600 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. prietor. The business has steadily grown and is now the largest furniture store in Wooster. Mr. Danford occupies three floors and a basement, each thirty-two by one hundred and seventy-five feet in size, and the stock carried is in every respect up to date, being carefully selected and well displayed. In connection with the general line of furniture and household furnishings, Mr. Danford also carries on an undertaking business. In this line also he is very successful, being himself a licensed embalmer. He is accommodating and painstaking and is one of the most popular funeral directors in the county. On November 14, 1895, Mr. Danford married Florence Blake, who was born at Stockport, Morgan county, Ohio. She is of distinguished lineage, tracing her paternal ancestry to Commodore Blake, the noted English naval commander, and on the maternal side she is related to Gen. Robert E. Lee. Mr. Danford is a director in the Pleasant City Telephone Company, of Pleasant City, Ohio. Socially he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In religion, he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Danford is one of the trustees. He is a Republican in politics, though not in any sense an officeseeker, and he ever manifests a public-spirited interest in local affairs, giving his aid and influence for the furtherance of all measures for the general good. Because of his high personal character Mr. Danford enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him. JOHN N. BOOR. The founder of this family was Michael Boor, who came from Germany about the middle of the last century and located in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, about 1754. He was one of the pioneer farmers of that region and died there while the state was still an English colony. He left a son named Nicholas, born January 27, 1792, who went to Frederick county, Virginia, in middle life and spent seven years in that part of the country. In 1854 he came to Wayne county, Ohio, where he farmed until his death, in 1874. ,While in Pennsylvania he followed the business of teamster and freighter. He married Catherine Boyer, who was born February 2, 1793 and died July 2, 1855. The children by this union were : William, Maria, Elizabeth (deceased), Catherine (deceased), Polly, Susan, Susanna ; Adam and Jacob are deceased; Mary is still living; David and Louisa are deceased ; George, who lives in Medina county, Ohio, served three years in the Civil war in Company C. Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 601 John N. Boor, the twelfth child of this large family, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, July 18, 1834. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years old, and then took charge of a threshing machine, which he conducted for nine years, two of these on his own account, and was very successful in this line of work. He served as constable from 1859 to 1860 in this and in 1862 in Canaan township, but resigned. He was captain of a militia company. Mr. Boor's war record is one of which his descendants may well be proud and it forms one of the principal chapters in his life history, for he was one of the patriotic sons of the North who left the pleasures and opportunities of home and business to render service for the Union. On April 23, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served four months. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company D, Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, of which William D. Hamilton was colonel, and so interesting and praiseworthy was the record of this regiment that a detailed account of its operations is deemed advisable here, for it was noted for its continued action and dash and fight. It was first organized in Camp Zanesville in 1862, and was then but one battalion, four companies, commanded by Mr. Hamilton, who was then a major, this gallant officer having been a captain in the Thirty-second Regiment of Ohio Infantry. It was not until September, 1863, that Captain Proctor, of the Eighteenth United States Infantry, mustered in the Second and Third Battalions. In the fall of 1862 the First Battalion was put into shape and until January remained in Ohio, and was drilled, but without horses. Later they were mounted and crossed over into Kentucky, and kept watch on the roving bands of Confederates, and at Pine Mountain Gap, June 16, 1863, they had their first battle. It was not to be expected that men under such a leader would acquit themselves badly, and on that day the Ninth Ohio Cavalry began to make history for itself, to do honor to the state from which it came, and to render valuable service to the country it was organized to defend. It engaged in sixty-four battles and skirmishes. It was not until the spring of 1864 that the entire regiment was together, the several battalions meeting at Pulaski, Tennessee, two of the battalions having made a very gallant charge against Roddy's entire brigade of Confederates, who fled before the gallant Ohioans. On July 10, 1864, the Ninth took part in Rousseau's great raid through Alabama, riding through the garden of the South, where no Union soldier had ever been before, skirmishing for fourteen days, fighting, tearing up railroads, burn- 602 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. ing mills, factories and cotton, working day and night destroying the resources of the enemy,—in fact, they reserved only three hours daily for rest and sleep. Rarely in the history of warfare was there such riding as this. It was a most successful raid, but it has never been given its rightful place in history. Rousseau found Sherman's army at Marietta, Georgia, and the Ninth took part in the great Atlanta campaign. A battalion under Major Bowles led the advance of the memorable flank movement when Sherman threw invincible columns to the right, which soon ended the great campaign. On the memorable march to the sea the regiment was conspicuous and was a part of the army under that gallant leader, General Kilpatrick, and did heroic work. In July, 1865, the survivors of the regiment returned to their homes, and it is safe to say that none of those who are living today but feels proud of the fact that he belonged to a regiment with such a splendid record. Following is a list of the battles and skirmishes in which the regiment engaged in 1863 : Pine Mountain Gap, Big Creek Gap, Waltzburg, all in. Kentucky ; Knoxville, Powell Valley, both in Tennessee ; pursuit of Morgan, siege of Knoxville ; following were consecutive in 1864: Florence, repulse of an attack on Decatur, Center Star, Courtland Road, Rousseau's raid, Coosa River, Ten Islands, Talladega, Stone's Ferry, Lochapoka, Auburn, Chesaw Station, all in Alabama, with part of Rousseau's raid in Georgia ; siege of Atlanta, East Point, Georgia ; Chattahooche river, pursuit of Wheeler, pursuit of Forrest, all in Alabama ; Jonesboro, Lovejoy, Bear Creek Station, Macon, Griswoldsville, Milledgeville, Oconee River, Waynesboro, Louisville, Rocky Creek Church, Brier Creek, Ebenezer Creek, siege of Savannah, all in Georgia ; Campbellsville, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee ; Arnold's Plantation, Altamaha Bridge, March to the Sea, Georgia ; Taylor's Creek, Barnwell, Williston, Aiken, Blackville, Gunter's Bridge, Winnsborough, South Carolina ; Lexington, Broad River Bridge, Phillips' Cross Roads, Rockingham, Salem Grove, Monroe Cross Roads, Fayetteville, Taylor's Hole Creek, Averasboro, Bentonville, Faison's Depot, Smithfield Railroad, Raleigh, Morrisville, Chapel Hill and Bennett House, all North Carolina. This splendid regiment was mustered out at Lexington, North Carolina, July 20, 1865, and discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, August 2d following. The regiment was attached to the Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, Twenty-third Corps, until March, 1864. Ordered to Athens, Alabama, and attached to the cavalry command, Dodge's left wing, Sixteenth Army Corps, until May, 1864, then it was attached to Kilpatrick's Second Brigade, Third Division, with which it remained until June, 1865. WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 603 Thus it will be seen that Mr. Boor saw some strenuous service, and according to his comrades he was always ready for duty and never swerved from danger or a difficult task. Following is a roster of his comrades in Company D: Emerson Benson, W. J. Boden, James Boileau, Joseph Bur= goon, Levi Bowers, William Barkimer, David Baker, S. N. Cook, D. M. Dougherty, John