Biographical Sketches of Gallia County Residents

Alexander, John MacMillen

     John MacMillen Alexander was born May 17, 1841, on a farm in Delaware Co., O. He is the son of John and Mary Wise Alexander. His grandparents James and Anna Brothers Alexander came to America from Ireland about 1798. James was of Scotch-Irish parentage and died in Gallia county about 1846. J. M. Alexander's father, who died before J. M. was born, stumped for Harrison in 1840.
     J. M. Alexander's schooling was in Belmont county, where his mother took him as a babe, and was concluded at 16. He went on the river as a clerk and served before the War on the steamers J. H. Doane, J. B. Campbell, Baltimore and Camden, all passenger packets. From the river he came to Gallipolis and learned carriage trimming in James Vanden's shop, working there until 1862, when with two of Vanden's sons and another apprentice, he enlisted in Co.A, 91st O.V.I., at a public war meeting in the old Aleshire Apple Orchard, presided over by Major John G. Damron. With the 91st he participated in some twenty battles, and came out a first sergeant. He was wounded at Fisher's Hill three days after the Battle of Winchester. On his recovery he was detailed as Sergeant Major on Gen. Seward's staff, being the only one of six men detailed who would confess to the Adjutant that he swore occasionally.
     Capt. Alexander, in front of his regiment, was presented with the sword and scabbard of a Confederate Lieutenant of Calvary whom he killed in a skirmish between a squad of six 91st boys and eighteen of the enemy. He still retains it as a sad relic of the bloody conflict between the North and South.
     After the War Capt. Alexander worked at Cardington, O., about six years and in Gallipolis being engaged in the grocery business here about fourteen years when he retired.
     On Oct. 29, 1868, he married Eliza H. Hill, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Murphy Hill, who were married in Yorkshire, England, and came to America in 1832, settled at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and came to Gallia in 1854. Her grandfather Murphy fought in the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
     Capt. and Mrs. Alexander have the following children: Edgar H., insurance man at Lexington, Ky., Oscar C., in the West temporarily, Mary Estelle, now Mrs. E. M. Fisher of Steubenville, O., Alice Lillian, now Mrs. J. Harold Wolfe, residing in Gallipolis, Bessie Drousilla (Duie), at home.
     Capt. Alexander, whose family name comes from a Scottish clan, has been Mayor of Gallipolis four terms, once during the great flood of 1884. He was secretary of the Board of Health during the yellow fever epidemic in this city in 1878, has been a Justice of the Peace, and is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, the G. A. R., was President of the Board of Trade four years, President of the City Council, and has been President of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Relief Commission since the organization in 1886. He has always been active in city affairs and a conservative citizen.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
8 July, 1909
By Neil Elvick Top of Page

     Herbert Franklin Brothers was born Oct. 21, 1870, in Clay township, Gallia County, Ohio. He is the son of George W. and Caroline Martin Brothers and the grandson of Joshua and Ann Eliza Forquer Brothers and Creston and Charity Cowden Martin.
     The Brothers family came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, the Martins from Halifax County, Virginia and the Forquers from England about the time of the Revolutionary War, for political reasons, they being strong sympathizers wit the American Colonists.
     H. F. Brothers went to school in Clay township and at the Gallipolis high school, finishing his school work after he was twenty-one years of age. His first work was at the carpenter trade, at which he was employed for about four years in Pittsburg and at Cleveland.
     He began mercantile work for himself in Gallipolis in 1893. About 1897, owing to over-purchases, he assigned his business to M. F. Merriman, who closed it out. Immediately he entered business again in Mrs. Brothers’ name and later settled in full every claim left unpaid by the assignee. When he resumed business in his own name and has since continued with much success.
     On April 22, 1895, Mr. Brothers married Miss Lucy Lenora Cartwright of Middleport, a daughter of E. P. and Sadie Christie Cartwright. The Christie family came from Baltimore, Md., and the Cartwright from Pennsylvania and earlier from Ireland. One child has resulted from this marriage, Edith Mae, born in February, 1896.
     Mr. Brothers is a member of the Presbyterian Church and of its board of trustees. He is also a Mason of Morning Dawn Lodge and a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M., the modern Woodmen, and a director of the Board of Trade.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
30, July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Callahan, Oscar Pendleton

     Oscar Pendleton Callahan was born in Jackson county, Ohio, on June 8, 1866, and named after the distinguished Democratic Senator of Ohio. He is the son of William J. and Sarah Strain Callahan, and the grandson of John and Elizabeth James Callahan. John Callahan was born in Virginia, and the family originally came from Ireland at an early day. His grandmother Callahan was born in Gallia, and both she and her father, Henry James, and his grandfather are buried in Gallia county. O. P. Calllahan's mother, Sarah Strain, was the daughter of Thomas and Ann Strain of Pennsylvania, and her family also came originally from Ireland.
     O. P. Callahan was educated in the common schools of Jackson county. At the age of seventeen he began teaching, and later engaged in farming. In 1901 he sold his farm in Bloomfield township - the farm on which his father was born, lived and finally died, at the age of 79, and came to Gallipolis to become a member of the firm of Callahan Bros., dealers in marble and granite, which has since built up a prosperous and extensive trade in three States.
     On Sept. 6, 1893, at Langsville, O., Mr. Callahan was married to Miss Helen Chamberlain, daughter of Isaac J. and Nancy Ledlie Chamberlain. The Chamberlains were Irish and the Ledlies Dutch. Nancy Ledlie Chamberlain was the daughter of Judge William and Nancy Matthews Ledlie, the Judge being a prominent man in Meigs county in his day, and an intimate friend of Rise Up William Allen, one of Ohio's famous Governors.
     Mr. and Mrs. Callahan have one son, Creston Ormonde, born Aug. 19, 1899.
Mr. Callahan has been a member of the M. E. Church since he was fourteen. He has been a district steward of Grace M. E. Church, and Superintendent of its Sunday School for three years past. He also belongs to the Methodist Brotherhood, and to the Board of Trade.
He is Past Chancellor Commander of Naomi Lodge of Knights of Pythias, and has represented it at Grand Lodge for two years past. He is a Past Councillor of the United Commercial Travelers and is its present representative in the Grand Council of Ohio.
     In 1908 Mr. Callahan was nominated for County Treasurer by the Democrats of Gallia, and made a stirring race for the election.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
July 22, 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                              Top of Page

     Henry William Cherrington was born in Gallipolis March 12, 1886. He is the son of Samuel Maxon Cherrington and Rowena Putnam Cooke Cherrington and the grandson of William and Lucy Maxon Cherrington and Isaac N. and Hulda Putnam Cooke. Major Isaac N. Cooke was on General U. S. Grant’s staff during the War of the Rebellion. William Cherrington was the son of Pennel Cherrington who came to Gallia County from Virginia settled in Addison township, was elected to the Legislature in 1849 and served Gallia County there for four years in the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth General Assemblies. The Cherrington family came originally from England.
     Mrs. Rowena Putnam Cooke Cherrington, mother of Henry W. is a direct descendant of Gen. Israel Putnam of Revolutionary War fame and her ancestors were actively concerned in the first settlement of the Northwest Territory at Marietta in 1788.
     Henry W. Cherrington attended the Gallipolis Public schools and was graduated from the Academy High School in the class of 1902. Later he attended the Marietta College one year, working as a stenographer while in the public schools and at college. In 1905 he was appointed official court stenographer for Gallia County Judge Bradbury; a position he has since filled with much credit.
     He studied law in the offices of Judge Hunter of Columbus and Hollis C. Johnston of Gallipolis and in June 1908, passed the State law examination and was admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio. He now has his office in the Post office building.
     He is a member of the local lodge of Elks, was its Exalted Ruler in 1908 and is its present secretary. He has also filled other important offices in that body. He is also a member of the Board of Trade.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
9 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

