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(Source: History of Guernsey County, Ohio by Col. Cyrus P. B.
Sarchet - Illustrated - Vol. I. B. F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1911
NOTE: As
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transcribed,
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~ Sharon W.
CYRUS C. P. SARCHET
 |
MOSES SARCHET
 |
MRS. MARTHA SARCHET
 |
THE SARCHET FAMILY
were among the first to settle in this county, being among the
number of families that emigrated from the island of Guernsey
(France) in 1806, and as the family have been prominent in the
history of this county, which was named for the island they came
from, it may be of interest to the reader of local history to
know something in detail of the ancestry as well as of the
members of the family who have left their impress on their
adopted country.
The Sarchet family, of the island of Guernsey,
Europe, were descendants of the De Souchets, of the north
of France. Thomas, a son of that family (who were
zealous Catholics), obtained, during his majority, a French
Bible, which he persisted in reading, against the protest of his
father and mother, as also the parish priest, who threatened the
anathemas of the church. The Bible is still in the
Sarchet family as a precious relic. Through fear, he
fled from his home to the island of Jersey, from there to
Guernsey, where he assumed the name of Sarchet.
This was about the year 1670. He married and had one son.
The son married and had two sons, Thomas and Peter,
who became the heads of two families in Guernsey.
Thomas, John, Peter and Nicholas, were the sons of
Thomas, and Peter, the only son of Peter,
and, these five sons having all emigrated to Guernsey county,
Ohio, the name is now extinct in the Island of Guernsey.
Thomas, the elder son of Thomas,
succeeded to the patrimonial estate, the old "Sarchet
mansion," a massive stone structure of the olden time, with
fourteen acres of land attached. HE was a cultivator of
fruits and vegetables for the market of St. Petersport, and also
a carter or drayman of the city. John was a ship's
blacksmith, a maker of chain cables and anchors; a man of more
than ordinary ability, shrewd and cunning; he was an advocate of
free trade, and represented the Iron-master's Union of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before the ways and means committee
of the House of Representatives of the United States, in a
report advocating free-trade in iron. His report was
bitterly assailed by Henry Clay, as coming from a
dirty-handed smuggler of the island of Guernsey; the report was
sustained by Albert Galliten, in an able speech, wherein
he pronounced that, though John Sarchet's hands were
dirty, it was from honest toil, and that his argument was
unanswerable.
Peter Sarchet was a carpenter, and Nicholas
was a blacksmith, each of whom were quiet, frugal, industrious
men, filling their places in society with credit to themselves
and families.
Peter, son of Peter, was a gentleman of
leisure and means, with the title of Sire Peter.
THOMAS
SARCHET, SR., the pioneer of the Guernsey families of
Guernsey county, Ohio, was born in the parish of Saint Samson,
island of Guernsey, in Europe, June 29, 1770, and was married to
Anne, or Nancy Birchard, a daughter of James
Birchard and Esther Gallienne, of the parish of La Quartie,
in the year 1789, to whom were born four sons and two daughters,
Thomas, David, Peter B., Moses, Nancy and Rachel, all
of whom were born in the island of Guernsey.
In the year 1806, when all Europe was under arms and
the eagles of the first Napoleon were spreading from kingdom to
kingdom, and kings and crowns were at his disposal, the island
of Guernsey, in the English channel, between the two great
contending powers, was made the rendezvous for the troops of
England and her allies. The inhabitants were compelled to
supply the troops with provisions, and "press-gangs" were
over-running the island, pressing all able bodied men into the
English service. Thomas Sarchet, a philanthropist
and Christian, opposed to war, resolved to seek a home in the
New World of the West. The old ancestral home, the home of
Victor Hugo, the French republican, who would not follow
the lead of the "man of December" during his exile, was disposed
of, and in May, 1806, Thomas, John and Peter Sarchet
and Daniel Ferbrache, a brother-in-law, with their
families, boarded a fishing smack at Saint Petersport, bound for
a Jersey port, where they were to take passage in an English
emigrant ship bound for Norfolk, Virginia. On the voyage
to Jersey the smack was boarded by a "press-gang" and two young
men named Simmons, who were passengers bound for America,
were taken from the boat. On arriving at Jersey, Thomas
Sarchet appeared before the governor of the island and
demanded the immediate release of the two young men, which he
succeeded in obtaining. This is mentioned to show a
distinguished trait of his character - a heart that went out
after the distressed and oppressed..
The English ship, commanded by Captain McCrandal,
a son-in-law of Sire Peter Sarchet, was convoyed by an
English man-of-war out of the English channel into the ocean
until it was thought the ship was safe from the French cruisers,
when the farewell and lucky journey was extended and the ship
and escort parted. After being a few days out, a French
cruiser was sighted in full pursuit. A canvas had been
prepared for such an emergency, and soon the name of the ship
was covered by "The Eliza of Boston" and the American Jack
proudly floated to the breeze. The French cruiser not
being aware of the ruse, and the United States and France being
on good terms, gave up the chase. The ocean voyage was
calm and pleasant, without any unusual occurrence, excepting the
death of a child of the Ferbrach family, the body being
wrapped in a sheet and consigned to the ocean, after the
impressive burial service of the Episcopal church had been read
by the captain, to await the day when "the sea shall give up its
dead."