Double, Harrison H. Dodd, George Fisher, Abraham Felger, David R. Houser, L. H. Hughes, William Herron, William Henderson, John Hill, Henry Heck, Lewis H. Immel, Jacob- Johnson, John W. Kurtz, J. A. Kister, Timothy Lyne, Byron McKenzie, John Moore, Joseph Marshall, B. Mitchelson, George Morrison, W. A. Nichols, J. A. Petty, Cornelius Pettit, John Rhodes, William Santell, James Singre, Joshua Stotsberry, John A. Strauss, James A. Smith, Thomas C. Smith, John Sparr, J. A. Switzer, Justus F. Watson, Sam F. Wireman, Sam S. Wyre, Joseph C. Wheeler, Henry Wells. Mr. Boor was taken prisoner on October 2, 1864, in Georgia and was held at Macon for two weeks, and at Millen, Georgia, for six weeks. He also saw the inside of prisons at Savannah and at Florence, South Carolina. February 27, 1865, he was paroled and put on a boat at Wilmington, North Carolina, eventually reached Annapolis, Maryland, from which place he went to Columbus, Ohio, where, after a furlough of thirty days, he was discharged on June 15, 1865. Mr. Boor enjoys the distinction of having participated in the first engagement of the Civil war, the battle of Philippi, West Virginia, on June 3, 1861, and he and a comrade captured the first armed prisoner. In 1869 Mr. Boor built a steam saw-mill on his place in Wayne township, this county, which he conducted without intermission for thirty years, doing a very large business and becoming widely known as a mill and lumber man. In 1878 and 1879 he served as township assessor, was elected appraiser in the latter year and served one term. In 1884 he was again elected assessor and in 1890 was re-elected land appraiser. In the fall of 1895 he was elected infirmary director and served very acceptably in this, as in his former public capacities, for a period of six years. He has always been active in politics on the Democratic side. He has long been a member of the United Brethren church at Madisonburg, Ohio, and was one of the organizers who built the structure in 1876. The congregation started with about thirty members and now has seventy or more. Mr. Boor was trustee from 1875 to 1908, and he always took a great deal of interest in religious work. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Given Post, No. 133, 604 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. at Wooster, and ranks high among his old comrades, as well as among the citizens of the county generally. He has been successful in buSiness, prominent in politics, and one of the factors in developing his part of the county. On March 13, 1862, Mr. Boor married Elizabeth C. Carl, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, February 16, 1841. She is a daughter of Philip and Otilla (Bush) Carl, who came from Germany and were early pioneers of Ashland county. He died in 1844 and his widow married Philip Beck, but both are now deceased. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Boor, named as follows : George Clement, born January 23, 1863, is a druggist in Rocky River, Ohio, and married Adeline Wagner; Edwin Nicholas, born September 3, 1866, is electrician for the Cleveland, Columbus & Southwestern Electric Company, married Ora Hershey and has two children, Ruth and Helen; Dr. Seymour C., born July 7, 1868, was educated at Cleveland and Baltimore, married Amanda Gingery and lives in Burbank, Ohio ; Effie Gertrude, born February 10, 1872, married F. O. Miller, a farmer of Wayne township, and has three children, Marie. Harold and Gladys. ISAAC N. HOUGH. County auditor from 1903 to 1909 and for many years an educator of wide repute, Isaac N. Hough is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, born in Chester township on July 12, 184g. He springs from an old and well known Pennsylvania family that figured in the early history of various parts of the Keystone state, but for many years the name has been a familiar sound in northern Ohio, his father, David Hough, moving with his parents to Wayne county when but six years old and spending the remainder of his life on the family homestead in Chester township. By occupation David Hough was a tiller of the soil, which useful' and honorable calling he followed for many years with gratifying suCcess. He was a man of high character and eminently respectable social standing, wielded a strong influence for good among his neighbors and friends and was long esteemed one of the leading citizens. He departed this life at the age of sixty years, one month and one day, and left to his posterity the memory of noble deeds and high ideals and a name unstained by the slightest suspicion of dishonor. Mary Showalter, wife of David Hough, was also of Pennsylvania birth and, like her husband, came to Ohio in early life and spent her youth and young womanhood in the county of Wayne. She combined many noble qual- WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 605 ities of mind and heart, which were reproduced in her offspring, and .ended her earthly course in the year 1895, esteemed and honored by all who knew her. The children of David and Mary Hough, eleven in number, are as follows : Lucy, wife of Edmund Keyser, of Wooster, Ohio ; Daniel, who lives in Cass county, Missouri ; John, deceased; William, of Belding, Michigan; Matilda, deceased, who was the wife of George W. Forbes, of Cleveland, Ohio ; Sarah Jane, who is unmarried and lives in the city of Wooster ; Isaac N., the subject of this review ; James A., deceased ; Margaret W., who married J. W. Crummel, of Apple Creek, this state ; Ida A., wife of C. 'B. Burchfield, also a resident of Apple Creek, and Clara M., who was basely murdered some years ago in the city of Mansfield, Ohio. Isaac N. Hough is descended from sturdy and eminently honorable ancestry and inherits to. a marked degree many of the sterling qualities of his antecedents. He was reared in close touch with nature on the farm and grew to the full stature of well-rounded manhood under excellent home influences, learning while still young those lessons of industry and thrift which make for success in material matters and the principles of morality and probity which constitute such important parts of every symmetrically developed character. Under the wholesome discipline of farm labor he laid broad and deep the solid foundations upon which his subsequent career as an educator and public spirited official rests and to this rugged school of experience attributes much of the success which has made him an influential factor and recognized leader among his fellow men. At the proper age he. entered the district school of his neighborhood, where his progress was commendable, and he later attended Smithville Academy several terms, in which he made rapid advancement in the higher branches of learning. Leaving the latter institution with a well disciplined mind, he engaged in teach. ing and during the thirty years ensuing devoted his attention very closely and conscientiously to that useful and noble work, attaining, in the meantime, much more than local repute as an educator. It is a fact worthy of note that Mr. Hough's long experience as a teacher was confined to a very small area of Wayne county. All of his thirty winter and twenty-two summer schools, with the exception of four terms, were taught in four districts, his frequent retention for long periods of service in the same place bearing eloquent testimony to his ability as an instructor and to his great personal popularity with pupils and patrons. In the year 1897 Mr. Hough entered the auditor's office as deputy 606 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. under A. B. Peckinpaugh, and continued in that capacity until 1902, when he was nominated for the position by the local Democracy and triumphantly elected in the fall of that year. Being familiar with every detail of the office and obliging in his relations with the public, he discharged his duties in such a capable and satisfactory manner that he was chosen his own successor in 1905. As an official he was industrious and painstaking and his loyalty to the people's interests as custodian of one of their most important trusts has earned for him the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow men as a public servant and sterling worth as an intelligent, broad-minded and progressive citizen. Mr. Hough was united in marriage on the loth day of March, 1887, with Lillie A. Martin, of Wooster, daughter of John Martin, a well-known resident of the city, the union proving mutually happy and resulting in the birth of six children, of whom two are deceased. Howard E., the first born of the family, died