     Walter Henry Cushman was born in Winthrop, Maine, August 24, 1859 and is descended from Robert Cushman, the Plymouth Pilgrim, who was born in Kent, England, and took part in effecting the emigration of the Puritans to Holland. He and John Carver were the men who chartered the Mayflower for her famous historical trip to the New World. In 1621, he sailed to New England on the Fortune, and while there preached on the sin and danger of self love. He died in England in 1625. Charlotte Cushman, the actress was from the same family.
     W. H. Cushman was the son of George G. and Emma Norris Cushman. Emma Norris was the daughter of Greenleaf Kibby and Hannah Judkins Norris. Mr. Cushman’s great grandfather was Lieut. James Norris of New Hampshire, who married a niece of Gen. Henry Dearborn, for whom the Chicago thoroughfare was named.
     In 1868, when Mr. Cushman was a boy of nine, his parents moved to Illinois and at Pana, that state he attended school until he came to Gallipolis Mar. 20, 1880. At that time the building of the Hocking Valley Railroad from Logan to Pomeroy was on and the young man did track work. One the completion of the line he became a locomotive engineer and was employed as such until 1895, when he entered the hotel business at Middleport. From there he went to Hillsboro as landlord of the Hotel Parker until 1902, when he returned to Gallipolis and engaged in the livery business until 1907, when The Park Central Hotel Co. was organized with him as President and Manager and bought the Gallipolis hotel of that name. Extensive improvements and additions were made at once to the property which is the leading hostelry of the city.
     Mr. Cushman is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers , of the K of P lodge at Logan and of the local lodge of the Elks. He was a charter member of the Elks Lodge at Hillsboro.
     On Sept. 28, 1881, in Springfield, Twp. He married Miss Lulu Womeldorff, daughter of F. M. and Salvina Morrison Womeldorff, a family which originally came to Gallia County From Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Cushman have one daughter, Miss Bertha Norris Cushman, who is at home

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
9 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Franz, John Henry

John Henry Franx, the seventh son in a family of nine children, was born Nov. 29, 1879, at Pomeroy, Ohio. He is the son of John A. and Barbara Schorn Franz. His father was born at Wapakoneta, Ohio and is the son of John Franz, Sr., who lived in Pt. Pleasant, W. Va. and came to this country from Germany. John A. Franz is a man of large business interests in Pomeroy, Columbus and Colorado. Barbara Schorn Franz, who died within a year, was the daughter of parents in Germany who never came to America, and was a sister of Charles Schorn of Pomeroy, who enlisted in the First W. Va. V. Cavalry, and served throughout the War of the Rebellion.
He became a bugler, and in 1865, at Appomatox C.H. captured a rebel flag which bore the name Ft. Sumter Artillery, for which he was given a medal by Congress.
J. H. Franz attended the public schools of Pomeroy, and in 1897 was graduated from a Columbus business college. In June, 1898, he accepted a position with the Henking-Bovie Co., remaining with them until 1904, when he was employed by Ruffer Bros of Charleston, and remained with them two years.
In March 1907, he and Mr. J. W. Brosius bought the Alexander Bos grocery and real estate. In August, 1907, Mr. Brosius retired, leaving Mr. Franz the youngest business proprietor in Gallipolis.
Mr. Franz enlisted in the 7th O. N. G., Col Thompson commanding, and served several years, retiring from Co. C when he removed to Charleston in 1904.
On Dec. 5, 1906, he married Miss Kate M. Brosius, daughter of J. W. and Mary Bell Brosius, long residents of Gallipolis. The wedding occurred at Arlingotn, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. The Brosius family came to Gallipolis from Maryland, and originally before the Revolution, from Holland.

Gallipolis Daily Tribune
June 28, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall Top of Page

     James Edgar Harrison was born in Morgan Township, Gallia County, Ohio on February 2, 1870. He is the son of Lewis and Sophia Caldwell Harrison and the grandson of George and Lucy Harrison and Jacob and Christian Caldwell, the latter's maiden name being Vance.
     The Harrison family came from Indiana and the Caldwell’s from Eastern Virginia.
     J. Ed Harrison got his schooling at Morgan Center and at its conclusion worked at the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics for one year, where he assisted Clint Deeter in Building the great stone smoke stack which is admired so much by all visitors.
     Later Mr. Harrison worked as baggage master and freight clerk for the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad Co. for twelve years, a position from which he resigned in February, 1906, in order to enter the wholesale and retail business in this city at which he has since been a success.
     On July 3, 1892, he married Miss Belle Betz, daughter of Amos and Cynthia Vance Betz and granddaughter of Thomas Vance and Solomon Betz. The Betz family came from Jefferson county in Eastern Virginia and Vance’s from Rockbridge county in the same State.
     The children from the marriage of Mr. Harrison and Miss Betz are Sylvia Ethel, now attending Rio Grande College, and Nora Dean, Nellie Agnes, Charles Oakley Floyd and James Edgar, Jr. at home.
     Mr. Harrison is a member of the Christian Church, of the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen and The Woodman of the World. He is also connected with the Masonic Fraternity, being a member of Morning Dawn Lodge, Gallipolis Chapter and Moriah Council of this city.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
23 July, 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

     James Lewis Haskins was born at Crown City, Gallia county, Ohio on Jan. 28, 1864. He is the son of Lewis and Rosanna Abbott Haskins, and the grandson of Hiram and Elizabeth Haskins and Farnum and Olynda Abbott. His father's family came from the East, and his mother's family lived in Kentucky from an early day until they purchased a farm at Crown City.
Jas. L. Haskins attended the public schools at Crown City, and later was a student of Gallia Academy. After teaching school nearly three years he went to college at Adrian, Michigan, but owing to the fact that his eyes broke down was compelled to give up his studies and abandon his plans for a classical education.
     In 1890, on his return from Adrian, he began his business career in Zigler's clothing store. He worked there for nearly three years, and then went with Harry Frank's Sons, remaining with them some thirteen years.
     In 1904, Mr. Haskins, who has been an active and influential Republican for many years, was nominated and elected Clerk of the Courts for Gallia County, succeeding John H. Ewing, filling his office admirably and to the entire satisfaction of the Bar and the people.
     On June 10, 1903, he married Miss Hattie M. Morris, daughter of J. W. and Mary Mason Morris, of Winfield, W. Va. One child, Virginia Catherine, born Dec. 1, 1904, has resulted from this union.
Mr. Haskins is an Odd Fellow, and has passed through the chairs in the Gallipolis lodge. He is also a member of Naomi Lodge of Knights of Pythias, and is at present occupying the chair of Vice Chancellor of that organization. He is also a member of the M. E. Church.
     On Mar. 8, 1909, The Haskin-Thomas Co., of which Mr. Haskins is an active member, opened in elegant quarters with a fine clothing store on the Public Square. In addition to this business interest Mr. Haskins is a director of the Commercial & Savings Bank of Gallipolis.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
July 19, 1909
By Maxine Marshall Top of Page

Hayward, Will Neal

     Will Neal Hayward was born Nov. 8, 1862, at Gallipolis. He is the son of William C. and Irene Neal Hayward. His grandparents were Solomon and Catherine Tilley Hayward, the latter the daughter of a French family, but born in America. Solomon Hayward came to Gallipolis from New England, where the family originally landed a few years after the landing of the Mayflower. His grandfather and grandmother Henry H. and Martha Smith Neal came from Virginia and Massachusetts respectively.
     W. N. Hayward attended private schools and the Gallia Academy. In 1880 he began clerking in his father's undertaking and merchandizing business. When 21 years of age his father gave him a half interest in the business of Hayward & Son, which originated in 1853 under the same name, the partners then being Solomon and William C. Hayward. In this business Mr. Hayward has continued ever since, but this spring the merchandise business was discontinued and that of undertaking retained in newly fitted and modern quarters, Mr. Hayward being recognized as an accomplished funeral director.
     Mr. Hayward was married on Thanksgiving Day 1890, to Helen Mar Gardner, daughter of James W. and Sarah Damron Gardner. The Gardner family came from Vermont by way of New York, Mr. J. W. Gardner's grandfather, coming to Gallia county about 1816 from Albany, N.Y. Originally the family came from England. The Damrons came from Virginia. Threee children have come to this union - Helen, a senior in the Academy High School, Gardner, also in the same school, and Catherine, in the public schools. Gardner has developed a decided talent for the violin, and all three of the children are naturally musical in their tastes.
     Mr. Hayward is a charter member of Galliplis Lodge of Elks, is one of its Past Exalted Rulers, and has filled all the chairs in the body. For several terms he was on the social sessions committee of the Elks, and enjoyed the work of arranging and conducting social affairs, for which he has a natural talent.

