USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 62
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Mr. Brock votes with the democracy and has served as assessor for three terms and also as pike superintendent. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Patrons of In- dustry, while his wife is a member of the Luth- eran church. They are well known in the county and have many friends. Mr. Brock belongs to that class of representative citizens who owe their success entirely to their own efforts, for he started out in life empty-handed, and his dilligence and perseverance form the basis of his prosperity. In all matters of citizenship he is progressive and in everything relating to the general good he is as loyal as he was when he followed the flag of the nation upon the battle-fields of the south.
JEROME W. BAKER.
Jerome W. Baker, the president of the Peo- ple's Banking Company, of Frazeysburg, who is also connected with mercantile and other busi- ness interests of the town, was born in Dresden. Muskingum county, December 13, 1855. His father, William Baker, was a native of New Jer- sey and after reaching adult age married Miss Sarah A. Walker, a daughter of Squire Walker, one of the early and influential citizens of Dres- den, who served as justice of the peace there. In his political views he was originally a whig and later a republican. His daughter, Mrs. Baker, was born in Dresden and in February, 1905, celebrated her eighty-fourth birthday. William Baker, coming to Ohio when a young man, located in Dresden where he engaged in the hardware business and he was also interested in the iron industry of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He was a man just and generous in his business relations, being never known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellow nten in any trade
J. W. BAKER.
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transaction. He died at the age of fifty-eight years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Baker were born five children: Sarah H., the wife of David Mc- Naught, a farmer of Jackson township; Mrs. Anna McQuigg, of Muskingum township; Mel- vina, wife of William McNaught, a farmer of Jackson township; Albert, who is engaged in blacksmithing in Frazeysburg; and Jerome W. The father was a republican, interested in the growth and success of the party, and he advo- cated and supported all progressive measures. In all life's relations he was true to his duty, while his reliability in business, loyalty in citizen- ship and devotion to his family won him the re- spect of all with whom he came in contact.
Jerome W. Baker attended the public schools of Dresden and spent a part of his boyhood days on the home farm, but later he engaged in clerk- ing for Herbert Smallwood of Dresden. with whom he remained for a year and a half. He clerked for I. W. Ewing for three years and in 1875, with a small capital, began business on his own account in a little building in Frazeysburg which has since been destroyed by fire. In 1885 he purchased his present building on State street, a two-story structure, twenty-five by seventy-five feet, with basement. Here he has been very suc- cessful as a merchant, building up the largest business of its kind in the town. He has studied to please the tastes of a general public and has made his purchases of stock accordingly. Reas- onable prices and straightforward methods have also been elements in his success and his pros- perity in commercial fields has made possible his investment in other lines of business which have contributed to the general welfare as well as to his individual financial returns. In 1902 the People's Banking Company of Frazeysburg was organized, Mr. Baker being one of the original incorporators. He was elected a director and the vice president of the company, with J. G. Hamilton as president and Samuel Frazier as cashier, while J. M. Frazier and T. L. Bennett,
in addition to the officers, constituted the board of directors. In 1903 the bank was re-organ- ized, with the following officers: J. W. Baker. president ; T. L. Bennett, vice president ; and Samuel Frazier, cashier. These gentlemen. to- gether with James Frazier, F. Fleming and Sam- nel Parks are directors. The bank is capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars and the deposits amount to one hundred thousand. The bank inaugurated a safe, conservative policy that has awakened public confidence and in consequence a liberal public support is assured. Mr. Baker is also a stockholder in the old Citizens Bank of Zanesville: a director and stockholder in the Roseville Pottery Company of Zanesville; and the owner of considerable real estate in Frazeys- burg.
Mr. Baker has been married twice. He wed- ded Mary A. Patton, who died leaving a daugh- ter, Inez. Later he married Miss Bessie Men- denhall, a native of Jackson township and a daughter of R. P. Mendenhall, a prominent re- tired farmer of the county. There are two chil- dren by this marriage: Roy E. and Walter J.
