldest of his father's family he had to assist in the development, cul- tivation and improvement of the home farm. His educational privileges were thereby ex- tremely limited. After he was nine years of age, his total attendance covered but six months. When twenty-one years of age, his father was incapacitated for further business cares and then his mother died, so that T. B. Townsend was left to care for and rear the children, he being the eldest. He did not have a dollar when he started out in life, so that what he has he has earned through his own labor and industry. He had also to care for the family of a married sis- ter, whose husband died. Realizing in early life the advantage and benefit of an education, he tried to counteract his early lack in that direction and obtain an education that would qualify him for a successful business career. He largely de- voted his evening hours to study by the light of a tallow candle or the light of an open wood fire. He applied himself with such diligence and as- siduity to his books that at the age of seventeen years he had qualified himself for teaching in the district schools and during three or four months of the winter he taught school for a dollar per day and his board, "boarding round" among the scholars, after the manner of the times. For eight successive years he continued his educa- tional work in the district schools, while in the summer months his labors were turned in an- other direction. He was fourteen years of age when he began learning the brick and stone-ma- son's trade and that of stone-cutting with his father, and when a youth of eighteen years had completed his apprenticeship. In his nineteenth year he started for the then distant west, his des- tination being Illinois and lowa. He traveled by steamboat to Cairo, Illinois, thence up the Miss- issippi river to Burlington, Iowa, where he se- cured a situation at laying and cutting stone Ior Governor Grimes of that state. After spending a season in the west, however, Mr. Townsend

J.B. Jown

T. B. TOWNSEND'S ZANESVILLE RESIDENCE.

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returned to Beverly, where he entered into part- nership with his father in the contracting busi- ness on a small scale. When the son was twen- ty-one years of age the father retired from busi- ness and T. B. Townsend then continued con- tracting on his own account, carrying on the business with constantly growing success until his retirement about ten years ago, his patronage constantly increasing in volume and importance. While Zanesville has largely been the field of his operation he has also figured prominently as a general contractor in other states. He took up his abode in Zanesville in the spring of 1867 and has here made his home continuously since, cov- ering a period of thirty-eight consecutive years.

While residing in Beverly Mr. Townsend also extended the scope of his labors by the es- tablishment of a marble business and soon was in the enjoyment of a good trade. Upon the re- turn of his brother, William C. Townsend, from the army, a partnership was formed between them, T. B. Townsend selling a half interest in the business and when he removed from Beverly to Zanesville he sold the remaining half of the marble business there to his brother, but not long after he located in this city, his brother followed him here and again they formed a partnership in the marble business which continued for sev- eral years. Once more T. B. Townsend sold out to his brother, who developed a mammoth enter- prise prior to his death. The subject of this re- view is the pioneer of the marble business which has won for Zanesville such a great name as the center for the operations of wholesale dealers in marble and granite.

During all the years in which he was connec- ted with the marble trade Mr. Townsend also continued his building operations and many of the fine structures of Zanesville and vicinity stand as monuments to his skill and enterprise. The first building which he erected was the Gar- ner block, in 1867, at the corner of Main and Sixth streets, now occupied by the street railway com- pany. He also erected the Stevens, Black, Star, Wiles, Statzenlock and the Burgess blocks, the Clarendon and the Arlington hotels, the Schultz opera house, the courthouse, the jail, the sheriff's house, the workhouse, the county infirmary, the Children's Home and Memorial Hall. He like- wise built the greater part of the Caldwell court house, was also the contractor and builder of the courthouses at Cambridge, New Philadelphia, Troy and Bowling Green. He also built most of the Belmont county infirmary and all of the Wash- ington and Miami county infirmaries. To many other lines of construction his efforts have also been extended with gratifying success. Moreover he belongs to that class of enterprising American citizens, who, while promoting individual pros- perity, likewise contribute in appreciable meas-