Gallipolis Daily Tribune
June 24, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                                 Top of Page

Howard, John Samuel

     John Samuel Howard was born Jan. 1, 1876, in Tyler Co., W. Va., near Sistersville. He is the son of David Wylie and Susan Carter Howard, now living in Parkersburg, and both born and raised in Tyler county. He is the grandson of Samuel and Charlotta Hicks Howard,. Samuel having been a farmer and stock dealer who at one time owned the land now occupied by the city of Wheeling. Samuel went to West Virginia from Culpepper, Va., and came to ths country from Scotland by way of the North of Ireland. Mr. Howard's mother was a daughter of John Carter, who married a Leeper, both Virginia families.
     J. S. Howard attended the schools in Tyler county and in Pennsboro, W. Va. After 1895 he worked successively in the Sprinkle Pulley Works and as book-keeper for the Carter Oil Co. In 1898 he went as bookkeeper into the Citizens National Bank at Pennsboro, West Va. In 1900 he helped organize and was elected assistant cashier of, the Merchants and Producers Bank of Salem, W. Va. In 1904 he organized and was chosen cashier of the Albany Bank at Albany, Athens, Co., O. Two years later he put into operation the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Gallipolis, of which he is now Vice President. In all these institutions he remains a stockholder, being half owner of the Albany concern.
     Mr. Howard married Fernettie M. Parrish in 1901. She is a daughter of Robert Zinia and Essie Scott Parrish, her father's family having originated in Wales, and her mother's in Scotland. Two children, Opal and Paul, have resulted from this marriage.
     In October, 1907, Mr. Howard bought into the Kanauga Traction Company, and is at present its manager. This Company was originally composed of M. K. Duty, A. M. Douglas, C. R. Cunningham, Harvey Marsh, and J. H. Lininger. Duty and Lininger sold out to A. B. Howards and B. R. Barnes. It is a Company of very great interest and value to Gallipolis, giving it street car facilities, and having won the good opinion of the public by its considerate and enterprising management. It is at present preparing for electric service, and will soon have new cars. The investment in it has totaled $80,000, and it is today on a paying basis.
     Mr. Howard is a member of the lodge of Elks at Nelsonville, O., and of the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Salem, W. Va. As one of a group of eleven West Virginians who have come to Gallipolis during the past few years, and invested their money freely in an enterprise of great utility to this city, Mr. Hwoard has won the goodwill and esteem of practically the entire community. He is an alert business man, capable, far-seeing, and energetic.

Gallipolis Daily Tribune
June 23, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                               Top of Page

Howard, Oscar Lona

     Oscar Lona Howard was born in Tyler Co., W. Va., May 27, 1884. He is the son of David Wylie and Susan Carder Howard, now of Parkersburg, W. Va. He is the grandson of Samuel and Charlotte Hicks Howard, who came to Virignia from Scotland and the North of Ireland.
     Oscar L. Howard, after finishing in the high school at Pennsboro, W. Va., worked as a clerk in various concerns until he entered the banking business as a bookkeeper for the Reynoldsville Trust Co. at Reynoldsville, Pa., where he remained until November, 1905, when he removed to Albany, Athens Co., Ohio, and served as assistant cashier of the Albany Bank until January 1907, when he was elected Cashier of the First National Bank of Sykeville, Pa. he remained there until March 1908, when he came to Gallipolis and became active in the management of the Farmers & Merchants Bank, which was started by him and his brother, Mr. J. S. Howard, in 1907.
     Mr. Howard married Miss Jennie M. Jolley of Albany, Ohio, on May 20, 1907. Miss Jolley was a daughter of J. S. and Emma Hibbard Jolley, Mr. Jolley being a merchant at Albany. Mrs. Howard's paternal grandfather, Charles Jolley, came from Ireland, and married Livina Post. Her maternal grandfather was Peter Hibbard, who came from Scotland. He was a pioneer in Athens county, the town of Hibbardsville being named after him. He died within a year past, and was one of two Prohibitions in Athens county in the early days of that party.
     Mr. Howard belongs to the First Presbyterian Church of Gallipolis. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Sykesville, Pa., and of the Odd Fellows lodge at Albany.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
July 14, 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                                Top of Page

     Judge Jasper Clayton Ingels, was born in Harrison Twp., Gallia County, March 21, 1855. He is the son of Jesse and Mary Waddell Ingels. His father came from Pennsylvania in Meigs and thence to Gallia County to Meigs county thence to Gallia County. He was a farmer and a Methodist preacher-a circuit rider. His mother was a daughter of Wm. Waddell a former sheriff of this county. Judge Ingels’ grandfather was Thomas Ingels, who with his brothers Matthew and William, were banished from England about 1777 for political reasons. They all came to Philadelphia, William going later to Kentucky and Matthew to Virginia.
     J. C. Ingels attended the Harrison township school and later the Gallia Academy, finishing his school days in 1873. He became a school teacher and taught fifty six terms, mostly in the lower end of the county.
     In 1899, he was elected County Recorder on the Republican ticket and left the schoolroom. Friday evening to assume his office on Monday. After the terms as recorder he was nominated in 1896, and elected Probate Judge, an unusual honor and served two terms in that office, serving twelve years in the Court House. A year before his last term expired he became vice-president on the National Bank and on retiring from office was elected Cashier of the bank a position he still holds and has filled with rare tact.
     On April 9, 1874, he married Emma C. Gilbert, daughter of Theodore and Emily Burlingame Gilbert, in Green township-a marriage from which came the following family of children.

Judge Ingels is a Knight of Pythias and a Mason, who has risen to the rank of Knight Templar in the York Rite bodies of Gallipolis. He is President of the Board of City Examiners, President of the Board of Trustees of the Public Library and Vice President of the Buckeye Building and Loan.
In his younger days Jude Ingels was noted for his cleverness as a baseball player and was sought as a player at many points in Southern Ohio. His talent for this sport has been inherited in large degree by his sons Clyde, Bert and Chauncey.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
2 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

    Merrill Kerr was born in Kerr, Ohio on November 16, 1881. He is the son of County Treasurer Charles W. Kerr and Ibbie Watts Kerr and the grandson of John W. and Caroline Cherrington Kerr and Ross S. and Susan Bunger Watts.
     He attended the district school and also a normal school at Bidwell in this county. His first work was in his father’s general store at Kerr in April 1900, he took a position with the J.M. Kerr Company in Gallipolis and is now a salesman in that store.
     On May 3, 1905, he was married to Miss Bessie Elizabeth Lasley daughter of Arius F. and Laura Wilkenson Lasley. Four generations of Lasley’s have lived in or near Gallipolis. A. F. Lasley’s father was Ansel T. Lasley and his grandfather David Lasley landed three miles below Gallipolis very early in the last century. Mrs. Merrill Kerr’s mother is the daughter of a native of London, England whose wife was born in Bordeaux, France. They met, loved and married in Gallipolis.
     Merrill Kerr is the present Worshipful Master of Morning Dawn Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and was installed in that honorable office in January, 1909. Previous to that he served the Lodge as steward, junior warden and senior warden. He has been a member of the M.E. Church since 1895.
     On June 14, 1899, he enlisted in Co. C. Seventh O.N. G. and served a full term of five years having been a corporal and first sergeant of his company, and also a member of the Seventh Regiment Rifle Team for one year.
     In addition to his connection with the Masonic Fraternity, he belongs to the Unite Commercial Travelers and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
9 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Lawson, John Alexander

