...
OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
 A Part of
Genealogy
Express |
Welcome to Knox County,
Ohio History & Genealogy |

Biographies
Source:
Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio
Albert B. Williams, Editor-in-Chief
Illustrated
Vol. II
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana
1912
*************************
< CLICK HERE TO
RETURN TO 1912 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
>
< CLICK HERE TO RETURN
TO LIST OF BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES >
|
LOUIS
B. ACKERMAN. The gentleman to a review of whose
life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith
directed is among the favorably known and representative
citizens of Knox county. He has by his indomitable
enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way
to the advancement of his locality during the course of a long
and honorable career and has been fairly successful in his
business enterprises, having been a man of energy, sound
judgment and honesty of purpose, and is thus well deserving of
mention in this volume.
Louis B. Ackerman, well known business man of
Fredericktown and a worthy representative of one of our sterling
pioneer families, was born on Aug. 17, 1839, in Middlebury
township, this county. He is the son of John and Ida
(Cook) Ackerman, the father born in Bedford county,
Pennsylvania, from which he came to Knox county, Ohio, in 1811,
with his parents, John and Amy (Barton) Ackerman, the
father having come with his relatives to this county, first in
1810, looked over the country and returned to Bedford county,
Pennsylvania, then came back to Knox county with his family in
1811, making the overland trip in wagons. They settled in
the dense woods and there erected a cabin and began clearing the
ground. This country was then the abiding place of Indians
and numerous species of wild game. The elder Ackerman
entered one hundred and sixty acres from the government, later
acquiring more land, all of which he improved and became one of
the well-to-do pioneers and was prominent in the affairs of the
community, and here the grandfather, John Ackerman, spent
the remainder of his life. His son, John, father of
the subject, spent his entire life on the same farm. He is
remembered as a hard-working, honest, retiring man, who was
satisfied with home life. He was a Democrat and a member
of the Baptist church. He lived an upright life and was
highly regarded. He was born on Nov. 15, 1805, and his
death occurred on Sept. 3, 1873. His wife, Ida Cook,
was born on Mar. 8, 1807, and died Dec. 23, 1862, and they are
both buried in the Baptist cemetery, near Waterford, Knox
county.
The son, Louis B. Ackerman, of this review,
spent his childhood and youth on the farm and attended the
district schools. When fifteen years old he went to
Chesterville Academy in Morrow county, Ohio, for two years.
Later he attended the high school at Fredericktown for two
years. After this he taught in the district and village
schools of Knox county for twenty years, with intervals between,
in which he worked on the home farm. He was very
successful in his school work and became one of the most popular
educators in this section of the country. In 1878 he
located in Fredericktown with the intention of making it his
permanent home and here engaged in the general insurance
business. He became a notary public and met with much
success in his new field from the first. This was the
first general insurance office established in Fredericktown.
Mr. Ackerman has occupied his present office in the
Struble block for the past twenty-seven years, during which
time he has built up a large and ever-growing business, also in
real estate, deeds and mortgages. He has also drawn wills
and settled estates. His two sons, William A., now
cashier of the New Knox National Bank at Mt. Vernon, and
Charles E. cashier of the bank of Daniel Struble & Son
at Fredericktown, where for years and are yet associated
with their father in this business.
Mr. Ackerman was married on Sept. 20, 1871, to
Sarah E. Cook, daughter of Asa C. and Margaret
(Forsythe) Cook, of Wayne county, Ohio, and to this union
six children were born, those resides two sons mentioned above
being: Ida C., who married John W. McKinney, a
farmer of Middlebury township; Ernest V. is a practicing
physician of Fredericktown; Edith E., married Ralph
Heskett, a farmer of Morrow county, Ohio; Louis H. is
teller in the New Knox National Bank of Mt. Vernon.
Politically, Mr. Ackerman is a Democrat and has
long been more or less active in public matters. In
earlier life he was a frequent delegate to county, district and
state conventions. He has served as mayor of Fredericktown
and on the local board of education matters. He is a
member of Thrall Lodge No. 170, Free and Accepted Masons, at
Fredericktown, and the chapter and the commandery at Mt. Vernon.