in infancy ; Waldo O., the second in order of birth, was graduated from the city high school at the early age of sixteen and then entered the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, where he completed the full course and attained to high honor as a student. On graduating from the latter institution he became bookkeeper for the Gerstenslager Buggy Company of Wooster, but two years later resigned the position to enter the Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio. After one year he had to give up college work on account of his father's illness. He is now assistant state examiner of county records. He is an exceptionally intelligent young man and, actuated by a laudable ambition to succeed, has before him a promising and brilliant future. Beulah M., the oldest daughter, like her brother, is much given to study and literature and is one of the brightest and most intelligent young ladies, of the city in which she lives. She, too, made a remarkable record as a student, completing the high school course when she was but fifteen years of age, being the youngest person ever graduated from that institution. Later she took a full course. in bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting in the business college at Wooster, served as first deputy auditor under her father, and is now in the Citizens National Bank. Blanche I., the second daughter, sustains the high reputation of her brother and sister, being an ambitious student and standing among the first of her classes in the city high school. The fifth in order of birth died. in infancy, the next being a daughter, Clara M., a bright and interesting young lady who is prosecuting her studies in the high khool, where she has already achieved a creditable record. WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 607  Mr. Hough is proud of his children and has provided them with exceptional educational advantages, which, to their credit, they fully appreciate. They heartily second all of his efforts in their behalf and thus far have fully realized his ardent hopes and high expectations, proving, as already indicated, remarkably intelligent and ambitious and giving promise of future honor and usefulness in whatever stations in life they may be called to fill. Mrs. Hough is a lady of fine mind and beautiful character whose refining and elevating influence has contributed much to the moral discipline as well as the intellectual advancement of her offspring. She has been an able and judicious counsellor to her husband, assisting him in all his efforts, encouraging him in his aspirations and presiding over his home with the grace and dignity characteristic of the intelligent and broad minded American housewife of today. The entire family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are deeply interested in the various lines of religious work under the auspices of the organization, besides giving their assistance and influence to all enterprises and movements for the general welfare of the community. JAMES LLOYD GRAY. A due measure of success invariably results from clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life, but in following out the career of one who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality which has made such accomplishments possible. •Such attributes were evidently possessed by James L. Gray, for many years prominent in the commercial and industrial life of the city of Wooster and he succeeded in leaving the indelible imprint of his personality upon the lives of all with whom he came into contact. He was born in Milton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1832. His father was of Scotch and his mother of German ancestry. They came to Pennsylvania in what historians are pleased to call "an early day," the mother dying there when her son, James L., was a small child, consequently he was reared by his uncle, Samuel Blain, who lived on a farm near the birthplace of the subject. When sixteen years of age, Mr. Gray began life for himself, first obtaining a position as clerk on a steamboat that plied the waters of the Mississippi, for the life of a riverman in those days was a fascinating one and appealed very strongly to the boyish imagination of the subject. This life he followed for three years, during which time he had occasion to ascend and descend all 608 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. the navigable rivers tributary to the Mississippi, one of the most notable and interesting trips being to the Yellowstone Park in quest of furs. But finally, tiring of life on the river, Mr. Gray returned to his home town, Milton, Pennsylvania, and served an apprenticeship in the saddler's trade, after which he located at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. There he met and afterwards married Eunice Magaw, a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and soon after his marriage he brought his young bride to Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, where he at once engaged in business, and eventually became one of the leading.business men of the county. Mr. Gray was one of the loyal sons of the North who sacrificed the pleasures of home and opportunities of business to aid in suppressing the rebellion, enlisting in 1864 in Company E,. One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with credit in the famous Army of the Potomac, having been in the quartermaster's department a part of the time. After the war he returned to Wooster and for a time was superintendent of the Home mills. In 1875 he began dealing in coal, lime and builders' supplies, which business grew until it reached very large proportions and which he continued until his death, which occurred on June 8, 1886, at the age of fifty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Gray were the parents of the following children : Charles M. Gray, a well-known resident of Wooster, Ohio; Mrs. Cora B. Plummer, deceased ; Mrs. Emma E. Orr, deceased; Mrs: Eunice Jeffries, of Charlotte, North Carolina; William L. Gray, a resident of Wooster. James L. Gray was a man of pleasing disposition,. honorable in public and private life, and he merited the high esteem in. which he was universally held. He was a loyal Republican, taking a very active interest in political affairs. He served as a member of the volunteer fire department, which in his day was an important factor in the life of Wooster.. Fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor, and he also be longed to the Grand Army of the Republic. He was One of the pillars of the. English Lutheran church, having served as a member of the building committee in the erection of the Tabernacle on North Market street. JOHN MEIER. Admired and respected for his general intelligence, as well as for his sterling qualities as a neighbor and a citizen, no man in the town of Fredericksburg stands higher in public esteem than the worthy individual, the salient facts of whose life and character are herein set forth. WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 609 John Meier is a native of the little republic of Switzerland, having been born at Brugg, in the canton of Aargau, on the first day of September, 1831. He received some education in his native land and also attended school one term after coming to the United States. He learned the trade of shoemaking in his youth, at which he became an expert. In 1853 he determined to try his fortunes in the New World, and accordingly set sail for the United States, landing in due time at the port of New York. From there he went to Cleveland, Ohio, remaining there from June to November, in which month he located in Saltcreek township, Holmes county, Ohio, which was his home during the following six years. During this time he was employed at his trade of shoemaking. Locating then at Fredericksburg, Wayne county, he remained there three years, working at the shoemaker's bench, and at the end of that time he moved onto the farm which he now occupies and that has been his home continuously since. The farm, which is located in section 23, is a splendid piece of rural land, about seventy acres of it being in cultivation. The improvements on the place are complete and substantial and all things about the farm indicate thrift, industry and general prosperity, the property being now considered a valuable one. In 1860 Mr. Meier went to Switzerland for his two brothers, and in 1862 he sent for his parents and family and they made their home here with him until their deaths, .a number of years ago. After coming to the farm, Mr. Meier also