JAMES NEELY
who was a prominent citizen of Adams County, Pa., was the father of
several well-known citizens of Holmes County. He was born in
1766, a son of John and Susan (Carr) Neely, natives of County
Down, Ireland, who in their early married life settled on the farm
where James was born and reared. James Neely
married Sarah Obleim, a native of Adams County, of Scotch
parentage and they had a family of nine children. Mr. Neely
dying in November, 1821, his wife soon afterward sold the homestead
and with her four daughters - Susan, Maria S., Harriet Margaret
and Elizabeth - moved to a small village near by and in 1826
through the influence of a son, came to Millersburgh, Holmes Co.,
Ohio, reaching here May 24. In the spring of 1827 a home was
purchased near the public square, and there the mother died in 1837,
aged seventy-one years.
The daughters were all married in Millersburgh:
Susan married Alexander Craig; Maria S. married John
E. Koch; Harriet M. married David Ross, and Elizabeth
married Robert K. Enos. Mrs. Koch and Mrs. Enos
are the only survivors of the family. Their brother,
Jonathan Neely, died in Maumee City, at the age of sixty yeas,
being a prominent citizen and the proprietor of a large hotel i that
place. The representatives of this family are well known in
Millersburgh, and are among the most highly respected of the
pioneers.
~ Page 599 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
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Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
ERNEST
NEGELSPACH is a native of Germany, born in 1826, at Wachbach,
Jaxt Kreiss, Wurtemberg, a son of Henry John and Rosana (Fahbaugh)
Negelspch. He was reared and educated in his native
country, attending the common and high schools, and when fourteen
years old he began mercantile life as a clerk in the wholesale and
retail grocery store in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria. From
the age of eighteen to twenty-one years he was employed in a
hardware store in Memmingen, Bavaria. On Sept. 18, 1848, he
left his native land for the United States, landing Nov. 12, that
year, in New York City, and Salem, Mass. He first settled in
Winesberg, Holmes Co., Ohio, where, from January, 1849, to June,
1851, he was in mercantile business with Joss & Shalliell and
June 1, latter year, he commenced, in partnership with Edward
Crane a small country store in Bakersville, Coshocton Co., Ohio,
continuing the the same until the spring of 1854, when he bought out
Crane, and continued the business in connection with farming
until the fall of 1861; then bought, at the outbreak of the war, a
farm of 200 acres of land in Bethlehem Township, Coshocton Co.,
Ohio. This he sold at the close of the war, and then located
and bought two improved farms, containing 626 acres, in Lincoln
Township, Grundy Co., Mo. Of this he sold 326 acres, retaining
400 acres, and returned to Ohio with his family locating in
Millersburgh, where he purchased the Irvin Block, 107 Main
Street, and again embarked in mercantile business, which he
continued until 1886, in which year he sold his stock of goods to
Louis Forlow.
Mr. Negelspach has been one of the most successful
business men in Holmes County. Commencing life with modest
means he has by his own good management, proper information and
industry become one of the most prosperous merchants of
Millersburgh. He now owns 205 acres of good land, the
cultivation of which he superintends, and now lives in Millersburgh.
Mr. Negelspach was married in 1854 to Susanna,
daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Lepper) Hoffman, and they
have had four children: Henry, William, Emilia Louisa, Otto
Martin and Orpha, three of them yet living. In
politics Mr. Negelspach is a Democrat. He and his
family are members of the Presbyterian Church.
~ Page 726 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
JACOB
NETHEROW, farmer, was born in Fryburg, Holmes Co., Ohio, in
1822, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Gushwa) Netherow, who
came to Holmes County from Somerset County, Penn., in 1820 and in
1835 moved from Fryburg to a farm two miles west of the town of
Millersburgh, buying forty acres of uncultivated land. They
had a family of eight children, viz.: Philip, Jacob,
Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret, David, Jane and Phoebe.
Jacob Netherow's early life was spent in assisting
his father, and his advantages for acquiring an education were
limited. Six months was the extent of his school days,
but he made the most of his leisure time, and is now one of the best
informed men of the county. He had many hardships to overcome,
but with an unlimited supply of perseverance he was undaunted and
overcame all obstacles. He went to Iowa in 1855, and at one
time owned 700 acres of land in that State. He sold his
property there, and returned to Holmes County, where he purchased
land, and is now the owner of about 256 aces, all under cultivation
with good improvements. He has always been a hardworking man,
and still superintends the work of the farm, which is one of the
best in Hardy Township. On this farm the first lubricating oil
and gas well was found. Mr. Netherow was married in
1854 to Elizabeth, daughter of John Bixler, an early
settler of Holmes County. Mr. and Mrs. Netherow have
had a family of five children, four of whom are living: Martha,
Jane, now Mrs. Rodgers; Eliza, now Mrs. Close;
Sarah L. Purdy and William H. Mr. Netherow
has always taken an interest in public affairs, and ahs served his
township as school director. He and his family are members of
the Lutheran Church. In politics he affiliates with the
Republican party.
