Frank O. Levering

As printed in 1912

FRANK O. LEVERING.

The life of the scholarly or professional man seldom exhibits any of those striking incidents that seize upon public feeling and attract attention to himself. His character is generally made up of the aggregate qualities and qualifications he may possess, as these may be elicited by the exercise of the duties of his vocation or the particular profession to which he belongs. But when such a man has so impressed his individuality upon his fellow men as to gain their confidence and through that confidence rises to high and important public trust, he at once becomes a conspicuous figure in the body politic of the community and state. Frank O. Levering, ex-probate judge, and one of the leading attorneys of this section of the Buckeye state, is one of the scholarly, public-spirited, progressive citizens of the locality of which this history deals, who, not content to hide his talents amid life’s sequestered ways, has by the force of will and a laudable ambition forged to the front in a responsible and exacting calling, and earned an honorable reputation in one of the most important branches of public service.

Mr. Levering is a worthy representative of two of our sterling pioneer families and his life has been spent in Knox county, his birth having occurred in Middlebury township on September 29, 1862. He is the son of John Cook Levering and Carrie (Richardson) Levering. When Ohio was a vast wilderness and the land still in possession of the government, and the above of Indians and many species of wild beasts, the Levering family invaded its primeval solitudes and the name has been well known here ever since, figuring more or less conspicuously in the annals of the county of Knox, especially. The first progenitors of this family came to America in the latter years of the seventeenth century — Gerhard and Wigard Levering, who were sons of Rosier Levering, who was born in Holland of Anglo- Saxon parentage, his father and mother having been exiled from England on account of their religious belief. Rosier Levering married Elizabeth Vandewall, of Westphalia, Germany, and their son Gerhard was born in Camen, Germany, in 1660. In 1685, accompanied by his brother, Wigard, he crossed the Atlantic to America. Gerhard Levering married, and among his children was Daniel, who was born on December 2, 1704, and on May 12, 1735, Daniel was married, in Christ church, Philadelphia, to Margaret Beane, and they lived on a farm of one hundred acres in Whiteplain township, Montgomery county, New Jersey. To them was born a son, Henry, on June 10, 1738, who was the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. For many years Henry Levering lived at the Durham iron works in New Jersey, but in 1785 he removed to a farm in Bedford county, Pennsylvania He married Ann Wynn, and to them was born Daniel Levering, the subject's great-grandfather, in New Jersey, on February 3, 1764. In 1785 he accompanied his parents to Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he married Mary Kerney. In 1811 he visited Knox county, Ohio, and purchased a large tract of land from the government, in Owl creek valley, where he later located with his family and there spent his remaining years, starting as pioneer in the forest. His death occurred in 1820, his widow surviving until October 24, 1846, dying at the advanced age of eighty-four years. They were devout Presbyterians and leading citizens in the community.

Noah Levering, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 1802, and in 1813 be came with his parents to Knox county, Ohio, and here he was married on March 25, 1828, to Armanella Cook, daughter of John and Ann Cook, who came to Ohio from Washington county, Pennsylvania, about 1805. Noah Levering was a farmer and his death occurred on March 4, 1881, his wife having preceded him to the grave on June 13, 1879.

John Cook Levering, father of the immediate subject of this review, was born on the old family homestead in Middlebury township, September 11. 1829, being the eldest of a family of ten children. He assisted his father with the general work on the farm and when twenty-one years old he purchased a farm of eighty acres and began farming for himself. In the year 1860 he was united in marriage with Carrie Richardson, daughter of Daniel and Thankful (Camp) Richardson, the father being a well known lumber merchant in New York for many years. Mr. Levering continued farming and adding to his holdings until he became one of the extensive landowners and substantial farmers of the county, actively interested in everything that made for the general progress of the community. He had an extensive reputation as a stockman, handling the best grades in the county, winning many first premiums, and he did as much if not more to improve the grade of domestic animals here in his day as any one. In 1866 he became a member of the Knox County Agricultural Society, of which be was a member for many years and for a number of years the president of the same. In 1881 he was elected a member of the Ohio state board of agriculture, and be assisted in the purchase and improvement of the present beautiful state fair grounds at Columbus, Ohio. For six years he was a member of the board, and was its first treasurer in 1885 and its president in 1886. In 1883 he represented Ohio in the national convention. In 1887 Governor Foraker appointed him a member of the Ohio centennial board. In 1890 he read a paper at the request of the secretary of the State Society of Agriculture before the Ohio agricultural convention on “ Farmers’ Horses and Horse Breeding.” This led to the formation of the Ohio State Draft and Coach Horse Association in 1891, of which Mr. Levering was the president for three years. In 1871 he was elected commissioner of Knox county and re-elected in 1874, and many of the substantial improvements of the county were made during these years He was a life-long Democrat in politics, and in 1886 his party nominated him for Congress in the nineteenth Ohio district. He was always painstaking and conscientious in the performance of all public duties and he became known throughout the state, especially as an agriculturist and stock man, and his influence was very potent and far-reaching in promoting modern phases in both. He was a man of keen business discernment, sound judgment and wise foresight, public-spirited and always ready with time and means to further any laudable undertaking for the general good of his locality. Early in life he became a member of the Presbyterian church and was a devout church member. He was a good and useful man and enjoyed the confidence, admiration and universal esteem of all who knew him. His death occurred September 13, 1903, and his widow is still living.

Frank O. Levering spent his youth on the farm and obtained his early education in the district schools, which he attended in the winter time, assisting with the general farm work during crop seasons. He later attended and graduated with honors from Eastman’s Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1885 he entered the mercantile business at the village of Levering, Knox county, but not finding this line of endeavor entirely to his liking he abandoned the same in 1890 and took up the study of law in Mt. Vernon in the office of Hon Frank Ah Owen and was admitted to the bar in 1892. He immediately began practicing in Mt. Vernon and he has built up a large and growing clientage, taking a place in the front rank of the legal profession in a locality long noted for the high order of its legal talent. He has kept fully abreast of the times in everything pertaining to his profession, winning a reputation for persistency, caution and a safe and prudent advocate, with few equals and no superior. In 1883 he was appointed a member of the county board of elections and he performed his duties so faithfully that he was twice re-appointed. In 1896 he was elected probate judge of Knox county, which office he filled to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, irrespective of party alignment and giving evidence of attributes of a superior order and a fidelity to right that knew no bias. Retiring from office, he resumed the practice of the law, which he has continued with his usual success.

In connection with his professional duties, Judge Levering has been actively associated with the gas and oil development of this section of the state, and through his efforts much of the success of the field is attributable, and he has met with much success in a business way.

Politically, the Judge is an uncompromising Democrat, as was his honored father before him, and he has been active and prominent in party councils. He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of 1900, and his work in committees has been effectual and has resulted in much good to the party. He has been a very influential delegate to county, district and state conventions. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order, the chapter.

council and commander, and is a past officer in all of the bodies; he is also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and has filled the presiding offices in these lodges, being prominent in fraternal circles of the county.

Mr. Levering was married in 1886 to Byrdess E. Leiter, daughter of Capt. C. P. Leiter, a prominent citizen of Shelby, Ohio, of which city he was mayor for a number of years and otherwise an influential citizen there. To Mr. and Mrs. Levering have been born six children, namely: Howard A.,

Russell Edgar, John Collin, Nina May, Carlos and Ada.

As printed in Past and present of Knox County, Ohio (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.