Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, Part 64

Author: Chapman Brothers
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 894

USA > Ohio > Fayette County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 64
USA > Ohio > Madison County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 64
USA > Ohio > Pickaway County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 64

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Reniek was three times married, but left no children. His last marriage was with Miss Josie Pearce, who was born near Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Lewis and Cath- erine (Vanmater) Pearee, the former a native of Pennsylvania. and the latter of Virginia. Iler father was a soldier in the war with Mexico. and in the Civil War became a member of the Seven- teenth Ohio Infantry, and was commissioned Lieu- tenant.

Mr. Renick was the inventor of the present mode of constructing turnpike roads. For nearly three years, he constantly importuned the Directors of the Columbus and Portsmouth Company to adopt his system, which from its cheapness and useful- ness has long since been the only plan of con- struction used in the West. On account of being out of funds, the Directors consented to try it, and on account of its great usefulness it has since been adopted. Mr. Reniek was a stanch Republican and his articles on Currency of

536

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

the Country, the Dollar of the Daddies, Revenue Tariff, Free Trade, Banks and Banking Systems, etc., did much to mold public opinion. He was a ready writer, and penned a number of communications of interest to farmers, including those on Blue Grass, Short-horns, Thoroughbred Cattle of Ohio, and the Early Cattle Trade of Ohio.

Mr. Renick was active, enterprising and highly public-spirited, although he labored from early age under the dire misfortune of a partial, and during his last twenty-five years almost a total, loss of hearing. His widow, who is a most estimable lady, still resides at the family residence on the corner of Fourth and Mound Streets.

ACOB TAYLOR, who is one of the eldest- born sons of Madison County, a representa- tive of one of its carly pioneer families, has for many years been closely identified with the farmers who have been prominent in the de- velopment of its agricultural resources, and he has built up one of the most beautiful homes in Canaan Township, on the fine large farm that he has im- proved, two and one-half miles south of Plain City.

Our subject was born in Canaan Township, Feb- ruary 20, 1819. This part of the country was then but little advanced from its primitive condition, and he remembers well the pioneer surroundings amid which he grew up. Wild game was plentiful in the forests, along the streams and on the prai- ries, and he used to indulge in the pleasures of the chase occasionally. At one time he killed a deer by cutting its throat with an axe, while his faith- ful d g fought the animal, and he could tell of many another hunting adventure. His fa- ther, William Taylor, a native of Virginia, was one of the early settlers of Madison County, com- ing to Ohio in 1806 from Kentucky, and locating in Darby Township. He was subsequently married, in Canaan Township, to Elizabeth Casto, a native of New Jersey, coming from that State to Ohio with her parents in 1808. They located on the

present site of Cincinnati. After marriage, the Taylors began their wedded life on a farm in Darby Township, but they afterward came to Canaan Township, where the father died in his sixty-fourth year, and the mother in her seventy-eighth year. They had fourteen children, of whom nine grew to maturity, and four of them are still living.

Our subject is the fourth of the family in order of birth. Ilis first schooling was obtained in Darby Township, in a rudely built house, 16x16 feet in dimensions, with a mud and stick chimney, and his education was completed in the district schools of Canaan Township. When he was nineteen years of age, his father died, and he continued at home on the old farm with his mother and the rest of the family to assist in managing the farm until he was twenty-three years old. When he started in life for himself, he worked as a farm laborer, get- ting $12 a month for wages, or $2 more than the regular price, as he was so capable and helpful. As wages became lower, he afterward obtained only $10 a month. For cutting cordwood he had twenty cents a cord, and manled rails for twenty cents a hundred. He was an expert in both, and could ent three cords of wood a day and split from two hundred to two hundred and fifty rails a day. He was ambitious to build up a home, and made up his mind that he would never marry until he had the wherewithal to do so. Accordingly, he was frugal and prudent, saved up his earnings, and in due time bought one hundred and three acres of land in Canaan Township, and had it all paid for before he took unto himself a wife. After mar- riage, he lived on the parental homestead until he took up his residence on his own farm, which un- der his care has become a very attractive home. It embraces five hundred and forty acres of as fine and well-cultivated land as is to be found in Madi- son County, and is in every way substantially im- proved. Its broad fields yield abundant harvests, its pastures afford feed for the excellent class of stock that he raises, and its buildings are neat and orderly, and of a handsome style of architecture, especially the commodious and elegant residence that was erected m 1878 at a cost of $5,000.

Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca Kilgore, April 8, 1845. She, too, is a na-

537

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

tive of Madison County, born in 1827. A wedded life of forty-seven years has brought them much happiness, and among its blessings are the children and born unto them, five in number, three daughters two sons, namely: Sarah, who is deceased; Zachary, a resident of Darby Township; William, who lives with his parents, and superintends the management of the farm; Jane, who died in infancy; and Cora, wife of C. II. Andrew, of Canaan Township.

This brief record of the life and work of our subject shows that he is eminently a self-made man, who has struggled nobly against heavy odds to carry out his aims, and has succeeded as only such a man can, who works steadily, exercises cool judgment and due discrimination in business mat- ters, and is scrupulously honorable in all his trans- actions. Ilis name stands among the highest in financial circles, and he is regarded with the respect due to his age and position by his fellow-towns- men. He was in early life a Whig, and in 1840 cast his first Presidential vote for the illustrious grandfather of our present Chief Magistrate, and is a bona fide Republican to-day.

H. SQUIRE, M. D., of Ashville, is a well- trained and progressive physician, who stands with the foremost of his profession in Pickaway County, and he is also prom- inent in its public and social life as one of its lead- ing citizens. Ile is a native of Ontario, Canada, and was born October 22, 1850. His parents, John S. and Melissa (Denys) Squire, are natives, respect- ively, of Vermont and Ontario. Ilis paternal grandfather was of English birth. When our sub- ject was sixteen years of age, he accompanied his parents in their migration from their old Canadian home to Carroll County, Mo., where they lived a few years. They finally removed to Harper County, Kan., and there the father still resides. For many years he has been a minister, and, though he is past eighty years old, he still preaches occas- ionally with much of his old-time fervor and greatly to the acceptance of his hearers.

Our subject gained his education in various

schools in different parts of the country. He laid the foundation of his learning in the public schools of Canada and Missouri. For three winters, he attended a night school, in connection with the Iligh School, at Columbus, Ohio. He taught a district school in Missouri for two years, and while an engineer in Columbus, Ohio, running a station- ary engine for the Columbus Chair Factory, he conceived the idea of studying medicine, and employed as a preceptor Dr. Baldwin, to whom he would recite three nights in a week, studying whenever he could get an opportunity while at his work. He remained under Dr. Baldwin's instruc- tion two years, and then, returning to Missouri, he taught two years, continuing his studies in the meantime, and in the fall of 1878 he entered the Columbus Medical College to further fit himself for his chosen calling. He was graduated from that institution in 1880 with honor, having sus- tained a high rank for scholarship throughout the course.

After leaving college, the Doctor selected Ash- ville as his future home and soon was recognized as a valuable acquisition to the citizenship of this section of Pickaway County. He has made his mark as a physician of rare merit, who combines a sound practical knowledge of the various branches of medicine with the genial courtesy and ready tact that have gained him a strong hold, both in the confidence and the hearts of the people to whose ills he so successfully administers in the course of a large and lerative practice. Ile has made his influence felt in various ways since be- coming a resident of this place, and is always found among the first to advocate desirable im- provements or any enterprise that will in any way enhance local or county interests. He is one of the leading politicians of this part of the State, a rep- resentative Republican. and. besides being a mem- ber of the Harrison Township Republican Central Committee, he belongs to the County Executive Committee. ITis social relations are with Pickaway Lodge No. 747, I. O. O. F., and with Lodge No. 3005, K. of H., of which he is Trustee. Religiously, he and his amiable wife are members in high stand- ing of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

We cannot close this brief biography of the

538

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Doctor without some reference to the pleasant domestic life that has contributed in no small de- gree, not only to his personal happiness and com- fort, but to his material success in life. June 6, 1878, is the date of his marriage with Miss Florence Croswell, who presides over his home with true grace and makes it the center of a charming hospi- tality. Their cozy household is completed by the two children born unto them: Clarence and Ches- ter C.

