Hocking County Ohio
Hocking County Ohio
Biographies
WILLIAM WALTER
STUMPS, HON. JOSEPH
C, Member of the Sixty-second General Assembly of Ohio, was
born in Hocking county, Ohio, January 20th, 1824. He is the son of Peter
and Mary (Culp) Stumps. His father was a farmer, and his advantages for an
education were limited to the winter terms of the district school. Here he
grew to manhood. Taught school seven years; served as Justice of the Peace
two terms. He learned the trade of wool-carding and followed it seven
years. He was married in May, 1844, to Malinda Julian, and in 1863 removed
to Van Wert county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and where
he still resides. His wife having died, he married, in 1872, Dorothy
Conrad. He was elected to the lower House of the General Assembly, on
the Democratic ticket, in October, 1875, and is holding this position at
the present time (April, 1876). Source: The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Ohio of the
Nineteenth Century ,Cincinnati: Galaxy Pub. Co.,
1876 AMBLIN,
EMMETT, Coal Operator, was born in Madison county, New York,
August 31st, 1826. His father and mother were both natives of New York.
His parents moved to Pennsylvania in 1829; thence to Steuben county, New
York, in 1834; and finally settled in Hocking county, Ohio, in 1838.
Emmett received his education in the schools of Hocking county. His father
dying January 20th, 1839 , the support of his mother and sister devolved
upon young Emmett. He assumed the charge willingly and with stout heart,
determined to make the best of his opportunities. He secured work as
a laborer on the Hocking Canal, and was so employed for six years. From
1845 until 1847 he was engaged on a farm. In the latter year he rented a
farm, which he tilled until 1860, when he purchased a farm in Hocking
county. In this year he was elected Treasurer of Hocking county, being
re-elected at the expiration of his term, in 1862. He vacated this office
in 1865. In the meantime he continued farming and stock raising until
1869, when he sold his land to the county for an infirmary, and resigned
the County Commissionership to which he had been elected in 1867. Since
then he has been engaged in operating and speculating in coal lands in
Hocking and Perry counties. He was the first in his section to turn
his attention to the valuable deposits of coal which had lain there
awaiting the energy and enterprise that should develop them. A life of
thrift and industry has enabled him to become possessed of some of the
best coal lands in Ohio. Mr. Hamblin now makes his home in Logan county.
May 16th, 1847, Mr. Hamblin married Calistia Cook, of Hocking county, who
has borne him four boys, all living. Source: The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Ohio of
the Nineteenth Century ,Cincinnati: Galaxy Pub. Co.,
1876 Harper John Harper was born Jan.
4, 1833, and is a son of John Harper, who lived in Cincinnati, and died
with cholera in 1832. Mr. Harper was married March 20, 1850, to Miss Annie
Harrison, who came from England about two years previous to that time.
They have eleven children of whom ten are living-Catherine, Alice, Sarah,
Benjamin, Lincoln, Lillie, Nira, Mary, Josephine and Blanche. Martha died
when she was about four years old. Mr. Harper is a very successful farmer
and has in his possession 100 acres of land, residing on section 14, Ward
Township. He sold $16,000 worth of coal land in the last year. He is now,
and has been for the last six years, Township
Treasurer, and was Land Appraiser one year. from:
History of Hocking Valley, Ohio Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co.,
1883
Devoll Philip Devoll was born July 2, 1811, and is the son
of Joseph and Sarah Devoll, who came to Ohio from Rhode Island in 1811 or
1812, and located in Ward Township in 1839. Mr. Devoll was married
in November , 1831, to Miss Sarah Allen, a daughter of Asher and Polly Allen. They