Mr. Baker votes with the republican party and has served as a member of the council of Frazeysburg and also on the school board. He belongs to the Presbyterian church and is inter- ested in the material, social, intellectual and moral progress of the town and county to the extent that he gives tangible aid to every movement for the general good. His life is another illustration of the fact that prosperous and prominent mer- chants come from humble clerkships and that in the individual and his inherent force of char- acter, not in his environment, lies the secret of success.
JAMES L. NEAVE, M. D.
Dr. James L. Neave, popular socially and pro- fessionally in Dresden, where he is now success- fully engaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery, is a native of Cincinnati and comes of Eng- lish ancestry, his paternal grandfather, Thomp- son Neave, having been born in England whence he emigrated to the United States in early man- hood. He located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in the hardware business, conducting a large store for that time. He became a prominent merchant of the city and his well conducted busi- ness affairs gained him prosperity. As his sons reached mature years he admitted them to a part- nership and the store was conducted under the firm style of Thompson Neave & Sons. The grandfather died at the age of seventy years.
Martin Neave, father of Dr. Neave, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was indebted to its public- school system for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He worked with his father in the store in early life and was afterward admitted to a partnership, thus becoming an active factor in commercial circles in his native city. He mar- ried Miss Mary Force, who was born in New Jer- sey, and they became the parents of six children. of whom two are living: Bessie B. and James L. The father was a republican in his political views and kept well informed on the questions and is- sues of the day. He figured prominently in com- mercial circles in Cincinnati for many years and there passed away at the age of sixty.
Dr. Neave completed his more specifically lit- erary education in the public schools and then in preparation for the profession which he wished to make his life work he entered upon the study
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of medicine and subsequently was graduated from the Cincinnati Medical College with the class of 1874. At once opening an office in his native city he continued in practice there until 1878 when he entered the employ of the United States gov- ernment, being in the Indian service for seven vears at Fort Berthold as government surgeon, having charge of fifteen hundred Indians. In 1886 he located for practice in Dresden where he has secured a liberal patronage, having soon dem- onstrated his capability in checking the ravages of disease and restoring health. He has always kept well informed concerning the advance that is continually being made in the medical fraternity and is ever interested in any question that tends to solve for man the problems of life and health.
In 1878 Dr. Neave was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie M. Bailey, a native of Cincinnati, and their children are : Pearson N., who was educated at Cornell University and is now in New York city ; and Margaret R., at home.
Dr. Neave exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republi- can party and for two terms has served on the board of health. Socially he is connected with the Knights of Pythias fraternity and religiously with the Episcopalian church. His genuine per- sonal worth as well as his professional skill en- dears him to friends and patrons and in his pro- fessional career he has kept in touch with the pro- gressive spirit of the age which has been partic- ularly manifest among the medical fraternity.
HENRY SCHWAB.
Henry Schwab, a florist of Zanesville, is a young man of good business ability, whose life record has been creditable alike to the land of his birth and the land of his adoption. He is a native son of Germany and when a lad came to the United States with his parents, George and Catherine (Veogtting) Schwab, who were also natives of Germany. They came to Ohio twenty years ago, settling in Zanesville. The father is a locksmith by trade and for a number of years was thus engaged in Zanesville, after which he entered the shops of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road Company as blacksmith, following that pur- suit for some time. He and his wife are still living in Zanesville and they have two children : Henry, of this review, and Louise, at home with her parents.
At an early age Henry Schwab went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked for some time. after which he returned to Zanesville and located on land owned by his father. Here he began business twelve years ago as a florist, starting out in a small way, but gradually building up a good
trade and constantly increasing his facilities to meet the growing demands of his business until he to-day has four large greenhouses with fifty- five hundred square feet under glass, each green- house being sixty-five by twenty feet. These are supplied with all modern appliances, being heated by hot water so that an even temperature can be maintained. He raises plants of all varieties and also makes a specialty of cut flowers and for size; excellence and beauty there are no finer plants or flowers to be obtained in this city or central Ohio than come from the greenhouses of Mr. Schwab. He raises the Glaire De Lorraine bego- nia, which he ships to all parts of the country. He makes a close study of his business, under- standing all the needs of the various plants which he raises, and in his work he is systematic and methodical. He is yet a young man, but already through his own energy and capable manage- ment he has built up a business which is very creditable and which is returning him a good income.
