USA > Ohio > Noble County > The county of Noble; a history of Noble County, Ohio, from the earliest days, with special chapter on military affairs, and special attention given to resources. > Part 22
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VALISSO E. HARKINS, cashier in the Citizens National Bank at Caldwell, was born in Noble township, near Belle Valley, April 28, 1856. Was reared on a farm and educated in the country schools. He followed farming in his early years, and later learned the car- renter's trade, following that for a short time. He then engaged in general merchandising at Belle Valley for about twenty-four years. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Citizens'
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National Bank, established in October, 1902. The incorporators are Dr. O. O. McKee, C. C. Caldwell, C. O. Dye, C. B. Berry, V. E. Harkins, J. S. Jones, and J. S. Archer ; the capitalization is $60,000. The directors are: O. O. McKee, V. E. Harkins, J. S. Jones, David Quick, J. S. Archer, George B. Eyssen, and C. B. Berry; and the officers : O. O. McKee, president ; J. S. Jones, vice-president ; V. E. Harkins, cashier; and G. W. McElfresh, assistant cashier. The bank does a general banking business, buys and sells exchange, loans, and discounts. Mr. Harkins was married March 25th, 1880, at Belle Valley to Emeline Ginn, a native of Belle Valley, where she was reared and educated. Three children were born to them. Louise Estella, Donald L., and Lillian B., all at home. Mr. Harkins is a member of Noble Lodge No. 459, Free and Accepted Masons, and of Cumberland Chapter No. 116, Royal Arch Masons. Politically he is a Democrat, though nct a close adherent to party lines.
WILLIAM R. HOWELL, station agent and telegraph operator, at Caldwell, was born in Cumberland, Guernsey county, Ohio, on April 2, 1877. His parents are William and Sarah (Taylor) Howell. The father a native of Muskingum county, born in 1837. and the mother born in Ross county in 1847, both now living. The father had been previously married by which union he had two chil- dren, Clyde, now deceased, and Lizzie, now Mrs. S. S. Replace of Troy. By his second marriage there are three sons and two daugh- ters : James L., a telegraph operator on the C. & A. R. R., at La Rose, Illinois : Lola, who died at the age of nineteen: William R., Joseph M., an operator, and now employed as time keeper on the C. & M. branch of the Pennsylvania lines, and Edna, who died in childhood ; Mr. Howell was a miller by trade, a business he followed for many years. He was postmaster of Cumberland, four years, under the first Cleveland administration, and is now retired in com- fortable circumstances. Mr. Howell, subject of this review, was educated in the Cumberland High School, and after this was engaged in the transfer business for two or three years, running two wagons. He learned telegraphy in the office of the B. Z. & C. R. R., at Cum- berland, having his first steady position at Chandlersville, where he was employed over a year. He came to Caldwell as agent and operator October 1, 1902. Mr. Howell was married February 9, 1901, to Lizzie McConnell, a native of Ephraim, where she was reared and educated. One son was born to this union, Ernest Kenneth, born September 3, 1901. Mr. Howell is a member of the Knights of The Maccabees, and politically, is a Republican. Mrs. Howell is a mem- ber of the Christian church. Mr. Howell is descended from Welch and English ancestors, carly established in the new world.
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HENRY SCHAFER, a merchant tailor and old resident of Caldwell, was born in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, on September 15, 1857. His parents were Peter and Anna Maria (Herdt) Schafer, the father a weaver by occupation, who died at the age of sixty-four, and the mother, still living in her native country, at the age of seventy-five. Of the family of seven, five are now living: Henry, Karl and Eliza- beth came to America, the others remaining in Germany. Henry Schafer spent the first twenty years of his life in his native country, where he received a good common school education, and learned the trade of a tailor. He came to America in 1872, spent two years in New York City, worked fifteen months in Parkersburg, W. Va., and thence to Marietta, Ohio, where he remained about four years. Mr. Schafer was married in 1879 to Katherine Lorenz, a native of Mari- etta, and came to Caldwell in 1880 where he established his present business, prosperous from the first. To them have been born three children: William Jacob, Florence Katherine and Eldon Henry ; the eldest son, now clerking in the furnishing store of his Uncle Karl at Marietta. Mr. Schafer gives steady employment to five operators and in busy times, the number is increased to six or eight. His is the only merchant tailoring establishment in Caldwell, where he keeps a seasonable stock of goods always on exhibition. Mr. Schafer is a member of Olive Lodge No. 259, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of which he is a Past Grand; has taken the Encampment and Rebecca degrees and is a member of Caldwell Lodge No. 280, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat and at present a member of the Caldwell City Council and of the Street and Fire committees. In religious belief he and his wife are Presbyterians. Mr. Schafer has been very successful in the new world, having accumulated a con- siderable property in real estate in Caldwell. This is altogether the result of his own efforts, since he was in debt when he landed in America. Mr. Schafer is recognized as a staunch reliable citizen, a generous friend and a good neighbor.
