BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO

"History of the Upper Ohio Valley" Vol. II, 1890.

Presented by Linda Fluharty from hard copies provided
by Mary Staley & Phyllis Slater.

Pages 725-726.
 
DR. BENJAMIN H. MACKALL, one of the prominent physicians of Barnesville, Ohio,
is a son of John T. and Sarah (West) Mackall, and was born in 1844. The father
was one of the early practitioners of Belmont county. The family has been
eminently connected with the medical profession of the county for over half a
century. The father of John T. Mackall, Benjamin H., was born in 1770, and was
a prominent farmer of his day. John T. was born on the family estate in Belmont
county, February 21, 1818. Having obtained a good common school education, he
began, in 1835, to read medicine with Dr. Hoover, of Barnesville. By close
application and faithful study he became one of the leading physicians of his
section of the state. In 1843 he was married. Benjamin H., Mary, John W. and
Anna, are the children. The mother was a daughter of Rev. John West, a pioneer
minister of Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Mackall were members of the Methodist Episcopal
church; the former was also a Mason. Benjamin Mackall, his only brother, is now
one of the oldest citizens of the county, and was postmaster at Barnesville for
over eighteen years, at two different times, having been appointed to that office
in 1835, at which time he succeeded his father, who had held the position for four
years. In 1845 he resigned the postmastership to become a candidate for state
senator, holding this office for two years. He was nominated without having been
informed that he was to be so honored. He has also served as a trustee of the
town, and has been a justice of the peace for over thirty years. His first presi-
dential vote was cast for Andrew Jackson, and despite the fact that the town is
republican by a large majority, he has always been easily elected to any place he
has been a candidate for, his fellow townsmen respecting him for his democratic
principles, and as a man fitted to discharge public duties. Out of seven men who
voted for Jackson in Warren township in 1824, he is the only one living. He is a
Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Benjamin H. Mackall, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the Barnesville
institute. In 1867 he entered the Ohio Medical college, at Cincinnati, but was
obliged to remain home during the following year on account of the ill health of
his father. Until the fall of 1869 he attended to his father's practice, at this
time he again entered college and graduated with honors in the spring of 1870.
Settling in Barnesville, he at once commenced upon the duties attendant upon a
large practice. Dr. Mackall is a member of the Masonic order, also a K. of P. He
is not only a skillful physician, but also an honored, progressive citizen of the
town in which he lives.