     John Alexander Lawson was born May 29, 1868, in Gallipolis on the site now occupied as a residence by W. N. Kerns, adjoining the old Langley mill. He is the son of John and Jean Kinghorn Lawson, both of whom came from Edinburgh, Scotland, were married later in New York City, and settled in Gallipolis. John Lawson was wheat inspector for the late W. H. Langley, and is said to have been the only Democrat ever sent by Gallia county to the Legislature, he having been elected in 1869. J. A. Lawson is the grandson of Wm. and Jeanette MacDonald Lawson, and David and Catherine Kinghorn, both of whom lived and died in Scotland.
     John A. Lawson was educated in the Gallipolis public schools, after which he learned the tinner's trade with George D. McIntyre, whom he afterward succeeded in the business he now owns.
     On Nov. 23, 1891, he married Miss Lida M. Dinizler [sic], of Augusta, Ky, the daughter of Cornelius and Serelda Martin Dientzler. Mr. Dientzler came from Germany and was the son of a German minister. Mrs. Lawson's grandfather lived on the border and married a French lady just across the river from his native land. From the union of Jno. A. and Lida Lawson two children have been born. John Kinghorn, born Nov. 16, 1892, and a muscian. Charles Germer, born Mar. 31, 1894.
     John A. Lawson has been a life-long Democrat, and is now serving his sixteenth year as a trustee of Gallipolis township. He was elected assessor of the Second Ward once or twice. He has been a Knight of Pythias for years, has occupied the chairs in Odd Fellowship, as an Elk, is trustee for the Woodmen of the World, is a trustee of the Eagles, and a member of all the local York Rite Masonic bodies.

Transcribed from The Gallipolis Daily Tribune
August 2, 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                                Top of Page

     Joseph Varian Lee was born in Lewisburg, Mason County, Kentucky on Nov. 30, 1878. He is the son of Joseph and Anna Kenney Lee and grandson of Jackson and Nancy Fawn Lee and Peter and Alice Booth Kenney. The Lee family came from Fauquier County, Virginia and is a part of the family from which the distinguished Confederate soldier, General Robert E. Lee, sprang and also General Fitzburgh Lee. The Kenney’s came from New Jersey and originally from Ireland. The Booths also came from New Jersey.
     J. V. Lee attended public and private schools at Lewisburg until he was eighteen years old. He then went to the Central hotel at Maysville, Ky., as clerk and remained there two years when he accepted a similar position at the Stag Hotel in Cincinnati. After two years there he went to a hotel in Louisville, Ky., for awhile but came back to the Grande Hotel in Cincinnati. After six months there he came to Gallipolis in 1902 and worked with Mr. N. R. Canaday until 1905 when he became an active member of The Bankrupt Store Company. In 1907 he became manager of this business, which he has since conducted with gratifying success.
     On Apr. 15, 1902, he was married at Covington, Ky., to Miss Blanche Canaday, daughter of N. R. and Edna Abbott Canaday. The Canaday’s came to Gallipolis from Virginia in Civil War times. The Abbott’s were a Marietta family originally from New England.
     Mr. Lee is a member of St. Peters Episcopal Church of this city and of the Board of Trade. At the present time he is an Entered Apprentice of Morning Dawn Lodge of Masons.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
30 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Lupton, James Albert

     Dr. James Albert Lupton is a son of John and Susannah Holcomb Lupton, and was born in Gallipolis Sept. 5, 1859. John Lupton whose honorable career in this city was closed by death about a year ago was born in Pittsburg, and settled at Gallipolis in 1841. His father, Richard Lupton, came to America from Lancashire, England, with his wife who was an Irish woman. Mrs. John Lupton was the daughter of Frances and Mary Holcomb of English descent.
     J. A. Lupton attended the public schools in this city and was graduated from them in 1878. He chose dentistry as his profession, and in pursuit of eduation in that direction went to a dental institution in Cincinnati in 1880, and in 1881, went to the Pennsylvania Dental College at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated.
     Returning to Gallipolis Dr. Lupton opened a dental office, and has continued it ever since, wining a professional reputation not excelled by any man in Southern Ohio.
On June 21, 1893, Dr. Lupton was married to Mrs. Nettie Simon Dages. One son, John Charles, now fourteen years of age, was born to them.
     Dr. Lupton is a charter member of the local lodge of Elks, established in December 1888. He was its first secretary, and its Exalted Ruler in 1892-93. He is also a member of all the York RIte Masonic bodies in Gallipolis - the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery.
     In 1894 he erected the Lupton Block on the Public Square, one of the finest buildings in the city for business purposes, on the third floor of which are the elegant quarters occupied by the Elks. In addition to his professional work, Dr. Lupton is President of the Commercial and Savings Bank, President of the Treasure Stove Company, and Vice President of the Swan Creek Coal Co. He was a member of the Board of Public Service for two terms, and its President for two years, having been elected as a Republican, and made a clean straight record.
     For many years the Doctor has been a public spiritied citizen of Gallipolis, and has invested in a score or more of ventures started in hope of adding new industries to the city. He early became interested in the improvement of the Ohio River, became chairman of the Board of Trade committee on Rivers and Harbors, and gave freely of his time and energy to attend conventions and push the lock and dam projects of the Ohio River Improvement Association which has accomplished so much in Congress for the permanent improvement of the Ohio River.

Gallipolis Daily Bulletin
June 22, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                               Top of Page

Marsh, Harvey

     Harvey Marsh was born Mar. 15, 1871, near Pennsboro, Ritchie Co., W. Va. He is the son of Jefferson and Angelina Marsh, and the grandson of Enoch and Ann Cline Marsh and Joseph and Levina McCray Cunningham, daughter of a native of Ireland. The Marsh family came originally from Wales.
     Harvey Marsh attended the Ritchie county public schools, and at sixteen became a teacher. In 1889 he went to Seattle and taught one year on Bainbridge Island, Puget Sound. Later he entered the mercantile business at Arlington, Wash, and in 1896 came back to the Ritchie county oil fields. In 1901 he went to Morgantown University law school, from which he graduated in 1902 and was admitted to practice, taking up professional work in Harrisville until he came to Gallipolis to reside in 1907, having previously acquired a large interest in the proposed Kanauga Traction Co. He put the line through and is the president of the road. He is also president of the Kanauga Land & Development Co., a member of the law firm of Marsh & Whaley of Parkersburg, W. Va., a large stockholder in the National Builders Supply Co. of the same city, and one of the largest stockholders in the Harrisville & Cornwallis Railway in Ritchie county. He has large real estate interest in Parkersburg and elsewhere.
     In 1894 Mr. Marsh married Alice Hill of Tyler Co., W. Va., who died in 1897 leaving one daughter, Louise, now in her thirteen year. The Hill family has lived in West Virginia for four generations.
     On Aug. 14, 1901, Mr. Marsh married Katherine Virginia Roberts at Parkersburg. She is the daughter of David A. and Elizabeth Fox Roberts, originally from Philadelphia, and is a lineal descendant of George Fox, the founder of the Quaker faith. She is the granddaughter of Peter and Trana Holloway Roberts and George and Margaret Connor Fox. The Roberts family came from Wales and the Fox family from England. The children from this marriage are Angels, 7, Helen, 5, and Elizabeth, 3.
     Mr. Marsh is a member of the M. E. Church at Harrisonville and the Ellenboro Masonic lodge and chapter. He is a Republican in politics.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
9 August 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                             Top of Page