are the parents of six children---Cynthia, Polly, Eliza, Lorilla, Emma, and
Eva. Mr. and Mrs.Devoll have been members of the Bible Christian church fifty
years. from: History of
Hocking Valley, Ohio Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co.,
1883 Jackson Oliver D.
Jackson, owner and proprietor of mines and store,and founder of the town
of Jacksonville, is the only son of Joshua H. and Mary (Bean) Jackson. He
was born in York Township, Athens County, May 18, 1848, and lived there
until 1854, when his parents removed to Ward Township, Hocking County. At
the age of nineteen years he began teaching school, and taught during the
winter season four years. Aug. 25, 1872, he and his father established a
hardware store at New Straitsville, Perry Co., Ohio, under the firm name
of J. H. Jackson & Son. In September, 1875, he purchased his father's
interest and continued the business alone until May 1, 1877, when he sold
a portion of his business there, and removed a portion of his stock to
Bessemer and established a general mercantile store, and in November
following removed his business to Buchtel, and April 1, 1878, he sold an
interest in the business to the Akron Iron Company. He was then having
full charge of the management of the store and live-stock business of the
company until Sept. 10, 1882, when he sold his interest to the Akron Iron
Company. In April, 1880, he purchased the first lands where he is now in
business, and has added adjoining lands continually to the present time.
He began business at this point Sept. 15, 1882, and is now shipping coal
from his mines, and has a village laid out covering sixty acres. Sept. 7,
1875, he married Jane, daughter of David and Tryphena (Judd) Eggleston, of
Ward Township, Hocking County. They have four children---Minnie E.,
William W., Frederick H. and Edward B.
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883 Carpenter Abel Carpenter, farmer and stock-raiser, was born in
Falls Township, Hocking County, July 22, 1836, and is the son of Sampson and
Catherine Carpenter, who were among the early pioneers of the County. Our
subject was reared on the farm where he now resides and received his early
education in the common schools. He was married Dec. 5, 1861 to Miss Phoebe
Ridenour, daughter of William and Rachel Ridenour. They have seven children-
Simeon, Eliza, Christina, William, Edward and Emma. Mr. Carpenter has a fine
farm containing 166 acres of improved land on which he has erected a very
pleasant residence of modern style. He has held
several offices of trust in both township and county. He has been Township
treasurer and Trustee for several years and is at present time County
Commissioner, this being his second term. Voris
ANDREW W. VORIS, farmer, eldest son of Isaiah and Nancy (Hughes) Voris, was
born near Bremen, Fairfield Co., Ohio, June 20, 1838. In 1849 his parents
removed to Logan and lived two years. In 1852 his father purchased a farm three
miles east of Logan. He was reared on a farm and educated at the common schools.
At the age of twenty-one years he rented a farm near Gore. A year later he
purchased a farm in Marion Township. Feb 14, 1865 he enlisted in Company H,
Eighteenth Ohio Infantry, at Athens, Ohio, as a private for one years and was on
garrison duty at Chattanooga, Tenn., until the last of May 1865. They were then
transferred to Augusta, GA., where he was detailed on special duty in the
commissary department. Nov. 9, 1865, he was mustered out near Augusta, GA., and
returned to Columbus, Ohio, where he received his discharge, and returned home.
Some time after returning from the Army he sold his farm and rented a farm one
year. He then purchased the farm he had sold and in 1872 purchased the farm
where he resides. Aug 7, 1860, he married Charlotte, daughter of Robert and Anna
(McGee) Sanderson, of Hocking County. They have six children - Emma, wife of
Noah Carpenter, of Hocking County; Charles J., Lucy, Iona A., Francis A. and
Shady V. at home. William I., died aged three years; Benjamin J., in infancy;
George, aged four years; Asa aged three years, and Augustus in infancy. His wife
died June 22, 1881, aged forty-seven years. She was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church. He also was member of the some church and Superintendent of
Sabbath-school. Riggs SAMUEL RIGGS, son of
Noah and Nancy (Shepler) Riggs, was born in Washington County, Pa., May
22, 1828. When an infant his parents removed to West Virginia, and lived
near Wheeling till he was seventeen years of age. In 1845 they located in
Guernsey County, Ohio, where they lived nine years, when they moved to
Hocking County, where they resided till their death. Our subject was
married on Dec. 25, 1856, to Sarah Ann, daughter of Samuel Johnston, one
of the first settlers of Hocking County. They have ten children - William
J., married to Laura Wright, and residing on a part of the farm; Charles
W., Elizabeth, Mary J., Orlando A., Louisa B., George W., Samuel G., Noah
F. and Ethel M. After marriage Mr. Riggs moved to his farm in Washington
Township, where he resided for twenty years. In 1876, he purchased his
present residence adjoining his farm. In his business career he has been
very successful, having begun life without anything, but by his industry
and careful management he has at present an excellent farm of 567 acres.