JOHN FINLEY, M. D .- The medical profession of Caldwell is repre- sented by a class of learned and thoroughly well qualified physicians. They have chosen the profession of medicine because of their peculia? adaptation to it, and not as is so often the case, because of the allure- ments of rapid money making. As a class of professional men, they are well versed in medical lore, skillful in practice, sympathetic in nature, and endowed with more than ordinary success. Dr. John Finley, the subject of this review, stands well up in the front rank of his colleagues in the vicinity, and is a gentleman who bears the dis- tingnished honor with becoming modesty and professional pride. Dr. Finley is distinctively a self made man, in the sense in which that term is usually employed. Whether his self-education was a matter
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of choice or necessity, does not figure in the final results, nor in the sense of self-reliance and independence which follows such a course. Some of our greatest National characters have been self educated because of parental disability to aid. Dr. Finley's early educational advantages were very limited. He attended the common schools in the desultory manner of farmer lads generally, until he attained the age of thirteen years. At that tender period in the life of a youth, he began working on a farm as a hired laborer, continuing in that capac- ity for thirteen years, often required to perform tasks far beyond his strength but uncomplaining and ever faithful, until his health became seriously impaired. At the age of twenty-six he became convinced that there was something in store for him besides the drudgery of manual labor ; and, in accordance with this belief, he entered upon the study of medicine under the tutorship of Dr. J. H. Abbott, in Can- nonsburg. He pursued a thorough course of four years in this pre- paratory work, which also included two courses of lectures, the first at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore, Md. In 1876 he was graduated from Miami College of Medicine in Cincin- nati. His studies were pursued with the same zeal, energy and determination which had characterized the labors of his earlier years when working from twelve to sixteen hours a day, as a farm laborer. Being now fully equipped for his professional life, with health partially restored, he entered upon a professional career which has brought him to a prominent position in social life, and placed him in the fore front of his professional contemporaries. Dr. Finley is one of that limited class of physicians who does not always enquire, "will he pay," but, "how sick is he," instead. He is a sympathetic friend as well as a wise and faithful counsellor in distress. With him there are no impassable roads, or nights too cold or dark to travel. This characteristic in his nature has endeared him to the people of Cald- well and vicinity, and, coupled with his phenomenal success as a practitioner, has brought him a very large and lucrative practice, which is constantly growing. The doctor first practiced at Hirams- burg for several years, then removed to Saralisville, where he was in active practice for five years, but the prospects of Caldwell becoming a large and prosperous town, together with the allurements of the county seat, induced him to make another change, and he came to Caldwell in 1895. Dr. Finley has always been devoted to his profession and never sought official honors, though he served four years as a member of the Medical Examining Board during the first term of President Cleveland's administration. He has been a life-long Democrat. The subject of this review was born in Beaver township, Noble county, on June 21, 1846, and is a son of William and Margaret (Eaoon) Fin- ley, both natives of the Buckeye State. His father spent his life in agricultural pursuits, and died in Noble county at the age of sixty-six.