     Frances Edward Martin, Chief of Police of Gallipolis was born January 3, 1854, in the old Brandstetter home in this city. He was the son of Benjamin and Nancy Cheeseman Martin. The Martins came from new Hampshire to Gallipolis in 1811, and the Cheeseman family also is from New England.
     F. E. Martin attended the Gallipolis schools until he was fourteen years old. He then went to work as a laborer, being employed in rolling mills and stone quarries. Later he steam boated on towboats.
     In 1886 he became a special policeman under Mayor J. M. Alexander. He went on the regular force in May, 1887, under Mayor Sam Cook and continued under the administrations of Horace R. Bradbury, John M. Alexander, R. J. Mauck, T. E. Bradbury and M. F. Merriman.
     In July 1902, he became Chief of Police and has held that position ever since. During the twenty-two years he has been continuously an officer, he was for fifteen of them a constable.
     On June 25, 1889, Chief martin married Miss Sarah M. Jenkins of Green Bottom, W. Va. She is the daughter of William and Catherine Jenkins, and a granddaughter of the celebrated Confederate officer whose raids along the Ohio River were a thrilling feature of the Civil War.
     Chief Martin has no idea how many arrests he has made during his long public service. He was shot once though the breast in 1896, has been shot at a number of times and is one of the four officers who shot and killed the two burglars in the Priestley home in this city in 1901, in a desperate life or death battle that attracted the attention of the whole country.
     Chief Martin has a reputation for getting every man he goes after, no matter how desperate the criminal may be, and it is the testimony of every official under whom he has served that he has remarkable talent and courage as an officer, detective and take or criminals.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
30, July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Earl Leander McCormick was born in Green township, Gallia county, Ohio on Jan. 2, 1878. He is the son of Charles H. and Emma Halliday McCormick, and the grandson of John R. and Sarah Waddell McCormick and Laing and Margaret Walker Halliday. The McCormicks came originally from the North of Ireland, and the Hallidays from Scotland in 1823.
Earl L. McCormick was educated in the Gallipolis public schools, graduating in 1896. That fall he attended one term at the Ohio State University at Columbus. Being anxious to get to work he secured employment with the Columbus dry goods firm of Bancroft, Sheldon & Co., and remained with them four years, in the house and as city sales man. He then came to Gallipolis and succeeded T. Sid Cowden as manager of The C. B. Hanson Co. Two years later, he resigned this position and went with The Sheldon Dry Goods Co., of Columbus, traveling for them three years. He then returned to Gallipolis, where he has since remained as manager of The C. B. Hanson Company.
On June 18, 1901, he married Miss Ruth Emily Fuller, daughter of Thomas D. and Emily Hedges Fuller. Mr. Fuller has been an insurance man in Columbus for forty years. His family came originally from England.
Two children have resulted from the marriage of Earl L. and Ruth Fuller McCormick: Thomas Fuller, and Alice Margaret.
Mr. McCormick is a member of the M. E. Church, and of the Board of Public Safety by appointment of Mayor Merriman to succeed Mr. Chas. R. Comer. He was made a Mason in Morning Dawn Lodge of Gallipolis several years ago.

Miles, John Wesley

     John Wesley Miles was born Oct. 24, 1844, on his father's farm near Rutland, Meigs county, Ohio. He is the son of John B. and Mary Johnston Miles. His paternal grandparents were John B. and Chloe Jerves Miles, who left Rutland, Vermont, in 1800, came over the mountains to Pittsburg, and from there to Belpre on a flatboat with all their earthly possessions. At that place John B. Miles, II was born Mar. 28, 1801. In 1802 the family floated to the mouth of Leading Creek in Meigs county, and followed its lower bank through the virgin forest until near the cabin of Brewster Higley, the first settler in Rutland township, named after the Vermont community. The creek was very high, and Mrs. Miles called: "Brewster Higley, if you don't get us across this creek I'll go straight back to Rutland, Vermont!" "Why, that is Chloe Miles' voice," cried Higley. A sycamore was felled across the stream, and over it the Miles family went.
     Mary Johnston's parents were Wm. and Sarah Harmon Johnston, natives of Washington, Pa., who settled near Chester in Meigs county in 1800. She was a school teacher and met John B. Miles in the Cheshire neighborhood. Later his father gave him a farm near Rutland, now known as the Rice Longstreth farm, where J. W. Miles was born.
     In 1849 J. W. Miles's parents removed to Pomeroy, where they lived until 1856, when they went to Racine. In those two places J. W. received his schooling. At the age of 20 he enlisted in the 174th O.V.I., under Capt. Eph Carson, and served to the close of the Civil War. After the war he attended commercial school at Dayton, O. In 1866 he came to Gallipolis and went into the marble business with his brother, Columbus Jervis Miles. In 1867 he sold out and went to Catlettsburg and started the first marble business in Northeastern Kentucky. There he remained 16 years, and in 1883 at the solicitation of his brother, returned to Gallipolis, and on his brother's death in 1885 succeeded to the business and has conducted it ever since - making 45 years spent in that line, he being the oldest marble dealer in Southern Ohio.
     On May 27, 1868, he married Mary Frances McCormick, eldest daughter of Wm. H. and Catherine Hanson McCormick, and granddaughter of John R. and Sarah Ross McCormick and James and Jane Hanson. Their children are: Wilbur Odell, traveling salesman for the Dages Andrews Co., and located in Columbus, Millard Leslie, bookkeeper at O. H.E., Clarence Nash, dentist at Bellefontaine, Waid Harvey, traveling salesman for the Dages Andrews Co., located at Gallipolis, Mr. and Mrs. Miles adopted Ethel May at five years of age. She married Matthew M. Mansfield at Clinton, Okla, where she now resides.
     At the age of 15, J. W. Miles joined the M. E. Church at Racine. He has since been active in church work as singer, chorister, Sunday School superintendent, and a member of the official board for forty years. He is a member of Cadot post, G. A. R., and having joined the Odd Fellows in 1866, was at one time district deputy Grand Master of Northeastern Kentucky. He later retired from the Order. Mr. Miles has had an active and busy career. His sons have been active and successful, and one of them, Dr. Clarence N. Miles, is gifted with an unusually fine baritone voice. All are of musical tastes.

Gallipolis Daily Tribune
July 3, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                                Top of Page

Miles, Waid Harvey

Waid Harvey Miles was born in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, Aug 2, 1881. He is a son of John W. and Mary Frances McCormick Miles. His grandparents were John B. and Mary Johnston Miles, and Wm. H. and Catherine Hanson McCormick. He is the great gandson of John B. and Chloe Jervis Miles and John R. and Sarah Ross McCormick. The Miles family came from Vermont to Ohio in 1800, and the McCormicks from the North of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century.
Coming to Gallipolis with his parents in 1883, he attended the city public schools until he had finished the work of the grammar room. He then entered the Gallia Academy and studied four years under Professor Brown.
In the spring of 1902 he went to Syracuse, N.Y., under the employ of P. F. Collier, becoming distribution manager of the books issued in connection with Collier's Weekly.
After two years at Syracuse, in 1904 he accepted a position as traveling salesman with the Payne Shoe Company of Charleston, W. Va., with whom he remained about three years. When his brother, Mr. William Q. Miles, removed to Columbus, he acccepted the territory he vacated and became a traveling salesman for the Columbus shoe firm of Dages, Andrews & Co., in Southern Ohio and West Virginia.
Mr. Miles is a member of the M. E. Church and the Gallipolis Board of Trade. He is a member and past Councillor of the Gallipolis branch of the United Commercial Travelers, and belongs to the local lodge of Elks. He was made a Mason in 1906, and has taken all the degrees and Orders of the York Rite, being a Knight Templar in The Rose Commandery of this city.

