Since 1873 Mr. Brown has visited many of the best schools in various parts of the United States and Canada, and in 1882 he traveled to Europe, visiting schools and studying the educational systems of Great Britain, Germany, France and Austria. He has been styled "the best travelled schoolmaster in Ohio." In 1883 he was nominated by the Democratic party, and elected State commissioner of common schools, by a handsome majority. His labors to improve the educational institutions of the State have been indefatigable and have brought good results. The excellent educational exhibit, send to the New Orleans Exposition, was prepared under his direction, and won for him the highest praise. In recognition of his scholarship he has received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He has contributed many valuable articles to prominent educational journals.

In a published sketch of Mr. Brown (Cincinnati Graphic July 4, 1885) occur these remarks: "As the head of the Ohio school system he has proved an efficient officer, and the schools of Ohio were never in a better condition than they are today. . . . At various times he has been honored with important offices in education conventions and organizations, and he is not the president of the department of superintendence of the National Educational Association. As a vocation, he holds that teaching should be so well remunerated as to induce the noblest young men and young women to adopt it as a lifework. Only thus, he thinks, can the new profession assume its true place among the callings of men; and to the end that it may assume such a place, he is willing to give to it the greatest energy and the best thought of his life."

Governor Joseph B. Foraker, as a mark of his confidence in the integrity, capacity and public spirit of Mr. Brown, appointed him as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home, on the 10th day of February, 1887. This appointment, coming as it did from a chief executive of the State, of opposite political views, near the close of Mr. Brown's official term as school commissioner, attests the fidelity and ability with which he has discharged the important duties of his high office at the head of the public school sustem of his native State.

In 1878 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Esther Emma Gabel, of Eaton, Ohio. Three children have blessed this union. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their home is always open to their friends, and their hands are always ready to do any good work for "family, church or state."

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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John H. Brown, ex-probate judge, was born in Center Township in 1846. He was reared on a farm, attend the common schools, and for a few terms was a student at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. For twelve years he taught in the schools of Noble County, and during seven years of that time was principal of the Batesville schools. While there he served as justice of the peace and as county school examiner, being twice chosen to the former office and once to the latter. In 1878 he received the Democratic nomination for probate judge, and was elected. He was re-elected and held th eoffice for two terms. This, in a strongly Republican county, is sufficient evidense of his popularity. Judge Brown has been a resident of Caldwell since the fall of 1878. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and of the Masonic order. He was first married, in 1866, to Miss Louisa Maria Knox, of this county. She died in 1881, leaving four children: Oscar E., Ida M., Carey I. and Miles E. In 1882 he married Mrs. Maria D. Carr, daughter of William J. Young, formerly one of the prominent business men of the county. Two children have been born of this union - Guy B. (deceased) and Simon K.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Henry Taylor, for many years one of the prominent merchants of the county, is a native of Margantown, Va. The family removed to Ohio in 1831, settling in Senecaville, Guernsey County. At the age of sixteen Henry commenced life as a clerk in a store. In 1845 he came to Mount Ephraim, where he engaged in general merchandise and the tobacco business. In 1851 he took charge of a co-operative store in Freedom, and while here was elected county auditor and was the second auditor elected by the people. Upon the expiration of his term he removed to Sarahsville, where he resumed the mercantile business, in which he was successfully engaged until 1878, when he retired from active business. During his commercial career he was an active, energetic business man, and a gentleman whose name was a synonym for integrity and moral rectitude. He identified himself with all mearsures pertaining to the moral welfare of the people, and was a worthy and influential member of the Methodist Episcopal church. he reared a family of seven children: Elizabeth (Young), Norvall, John W., George W., Susan (Saltgaver), Melville E. and Thomas H. Norvall, the eldest son, as will be seen from the civil list, was elected auditor in 1865. During the war he was in command of a company in the regular army. He served with credit until the latter part of 1864, when he was forced to resign his commission by reason of physical disability.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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George W. Taylor, son of Henry Taylor, was born in Senecaville, Guernsey County, Ohio, in 1844. He received such advantages for education as were afforded by the common schools of that day, and at the age of eighteen commenced life as a teacher. He followed this vocation for some time, but it not being wholly congenial to his tastes, he entered the store of his father as a clerk, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the business. For many years he was a member of the firm of Henry Taylor & Son, and upon the retirement of the elder Taylor succeeded to the business, in which he has since been engaged. While paying strict attention to his business, Mr. Taylor has interested himself in all matters of public import pertaining to his township and county. For many years he has been a leading member of the board of education of Sarahsville. Perhaps he is best known as a worthy and sincere Christian gentleman, who practices in everyday life the tenets of his faith. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in him all religious and charitable enterprises find a generous friend and patron. Politicallyf, he is a Republican, but never an aspirant for political preferment, nor a politician, in the usual acceptation of the term. In 1884 he was sent as alternate to the national convention at Chicago. In 1883, and again in 1885 he was the unanimous choice of the leading Republicans of the county for representative, and was persistantly urged to accept the nomination, but declined the honor. On numerous occasions he has represented his party at State conventions. In 1867 Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Mary, daughter of Dr. Noah Hill, of Senecaville, Ohio. Seven children have been born to them: Lillian H., Myra V., Candace H., Bessie B., Mary H., George H. and Henry DeHass.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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John W. Robinson
The Robinson family are of English extraction. Richard J. Robinson, the father of the gentleman whose name head this article, was born in Virginia in 812, where he grew to manhood and married Miss Nancy Hook. He acquired the trade of millwright, and was also skilled in wagon making. In 1854 he removed to Noble County, settling in Sarahsville, where he died in 1886, aged seventy-three years. John W. Robinson was born near Winchester, Va., January 28, 1843. Early in life he evidenced a decided aptitude for mechanics, and when but a mere child was able, with the few rude tools at his command, to construct almost anything, from a toy wagon to a miniature steam-engine. His youthful imagination was highly wrought up by some telling him that huge fortunes awaited him if he could discover "perpetual motion." He immediately commensed a series of experiments with wheels, buckets, elevators, etc. only to have his hopes blasted by the information that the same experiments had already been made by others, and that he was laboring with an impossibility. At the age of sixteen his mind was directed toward educational matters. His facilities were, of course, quite limited, but by the aid of private tutors he studied history and the classics. He entered the Marietta College, but ill health prevented him from pursuing a collegiate course. In 1862 he began life as a teacher at East Union, Noble County, whre he taught one term. The war was in progress, and he was so thoroughly impressed with his duty to his country, that after teaching a second term at his home in Sarahsville he joing Company E, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private soldier. At the expiration of a year he was detailed as clerk in the Commissary Department, where he remained until honorably discharged by special order of General Hooker, when he returned home and resumed his former vocation. His profession, however, then as now, was illy remunerated, and not wholly congenial, and he next turned his attention to the introduction of improved text-books for schools, and for four years he traveled the eastern part of the State as the representative of Ingham & Bragg, Cleveland, Ohio, at which time traveling agents in this capacity were discontinued by the "publishers' compact." He next engaged in the drug and book business in Sarahsville, but the business was too slow and tedious for one so impulsive and energetic, and he removed to Indianapolis, where he became associated with Messrs. Martin & Hopkins, State agents for the Northwestern Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, as a solicitor. In this, as in other enterprises, he was successful, and in two years we find him occupying the responsible position of special agent for the same company, working in Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.