carried on the occupation of shoemaking to some extent, more as a matter of accommodation than necessity, but he has relinquished that work, being now too old for steady, hard work. In his first coming to Ohio he met with some peculiar and occasionally exciting experiences. The country was extremely wild and at that time there were yet many Indians in the northern part of Ohio, the town of Fredericksburg being an important trading post. Bridges were practically unknown and roads were few and far between, the common routes for travel being simple trails through the dense forests. Massillon was the nearest town of any considerable size, and the early settlers were compelled to endure hardships and inconveniences little appreciated at the present day. In 1861 Mr. Meier was united in marriage to Matilda Merilat, a sister to Captain Merilat and a daughter of David Merilat. She was a native of Switzerland and at the age of seventeen years was brought to this country by her parents. In his native land David Merilat was a school teacher, but after coming to this country he became a prominent and successful farmer of Wayne county. To Mr. and Mrs. Meier have been born eight children, brief (39) 610 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. mention of whom is made as follows: Sophia married first Charles Fletcher, later Charles Hipp, is the mother of five children, and lives at Marion, Ohio ; Ida is the wife of Jacob 'Barnes, of near Nashville, Holmes county, and is the mother of nine children; Fannie is the wife of Hiram Sanderson, of Saltcreek township, and is the mother of four children; Mary is at home; William, at home; John:, Who married Sadie Kane, lives in Saltcreek township and has one child, Matilda; Emma .married Eugene Rouhier, of Stark county, and they have six children; Charles, who married Maria Fellows, lives at Garretsville, and they. have one child. In politics Mr. Meier 'is a. Democrat and has always taken a wide-awake interest in public affairs, though not a politician: However, he has during his long life here served his fellow-citizens acceptably in a number of local offices. In religion he is a member of the Reformed church at Mount Eaton. He is widely known and has the respect and confidence of a large circle of friend's. His long and busy life is drawing to a close, but when he finally passes over the river it will be with the knowledge that his life has been well and honorably spent. DAVID MYERS The true spirit of progress and honorable achievement has been manifest in the career of the well known and highly esteemed citizen whose name introduces this sketch and who, since discontinuing the strenuous life which was characterized by such signal success, has been living in honorable retirement in the city of Wooster. His life has been one of fulness and completeness of vigor and inflexible integrity and while engaged in the vocation to which in the main his attention has been devoted, he accomplished great and lasting good for the material progress of various cities and communities and at the same time failed not to reap the reward which his industry and skill so richly deserved. David Myers is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and a descendant on the paternal side of a long line of sturdy German ancestry, which was first represented in America by his father, Daniel Myers, who came to this country from Wurtemberg about the year 1814 and settled in Wilmington, Delaware. After spending a few years in that city he removed to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, thence when a young man to Wayne county, Ohio, where in 1828 he married Martha DeWese, who was born and reared in the county of Columbiana, this state. In his younger days Daniel Myers was a cooper, WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 611 but in after life he became a farmer, which vocation he followed until his death, in 1873. Mrs. Myers survived her husband five years, departing this life on the home farm in Chester township in 1878. She sprang from an old and highly respected family, that figured actively in the early history of eastern Ohio and, tracing her ancestry further back, it appears that several of the DeWese family were soldiers in the Revolutionary war and that two of Mrs. Myers' brothers served with distinction in the war of 1812. By reason of this connection with the struggle for independence, three of Mr. Myers' daughters hold membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, a patriotic society composed of female descendants of the soldiers of that war. Daniel and Martha Myers were parents of eight children, of whom five are living at the present time, viz : Mrs. Rebecca Reichard, whose home is in Iowa near the town of Knoxville; David, of this review ; Mrs. Elizabeth Berkey, of Ashland county, Ohio; John, a resident of Chester township, Wayne county, and Mrs. Anna Powers, who lives in the city of Wooster. David Myers was born December 16, 1833, and spent his childhood and youth on the family homestead in Chester township where he early became familiar with the practical duties of the farm and learned to appreciate the true dignity and worth of honest toil. In the free, outdoor experience of wood and field he grew up strong and rugged and well fitted for the active career upon which he subsequently entered and while still a young man he began to formulate the plans for his future course of action. In a little log school house not far from the parental home he obtained a fair knowledge of such branches of learning as were then taught and, having early manifested decided predilection for mechanical work, he began, ere attaining his majority, to learn the trade of a carpenter, in which he soon acquired much more than ordinary efficiency and skill. Having mastered his craft, he worked at the same for some time in a subordinate capacity, but, actuated by a laudable ambition to extend his operations, he afterwards became a contractor and it was not long until the high reputation of his work caused a wide demand for his services. Without following in detail Mr. Myers' long and eminently honorable career as a contractor and builder, suffice it to state that from the beginning he was animated by a desire to excel and that during his active years he erected many buildings in various cities of his own and other states which still stand as monuments to his superior mechanical skill. Among the more notable public edifices under his direction in Wooster are the Methodist Episcopal church, the City Hall, a number of the university buildings, the Overholt residence, 612 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. pronounced the finest private dwelling in the city, besides many others, to say nothing of numerous structures throughout the country. His fame as a mechanic extending far beyond the limits of his own county, he contracted for a number of buildings in New York City and Brooklyn, including residences, churches, halls and various other public edifices, and later did much work in his line in several eastern and central states and throughout the northwest. The beautiful and imposing Methodist Episcopal church at Duluth, Minnesota, one of the finest and most attractive temples of worship in the state and representing a cost of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was erected by him, as were also similar edifices in Burlington, Iowa, Monmouth, Illinois, New Rochelle, New York, and in many other cities and towns, all of which bear evidence of a high order of architectural skill and efficiency of workmanship, bespeaking a thorough mastery of the builder's art. Mr. Myers was .in Iowa when the country became disrupted by the late Civil war and, being loyal to the government and its institutions, he did not hesitate when the call came for volunteers to help put down the rebellion. Enlisting in the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry in 1861, he was soon at the scene of action, rendering valiant service for the Union and during his three years at the front his conduct under all circumstances was that of a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger and was ever ready to go where duty called. He shared with his comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war in a number of noted campaigns and battles, including Corinth, where he served under General Belknap, and won promotion to a lieutenancy by meritorious conduct while under fire at Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, siege and capture of Vicksburg and numerous other engagements, receiving