(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 950 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. Baltimore & Ohio, he left them and went to contracting on public work. He was a thirty-second-degree Mason and prominent and active in that order. He was industrious, of strict integrity, steady and reliable and a man of ability in his line of work. His wife was Harriett Dorsey, daughter of Talbott Alnut and Sarah Kashaw (Barker) Dorsey. She was born and reared in Calvert county, Maryland, and came to Barnesville, Ohio, with her parents, who kept a hotel there for some years. Beside Frank L. and John B. Schick, there were five other children of Frank L., Sr., and Harriett (Dorsey) Schick, as follows : Joseph Lewis, of Newark; Julia Ann, deceased, who was the wife of Peter Haas; Willie, who died in infancy; Frederica May is the wife of Adam Ritter, a tailor of Cambridge. Frank L. Schick, Sr., died about 1892, and Harriet (Dorsey) Schick, his wife, lives in the old home on Clark street in Cambridge. While they were young, the brothers worked with their father and learned the same trade and became expert. Frank followed the work sixteen years, and John did so for ten years. In 1893 the first steam laundry was erected in Cambridge, John assisting in the work and soon after becoming sole owner. It was destroyed by fire shortly afterwards, and in the spring of 1894 the brothers Frank L. and John B. formed a partnership and built Schick Brothers Laundry at No. 42o North Eighth street, and put in machinery and have conducted the laundry ever since. About 1900 the laundry, building and machinery were completely destroyed by fire, only the boiler and engine being saved. With promptitude that wins in business, they at once set to work to rebuild and inside of four weeks were ready for business again. They get at least their full share of the business in Cambridge and in nearby towns where they have agencies. Cambridge is fortunate in regard to the quality of work done by this laundry, as it compares favorably with that done anywhere in the United States. ThiS has been the judgment of many competent to judge in such a matter. Frank L. Schick is a member of Cambridge Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons. He was married in 1884 to Lillie B. Porter, daughter of John and Ruth (West) Porter. She was born and reared in Belmont county, not far from Fairview. Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Schick had five children, of whom three are living and two dead. Harry died when about six years old and Fred died when about seventeen years of age. Those living are, Charles L., who is helping his father in the laundry work, married Ethel Tudor, of Quaker City. Ruth and Frank are both at home with their parents at No. 329 Clark street, Cambridge. GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 951 John B. Schick is a member of the Elks lodge, is a Republican in politics and has been a member of the school board of Cambridge. He has been superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday school for two years and is president of the Epworth League and was president of the board of stewards for eight years, where he has shown excellent ability to manage finances. He and his brother do not do things by halves, but work hard and push what they take hold of to completion. John B. Schick was married in 1884 to Dora Ann Bell, daughter of Thomas H. and Henrietta Bell. She was born at Zanesville, Ohio, and reared at Fairview. Her father was engaged in tool making and the higher grade of blacksmiths work in his early days, and was also two years in Blandy's machine shops at Zanesville, where Mrs. Schick was born. After moving from Fairview, when Mrs. Schick was a girl of seventeen, Mr. Bell was engaged in Marietta railroad shops here. Mr. and Mrs. Schick have two children, Iona May and Mary Ethel. The latter married George W. Schaser, a merchant tailor, and lives in Cambridge. She has three children, Ada Marguerite, Dora May and John Leo Schaser. Mr. Bell died August 8, 1905. Mrs. Bell lives in Cambridge on Turner avenue. THOMAS W. FOWLER. The life of the well known locomotive engineer and city councilman of Cambridge, Guernsey county, whose name introduces this biographical review, has been a somewhat strenuous but successful one, fraught with more or less hazard, but his duties have been bravely met in all walks of life and he is eminently deserving of the wide esteem in which he is held and of the comforts of material life which are his by right of legitimate conquest. Mr. Fowler was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 28, 1865, and he is the son of Francis Marion and Sarah A. (Shafer) Fowler, a well liked and industrious family. When he was four years old his parents moved to Licking county and there he grew to manhood on a farm, on which he worked when a boy and attended the public schools during the winter months. He always had an inclination for railroading and in 1885, when nineteen yearS of age, being of robust constitution, he found employment as fireman on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad and he has continued in the employ of this road ever since, being regarded as one of their most faithful and trusted 952 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. employes. There has been but one month during the past twenty-five years that he has not drawn pay from this company, a somewhat remarkable record. After firing for four years, he was promoted to the other Side of the cab, when twenty-three years old, and he has been an engineer ever since and is one of the best on the road. Mr. Fowler made his home at Newark, Ohio, until January, 1900, when he moved to Cambridge, where he still resides. He lived first on Steubenville avenue, but two years later he bought a very neat and well arranged home on North Fourth avenue where he has since resided. He is an active Republican, and in the fall of 1907 he was elected to the city council of Cambridge, and performed his duties in such an able and satisfactory manner that in the fall of 1909 he was re-elected and is now serving his second term. Mr. Fowler was married first in 1889 to Cora B. Willard, who was born and reared in Muskingum county, the daughter of John and Julia (Fletcher) Willard. Three daughters were born of this marriage, Lena May, Alice Mary and Frances Julia. The mother of these children passed to her rest in January, 1906. She was .a faithful member of the Methodist church and attended the same seven years without missing a meeting except once when in bed with the measles. On February 19, 1910, Mr. Fowler married Mrs. Viola Grier, whose maiden name was Galloway, a native of Quaker City, Guernsey county, and the daughter of Caleb and Emeline (Lowe) Galloway. Mr. Fowler has been a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers since 189o; he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is a frank, friendly man, reliable, steady and accommodating and a good citizen. JAMES BOYD PETERS. From the far-off land of heath and thistle, the bluebell and the rose comes James Boyd Peters, and he brings with him all the fortitude, sterling honesty and solid judgment characteristic of the Scotch people. This is why he has succeeded and is now one of the highly respected and well established citizens of Cambridge, Guernsey county. Mr. Peters was born in Maybole, Scotland, eight miles from the birth place of the famous bard, Robert Burns, whom he admires and with whose inspiring verse he is familiar, and although he will always, quite naturally, have a fond remembrance for the "banks and braes of bonny Doon" and the GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 953 vale of Tam O'Shanter and the gorse-covered hill where lived the "cotter," he has been loyal to our institutions and is a most excellent citizen of our republic. He first saw the light of day in 1874 and is the son of John and Jean (Boyd) Peters. Part of his boyhood was spent on the home farm, then the family moved into Glasgow, where the son learned plumbing and hydraulic engineering at the big Blochairn Steel Works, a very large concern. When only Sixteen years of age he left his native land and came to the United States, locating at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and taking a position with the James P. Weatherill Company, a concern that made mill equipments and hydraulic machinery, etc. He remained with that firm for a period of ten years, or until the firm went into bankruptcy, then