ARVEY D. MARCY, of Mt. Sterling, claims Massachusetts as the State of his nativity. IIe was born in Berkshire County, Novem- ber 13, 1835, and is a son of Elijah L. and Amanda (Garfield) Marcy. His mother was a dis- tant relative of President Garfield, and his mater- mal grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Allen, was a relative of Col. Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame. Ilis father was of a somewhat roving disposition, and our subject removed with his parents to Craw- ford County, Pa .; to Freedom Township, in Portage County, Ohio; to Lennox, near Lake Erie; then to Kingsville, and subsequently to Wayne, Ashtabula County, and when he was a lad of twelve summers, he became a resident of Troy, Geauga County.

Mr. Marey obtained his education in the com- mon schools and at Hiram College. At the age of sixteen, he received a certificate and began teach- ing, and for many years taught each winter after he was seventeen years of age. At the age of nineteen, he went to South Bloomfield, where he was employed as Principal of the Union School. About this time, he was married, on the 10th of June, 1862, in White Oak, Fayette County, to Miss Catherine S. Cook. They spent the summer in Geauga County, and then returned to Fayette County, where Mr. Marcy engaged in teaching in the winter. His wife died in 1864. IIe was again married, July 31. 1866, this time to Mary A. Cook, a daughter of Isaae T. and Elizabeth (Lewis) Cook, and a sister of his first wife. Ile taught but one winter after his second marriage. lle had been engaged in teaching each winter from the age of seventeen years. For his first term of sebool he

received only $14 per month, but he afterwards received 850 per month. Mr. Marcy now turned his attention to farming, having purchased one hundred and seventy acres from Mr. Cook. Ile also bought an additional one hundred acre tract. Ilis landed possessions now aggregate seven hun- dred and thirty acres. Abandoning the farm, he came to Mt. Sterling in 1873, in order to better edneate his children.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Marcy have been born the following children, of whom seven are liv- ing: Rena S., who was born in Madison Town- ship, Fayette County, July 14, 1867, graduated with the first honors of her class in 1888, and is now the wife of Seymour Renick, a railroad employe, residing in Muncie, Ind .; Scott Harrison, who was born January 10, 1869, graduated from the Mt. Sterling High School in the Class of '89, is now married, and, with his wife and one child, resides upon the farm in Madison Township, Fay- ette County; Elizabeth Lewis, who was born in Madison Township, Fayette County, June 16, 1870, and graduated in the Class of '86, was taken withi consumption, and went to Florida for her health, but it was soon seen that she could not recover, and she expressed a desire to return home, but died on the sleeping-car a little north of Chattanooga, Jan- uary 21, 1892. Her remains were interred in Pleasant Cemetery. Albert Milton, born June 20, 1872. is now studying dentistry in Mt. Sterling; Lora C., born April 14, 1874, died February 13, 1875; William Harry, born June 24, 1876, and Margaret Cook, born January 7, 1880, are both in school; Nellie Allen was born March 1, 1883; Dan- iel Franklin, who was born October 1, 1887, died in 1889; and Charles Sherman, who was born Oeto- ber 30, 1890.

Mr. Marcy cast his first Presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and followed the fortunes of the Republican party until late years, since which time he has voted with the Prohibition party. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend, and he has done effective service in its interests while serving on the School Board. He was Clerk and Treasurer of the School Board for several years, and has been its President for a number of years. Himself and wife are members of the Christian

Mary J, MECafferty

John Mo Cafferty

543

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

Church, in the work of which he takes an active part, being now Superintendent of the Sunday- school. His life has been well and worthily spent, and by his sterling worth and integrity, he has won the high respect of all with whom he has been brought in contact.

OIIN MCCAFFERTY, SR., whose long and successful career as' a farmer in Monroe Township shows him to be above the aver- age in business ability, and who is still strong and active notwithstanding that he has passed the eightieth milestone of a long and hon- orable life, is of the earliest pioneer stock of Ohio, and is himself one of the old settlers of Pickaway County, who has witnessed much of its develop- ment during the fifty and more years that he has lived within its borders.