ure to the public good. Mr. Townsend built the first street railway of Zanesville and was half owner of the enterprise for sixteen years, when he sold out to the Electric Railway Company. He has paved the greater part of the streets of Zanesville and built most of the sewers up to 1895. He constructed all of the foundations for the following bridges across the Muskingum river: one at Marietta, one at Lowell, one at Beverly, one at Windsor, one at Gaysport, two at Tollersville, one at Brush Creek, one at Sixth street, Zanesville, two at Fifth street, Zanesville, one at Monroe street, Zanesville, one at New Comerstown, an arch bridge at Kent, Ohio, and also one at Mt. Vernon, beside other smaller bridges over this state and West Virginia. He furnished the stone for a lock at Marietta, Ohio, for the government and also for a lock at Burn- ing Springs, West Virginia. He built most of the railroad from Zanesville to Dresden, Ohio, also the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad from Granvile Junction to Millersport and a section of the same line from Columbus to Thurston, Ohio, the narrow gauge from Woodsfield to Jacobsport, the Cleveland Belt Line and the Bal- timore & Ohio Railroad from Defiance to Hol- gate. For about thirty years he was extensively engaged in building houses, public buildings, sewers, street pavements, bridges and railroads, but retired from the general contracting business about ten years ago and at the present time is not actively engaged in any enterprise. He is, how- ever, occupying the presidency of the T. B. Townsend Brick & Contracting Company, the other members of which are his son, O. N. Townsend, and his son-in-law. R. C. Burton. The three gentlemen own all of the stock and there is a paid-up capital of two hundred thou- sand dollars. Mr. Townsend of this review acts with them only in an advisory capacity. The company in addition to their contracting busi- ness are manufacturers of the Townsend street paving block and pressed common and sewer brick. They are contractors for heavy masonry in heavy buiklings and make a specialty of sewer building. He is also president of the Northern Coal Company and president of the Peabody Gas & Oil Company, of Peabody, Kansas.

Among important investments Mr. Townsend has an extensive and valuable ranch of thirty-six hundred acres in Marion county, Kansas, which farm he manages through a foreman. There he raises cattle, hogs, horses, corn, alfalfa and sor- ghum hay. About one thousand acres is planted to corn and the balance is used for pasture land. This farm is located on the main line of the Santa Fe Railroad, near Peabody, Kansas, and there is a station upon the place called Horner. Mr. Townsend has his own stockyards at the station so that his cattle and hogs are shipped direct to

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Kansas City, a distance of about a hundred and sixty miles. The entire farm is fenced, there being about five miles of hedge fence and fifty miles of barbed wire fence ( four wires), with posts sixteen feet apart. The barn on the farm is built of cut stone, is fifty-six by one hundred feet and three stories in height, having been erected at a cost of over ten thousand dollars. The super- intendent's house was built at a cost of three thousand dollars and there are ten other houses for the men, containing from four to seven rooms, each costing from five hundred to one thousand dollars each. The men are employed by the month or year, their pay averaging thirty dollars per month. In addition to this they are furnished a house, rent free, an acre of land for a garden, pasture for one or two cows, pasture for one horse and room for the raising of hogs and chickens which they wish to keep. It will thus be seen that Mr. Townsend is very liberal with his employes. On the ranch are about one thousand head of cattle, about the same number of hogs and thirty-two horses. The year 1905 will pro- duce upon the ranch thirty thousand bushels of corn, five hundred tons of alfalfa hay, five hun- dred tons of sorghum hay, together with large quantities of grains. Mr. Townsend sells from the ranch every year cattle and hogs to the value of forty or fifty thousand dollars, of which he raises about one hundred cows, but buys and fat- tens most of his cattle. The other cattle, pur- chased in the west, are brought to his ranch and fattened on the grass and corn and then shipped to the city market. In a good crop year corn is raised and put in the cribs for ten cents per bushel. The corn is not cut, but is husked from the stock, after which the cattle are turned in the fields, eating up the fodder. Three or four crops of alfalfa hay are cut each year, yielding about a ton per acre at a cutting. Mr. Townsend's farming venture has been attended with a very gratifying measure of success and the splendid climate of Kansas makes it a pleasure for him to visit his ranch.

When Mr. Townsend was twenty-one years of age he was married to Miss Sybil A. Nulton, of Beverly, Ohio, and they became the parents of five children, of whom three are living, namely : Orville N. Townsend, the vice president and gen- eral manager of the T, B. Townsend Brick and Contracting Company ; Mrs. Hattie R. Burton, whose husband is the secretary and treasurer of the Brick and Contracting Company ; and Mrs. Mary T. Brown. About eighteen years ago Mr. Townsend's health failed and he was advised by his physician to go south for the winter. Since that time he has spent sixteen winter seasons in the south, in consequence of which his health to-day is better than it was thirty years ago. He has traveled extensively, spending seven

winters in old Mexico, one in New Mexi- co, two in California, one in Arizona, two in Florida, one in Louisiana, one in Texas and one in Egypt. He has thus gained a com- prehensive knowledge of the southern section of the western hemisphere and greatly enjoyed his visit to the African kingdom, whose antiquity as seen in its ruins seems greater than that of any other section of the globe. The extent and im- portance of the business interests which have claimed his attention and the success which has attended his efforts makes his history a notable one and in his life he has exemplified the term "dignity of labor." He is a man of distinct and forceful individuality, broad mentality and ma- ture judgment and in his ready recognition and utilization of opportunity is found the secret of his prosperity. He has left his impress upon the industrial world. For years he was an important factor in the development of the state and in the promotion of enterprises adding not alone to his individual prosperity but also advancing the gen- eral progress of his home city and of the com- monwealth at large.