he came to Cambridge, Ohio, and accepted a position with the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company, where lie holds the responsible position of shearman. He is an expert in his line and has alwayS given the utmost satisfaction. Politically, Mr. Peters is a Republican and, taking an abiding interest in local affairs, he was elected councilman in Cambridge, and, making a splendid record, he was re-elected in the fall of 1909 and is now serving his second term. He was reared a Presbyterian, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order. In 1909 he was master of Cambridge Lodge No. 66 ; he has attained the Knight Templar degree and is prominent in this order. He is also a member of the Maccabees and other organizations. Mr. Peters was married on August 21, 1905, to Agnes Cartwright, of Newcastle, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Charles Cartwright and wife. This union has resulted in the birth of the following children, namely : Charles, John, Jean, Mary, Idella, Margaret and James, Jr. COL. JOSEPH DANNER TAYLOR. No man who has lived in Guernsey county will be longer or more reverently remembered than the late Col. Joseph Danner Taylor, third son of Alexander Dallas and Sarah (Danner) Taylor, who was born in Goshen township, near Belmont, Belmont county, Ohio, on the 7th of November, 1830. When he was two years of age, his parents moved to Oxford township, Guernsey county. For nineteen years he lived upon his father's farm, alternating with hard study during the winter months and summer evenings. He belonged to a family where mental cultivation and educational acquirements were justly held in pre-eminent esteem, and with the goal of 954 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. literary and professional success steadily before his boyish ambition, it is not strange that he early developed a fondness for literary pursuits and persevering devotion in attainment of knowledge. After mastering such rudimentary branches of instruction as could be obtained in the district schools of that period, he attended various private schools in his own and adjoining counties, adapted to advanced scholars, where he prepared for college under the instruction of some of the leading educators of the day. During his vacations he often taught district school to obtain funds to pursue his studies and, having to depend entirely upon himself, he studied, taught school and read law by turns during a period of several years, For a year and a half, beginning with the summer of 1854, he attended Madison College, covering the entire collegiate course, except the Greek, Following his term at college he taught schools in Laughlin's and Center districts, and completed his experience as an instructor by teaching the Fairview high school, which was largely attended by teachers and those who were fitting themselves for that profession. Mr. Taylor was eminently successful as a teacher, was painstaking and thorough, spent nearly as much time in teaching out of school hours as in, and was always ready to assist a pupil whose means were limited, in books or tuition, often furnishing both free of charge, or taking his chances of remuneration in the future. His school at Fairview, in which he was assisted by Prof. L. J. Crawford, embraced a complete academic course, including the higher mathematics, and his classes in surveying and engineering were given abundance of field practice. He was proffered the superintendency of several prominent union schools, but preferred to teach a select school, which was more remunerative. Having chosen the law as his profession, all his time, in the intervals of study and teaching, was devoted to a course of reading with that end in view. He was twice elected county surveyor, but resigned before the close of his second term, owing to a pressure of other duties. During the eight or nine years in which his attention was principally given to teaching, he contributed largely to the advance of public opinion in the matter of more liberal education, addressing many public assemblies upon the subject, organizing and presiding over teachers' associations and institutes, and impressing perceptibly upon the people his own advanced ideas on the subject. He left his post as teacher with something of reluctance, and entered the Cincinnati Law School in the winter of 1857-58, graduating there in spring of 1860. He was admitted to the bar before the supreme court in Columbus, a year in advance of his graduation, and commenced the practice of law in Cambridge in the fall of 1860. He was school examiner of Guernsey county, but resigned at the breaking out of the war to enter the army. GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 955 In the fall of 1861 Mr. Taylor purchased the Guernsey Times, then the only Republican journal in Guernsey county; associated with him in that enterprise was W. H. F. Lenfestey, of Cambridge, who assumed charge of the business department of the paper, while Mr. Taylor directed, inspired and shaped its editorial utterances. No one need be told the immense importance of a Republican paper of the strictest type in those days of doubt and vacillation. Such was the Times, It upheld the administration of Lincoln with all the weight of its influence, and, through all the doubt and fear of the time, steadfastly supported the measures of the Republican party, advocating the vigorous prosecution of the war, approving and upholding the Emancipation Proclamation, and sternly rebuking the "copperheads" and "doughfaces" who remained at home to object and criticize while the nation was struggling for its life. Party feeling ran high in those days, and it required strength of conviction and steadiness of purpose to conduct a newspaper safely and successfully through the perils that beset journalism on every hand, but neither then, nor since, did Mr. Taylor ever falter in his allegiance to the principles of the Republican party. During his connection with the Times he edited it in person when at home, and at all times dictated its policy. It cannot be said that the paper was conducted with an eye solely or largely to financial results. On the contrary, it was placed, so far as possible, in the hands of every voter, responsible or otherwise, in Guernsey county. Large numbers of copies were weekly sent to every regiment at the front which contained an Ohio man, and so thousand of dollars' worth of papers were freely and gladly contributed by the owners to the cause of republicanism and union among the very people who most needed such missionary work— those too poor or too indifferent to pay for a paper. The result of his policy was like that of casting bread upon the waters, for, when the paper was sold in 1871, it was doubled in size, tripled in circulation, and had contributed to greatly increase the Republican vote and influence in Guernsey county. Previous to 1862, when Mr. Taylor assumed editorial control of the paper, not more than half the county offices had been held by Republicans. At ensuing elections the party had gained such strength as to make a clean sweep, electing its entire ticket, and this result is a fair example of that of each election up to 1871. When the war broke out Mr. Taylor was appointed by the governor of Ohio a member of the county and district military committees, and gave efficient service in organizing troops, and in procuring and forwarding needed supplies to the soldiers in the field. In the spring of 1863 he was made the candidate of his party for prosecuting attorney of Guernsey county. Pend- 956 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. ing the canvass came Morgan's famous raid into Ohio, and Governor Tod's call for troops to defend the state. Mr. Taylor raised a company for the Eighty-eighth Ohio Regiment, and had it in camp in ten days, where he was, by unanimous vote of the company, chosen captain. The regiment was placed on duty at Camp Chase, then filled with rebel prisoners. When sufficiently drilled for active service, Captain Taylor was among the officers of this regiment who petitioned the secretary of war to send them to the front, and the order came to this effect. The regiment was equipped for duty and ordered to Washington, when, to the infinite disappointment of officers and men, the order was countermanded upon the representation of General Richardson that the regiment could not safely be spared from Camp Chase, and they were accordingly remanded to the monotonous, though important duty, of