~ Page 739 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
GEORGE
F. NEWTON, was born in the city of Leicester, England, Mar.
6, 1813. His father, Joseph Newton, was born in the
same city Oct. 25, 1777, and his mother, Sarah, daughter of
Nathaniel Roberts, farmer and stock breeder, of
Leicestershire, England, was born Sept. 19, 1780. Each
received a classical education. They were married at the home
of the bride, Mar. 28, 1803, and to them were born eight sons and
one daughter, George F. being the fifth son. After
marriage Joseph Newton engaged in the business of hose and
lace manufacturing, but suffering reverses in fortune he emigrated
with his family to America, landing at Baltimore, Md., in November,
1819. After coming to the United States, school teaching was
his chief occupation, excepting during the ten years - from 1844 to
1854 - he was clerk in the auditor's office of Holmes County, Ohio.
His wife died in 1832 in Jefferson County, Ohio, and he died near
Millersburgh, Ohio, in 1863, aged eighty-seven years.
The subject of this sketch is a self-made man. At
the age of ten years he commenced to learn the trade of woolen
manufacturing, consequently his early book-education was quite
limited. In 1828 he came to Ohio and worked in the woolen
mills in and about Steubenville. March 28, 1833, he was
married to Miss Eliza, daughter of David and Elizabeth
Gray, of Jefferson County, Ohio, the result of which marriage
was two sons and six daughters: Mary Jane, Joseph H., David G.,
Caroline, Elizabeth, Josephine, Virginia and Georgiana.
In 1835 Mr. Newton purchased eighty acres of Government land
in Holmes County, Ohio, the product of his own labor, moving with
his family to it in 1837, and commencing its improvement. Not
accustomed to outdoor labor, the clearing of land was tedious work
for him, het by perseverance he succeeded in making his home a
comfortable one. He now felt the need of a better
book-education, and every leisure hour was devoted to that purpose.
During the winters of 1840, '41 and '42 he taught the home district
school. In 1839 he was elected township clerk, and re-elected
in 1840. In 1843 he was elected county recorder and moved to
Millersburgh; was re-elected in 1846 and served as such six years.
In 1850 he engaged in the sale of dry goods at Holmesville, a
village in the northern part of Holmes County. Not liking the
business he sold his stock of goods and returned to Millersburgh.
In January, 1854, he purchased the Holmes County Farmer
printing establishment and became editor and publisher of the
Democratic county paper. Taking his sons into the office with
him, and employing experienced workmen, they became practical
printers, and at the end of three years Mr. Newton turned the
office over to them and they continued the business.
While at Holmesville our subject was elected treasurer
of Prairie Township, serving one term. After his return to
Millersburgh he was elected to and filled the office of treasurer of
Hardy Township, and also of Millersburgh corporation. In 1857
he was elected county auditor, and re-elected in 1859, serving four
years; after which his time was chiefly taken up in rural affairs.
In 1863 he moved to his farm near Millersburgh, for the
purpose of improving it; and after erecting new buildings, planting
an orchard of many kinds of fruits (among which were over 100
varieties of apples), and making other improvements, he returned to
the old home in Millersburgh, where he has since resided.
Mr. Newton aided in the organization of the Holmes County
Agricultural Society, and was twice elected and served as its
president, also three times as its secretary, and has continued his
membership thereof since its organization. He has long been a
worker in the Ohio State Horticultural and Agricultural Societies,
and now is the senior honorary member of the former, which position
he obtained by merit. In 1873 the Ohio State Board of
Agriculture offered a premium of $100 for the best accepted report
on agriculture of the counties of Darke, Hancock, Holmes, Lake and
Scioto, and the premium was awarded to G. F. Newton, of
Holmes County. As an agricultural and horticultural writer he
has contributed largely to the columns of the Rural American,
Ohio Farmer, Germantown Telegraph, Country Gentleman, Western Home
Journal, Farmers' Review, and the State and National Reports, as
well as the local press. He has also spent much time in
preparing the manuscript of a full and complete history of Holmes
County, which, he informs us, is nearly ready for publication.
Mr. Newton has received in an eminent degree the
confidence and esteem of his neighbors and the community generally;
and as an agriculturist and journalist he is recognized as a leading
spirit in the county in promoting the well-being of the community of
which he has so long been a prominent factor.
~ Page 827 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
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Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
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