Mullineaux, Edgar Percy

     Edward Percey Mullineaux was born in Gallipolis Mar 21, 1873, in the house located on Third Avenue and now owned by John G. Damron. He is the son of James and Anna Kuhn Mulineaux. James is the son of James and Maria Fowler Mullneaux, both born in Schropshire, England. Anna Kuhn, E. P. Mullineaux's mother, was the daughter of John L and Barbara Kuhn both of whom were born in the Kingdom of Wurtenberg, Germany.
     E. P. Mullineaux was born left handed, but in 1888 was thrown from one of the early high front wheel bicycles, on the approach to the Mill creek bridge, and broke his left arm. As a result of that accident he learned to use his right hand and became ambidextrous. He attended the Union schools but never graduated. He learned the hand carving trade in the Fuller-Hutsinpiller furniture factory at the age of eighteen, and can operate any kind of a machine that cuts wood.
     He became a first class cabinet maker, being able to take wood in the rough and fashion it into a finished article of furniture. He learned painting under Wm. Johnson and became expert in mixing to any color or shade, and is the only imitator of wood with paint using the German process in Southern Ohio. He has also done much work of fine quality in water colors, fire pen and India ink. For thirteen years he has given his artistic talents full swing, while working as a paper hanger and decorator. On Feb. 1, 1909 he became manager of The Mulloineaux Decorating Co., a corporation doing business at 458 Second Avenue.
     On Oct 9, 1907, he married Miss Myrtle Ward, daughter of Marine and Catherine Ward. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, of the Board of Trade, and of the St. Paul Chapter of the Methodist Brotherhood.
     Mr. Mullineaux's hobby is raising ginseng, and he has one of the best gardens of this valuable product in all this region. He raised blooded Belgian hares for eight years, and claims to be a good authority on hares and ginseng. He does a good many things in a way different from the usual, and can repeat the alphabet backward faster than he can forward. But of all his little tricks of manual dexterity, the one illustrated in his fac-simile signature under the picture printed herewith is the most interest to us. That signature was written backwards and upside down, and on all his letters and checks he writes his name backwards and upside down. He began doing it in his school days, and hotel clerks look baffled when he turns the book wrong and foremost to register.

Gallipolis Bulletin
June 26, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                               Top of Page

Oliver, John Carson

     John Carson Oliver was born in Wheeling, Va., on July 7, 1847. He is the son of George W. and Maria Hoope Oliver, and grandson of John C. and Didama Carson Oliver and Henry Hoope. The Olivers came from Massachusetts, the Hoopes were Pennsylvaniana originally from Holland, and the Carsons were New Yorkers. J. C. Olivers' father, and one of his grandfathers, were steamboat engineers. Henry Hoope was a paper manufacturer.
     J. C. Oliver went to the public schools of Wheeling until he was 14, then he started to work in a machine shop. From there at sixteen he went as striker on the river packet H. D. Mears, running between Wheeling and Louisville, and was almost continously on the water for thiry years, being an engineer from 1861 to 1893. In this long period he was employed on seventy-five or eighty boats, and traveled on the Ohio, Mississippi, Wabash, Cumberland, Kanawha, Tennessee, Arkansas, White, and Red rivers. His last river service was with the Browns of Pittsburg, on the big towboat, Harry Brown, for threee years.
     In 1893 Capt. Oliver, resigned his position and became chief engineer at the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. In 18 months he left the Hospital to become superintendent of the Gallipolis Water Works, then in course of construction. He has continued at this important post ever since - a period of fourteen years - through changing city administrations, and is perhaps the best informed man on the natural filter system for waterworks in the country. His advice has been sought on this line all over the country, and he has won a great reputation in his home city as a competent water works man who has never allowed the city to be without water in any emergency.
     In March 1861, Mr. Oliver married Caroline S. Damron, daughter of John G. and Maria Louise Ward Damron. John G. Damron was for many years a prominent citizen and Mayor of Gallipolis. His family came from Eastern Virginia. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. John C. Oliver were: Lula, who died in infancy, Gertie, who died in 1904. James Dent, steamboat engineer and engineer at the city Water Works since 1895.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
August 5, 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                            Top of Page

Robinson, William Lorah

     William Lorah Robinson was born at Chest Springs, Pa., Apr. 16, 1860. He is the son of Thomas S. and Mary Sulloway Robinson, and the grandson of Jonathan Robinson and Thomas and Mary Stuart Sulloway. The Robinsons came originally from England, to New England, and the Sulloways from Ireland.
W. L. Robinson attended the public schools of Pennsylvania and was for two years a student at Mt. Pleasant, Pa. Academy. His father died while he was at the Academy, and all his plans for further education at the institution were disrupted. He was eighteen years old at the time, and went to work immediately in his brothers' drug store at Buffalo. W. Va. After three years there he accepted a position in the drug store of Charles D. Kerr of this city in July 1882, where he has remained ever since. When the business was incorporated as the C. D. Kerr Drug Co., he became its secretary.
     On Oct. 3, 1880, Mr. Robinson married Miss Mary H. Timms of Buffalo, W. Va. She is the daughter of Jesse A. and Mary McCowan Timms. The Timms family came from Pennsylvania, and the McCowans from Virginia.
     The children resulting from this union are: Miss Ethel, now a stenographer with the Calkins Holden Co., advertising agents, in New York City, Harry Stuart, a student of the violin in the College of Music at Cincinnati, Miss Mary Timms, at home, Lorah, at home. All the children are musicians, Lorah and Miss Mary being pianists, and Harry an unusually promising violinist. Mr. Robinson himself is a musician and violinist, having conducted the Robinson Orchestra of this city for many years, until business responsibilities made it necessary for him to disband it.
     Mr. Robinson is a member of the M. E. Church, of Morning Dawn Lodge of Masons, of the Elks, and of the Board of Trade. He is also Secretary of the National Union.

Gallipolis Daily Tribune
July 29, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                            Top of Page

Edward Wayne Sanns was born in Gallipolis Sept 27, 1879. He is the son of James H. and Maggie Martin Sanns. His grandfather was Peter A. Sanns and his great-grandfather was John Sanns, who came form Holland to America and Gallipolis early In the 2lst century. And was a baker and candy maker. Peter A. Sanns was a druggist and musician a man of great talents and for many years did a large wholesale and drug business. Jas. H. Sanns also was a druggist and musician, being like his father, a great admirer and lover of the violin. He and his father manufactured a valuable proprietary medicine, which had a large sale and is still in general use over the country.
E. Wayne Sanns’ mother was Maggie Martin Sanns, is the daughter of George and Elizabeth Askin Martin, he from Scotland and she from Ireland. George Martin left and it is still in possession of the Sanns family snuffbox which was presented to him by Sir Walter Scott at Melrose Abbey. Elizabeth Askin, grandmother of E. Wayne Sanns on the material side was related the the famous Scotch family of Stuarts.

Shaw, Dr. Emmett W.

     Emmett W. Shaw was born in Gallipolis on Sept. 15, 1873. He is the son of James and Josephine Holcomb Shaw. His grandparents were John and Jane Ratcliffe Shaw and Frances and Mary Buxton Holcomb. The Shaw family came originally from England, as did the Holcombs also.
     Emmett W. Shaw was educated in the Gallipolis public schools. Ater his school days he went to work in Dr. James A. Lupton's dental rooms, and soon decided to adopt dentistry as his profession. In accordance with this decision he went to the Ohio Dental College at Cincinnati in 1892, and after taking a three years course was graduated from that institution in 1895. He returned to Gallipolis and has ever since practiced in this city.,
     On September 23, 1899, Dr. Shaw was married at Buffalo, W. Va., to Miss Elsie Barrows, daughter of Capt. Austin and Mary Hamm Barrows. The Barrows are an Ohio family, and the Hamms a Virginia family.
Three children have resulted from this marriage - Mary, aged eight, Ella Gertrude, aged six; and William, aged two.
     Dr. Shaw is an Elk, an Odd Fellow, and a Woodman of America. Politically he is a Democrat, and is at present a member of the Board of Education and its Clerk, and a member of the Board of Health.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
18 August 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                              Top of Page