guarding the thousands of Confederate soldiers then held in that prison depot. While in camp Captain Taylor was sent on several important details with picked men, where clearness of judgment and coolness of nerve were specially required and was eminently successful in all that he undertook. Soon after he entered the service he was detailed on special duty, and remained on detached service until the close of the war, serving as judge advocate of courts martial and military commissions, at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and at other places. In the latter part of 1864, after serving for some months as judge advocate at Cincinnati, he was appointed judge advocate of the district of Indiana, with headquarters at Indianapolis. The state of Indiana was then in a condition to warrant the gravest apprehension of serious difficulty. Its military prisons were overcrowded with criminals and rebels, and in many places its citizens were on the brink of insurrection. The treasonable organizations of the Sons of Liberty and Knights of the Golden Circle were in their palmiest days, and drilling of armed men by moonlight, and the schemes to release and arm the rebel prisoners at the North, had just been discovered. Under these circumstances it required ability of no ordinary type to manage the business of the military courts, and again the firmness of purpose and clearness of perception which had on previous occasions marked Captain Taylor's performance of duty, became signally apparent. The district to which he was called was in everything but the name a department, the judge advocate discharging his duties independent of any immediate supervision, and reporting only to the judge advocate general. The whole management of this department or district was given into the hands of Captain Taylor by General Hovey, who was then in command, and so well and faithfully did he perform the arduous and responsible duties of his position that during the entire year and a half that he GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 957 was engaged in this branch of service, involving the preparation and forwarding of thousands of pages of reports, the carrying on of important investigations and the keeping of voluminous records, no report of his was ever returned from Washington, but all were found correct and approved by the war department. The vigor and promptness with which he despatched business were remarkable, and his untiring energy and industry enabled him to do what perhaps no other officer in the army did, or attempted to do. As soon as the necessary records, clerks, and reporters could be provided, he organized two military courts, and served as judge advocate of both, although his position as district judge advocate did not require him to serve in that capacity on either. Exacting as were these duties, being, in fact, the duties of three ordinary officers, the situation was complicated by another circumstance. The people of Guernsey county had elected Captain Taylor prosecuting attorney, in pursuance of the nomination already referred to, and though he had a deputy who could very well attend to the duties of the office outside of the court room, his presence at the three sessions of the court in each year seemed indispensable. His indefatigable labors at Indianapolis rendered it easy for him to obtain leave of absence to attend to these occasional duties at Cambridge, where, with unremitting energy, he disposed of his cases in the shortest possible time, and hurried back to face his accumulated labors in Indiana. Thus his life became a constant round of ceaseless labor, and in the examination of hundreds of prisoners, the trying of many important cases, and the management and control of a vast amount of business, he gained lasting credit for the discretion, wisdom, and success of his administration. In 1865 Provost Marshal John B. Cook was foully and deliberately murdered at Cambridge by two men, Oliver and Hartup. General Hooker, upon application of Captain Taylor, detailed him with a court consisting of eleven officers, to go to Cambridge and try the murderers. Intense feeling prevailed in regard to the matter, and the public excitement was not diminished by the arrival of the court, its reporters, clerks and attendants. A company of infantry acted as guards, and the servants of the officers being added, the retinue was no small one, and its coming put all Cambridge in a flutter. The court held its sessions in the town ball, and, as the trial was one of the most important of the many that were held during the war, and one which attracted great attention throughout the country, it was one of absorbing theme of conversation in the community. A most stubborn defense was made all along the line, and the trial, as it progressed, assumed, to some extent, a political character. Four of the ablest lawyers obtainable were retained for the accused, 958 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. and hundreds of witnesses were examined, and for three months the trial lasted, during which time Captain Taylor in the faithful discharge of his duties received many threats of personal violence from the prisoners and their sympathizers, as well as many encomiums for his management of the case from those who desired justice to be done. It finally resulted in the conviction of both prisoners and their subsequent execution at Camp Chase. in September, 1865, after they made a full confession of their crime. Captain Taylor received many warm expressions of gratitude from the citizens of his own and other counties for having been instrumental in ridding the community of these men who had been a constant terror to law-abiding people for many years, and, by his skillful and acute analysis and management of the case, added materially to a reputation for legal, ability already well established. During his terms of service. he was twice brevetted for valuable services to the government, on the recommendation of officers of the regular army as well as those of the volunteer forces, whose attention had been attracted by his judicious and conscientious administration of his office. These brevets being duly confirmed by the United States Senate, Mr. Taylor received his commission and ever afterward passed among his acquaintances by the military title of colonel. At the close of the war and after he was mustered out of the service he was retained as special citizen judge advocate in the district of Indiana for the trial of two important cases in which the government was pecuniarily interested to the extent of many thousands of dollars. The first of these occupied six and the second four months in its trial, and he was thus unable to return to private life until the summer of 1866. Having been, in 1865, reelected prosecuting attorney, he held the office until 1867, and so vigorously did he enforce the law that when his term of office closed there was not an open saloon in Guernsey county. From 1867 he devoted himself, first to the Times until 1871, when he sold his interests, then to his law practice and to sundry private business enterprises, the latter almost without an exception connected with advancing the material growth and prosperity of his town. Indeed, it may be justly said that no man in Guernsey county did more to benefit Cambridge than did Colonel Taylor. He erected several valuable blocks of buildings, thus giving employment to many persons, and adding to the advantages of the town. He was retained in many notable cases, and while for years his law practice was second to none in Cambridge, he had an extensive practice in other counties and cities, especially in Cincinnati. Not the least of these important cases was that of the State against Kennon for the murder of Benjamin F. Sipe, tried in Belmont county, under a change of venue. In GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 959 this case Colonel Taylor was appointed by the court and paid by the county commissioners, and was opposed by Hon. Allen G. Thurman and other leading members of the Ohio bar. His practice extended through all the state courts, the district, circuit and supreme courts of the United States, to which last he was admitted to practice upon motion of President, then Congressman, James A. Garfield. In all his business, including the extensive practice of his profession, it is worthy of note that he never had a law suit on his own account, and that he had a reputation for compromising and adjusting without a trial more cases