He has served in all the chairs of these orders. He is
also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, having filled all the chairs in these
also. He has always been active and prominent in fraternal
circles. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian
church, Mr. Ackerman being an elder in the same,
occupying this position for many years and he has long been
active in churches and Sunday school work. He has been
superintendent and a teacher for many years in the Sunday
school.
The family home is on West Sandusky street, believed by
many to be the most desirable residence district of the city.
Mr. Ackerman finds recreation in his garden, among his
chickens, cows and horse. He is an honorable, neighborly
and pleasant gentleman whose friends are limited only by the
bounds of his acquaintance.
Source: Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio -
Vol. II -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1912 -
Page 715
NOTE: 1920 Census lists his address as 216 W. Sandusky
Street, Wayne Twp., Fredericktown Village, Knox Co., Ohio on
Jan. 8th & 9th, 1920 census page. |
|
SOLON B. ACKLEY
Source: Past and Present of Knox
County, Ohio - Vol. II - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1912
- Page 621 |
|
JOHN S. ALAN.
The men most influential in promoting the advancement of
society and in giving character to the times in which
they live are two classes, the men who study and the men
of action. Whether we are more indebted for the
improvement of the age of the one class or the other is
a question of honest difference of opinion; neither
class can be spared and both should be encouraged to
occupy their several spheres of labor and influence,
zealously and without mutual distrust. In the
following paragraphs are briefly outlined the leading
facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman
who combines in his makeup the elements of the scholar
and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs.
Devoted to the noble and humane work of teaching, he has
made his influence felt in the school life of the city
of Mt. Vernon and Knox county and he is not unknown to
the wider educational circles of the state, occupying as
he does a prominent place in his profession and standing
high in the esteem of educators in other than his own
particular field of endeavor.
Mr. Alan is a descendant of sterling
ancestors of the old Keystone state, of which he is a
native, his birth having occurred in Greenville, Mercer
county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 28, 1872. He is the son
of Walter T. and Laura (Sill) Alan, the father a
Presbyterian minister of Greenville and still active,
being prominent in that denomination in his section of
the state. The mother of the subject passed to her
rest in the spring of 1904.
John S. Alan was reared in a wholesome Christian
atmosphere and the ethics inculcated there have had much
to do in shaping his subsequent career. He
was educated in the public schools of Greenville, later
entering Thiel College at that place, where he made an
excellent record for scholarship and from which
institution he was graduated in 1893, with the degree of
Bachelor of Arts, and in 1900 he received the degree of
Master of Arts from the same institution. He has
long entertained a laudable ambition to devote his life
to teaching and, thus well equipped for his chosen
vocation, he began teaching in the public schools of
Greenville, where he continued for a period of four
years, giving success from the first, his record
auguring greater things in coming years. Then, for
three years he was superintendent of the schools at
Lowellville, Ohio. The next four years were spent
as superintendent of public schools at Fredericktown,
Knox county, and following this, in 1905, he came to Mt.
Vernon as principal of the high school and a year later
he was promoted to the superintendency, which position
he still holds in a manner that reflects much credit
upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all
concerned.
Professor Alan’s years of service as a
superintendent have been characterized by a series of
advancements in educational methods which demonstrate
his ability as a man of progressive ideas, besides
winning for him an honorable place among the leading
superintendents of the state. Possessing great
force of character and executive ability of a high
order, he has brought the schools under his care to a
high standard of efficiency, insisting that only
teachers of recognized scholarship and professional
experience be employed, and strengthening the courses of
study. As an educator he is widely known and his
suggestions pertaining to matters educational command
respect in all the institutes, associations and
conventions of superintendents which he attends, his
well known success as a school manager and wide
practical experience in general educational matters
having long been of special value to his fellow
associates, among whom he is held in the highest
personal esteem. He is still a young man, in the
very prime of vigorous physical and mental powers and in
possessing genial manners, superior scholarship, which,
with his years of close application from common school
to high school principalship, and membership with some
of the highest educational bodies of the land, it is
eminently proper to bespeak for him a future of still
greater efficiency and distinguished service in his
chosen field of endeavor.
