Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 87

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 87

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WILLIAM H. SLACK.

William H. Slack, controlling important busi- ness interests in Zanesville and Muskingum county, has through his intense and well directed activity won for himself a place among the fore- most representatives of trade relations in this part of the state. He is now a wholesale dealer in meats in Zanesville and owns considerable valu- able property in the city, together with a good farm in Washington township. He was born in Madison township, April 28, 1854, and was a grandson of Jacob Slack, one of the pioneer set- tlers of Muskingum county, who served his country in the war of 1812. He was identified with the early agricultural development here and died at the venerable age of eighty-eight years.

His son, John Slack, was born in Washington township, March 9, 1811, and was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life, for at that time it seemed that the work of improvement had scarcely been begun. On large tracts of timber land the trees were uncut, and only here and there was seen the home of a settler, his little cabin often being built of logs. There were no railroads and few advantages were to be enjoyed. John Slack married Margaret Shaw, who was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1814, and they became the parents of eleven children, of whom seven are now living: Mrs. Shrigley, of Zanes- ville : Mrs. James D. Hoge, of this city; Mrs. E. Fisher, of Zanesville; Mrs. Clara Adamson, of Colorado; William H .; Mrs. Ada Vanden- bark; and James D .. of Zanesville. Alvia B. died in 1904. John Slack gave his political sup- port to the democracy, was prominent in the ranks of his party and frequently attended as a dele- gate the local and state conventions of his party but always refused to hold office or become his party's candidate for any political preferment. He was a Master Mason, loyal to the teachings of the craft, and was a devoted member of the Baptist church. He lived to see seven gener- ations, from his great-grandfather down to his great-great-granddaughter, who was six years of age at the time of his death.

William H. Slack acquired a public school edu- cation and remained at home with his father un- til nineteen years of age, when he started out in life on his own account and has since made a cred- itable place and honored name for himself in the business circles of his native county. He has

WILLIAM H. SLACK.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

lived for a quarter of a century upon his present farm of forty acres, two and a half miles from the courthouse on the East pike, and there he has a beautiful home, commodious and tastefully fur- nished. He is well known as a wholesale dealer in meats of all kinds and he has a cold storage upon his farm, handling thirty head of cattle, fifty head of small stock and from twenty-five to fifty head of hogs each week. His business has long since become quite profitable and the success which has attended him in commercial operations and agricultural life has permitted of his invest- ment in city realty. He is now the owner of the building in which is located the waitingroom for the Zanesville Street Car Company, at the cor- ner of Sixth and Main streets and likewise of the Sharpe Building on Fifth street in Zanesville.

When twenty-three years of age Mr. Slack was married to Miss Molly E. Tschiffely, a native of this county and a daughter of Lewis Tschiffely. They became the parents of ten children, of whom eight are living: Edward A., Clarence, Bernard H., Isabel, Gordon, Anna, Margaret and Evelyn. The family constitutes a happy household and its members are prominent in the social circles in which they move. Mr. Slack exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the democracy. affiliates with the Masonic fra- ternity and holds membership in the Baptist church and his fidelity to the principles of the last two make him a man worthy of the trust and con- fidence uniformly given him.

ROBERT G. BUCHANAN.

Robert G. Buchanan, who follows farming and is also raising fine Merino sheep, is the owner of one hundred and sixty-two acres of valuable land in Meigs township. He was born in this township on the old Buchanan home- stead. March 6, 1855. and is of Scotch lineage. His father. Samuel Buchanan, was a native of Pennsylvania and was reared to farm life, which he always followed throughout his business career. He came to Muskingum county at an early period in its settlement, taking up his abode in Salt Creek township, and later he pur- chased two hundred and sixty acres of land in Meigs township. There he developed an ex- cellent farm property, becoming one of the most prominent agriculturists of his community. His attention was devoted to the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock. He cleared most of his land himself and the farm was the visible evidence of his life of thrift and enterprise. He was of strong and steadfast purpose, accom- plishing everything that he undertook, and his prosperity was therefore the just reward of his