JOHN W. PINKERTON.
It is the enterprise, ingenuity and capability of the individual that produces the prosperity and development of the city and among the men who have contributed to the upbuilding of Zanesville through the institution and conduct of important and successful commercial interests is numbered John W. Pinkerton, now the president of the Pin- kerton Tobacco Company. He has been a resident of this city since 1870 and is one of the native sons of Ohio, his birth having occurred in McCon- nelsville, Morgan county, on the 19th of March, 1843. He is a son of David C. Pinkerton, a native of Pennsylvania and a grandson of Alexander Pinkerton. The great-grandfather was killed by the Indians at Fort Duquesne, his wife standing as a horrified spectator of the scene. The family was identified with the early development of the Keystone state. Alexander Pinkerton became a miller of that locality and also owned and operated a farm near the fort. At an early day in the de- velopment of Ohio he removed to this state with his family, including David C. Pinkerton, who was then a child. The family home was estab- lished in Morgan county, where the grandfather at once began hewing out a farm in the midst of the forest.
David C. Pinkerton was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life and assisted in the arduous task of developing the new farm. In early manhood, however, he turned his attention from agricultural pursuits and learned the silversmith's trade under George A. Jones, of Zanesville, be- coming a proficient workman in that line. Later
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he removed to McConnelsville, where he engaged in business on his own aecount. In ante bellum days he was an advocate of abolition prineiples and his home was a station on the famous under- ground railroad, whereby he assisted many a slave to eseape from there and aided him on his way to freedom in the north. At one time he eut a panel from the door of the old Zanesville jail and thus freed the slaves therein. When the new republi- can party was formed to prevent the further ex- tension of slavery he joined its ranks and eon- tinued a staneh supporter of its principles until his death. He was a warm personal friend of Senator Sherman and he served as probate judge of Morgan eounty for fifteen years, discharging the duties of the position with marked capability. He married Miss Elizabeth Pyle, a native of Mor- gan county, Ohio, and a daughter of Abner Pyle, of the same county. Her father was born, however, in Pennsylvania, of Quaker ancestry. The death of Mr. Pinkerton oeenrred when he had reached the advaneed age of seventy-eight years and his wife passed away in 1873.
John W. Pinkerton pursued his edueation in the schools of Morgan eounty, afterward worked at cabinet-making in the employ of an uncle. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted for three months' ser- viee in the Seventeenth Ohio Infantry and when diseharged on the expiration of that term re-en- listed as a member of the Sixty-seeond Ohio In- fantry for three years. He was made second lieu- tenant under Captain Floyd and later he was first lieutenant and when twenty years of age he had beeome eaptain of his eompany. During the war he went as far south as Port Royal, South Caro- lina, and he participated in many important en- gagements, his valor being frequently attested where the battle raged the thiekest. He was wounded in the head at the battle of Fort Wag- ner, South Carolina, and his elothing was several times picreed with bullets. He now has a hat which he wore during the war that is piereed by several bullet holes. He went into the battle of Fort Wayne with forty-two men on the 18th of July. 1863, and at the elose of the engagement but ten remained. He was in the hotly contested battle of Winchester, went with Butler's command up the James river and was in Virginia during the greater part of the war, the aetion of both armies concentrating in that portion of the country. When hostilities were over and the preservation of the Union was an assured fact he was honor- ably discharged at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and with a most ereditable military record he re- turned to his home . Although but a young man he had been promoted from time to time and in his military career he displayed valor equal to that of many a veteran twice his years.