He has been connected with the Methodist church for twenty-two years,
being at present a member of Mount Pleasant church. Politically he is a
Republican, having always been a strong supporter of that party. Mr. Noah
Riggs is a native of Washington County. He died in 1871. His wife, Nancy
(Shepler) Riggs, a native of Westmoreland County, Pa., died in 1862. They
reared a family of eight children, two sons and six daughters, our subject
being the fourth child.
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio Chicago:
Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883
Goss
David Goss,
cabinet-maker and undertaker, fourth son of Martin and Margaret (Strong)
Goss, was born near Lancaster, Pa., March 27, 1813. When he was two years
of age, his parents came to Hocking County, Ohio, and settled near
Millville, where he lived until manhood, working on a farm and attending
the common school. He began working at the cabinet trade when a boy, and
when twenty-one years old opened a shop near Millville, where he worked
three yeare, In 1837 he purchased the farm where he now resides, and
worked at his trade until 1882. He has preserved measures of 2,500 coffins
made by him during the time He has been engaged in the business. April 8,
1846, he married Magdalena, daughter of Frederick and Leah (Fought)
Friesner, of Hocking County. They had ten children, five living -
Martin, of Hocking County; Ellen, wife of John Evans; Effie, Ida, and Edward at
home. Israel died in infancy; Simeon at eight years of age; Mary at four years
of age. Frederick was drowned in the Hocking river June 4, 1865, aged thirteen
years; and Emma, June 3, 1878 in her twentieth year. She was a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Goss was born March 18, 1827, and died July
22,1871. She was a member of the Albright Church. He and his daughters are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883
Goss Martin Goss, farmer,
cabinet-maker and undertaker, son of David and Magdalena (Friemer) Gass,
was born in Falls Township, Hocking County, Jan. 5, 1847, and lived with
his parents until manhood. During his boyhood he worked for wages,
and received a common-school education. At the age of seventeen years his
father put him to work in his cabinet shop, where he remained until
twenty. two years of age. In February, 1869, he purchased the farm where
he resides, and has carried on farming in connection with his cabinet and
undertaking business. He has preserved memoranda of his work, and has made
200 coffins. He has the most beautiful location and residence in the
county. Oct. 8, 1868, he married Lucinda A., danghter of George and
Annamary (Pontius) Hansel, who was born Dec. 10,1847. They had one
daughter Mary Magdalena, who died in infancy. They have an adopted
daughter-Emma J. Goss. He and wife are members of the United Brethren
church. He is Class-leader, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and
Superintendent of the Sabbath-school.
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883 Friesner William E. Friesner, school-teacher, third son of Simeon
and Elizabeth A. (Zeller) Friesner, was born in Falls Township, Hocking County,
Aug. 19, 1860, and lived with his parents until manhood, working on the farm. He
received a common-school education and attended select school three terms. Since
the age of nineteen years he has been teaching school. He is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal church. from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883
Friesner Simeon Friesner,
deceased, farmer,son of Frederick and Leah (Fought) Friesner, was born in
Perry County, Ohio, Oct. 4, 1823, and lived with his parents until
manhood. He taught school a number of terms before he was twenty-one years
of age. At the age of twenty-one years he purchased the farm near
Enterprise, where his family resides and where he lived until his death.