at Corinth a painful wound in the arm, which, however, did not long incapacitate him from service. At the expiration of his period of enlistment, which included three of the most strenuous years of the war, Mr. Myers was discharged with an honorable record and, returning to civil life, resumed contracting and building, which he followed with success and profit until 1886, when he discontinued active labor to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. By industry, judicious management and wise economy he amassed a handsome competency, amply sufficient indeed to enable him to spend the future free from anxiety and care and, being thus fortunately situated, he is enjoying that rest which he has so well earned and the many blessings which have come to him as the result of his many years of endeavor. Mr. Myers returned to Ohio soon after the war closed and in 1865 was WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 613 united in marriage with Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. When five years old she was brought to Ohio by her parents and at the celebration of her nuptials was living in Wayne county, where she had made her home for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had five children, namely : Viola, deceased ; Martha, who married ex-County Clerk David Mussleman, of Wooster ; John, assistant cashier of the Wayne County Bank ; Blanche, wife of John Ames, chemist of the Ohio Experiment Station at Wooster, and Miss Claude Myers, who is still with her parents. Mr. Myers manifests a commendable interest in all matters pertaining to the progress of the city of his residence and the good of the people and keeps in touch with the times on the leading questions and issues of the day. He is a director of the Wayne County National Bank, and in addition to a beautiful home on Beall avenue and other property in Wooster, owns a fine farm in the county to which he gives much personal attention. Fraternally, he holds membership with the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Royal Arcanum orders and politically wields an influence for the Democratic party. The Methodist church holds his religious creed, and with his wife and certain of his children he is a regular attendant of the congregation worshiping in Wooster, also a liberal contributor to its support and to the various lines of work under its auspices. His son John and daughter Mrs. Ames subscribe to the Presbyterian faith, both being active and consistent members 0f the church of that denomination in 'Wooster. Personally Mr. Myers stands high in the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens and is regarded as one of the enterprising and well-to-do men of the city in which he resides. Courteous and kindly in his relations with others, an influential factor in the business world and ready at all times to assist laudable measures for the general welfare, he has lived to high and noble ends and the future awaits him with bounteous rewards. THOMAS ARTHUR GRAVEN, M. D. Of high academic and professional attainments and holding worthy prestige among the successful medical men of Wooster, where he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession since 1904, Dr. Thomas Arthur Graven occupies a large place in the esteem of his fellow citizens and merits specific notice in a work devoted to the representative men of his adopted city and county. He was born January 6, 1871, in Holmes county, Ohio, where his paternal ancestors settled in an early day and figured prominently in the 614 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. development and progress of that part of the state. The Graven family is of German origin and in the old country were originally known by the name of Gravenstein. The first member of the family to emigrate to America appears to have been the Doctor's great-great-grandfather (given name unknown), who settled near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A son, John Graven, born October 5, 1758, in Germany, was four years old when he came to America, locating at Philadelphia. He grew t0 maturity on the family estate near that place, married Rebecca Randall, who was born in that city in the year 1762, and about the year 1816 migrated to what is now Holmes county, Ohio, where he secured land, developed a farm and in due time became a public spirited and praiseworthy citizen. He was a conspicuous figure in the pioneer history of the above county and there spent the remainder of his days, dying on February 22, 1833, on the land he had purchased from the government. His wife survived him until 1848, on March 6th of which year she, too, was called to her final reward. She and her husband were Quakers. Among the children of John and Rebecca Graven was a son by the name of Thomas, who was born December 2, 1805, in Philadelphia, and who subsequently became a manufacturer of powder, in connection with which he also had important agricultural interests in Holmes county, Ohio, where he removed with his parents when about eleven years of age. Elizabeth McKelvey, who, on October I 1, 1838, became the wife of Thomas Graven, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1818, and belonged to one of .the old and highly esteemed families of that part of the Keystone state. She bore her husband nine children, and departed this life September 9, 1893, at Holmesville, Ohio, where her husband, on December 12, 1871, also breathed his last, after a continuous residence of fifty-five years. Marion Graven, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Graven, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, February 4, 1847, and in his young manhood, December 31, 1868, married Sarah Jane McCulloch, whose birth occurred near Holmesville on the 17th day of January, 1851. Mrs. Graven's father, David McCulloch, was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1808, and died in Holmes county, Ohio, February 25, 1892, after living on the same farm for a period of eighty years. He filled many important offices of trust and was a member of the school board and a justice of the peace. His parents were Hugh and Elizabeth (Gibson) McCulloch, the former born in Fife county, town of Leven, Scotland, in 1759, and the latter born in county Down, Ireland, in 1770. Hugh McCulloch came to America in 1780 and taught school in Pennsylvania and later in Ohio, having been a well educated man and a teacher of some note before leaving his native land. His wife came to WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 615 America with her parents in 1788, on account of religious persecution, and married in 1793. She joined him in Pennsylvania in 1788 and on April 14, 1811, he moved to the new settlements in Holmes county, Ohio, where, at various times, the settlers were obliged to take refuge in a block house on account of the hostility of the Indians. Mrs. McCulloch died March 18, 1814, and her husband on the 6th of January, 1836. Hugh McCulloch served in the war of 1812, under Generals Meigs and Shane, participated in a number of battles and minor engagements and earned an honorable record as a brave and gallant soldier. He was a man of wide intelligence and varied attainments, did much to popularize and disseminate the cause of education among the settlers of Holmes county, and his memory is still cherished by the people of the community in which he spent so many years of his life. Marion Graven followed agricultural pursuits all his life, owning nearly four hundred acres of splendid farming land. He was successful in his business affairs and stood high in the esteem of all who knew him. He was a prominent and active member of the Presbyterian church, in which he was an elder for twenty-four years, and he was a member of the Presbyterian general assembly which met at Saratoga, New York, in 1894. He was a Republican in politics and took an intelligent interest in public affairs, though not in any sense a seeker after public office. His death occurred January 9, 1903, at his home in Loudonville, Ohio, where he had moved with his family in 1901. Marion and Sarah Jane Graven reared a family of three children, the oldest of whom is Dr. Thomas Arthur Graven, of this review. David Homer Graven, the second in order of birth, was graduated from the Ohio State University when a young man, having taken the full course in the law department, and in 1900 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the Northwestern Ohio University at Ada. For some time he gave his attention to the legal profession, but for some years past he has