M. M. Van Nest
To write the personal record of men who have raised themselves to a position of honor and responsibility in a community is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by reason of their personal qualities and who have put the impress of their individuality upon the business and growth of their place of residence and affect for good such institutions as are embraced within the sphere of their usefulness, unwittingly, perhaps, build monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft. Of such we have the unquestioned right to say belongs the gentleman whose name appears above. As a business man, as member of the city legislative body, and as its chief executive official, as well as in the more humble walks of life, he has borne well his part and his public spirited and unselfish devotion to the highest and best interests of the community have won for him the high regard of all, regardless of political lines.
M.M. Van Nest was born at Rowsburgh, Ashland county, Ohio,on the 10th of December 1864. He is descended from Holland antecedents, the family name having originally been Van Ness. The subject's paternal grandfather was John Van Nest, who was born in Pennsylvania, but came to Ohio in 1839, settling in Ashland county. He was a harness-maker by trade and followed this occupation all his active life. He died in 1903, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. The subject's parents were J.P. and Mary E. (Gardner) Van Nest. J. P. Van Nest was born at Rowsburg, Ohio, and upon taking up a business career entered upon that of insurance in which he was successful. In the spring of 1873 he removed to the city of Wooster, and here continued in the insurance business until his death, which occurred on April 3, 1905. Mr. Van Nest was a public spirited man and took a keen interest in public affairs, serving for two terms as a member of the Wooster city council. Early in the great Rebellion, Mr. Van Nest enlisted for service in the defense of his country's flag, joining the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three years, taking part in battles were the following: Chickasaw Bayou, December 28-29, 1862; Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863; Thompson's Hill (Port Gibson ), May 1, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4, 1863; Big Black River, May 17,1863; Jackson Miss., July 9-16, 1863; transport "City Belle," near Snaggy Point, Louisiana, May 3, 1864. Mr. Van Nest enlisted as a private, but, by faithful and meritorious service, he retired from the service with the rank of second lieutenant. At the battle of Vicksburg he was severly wounded by a fragment of shell. Prior to entering the military service Mr. Van Nest had followed the trade of harness-maker, but on his return home he gave that up and took up the insurance business. He married Mary E. Gardner, who was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, as were also her parents. She is still living in Wooster, at the age of sixty-seven years. By her union with Mr. Van Nest she became the mother of the following children: John, of Wooster; M.M., the subject of this sketch; Carrie, the wife of William L. Derr, of Cleveland, Ohio; Gertrude, deceased; Maud M., the widow of John Griffith and living in Wooster: Ellen, deceased; Charles W., of Wooster; Mabel unmarried and remains at home.
M.M. Van Nest was nine years old when his parents removed to Wooster and in the public schools of this city he secured a good education. After the completion of his education, he took up the trade of harness-maker, following this in the footsteps of the two generations preceding him. He was thus employed for nineteen years and was considered a good workman. Subsequently he entered the insurance business with his brother, under the firm style of J. P. Van Nest Sons, and they have built up a large business in fire insurance, theirs being considered one of the most important agencies in this city. Mr. Van Nest is a Democrat in politics and in 1899 he was elected a member of the city council from the fourth ward, and was re-elected in 1901, serving as president of that body during 1901 and 1902. In the spring of 1903 he was elected mayor of the city, and so eminently satisfactory was his administration of the office that has been twice re-elected, in 1905 and 1907. Mr. Van nest applied to the administration of the affairs of his official position the same careful business principles which he would apply to his own business affairs, and in his attitude towards public improvements he has been progressive, though at the same time exercising a wise conservatism which has been a guarantee against extravagance or a useless expenditure of the city's money. During his administration great strides have been made by the city in the way of street paving, cement sidewalks, sewerage, and increase in the city's water supply. Not only have the material necessities of the city been regarded, but considerable attention has been paid to the esthetic, and in many ways the city has been beautified, being now considered one of the most pleasing cities of its class in the state.
In 1905 Mayor Van Nest was appointed by the judge of the common pleas court and re-appointed in 1908, a member of the soldiers' relief committee of Wayne county, the appointment bearing special distinction from the fact that he is the only man not a veteran of the Civil war who ever served on this committee. The mayor is also second vice-president of the Wooster Board of Trade.
In 1887, the subject was united in marriage to Amanda E Ray, who was born and reared in Wooster, and to them have been born two children, Fred, deceased and Florence H. The family reside in a pleasant and comfortable home on Columbus Avenue, and here the spirit of hospitality ever abides. Fraternally Mayor Van Nest belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in which he has risen to the Uniform Rank, and to the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Yeomen. He and his wife belong to the English Lutheran Church, of which they are liberal supporters. The family occupy a position of prominence in the social life to the community and all who know them hold them in the highest regard.
From The History of Wayne County, Ohio, Vol. 1, B. E. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910