ALONZO NUTTER.

Alonzo Nutter, a well known citizen of Zanes- ville, now filling the position of general manager of the Zanesville Gear Wood Company, was born on the 12th of September, 1857, in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. His father, William Nut- ter, was a native of the same county, born in 1819, and was a son of William Nutter, Sr., who came to this state at a very early day in its de- velopment. In early manhood our subject's father married Miss Salome Tripp, who was also born in Fairfield county and was a daughter of Harry Tripp, a native of Ohio.

Alonzo Nutter spent his boyhood and youth upon a farm and on leaving home at the age of nineteen years went to Lancaster, where he learned the carriage-making and gear-wood trade. devoting seven years to their acquirement. Hav- ing thoroughly mastered the business in all its departments, he then accepted the position of superintendent of the Columbus Wheel & Bend- ing Company, of Columbus, Ohio, although only twenty-seven years of age at the time, and he most creditably filled that position for four years. In 1888 he came to Zanesville and for eleven years was superintendent of the A. Kimble Bent Wood Works. During the following six years he was superintendent of a company at Newark, Ohio, and then returned to Zanesville to take charge of the construction of the plant of the Zanesville Gear Wood Company, which was established on the 19th of October. 1904, and of which he has

T. B. TOWNSEND'S KANSAS RESIDENCE.

T. B. TOWNSEND'S KANSAS BARN.

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since been general manager, while the other officers are F. B. Fell, president ; H. L. Greiner, vice president; and H. T. Piper, secretary and treasurer. Mr. Nutter is also a stockholder in the company. Their office is at No. 410 Market street, Zanesville, but the factory is located in South Zanesville. They manufacture carriage, buggy and spring wagon gear wood and furnish employment to thirty-five men. Much of the suc- cess of the enterprise is due to the capable man- agement of Mr. Nutter, who not only thoroughly understands the business but is also a man of good executive ability and sound judgment.

In 1877, Mr. Nutter was united in marriage to Miss E. Wright, who was born in Lancaster and is a daughter of Stephen Wright, a native of this state. Three children bless this union, namely : Cora A., Ed O. and Harry. In his political af- filiations Mr. Nutter is a democrat, and in his social relations is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows.

ELIAS F. JONES.

Elias F. Jones is a native son of Muskingum county, born in September, 1841, his parents be- ing Josiah and Serene (Huffman) Jones. His paternal grandfather died in 1861, and Josiah Jones departed this life in 1885, at the age of seventy-one years. In the family were three sons and five daughters, namely: Joseph, John, Will- iam, Elias F., Sarah Ann, Mary Jane, Margaret Ellen, Sallie Ann and Nancy Evelyn. One son. John William, served as a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting in 1861 as a member of Company F, Ninety-seventh Ohio Infantry. He continued with that command until after the close of hostili- ties, being discharged in June, 1865. He par- ticipated in a number of important engagements and was wounded in battle, which crippled him for life.

Elias F. Jones, reared under the parental roof, pursued his education at Harper's Grove and at an early day started out to make his own way in the world, being employed in a sawmill until 1864, when in recognition of his country's need for more troops he enlisted as a member of Com- pany FF, Ninety-seventh Ohio Infantry. He was under General Thomas on the march to the south- west into Texas and participated in other import- ant movements of the northern armies. He was honorably discharged at the end of the war at Port Levache and with a most creditable military record returned to his home, joining his family in Muskingum county.