been cashier of the First National Bank at Loudonville, where he makes his home. John Elmer Graven, the youngest of the family, was graduated from the University of Wooster with the class of 1899, then went to Harvard Law School and afterwards went to Texas, where his death occurred on April 15, 1900. The mother of these children is still living and resides at Loudonville, where she has many warm friends who have learned to prize her for the sterling qualities of mind and heart which she inherits from a long line of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry. In the year in which Dr. Thomas Arthur Graven was born (1871) his parents changed their residence to Perrysville, in the county of Ashland, but in 1883 they returned to Holmes county, where the future physician and surgeon received his early educational training. He made rapid progress in his studies and it was not long until he was qualified to teach, which useful calling he 676 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. followed in connection with agricultural pursuits until taking up the study of medicine, for which he had long manifested a decided preference. In due time he yielded to this predilection by entering Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated May 15, 1900. He immediately thereafter located at the town of Mohican, Ashland county, where he soon built up a lucrative practice and earned an honorable reputation as a capable and progressive physician and surgeon. After four years' successful practice at the above place, Doctor Graven decided to locate in a larger and more inviting field, accordingly, in March, 1904, he opened an office in Wooster, where his abilities soon won recognition, as his continuous advancement and eminent professional success abundantly attests, he being at this time one of the leading physicians of the city with an extensive patronage which is steadily growing in magnitude and far-reaching influence. Doctor Graven is a close and critical student, who keeps in close touch with everything relating to his calling and, although younger than many of his contemporaries, he already stands well to the front among his professional brethren of Wooster and Wayne county, and, judging by his past achievements, his friends and the public in general predict for him a bright and promising future. Doctor Graven, on September 26, 1895, was happily married to Tamzon Finney, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, December 13, 1875, the daughter of Thomas D. and Lois (Numbers) Finney. To this union has been born one son, Marion Finney Graven, born November 9, 1901, a bright and intelligent boy who gives promise of a brilliant future. Doctor and Mrs. Graven occupy an important place in the social life of their adopted city and have many warm friends and admirers in the society circles to which they belong. They are both members of the First Presbyterian church at Wooster. In politics the Doctor is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and in the election of 1908 he was his party's candidate for coroner of Wayne county. Doctor Graven is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, at Wooster, and also the chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He also holds membership in Lodge No. 42, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. and Lodge No. 22, Knights of Pythias, both at Wooster. Dr. Graven owns a beautiful home at North Beechey, corner of Larwell street. JAMES MEIER. To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our great , country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy perseverance and the wise economy which s0 prominently characterizes the foreign element that has en- WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 617 tered largely into our population. By comparison with their "old country" surroundings, these people have readily recognized the fact that in America lie the greatest opportunities for the man of ambition and energy. And be cause of this many have broken the ties of home and native land and have entered earnestly into the task of gaining in the New World a home and a competence. Among this class may be mentioned the late James Meier, who, by reason of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort, not only acquired a well-merited material prosperity, but also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he was associated. James Meier was born in Switzerland, that small, rugged country that has sent so many enterprising and valuable citizens to the great Republic of the West, his birth occurring in the year 1836, in Brugg, canton of Aargau, and there he grew to manhood and was educated in the common schools. He was a member of an honored and hard-working family and when a mere lad began learning the shoemaker's trade, at which he soon became an expert and which lie successfully followed for a period of thirty-seven years. Being thus skilled, a good judge of leather goods and always honest in his work, his output was eagerly sought after and he was always very busy at his bench. His brother, John Meier, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this book, came to America, and, finding conditions favorable here, returned home in 1860 and upon coming back to the United. States, James Meier and another brother accompanied him, their parents following them later, making their home in Wayne county, Ohio, until their deaths. James Meier located four and one-half miles south of Wooster, where he became very comfortably established, having a neat home and acquiring a good little farm in Franklin township which he worked to advantage in connection with shoemaking, having made many valuable improvements of his seventy-eight acres there. The farm is now operated by his widow and children and yields them a very comfortable income. Mr. Meier was loyal to his own flag, and served as a soldier in the Switzerland army for a number of years, in which he is said to have discharged every duty faithfully ; and after coming to America he was no less loyal to our institutions, thus becoming a very welcome citizen. In his native country he belonged to the Reformed church, and was always noted for his peaceable, honest relations with his neighbors, all of whom liked and respected him. The death of James Meier occurred in September, 1908, and his remains rest in the cemetery at Fredericksburg. 618 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Mr. Meier was a single man when he came to America, and in 1864 he married Eliza McCullough, of Holmes county, where her people have long been well known. Mr. and Mrs. Meier reared a large family, fifteen children having been born to them, thirteen sons and two daughters, named as follows : Albert, George, William, Lucinda, Hugh, Edward, John (deceased), Victor, Maynard, Cyrene, Jacob, Atena, Joseph, Virgil, and Neal. JAMES DINSMORE BEER, M. D. Among the successful physicians and respected citizens of Wayne county, Ohio. is Dr. James Dinsmore Beer, of Wooster, who is a native son of the Buckeye state, having been born at Canton, Stark county, on the 5th of September, 1858. He is descended from sturdy Scotch-Irish stock, his great-grandfather, Thomas Beer, having been a native of county Antrim, Ireland, from whence he emigrated to America in 1722. He settled at Easton, Pennsylvania, where he followed the pursuit of farming until his death, which occurred in 1811. His wife bore the maiden name of Aura Aten and they became the parents of a large family. Among these children was Thomas, the subject's grandfather, who was born at Eaton, Pennsylvania, and became a Presbyterian minister, in the pulpit of which church he acquired considerable distinction. He removed to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1827 and was among the first ministers of his church in this county. His first charge here was in Greene township, after which he preached in succession at Wayne church, Congress church, Lattasburg (or Mount Hope) and Jeromeville. After serving many years as a faithful servant of his Master, he retired from active work and removed to Ashland, settling on a farm, where he spent his remaining days. His death occurred in 1886, when he was about ninety years old. At Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, he married Margaret Cameron, and they became the parents of twelve children, one of whom was a son, also named Thomas, who was horn near the Wayne church, Wayne county, on September 7, 1832. He secured a good education and has been for many years a successful lawyer at Bucyrus, Ohio, to