The landing was made at Norfolk, June 3, 1806, and
shipping taken for Baltimore, Maryland. At that city,
wagons, horses and equipments for the overland journey were
procured, and they passed out of Baltimore June 16th, the sun
then being in total eclipse. The point of destination in
the west was Cincinnati, Ohio. The journey over the
mountains was a long and tiresome one, beneath the hot, sultry
sun of July and August. Arriving at Cambridge, August 14,
1806, the town being just laid out and the underbrush cut off
Main street a consultation was had with the proprietors of the
town, Jacob Gomber and Zaccheus A. Beatty, which
resulted in a determination to stop and settle. A brush
tent was hastily built near the spring, on land in what is now
known as Lofland addition to Cambridge, here "their
wanderings were o'er."
Thomas Sarchet purchased lot number 58, corner
of Main and Vine streets, as then known, and at once began the
erection of a hewed log house, which was completed in the summer
of 1807, and is still standing (October, 1910). It is the
oldest landmark of the pioneer settlement in Cambridge, it
having been weather boarded, however, which greatly preserved it
intact all these years - one hundred and three. There
pioneer Sarchet lived the remainder of his days, dying
April 21, 1837, aged sixty-seven years, and there also his good
wife resided until her death, April 2, 1849, aged eighty-three
years.
A number of years before his death Mr. Sarchet
lost almost entirely the use of his limbs and had to be carried
to his church, a duty that was cheerfully performed by his
religious brethren, as a tribute to his worth and their esteem
for the old father of the church whose great delight was in
communion with the saints. He sang with rapturous delight
one of the old Methodist hymns:"My latest sun
is sinking fast,
My race is nearly run."
The funeral services of
Thomas Sarchet and Anne Sarchet were conducted by
Rev. Cornelius Springer, with whom they had
fellowshipped, both in the "Old Side" and "Radical" church.
He died early in life; his children all lived to be three score
and ten.
Thomas Sarchet was not a man of leisure; he was
a busy man - a man before whose strong arm the "wilderness was
made an habitation, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the
rose." He began to take hold of such enterprises as the
necessities of a new country required. He made a journey
to Pittsburg with pack horses to procure salt. He made a
journey to Philadelphia, for store goods, and opened out the
first store in Cambridge in the spring of 1808. Prior to
this he had leased the "saline lands," at Chandlersville,
Muskingum county, from the state of Ohio, and there began the
manufacture of salt. These saline springs had been used by
the Indians, with their rude implements, for salt making, which
led to the reservation by the state. He continued to make
salt from these springs until about the close of the war of
1815, when he bored the old Sarchet well, where he owned
a section and a half of land, and continued to manufacture salt
until the fuel gave out and the works were abandoned. This
was an artesian well. The water was forced twenty feet
above the surface by gas and flowed many years. While
engaged at the salt works at Chandlersville a nephew, Daniel
Ferbrache, fll into the "cat-hole," and was so badly burned
that his death followed in a few days. An account of his
sufferings, Christian resignation and triumphant death,
published in the Methodist Magazine, from the pen of
Thomas Sarchet, entitled "Passing Through the Fire," was
read with interest and largely copied into the secular papers of
the day, as showing how well Christians could die.
Strength and agility were traits prided in by the
pioneer settlers, and it was not unusual for reputed "bullies"
to engage in the then manly (now brutal) sport of the prize
ring; but no bully ever bantered Thomas Sarchet. He
was known as the "strong man," and was said to have carried on a
wager, upon his back, one thousand pounds, from his dray into a
mill at Saint Petersport, Guernsey. At house-raisings and
log-raisings, when the weight seemed too heavy for the force
applied, his brave "Ho, boys, heave." meant the log must move.
A member of the Wesleyan connection of the church in
Guernsey, and a Licensed exhorter, he brought with him and his
family the nucleus of the Methodist Episcopal church of
Cambridge, organized from the "French Class," of which he was
the leader, by the Rev. James Watts, in 1808. His
house became the place for preaching, and his home and
hospitality was open and free to the horseback itinerant of the
early church. Many of the great men of the church, of
sacred memory, partook of his bounty, and reposed in quiet and
security beneath his hospitable roof. Among the number may
be named Bishops McKendree, Hedding, Soule, WAugh, Hamline,
Morris and J. B. Finley, John P. Durbin, Charles Elliott,
James Quinn, David Young and others whose names have been
forgotten.