Mr. Jones had been married on the 17th of De- cember, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth Meeks, a daugh-

ter of Samuel Meeks, who died when Mrs. Jones was but two years of age, after which she was reared by her grandfather, David Meeks, of Co- shocton county, Ohio. Following his return from the war Mr. Jones rented a farm and lived thereon until 1884, when he purchased a tract of land of seventeen acres in Jackson township. He has since carried on general agricultural pursuits and his place, although small, is well improved. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jones were born eleven children of whom two died in infancy. The others are as fol- lows: John W., born January 5, 1863, is mar- ried and is operating a farm of ten acres in Jack- son township; Mary, born March 10, 1864, is deceased ; Charles, born July 30, 1867. resides in Trimway, Muskingum county; Sarah E., born July 8, 1869, is the wife of Eli Dwiggins, of Fra- zeysburg ; Albert, born July 16, 1871, has departed this life; Joseph, born December 31, 1872, is mar- ried and follows farming on the Newark road ; Catherine, born July 19, 1875, is the wife of Jack Drum, a resident farmer of Jackson township; Clara B., born February 12, 1877, is the wife of George Shumaker, of Dresden, Ohio: Jane and Jennie, twins, born January 23, 1879, are married, the former being the wife of Calvin Dove, of Newark, and the latter of William McCann, of the same city: Edward, born November 14, 1882. completes the family.

Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic lodge at Frazeysburg and is in thorough sympathy with its tenets and teachings. His political views ac- cord with the principles of the democratic party and upon that ticket he was elected supervisor of Cass township, in which position he served for four years. He has always lived in Muskingum county and during a residence here of more than six decades he nas witnessed many changes as the work of improvement has been carried steadily forward.

P. W. STURTZ.

P. W. Sturtz is the owner of a fine farm in Madison township but makes his home in Adams- ville, where he is now living a retired life. He was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, his parents being Peter and Margaret ( Hut- zell) Sturtz. The father came to Ohio in 1837. driving across the country in a wagon, and he located in Adams township, where he purchased land a few years later, his farm being situated about six miles north of Adamsville. He there spent the remainder of his days, devoting his time to the tilling of the soil and thus he provided a comfortable living for his family. His study of the political questions and issues of the day led him to cast his ballot for the whig candidates in

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early life and later he supported the republican party. He died in 1866, while his wife, long sur- viving him, passed away in 1888. They were the parents of eleven children and they had two sons who laid down their lives on the altar of their country at the time of the Civil war.

P. W. Sturtz was but two years old when brought by his parents to Muskingum county. His early education, acquired in the public schools of Adams county, was supplemented in the nor- mal school of Zanesville. He continued to work upon his father's farm until after the outbreak of the Civil war and in the meantime he also en- gaged in teaching school, for which he received a salary of twenty-five dollars per month. On the 17th of April, 1861, he responded to the coun- try's call for aid. enlisting in Company A, Fif- teenth Ohio Infantry, and after serving three months he returned home but when another three months had passed he once more offered his ser- vices to the country, joining the boys in blue of Company F, Seventy-eighth Ohio Infantry, with which he remained until the close of the war when he was mustered out with the rank of first sergeant. He participated in the battles of Shi- loh, Vicksburg and all of the engagements of the Atlanta campaign, taking part in thirtv-two bat- tles in all, and his army service called him into ten states. He was once wounded by a spent ball but otherwise escaped injury and at all times he was faithful to his duty, never faltering in the per- formance of any task assigned him in connection with his military services.

Following the close of hostilities and the re- storation of peace Mr. Sturtz returned to his home in Muskingum county and through seven winter terms and two summer terms he was engaged in teaching school in Madison and Adams townships, Muskingum county, and in Coshocton county. He first made investment in land in 1873, when he became the owner of a tract in Madison town- ship, which is still in his possession. Then turn- ing his attention to agricultural pursuits he was actively and successfully engaged in farming un- til 1901, when he retired. He now owns one hun- dred and fifty-six acres of land, together with his fine residence in the town of Adamsville, and living retired is now enjoying a rest which he has richly earned.

In 1870 Mr. Sturtz was united in marriage to Miss Abba Darner, who was born in Muskingum county, in 1841, a daughter of Jacob and Abagail ( Wahl) Darner, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of Virginia. The father fol- lowed the occupation of farming and died in 1888, while his wife passed away in 1872. They were the parents of ten children, of whom eight are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Sturtz have two living children : Della J., who was born in 1871 ; and Al- bert C., born in 1880.

Mr. Sturtz votes with the republican party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth, ability and loyalty to the public good, have called him to office. He has served as justice of the peace for fourteen years and was township asses- sor, his frequent re-elections giving unmistakable indications of the confidence and trust reposed in him and his fidelity to this trust. He is a mem- ber of the Grange at Adamsville and both he and his wife are devoted members of the Lutheran church. A man of intelligence, whose life has been actuated by honorable motives and worthy purpose, he is well known as a leading and in- fluential citizen of his community.

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Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 56

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 898

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898