which point he moved in 1860 from Canton. He has risen to a position of distinction in his profession and for twenty years he rendered efficient service as a jurist. From 1873 to 1884 he served as judge of the common pleas court of Craw ford county and from the latter year until 1893 as judge of the circuit court. He is a man of high attainments, whose sterling WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 619 worth and high ability has been widely recognized. His wife, the subject's mother, bore the maiden name of Tabitha Mary Dinsmore and was born in York county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1828. Her parents were James A. and Grizzee (Collins) Dinsmore. James Dinsmore was a pioneer settler of his section of Ohio, having entered land in 1814 in what was then Wayne county, but is now in Ashland county. This worthy couple have had born to them the following children : Mary Margaret, who died in 1866; James D., the subject of this sketch ; Thomas, a farmer at Bucyrus, this state; William C., a prominent financier at Yonkers, New York ; Dorcas G., who is principal of a public school at Yonkers, New York; Katharine J., of Bucyrus ; Robert L., deputy postmaster at Yonkers, New York ; Mary E., a professional singer, also residing at Yonkers, New York ; one, a twin of Robert, died in infancy. James Dinsmore Beer removed with his parents to Bucyrus when two years old and in that city he received his preliminary education. After completing the public school course, he was for two years engaged in teaching school, and then for a number of years he followed various pursuits, including working with a crew of civil engineers, and he was also employed for a time in compiling county histories. During this time his absorbing ambition was to secure funds with which to obtain a higher education. From 1883 to 1886 he was engaged in the retail drug business at Kingston, Tennessee, and in the latter year was enabled to carry out his long-cherished plans. He entered the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, and in 1889 he was graduated at that well-known institution, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. On April 1st of that year he entered upon the active practice of his profession at Wooster, Ohio, and has remained continuously in the practice here since, a period of twenty years. He engages in the general practice of medicine only, not caring for the surgical feature of the science. He has had marked success in the treatment of patients and has always commanded his full share of the public patronage, being regarded as a safe, conservative and careful doctor. He has a well-selected library of technical works and keeps in close touch with the latest advances in the healing art. He is associated with his fellow practitioners through his membership in the Wayne County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Fraternally, Dr. Beer is a member of Ebenezer Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Wooster, of which he is a past master. He was raised to the degree of a Master Mason in Union Lodge, No. 38, at Kingston, Tennessee, which lodge was instituted in 1796, having been the thirty-eighth Masonic lodge in- 620 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. stituted in America. Dr. Beer is a man of large physique, weighing in the neighborhood of three hundred pounds, and possesses a disposition correspondingly generous. He enjoys a large acquaintance and is well liked among all classes. On the 22d of September, 1884, Dr. Beer was united in marriage with Jeane L. Thoburn. She was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, and because of the death of her father while she was yet in infancy, she was reared by her grandfather. Her father, Dr. Joseph Thoburn, was during the Civil war colonel of the First Regiment West Virginia Infantry (Union), and was killed at the battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864. At the time of his death he was in command of the First Division, Army of West Virginia, under General Sheridan, and the latter, in his published work on the Civil war, gives Colonel Thoburn conspicuous mention. Colonel Thoburn was of a notable family, his brother, Bishop James Thoburn, being one of the most prominent figures in the Methodist Episcopal church. Going to India as one of the pioneer missionaries to the Mohammedans, he labored there continuously for fifty years, being honored by his church with the rank of missionary bishop of India. He is a man of marked and versatile ability and met with wonderful success in the foreign field. A sister, Isabelle Thoburn, now deceased, was for several years the very successful president of a college at Lucknow, India. Other members of the Thoburn family have been distinguished in various lines. To Dr. and Mrs. Beer have been born the following children : Mary Margaret. born January 10, 1887, is a teacher in the public schools of Wooster ; Thomas, born November 22, 1888, Jeane Lyle, born May 3, 1893, are both at home and are pursuing their education, as is Dorcas A., who was born November 14, 1894. JOSEPH WELLINGTON LEHR. J. W. Lehr was first introduced to this planet January 16, 1859, in Chester township. Wayne county, Ohio, and is a son of Abraham and Susan B. (Carl) Lehr. His father was one of the early settlers of Wayne county, removing here from Pennsylvania and first locating in Canaan township, subsequently removing to \Vayne township, later to Chester township. He followed the vocation of farming, which seems to have been the pursuit adopted, and prosecuted by his ancestors for generations. The subject of this sketch was a strong and active youth, and performed the boy's and afterward the young man's part WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 621 in assisting his father in the various duties that are associated with and lie within the scope of the plans and processes of farming. He availed himself of the opportunities and advantages made possible at that period to attend the country schools, where he was industrious and studious, making commendable progress and acquiring good grades in his different studies and all assignments made by his teachers. He then resolved and executed the resolution to register as a student at Ada, then under the exclusive supervision, management and control of his cousin, Prof. Henry Lehr, then to Smithville for three years, when he entered upon his career as teacher, acting in this capacity for one year, or from 1875 to 1879. When he was yet in his first teens it was his boyish disposition and determination to become a physician. There being in his present mind a glamour, fascination, an animating and inspiring halo. encircling the practice and the profession, this seemed to be the predominant thought, the distinctive and separate aspiration, the lode-star of his life, his studies at the district school, at Smithville. at Ada, and his other and co-related pursuits. It must be remembered that if it was a youthful, it was likewise a wise, commendable and honorable ambition, in the fact that he possessed the intelligent independence and judgment to decide for himself, to make the choice for himself, as to his life-work, present and future, upon the wisdom of which selection hinged future destiny. Personal friends, intimate acquaintances and parental influence and direction played no part. or if so, no important one in dictating or even suggesting the course or pursuit this young man should or might adopt. His inclinations were not to be a farmer, after the manner and example of his father, or a merchant, a man of business, a teacher, lawyer, or preacher—simply and only a physician. It may therefore be logically conjectured, and philosophically deduced, that, by this uniform preparation, invariable expression of purpose, were the keynotes sounded by a strong and flexible determination and will, supported by a young but discreet judgment. which of themselves were foreshadowing the avaunt couriers of his subsequent success in the profession of his boyhood's selection. Success was then coming half-way to meet him. His aptitude and genius for his work was congenital ; it was born with him. Selftrust in his case proved to be the first secret of success and it was the best test of his capacity and character. There was no doubt or indecision in his composition ; opposition and competition did not dishearten him. for they operate as whetstones by which a well-balanced highly tempered nature are polished and sharpened. His student and college years were a series of