When "mutual rights," the rock that split in twain the
Methodist Episcopal church, began to be agitated, opposed as he
had been to the kingly prerogative in the old country, he became
an advocate of lay delegation and against the tenure for life of
the office of bishops, and when the final split came he went
into the new organization, and, in a large measure, built the
first Methodist Protestant church, at his own expense, in
Cambridge, in the year 1832, and continued in it, as he had been
in the old church, a leader and a pillar. His reason for
leaving the "Old side" church, as it was called during those
heated days of controversy, and connection with the "Radicals,"
as the new organization was styled, he had published by John
Hersh, then editor of the Guernsey Times, and
circulated throughout the places where the disturbing question
was most agitated. His reasons were based on the
republican idea of equality and fraternity, with no privileged
sect. But, like all reformers, he lived in advance of his
days, and as all that was demanded then has become a part of the
polity of the Methodist Episcopal church of today, except the
life tenure of bishops, his reasons, which he bequeathed as a
legacy to his children may be accepted as not coming from a
fanatic without reason.
The fruit trees planted in Cambridge were carried on
horseback by him from the Putnam nursery at Marietta, where he
procured seed and planted a nursery, from which the older
orchards of Guernsey county were derived.
He held no civil office higher than road supervisor.
He lived and died enjoying the fullest confidence of the people
in his honesty and integrity of character, and it came to be a
saying, "If Thomas Sarchet says so, it must be true."
He had no blot upon his character, unless the necessities of the
pioneers in converting their surplus grain into alcoholic
liquors in order to secure a market, might be called a blot, -
when ministers and laymen drank from the same bowl, - for he was
a brewer of beer and a distiller of whiskey.
As the pioneer, he was followed in 1807 by James
Birchard, William Ogier, Thoams Naftal, Thomas Lenfesty, Daniel
Hubert, Sire Peter Sarchet and John Marquand, with
their families, and John Robin, Peter, John and
Nicholas Toroade, Nicholas Poedwin, Peter Corbet, Nicholas
Sarchet, and Peter Langley, young men.
The following is a roster of the family of Pioneer
Thomas Sarchet:
Thomas, born July 2, 1790; married Catherine
Marquand; sons, Solomon, Thomas Y., Charles M.;
daughters, Nancy, Anne, Martha Matilda, Maria, Lucinda.
Nancy, or Anne, born December 5, 1793;
married Capt. Cyrus P. Beatty; sons, John A., Thomas
Zaccheus; daughters, Nancy B., Ellen, Rachel.
David, born November 14, 1797; married Mary
Hill, Margaret Britton, Jemima De Hart, Mary Toroade; sons,
Simon P., Fletcher B., David T., Alpheus T., Elmer G.;
daughters, Nancy, Margaret, Elizabeth and Rachel.
Peter B., born May 6, 1800; married Catherine
Holler, Martha McCully, Mary Mitchell; sons,
Thomas H., Joseph H., John M., Cyrus T. B., George M.;
daughters, Harriet, Lorette.
Moses, born April 17, 1803; married Martha
Bichard; sons, Cyrus P. B., Thomas, James B., Charles J.,
John H.; daughters, Nancy B., Rachel M., Harriet J.
Rachel M., born April 14, 1805; married John P.
Beatty; son, Zaccheus A.,; daughters, Anne M.,
Margery L., Sarah K., Ellen A., Harriet A., Margaret M. and
Cecelia F.
MOSES
SARCHET, son of Thomas and Ann Sarchet, natives of
the island of Guernsey, was born on that island April 17, 1803.
His parents emigrated to this country in the autumn of 1806,
locating at Cambridge. Moses Sarchet married, on
March 23, 1826, Martha Bichard, daughter of James and
Rachel Bichard, who were also from the isle of Guernsey,
coming here with Thomas Sarchet and his little colony.
Mrs. Moses Sarchet was born in 1805. The children
born to Moses and Martha (Bichard) Sarchet were as
follows: Nancy B., Cyrus P. B., Rachel M.,
Harriet Josephine, Thomas, James B., Charles J., and John
H., eight in all.
At the death of Cyrus P. Beatty, Mr. Sarchet
was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas, which office
he held for fifteen years. He was twice mayor of the city
of Cambridge, and for many years a justice of the peace and
superintendent of the National pike a number of years. Was
twice nominated for representative of Guernsey county and in
each campaign was defeated by the Democratic party, he always
voting the Republican ticket. He was a busy man and yet
always found time to entertain his friends in a hospitable
manner. He had hosts of friends, who mourned his death,
which occurred September 9, 1890. He was buried in the
cemetery at Cambridge, September 11th. His wife died March
1, 1887. At the date of her death there were twenty-eight
grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. She was
sixty-four years in acceptable member of the Methodist Episcopal
church. As a mother she ordered her household well.
As a neighbor, she [PICTURE OF MOSES SARCHET] [MRS. MARTHA
SARCHET] was kind, obliging and charitable. At her
request, she was buried beside her four sons, and now the
husband rests beside her. She sleeps the sleep of the
just.