Our subject was born near Frankfort, Ross Coun- ty, Ohio, January 22, 1812, a son of Jolm McCaf- ferty, who was a native of Kentucky. The father of the latter bore the same name as himself, and was born in Sweet Avon, Scotland. He came to America when a young man, settled in Virginia, and was there married to Miss Nellie Watts, who was a native of that State, but of Scotch antece- dents. After marriage, they settled near Lexing- ton, Ky., and lived there a great many years, he being a pioneer farmer of that section. They had a family of fourteen children, of whom eleven grew up. The grandfather of our subject finally removed with his family to the present site of Cincinnati, where he bought land, and there lived a few years. In 1790, they took up their residence in Chillicothe, as their previous dwelling place was swampy and of a malarial character. At that time, there were but three or four cabins where now the flourishing city of Chillicothe stands. The grandfather bought Iand there and spent the re- mainder of his life in that place, living to the good old age of ninety years, while his wife attained the venerable age of ninety-two years.

The father of our subject grew to a strong, stal-

wart manhood amid the pioneer scenes of his Kentucky birthplace. He was a great hunter and often used to indulge in the pleasures of the chase. Ile came with the rest of the family to Ohio and subsequently to Chillicothe, where he became very friendly with the many Indians that then lived around their new home, and spent many a day hunting with them. Ile was much prospered financially and owned several hundred acres of land near Frankfort, Ross County. While he was redeeming his land from the wilderness, he built and lived in a log cabin. He was sixty-nine years of age when he died, and his county lost one of its most efficient and highly respected pioneers.

During the Revolution, when he was a young man in Kentucky, Mr. MeCafferty did not go to the front, but many a night he had to stand guard at home to protect the cabin and its inmates from sudden surprises by the British or Indians. He was a man of true religious feeling, and for many years was connected with the Presbyterian Church, but later in life became a Methodist. In politics, he was a Whig. The mother of our subject, who died at the age of eighty-seven years, in 1863, bore the name of Nancy Sellers, and was born in Washington, Pa., her ancestors being of the Ger- man race. She came to Ohio with a sister in 1800, made her home thereafter in Chillicothe, and was there married. She was the mother of four boys and four girls, namely: Nancy A .; Sarah, who is living; Ellen; Betsy; John, who is living; Will- iam; George, who is living, and David. The mother was a Methodist and active in church matters.

Ile of whom we write was born and reared on his father's farm in Ross County, and his educa- tion was conducted in the typical pioneer log school of the early years of the settlement of this State. Large open fireplaces served for heating purposes, slab benches with pin legs were the pre- vailing style of seats, and greased paper took the place of glass in the windows. The schools were conducted on the subscription plan, and the teacher usually had to take his pay in wheat, corn and ba- con, as money was seldom to be had. Our subject worked on the farm summers and attended school winters during his boyhood. At the age of nine-

544

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

teen, he went to Chillicothe to serve an appren- ticeship of three years in a tanning factory. While there he attended night school, where he learned more than he had ever learned in the dis- triet schools, and thus laid a solid foundation for the education that he added to by observation, experience and reading or study at leisure moments.

At the end of three years' apprenticeship, Mr. McCafferty worked a short time in the tannery on shares, but soon abandoned that, and going to Clarksburgh set up a tannery of his own, which he operated eight years. Next he resumed the call- ing to which he had been reared, and renting land near the village, conducted farming thereon eight years. In 1840, in the fall of the year, he came to Pickaway County, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of his present farm. The only im- provements consisted of a log cabin and nine or ten acres of clearing. The most of the country roundabout was timbered, and he began life here in the woods. He did well in his undertakings, made money and bought additional land, so that he now has a choice farm of three hundred acres of as good farming land as can be found in this locality, all improved and very productive. It is amply supplied with buildings, including a neat frame dwelling that he built forty-five years ago, to replace the humble log cabin that originally stood here. Ile carries on mixed farming, and has handled a great many cattle, sheep, horses and hogs.

Mr. McCafferty was married, March 5, 1835, to Miss Mary Bowdle, who was born October 23, 1813, in one of the early pioneer homes of Ross County. ller parents were William and Anna (Brown) Bowdle, who were both natives of Mary- land, the mother having been born February 13, 1777. They were married July 26. 1801, in Ross County, of which the father was a pioneer farmer and miller, owning a large tract of land and a mill on Deer Creek. He accumulated considerable wealth and died in 1842, at the advanced age of ninety- three years and two days. llis wife also lived to be very aged.