than any other lawyer of his locality. In 1871 he associated with him in the practice of law, under the firm name of Taylor & Anderson, Col. T. H. Anderson, now justice of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, who had read law in his ffice. From the personal and professional to the political record of Colonel Taylor is but a step. He was prominently identified with the Republican politics in the eastern part of the state for many years. In 1872 he received eleven or twelve votes for Congress in the convention which nominated Hon. John A. Bingham for his last term. He was later urged by his friends to again enter the lists, and in 1878 he would probably have received the nomination but for the fact that just before the nominating convention was held, the Democratic majority in the Legislature had completed their famous gerrymander by which Guernsey county was thrown into a new and hopelessly Democratic district, in consequence of which his friends withdrew his name from the canvass. He was by appointment of the governor of Ohio, a delegate to the Philadelphia Loyalists' convention in 1866. He served as delegate in the Cincinnati convention of 1876, which nominated Hayes for the Presidency, and the Chicago convention of 1880. From 1861, when he purchased the Guernsey Times, until his death, Mr. Taylor's influence and means were unselfishly devoted to his party. With every enterprise that tended to the improvement of Cambridge, after his residence there he was closely identified. From 1870 to 1877 he was president of the Cambridge school hoard, during which time the union school building was erected, then one of the finest in eastern Ohio. He was trustee of Scio, Mt. Union and Ohio and Allegheny Colleges. He was prominent in securing the organization and location of the Marietta & Pittsburg, now the Cleveland & Marietta railroad contributing liberally of his means and time to the enterprise. He was active in the organization and management of several corporations for the development of local industries. It was one of Colonel Taylor’s cherished purposes to be able to assist worthy young men who were struggling, as he did in his youth, to gain a foot- 960 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. hold in honorable business, or in the profession, or in obtaining a liberal education. None appealed to his benevolence in vain, and his heart and hand were ever ready to respond to the cry of the needy. He was a thoroughly religious man during his entire lifetime, an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a member and for many years president of its board of trustees, and was a liberal supporter of all its enterprises. He was superintendent of the Sabbath school in Fairview, when he was engaged in teaching in that place, and later for seven years superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sabbath school in Cambridge. In 1880 he was one of the two lay delegates from the East Ohio conference to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held in Cincinnati, where he took a prominent part in the deliberations of every session. He was a delegate to the ecumenical conference held in Washington, D. C., in 1892. In December, 1866, Colonel Taylor married Elizabeth A. Hill, daughter of William Hill, of North Berwick, Maine. Mrs. Taylor died in April, 1887, Of this marriage there were born, William Hill and Gertrude Elizabeth, who survive him, and Joseph Clifford, who died in infancy. In November, 1889, Colonel Taylor married Caro M. Palmer, who, with the one child born them, Joseph Danner Taylor, Jr., still survives him. Colonel Taylor was president of the Guernsey National Bank from its organization in 1872 until the time of his death. He was also a director and an officer of several corporations located in Guernsey county and elsewhere in addition to many other positions of trust and responsibility. "Being elected to fill the unexpired term of the Hon. Jonathan T. Updegraff of the sixteenth district in the forty-seventh Congress, he so ably represented his constituents that he was re-elected to the forty-eighth, fiftieth, fifty-first and fifty-second Congresses. He received important committee assignments, including a chairmanship. His term of office expired in 1893. His congressional record was marked by the same fidelity and untiring efforts on behalf of the public which had always been one of his marked characteristics. In addition to general legislation he was then particularly interested in matters concerning the old soldiers and pensioners. of the late war and also the wool industry, which closely concerned his constituents, and his services were so highly appreciated that his majority 'was largely increased at each election." For many years he was active in the councils of the Republican party in eastern Ohio, was once temporary chairman of the Ohio state convention. Though the mention of his name in connection with the gubernatorial nomination had attracted favorable attention and a large circle of friends and acquaintances urged him to enter the field, he declined to allow the use of his name. He enjoyed cordial GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 961 relations with Presidents Hayes, Garfield and McKinley, serving several years in Congress with the latter. Colonel Taylor was always a very busy man. He held many positions of trust and responsibility. In his three years as judge-advocate, four years as prosecuting attorney, seven years as president of the school board and nine years in Congress, a leading practitioner in his profession for many years, his record is without a stain. He possessed an engaging personality and those traits of character which win and retain a wide circle of friends. This distinguished citizen paSsed to his reward at his home in Cambridge, on September 19, 1899. JOHN ROLAND GRANT. Back to the picturesque old colonial days is traced the genealogy of John Roland Grant, an influential citizen of Byesville, Guernsey county, and from that historic period to the present day the Grants have figured more or less prominently in various walks of life. John Roland Grant is the son of William Merriman and Catherine Washington (Rogers) Grant. William M. was the son of John Grant, of Baltimore, Maryland. John Grant was the son of Capt. John Grant, Sr., of the Revolutionary war. John Grant, Jr., of Baltimore, was an American soldier in the war of 1812, and died in Canada while on an expedition in pursuit of British forces. Capt. John Grant, Sr., came from Scotland with his brother and that brother was the grandfather of Gen. U. S. Grant. William M. Grant, the subject's father, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the age of nine years he was left an orphan and went to Pennsylvania in a good farming district and lived with one of his father's brothers, who reared him. When he became a young man he learned to be an auger maker, and became a very skilled workman. When about twenty-five years old he became an engineer on a vessel plying between Baltimore, Maryland, and New Orleans. He made his home much of the time with his brother, John Grant, who then lived at Natchez, and who invented the first dredge used in Baltimore harbor. Later John Grant was taken by the government to New York harbor to build a dredge there. He finally became very prosperous, and built the canal around the city of Natchez that was used by the government during the Civil war, and he made a great deal of money out of the canal tools. The subject's mother lived in Hart ford county until her marriage, after which she continued to reside there for some years. 