CYRUS PARKINSON BEATTY SARCHET was born in the
house formerly owned by his grandfather, Thomas, this
structure having been built the third one in Cambridge, and,
with the exception of three years in his early manhood, his
entire life has been spent in this vicinity. He is the
eldest son of Moses and Martha (Bichard) Sarchet, and was
born November 17, 1828. His ancestors were French
Huguenots, who at an early day took up their residence on the
island of Guernsey. The original spelling of the name, it
is supposed, was Sarchet, the French form of which would
be De Sarcha, and some of the family have taken that
name.
About 1670 one Thomas Sarchet, a zealous
Catholic, obtained a French Bible, which he persisted in reading
against the desires of his parents and the parish priest, and at
length was obliged to flee from his country, going to Guernsey,
having stopped for some time in the isle of Jersey. This
Bible is mentioned elsewhere in detail in this work, and is
still in the hands of the family here. Thomas
married and had two sons, as shown in the accompanying
genealogy. Upon arriving in America in 1806, and at
Cambridge, Ohio, August 14th of that year, they found the hamlet
just platted. The father brought a lot at the corner of
Wheeling avenue and Seventh street and erected a log cabin, a
part of which was still standing in the eighties ,in a good
state of preservation. Within this log house here
grandfather, Thomas Sarchet, lived until his death, April
21, 1837, and his wife had died there a dozen years later.
His children all lived to be four score years of age.
Moses Sarchet, the father of the subject of this
memoir, was born April 17, 1803, and died in Cambridge September
10, 1890. At the age of sixteen years he entered the
office of his brother-in-law, C. P. Beatty, as assistant
clerk of the court of Guernsey county, holding such office until
his marriage in March, 1827, when he removed to his farm four
miles north of Cambridge. For along period he was engaged
in the manufacture of salt, at the old Sarchet Salt Works
north of this place. This salt well was in this
county, it being constructed early - about 1815 - and kept in
active use until 1840. After the death of Mr. Beatty,
Moses returned to fill out his unexpired term, and from
September, 1828, to September, 1842, was clerk of the common
pleas court of Guernsey county, during which time he was also
township clerk, county school examiner, and overseer of the
township poor. In 1847 he was the Whig candidate for
representative, but was defeated.
In 1848 he was appointed resident engineer of the
National road, and held the office for three years. In
1851, when the Central Ohio railroad was being projected, he was
an active in the movement to have it pass through Cambridge,
being the largest local stockholder in the road and the
contractor in its construction. This contract was
completed, but a failure of the company crippled him financially
during the remainder of his life. When the war of the
Rebellion came on, he was appointed a member of the military
commission of Guernsey county, and was also a draft commissioner
during the war. He served for twelve years as justice of
the peace, during this period was also township trustee; was two
terms the mayor of Cambridge, and master commissioner of his
county. In his religious faith he was a devout Methodist.
To himself and wife were born five sons and three daughters.
Of this family, only the following four survive. Col.
C. P. B. Sarchet, James B. Sarchet, John H. Sarchet, all
three living at Cambridge, Ohio, at this writing:
Harriet Joseph, now widow of James M. Carson, of
Zanesville.
Of C. P. B. Sarchet it may be said that the
earlier years of his title were spent in an uneventful manner,
his time being given to farming and the attendance at the
district schools of that period. For a short time he also
went to what was known as the Cambridge Academy. For a
number of years he clerked in the local stores of his native
city. In 1855, in company with his father, he commenced
the publication of the Guernsey Times, with which he was
connected for several years. About forty years of his
industrious life were given to the tilling of the soil and
general management of the farm. During this time he held a
number of local official positions, in which he gave time and
labor for the public good, without reward or hope thereof.
Perhaps no man in Guernsey county has given as much time to the
history of men and events connected with the growth and
development of the same, or has given more in answer to
enquiries relative to the statistics of the county and state
affairs. During the Civil war Mr. Sarchet performed
much provost duty, looking after soldiers who were away on
furlough, and was also appointed enrolling officer. In
1863, Governor Tod commissioned him captain and
instructed him to organize the militia of this county into three
regiments. After he effected this, he was elected colonel
of the First Regiment, a title by which he has since been known.
He took an active part in the John Morgan raid, was
at Chillicothe, and later at Eaglesport, where he crossed the
Muskingum river and followed the enemy until the latter were
captured near Salineville, Ohio. For many years Mr.
Sarchet was connected with the Guernsey County Agricultural
Society, and was president of the Farmers' Institute of the
county, and in the nineties was secretary of the soldiers'
relief committee. Politically, he has been allied with the
Whig, Republican and Democratic parties.
He resides just to the east of the city proper, on
Wheeling avenue, and with his almost daily trips to the city has
covered about a thousand miles each year upon an average, making
in the last thirty-five years thirty-five thousand miles - a
distance which exceeds going around the globe and half way
aback, on foot!
Mr. Sarchet is a ready writer and has
contributed much to the literature of his county and state.
Many years ago he wrote the "Cambridge of Fifty Years Ago."