Of the eight children born to our subject and his wife, three died in infancy. These survive:

John S .; Mary E., Mrs. Creath; Nancy, Mrs. Williams; Jason L., and Alice, Mrs. Riggin. The good wife and mother departed this life De- cember 23, 1882, leaving behind her a precious memory of one whose many pleasant ways and fine qualities of head and heart had made her greatly beloved by all who came under her gen- ial influence. She was a sincere Christian and a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Our subject is widely known and greatly es- teemed. He is a good type of our self-made men, as he began life for himself with no capital other than a clear steady brain, a resolute will, and a fine capacity for well-directed labor, seconded by exceedingly sound business qualifications. With these he long ago stepped to the front among the solid moneyed men of his township. He has al- ways held to the same political principles since the days of his early manhood, when he belonged to the Whig party and cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay, and when the Republican party was formed he joined its ranks, and has given it hearty support from that day to this. He has been a member of the Methodist Church since he was twenty years old, and has done much toward its upbuilding. The attention of the reader is invited to the lithographie portraits of Mr. and Mrs. McCafferty which are presented in this connection.

R EV. JACOB II. SCHNEIDER, A. B., A. M., Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Circleville, and Christ Congregation in Jackson Township, was born in Jackson Township, Stark County, January 13, 1855. The family of which he is an honored member orig- inated in Germany, where the paternal grand- father, Jacob, was a farmer; the maternal grand- father and great-grandfather were also farmers, living in the village of Iloegst. The father, Leon- ard, was born in Schloss Nauses, Hesse-Darm- stadt, Germany, and followed the trade of a cabinet-maker in his native country until 1841,

515

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

when he emigrated to the United States, in com- pany with John Daum and his family.

After landing in New York, the little party pro- ceeded up the Hudson River, crossed the State to Buffalo, and thence went by steamer to Cleveland, Ohio. Leaving the others there, John Danm made an expedition into Ilocking County in search of a location. Returning as far as Massillon, he made a conditional contract for ninety-six acres lying four miles east of the city, and afterward came back to Cleveland. Leonard Schneider was then sent down to Massillon to complete the purchase and gather the crop of hay and wheat. The fam- ily followed later.

In January, 1842, Leonard Schneider and Miss Eva M., daughter of John Daum, were married, and settled on a part of the farm of his father- in-law. Mr. Schneider was a cabinet-maker by trade, but finding that there was little to do in his line of trade, engaged in carpentering work at Massillon. About 1850, he bought a farm of eighty acres in Jackson Township, Stark County (the birthplace of our subject), and with a great deal of hard labor and economy, succeeded in pay- ing for it. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Schneider removed to the old Daum homestead, and there passed away in the same year, at the age of fifty- four years.

The mother of our subject was born in Hoegst, Germany, and still survives at the age of seventy- two, making her home at present with our subject. IIer father, John Daum, was a German by birth, and when a mere lad was a teamster in Napoleon's army on the retreat from Russia. Ile engaged in farming in the Fatherland until 1841, when he came to America, and afterward resided in Massil- lon, where his death occurred at the age of four- score and six. The family found a religious home in the Lutheran Church.

The seventh among nine children in a pioneer home, our subject early aided in the work around the home, and experienced with his parents the hardships of pioneer life. He remembers that in 1859-60 the wheat erop failed entirely, and they used buckwheat bread. During war times, the children wore home-made "butternut" pants and flannel blouses to school. Each fall their father

would take the hide of a heifer to the tannery, and the next autumn the boys would have their boots made of leather from it.

Although the family lived four and one-half miles from Canton, where the church was located, there were very few Sundays during the year but what some members of the family were present at services. Before the boys were old enough to walk that distance, they had a Sunday-school at home, the father acting as teacher, and in that way they learned the catechism and Biblical his- tory. The rule was, that in good weather six of the family would ride to church and the others would walk. Our subject weil remembers those trips-how they used to hang their shoes and stockings over their shoulders, and, after running through the wet grass until near town, would stop and put them on again. One summer the boys attended a school taught by a student, afterward Rev. HI. A. Schulze, and for a time pastor of the Circleville church.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, Part 64

Author: Chapman Brothers Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Bros. Number of Pages: 894

Author: Chapman Brothers
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 894