The domestic life of Superintendent Alan began
on June 15, 1900, when he was united in marriage with
Edna L. Jackson, daughter of John and Sisson E.
Jackson, a highly esteemed family of Greenville,
Pennsylvania. This union has been without issue.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Alan
belongs to the Masonic order, the chapter and
commandery, being a past master of the Mt. Vernon lodge.
Politically, he is a Republican and while he is always
interested in the general progress of his community,
supporting such measures as make for the general good,
he is not a biased partisan or a seeker of political
honors, prefer ring to devote his exclusive attention to
his chosen calling and keep abreast of the times in all
phases of the same. He and his wife are members of
the Presbyterian church and he has long been active in
church affairs and Sunday school work.
Source: Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio -
Vol. II -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1912 -
Page 448 |
|
GEORGE ALLEN.
In all that constitutes true manhood and good
citizenship George Allen, a venerable
tiller of the soil in Jackson township, Knox county, is
a notable example and none stands higher than he in the
esteem and confidence of the community. His career
has been characterized by duty faithfully performed and
by industry, thrift and wisely directed efforts he has
acquired a comfort able share of this world’s goods,
besides earning a reputation which has never been
clouded by the commission of a single unworthy act.
His experiences through his long life have indeed been
varied, not infrequently interesting and sometimes
exciting. He grew up amid pioneer conditions,
where weaklings could not well thrive, where it took
courage and perseverance, and he was one of the sturdy
band that crossed the great plains of the West during
the California gold fever days. He is a man of
many commendable virtues.
Mr. Allen was born in Monroe county,
Ohio, Mar. 24, 1831. He is the son of Elias and
Mary (McClarnan) Allen, the father a native of
Virginia. The paternal grandfather moved to Monroe
county, Ohio, in a very early day. He was a farmer
and he entered school land there, which he developed and
on which he raised his eleven children. His family
consisted of twelve children, one of whom died in early
life. The Allen family moved to Knox
county in 1832 and settled in Butler township and there
became well established on a farm.
George Allen, of this sketch, grew up on
the home farm and when but a lad he went to work in the
fields, clearing timber, breaking new ground and helping
with the general work. He received such education
as he could in the old-time log school house near his
boyhood home, and in early life he took up farming for a
livelihood. In 1852 he joined the tide of fortune
hunters and drove overland to California, the trip
requiring ninety days, and he met with a fair measure of
success in the gold fields, returning to Ohio four years
later with about fourteen hundred dollars. He
talks very interestingly of his experiences in the
Pacific coast country. A few years after his
return to his native state he bought the original
homestead of his father, one hundred and sixty acres in
Butler township, and this he has kept well improved and
under a fine state of cultivation, carrying on general
farming and stock raising. During the Civil war he
went to Illinois, where he bought and sold live stock.
After his marriage he bought out his father-in-law, one
hundred and sixty acres, also in Butler township, Knox
county. Then he bought land in Jackson township,
and has been buying and adding to it from time to time
until he is now the owner of about seven hundred acres
of valuable land, all of which he keeps well improved,
and he has long carried on general farming and stock
raising on an extensive scale, and is one of the
substantial and progressive agriculturists of the
southeastern part of the county. He raises and
prepares for market cattle, sheep and hogs. He
leaves the active management of his place to his sons,
merely overseeing his affairs in a general way. He
has accumulated a competency through his industry and
good management.
Politically, Mr. Allen is independent,
preferring to vote for the candidate best qualified for
the office sought rather than for the party. He
has always supported any measure looking to the general
upbuilding of his community and his influence has been
salutary.
Mr. Allen was married about 1868 to
Julia Ann Ashcraft, a native of Butler township,
Knox county, where she was reared and educated.
She was the daughter of Jesse Ashcraft, an
old settler, having come to Butler township from
Coshocton county. There Mrs. Allen grew to
womanhood and attended the public schools.
