Move West In an Auto

 The Marietta Daily Times, July 23, 1919

Carrying a tent and two full sized beds which fasten on the sides of the running boards of an auto, R. B. Brenan, wife, son and Mrs. Brenan's sister, Miss Olive Dailey, will not only go west by motor but will sleep by the car.

The two beds, which contain springs as good as those on the ordinary bed in the home, have room enough in each for two people and they are said to be most comfortable. A big tent goes over the machine and covers the two beds.

Robert Brenan, who was recently master mechanic for the city, will take his family to California, locating near Los Angeles. They will leave Saturday and Miss Dailey, who recently returned from France where she did nursing in the army, will make her home with them.

Was Original of "Lorena"

Marietta Daily Journal, March 5, 1917

Mrs. Martha Ellen Johnson, widow of the late Judge William W. Johnson, whose death occurred at the home of C. E. Tresch of Second Street, Saturday, was widely known throughout this section as the heroine of the original poem, "Lorena." This song came into existence about the year 1858, and at that time created quite a sensation in the musical circles of the West. The music had a peculiar charm, the words were singularly touching and the whole poem suggested a story back of it. It was composed by a Rev. H D. L. Webster, who at the time of the happenings of his story occupied a pulpit in Zanesville, where Mrs. Johnson, then Miss Blocksom, lived. 

The poem created such a sensation when it appeared in print that the name Lorena at once became familiar. Many things were named after the title of this touching ballad, the most familiar of which was the old steamer, "Lorena," which for many years plied the waters of hte Ohio and Muskingum rivers.

*     *     *     *     *

Marietta Daily Journal, March 3, 1917

Mrs. Martha Ellen Johnson

Mrs. Johnson was called from our midst to the spiritual life this morning at 7:25. She was born at Zanesville, Ohio, December 8th, 1828, the daughter of Judge and Mrs. William Blocksom - married October 26, 1854, to William W. Johnson, a promising young lawyer of Ironton, Ohio, where they lived until Judge Johnson was elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio, and served eight years, when ill health overtook him. He died March 2nd, 1887, and was Chief Justice of Ohio at that time and acknowledged one of the ablest jurists of the state.

Mrs. Johnson for years was blind and bore her affliction with a forbearance which proved her Christian faith, endearing herself to her friends by her ever-present cheerfulness. 

Services will be held at her late residence, 325 Second Street, at 3 o'clock Sunday, after which her remains will be taken to Ironton, Ohio, to rest beside those of her husband and two sons.

[More about "Lorena": http://civilwarlibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/06/cwl-lorena.html]

Gunsmith Shop Burned

The Marietta Intelligencer, April 14, 1858

The Gunsmith shop of A. C. McGirr was destroyed by fire last night about 2 o'clock A.M. The loss is supposed to be near seven hundred dollars. It was probably the work of an incendiary. The shop had been closed, and no fire had been used in the shop during the day. When the fire was discovered the door was partly open and the bar bent. The shop had doubtless been opened by burglars.

*     *     *     *     *   

The Marietta Intelligencer, May 5, 1858

A Card

Mr. Editor: I take this method to thank my numerous friends for their sympathy and "material" aid since the destruction of my Gun-Smith Shop (formerly occupied by E. Pratt) by fire, April 8th, and to inform the public that my new shop, erected on the site of the old one, is now completed. I am now ready to accommodate my old patrons and respectfully solicit those wishing work in my line, done in a neat and substantial manner of Front and Wooster streets, near Wendelken's Steam Grist Mill.

A. C. McGirr

Marietta, Mar. 4, 1858 

[Additional information about Elisha Pratt and Alexander C. McGirr available in the newsletter of Ohio Association of Long Rifle Collectors, Vol. 1, No. 1, August 1979, pp. 10-12: 

http://www.aolrc.com/upload/files/Vol%20I%20No%201%20Aug%201979.pdf]

Civil War Veteran Taken

The Marietta Daily Times, July 15, 1938

Samuel Ferguson Feldner, 92, one of the last Civil War veterans in Washington County, died at his home in Matamoras on Thursday. His death followed a collapse due to exhaustion which he suffered on June 30 while attending the reunion of Civil War veterans at Gettysburg, Pa., in the national encampment held on the site of the battlefield on the anniversary dates of the famous battle of the war. He was taken to Gettysburg Hospital and later brought to Matamoras.

Mr. Feldner was born at Lower Salem on August 6, 1845, and spent his earlier life on a farm in Salem Township. He enlisted in the Civil War and served in the famous old 63rd Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a member of Company G. Following his honorable discharge, Mr. Feldner went to the Middle West and lived for a number of years at Topeka, Kansas, where he served as a member of the police department. He also engaged in farming. He returned to Washington County in later years, and for the past nine years lived at Matamoras.

Mr. Feldner was twice married. His first wife, Mrs. Diana Lindamood Feldner, whom he married on November 28, 1868, died a number of years ago. Surviving this marriage are a son and a daughter, John W. Feldner of Topeka, Kansas, and Mrs. Grace D. Cook of Ogallala, Nebraska. Three children are deceased. There are four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

On August 14, 1926, Mr. Feldner married Miss Martha Loman of Matamoras and she survives. The deceased was a member of the Methodist Church of Matamoras.

Funeral services will be held at the Methodist Church in Matamoras on Sunday at 2 p.m. with Rev. H. D. Gilbert, Rev. A. H. Giuliano and Rev. I. T. Spencer, ministers of Matamoras, to conduct the services. Matamoras Post No. 378, American Legion, will pay military honors in Matamoras cemetery.

  

Improvements in Marietta

Marietta Intelligencer, October 2, 1852

Many new buildings have been erected in Marietta this season, and many others have been enlarged - some by the additions of wings, and quite a number by the addition of a story. Among the latter we notice the School House on Church Street, which has had a very commodious upper story put on and is now one of the finest looking buildings on "the point."

The Marietta Hotel on Ohio Street, kept by Mr. Charles Moseley, has had a third story put up and been otherwise enlarged.

Messrs. Slocomb have put a third story on to their shoe shop on Greene Street, and thus obtained two large and very convenient rooms for the occupancy of an increased number of hands. It is, really, a very great pity that the whole block is not raised another story.

Curtis & Bro. have greatly enlarged their store-room by extending the building back.

Bosworth, Wells & Co. have put up large ware-rooms in the rear of their sales-rooms.

These are but a few of the recent improvements we notice in the neighborhood of our office.

We shall endeavor ere long to ascertain how many new buildings have been erected in the corporation within a year past. We suspect that but few of our citizens realize how rapidly the upper ward is gaining upon "the point" in population and improvements.

There is one thing which we fear is not sufficiently considered by those who are erecting buildings in the more closely settled parts of the town, and that is that the hazard of fire has been enormously increased of late by the erection of frame buildings. Sooner or later our town authorities will be called on to prohibit the erection of frame buildings within a certain distance of other buildings, and not unlikely they may require the removal of some already erected. There are too many places in the first ward where a small frame building, worth from $50 to $200, could hardly be burned without firing a score of valuable business establishments or dwelling houses. Let our citizens think of these things in time.