Mr. Pinkerton has been a resident of Zanesville sinee 1871, at which time he engaged in the whole-
sale groeery business with Frank Terry, continu- ing in that line until 1895, when he embarked in his present line as a member of the firm of Pin- kerton Brothers. Later the Pinkerton Tobaeco Company was organized and business is now ear- ried on on Third street, between Main and South streets. The building has a frontage of ninety-five feet and is a two-story briek structure. At the present time, 1905, a new building is being ereeted that is five stories in height and fifty by seventy- five feet. It is also built of briek. The other building is four stories in height and is forty-five by one hundred and thirty-two feet. Employ- ment is furnished to from ninety to one hundred people and the business is earried on according to modern progressive ideas so that success is attend- ing their venture and the trade is now largely profitable.
Captain Pinkerton was married in November, 1864, to Miss H. G. Mortley, a native of Morgan county. David H. Mortley, the father of Mrs. Pinkerton, was one of the best known men of this state. He served as state senator from the Co- shocton distriet and was seeretary of the eonven- tion of 1852 which framed the present eonstitu- tion of Ohio, it being in his hand writing. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Pinkerton are: Sher- wood M., Mrs. Kate Bovard, Florence, Bernard and John W. The family home is on the pike near Zanesville, where they have fifty aeres of ground. The family is prominent soeially and to the members of the household is extended the hospitality of many of the best homes in this lo- cality. Mr. Pinkerton votes with the republican party and fraternally is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Masonie fra- ternity and the Grand Army of the Republic. His reeord as a soldier, eitizen and business man is creditable, and while he has never sought to fig- ure before the publie in any official relations, he has nevertheless won for himself a place in the publie regard that indieates the respeet and eon- fidence entertained for him by those who know him.
ROBERT BRUCE SHIRER.
Through almost a century the Shirer family has been represented in Muskingum county, the paternal grandparents of Robert B. Shirer hav- ing located here at a very early epoch in the de- velopment of this part of the state. George W. Shirer, the father, was born in Muskingum county in 1815. He was a carpenter by trade and he and his brothers built most of the town of Adamsville. He afterward left Adamsville and turned his attention to farming, which he followed for a number of years but subsequently he retired from active business cares and his last days were
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passed in Adamsville. He died in October, 1901, while his wife, Mrs. Sarah A: Shirer, passed away November 22, 1900.
Robert Bruce Shirer was born in Adams town- ship, November 24, 1862, and pursued his edu- cation in the district schools of Adams and Madi- son townships and in Adamsville. After putting aside his text-books he continued to live in Adamsville for a year and then removed to his present farm, situated in Salem township about two miles east of Adamsville, which comprised one hundred and eighty-nine acres of land and is devoted to general farming and stock-raising. In addition to the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to the soil and climate, he is also engaged in the raising of sheep, cattle, horses and hogs and being an excellent judge of stock is enabled to make judicious purchases and profitable sales, so that his business is bringing him gratifying suc- cess.
Mr. Shirer was married, November 30, 1884, to Miss Mattie Spragg, a daughter of Philip and Mary (Edwards) Spragg. Her father was born on the farm where he now lives and was a son of Benaga Spragg, who came from Pennsyl- vania to Ohio. Philip Spragg is still living but his wife departed this life March II, 1905. He is sixty-five years of age and makes his home upon his farm two and a half miles east of Adamsville, giving his personal supervision to the property. Mrs. Shirer has one sister and by her marriage has become the mother of four children : Ray E., Hallie M., Ralph C. and Lillie Dale. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are well known as people of sterling worth in the community where they reside. Mr. Shirer votes with the democracy and is now serving as trustee of his township and fraternally he is con- nected with the Maccabees of Adamsville. Throughout his business career he has carried on agricultural pursuits and the success which he now enjoys is attributable entirely to his own efforts.