In this department he soon evinced his marked ability as an insurance man, and as evidence of their appreciation of his services the company offered him the State of Kentucky, which he accepted. For one year he took the sole charge of the business. Being ambitious to control the largest agency the company had, he associated himself with General B.R. Cowen (Assistant Secretary of the Interior during General Grant's administration, taking, under the firm name of Cowen & Robinson, the States of Ohio and Kentucky. This connection was highly successful, and continued for nearly four years, General Cowen retiring.

Under the able management of Mr. Robinson, the company's business has not only been built up from $1,500,000 to over $4,000,000, but has commanded the confidence and patronage of the best men in the State; and it can be truly said that no agency is in a more healthy and prosperous condition than this. One of the officials of the company, in speaking of Mr. Robinson, says: "Mr. Robinson has been in the employment of our company for many years and is likely to continue in such employment much longer. We have found him a thoroughly competent and reliable man and we commend him to you as a gentleman who enjoys our confidence." December 24, 1867, Mr. Robinson was married to Miss Olive B. Dilley, of Sarahsville. He resides in Louisville, Ky.

The career of Mr. Robinson is one worthy of emulation. Starting in life with only his natural resources as his capital, he has, by individual effort, acquired an enviable position in the business world, and the esteem and regard of all his acquaintances.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Charles C. Davidson was born in Noble County, Ohio, February 24, 1844. He worked on his father's farm while a boy, attending school during the winter months. When nineteen year old he entered the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, where he pursued his studies so vigorously that at the end of two years failing health sent him again to his father's home. Here, under private teachers, he continued his studies and completed the course begun at college. For the first few years his teaching was in the schools near his home. During these early years his abilities were recognized, and his services were eagerly sought at the various institutes and in the normal schools. In 1871 he was appointed school examiner of Noble County, and with signal success he filled this position until calle to the superintendency of the Quaker City schools.

To identify himself more closely with the professional teachers of Ohio, he completed, in 1875, the classical course of study at the Ohio Central Normal School, and in this year obtained a life certificate from the State Board of School Examiners.

