David Myers
The true spirit of progress and honorable achievement has been manifest in the career of the well known and highly esteemed citizen whose name introduces this sketch and who, since discontinuing the strenuous life which was characterized by such signal success, has been living in honorable retirement in the city of Wooster. His life has been one of fulness and completeness of vigor and inflexible integrity and while engaged in the vocation to which in the main his attention has been devoted, he accomplished great and lasting good for the material progress of various cities and communities and at the same time failed not to reap the reward which his industry and skill so richly deserved.
David Myers is a native of Wayne county,Ohio, and a descendant on the paternal side of a long line of sturdy German ancestry, which was first represented in America by his father, Daniel Myers, who came to this country from Wurtemberg about the year 1814 and settled in Wilmington, Delaware. After spending a few years in that city he removed to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, thence when a young man to Wayne county, Ohio where in 1828 he married Martha DeWese, who was born and reared in the county of Columbiana, this state. In his younger days Daniel Myers was a cooper, but in after life he became a farmer, which vocation he followed until his death in 1873. Mrs. Myers survived her husband five years, departing this life on the home farm in Chester township in 1878. She sprang from an old and highly respected family, that figured actively in the early history of eastern Ohio and, tracing her ancestry further back, it appears that several of the Dewese family were soldiers in the Revolutionary war and that two of Mrs. Myers' brothers served with distinction in the war of 1812.
By reason of this connection with the struggle for independence, three of Mr. Myers' daughters hold membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, a patriotic society composed of female descendants of the soldiers of that war.
Daniel and Martha Myers were parents of eight children, of whom five are living at the present time, viz: Mrs. Rebecca Reichard, whose home is in Iowa near the town of Knoxville; David, of this review; Mrs. Elizabeth Berkey, of Ashland county, Ohio; John, a resident of Chester township, Wayne county, and Mrs. Anna Powers who lives in the city of Wooster.
David Myers was born December 16, 1833, and spent his childhood and youth on the family homestead in Chester township where he early became familiar with the practical duties of the farm and learned to appreciate the true dignity and worth of honest toil. In the free, outdoor experience of wood and field he grew up strong and rugged and well fitted for the active career upon which he subsequently entered and while still a young man he began to formulate the plans for his future course of action. In a little log school house not far from the parental home he obtained a fair knowledge of such branches of learning as were then taught and, having early manifested decided predilection for mechanical work, he began, ere attaining his majority, to learn the trade of a carpenter, in which he soon acquired much more than ordinary efficiency and skill. Having mastered his craft, he worked at the same for some time in a subordinate capacity, but, actuated by a laudable ambition to extend his operations, he afterwards became a contractor and it was not long until the high reputation of his work caused a wide demand for his services.
Without following in detail Mr. Myers' long and eminently honorable career as a contractor and builder, suffice it to state that from the beginning he was animated by a desire to excel and that during his active years he erected many buildings in various cities of his own and other states which still stand as monuments to his superior mechanical skill. Among the more notable public edifices under his direction in Wooster are the Methodist Episcopal church, the City Hall, a number of the university buildings, the Overholt residence, pronounced the finest private dwelling in the city, besides many others, to say nothing of numerous structures throughout the country. His fame as a mechanic extending far beyond the limits of his own county, he contracted for a number of buildings in New York City and Brooklyn, including residences, churches, halls and various other public edifices, and later did much work in his line in several eastern and central states and throughout the northwest. The beautiful and imposing Methodist Episcopal church at Duluth, Minnesota, one of the finest and most attractive temples of worship in the state and representing a cost of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was erected by him, as were also similar edifices in Burlington, Iowa, Mommouth, Illinois, New Rochelle, New York, and in many other cities and towns, all of which bear evidence of high order of architectural skill and efficiency of workmanship bespeaking a thorough mastery of the builder's art.
Mr. Myers was in Iowa when the country became disrupted by the late Civil war and, being loyal to the government and its institutions, he did not hesitate when the call came for volunteers to help put down the rebellion. Enlisting in the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry in 1861, he was soon at the scene of action, rendering valiant service for the Union and during his three years at the front his conduct under all circumstances was that of a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger and was ever ready to go where duty called. He shared with his comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war in a number of noted campaigns and battles, including Corinth, where he served under General Belknap, and won promotion to a lieutenancy by meritorious conduct while under fire at Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, siege and capture of Vicksburg and numerous other engagements, receiving at Corinth a painful wound in the arm, which, however, did not long incapacitate him from service.
At the expiration of his period of enlistment, which included three of the most strenuous years of the war, Mr. Myers was discharged with an honorable record and, returning to civil life, resumed contracting and building, which he followed with success and profit until 1886,when he discontinued active labor to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. By industry, judicious management and wise economy he amassed a handsome competency, amply sufficient indeed to enable him to spend the future free from anxiety and care and, being thus fortunately situated, he is enjoying that rest which he has so well earned and the many blessings which have come to him as the result of his many years of endeavor.
Mr. Myers returned to Ohio soon after the war closed and in 1865 was united in marriage with Elizabeth Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. When five years old she was brought to Ohio by her parents and at the celebration of her nuptials was living in Wayne county, where she had made her home for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had five children, namely: Viola, deceased; Martha, who married ex-County Clerk David Mussleman, of Wooster; John, assistant cashier of the Wayne County Bank; Blanche, wife of John Ames, chemist of the Ohio Experiment Station at Wooster, and Miss Claude Myers, who is still with her parents.
Mr. Myers manifests a commendable interest in all matters pertaining to the progress of the city of his residence and the good of the people and keeps in touch with the times on the leading questions and issues of the day. He is a director of the Wayne County National Bank, and in addition to a beautiful home on Beall avenue and other property in Wooster, owns a fine farm in the county to which he gives much personal attention. Fraternally, he holds membership with the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Royal Arcanum orders and politically wields an influence for the Democratic party. The Methodist church holds his religious creed, and with his wife and certain of his children he is a regular attendant of the congregation worshiping in Wooster, also a liberal contributor to its support and to the various lines of work under its auspices. His son John and daughter Mrs. Ames subscribe to the Presbyterian faith, both being active and consistent members of the church of that denomination in Wooster. Personally Mr. Myers stands high in the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens and is regarded as one of the enterprising and well-to-do men of the city in which he resides. Courteous and kindly in his relations with others, an influential factor in the business world and ready at all times to assist laudable measures for the general welfare, he has lived to high and noble ends and the future awaits him with bounteous rewards.
From The History of Wayne County, Ohio, B. E. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910