This was published in the Jeffersonian in serial
articles, of great interest. Along political lines he
wrote of the 1840 Whig campaign, including the history of the
thirty-three Whigs of the county central committee. His
articles on the Morgan raid give a detailed account of the same,
covering his personal recollections of his eight days' ride in
the saddle going through Noble, Morgan, Guernsey, Harrison,
Belmont, Jefferson and Columbiana counties. By reason of
his special ability as a collector of historic data and
biographical knowledge of his fellow citizens of Guernsey
county, he was selected to supervise the writing of the 1910
history of the county, which the reader now holds, and no better
man could possibly have been selected by the publishers to
superintend his task.
Concerning Colonel Sarchet's domestic relations,
let it be stated that he married, on April 24, 1855, Margaret
M., daughter of Andrew Moore. The children born
of this union were: Frank M., deceased; Andrew
M.; Inez L., wife of Cyrus F. Wilson; Martha
Blanche.
In his religious faith, the Colonel is a faithful
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which for many
years he was the treasurer. In perusing the various
newspaper files of this county, the writer of this memoir has
found scores and hundreds of valuable historic items from
Colonel Sarchet's ready pen. His knowledge of men and
events in this portion of Ohio is indeed wonderful. In
this month (November, 1910) this venerable old gentleman attains
his eighty-second birthday. He ranks high among the plain,
unassuming, practical and generous hearted men of his day and
generation, and of whom the world has none too many. |
GEORGE M. SECREST
~ Page 792 |
HARRISON SECREST
~ Page 851 |
JACOB F. SECREST is
remembered as a man of fine characteristics and a citizen of a
high standard. He was born in Buffalo township, Noble
county, Ohio, in July, 1831, and was the son of Isaac
and Mary (Slater) Secrest, the latter being the
daughter of John Slater, a Welshman who came to
America in an early day and delighted in hunting deer with the
Indians. Isaac Secrest was the son of
Jacob Screst, a German, who came from Virginia
to Buffalo township, Noble county, Ohio, in an early day and
located there from fifteen to twenty years. About 1875
Mrs. Secrest inherited a part of a farm west of
Pleasant City and Mr. Secrest bought out the
other heirs and there they made their home the balance of their
lives. They became the parents of seventeen children, four
of whom died in early childhood; thirteen of them are now
living, nine sons and four daughters, namely: Charles W.
is living on the old home place; Andrew J.
lives near the old home; Mary Rosella, wife of
Doctor Kackley, of Pleasant City; Ida
M., widow of S. A. Bird, lives in
Cambridge; William Boone lives near the old
home west of Pleasant City; Rebecca J., wife of
Pulaski Cubbison, living in the west part of
Valley township; Oleetha, wife of
Charles S. Messer, lives in Fairview; Curtis
lives near the old home; Levi E. lives
west of Blue Bell in the edge of Spencer township;
Francis M., also lives near the old home; Other
B., Noah Homer and John J. A.
also live near the old home.
Politically, Jacob P. Secrest was a Republican
and for a number of years ably served as trustee of Valley
township. He was a Mason fraternally, and took an active
interest in lodge work, for many years being master of the
Pleasant City Lodge. He also belonged to the chapter of
Royal Arch Masons at Caldwell. He was a member of the
Methodist church and was class leader in the same for many
years. The death of this excellent citizen occurred on
Mar. 20, 1901. His widow, now seventy years of age, still
lives on the old home place, strong and active for one of her
years. She, too, is a faithful member of the Methodist
church.
Mr. Secrest
was the owner of an excellent and well-kept farm of two hundred
and sixty acres west of Pleasant City. About thirty acres
of this land has been laid off in town lots and comprises part
of the Fairview addition to Pleasant City.
~
Page 591 |
JAMES M.
SECREST
~ Page 850 |
NOAH ELWOOD SECREST. A
well known and highly respected member of the Secrest
family, one of the most prominent in Guernsey county
since the pioneer days, is Noah Elwood Secrest,
of Hartford, Valley township, who was born about one and
one-half miles east of that town on Dec. 9, 1836. He is
the son of John and Elizabeth (Clark) Secrest,
the father born in Hampshire county, Virginia, the son of
Henry and Elizabeth (Spaid) Secrest. The
family emigrated to Guernsey county when John
was eleven months old in December, 1811, his birth having
occurred on January 3d of that year. Henry Secrest
also had a brother named John.
The father of Henry and John Secest
came here and secured two farms for his sons Henry
and John, then went back to Virginia, after
locating his sons. About the end of the war of 1812,
Henry enlisted for service, but peace was
declared by the time he reached Zanesville. Henry
was the father of William Secrest mentioned in
a separate sketch. He was also the father of John
the subject's grandfather, John Secrest
grew up on the home farm, southeast of where Hartford
now stands. There were no roads in this locality when the
family first came, only the Marietta trail, a "blazed" road
through the woods. They settled here in typical pioneer
fashion, clearing a little space on which to build their cabin,
John remained on the home place until he was
married, on Jan. 3, 1833, to Elizabeth Clark,
on his twenty-first birthday, and on that day he wore the first
"store bought" shirt in his life, having always worn those woven
and made by his mother. Elizabeth Clark
was born in Pennsylvania and was the daughter of
Benjamin Clark, the maiden name of her mother having
been Gregory. The Clark
and Secrest families came to this county about
the same time, having met enroute while stopping over night
between Wheeling and Barnesville, and on that night the two
babies, John Secrest and Elizabeth
Clark, were put to sleep in the same bed; about twenty
years afterwards they were married.