962 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. John R. Grant was born in Har ford county, Maryland, in 1849. He was one of the family of nine children, as follows : Catherine Rogers Grant, widow of William Hoopman, of Byesville, whose sketch is noted elsewhere; Susannah Ames Grant, now the wife of John N. Fordyce, living in Harding county; Ohio ; Anna Mary, wife of William Thompson, living near Lore City; John Roland Grant, subject of this sketch; Lucinda Jane, wife of G. S. Trenner, the banker of Byesville, whose sketch appears elsewhere; Elizabeth Barrett Grant, of Ashtabula county, Ohio; Elizabeth Merriman Grant, widow of W. T. Trenner, deceased, lives in Byesville with Mrs. William H. Hoopman ; Marcieline Roby Grant, wife of Charles Fry, lives on a farm two miles from Byesville; Adora Mari married Elmer Burt and lives in Byesville. It was in April, 1856, that John Roland Grant's parents came with their children to Guernsey county, Ohio. They located just east of Byesville on the north side of Wills creek, where the father, William Grant, bought the old John Bye homestead. For a time they lived in the old brick house that is still standing in good condition, but a few months later moved into the large frame house close by, which Jonathan Bye had just vacated. There was a store room in the latter house and there William M. Grant ran a general store about twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. William M. Grant lived at Byesville the rest of their days. Mr. Grant was a Democrat, took an interest in the life of the community and held various township offices. Both he and his wife belonged to the Methodist Protestant church. Mrs. Grant died March 18, 1878, and he died May 30, 1885. John Roland Grant grew up at Byesville to which he came with his parents in 1856. In May, 1873, Mr. Grant married Sadie L. Orr, daughter of Sanford and Phoebe (Burt) Orr. She was born and reared near Byesville. After his marriage he built a house on Gomber street in Cambridge and took a position as baggagemaster and freight man for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. He continued there about two years, then moved to the east part of the county and raised a crop of tobacco. The next spring, in the year 1877, he moved back to the home place east of Byesville and moved into the brick house on his father's farm, and it was there that Mrs. Davis was born, after which they remained there about two years, then removed to Byesville, engaged in various enterprises, chiefly running a compressed air machine at Old Akron mine. He continued there till the big shut down in the coal mine about 1888. He quit the mines at the expiration of that time and he and his brother, E. B. Grant, bought the store of Oscar Holberg and dealt in groceries and provisions under the name of Grant Brothers. They GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 963 continued about three years and then, on account of hard times, sold out to L. S. Reasoner. After that Mr. Grant and his brother and two others established a labor paper at Byesville called The Industrial World. They published it about six months at Byesville, then moved it to Jackson county, Ohio, where they continued about six months longer, and was there about three years longer, most of the time in the coal mines. At the expiration of this time Mr. Grant moved to Leesville, Carroll county, Ohio, and worked in the mines near Sherrodsville. Was there about two years, then moved to Canal Dover and started to work building the new Reeves tin mill. When it was completed he was made night foreman and worked at that for about seven years, until the mill was closed down and removed from the town. He then went to Newcomerstown to take a place as night foreman at the new sheet mill there, but as the prospects there for a successful mill were discouraging he remained only three months, then removed to Canton, Ohio, where he took a job as night foreman of the Trust Mills about four years. Then he came to Byesville, and took a position laying the pipe line at Derwent, and then got to running the electric pump at the Ideal mine and has been there ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Grant have five children : John Roland, Jr., who married Margaret McClintock, of Urichsville, lives at Strutha, Ohio; Adora May married Andrew Tinker, of Conneaut, where they reside; Maude is the wife of William H. Davis, Jr., whose sketch appears elsewhere in these pages ; Sanford 0. Grant, who married Jane Smith and lives at Cambridge, is a roller in the sheet mill; Myrtle married Charles Brand and lives in Byesville. Mr. and Mrs. Grant are both of Spiritualist faith. JAMES MADISON WILSON. The family of which the gentleman whose name heads this sketch is a member has been long and favorably known in Guernsey county, and for several generations the name of Wilson has been borne by many of the most prominent and active citizens of certain communities of that county. They have been men of industry and intelligence, who have, by the exercise of these talents, attained their success in life, and James Madison Wilson is one who has been aided to reach his own success by the memory of the family traditions and examples. James Madison Wilson was born in the southwestern part of Valley 964 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. township, Guernsey county, on November 18, 1856, the son of William Craig and Mary (Seaton) Wilson. William Craig Wilson was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on September To, 1809. His father was James Moore Wilson, who came with his wife from Vermont to Pennsylvania, and made that state his home until death. William. Craig Wilson came to Guernsey county in early days, first locating at Cumberland, where he was for several years a blacksmith. About 1831 he bought a farm of eighty acres in Valley township, and there spent the rest of his life. He prospered in farming, and added to his land until he owned four hundred and twenty-one acres. William Craig Wilson was first married to Pulina Heinlein, by whom he had five children. His wife and three children perished when the cholera scourge swept over the county ; the survivors were Harriett, who married Dr. William Helm, and Sarah, who married Andrew E. Scott. William Craig Wilson afterward Married Mary Seaton, who was born near New Concord in Muskingum county, Ohio, a daughter of Robert and Nancy Richardson Seaton. Three sons were born to this marriage, one of whom died in early infancy. The others are John William and James Madison. William C. Wilson was a Republican, and held various township offices, He and his wife were both stanch members of Bethel Methodist Episcopal church, and were among its founders, while Mr. Wilson was identified with the church as an official all his life. He died on August 30, 1891; his wife survived until July 1907. James Madison Wilson grew up on the home farm. He attended Muskingum College, also Northwestern University at Ada, Ohio. From 1881 to 1893 he was engaged in school teaching in Guernsey county, and since that time has followed farming on the old home place. As a teacher he was very efficient and commanded the love and respect of his pupils. He was married in 1882 to Lottie Johnson, the daughter of William Thomas and N. Cathren (Clark) Johnson, his neighbor from girlhood, Two children were born to them, both dying in early infancy, the mother and one child dying at the same time, on May 28, 1883, and the other child four days later. In 1885 Mr. Wilson married Ida M. Crow, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Wilson) Crow, who was born in the same neighborhood as Mr. Wilson. John Crow was the son of William J. and Margaret Jane (Johnson) Crow. William J. Crow came from Pennsylvania in the early thirties, when he was about twenty-one, and entered a whole section of land from the government. This was located in the southwest portion of Valley township, and part of it extended over into Noble county. He later bought more land, increasing his holdings to eight hundred acres. Here he married Margaret GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 965 Jane Johnson, who was the daughter of John Johnson, one of the early settlers of Buffalo township, Noble county, whose farm adjoined Mr. Crow's. To this marriage seven children were born : Michael, John, Emma (who married Samuel Dollman); George, Nan (who married James Dollman), one daughter who died when two years old, and Alexander. John Crow married Elizabeth Wilson, the daughter of Thomas J. and (Witten) Wilson. She was the sister of Henry H. Wilson, whose sketch gives her ancestry. John Crow continued on the old Crow homestead the remainder of his life. Five children were born to this marriage, William Thomas, Charles Franklin, Ida May, Theodosia and Mary Amanda. Mrs. Crow died on April 23, 1897. She had been a faithful Christian and a devoted mother. John Crow died on April 11, 191o. He was a lifelong Presbyterian, faithful to the teachings of his church, and well known and highly esteemed by those who knew him. Mr. and Mrs. James M. Wilson are the parents of four children : Earl, who married Elizabeth Wilson, of near Cambridge, is a fireman on the Panhandle railroad, and lives at Dennison, Ohio; Reed, the youngest, is at home attending school; Byrl Meredith, the oldest, died when two years old; Paul C. the third son, died from accidental scalding