self-denials of rest, recreations 622 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. and many of the animating diversions he would not have found it in his heart to have enjoyed. But he studied, pondered, sacrificed and toiled on, and thus we find the predicate and the ultimate deductive and the legitimate result. For as in the planetary system myriads of orbs revolve in resplendent order around one common center, directed in their course by fixed, unalterable laws, so complicated that the slightest variation on the part of any one body must have its climax in a "wreck of matter and crush of worlds," so in human life every cause produces its legitimate effect, every action or series of actions are followed by their legitimate consequence. Joseph W. Lehr became a student of medicine in 1879, entering the office of the late Charles J. Warner, of Congress, .a physician of wide practice and high professional attainments, with whom he remained for four years, graduating from the medical department of the University of Wooster in 1883. He began practice at once, opening an office March 1st of this year at Overton. Here for eight years he remained where his professional ability was recognized in the building up of an encouraging and lucrative practice, but having determined to locate at the county seat, he removed to Wooster, March 1, 1891. On January 6, 1903, he was married to May C. Newall, of Wooster township, with whom and in the circle of his home there is serenity and pleasure of domestic enjoyment. The Doctor has reached the top of the hill of life, but instead of it being studded with peaks and spurs and crags, it is a plateau, from which he can survey the vanished eighteen thousand yesterdays and look up, and forward, and on, to that many more useful and compensating tomorrows. Doctor Lehr was not barn with the imaginative "spoon in his mouth" nor a Sir or Don prefix to his name, nor any hope for peerage. He stands not on what he borrows from his ancestors, but knows that he must work out his own name and honor. He cares nothing for display, pretense, nor ostentation, but for the solid virtues, the excellence and the genuiness of man and things. Self made, he is responsible for this. He has now attained his zenith, is in the full strong prime of life, the descendant of a stanch and rugged German ancestry, with the Teutonic enthusiasm in his blood and the loyalty to friends and country of the Old Prussian and Hohenzollern of the Fatherland. He is five feet ten inches in height, straight as the mast on a frigate, with dark hair and eyes, a firm and well rounded neck, admirably adjusted to a brace of shoulders after the manner of a veritable modern Ajax, tipping the beam at two hundred thirty pounds, active, muscular,—in short, the picture of health, a model in physical outline, in facial assertiveness, force, will 2nd expression as one who had obeyed the Scriptural command, "Physi- WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 623 cian, know thyself," standing four square to the winds, and sound as the pillars of the Sistine Chapel of Rome. He sprung from the commonality. He has fashioned his nature on moral and intellectual worth, personal qualities and not personal possessions: He fixes a high value on his professional honor, upon his self-respect, his intrinsic value, not so much of it only as can be seen by others, but as he sees it by his introspection. He discovered himself and cannot run away with himself. The w0rld at best is but a sort of a big university and he is still a learner and student in it, in which he is constantly gathering thoughts, sending them abroad with his eyes, his brains traveling with his feet. He is a man inhabited by kindly dispositions and a gentleman in and out of his profession. Courtesy and affability can be no more severed from him than life from his soul, not out of a base and servile popularity and desire of ambitious insinuation, but of a native gentleness of disposition and true value of himself. His individuality is strongly marked, with the healthy geniality of a large-shouldered man combined with it. He is possessed of an acute sense of humor, quick in repartee and, seing the point, has a story to tell —the latest one, that he renders in idiomatic English, that he heard or saw in some newspaper or magazine. He is a fluent talker, a good conversationalist, fond of open debate and wields a sledge hammer in public discussions. He has an innate passion for the woods, hills, the gorges and streams and all the beautiful wild offerings of nature. The country affords to him its free sports 'and amusements ; its wider range of rambles or, better still, for both physical -..and mental training, it gives him opportunity to employ spare hours of labor and attention to his farm, as the chances are, if he had not been a doctor he would have been a farmer. It was the original and divinely appointed calling of man God planted in Eden, and made it man's first duty to "dress and keep it." When driven from Eden it was still his mission "to till the ground from which he 'was taken," and to "eat bread in the sweat of his face." As said, he is now at the zenith of his power, alert, energetic, practical, scientific and remarkably successful in the extension and expanding practice of his profession. Stout, active and muscular, an actor and athlete, a devotee at the shrine of baseball. a firm believer in physical recreation and the stimulating, health-giving and invigorating results of the college gymnasium. He is public spirited 2nd projective, wants good school houses, more schools, academies, universities, etc., and the standard of education raised from high to higher, "in the parliament of man, the federation of the world." If in the skirmish with disease or the clenched battle with death he is repulsed or vanquished, he moves on with a steady step, his sanguine temperament impels him to a more vigilant quest for the better and best protection and defense against the Mer- 624 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. curys that stand and point at the door of death. Victory doesn't always perch on the banners of the great physician, but he enjoys a noble recompense, the loyal hosannas of the myriads he has rescued from the fateful jaws of disease. He looks down the vistas with a justifying hope, for on the ruins of today are built the temples of tomorrow. According to the legend of Virgil when Troy fell, its banished citizens reared a mightier city on the Tiber. -BY BEN DOUGLAS. JOHN SNODGRASS CASKEY. Among the well-remembered, successful and highly honored citizens of Wayne county of the past generation, few left the impress of their personality any deeper upon the minds of those with whom they came in contact than the late John Snodgrass Caskey, a man whom everybody respected for his public spirit, his high sense of honor and his genial disposition, a man who possessed talents of such unusual magnitude that he succeeded in various lines of endeavor, a learned, accomplished and right-thinking man whose influence, which was always salutary, continued to pervade the lives of his many friends long after he had closed his eyes on earthly scenes, and which influence will continue to brighten the pathways of many for all time to come. Mr. Caskey was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1838, the son of Robert and Nancy Caskey, prosperous farmers of that county, owning a large tract of land, and who were highly respected people, plain and industrious. Mr. Caskey received a good education in the common schools of his native county. He was an ambitious lad and studied hard, in fact, he was a student all his life. He took up the study of homeopathy, received his diploma and for a time practiced very successfully in Ashland county. But, tiring of this line of endeavor, he came to Wayne county, Ohio, and began farming. Discontinuing this in a short time, he engaged in the ice business, then purchased of a Mr. Harris his share in a grocery store, the firm being known as McClarran & Harris. He proved himself to be a business man of unusual ability. But he had always been interested in politics and now gave considerable attention to the same. In the year 1880 lie was elected treasurer of Wayne county by the Democrats, served two terms of two years each, and for a period of four years he discharged the duties of the same in a very satisfactory manner to all concerned. In the meantime he had maintained his grocery business, which he continued to conduct four years after retiring from the treasurer's office. Then he dis-