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The mother, now in the declining years of a happy old age, still lives at Cannonsburg, honored by her surviving children, and enjoying the distinction of having four-score and three years recorded to her credit. William and Margaret Finley were the parents of seven children, four of whom are now living. The eldest of the family was Nancy, who married Jacob Hayne; Charlotte, wife of W. E. Carpenter, of Parkersburg, W. Va .; Hester Anne, wife of James Yoho, now deceased ; John; Hannah, now Mrs. Morrison, of Kansas; James, deceased ; Chas. W., a mechanic in Cannonsburg. Dr. Finley has been twice married, his first marriage being terminated by the death of his wife within one year. He was married the second time to a sister of his first wife, Arizona R. Danford, and to them have been born two children, the son, Charles L., surviving, and the daughter, Maude Estella dying in infancy. The son, Charles L., now in his 19th year, is a student in the Hospital College of Medicine at Louis ville, Ky., fitting himself for the medical profession. Dr. Finley is a member of the Masonic fraternity of Olive Lodge No. 116. From early manhood he has sustained relations with the Methodist church, his wife being also a member, and although a zealous christian worker and most exemplary wife, her crowning glory consists in her devotion to her aged parents, her labors being sweetened by the consciousness of duty well done. The name Finley is a prominent one in Southern and Central Ohio. Like many other busy men of the day, Dr. Finley is not posted on his family genealogy, but tradition traces the origin of his family to the Emerald Isle. It is the belief, however, that the Finleys who figured so conspicuously in the pioneer days are descended from the same ancestors. Every school boy in the state knows the thrilling career of the Rev. J. B. Finley as the pioneer Methodist preacher and Indian fighter.
HON. JOHN S. ARCHER, county commissioner of Noble county, was born on Duck Creek, eight miles east of Caldwell, June 21. 1864. He is a son of Daniel and Anna (Mvers) Archer, both natives of Noble county, as now organized. The father's father was Simon Archer, son of Michael, who was one of the first settlers on Duck Creek. The mother's parents were natives of Germany, where they were married, and came to Noble county, early in their married life. The grandfather Myers died in Indiana, but the other grandparents died and were buried in Noble county. Daniel and Anna Archer were the parents of five children : Andrew C., a merchant at Fulda ; John S .; Peter, in the ice plant and cold storage business at Woods- field; Michael Francis, in the milling and feed business at Woods- field; and Emma, wife of John Warner, living near Carlisle. John S. Archer, the subject of this sketch, received a limited common school education and began life as a hired laborer on a farm, at the
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age of twelve, remaining there two years. He then went to work in a grist mill as fireman and engineer until he was eighteen, when he rented the mill and entered the milling business for himself. He was engaged in the business at different places, at Carlisle, and Sarahsville, where he had the best mill in the county, and where he established a fine business. He also owned the mills at ("aldwell and Woodsfield. In 1897 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the office of county commissioner, being the only commissioner elected by that party for many years, and at present the only Democratic office holder in Noble county. His large and favorable acquaintance, due to his successful career as a business man, give him a strong following among the people of all parties. He was re-elected in 1900 and is now serving on his fifth year. As county commissioner, he ha> always manifested an active interest in attending to county affairs and to him is largely due the credit for the repairing and beautifying of the county property. Some five or six years ago, he became interested in the oil and gas industry, and is now president and general man- ager of The National Oil and Gas Company, with headquarters at Caldwell, the gas interests being mostly in Washington county. He has also been engaged as a dealer and packer in the leaf tobacco busi- ness. Mr. Archer was married June 2, 1885, to Emma Hesson, a native of Noble county, and to them have been born, Clyde C. and Walter H., sixteen and five years old, respectively. The oldest son is employed in the telephone office in Caldwell. Mr. Archer, as may be inferred, is a recognized leader in the Democratic party ; he is one of the directors of the Citizens' National Bank in Caldwell, is a mem- ber of the building committee, which purposes the erection of a fine bank building during the present year. It is to be a three story pressed brick, stone front, 40x100 feet, equipped with all modern appliances, and will be unquestionably the best building in Noble county. The cost is estimated at $35,000. Mr. Archer and family are members of the Roman Catholic church of St. Michaels at Car- lisle. This church was first built by his great grandfather, Michael Archer, and was one of the first churches erected in the county. The old church has now been replaced by a new and better one.