own labor. He wedded Mary Gray, who was born near Cadiz in Belmont county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Robert and Anna Gray. They became the parents of the following named : Anna married Benjamin Mitchell and has one son, Alva. Sarah became the wife of Albert Marshall, a prominent farmer of Meigs town- ship, this county. Margaret is the wife of Jacob Cline, of Muskingum county, and has a son and daughter, Delton and Flora, the latter the wife of Charles Brothers, by whom she has three children, Emmett, Hazel and William. Alcinda is the wife of Nathaniel White, of Duncan Falls, Ohio, and they have two children, Anna, the wife of William Hartman, and Charles, who is mar- ried and has two children, Wilson and Zora. Ora Bell married Crawford Gorrell and is liv- ing in Bristol township, Morgan county.

Robert G. Buchanan, also a member of this family, spent his boyhood days upon his father's farm, where he carly became familiar with the work incident to the development of a good farm property. His educational privileges were those afforded by the public schools. After ar- riving at man's estate he was married on the 5th of September, 1877. to Miss Edith B. White, a daughter of William A. and Martha E. ( Fen- ton) White. of Blue Rock township. Her brothers and sisters were J. Franklin, Rosella, Lenora, Phoebe, and Carlo and Polly, twins. Georgie and Joseph H. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan has been blessed with six chil- dren, Mary: Maude, the wife of Curtis F. Onstott. who is a graduate of the Denison University of Granville, Ohio, of the class of 1892, and is now a professor in the business college at Colorado Springs, Colorado; An- nora ; Clara R. ; Blanche; and Sadie. The three eldest daughters were educated at Philo, Ohio, and have been successful teachers of Mus- kingum county,

The family home is a good farm of one hun- dred and sixty-two acres in Meigs township, and Mr. Buchanan is regarded as one of the fore- most agriculturists of the state. He raises fine Merino sheep and has been very successful in his business affairs. He now has a fine country home twenty miles from Zanesville and his place bears every evidence of careful supervision and progressive methods. His business affairs have been so capably conducted that he is now a prosperous agriculturist. The cause of educa- tion has always found in him a warm friend and he has spared neither time nor expense in fur- thering the interests of the schools in his lo- cality. He acted as a member of the school board at various times and although he has never cared for office he has also been super- visor in his township, being elected to that posi- tion as the candidate of the democratic party.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

The Buchanan family is one of the oldest Methodist families of this state and Robert G. Buchanan of this review adheres to the same faith.

EMESIAH McDONALD.

Emesiah McDonald is a representative of a family prominent in conquering the wilderness of Muskingum county and planting the seeds of civilization here. From the early part of the nineteenth century representatives of the family have resided in this part of Ohio, aiding mater- ially in reclaiming the land from the dominion of the red men and transforming the prairie and the forest into rich and highly cultivated fields, with here and there thriving towns and villages, having all of the improvements known to modern progress. James McDonald and his wife, grand- parents of our subject, were both natives of County Down, Ireland, and having crossed the Atlantic to America became residents of Pennsyl- vania. They made their way from Warren, in that state, to Ohio, traveling in a wagon after the primitive manner of the times, for it was long before the era of railroad transportation. They took up their abode in Salt Creek township and the grand- father entered land from the government, secur- ing a farm which is still in possession of his de- scendants. Hardships and trials were to be borne but the family possessed resolute hearts and will- ing hands and they subdued the wilderness, sup- planting it by a valuable farm property. The original family home was a log cabin in the midst of the green woods but as the years passed by acre after acre was cleared, the land plowed and good harvests were gathered. The early McDon- alds were prominent Presbyterians and were ac- tively associated with the early moral progress of the community as well as its material develop- ment. Unto James McDonald and his wife were born the following named: Joseph, John, James, Margaret and Nancy, all now deceased.