Sept.16,1847, he married Elizabeth A., daughter of Jacob and Catharine
(Goss) Zeller. They had eight children, only three now living-Henry F., of
Van Wert County, Ohio; Mary E., wife of Joseph Klinger, of Paulding
County, Ohio; William E. at home. Lydia C., wife of William Knight, of
Hocking County, died Feb. 13, 1873, age twenty-five years; Jacob F., July
4,1880, aged thirty years; Almeda J., Oct. 9, 1864:, aged six years;
Simeon E., Sept. 17,186-1, aged one year; John W., Oct. 8, 1882, aged
eighteen years. Mrs. Friesner died Feb. 5, 1865, aged thirty-seven years.
She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, May 8, 1865, Mr.
Friesner married Sarah, daughter of Jacob and Catharine (Goss) Zeller.
They had one son-Simeon L. Mr. Friesner died March 22, 1861. He was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow and family now reside
on the farm. :Mrs. Friesner is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church.
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio Chicago: Inter-state
Publishing Co., 1883 Carpenter Jeremiah
Carpenter,farmer, second son of Samson and Catherine (Walters) Carpenter,
was born in Falls Township, Hocking County, July 27, 1825. Soon after his
birth his parents removed to Good Hope Township, where he lived with them
until manhood. His first work for himself was shingle-making, which he
followed for a few months. He then rented a farm six years, and in 1852
purchased the farm first entered by Rickey and Davis. He also owns and
runs a saw-mill by water-power. He has worked at the cooper's and
wagon-maker's trades, but has been principally engaged in farming, where
he resides, in Marion Township since 1852. June 26, 1847, he married
Phoebe, daughter of John and Christina, (Kline) Engle. They have four
children, Elizabeth, wife of Lewis McGill, of Columbus, Ohio; Daniel, of
Hocking County; Sarah, wife of John Hufford, of Hocking County; and
Catharine, wife of David Dupler, of Hocking County. His wife died April
13, 1854, aged twenty-seven years. She was a member of the Evangelist
church. June 7, 1855, Mr. Carpenter married Mrs. Magdaline, widow of Henry
Heyd and daughter of Daniel and Susan (Friesner) Swartz, of Fairfield
County, Ohio. They have six children, Susan, wife of William Elick, of
Hocking County; Noah, Rachel, William, Wesley and Amos, at home. Lewis
died in infancy; Frakie died in his second year. . Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Carpenter had two
children by her first husband, both deceased, Lydia, born Sept. 23, 1851,
died March 2, 1876; Daniel, born July 25,1853, died Dec. 24,
1878.
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883 Ricketts RICKETTS, Edwin Darlington, a Representative from
Ohio; born near Maxville, Perry County, Ohio, August 3, 1867; attended the
public schools; for twelve years was a teacher and superintendent of
schools; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1899 and commenced
practice in Logan, Hocking County, Ohio; elected as a Republican to the
Sixty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1915-March 3, 1917); was an unsuccessful
candidate for reelection in 1916 to the Sixty-fifth Congress; elected to
the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses (March 4, 1919-March 3,
1923); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1922 to the
Sixty-eighth Congress; resumed the practice of law; delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1928; died in Logan, Ohio, on July 3,
1937; interment in Oak Grove Cemetery.
from: The Political Graveyard
Woodard W. N. Woodard was
born in Starr Township, Sept. 29, 1841. He is a son of Ichabod and Eleanor
Woodard. He is a grandson of Daniel Nelson, the founder of
Nelsonville, and one of the early settlers and old pioneers of Athens
county, who died about 1835 or 1836. Ichabod Woodard died on his
farm in Starr Township, March 16, 1868. Mr. Woodard received a
common education in the public schools of his township. He enlisted
July 25, 1862, at the age of twenty-one years, in Company E, Ninetieth
Ohio Infantry, and was in several battles of importance, under General
Sherman. March 25, 1875, he was married to Violet Smith, a daughter
of John and Sarah Smith, of Moundsville, W. Va. They are the parents
of four children, three of which are living---EstellaV., Lulu and Clyde B.