STEPHEN MILLS, SR., an early settler of Caldwell, and a prominent business man, was born in County Longford, near the town of Bally Mahon, in the parish of Forgenary, Ireland, on November 26, 1829. He remained in his native country until 1849 when he came to America alone, and located in Berkshire county, Mass. He was employed as a house carpenter in this place for two years; he then returned to New York City where he remained until 1861, and then came to Ohio, locating at East Union, Noble county. Toward the close of the war he enlisted as a non-commissioned officer in Company
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B, One Hundred Eighty-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served about one year. While in New York City he was first lieutenant in the home guards, but resigned this position when he came to Noble county. Mr. Mills engaged in his business in this county and fol- lowed it until he retired from active labors and turned his interests over to his sons. He has assisted in building up the town of Cald- well, and has erected buildings in all parts of the county. Mr. Mills now conducts a high grade furniture store, in one of the finest build- ings in the city. The building was the first to have electric lights, operated by a private plant, and was the basis of the present lighting of the city. He owns considerable other valuable real estate in town, and two farms in Noble county. He established the first lumber market and planing mill in Caldwell, the latter now being operated by his son, J. H. Mills. Mr. Mills was married in New York City by Bishop O'Dell to Eliza Rollins, a native of the same county and neighborhood as himself. They were both reared in the Episcopal Church. They were the parents of seven children, one son being dead. They are: James H., of Caldwell; Frank, a farmer in the county ; Thomas W., a furniture dealer and undertaker in Caldwell ; Annie, at home ; Stephen Jr., an architect, now employed in the slate business at Zanesville; Ulysses, in the furniture business with his father. Mr. Mills became a Mason in 1864 at Sarahsville, and is now a Royal Arch Mason. In politics he is a Republican as are all his sons, and has been very zealous in his advocacy of Republican doc- trines. He cast his first vote for the "Pathfinder of the Rockies" in 1856. He has never sought official positions. He was one of the organizers of the Caldwell Building & Loan Association, and is presi- dent of the same. Mr. Mills is descended from English and Scotch ancestors ; his father, John Mills, a Scotchman, came over with Lord Ross, as his steward, and was with that dignitary for many years. His mother's father, Robert Mason, came over with the Cromwell party, being also English. Both parents died in Ireland where their lives were spent. Mr. Mills is a representative of a family of five brothers and one sister, three of them located in Wisconsin, one in Australia, and one brother and one sister in Ireland. In 1890, Mr. Mills made a visit to his native country, visiting his birth place, the various objects of interest in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and spending three months abroad. He has been an extensive traveler in the United States also.
ANDREW C. MCKEE, superintendent of the electric lights and waterworks, of Caldwell, was born in Olive township, Noble county, on February 22, 1843, and is the son of Dr. William and Martha (Clymer) McKee, the father born in County Down, Ireland, and the mother, in New Jersey ; they were married in Morgan county,
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in a portion of the township now incorporated within Noble county ; the father was a practicing physician and spent his life in the medical profession, being one of the pioneer physicians of Noble county ; he was born in 1797, educated in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Edinburg, the latter a Post Graduate course of one year; he came to America in 1833, for a short time, returned to Europe, and in 1836, came to stay permanently ; he was in the British Navy as a surgeon for five years, was assistant surgeon under the draft commission during the Civil war in America ; he died at Olive in 1865, at the age of sixty- eight, and the mother in 1889, aged seventy-three; their family com- prised seven children, two of whom died in infancy: Andrew C .; Isaac E., ex-sheriff of Noble county ; Flora, wife of G. W. Lund of Marietta ; Dr. O. O. McKee, of Caldwell; Charles W., a farmer; Sophia and Robert, died in infancy. Mr. McKee, subject of this sketch, was educated in the common schools and at Sharon College. He enlisted in Co. F, One Hundred Sixty-First Ohio volunteer infan- try, and served in the Army of the Potomac under General Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley. After his discharge, he purchased a farm in Olive township and followed farming for twenty-five years, then moved to Caldwell in 1888, continuing his farming for some years afterwards. He was employed as a distributing agent for commer- cial fertilizer for some years, and in 1900, he was appointed to his present position. Mr. McKee was married in Caldwell in 1865 to Serene Daniel, a native of Morgan county, and a daughter of E. W. Daniel, lately deceased at the age of ninety-four. Three children were born them: Cora M., widow of Hon. Chas. A. Leland, who was associate judge of the supreme court of New Mexico, and formerly a prominent attorney of Caldwell; Lura N., of Caldwell ; and Helen, a young lady in the high school. Mr. McKee is a member of Sharon Lodge, No. 136, F. & A. M., Cumberland Chapter No. 116, Royal Arch Masons, and is Past Master of Sharon Lodge. Politically he is a Democrat, and served as mayor of Caldwell in 1893. The family belongs to the Presbyterian church. The Clymer family was early established on New England soil, and was identified with the early colonial history of the country.