After his marriage John Secrest located one and
one-half miles east of Hartford on a part aof the original
Secrest farm and there made his home the rest of his
life. The subject was one of nine children, namely:
Henry G., Benjamin C., Noah E., Mary Elizabeth, Michael Spaid,
Samuel Frederick, Ebenezer Finley, Margaret Casaline, John
died in early infancy.
The father of
these children was a man of influence in his community and the
possessor of commendable traits, so that he was highly honored
by all who knew him. He was trustee of his township even
while Noble county was a part of Guernsey county. After
the county line was established as it is today, he was
trustee or assessor of Valley township nearly all his life.
He was always a Democrat, and was active in party affairs,
having attended the conventions, taking a general interest in
public affairs of the community, and was well known all over the
county. His death occurred on Jan. 29, 1882, his wife
having preceded him in Sept., 1877. They both belonged to
the Evangelical Lutheran church, in which he was an active
member and an officer for many years. His father was a
charter member of the church.
Noah
E. Secrest grew up on the farm where he was born and
lived there until 1907; he still owns the place, which consists
of about one hundred and fifty acres. He was first married
on Dec. 29, 1860, to Eliza Jane Spriggs.
Her parents, Morris D. and Catharine (Poole) Spriggs,
came from Pennsylvania to Belmont county, Ohio, where
Mrs. Secrest was born, then moved to near Mt. Ephraim,
Noble county, thence to Valley township, this county, where
Mrs. Secrest grew to maturity. Her father
was a tailor in early life. The first union resulted in
the birth of four children: Mary Rosetta died
in her fourteenth year; Ernest P., who lives on
the father's farm east of Hartford, married and lives at Lima,
Allen county, Ohio, where he is engaged in the practice of law;
he is a member of the Democratic state central committee, and
clerk of the board that is building the new insane asylum in
Allen county, at Lima; he and his wife have one little daughter.
Martha Olive is the youngest of four children
born of Mr. Secrest's first union. She
married E. W. Matthews, Jr., of Cambridge,
whose record appears herein. Mr. Secrest's
first wife was called to her rest on Oct. 24, 1877, and on Jan.
13, 1881, he married Mrs. Adeline (Bryan) Rose.
She was the daughter of David N. and Amelia (Patterson)
Bryan, and she was born and reared in Cambridge, Ohio,
in which city her parents were also born and reared.
David N. Bryan was the son of Thomas
and Joan Bryan, his parents having come from
Washington county, Pennsylvania in the early days and settled at
Cambridge. Mrs. Secrest's father was a
soldier in the Civil War, being a member of Company B,
Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; he was in Sherman's
march through Georgia and died from the effects of his service
in the army. Four children were born to Mr.
Secrest's second marriage, namely: Arthur
Clark, who is in the superintendent's office of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Marietta, married Marie
Faris and they have one son: Donald G. and
Carroll Eugene are twins; the former is in New Mexico
in the superintendent's roll of a coal company; the latter died
in 1903 in his eightieth year; Raymond B., who
lives in Hartford, married Linnae Spaid; he
runs a motor at the Hartford mine.
In 1907 Mr. Secrest bought a beautiful and cozy
home in Hartford and retired from active work. He and his
wife belong to the Lutheran church in Hartford and are prominent
in church and social circles.
~ Page 739 |
NOAH ELWOOD SECREST.
Much is to be found within the covers of this volume regarding
the Secrest family, but too much could not well
be said, owning to the fact that its members have been prominent
in Guernsey County in various walks of life from the early
pioneer days and they have borne reputations of high grade
citizens, unassailable and irreproachable, and have played well
their parts in the drama of civilization. A worthy
representative of this old and influential family is
Noah Elwood Secrest, of Valley township, of whom the
following paragraphs deal. He was born on his father's old
home farm a short distance east of Hartford, this township, on
June 9, 1855. He is the son of
William and Mary (Buckley) Secrest,
highly esteemed old residents of Valley township, who are
mentioned in a separate sketch in this work.
Noah E. Secrest grew to maturity on the home
farm on which he worked during his boyhood and youth and
attended the district schools. He followed farming most of
the time, but also did some teaming, remaining with his father
until he was thirty-four years of age. He was married in
1879 to Mary R. Jackson, who was born and
reared at Pleasant City, this township, the daughter of
Samuel and Virginia (Trott) Jackson, a well known and
highly respected family here. This union has resulted in
the birth of four children, namely: Carl Dwight,
who lives at Belle Valley, this county, working as a foreman for
a construction gang at the mines; Ella Violet
and William Jackson are at home; Melba Virginia
at attending school at Pleasant City.