     Charles Frederick Stockhoff was born May 10, 1852, at Cincinnati. He is the son of Chas. F. and Elizabeth Hungerkamp Stockhoff, the first of whom came from Hanover in 1827 (page blurred) the later from Prussia, and both settled in Cincinnati, where they were married. Charles F., senior was a machine blacksmith by trade, and later became a grocer.
     Charles F. Stockhoff went to Cincinnati public schools until he was twelve years old, then as a boy of all work was employed in various stores and offices. In July, 1870, he came to Gallipolis and clerked for the late Adam Uhrig seven years, when he went to Aurora, Indiana for two years and a half. Returning to Gallipolis, he and Martin Uhrig bought out the Adam Uhrig grocery business and conducted it four years under the firm name of Uhrig & Stockhoff. Mr. Stockhoff then bought the Uhrig interest and sold an interest in the business to his brother Harry, the firm becoming Stockhoff Bros. In 1889, they went into the wholesale trade, and in 1898 incorporated at The Stockhoff Bros. Co.
     In 1903, the Company bought the massive and commodious Wm. C. miller block in Gallipolis, where their large and prosperous business now has its home.
That Mr. Stockhoff has been a competent and successful business man is indicated also by investments outside his regular business. He is President of the following corporations: First National Bank since 1904, and director for 20 years. The Gallipolis Gas & Coke Co. for many years and the Gallipolis Telephone Co. he is Vice President of the Gallia Furniture Co. He is also a director in the Treasure Stove Works and the Enos Machine Co.
     Mr. Stockhoff is President of the City Tax Commission by appointment of Mayor Merriman and Vice President of the Board of Sinking Fund Trustees. He is also a member of the Board of Education several years.
     At Aurora Indiana on June 23, 1884, Chas. F. Stockhoff and Miss Dora Wymond were married. One son has been born to them, Samuel Wymond, now in his twentieth years.
     Mrs. Stockhoff is the daughter of Samuel and Eliza Abbott Wymond. The Wymond family came from France to Cornwall, England about 1600 A. D. on account of the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, the Wymond’s being Protestants and there village in Lincolnshire, Eng. Called Wymondham.
     Samuel Wymond was born in England and married a New Jersey lady. From the early days of that church the Wymond’s were Methodists, excepting only Samuel. He was interested in large cooperage works in Indiana and in ante-bellum days was a strong abolitionist in a bitter pro-slavery district. He was active in the assistance of escaped slaves and helped many a one to Canada and freedom. But not without exciting such bitter hostility that his life was several times endangered. He died in 1884, after an active business life, leaving behind him a record of courage and benevolence such as few men win.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
23 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Thompson, Robert Pierson

     Robert Pierson Thompson was born Nov 5, 1857, about two miles from Gallipolis at the old family homestead. He is the son of Wiliam and Madeline Hummel Thompson. Wm Thompson came from Denmark to New York City about 1840. He was a sailor and met Miss Hummel while she was on ship en route from Germany to America. They were married in New York, where William, John and Maria Thopson were born.
     About 1850 they settled in Gallia county on what is known as the Thompson homestead, where five more children were born to them - Samuel, Henry, Edward, Peter and Robert P.
Robert P. Thompson was educated in the common schools and at Gallia Academy under Cooley and Chase. He farmed until 1889, when he came to Gallipolis and was employed by W. H. Hutchinson about three years, when he went with F. W. Dages in the Treasure Stove Works until Mr. Dages died. Then Thompson & Francis rented the stove works for five years, after which they purchased their present large foundry at the corner of Second Ave. and Spruce St. This change was made about 1895, and the firm has prospered since.
     On April 6, 1881, Mr. Thompson married Miss Catherine Ecker. She is the daughter of Frederick and Mary Stringfellow Ecker, and the granddaughter of Conrad Ecker, who was born in Germany, and Wm. Stringfellow, an Englishman. Frederick Ecker came to America when six years old, located at Pittsburg and later in Gallia county. His wife was born and raised in Centerville.
     Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have the following children: Roy Washington, graduate of Ohio State University, class of 1903, now in New York City with the America Bank Note Co.
     Wm. Lester, graduate of O. S. U., class of 1906, now in Columbus with the McKeever Electrical Co.
Mary Madeline,graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston in both vocal and instrumental music, now in charge of the music department of the Gallipolis public schools.
     Mr. Thompson belongs to all the York Rite Masonic bodies of Gallipolis, to the Elks, and to the U. C. T. He was a Democratic member of the City Council when street paving was put through, and was a strong advocate of that improvement, laying the first brick. He is at present the President of the Board of Education.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Daily Tribune
August 17, 1909
By Maxine Marshall                                              Top of Page

     Hon. Samuel F. Vinton is referred to as being much longer in congress than any of those whose lengthy terms have been cited in four recently published 'Little Stories of Southeastern Ohio', Grosvenor, Danford, VanVoorhis, Moore and Ashbrook. He served eleven full terms in the house of representatives. First elected in 1822, his last term ended in 1851.
      Vinton was originally a Whig and a Republican after the death of the former party. The district which first sent him to congress was the 7th made up of Scioto, Pike, Lawrence, Jackson, Meigs, Athens, and Washington counties.
      He was successful at each election. Historian W. A. Taylor, in his"Ohio in Congress" reminded his readers that Vinton served "a longer period than any other congressman except Joshua R. Giddings."

DIED IN 1862

The recipient of this extraordinary series of honors [Samuel F. Vinton] was descended from a banished French Huguenot who settled in New England in the 17th century. Congressman Vinton was born in Massachusetts, September 25, 1792. He began the practice of law in Gallipolis, Ohio. On retiring from
congress he spent most of his time in Washington City and died there May 11, 1862. His remains were taken to Gallipolis and laid beside his wife. His daughter, Madeleine, became the wife of Admiral Dalgren and later and author Vinton county was named in honor of the subject of this sketch."

     Claude Melnot Wall was born on May 5, 1870, in Gallipolis. He is a son of Dr. Claibourne D. and Elizabeth Smith Wall and grandson of John and Catherine Wall and John Smith.
     The Wall family came to Ohio from Rockingham, North Carolina., in 1854. Dr. Wall practiced medical profession extensively to Gallipolis and Gallia county for nearly thirty years and until his death in 1882. He had a family of nine children, six of whom are still living, as follows: John S., Pinckney T., Peter S., William G., Claude m. and Carl M.
     Claude m. Wall attended the city schools of Gallipolis, after which he went to the Homological Institute of Chicago from which he was graduated in 1890. This course was followed years later by study at the Spencer Optical Institute of New York, from which he graduated in 1901.
     In 1891, after his course at the Homological Institute in Chicago, he opened a watch, clock and jewelry repair shop in Gallipolis, which grew by degrees into his present handsome and well equipped jewelry store. He has been a careful and conservative business man, having but one outside interest, that of boating. The appeal which the great river flowing beside our city makes to all lovers of outdoor sport has not been lost on Mr. Wall, and for years his recreation has been motor-boating, at which he is a past master.
     Mr. Wall is a member of the Fraternity of Odd Fellows and also of the Order of Elks, belonging to the lodges located in this city.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
23, July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

     Homer Jasper Ward was born on the home farm in Morgan township, near Vinton on Apr. 24, 1876. He is the son of Benjamin F. and Susan Hanger ward and the grandson of Jacob and Nancy Beard Ward and David and Betsy Glassburn Hanger . Frederick and Susan Hanger were his maternal great grandparents. Jacob Ward came from Columbiana Co. to Meigs and thence Gallia.
     The Hangers were strong Abolitionists, David and Frederick being conductors on the Underground Railroad between Porter, Wilkesville and Albany. One of the stations was in the hanger barn and many dusky passengers were helped from slavery to freedom by them. Once David, with a wagon load of colored people covered by straw was halted and shot at.
     H. J. Ward attended school in the country, at Rio Grande, Ewington and at the Ohio Northern University at Ada. He graduated in the literary course in 1897, taught school two or three years, then returned and finished the law course in that institution, being admitted to practice in Ohio courts in 1904. He returned home to nurse his mother until her death.
     In the winter of 1905-5 he taught school and in September following with his brothers he purchased the George house insurance agency and took up its management which he still retains. Previous to this he was principal on the Crown City schools in 1897-98, at Kyger in 1898-99 and at Vinton from 1899 to 1902. At the latter place he organized their graded schools. He began teaching at 16.
     He married Oct. 6, 1906, to Miss Jennie Ruth Kestning at Kelly’s Island, O. and one child Howard James was born to them June 26, 1908. Jennie Kestning is on of nine children of Frederick and Sophia Dodge Kestning who married in Germany, came to America on their wedding trip and settled at Cleveland, leaving there after four years for Kelley’s Island.
     H. J. Ward is a member of the M. E. Church and the Methodist Brotherhood. He was prelate of the Knights of Pythias at Vinton, made a Mason in Vinton Lodge, he is now a member of Morning Dawn Lodge at Gallipolis and is a Knight Templar in The Rose Commandery. He is also a member of the Board of Trade.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
16 July 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