CLYDE WRIGHT, plumber and tinner, and proprietor of a business house in Caldwell, was born in Belmont county, Olive township, ou January 13, 1860, and is a son of Emmett and Mary (Calhoun) Wright, natives of Belmont county, where their lives were spent. The father was a stock dealer, and engaged in various lines of agency work. The mother died in 1867 and the father survived her until 1876, at the ages of forty and forty-five respectively. The family consisted of three sons : Harry, a druggist of Belmont county, who married Miss Meek, and has one son, Emmett ; Clyde; and Park,
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the youngest born November 2, 1862, now a clerk and general sales- man for Friedman Bros. in Caldwell. He has been in the employ of this firm for some time and is a most obliging and conscientious salesman. Mr. Wright, the subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in his native county, in Wright's Town, named in honor of the grandfather, Nehemiah Wright. The grandfather was a native of Ireland, who came to this country when twelve years of age, landed in Baltimore, and walked from that city to Belmont county, locating there in 1801. He was one of the earliest settlers of that county, and at the erection of his first cabin, his neighbors came from a distance of nine miles to attend the raising. At one time he owned large land interests in the county, and of the family of five sons and two daughters, all are now dead except Dr. James D. Wright of Iowa. Mr. Clyde Wright learned the tinner's trade in the town of Belmont, and has followed that business except for two years spent in the grocery business in Caldwell. He does a general line of work in heating, tinning, gas fitting, and the like, and has been extraordinarily successful. He owns the building in which he is located, and one of the finest residences in Caldwell, erected in 1901, with all modern improvements and conveniences. Mr. Wright was married at Belmont, May 24, 1882, to Carrie Hutchinson, a native of Belmont, and a daughter of James Hutchinson, a native of Pennsylvania. To them were born a son and a daughter: Clar- ence L., a student at Ohio Wesleyan University, and Mary E., a student in Caldwell High School. Mr. Wright is a Republican, though not aggressive in politics. He has served Caldwell on the City Council, Board of Health, and is at present a member of the Board of Education, of which he is clerk. His family are all mem- bers of the Methodist church. He is steward of the church, and has served about fifteen years as church treasurer, and in all church work and in his religious life, is active and earnest.
CALVIN MOGLASHAN, a native of Muskingum county, was born in Meigs township on August 14, 1831, and is a son of James and Phoebe (Fisher) McGlashan. The father was a native of Scotland, born near Edinburg in 1793, came to America about 1819, and located in Muskingum county. He was married in Pennsylvania, and came via flat boat to Marietta, thence up the Muskingum to Mc- Connelsville, and walked the balance of the way. He was a cloth dresser and wool carder by trade and moved into Noble county when Calvin was a babe. He died in Sharon township in 1873, his wife surviving him until 1880. They were the parents of ten children, only two of whom are known to be living. Mr. MeGlashan has spent his life in Noble county, the first fourteen years on a farm near Sharon, and over forty years in the business of harness and saddle
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making in the town of Sharon. He came to Caldwell in 1882, and engaged in the harness business there until abont four years ago. when he retired from his trade and engaged in the manufacture of brooms and other light employment, taking life comparatively easy. Mr. McGlashan, soon after the war began, was drafted into the army, but furnished a substitute until the spring of 1865, when he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred Ninety-Fourth Ohio volunteer infan- try, serving until the close of the war. Mr. McGlashan was married November 27, 1851, to Hannah Boggs, a native of Ohio. Twelve children were born to this union, eight of whom are now living: Ellen, wife of J. W. Tipton, Jr., of Caldwell; James, proprietor of an extensive grocery business in Muskingum county; Reuben, a harness maker in Chicago: Fisher, deceased : Phoebe, deceased ; Maggie Floy, died in Caldwell in middle life; Hattie, wife of James Marshall of Urichsville; Charlie, a harness maker at Columbus; Cyrus, a foreman in the Press office in Caldwell; John, a harness maker in Caldwell; Cara, wife of Lu H. Shadwell of Caldwell; and Zora M., who died in infancy. Mr. McGlashan has been an active Democrat all his life. He was post master of Sharon for four years and served several years as justice of the peace. He has been an Odd Fellow for fifty years, has filled all official stations in the sub- ordinate lodge, and is a member of the General Lodge No. 552, of Sharon. Mr. McGlashan and wife are members of the old school Presbyterian church.
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