In 1876 he took charge of the public schools of New Lisbon, where he remained for nine years, winning for himself and the schools an enviable reputation.

Desiring a wider field of labor, he chose Alliance, and in his new fied has added new lustre to his fame as an educator. His success as superintendent of the schools in this latter place was evidenced in the fact that the Board of Education, unsolicited on his part, at the end of the first year elected him for two years, at a greatly advanced salary.

The results of his efforts are a largely increased attendance in the schools, with a correspondingly increased interest, and a visible improvement in "methods"; a public school library of a thousand volumes from the best authors; the purchase of the vacated college and its valuable grounds as the building suitable for the imperative needs of the city and which, when remodeled, will be one of the finest school buildings and sites in the State.

In 1886 the Ohio University conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, and most worthily was the honor bestowed. For years he has been a member of both the State Teacher's Association and National Department of School Superintendence, holding various offices in both; and for the past two years has acted as secretary of the National Association of School Superintendents.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Hon. William Van Meter was born in Belmont County in 1819. He learned the trade of a carpenter, a vocation he followed for a livelihood until his removal to Mount Ephraim in 1834. From Mount Ephraim he came to Sarahsville , which was afterward his home. For many years he was engaged in merchandising in different parts of the county. He indentified himself with the best interests of Sarahsville, and filled many positions of trust and responsibility. He filled the office of county treasurer for two terms. In 1874 he was elected to the representative branch of the legislature. He served on the State Board of Equalization. In 1850 he was married to Miss Sarah A. Stewart, who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1823, and came to this county with her parents in 1831. Six children were born to them: Maggie (Danford), John W., Herman W., McClelland, Leah (Johnson), and Hamilton W. Mr. Van Meter was a Democrat in political belief, and in every way a worthy citizen.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Mathew Ball, one of the prominent pioneers of Center Township, was a native of Wales, where he was born in 1745. He came to this country shortly after the Revolutionary War; he first settled in Alleghany County, Md., where he followed tanning and milling; he was successful in business, and accumulated what at the time was thought to be a competency. With the desire no doubt of bettering the condition of his family he came to Noble County, and in 1818 entered 160 acres of land near where is now the village of Sarahsville. On this farm he lived until his decease which occurred Dec. 27, 1821; he reared a family of nine children - Mathew, Jonas, John, Daniel, Lydia (Gilpin), Mary (Riddle), Susan (Vorhies), Anna and Julia. Jonas was born in Maryland in 1791, and came to the new country with the family. He married Miss Amy Archer, and was the first settler on the farm now owned by Mr. Clay Young. He was a typical pioneer in the fullest sense of the term, strong, robust and resolute, and possessed of unlimited confidence in his own resources and his ability to conquer success under such adverse circumstances. He had a full share of pioneer experiences, a narration of which would sound to the present generation more like fiction than fact. He was obliged to market the produce of the farm im Marietta, a distance of nearly fifty miles over roads that at this time would be thought to be impassable; on one occasion he took a load of pork to Marietta, which he sold for $1.50 per hundred, but despite the obstacles, which would have disheartened one less courageous, he was successful in life and at one time owned over 1,200 acres of land. But few men did more than he in the development of the county, and the name of Jonas Ball will always be accorded a prominent place among the pioneers of Noble County. He died Oct. 9, 1875, aged eighty-three years; his wife died in 1865, aged sixty-three. He had a family of twelve children, four boys and eight girls. James Ball was born in Center Dec. 19, 1819; his youth was passed on the farm of his father, sharing the hardships of a pioneer family; his recollection of the early days is vivid; he recalls many incidents that took place in his boyhood that illustrate pioneer life in Center. The following is related to show what the pioneers were compelled to endure, and something of the early life of our subject. In 1835, just before harvest, the family got out of wheat, and they were obliged to cut the ripe spots; the sheaves after being sufficiently dried were threashed with the flails, cleaned with a sheet and riddle. On this occasion the wheat was boiled in a tea-kettle with a little maple sugar to render it more palatable. On this unwholesome diet they subsisted for two days. Many other experiences might be given, but this will suffice as an illustration.

