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HON. RUPERT
BEETHAM, president of the Fourth National Bank of
Cadiz, and representative from Harrison County, has been closely identified with
the business adn civic affairs of Harrison County for twenty years, having
located in Cadiz in September of 1900. He was born at Greensburg, Trumbull
County, Ohio, on Aug. 29, 1877, and is the son of the Rev. John and Mary (Rennison)
Beetham, natives of northern England, who came to America in 1867. |
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REV.
JOHN BEETHAM, was a member
first of the Erie Conference and later the East Ohio, that finally merged
into the Northeast Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He served many pastorates during his more than thirty years of active
ministry, namely, North Jackson, Windom, Talmadge, Bedford, Niles, Hopedale,
Gnadenhutten, West Lafayette, Leesville, Vienna, Jewett, Canton, Thompson
and Somerton. He was a strong and vigorous preacher and in the
majority of his appointments he served the time limit for pastors then in
vogue. He came of a family of musicians and was himself a noted singer
as well as being accompanied on the piano, pipe organ, violin, cello and
flute. His "ditties" like "Mary and Martha: and "The
Spider and the Fly" were great favorites wherever he resided. May
Rennison Beetham, though the mother of seven children, was
always active in church work, and was one of the district officials of the
Women's Foreign Missionary Society for many years. She was declared,
by one of the prominent Methodist ministers to be "a gifted woman, of keen
intellect, remarkable memory, and an eloquent speaker."
To Rev. John and Mary Beetham
were born the following children: Mrs. Mary W. Mohn,
Uhrichsville, Ohio; John S., supervisor of agents, Lake Shore
Railroad, Cleveland, Ohio; William H., superintendent of schools,
Wellsburg, West Virginia; Alfred C., a practicing physician of
Bellaire, Ohio; R. Emory, pastor of the Oakland Methodist Church,
Shelney Park, Pittsburg; Rupert Rennison, the subject;
Charles S., of Jewett, Ohio, traveling salesman for the Twin City
Grocery Company. Thus seven members of the family, all born in
different towns, chose different vocations, and located in different places.
Rev. Beetham died at Jewett in December, 1905, the mother
having died at the same place in October, 1890. Both are buried at
Gnadenhutten, Ohio.
Rupert Beetham as a boy attended the
various schools where his father was located in his ministry. He
completed his high school course at Canton after spending one year at Scio
College, and later completed his law course at the Ohio State University,
paying his own way from money earned in teaching school in Short Creek
Township, this county, during the winters of 1917-19. In school he was
ever an active member - always taking part in the literary societies, the
debating teams, the baseball, football and track teams. He played
football two years at Canton High School and one year at Ohio State, and was
never on the losing side of a contest in this sport. He received a
number of medals for track victories while in high school and there made
records of twenty feet for the broad jump and over forty feet for the hop,
step and jump. He played baseball for many years and was a member of
the Scio College team of 1895 that went through the season with seventeen
victories.
He was admitted to the bar in 1900 and immediately
entered upon the practice of the profession in Cadiz in partnership with
Judge W. T. Perry. In the same month - September - he was married to
Crete McLaughlin, of Short Creek Township. As a
candidate for prosecuting attorney in 1905 he was defeated by E. S.
McNamee. In December, 1905, he was appointed postmaster of Cadiz
by President Roosevelt upon the recommendation of
Congressman Weems, though the appointment was without
solicitation on the part of Mr. Beetham. He was re-appointed by
President Taft in 1910, and served until April 1, 19114. During
his term of office city delivery was established, the postoffice moved into
new quarters, and an additional rural route added to the office. In
August, 1914, he was nominated for representative by the republicans and
elected by a majority of about 600; two years later he was re-elected, and
in 1918, elected for a third term, he had a majority of over 1,000, while in
1920, elected for the fourth time, he had a majority of nearly 2,500, woman
suffrage increasing the county vote.
It is as a representative that Mr. Beetham is
most widely known. Always a hard worker in the Assembly, he became one
of the best posted members of that body and few measures were ever before it
that he could not give an inquiring member information thereon. In his
third term he was elected speaker pro tem and republican floor-leader.
The Ohio State Journal, commenting on the caucus, stated: "Mr.
Beetham became the almost unanimous choice of his colleagues for
speaker pro tem and majority floor-leader, though he was not a candidate for
the position. Many voted against him for speaker because they wanted
to see him in the other position. He is the logical man for floor
leader, having a good voice, command of language and being a ready debater."
His task as floor-leader was a difficult one by reason of the fact that the
governor and the Assembly were of different political parties. Many
times strife ran high when matters of great importance were before the
Assembly and the division of the tax schools added to the party division
making the task an unusually hard one. One paper in commenting on the
situation stated: "Beetham is a man of action. When the
time comes to move he is for going. He is aggressive." When the
ratification of the dry amendment of the Federal Constitution was before the
House the wet leaders sought to delay action, but the result is described
editorially by the Martins Ferry Times: "Obstructionists methods were
squelched under the able leadership of Representative Beetham of
Cadiz, floor leader of the Republican majority, and long before the sun
waned ratification had been formally recorded. Harrison County and the
state at large owes a debt of gratitude." The Legislative reporter at
the close of his stormy session commented upon Mr. Beetham's
work as follows: "Representative Beetham of Harrison County is
the recipient of unusual praise and favorable comment as the result of his
work as Republican floor leader of the House. * * * This season closes with
Beetham possessing the liking. confidence and esteem of the House,
every newspaper man and every employee. He is not a large man
physically, but otherwise he is large. He is quiet, courteous and
square. Beetham was a good floor leader. He would make a
good senator, or a good member of Congress." The Steubenville
Herald-Star stated: "Mr. MBeetham was a republican floor leader
of the House during the last session and showed himself to be masterly in
that capacity."