when fourteen months old. Mr. Wilson is a Republican and has held various township offices, to the satisfaction of the people. He and his wife are members of the Bethel Methodist church. Mr. Wilson has been active in his community in many ways, is an enterprising and progressive farmer, and a man of considerable influence, whose judgment is much esteemed. JOHN A. VESSELS. A successful and highly respected agriculturist and stock man of Westland township, Guernsey county, is John A. Vessels, who maintains one of the choice farms of his vicinity, which shows at a glance that its owner is a gentleman of not only good judgment in the matter of managing a landed estate, but also a man of correct taste. Mr. Vessels was born in Westland township, this county, on August 5, 1844, and is the son of Nathaniel W. and Elizabeth (Mcllvain) Vessels. Nathaniel W. Vessels was born in the state of Delaware and there grew up to manhood. He came to Belmont county, Ohio, while a young man and there married Elizabeth McIlvain, daughter of Andrew and Martha Mcllvain. She 966 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. was born and reared in Belmont county. Andrew Mcllvain entered a hundred and sixty acres of land in Westland township, this county, having walked all the way through the wilderness to Zanesville to enter his land, and then walked back home. The young couple, who became the parents of John Vessels, then came to the new farm and entered on the pioneer task of clearing the land and improving it. There the subject and six other children were born, namely : Annie, who married Benjamin Steele, is now deceased; John A., of this review ; Sadie, who died when three years old; James W. lived in Cambridge, and died in the spring of 191o, leaving a wife and two sons and one daughter ; Erastus S. is married and is farming one-half mile south of New Concord, Muskingum county ; Frances is the widow of Robert Rice and lives in Cambridge; Flora died in childhood. John A. Vessels grew up on the home farm and was educated in the home schools. On August 5, 1862, when eighteen years old, on his birthday, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged after being disabled by illness. He was four months in the hospital and was discharged about a year after his enlistment. He re-enlisted about a year later in Company H, One Hundred Seventy-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and other fighting and proved to be a very gallant soldier. Mr. Vessels returned to the home farm in this county and remained there until his marriage, except for one year spent in the west. He was married on November 11, 1868, to Mary S. Johns, who was born and reared at Claysville, this county. She is the daughter of James M. and Rachel (Forest) Johns. Her folks came from Jefferson county, Ohio. They lived at Claysville until about 1868, then moved to Athens county, where the father died. Her mother now lives at Columbus, and is over eighty years old. For the next five years after his marriage the subject followed farming, saw-milling and carpentering, around his home locality. About 1890 he bought the farm where he now lives, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres in Westland township, a mile and half north of Claysville. He has a well kept farm and for some time he raised a great amount of fruit and also raised a great many sheep. He has made a success of all lines of farming and has a very cozy home. Mr. Vessels' family consists of four boys and two girls, namely : Charles, born in 1870, died when thirty years old, unmarried; Carl W., born October 30, 1871, lives in Florida and is a photographer at Apalachicola; he is unmarried. Birtie W., born February 16, 1873, married Maggie Pyles, sister of Thomas Pyles, whose sketch appears herein. They live one-half mile GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 967 north of Claysville, on a farm. Maude Della married Bert S. Hendershot, the blacksmith of Claysville. Clyde A., born March 16, 1878, is at home. Daisy Lulu married Chauncey Camp and lives in Cambridge. James Johns. born August 5, 1885, is at home. Flora Florence died when six months old. In politics Mr. Vessels is an independent Democrat, but he has twice been elected trustee of Westland township, which is about three-fourths Republican. He is a member of Cumberland Lodge No. 134, Free and Accepted Masons. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church at Claysville, as do his wife and children. DENNIS CONROY. From our sister country across the Atlantic, England's "merrie isle," the land to which we owe such a debt of gratitude and which we will ever hold in highest respect, comes one of the well known and influential residents of Valley township, Guernsey county, Dennis Conroy, who since coming here has benefited alike himself and those with whom he has come into contact. His birth occurred in Lancashire, England, in 1863, and he is the son of John and Ellen Conroy, people of much sterling worth, plain and honest, who spent their lives in England, and there the son, Dennis, grew to maturity and waS educated, but owing to the fact that early in life he was compelled to hustle for himself his schooling was interrupted. His mother died when he was five years of age and when only nine years old he went into the coal mines to work and he has followed mining all his life. When a lad he had heard of the opportunities for poor young men in America. so when twenty-one years of age he set sail for our shores, coming direct to Guernsey county, Ohio, and took up his residence at Byesville when there were only a few houses here. He at once found work at the mines and he worked at the old Akron mine until it was "worked out," then went to Trail Run, where he was mine foreman about eight years, and about 1901 he was made superintendent of this mine with from two hundred and fifty to two hundred and seventy-five men under his direction. He soon proved himself to be of inestimable value to this firm. He is fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his line of business, is a good disciplinarian, knowing well how to handle men in order to get the greatest and best results, keeping everything under a splendid system. Remaining at Trail Run until about 1908, he came to the Puritan mine in Valley township and has since been connected with the same, giving his usual high grade service. 968 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. Mr. Conroy was married in 1887 to Sarah Hillyer, daughter of Thomas and Rachel Hillyer. She was born near Hartford in Valley township, this county, and there she grew to maturity, was educated and lived until her marriage. This union has resulted in the birth of two children, John and William, both at home. In 1893 Mr. Conroy bought a place near Senecaville, a farm of fifty acres, and with the exception of one year lived there until in March, 1908, when he sold out and bought his present beautiful home a short distance east of the Puritan mine. He has a rich and well improved farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres, most of it good bottom land between his dwelling and the mine. The house is located on a high knoll at the east side of the bottom field, overlooking Wills creek valley, a splendid view. In front of the house is a beautiful lawn set with various ornamental shrubbery, artistically trimmed and well-kept, the whole making a beautiful home. Fraternally, Mr. Conroy is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Byesville and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Senecaville. He and his wife are prominent in the social life of this vicinity and have a wide circle of friends. ABRAHAM M. MERRY. One of the men who has stamped the impress of his strong individuality upon the minds of the people of Wills township, Guernsey county, in a manner as to render him one of the conspicuous characters of this locality is Abraham M. Merry, the able and popular superintendent of the county infirmary. Among his characteristics are faithfulness to duty and a strict adherence to a fixed purpose. Mr. Merry was born March 25, 1871, in Center township, Noble county, Ohio. He is the son of Josephus and Catherine (Bryan) Merry, both parents natives of Noble county, the father a successful farmer, progressive and prosperous, and a man held in high esteem by all, and the representative of a family prominent in the affairs of Noble county. His death occurred on February 9, 1897, and that of his wife on March 3o, 1907. They never resided