Like his father, he began life upon a new farm, and is entitled to a prominenct place amoung the pioneer farmers of the county. He married Miss Anna Salladay in 1844. She was born in Buffalo Township in 1824. They reared a family of six children - Emily (Russell), Israel, Martha (Downey), Angeline (Cox), Jane (Newton) and Annie.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Samuel Sailor was a pioneer and a well-known character. He first located south of Sharon, prior to 1815, and built a camp, making his living by hunting. He used to say that he was here seven weeks without seeing a human being. He came from Washington County, Pa. After he had made a small improvement he brought his wife here, and they lived alone in the woods, remote from any neighbors. Mr. Archibald, who came in 1815, entered the land on which Sailor had squatted. The two were unable to agree as to the amount which Sailor was entitled for his improvement, and went to law to settle the matter. The trial was held in Cambridge, this territory then belonging to Guernsey County, and the disputants and witnesses walked there, nearly thirty miles, each carrying his rifle. Sailor removed to what is now the western part of Sharon Township, where he died in 1871, aged about eighty-eight years. He was a large man, physically; tall and strong, with no superfluous flesh. He was a veritable backwoodsman, rough and uncouth in appearance, but honest, kind-hearted and obliging. The following incident, related by Mr. William Long, who had the story from the old man's lips, will serve to illustrate his bravery and neighborly kindness:
After Sailor settle in the western part of the township his nearest neighbor on the south was a Mr. Brown, who lived with his family at the forks of Olive Green Creek, about five miles distant. One day Sailor saw two suspicious characters near his own home. On interrogating them, he received unsatisfactory replies, and the men departed in the direction of Brown's cabin. Knowing that Brown was away from home, he took his gun and followed them, satisfied that they meant mischief. Arrived at his neighbor's, he pushed open the door and discovered the two tramps seated at the table partaking of a meal which they had compelled Mrs. Brown to supply, while she was waiting upon them, nearly frightened to death. A glance revealed the situation, and as one of the men arose from the table, and assumed a hostile attitude Sailor knocked him down and quickly threw him out of the door. The other was treated in the same manner, Sailor then barred the door and remained during the night at his neighbor's cabin, guarding it against the possible return of the vagrants. But the latter were evidently satisfied, and did not care to run the risk of another encounter with Sailor's powerful fists.

One one occasion Sailor had a raising, and of course, had to have whiskey. He was quite fond of that beverage himself. His friend, Samuel Long, knowing this, made him promise that he would not open the keg until the day of the raising. Sailor went to Archer's distillery, in the vicinity of East Union, and brought back the keg of whiskey on his shoulders. He reached Mr. Long's cabin in the night, and asked for something with which to open the keg. Mr. Long reminded him of his promise, but Sailor persisted, and opened the keg. He still had about eight miles farther to walk, but took up his burden and started for home. He did not arrive until two o'clock in the afternoon. By that time the building was up; but the whiskey was none the less welcome on account of the delay in its arrival.

Sailor was one of the best hunters that the country afforded. He killed many bears, deer and wolves, and took delight in the pursuit of them. He said that he once shot three deer, without moving from his tracks, as fast as he could load and fire. The deer, instead of fleeing the the first one was shot, came towards him. His explanation of the matter was that the echo of the report of his rifle, flung back by a hill opposite, sounded like the report of another gun, and drove the animals toward him.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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William Wiley died in 1816 and his remains were the first that were buried in the old graveyard at Sharon (the second buried there was an infant child of William Scoggan, and the third, the wife of Matthew Grimes). His sons, James, William and Thomas, all lived here. John, another son, lived near Caldwell and had an early horse-mill. He was something of a hunter and once killed a large bear near where Alexander Boggs now lives. Betsey, wife of "Billy" Boone, and Annie, wife of Joshua Clark, belonged to the same family. All were worthy people and reared large families.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
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Thomas Wiley, of another family, came from Belmont County and settled south of Sharon. He was originally from Pennsylvania. His descendants are still here. His sons were John, Samuel and Thomas; and his daughters, Jane, Margaret Mary and Agnes.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Sharon

James Archibald was born in Ireland, married in Pennsylvania, and came from Belmont County, settling south of Sharon in 1815, and his was probably the first family that made a permanent location in the township. The sons were John, David, William, James and Elza. William, born in 1800, is still living, and a resident of the township, and is among the few that remain of the original settlers of the county. John Archibald was a prominent man in early years, serving as justice over twenty years. He was also a county commissioner several terms. His first commission as justice was issued while this part of the county belonged to Guernsey County.

Elza Archibald was born in 1806 and has followed farming. He was a teacher in early life. He was married in 1828 to Mary Boyd, and in 1852 to Phebe Rutan, who is still living. Elza and his brother William are the only survivors of the family, which consisted of five sons and one daughter.

The Archibald family left Belmont County, one mile of St. Clairsville, on the 26th of March, 1815, and reached their new home on the 5th of April. They started with a wagon, a part of the way had to cut their own road. They left all but the two front wheels of the wagon on the way, and marked the trees along the route so they would know the way back.

James Archibald had one of the first orchards in this region, and people came from distant points to procure the fruit, which was then a great luxury. Mr. Archibald and John McKee procured the trees at Belpre, on the Ohio River. They went with an ox-team and were two days going and returning. They brought back three hundred trees.

History of Noble County, Ohio Published by L.H. Watkins & Co. of Chicago 1887
Sharon