To the subject and wife three children have been born,
namely: Mary Ann, wife of Manuel Rine,
who lives in Butler township and is the mother of two
children: Philip and James Allen are both
single and living at home, operating the farm and they
are young men of much promise in a business way.
Source: Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio -
Vol. II -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1912 -
Page 857 |
|
HENRY A. ALLEN.
Henry A. Allen was born on Apr. 30, 1855, on the
farm, one mile southwest of Mt. Vernon, where he has
always lived. He is the son of Asahel and
Content (Wing) Allen, the father born in East
Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Nov. 18, 1803. Soon
after his birth the family moved to Benson, Vermont, and
in the fall of 1833 they came to Knox county, Ohio, and
lived a year in Mt. Vernon, then purchased the farm
where the subject of this sketch was born and which has
ever since remained in possession of the family and on
which the father spent the remaining years of his life,
having become very well established and a highly
esteemed citizen. His death occurred on Apr. 13,
1887. His wife was born in Glens Falls, New York,
Nov. 10, 1812. The Wing family came
to Knox county in 1817 when this country was heavily
timbered and sparsely settled. The death of Mrs.
Allen occurred on Dec. 29, 1898. They are
both buried in Mound View cemetery, Mt. Vernon. To
these parents five children were born, one dying in
infancy; the four that grew to maturity were: Belinda
E., who married John B. Steinmetz, of Clinton
township; Alice A. is single and lives with the
subject of this sketch; Charles R. is also living
with Mr. Allen of this review.
Henry A. Allen has spent his entire life on the
home farm, as above indicated, and he was educated in
the country district schools. He was married on
Dec. 19, 1900, to Clara B. Myers, daughter of
Harry and Melinda (Shinnaberry)
Myers; the father is still living, the mother
having died in 1904. The union of the subject and
wife has been without issue.
Mr. Allen has kept the home place of one hundred
and sixty-three acres well improved and well cultivated,
so that he has kept the land strong and productive, and
his crops from year to year bounteously attest to his
skill as a husbandman. In connection with general
farming he carries on stock raising. His sister,
Alice A., is one-fourth owner of the home place.
He has in addition to that, one hundred acres in a
nearby neighborhood.
Politically, Mr. Allen is a Republican, but he
has never been an office seeker, but always interested
in public affairs and a voter for the best men and
measures. He is an advocate of public
improvements, good roads, better schools and public
buildings, in short, everything that added to the beauty
and benefit of the community. The Allen family
has long been conspicuous in the social life of the
community, and all its members from the early pioneer
times have borne good reputations. The
grandfather, Asahel Allen, who came here with his
family in 1833, built on his farm one of the first brick
dwellings in this section of the state, at present used
as a tenant house, and here he resided until his death,
on Apr. 22, 1850. His wife, who was known in her
maidenhood as Rhoda Tillson, died on Dec. 1,
1857. The elder Allen possessed a strong
and vigorous intellect and his advice and opinion were
frequently sought in all matters pertaining to the
welfare of the community. The residence of the
family at the present time is in the commodious frame
structure erected by Asahel Allen, Jr., in 1843.
Source: Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio -
Vol. II -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1912 -
Page 576 |
|
FREDERICK AMOS
Source: Past and Present
of Knox County, Ohio -
Vol. II -
Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company, Indianapolis, Indiana -
1912 -
Page 867 |
|
JOHN F. AMOS
Source: Past and Present of Knox
County, Ohio - Vol. II - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1912
- Page 766 |
|
ROBERT C. ANDERSON
Source: Past and Present of Knox
County, Ohio - Vol. II - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1912
- Page 830 |
|
JOHN L. ARNDT
Source: Past and Present of Knox
County, Ohio - Vol. II - Publ. by B. F. Bowen & Company,
Indianapolis, Indiana - 1912
- Page 454 |
NOTES:
|

CLICK HERE
to RETURN to KNOX COUNTY, OHIO |
CLICK HERE to RETURN to OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS |
FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH is My MISSION
GENEALOGY EXPRESS This Webpage has been created by Sharon Wick exclusively for Genealogy Express
©2008 Submitters retain all copyrights |
...
|