John McDonald, father of our subject, was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1812, upon a farm which his father was cultivating there. He was a young lad of only about four years when the family came to Ohio. Here he was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life. sharing with the family in the arduous task of developing a new home. Eventually he began farming on his own account and purchased a part of the farm owned by his father. He settled there when it was a wilderness and the nearest neigh- bors were miles away. Deer and bears were nu- merous in the forest and there was much wild game to be secured. It seemed that the work of

progress and improvement had scarcely been be- gun. Not far from the home was a large sugar camp and one of the spring duties upon the farm was the manufacture of maple sugar. The task of clearing and cultivating the fields was carried resolutely forward and in course of time John McDonald had a good property. He married Miss Sarah Mershon, a native of Virginia and a representative of one of the old and respected families of that state. Their children were : Emma, who died in infancy and was buried at Chandlersville ; Alcinda, who died at the age of eighteen years and was interred at the same place ; Emesiah, of this review ; Robert M., who married Miss Moore, by whom he had a son, Melvin, who is still living, and after losing his first wife wed- ded Ida Wyon, of Blue Rock township, by whom he had one child, Cloud, who is still at home. Robert M. McDonald is now a merchant at Mans- field, Ohio, carrying on a successful business and he was for seven years guard at the reform- atory there, and his carefully directed business interests have made him a prosperous citizen. Both Mr. and Mrs. John McDonald were mem- bers of the Baptist church in Blue Rock town- ship. Although educated in one of the old-time log schoolhouses of that township Mr. McDonald made the most of his opportunities through life and by reading, observation and experienec be- came a well informed man whose influence was ever on the side of progress, improvement and the right.

Emesiah McDonald, whose name introduces this review, was born on the old farm homestead near his present place of residence, July 26, 1846, and the days of his boyhood and youth were not un- like those of other lads of the period. He acquired his education in the public schools and assisted his father in the work of the home farm. He was engaged in public school-teaching for seven years but his attention is now chiefly given to mercan- tile interests and he is the owner of an excellent general store in Salt Creek township. This is one of the best enterprises of the character in the county and he carries a large and carefully se- lected line of goods, while his reliable business methods and carnest efforts to please his custom- ers have secured him a large and growing patron- age.

Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Martha A. Cline, a daughter of T. J. and Mary ( Ewing) Cline, of a prominent and well-to-do family of Salt Creek township. Their children are as follows: Allie, who studied music at Del- aware, died at the age of twenty years and was interred at Chandlersville. Rose is the wife of Harold Pirch, of McConnelsville, Ohio, who formerly resided at Columbus, where he was en- gaged in the printing business, but he is now ed- itor and owner of the Daily Citizen at McCon-

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nelsville. Mr. and Mrs. Birch have three chil- dren, Josephine, George M. and Donald W. Howard McDonald, the third member of the fam- ily, was graduated from Muskingum College in the class of 1901 and then entered Princeton Uni- versity, in which he completed his course in 1902. He has taught for two years in Muskingum Col- lege and is now professor of Greek in that insti- tution. He is a prominent young man of super- ior intellectual attainments and is popular with and respected by his associates and his pupils. Already he has gained a notable position in educa- tional circles in this state. Harley E., the young- est member of the family, was also for a number of years a prominent educator of Muskingum county. He pursued his literary education in Muskingum and Scio Colleges and is now prepar- ing for the practice of medicine, being at this writing, in 1905, a senior in the Ohio Medical University at Columbus. Both of the sons are members of the Methodist church and have justly won the respect and admiration which is so un- formly accorded to them. The remainder of the family are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. McDonald, attaining his majority, gave his political support to the republican party and although living in a democratic township he has been elected and served as justice of the peace for twenty-seven consecutive years, discharging his duties without fear or favor, his decisions being based upon the equity and the law in the case. His business interests are capably conducted along modern lines and in harmony with a high standard of commercial ethics. He is a most re- spected citizen, regarded as one of the public- spirited men of his locailty and his co-operation has long been a factor for public good. His home is a fine residence in Salt Creek township near his store and his hospitality is greatly enjoyed by the many friends of the family.

ELIJAH SNIDER.