In 1888 Mr. Secrest brought a farm of one
hundred and four acres one mile south of Hartford, where he has
since made his home. The house, a cosy, substantial and
attractive one, stands on top of a ridge, overlooking the
valley, commanding a view of several towns and a most inspiring
panorama of field and farm as well. From it the lights of
Cambridge may be seen at night and in another direction one can
see at a distance of eighteen miles. He has a most
excellent farm which he has brought up to a high state of
improvement and cultivation and which is one of the choice
places of the township. He carries on general farming and
stock raising in a most successful manner and is regarded as one
of the leading agriculturists of his community.
Mr. Secrest is a loyal Democrat and he is more
or less active in local party affairs, having served his
township as trustee in a most acceptable manner. He is a
member of the Knights of Pythias at Pleasant City, and in his
religious relations he holds membership with the Lutheran
congregation, while Mrs. Secrest belongs to the
Methodist Episcopal church.
~ Page 713 |
WILLIAM
SECREST. One of the grand old men of Valley
township is William Secrest, whose long and
useful life has been spent in his home community, where he has
labored to goodly ends, not only for himself and family, but
also for his neighbors and the general public, and now that the
twilight of his age has begun to envelop him he can look
backward over a well spent life and forward to a glorious
inheritance.
Mr. Secrest
was born a short distance east of Hartford, this
township, Feb. 6, 1828, and he is the seventh child of a family
of nine children born to Henry and Elizabeth (Spaid)
Secrest. Henry Secrest was born Aug. 18, 1785, in
southern Pennsylvania and he moved into Virginia early in life,
where he married Elizabeth Spaid. She was
the daughter of George Spaid and wife and was
born in Virginia on July 22, 1790. Her father had been a
Hessian soldier, brought to this country by the British during
the Revolutionary war to fight in the Continental army. He
was captured at the battle of Trenton and was taken to Virginia,
where he and a number of his comrades were colonized, and he
remained there and married. Three children were born to
Henry Secrest and wife while living in Virginia,
John, Abram and George W.
This sterling family emigrated to Guernsey county, Ohio,
probably as early as 1820, and Henry Secrest
entered a tract of land south of where the town of Hartford now
stands, becoming the owner of two hundred and twenty-eight
acres, which he brought up to a high state of improvement,
having begun life in typical pioneer fashion, when the country
was covered with vast native woods through which roamed wild
beasts, and even the foot prints of the red men had not been
obliterated from the soil. He became prosperous and owned
considerable land in addition to his home farm, and he played an
important role in the early development of this section of the
country. After coming here six other children were born
into his family, namely: Michael, Frederick, Martha,
William, of this review; Elizabeth and
Valentine.
William Secrest grew to maturity on his father's farm,
which he helped develop, and he has lived to see this vicinity
grow from the wilderness to its present thriving condition,
having taken a prominent part in the same, and it is, indeed,
interesting to hear him recount reminiscences of the early days
here.
On Sept. 6, 1854, Mr.
Secrest was married to Mary C. Buckley,
a native of Noble county, Ohio, and the daughter of John
Buckley and wife. Seven children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Secrest, namely: Noah
E. is mentioned elsewhere in this work;
Abram lives in Senecaville; Violet L.
married O. F. Hawes, and died in February,
1909; Otis D. lived in Newark until his death,
Oct. 15, 1904; Emma L. married Charles
Scott and lives between Hartford and Byesville in the
north edge of Valley township; George McClelland,
who is mentioned elsewhere in this work, lives on the home place
near Hartford; James W. lives northeast of
Hartford, where he has a small farm.
The death of the mother of these children occurred on Dec. 13,
1904. She was an excellent woman, a member of the Lutheran
church at Hartford, of which her husband is still a faithful
member.
William Secrest
still lives on his fine farm of two hundred and
twenty-eight acres, east of Hartford, which is one of the most
desirable places in the township. He has kept it in
splendid condition and has been very successful as a farmer and
stockman. This place has been in the Secrest
family ever since it was secured from the government
only one deed having been made to it.
William Secrest has very ably served his
township in various public capacities, such as assessor for
several years and as trustee several terms. He is a loyal
Democrat. When a young man he taught school three winters,
two terms in Valley township and one in Buffalo township, Noble
county. With that exception he has been a tiller of the
soil all his life. He is a man whom to know is to accord
the highest respect owing to his many splendid characteristics.
~ Page 795 |
ERNEST W. SMITH. It is
safe to say that no one is more familiar with the mining region
of Guernsey county than Ernest W. Smith, the present able
and well known assistant general superintendent of the Imperial
Mining Company's mines and those of the Vivian Collieries
Company. He is popular with a large acquaintance, being a
man of kindly disposition, pleasant, and honest and thoroughly
trustworthy, admired for his uprightness and business integrity.