in Guernsey county. Abraham M. Merry spent his boyhood and youth on his father's farm and was educated in the common schools of Noble county. He left home in 1892 and served as one of the Columbian guards at the Chicago World's fair GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 969 for over a year. Upon his retirement from this work he returned home in Noble county, and on December 3o, 1893, he was married to Lucy A. Peters, daughter of Solomon and Sarah (Shriver) Peters, of Byesville, Guernsey county. Mr. Peters was a prominent and highly respected man, and his death occurred about 1884. Mrs. Peters is still living in Cambridge. To Mr. and Mrs. Merry have been born three sons and two daughters : Willard F., Charles A., Thomas S. (died at the age of three years), Helma B. and Lucile E. After his marriage Mr. Merry located in Byesville and engaged in farming and also worked in the mines, in fact, he was employed in various capacities for some time. In 1903 he bought a farm near Hiramsburg, Noble county, which he sold and then moved to a farm in Westland township. He was successful as a general farmer, and because of his progressive ideas in conducting a farm and also because of his public spirit and his willingness to serve others while looking after his own affairs, in March. 1909, he was chosen superintendent of the county farm, which is located three miles north of Lore City in Wills township. The farm consists of two hundred and twelve acres, and tinder Mr. Merry's administration has been brought to a high standard of cultivation and is now a model farm, being managed under twentieth-century rules governing high grade husbandry. The buildings are kept in perfect order and in excellent repair, as are the fences, lawns, etc. Weeds are all kept down and the entire farm has the appearance of a well-kept garden, indicating that a gentleman of excellent taste and one who is not afraid of work has its management in hand. Mrs. Merry is a very competent matron, keeps everything under her charge in a neat condition and in perfect order, thoroughly clean, being an admirable and competent helpmeet to her husband, and, like him, is well liked by all who know her. Mr. Merry is a Republican and iS active in the affairs of Guernsey county, and is frequently a delegate to county, district and state conventions and he has been influential in party affairs. While he has never been an office seeker, he has long been a party worker, and a valued citizen in all walks of life. He is a member of the Byesville lodge of Knights of Pythias, and he has always been a worker in the cause of temperance, and he takes an active part in everything that pertains for the general advancement of the community. He and his wife are both church and Sunday school workers and their moral influence upon the community is very marked. Mrs. Merry has a good common-school education and is a woman of splendid tastes and well informed. No profanity or liquor are permitted about the grounds of the county farm. consequently the wholesome atmosphere about this home is like that of a large, congenial and well ordered household. Mr. Merry is a splendid citizen 970 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. and worthy of the confidence and esteem that are freely accorded him by all classes, irrespective of party alignment, and the county has never had a better official. WILLIAM SHERMAN SHEPPARD. The success that William Sheppard, of Oxford township, Guernsey county, has gained by his persistent and honorable methods have proven him to be worthy of a place in his county's history along with other progressive and sterling citizens. He was born on February 7, 1869, and is the representative of one of the old and prominent families of this locality, being the son of Dr. Isaac H. and Harriett (Grimes) Sheppard, and a brother of Charles S. and Benjamin F. Sheppard, whose sketches appear elsewhere in this volume. William S. Sheppard grew to maturity on the home farm and attended the common schools; also went to the Fairview Normal School, afterwards attending the commercial college at Zanesville, Ohio. He went to Oklahoma in 1891 as a traveling salesman for a shoe house, and during the winter when traveling was bad he taught school for one term. He remained in Oklahoma one and one-half years, returning to Oxford township, Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1893, and engaged in the mercantile business in Winchester, continuing this for two years, when he closed out his business and bought the farm where he now lives on the National pike, two and one-half miles west of Fairview, in Oxford. He has two hundred and thirty acres of well improved and highly productive land, and engages in general farming and tobacco growing, but he specializes in breeding and raising thoroughbred Delano sheep, and he finds a very ready market owing to their superior quality, his best animals being in large demand for breeding purposes. He also buys wool extensively during the wool season for eastern companies, and he is a fine judge of wool. He is very successful in whatever he turns his attention to, being a man of rare soundness of judgment, excellent foresight and discernment. Mr. Sheppard has been twice married, first on September 18, 189o, to Ida A. Henderson, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Boyd) Henderson, of Oxford township. Two sons were born to this union, Homer and Derbert, both living. The mother of these children was called to her rest in March, 1902. The second marriage of Mr. Sheppard was solemnized on April 27, 1906, to Winnie B. Spencer, daughter of Richard L. and Maggie Spencer, a prominent farmer and sheep raiser, and a pioneer family of Millwood town- GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 971 ship. Both parents are still living. This second union resulted in the birth of one daughter, Mildred L. Mr. Sheppard has an attractive, modern and convenient residence, and his farm buildings are all modern and substantial, in fact, everything about his place indicates thrift, prosperity and that a gentleman of splendid tastes has its management in hand. In addition to his farming and stock raising, he deals in farm lands and has been very successful in this business as well as his other enterprises. Politically, he is a Republican and is a pronounced party man. taking a great interest in party affairs, but he is not an office seeker, preferring to devote his attention exclusively to his large business interests. He and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian church, and Mr. Sheppard has for years been a trustee of the same, and both he and his wife are active in church and Sunday school work. Their home is an ideal country place and is known to a wide circle of the best people of the county as a place of hospitality and good cheer, Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard being prominent in the social life of the community. CHAISE J. SPAID. Energetic and progressive, Chaise J. Spaid holds a high rank among the business men of Cambridge, Ohio, and he comes of one of the best old families of Guernsey county. His birth occurred at Hartford, Valley township, July 31, 1871. He is the son of J. E. Spaid, of Hartford, a complete record of whose life is to be found on another page of this work. The gentleman whose name heads this review grew to maturity at Hartford and attended the local schools. When he was about thirteen years of age he began work in the mines, assisting in opening Spaid's mine at Buffalo, said to be the fifth mine opened in Guernsey county. For thirteen years he worked at mining and carpenter work, having done every kind of work about a mine and was mine boss for some time, working a great deal in a mine at Cumberland. In 1897 he entered the saw mill and lumber business at Hartford and continued successfully in the same for about five years. Then he bought a planing mill at Seneca, which he still owns in connection with a lumber yard there. About 1908 he purchased a planing mill and lumber yard at Derwent and he still operates it, being very successful in this line of endeavor. Early in 1909 he started a mercantile business at Buffalo, which he still maintains, having bought out C. W. Corbett. On September 3, 1909, he bought out the McCoy 972 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. store at Dement, which he continues to operate with his usual success. In the spring of 1910 he started a new store at Walhonding No. 2 mine, in Valley township, and he