Elijah Snider, a retired farmer residing in Gratiot, was born in Hopewell township, Perry county, near the city of Somerset, January 3. 1830, his parents being George and Rhoda (Sco- field) Snider. Both the Snider and Scofield fam- ilies were established in Ohio in pioneer times and bore the hardships and trials incident to life on the frontier. His maternal grandmother, pre- paring for the conditions of frontier life, became an excellent shot and from her own doorway killed a deer in the wilderness in Ohio. She was the daughter of the Rev. Elijah Scofield, one of the carly pioneer preachers of this portion of the state. George Snider, father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania. August 5, 1800, and died

in 1895, at the very advanced age of ninety-five years. About ten years previous he had removed to Allen county, Ohio, and his death occurred after a brief illness. In his youth he had acquired his education in one of the old-time log school- houses and throughout the period of his business activity carried on agricultural pursuits. He was an extensive farmer in his day, owning two hun- dred acres of land and his business was success- fully conducted. He held membership in the German Baptist church and in his political views was originally a whig and afterward a republi- can. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, frequently called him to local office and he served in a number of township positions. His wife, Mrs. Rhoda Snider, departed this life at the age of eighty-six years. They were the parents of the following named : Louisa, the wife of Amos Lough ; Malinda, the deceased wife of Theodore Watkins ; Elijah ; Keziah ; Ames, who married Emma Mohler : Polly, the wife of Wil- liam Lance ; George, who married Eliza Roberts ; and Angeline, the deceased wife of John Dupper.

Elijah Snider, reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life, shared with the family in the usual hardships which come to those who establish homes in a frontier district. He worked in the fields during the summer months and acquired his education by attending the common schools in the winter seasons. He continued at home until twenty-five years of age and was then united in marriage to Miss Malinda Kiecick, a daughter of William Kiecick, who came from Ireland and settled in Ohio during an early period in its de- velopment. Following his marriage Mr. Snider rented a tract of land which he continued to cul- tivate until his labors had brought him a cap- ital sufficient to justify his purchase of ninety- two acres of land east of Mount Perry. He after- ward sold that property and about the time of the close of the Civil war he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres in Muskingum county. He also bought other tracts of land in Perry county just across the boundary line. He has been very successful in his business career, for at the time of his marriage he started out withont capital and by the assistance of his estimable wife he has gained a comfortable competency which now en- ables them to enjoy all of the necessities and many of the luxuries of life. They continued to reside upon the farm until 1904, when they took up their abode in Gratiot to spend their remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. Mr. Snider had always carried on general agricultural pursuits, and stock-raising, was practical in his work, systematic in his methods and energetic in all that he did. As the years advanced he was enabled to add a considerable find to his savings and he is now one of the prosperous citizens of his community.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Snider were born six chil- dren : Theodore, deceased ; George, who married Hattie Speaks and has three children ; Robert, at home ; Sophia, who married Noah Swinehart and has one daughter ; Sarah, the deceased wife of John Smith and the mother of three children ; and Dan, who married Miss Ford and has five chil- dren.

Mr. Snider is a member of the German Baptist church and is a republican in his political views. He is numbered among the men who have con- quered the wilderness and who have come off victors in the struggle with the conditions of pioneer life. He has for seventy-five years been a witness of the changes that have occurred here and wonderful indeed has been the transformation wrought by the improvement of the natural re- sources of the county and the introduction of all of the advantages known to the older east. Mr. Snider, respected for his genuine worth, is now classed with the representative and prominent pioneer people of Muskingum county.

JAMES L. HOLDEN, M. D.