John C. died when he was about six weeks old. Mr. Woodard died at
Baltimore, Md., April 25,1879. He had been twice married, and left a son
and two daughters.---Appleton's Annual, 1879 . William A.
Comer Following the war, Mr. Comer went to farming in
Ohio, and in 1868 he went thence to Coles County, Illinois, then to Edgar
County, where he farmed and worked at carpentering for five years, and in 1874
we see him in Shelby County, and thence he went to Kansas in the fall of 1885,
setting in Jackson County. Two years later he went to Logan and there
homesteaded land. It was on June 15, 1889, that he landed, at Garfield and came
over into Latah County, and here he has remained since, except for two years and
one-half, when he was excursioning through Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and southern
Idaho, returning here in the condition expressed by the laconic epithet "Broke."
He went to work and now has one hundred and sixty acres of as fine soil as is in
Latah County and located one mile west from Cora. He devotes himself to farming
and stockraising, mostly the former. Mr. Comer married Miss Nancy R. Shoff on
September 27, 1867, and she died in 1884, leaving the following named children:
Edwin L., in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Almeda V., wife of Andrew Smith, in
Kansas; Eva M., deceased; Lydia E., wife of Charles S. Smith, in Latah County;
Jeremiah E., deceased; Laura E., deceased; Nellie A., deceased; Isaac H.,
deceased. The
second marriage of Mr. Comer was celebrated on March 19, 1886, in Kansas,
Alice E., daughter of Martin L. and Abby A. (Brinkerhoff) Hickman,
descendants of the early Dutch stock that colonized New York, at that time
becoming his wife. To this union there have been born the following issue:
John A., Jesse H., Lee M. and Ruth U. Mr. Hickman was a carpenter, born in
Virginia in 1832 and his wife was born in New Jersey in 1838, while the
daughter, Mrs. Comer, was born in Grand View, Illinois, on June 23, 1855.
Her brothers and sisters are named as follows: Anna J., deceased; Rachel
J., wife of Earby Miller, in Chicago; Lydia B., deceased; Sarah M., in
Chicago; Olive E., deceased; Orb S.; deceased; Owen G., in Chicago. Mr.
Comer is assistant state lecturer for northern Idaho for the Alliance and is active
in politics. He was candidate for state legislature in Kansas on the Union Labor
ticket and for probate judge in Latah County in 1892 on the Populist ticket. In
addition to his farming Mr. Comer devotes much attention to artist's labors,
having gained commendable skill in this line. Transcribed by Sandie
Cummins
FIRST LIEUTENANT FRANCIS A. GIBBONS .
Company H, Sixty-third Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
Francis A. Gibbons was born in
Coshocton County, Ohio, March 8, 1820. He was a son of John Gibbons,
an old settler in that county. His ancestors counting back to
grandparents, represented. Scotch. Irish and Dutch. About 1842, he
removed to Hocking County, Ohio, and located in Starr Township. He
was reared on a farm, but in business for himself, gave his
principal attention to stock breeding, buying and selling. He was
for years before the war engaged in buying stock for both Cincinnati
and
eastern markets. He was among the last
of the old time drovers, and was rated a rather successful one. When
a boy his schooling was very limited, but he improved himself when
he grew older, was a great reader, and became a gifted public
speaker on social and moral questions. He greatly enjoyed public
debates, on such
questions.
He took the field with the regiment and
participated honorably in all its services whilst he was a member of it.
This included New Madrid, Ft. Thompson, Island Number Ten, Siege
of Corinth, the actions at Farming-
ton and battle
of luka. His health failed. He was too old to stand hard campaigning and
on September 30, 1862, his resignation was accepted and he went home.
After the war he moved west and located in Missouri,
where his wife died. After this he removed to near Baxter Springs. Kansas,
following his old business of stockman. In 1870 he married a second wife,
Miss Loda Hibbard of
Athens County, Ohio.