still runs it, having built up an excellent trade with the surrounding country. Mr. Spaid is also the owner of several valuable properties at Columbus, Ohio, and he has eight rental properties at Walhonding No. 2 mine. He has been most successful as a business man, being energetic, farseeing and possessing rare tact and discrimination. Owing to his reputation for fair dealing and scrupulous honesty among his fellow men in all the relations of life, he has the good will and confidence of all who know him or have had dealings with him. He has done much in a material way toward the progress of Guernsey county. In view of the fact that he was compelled to start out in life under rather discouraging circumstances and that he has accepted help from no one, Mr. Spaid is deserving of the highest credit for what he has accomplished. He has never been subdued by obstacles or discouraged by any of the adverse circumstances that often thwart men in their struggle for success. He has succeeded in mining operations, the lumber, planing mill and mercantile business. To start with nothing and at the early age of thirty-nine to be the owner of two planing mills, two lumber yards, three general stores, besides numerous rental properties, is certainly not a bad record, and yet, with all his success, Mr. Spaid is a straightforward, unassuming practical man of affairs whom to know is to respect and admire. Fraternally lie belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On August 25, 1895, Mr. Spaid was married to Frances V. Marquis, of Sharon, Noble county, Ohio, where she was born and reared and where she received a good education. She is a lady of refinement and a favorite with a wide circle of friends. Her parents were Nelson and Elizabeth S. Marquis, both of whom are now deceased. They were both natives of Noble county and were prominent among the earlier residents. Their parents were also reared there, the family on both sides being influential in pioneer days. W. G. NICHOLS. A man of marked individuality and a leader in the affairs of southwestern Guernsey county is W. G. Nichols, editor and proprietor of The Echo at Cumberland. His life has been one of honest endeavor and filled with good GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 973 deeds throughout, for he has ever stood ready to foster and develop any movement that makes for the general uplift of his community. Mr. Nichols is an American by adoption only, having been born in Liverpool, England, October 8, 1870. He came to America with his parents when less than two years of age. He attended school some in his early boyhood and when nine years of age entered his father's printing office and while yet very young mastered the "art preservative." He is the son of George G. and Susan (Wines) Nichols, both natives of England, where they were reared, educated and married. George G. was the son of William T. and Ann (Garraway) Nichols. She was the daughter of George Garraway, a noted English composer of music. The Garraways were connected with the royalty of England. William T. Nichols, the paternal grandfather, was an officer in the English army and was prominently identified with the service for many years, being a major in the First Dragoon Guards (the Queensis body guard), and for thirteen years was champion swordsman of the English army. He spent his entire life in England. Susan Wines' mother (the grandmother of the subject of this sketch) was a Heale, a cousin or second cousin to Edward Everett Hale, the great American author. George G. Nichols learned the printer's trade in England. He came to America in 1872, first stopped at Bellevue, Ohio, where he worked for a time. He was later employed on the Toledo Blade with Nasby and for that paper was present at the Ashtabula wreck, and witnessed the recovery of the body of P. P. Bliss, the hymn writer. He was also employed later on the Cincinnati Enquirer. In 1884 he established a newspaper at Zanesville, Ohio, the Family Herald, a weekly, national organ of the Independent Order of Rechabites, a temperance order. After closing out this, he engaged in the history work travels a few years and later engaged as an advertising writer and manager. He later organized the Northside Business Men's Association, at Columbus, Ohio. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, a fluent writer and a splendid organizer. His home and family remained at Zanesville. He was attending to some business at Columbus when he took sick and died, on July 1o, 1891. He was a member of the Congregational church. His wife survived about six months, dying in January, 1902. They were the parents of the following children : Ann, now Mrs. L. W. German, of Zanesville ; Mary, now Mrs. S. C. Hammond, of Zanesville ; John H., of East Ringold, Ohio; W. G., of this review ; George R., registry clerk in the postoffice at Zanesville; Fanny, now Mrs. E. W. Harvey, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. W. G. Nichols, of this review, commenced his work as printer at the age of nine years, as stated above, and he has filled all positions in all branches of 974 - GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO. the business in Pittsburg and other cities. He filled these positions with credit to himself and with satisfaction to his employers. He continued to work in various newspaper offices until 1894, when he bought a job printing plant at Zanesville, remaining there four years. He then came to Cumberland and took charge of the plant here, which he found very much run down. He moved his job plant from Zanesville, and began operations here in March, 1898, starting up anew, with an exceptionally well equipped plant, and he was successful from the first. He has one of the best papers of its type in the state, the Echo being all that could be desired from a mechanical viewpoint, well edited, its columns teeming with the latest, crispiest and best news of the day, and its editorials strong, well written and convincing. It has been rendered valuable as an advertising medium, and its circulation has gradually increased until the list now numbers over nine hundred. He has all up-to- date equipment and he has made a success where others have failed. He does all kinds of job work in a neat, attractive manner, is prompt and tries to please. He has made a success here and is the owner of a valuable, substantial and convenient three-story building, and has several apartments which he rents in this commodious structure, besides his office. Mr. Nichols was married in 1895, at Zanesville, to Nellie B. Hocking, a lady of intelligence and culture, who was born at Zanesville. She is the daughter of Richard Hocking, a descendant of a pioneer family of Ohio. He was born in what is now the District of Columbia. His father was a native of England, and an uncle of his father preceded him to Ohio. His home city was Logan, England, the place where the Hockings originated, and when the first member of this family came to Ohio he was a surveyor and laid out and was instrumental in naming Hocking county after the family and the county seat was called Logan, after the old home town. Richard Hocking was one of the first rolling mill men to locate at Zanesville. He still resides there, being now seventy-five years of age. His wife also survives, He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the chairs in this lodge. He has been a faithful member over fifty years. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hocking : Harry, manager of the Laughlin plant of the Whittaker-Glessner Steel Company, at Martin's Ferry, Ohio; Alice, now Mrs. H. J. Kimble, of Zanesville ; Ida, Mrs. Sheridan Swingle, of Stovertown ; Richard, Jr., is at home; Nellie B., wife of W. G. Nichols, of this review ; Abbie, now Mrs. Guy Fitz, of Zanesville ; George was killed in a railroad accident ; Ella, who died in in fancy. GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO - 975 One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Nichols, Alice B., who is living at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are members of the Methodist church. Mr. Nichols is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; also Buckeye Camp No. 3224, Modern Woodmen, at Zanesville; also Merit Tent, No. 415, Knights of the Maccabees, of Cumberland; Rebekah Lodge, No. 338; also Cumberland Chapter No. 110, Eastern Star. MrS. Nichols is prominently identified with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the DaughterS of Rebekah, and the Eastern Star.