J. P. KING.
The King family, as represented in Mus- kingum county, traces its history back to George King, of England, who when a youth emigrated to America, reaching Pennsylvania about one hundred and twenty-five years ago. He after- ward married Miss Mary Wayne, a daughter of John Wayne of that state and they settled upon a farm near her father's home in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. There they reared a fam- ily of ten children, namely: William, John, George, Patrick, James, Hugh, Charles, Eliza- beth, Hannah and Sarah, all of whom married
and with one exception reared families. While the seven sons in the latter part of their lives were farmers and owned land, during their earlier days six of the seven were mechanics, while John followed the profession of school teaching. George was a gunsmith, William learned the trade of miller and millwright, James followed shoe-making, Hugh engaged in car- pentering and Patrick and Charles followed blacksmithing. George King, the emigrant from England, died about 1836 and was buried on his father-in-law's farm in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, while his wife Mary died at the home of her son Charles in Madison township, Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1850, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years, and was laid to rest in the Prospect burying-ground. The ten children of the family have all passed away, and Patrick, Charles, Elizabeth, Hannah and Sarah are interred in the Prospect cemetery ; William, at Brushy Fork, Licking county, Ohio; James and Hugh in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania ; George in Green county, Pennsylvania ; and John in Virginia.
Patrick King, son of George and Mary King, and grandfather of J. P. King, whose name in- troduces this record, was born in 1789, in Hunt- ingdon county, Pennsylvania, and was married on the 5th of July, 1814, to Miss Mary McClary, of Huntingdon county. He had served his coun- try as a soldier in the war of 1812, and was married soon after his return, but his wife died in 1840, and was buried in the old Wheeling churchyard, both she and her husband having been members of the Wheeling church. On the 5th of May, 1844, Patrick King wedded Maria Wyatt, who survived him for many years, his death occurring May 19, 1875, when he was eighty-six years of age. He had removed from Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, to this county in the fall of 1832, settling near Sonora and in the following spring he located on a farm in Madison township. He and some of his family made the journey from the home of George Crane to this township, settling on the south fork of Symmes creek, where they cut logs from which they built a cabin. They then brought the other members of the family to the new home, with the exception of the mother-in-law, Mrs. McClary, who afterward came on horseback. She was then an old woman and was piloted by one of the boys over the hills and through the woods, there being no road a part of the way. Patrick King at once built a shop of poles and began blacksmithing. Later in life he followed farming and became the owner of three different farms in Muskingum county but eventually sold all of these. He died at the home of his son Hugh King. In his family were eleven chil- dren, ten of whom grew to years of maturity.
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J. P. KING AND FAMILY.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
Hannah, the tenth in order of birth, died in 1849, at the age of sixteen years. The three daugh- ters all reached womanhood, and married and reared families, and two of them are buried in Muskingum county and one in Indiana. The sons are: George, Thomas, Hugh, James, Wil- liam, Samuel and John, all of whom were mar- ried, reared families and owned farms in Madi- son township. Five of the number have passed away and their remains were interred in the cemetery of this township. Thomas, the second, is now eighty-eight years of age and is a farmer of this locality. John, the youngest, still lives upon the old home. farm. Thomas and James each reared ten children and at the time of the first family reunion, held in 1883, all were liv- ing.
Hugh King, son of Patrick King, was born May 16, 1819, in Huntingdon county Pennsyl- vania, and in the fall of 1832 accompanied his parents to Muskingum county, Ohio, the family home being established in Madison township. He learned the blacksmith's trade with his father, assisting him in the work of the shop in early life. Through the greater part of his life, how- ever, he carried on general agricultural pursuits and became the owner of a valuable and well de- veloped property improved with modern equip- ments. In early days he experienced the hard- ships and trials of pioneer life, the family home being established in the midst of a dense forest and there was not a religious or educational in- stitution in the township, but the influence of the King family has ever been on the side of progress and improvement and their labors have contributed to the material, intellectual and moral growth of the community. For many years Mr. King continued active in agricultural pursuits but in 1877 retired from business and spent his last days in Adamsville, in the enjoy- ment of a well earned rest.
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