     Pinckney T. Wall was born May 20, 1853 , in Henry Co., Va. He is the son of Dr. Claibourne D. and Elizabeth Smith Wall. John Wall, the paternal grandfather was a six foot English Irishman who claimed Patrick Henry, the Revolutionary statesman, as a collateral kinsman. He married Catherine Wade of Welsh extractions a second wife, the combined children numbering 23. He had 19 slaves.
     The genealogical history of the family is now being written by J. S. Wall, a state official of Pennsylvania.
     Dr. Wall crossed the Blue Ridge in 1854, bring the subject of this sketch and two elder children to Gallipolis in a wagon over the route later followed by the C & O Railway. He practiced medicine here for 28 years and was coroner for 12 years. He taught the first fee school to Henry County, but was a native of Rockingham Co., N.C. His wife was a daughter of John Smith of Alsace, France, who spoke French and German.
     P. T. Wall attended the Gallipolis high school and was marked for a medical career, but in 1879 chance through him into the office of the Gallipolis Journal, of which he was local editor for ten years, before the time of dailies, but when newspapers made and unmade politicians. His office were Wm. Nash, Capt. Jas. Harper and C. M. Holcomb, all deceased. Mr. Wall’s conspicuous effort on the Journal was “ Gallipolis to ___________” which produced more than a local sensation. After retiring from the newspaper business Mr. wall wrote “ The Gallipolis Princess ” as an advertisement for his brother’s jewelry store. It appeared in The Daily Tribune but in 18 hours the Associated Press has sent it all over the country and it was copied and illustrated all over the world.
     Mr. wall was for 17 consecutively years secretary of the Gallipolis ____ and about 12 years secretary of the Board of Trade, when Col. Vance was president and the O. H. E. exploited. He was the board’s manager of the corner stone ceremonies of that institution and wrote the manuscript sealed in the stone. He was the founder and for several years president of the old Gallipots Gymnasium, in its day of 300 members and a ladies’ class of 60. He was also the board of Trade’s sole manager of the campaign for Gallia turnpikes when that project was carried by 55, after a former 3 to 1 defeat.
     In 1878 Mr. Wall was a volunteer nurse of yellow fever patients to Gallipolis, serving three weeks, helping to bury the dead and keeping a diary of his experiences.
     While on the Journal Mr. Wall first engaged in the insurance business and for over 28 years continued in this line, to connection with real estate and brokerage, retiring in 1907 at the command of his physician after a successful career.
     June 26, 1879, Mr. Wall married Cara V., daughter of Henry and Susan Priestley Beall. Mrs. Monds C. Taylor, Mrs. A. P. Bassi of Los Angeles, Cal., and Fred, at home survived this union, his only children.
     May 6, 1897, Mr. Wall married Lucy A. Wray of Reidsville, N. C., who chose to be associated with her husband’s business career as P.T. and L. W. Wall, enjoyed her experience greatly and proved both capable and prudent.
     Mr. Wall is a Knight of Pythias and general deputy of the National Union, with authority to install Councils.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
6 August 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood Top of Page

Ward, Homer Jasper

     Homer Jasper Ward was born on the home farm in Morgan township, near Vinton on Apr. 24, 1876. He is the son of Benjamin F. and Susan Hanger Ward, and the grandson of Jacob and Nancy Beard Ward and David and Betsy Glassburn Hanger. Frederick and Susan Hanger were his maternal great grandparents. Jacob Ward came from Columbiana Co. to Meigs, and thence to Gallia.
The Hangers were strong Abolitionists, David and Frederick being conductors on the Underground Railroad between Porter, Wilkesville and Albany. One of the stations was in the Hanger barn, and many dusky passengers were helped from slavery to freedom by them. Once David, with a wagon load of colored people covered by straw, was halted and shot at.
     H. J. Ward attended school in the country, at Rio Grande, Ewington and at the Ohio Northern University at Ada. He graduated to the literary course in 1897, taught school two or three years, then returned and finished the law course in that institution, being admitted to practice in Ohio courts in 1904. He returned home to nurse his mother until her death.
     In the winter of 1904 he taught school, and in September following with his brothers he purchased the George House insurance agency and took up its management, which he still retains. Previous to this he was principal of the Crown City schools in 1897-8, at Kyger in 1898-9, and at Vinton from 1890 to 1902. At the latter place he organized their grade schools. He began teaching at 16.
     He was married Oct. 6, 1906, to Miss Jennie Ruth Kestning at Kelley's Island, O., and one child, Howard James, was born to them June 26, 1908. Jennie Kestning is one of nine children of Frederick and Sophie Dodge Kestning, who married in Germany, came to America on their wedding trip, and settled at Cleveland, leaving there after four years for Kelley's Island.
     H. J. Ward is a member of the M. E. Church and the Methodist Brotherhood. He was prelate of the Knights of Pythias at Vinton. Made a Mason in Vinton Lodge, he is now a member of Morning Dawn Lodge at Gallipolis, and is a Knight Templar in The Rose Commandery. He is also a member of the Board of Trade.

Gallipolis Daiy Tribune
July 9, 1909
Transcribed by Maxine Marshall                                Top of Page

     George Jasper Wetherholt was born Aug. 14, 1852, at Porter, Gallia Co., Ohio. He is the son of Elias and Caroline Clark Wetherholt, and the grandson of Wm. And Hetty Pringle Wetherholt and Wm. And Elizabeth Shepard Clark. Wm. Wetherholt was of German descend and Hetty Pringle of Scotch Ancestry. Elias Wetherholt was born in London, as were both William and Elizabeth Clark, who came to America by the port of Baltimore after marriage and bought a farm on Duck Creek near Marietta, O. High water drove them to a new location and they selected a section of land at Porter in this county.
     G. J. Wetherholt attended private schools at Buchannan, Virginia and later public schools in Gallipolis, his father’s strong Abolition views having caused his removal to Ohio in 1860. The elder Wetherholt was an undertaker at Porter, and in 1876 G. J. began working at the same profession. Later he spent seven years at Wilkesville and two at Wellston before coming to Gallipolis in 1887. He attended several embalming schools and introduced antennal embalming in Gallia County, O. May 11, 1885, he married Miss Blanche Curtis Derry at Wilkesville. She was the daughter of George L. and Mary _____ Derry and the granddaughter of Benjamin and Emily Lewis Derry and Benajah and Mary Barlow Curtis. The Derry’s came from England to Vermont, where the family still exists. The Curtis family is also from England and Connecticut, whence they removed to the Marietta, Ohio, settlement at an early day. The Barlow’s were of the same family which produced Joel Barlow, an historical character whose descendants reside in Gallipolis.
     The children resulting from the union of G.J. Wetherholt and Miss Derry are Bessie, now Mrs. Charles F. Hudlin of Montgomery, W. Va., Mary, Derry, Paul and Frank, all at home.
     Mr. Wetherholt is a Presbyterian, a member of the Session and a trustee of the church. He is a Knight of the Pythias and belongs to the Uniform Rank. He is also a Knight Templar, a member of all the York Rite Masonic bodies to Gallipolis, Politically he is a Republican and has served as councilman at large and member of the Board of Public Service.

Transcribed from the Gallipolis Tribune
6 August 1909
By Marjorie L. Gilliam Wood