At the republican party caucus held in Columbus on
December 15, 1920, Representative Beetham was, without opposition,
chosen the party candidate for speaker of the House, and on January 3d
following was elected to fill that selection. The Cleveland Leader
stated "that with his selection the party has started to carry out an
efficiency program." The Ohio State Journal commended some of the
Speaker's proposed innovations in the Assembly, among them being the
shifting committee to be established with a view of eliminating useless,
silly and duplicated bills, and editorially stated: "This committee
probably would do the state more actual service than any other standing
committee * * *. We are for it." The Cleeland Plaindealer stated
"that the new Speaker had given his doctrine that the way to be a good
republican is to be a good citizen.' and the way to 'play politics' is to
perform the task assigned us." The Uhrichsville Chronicle stated:
"He has become so well and favorably known throughout the state that he
stands in the front ranks of Ohio republicanism, and it is not all an
unreasonable prediction that within the next few years he is like ly to be
governor of the Buckeye State."
Senator Harding had an early booster in Mr.
Beetham. It was while floor leader in January, 1920, that he
introduced the resolution inviting Senator Harding to address the
Assembly on Roosevelt's birthday. This address was widely
distributed. AT the early meeting of republicans in Steubenville
Mr. Beetham declared that "Harding will make a great president.
He will not attempt to do it all, but will gather about him one of the
greatest of cabinets." Three times during the campaign he was a
visitor at Marion.
Rupert Beetham has been a member of the Cadiz
Board of Education since his electin in 1904, and has always taken a keen
interest in the school management. He has served as a director of the
Chautauqua Association sine its organization, and been the platform manager
since 1914. When the Red Cross was organized in 1917 he was elected
the chairman, and in 1919 was chairman of the drive for the Salvation Army.
:Methodist born and Methodist bred" Mr. Beetham
has been a member of the Official Board of the Cadiz Methodist Church since
coming to Cadiz. He has served as church treasurer, Sunday school
teacher and superintendent. In 1908 he was an alternate delegate
of the East Ohio Conference to the General Conference held in Baltimore, and
in 1912 attended the General Conference in Minneapolis as a delegate.
After serving several years as a director of the Fourth
National Bank he was in January, 1918, elected president of the institution
and has sine given his time to this bank, though he still owns and operates
his farm in Short Creek Township.
In September of 1900 Mr. Beetham was united in
marriage to Miss Crete H. McLaughlin, daughter of Hon. Samuel K.
and Belle (Snyder) McLaughlin, of Short Creek Township.
Mrs. Crete Beetham was educated in the country school near Hurford and
the Hopedale Normal College. She was a lady of admirable traits of
character, being known among her friends as one usually kind. She died
on August 28, 1918, leaving four children, namely; Mary Isabelle,
now a sophamore at Ohio Weslyan University; Samuel McLaughlin,
a senior in high school; Rupert Rennison, Jr., and
Charles John. |
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S.
SHERMAN BUCEY. Having when young acquired a practical knowledge
of the various branches of agriculture, S. Sherman Bucey selected the
independent occupation that has brought comfort, happiness and wealth to
unnumbered thousands of the world's industrious workers, and the results of
his years of labor prove conclusively that he made no mistake in the
choosing of the vocation, his home farm in Stock Township being under a good
state of cultivation and highly productive. He was born, March 18,
1867, in Wells Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood.
His father, Dallas Bucey, was born in
Jefferson County, Ohio, of pioneer ancestry. Selecting the occupation
in which he was reared, he was actively engaged in general farming in Wells
Township, his native county, for many years. Moving from there to
Jewett, Ohio, in 1914, he has since been an esteemed resident of that place.
He married Sarah Ellen Taylor a daughter of Hiram Taylor and into
their home ten children made their advent, as follows: S. Sherman;
Anna; William Albert; Clarence, deceased; Cora; Howard; Blanche;
Carl; and Louisa, deceased. Both parents are identified by
membership with the Methodist Church.
Educated in the district schools of Jefferson County,
S. Sherman Bucey grew to manhood on the parental homestead, as a boy
and youth assisting in the manual labors incidental to farm life.
Becoming thoroughly initiated into the intricacies of agriculture, he
settled in Stock Township, Harrison County, about 1894, where he began life
for himself as a farmer. Subsequently moving to Washington Township,
Harrison County, he continued there a farmer for fourteen years.
Returning to Stock Township, Mr. Bucey assumed possession of the farm
which he now owns and occupies and began adding to the improvements
previously inaugurated. Going to New Philadelphia, Ohio, in 1917, he
remained there two years, but since his return, in 1919, to Stock Township
has devoted his energies to the management of his valuable farm of 106
acres, and is meeting with most desirable results as a general farmer.
Mr. Bucey married, in 1888, Hattie Barkus,
a most estimable woman, and they became the parents of three children,
namely: Odessa, wife of Edward Selaway; Harry, who married
Laura Ervin, has one child, Lester; and Neona, who died in
childhood. Mrs. Hattie Bucey died in 1894. Mr. Bucey
subsequently married for his second wife Jennie Stevens, and of their
union one child has been born, Florice, who married Orville De
Witt, and has five children, Lucille, Richie, Clara, Grace
and Helen. Mr. and Mrs. Bucey are active and faithful members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
~ Page 932 History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio - Chicago:
Lewis Pub. Co., 1921 |
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