He died December 9, 1895. aged 75 years, 9 months
and 1 day.
He was a prominent Mason, and in religious matters a
Methodist. Source:
The History of Fuller's Ohio Brigade, Charles H.
Smith, 1909
For about a quarter of a century the above named gentleman has taken
active part as one of Ohio's public educators, and he maintains a high
reputation among his co-workers and the public. As superintendent of the
Rushville school he has made a distinct success, bringing its various
departments up to the highest status of effectiveness and productiveness.
MR. WALTER was born in Hocking county, November 20, 1804, son of
Mathias and Lydia Ruff) Walter. The former a native of Germany, came to
the United States in the thirties, and was an early settler in Hocking
county, Ohio. His family consisted of four daughters and three sons
all of whom are now living in Hocking county, with the exception of two
sons, living in Fairfield county. Our subject for ten years was a pupil in
a district school in Hocking county, afterward attending the Ohio
University at Athens for one year, followed by three summer terms at
Crawfts Institute, near Lancaster, Ohio, and in 1883 received his first
teacher's certificate. He first took charge of a district school in
Hocking county for two years, and then was master
of an adjoining
district school for three years, and for the five years succeeding was
master of a Fairfield county rural school. The following seven years he
ftlled the principalship of the Sugar Grove High School, and in 1902 was
promoted to a similar position in the Rushville school, whose status he
has raised to a point reflecting the utmost credit upon his training and
ability. There are thirty pupils in the third class, high school, and
fifty- five pupils in the other departments, and two capable teachers
assist Mr. Walter in the management of affairs. Immediately after his
first year's work as principal of the Rushville High School, he was
elected superintendent of the Richland township schools in connection with
his principal- ship of the High School. His work as superintendent of the
township schools seems to have been entirely successful. From many sources
reports came to him, both directly and indirectly, that the schools under
his supervision are now experiencing a degree of success never before
attained. Mr. Walter holds an eight year county certificate, is a member
of the county board of examiners, also the Ohio Teachers' Reading Circle,
the Fairfield County Teachers' Institute, and the Lutheran Church. In 1889
he was united to Miss Sarah Kull, of Sugar Grove, Fairfield county, Ohio,
and they have a family of three bright children, one of whom is now
attending school.
from: History of
Hocking Valley, Ohio Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co.,
1883
from: History of Hocking Valley, Ohio
Chicago: Inter-state Publishing Co., 1883
The birth of this esteemed gentleman occurred in
Hocking County, Ohio on September 18, 1843. His father, Charles, was a
millwright, born in Ohio, in 1817, his grandfather was born in Vermont and
his great-grandparents came from Ireland. The mother of our subject,
Sophia Roush, was born in Ohio in 1817, and her mother, Eva Harsh, was a
native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Harsh's father was a soldier in the
Revolution, moved to Ohio in 1810, and died in 1856, one hundred and six
years of age, while Mrs. Harsh lived to be ninety-six years of age. The
father of our subject died two months before the latter's birth and his
mother died when he was five years of age, so his early life was spent
with his grandmother. He remained with her laboring and attending school
until eighteen years of age and at the breaking out of the war, he
enlisted in Company D, Seventeenth Ohio Infantry, under Captain Charles
Rippiey. He was sent to the Army of the Cumberland under General Thomas
and participated in the battle of Mill Springs when Zollicoffer was killed
in 1862. He fought at Stone River, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Jonesborough, and
in many other engagements. At Chickamauga a rebel hit him over the head
with a musket, his clothes were shot full of holes, his canteen was shot
away and he was wounded in the leg. He was stricken there with paralysis
and was discharged, but the doughty and intrepid man was not thus to be
deprived of fighting for his country, and his interminable grit pulled him
through and as soon as he was presentable again he promptly came to the
front and re-enlisted and staid with the conflict until the close of the
war, being in the fifty-eighth Ohio Company
A.
from: An Illustrated History of North Idaho
Western Historical Publishing Company 1903
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