Dr. James L. Holden, a representative of the medical fraternity of Zanesville, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1858. His paternal grandfather, Peter Holden, was a sea-captain in the merchants' marine service of England. The father, William H. Holden, was born in Mary- land, near Baltimore, came to Perry county, Ohio, with his widowed mother when six years of age. Following the completion of his literary educa- tion he studied medicine and became a very suc- cessful physician. He was also admitted to the bar and was a man of scholarly attainments and broad information. He served by appointment of Governor Bishop as superintendent of the Athens Insane Asylum and in 1871 he removed to Zanes- ville, where he entered upon the practice of his profession in which he continued up to the time of his death, which was occasioned by a fall upon the sidewalk in 1888, when he was sixty- five years of age. His ability well fitted him for leadership and he wielded a wide influence in molding public thought and action. While living in Perry county he represented his district in the lower house of the state legislature for three terms and for three terms he was also a member of the state senate, representing Perry and Mus- kingum counties. There he was connected with much important constructive legislation, intro- ducing a number of bills during those sessions which have had material effect upon the welfare and progress of the state. In community affairs he was also deeply interested and in Zanes- ville was elected mayor, serving from 1887 up

to the time of his demise. Fearless in defense of his honest convictions he was the champion of every measure or movement which he deemed would prove of public benefit and his efforts were far-reaching and effective. His political al- legiance was given to the democracy but he never sacrificed the general good to partisanship. At the time of the Civil war he gave proof of his loyalty and public-spirited citizenship by joining the army as a surgeon and he was afterward a member of the pension and examining board, while in Zanesville. Through the exercise of his professional skill he accumulated a comfortable competency. He was a man of large physique and fine personal appearance, which, taken in connection with the moral strength of his char- acter, made him one of the representative men of his community. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church and its teachings proved the guide of his life. He married Maria Hartley, a daughter of William Hartley, who was born in Hartleyville, Perry county, Ohio, where he set- tled in pioneer times, there following the occu- pation of farming. Mrs. Holden was also a de- voted Christian, holding membership with the Methodist Episcopal church, surviving her hus- band until 1898 and was also sixty-five years of age at the time of her demise. They were the parents of three children : John Wesley, a prac- ticing dentist of Zanesville; Mary L .. the de- ceased wife of W. C. Stewart, manager for the Forest City Stone Company ; and James L.

No event of unusual occurence or importance happened to vary the routine of life for James L. Holden in his boyhood days. He was reared under the parental roof and attended the public schools, while later he was a student in Zanes- ville Business College, from which ne was gradu- ated in 1876. Natural predilection and environ- ment probably combined to shape his course in life. Always more or less familiar with prin- ciples of medicine and methods of practice be- cause of association with his father he deter- minea upon the medical profession as a life work and after reading privately for some time he entered the Ohio Medical College, at Cincin- nati, in 1879 and was graduated in 1882. He began practice in Zanesville and has been very successful in the prosecution of his chosen life work. In order to still further promote his efficiency he pursued a post-graduate course in New York Post Graduate Medical College in 1894 and in the New York Polyclinic in 1895-6. He also attended lectures in London, Berlin and Paris hospitals in 1897, thus becoming familiar with the methods of practice of the leading physi- cians and surgeons of the old world. In his pro- fession he follows modern scientific methods and his knowledge is broad and comprehensive, well qualifying him for the arduous duties which con-

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tinually confront the physician in his efforts to diagnose disease, foretell its complications and results and check its ravages upon the human system. He belongs to the County and State Medical Associations.

Dr. Holden was married in 1880 to Miss Sarah Thomas, a daughter of John J. Thomas, who was an artisan. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1861, and has become the mother of two children: Pansy, deceased; and Pearl, now six years of age. Mrs. Holden be- longs to the Presbyterian church, while Dr. Hol- den has membership relations with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. . He is a stanch advocate of the democracy and in 1901 he was elected mayor of Zanesville. He has a wide acquaint- ance in the city which has long been his home and the world instinctively pays deference to him because his success has been worthily achieved.

JOHN W. SARBAUGH.

Viewed in a personal light John W. Sarbaugh may be accounted one of the prosperous and prominent men of Highland township for in his business career he has made steady advancement through his own labors, while in matters of citi- zenship he has ever been loyal and progressive and at the time of the Civil war he demonstrated his fidelity to the Union cause by enlisting with the boys in blue.

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Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 87

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