Mr. Smith was born near Elba, Noble County,
Ohio, July 27, 1871, and is the son of Jerry R. Smith and
wife, records of whose lives are to be found on another page
of this work. Suffice it to say here that they were of
representative pioneer families and highly respected. When
the son was about fourteen years of age he began working in the
coal mines about Byesville and has been here ever since, making
himself familiar with the various phases of the work in this
field. While working at the old Central mine he proved of
such value to the company that he was made foreman, which
position he held with credit to himself for about four years,
beginning about 1895. During the next six or seven years
he was hoisting engineer at the mines, after which he was made
superintendent of the Ohio No. 2 mine, west of Byesville.
About two years later he was made assistant general
superintendent of all mines owned by the Imperial Mining Company
and the Vivian Collieries Company, which responsible position he
still holds, giving entire satisfaction in every detail of the
work. He has charge of four large mines and about six
hundred men, which position he has held about four years.
He understands thoroughly every phase of mining work and he is
very faithful in the discharge of his duties. He
understands well how to handle men, keeps everything under an
excellent system, and is a very important factor in the vast
interests of the above mentioned companies.
Mr. Smith was married in 1896 to Nora
Linkhorn, daughter of Joseph Linkhorn and wife and
the sister of L. S. Linkhorn, county treasurer to
Guernsey county, to whose sketch the reader is respectfully
referred to the complete ancestry of the Linkhorn family.
One winsome daughter, Helen, has been born to Mrs. and
Mrs. Smith.
Fraternally, Mr. Smith
belongs to the Masonic order, having attained the Knight Templar
degree, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and faithful in their attendance and support of
the same. Mr. Smith has served four years in the
village council and three years as mayor. He and his wife
have a wide circle of friends here and stand high in the social
life about Byesville. |
THOMAS AQUILA SPAID.
A prosperous and well known business man of Pleasant City, of
which place he is a native, and a descendant of a family long
resident in this region is Thomas Aquila Spaid, who was
born at Pleasant City, Guernsey county, Ohio, on August 28,
1864, the son of John Wesley and Elizabeth (Dyson) Spaid.
The Dyson family were among the first
settlers in Valley township and the postoffice at Pleasant City
was formerly called Dyson. The family was well
known and some of their descendants are still living in Valley
township and are of high standing in their community. Of
the Spaid family, it is said that they are descended from
a Hessian soldier who located in Virginia after the Revolution.
George Spaid was the first of the family to come to
Guernsey county. He was a farmer and large landowner in
Hampshire county, Virginia, near Winchester, and in 1819 came by
wagon and located here, and owned a large amount of land in
Valley township. He had a son, William, who was
nineteen years old when the family came here from Virginia, and
who married Elizabeth Secrest, the daughter of Jacob
Secrest, also of Hampshire county, Virginia, near
Winchester. She came here with her parents about the same
time the Spaid family came, when the county was still
wild and mainly unsettled. Jacob Secrest was a
large landowner, and both the Secrest and Spaid
families were prominent in the public, business and social life
of the community.
William Spaid was also a farmer in Valley
township, owning many acres, and a successful man during the
years of his activity. He took much interest in fine
horses. John Wesley Spaid was one of the ten
children of William Spaid. He married Elizabeth
Dyson, and was a tanner, owning and operating a large
tannery on the south side of Main street in Pleasant City, half
a square east of the railroad, on the present site of
Grossman's department store. He also ran a shoe shop,
and made shoes, saddles and harness.
Thomas Aquila Spaid was one of
twelve children, four of whom died in childhood. The
others who are deceased are Mrs. Eliza Jane Waller, who
left four children: Olive, who died unmarried, James,
who died at about twenty-six years of age, leaving a son and
daughter. The living are: William Joseph, of
Morristown, Belmont county, Ohio; John Wesley, of Jasper
county, Missouri; Charles L., of Joplin, Missouri;
Thomas A., and Elverson Luther, a Lutheran minister
at Carey, Wyandot county, Ohio. John W. Spaid died
on March 3, 1877, and his wife survived until June, 1900, both
being much respected in the community. Thoams grew
up in Pleasant City, and worked at various occupations, in coal
mines, on the railroad, etc. He and his brother in law for
five years were in the general mercantile business in Pleasant
City. Since he has added a good line of hardware and has
continued in this business, and has prospered and increased his
trade greatly.
Mr. Spaid was married in 1890 to Sonora L.
Secrest, the daughter of David and Sarah Jane (Miller)
Secrest. David Secrest was a son of John and Sallie
Secrest, who came from Virginia, and is of the same branch
of the family as are Noah E. Secrest, Sr., and William
Secrest, of Hartford. Mrs. Spaid was one of
thirteen children, and was born and reared near Hartford, Valley
township, Guernsey county. To Mr. and Mrs. Spaid
has been born one daughter, Olive Ruth.
Mr. Spaid is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
He, his wife and his daughter are members of the Lutheran
Church, and all are active. Mr. Spaid has served as
Sunday school superintendent, and has been a deacon in the
church since the second year of his membership, and began to
teach in the Sunday school when only fifteen years old. He
is a thorough Christian, a man of sterling character and
spotless integrity, successful in business, and prominent and
influential in his community. |
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