CHRISTOPHER STREETER is one of the
best known old pioneers of Green Creek township, Sandusky
county. He was born in Heath, Franklin Co., Mass.,
April 9, 1815, son of David and Sylva (Roach) Streeter, the former
of whom was a native of the same county, and a farmer by occupation.
He was a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, where he died at the
age of seventy years; the mother died when about sixty years of age.
The family is one of old New England stock.
Our subject broke
away from the ancestral ties in his young manhood at the age of
twenty-two years, and sought a home in the then distant West. In
1837 he disposed of his interest in the homestead, and in the fall
of the same year came to Ohio by means that now seem insufferably
tedious and slow. He settled on a farm in York township, Sandusky
county, which he opened up, erecting a small dwelling. On
December 3, 1835, he had married Miss Louisa Kennedy, and to them
were born four children: Edward, born in Heath, Mass., June 25,
1837; Albert, born September 29, 1839; and
Alonzo and Lorenzo, born June 25, 1842, the latter of whom died
September 30, 185 1; the mother passed from earth December 26, 1851.
Thus within the space of three short months Mr. Streeter lost a dear
child, and the partner of his youth, who died with the confident
hope of Heaven and a bright place on the Resurrection morn. Edward,
the eldest son, is married, and had five children—Lydia,
Charles, Ira, Louisa and Levi—of whom
Louisa died while young. Albert, the second son, married and had
four children—Minnie, George, Alice and Mabel— the last named
dying young. Alonzo married, and had seven children—Waller, Roly,
Elmer, Clarence, Abbie, Nora and Lena, of whom Abbie died young. On
February 2, 1853, our subject married his present wife. Henrietta
Clark. Mr. Streeter in politics has been a Whig and a Republican,
and cast his first Presidential vote for William H. Harrison. In
religious faith he has been a prominent member of the Advent Church.
He has been an eminently successful farmer, and accumulated 300
acres of well-improved land. This farm he divided among his three
son —one hundred acres each— and there they reside with their
families. In 1882 Mr. Streeter erected a fine brick residence in
Clyde, where he now lives a retired life, with the respect and
esteem of the entire community in which he dwells.
DAVID A. C. SHERRARD. This prosperous
farmer of Sandusky county, Ohio, near
Fremont, was born January 10, 1820, at Rush Run, Jefferson Co.,
Ohio, a son of Robert Andrew and Mary (Kithcart) Sherrard.
Robert Andrew Sherrard is a descendant of
Huguenot ancestors who, having been driven out of the north of
France,'fled to the Lowlands of Scotland and afterward removed to
Ireland. A coat of arms, and a pedigree in tabular form, were in
existence in 1872, tracing the lineage of the Sherrard family back
to Robert, whose father emigrated with the Duke of Normandy. There
were two brothers, Hugh and William Sherrard, whose father came over
from Scotland about 1710, and settled in Limavady, County
Londonderry, Ireland. Here Hugh and William were born, and when the
former arrived at manhood he married and settled across the Bann
Water, near Coleraine. He had a son, Hugh Sherrard, who emigrated to
America in 1770, and settled on Miller's run, in Washington county,
Pennsylvania.
William
Sherrard, from whom are descended the Sherrard families in
Sandusky county, Ohio, was
born in 1720 in Limavady, where he carried on the business
of farming and linen weaving. He died wealthy in 1781. In
1750 he married Margaret Johnston, by whom he had five
children—John, Elizabeth, Margaret, James and Mary. John
Sherrard was born about 1750, immigrated to America in
1772, and on May 5, 1784, married Mary Cathcart, by whom
he had children as follows: William J., David Alexander,
John James, Robert Andrew, Ann and Thomas G. The last
named was one of the pioneers of Sandusky
county, and was found dead in Sandusky
river April 21, 1824, supposed to have been
murdered by parties who had rented his brother John's
sugar camp, of which he was manager at the time. John
Sherrard was with Col. Crawford's expedition against the
Indians at Upper Sandusky,
during which he had many narrow escapes. Robert Andrew
Sherrard was born May 4, 1789, and married Mary Kithcart,
by whom he had five children: Mary Ann, Joseph K., David
A. C., Elizabeth and Robert. For his second wife Robert A.
Sherrard married Miss Jane Hindman, by whom he had seven
children: Nancy, who for the past twenty-one years has
been principal pf the Female Seminary of Washington,
Penn.; J. H., a Presbyterian minister at Rockville, Ind.;
June; Susan; Sarah, deceased; William, deceased; and
Thomas j. f who is also a
Presbyterian minister, now
preaching in Chambersburg, Penn. During the winter of
1894-95 three of the sons of Robert A. Sherrard paid a
visit to Europe, visiting, among other places, England,
Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France and Italy, in which
latter country they trod the streets of old
Rome; thence they journeyed to
Egypt and Palestine; near Limavady, Ireland, they found
some of their cousins living. Robert Andrew Sherrard was
the author of a genealogy of
the Sherrard family of Steubenville, which was edited by
his son, Thomas Johnston Sherrard, in 1890.
David A. C. Sherrard, our subject,
grew to manhood on his father's farm, two miles southwest
of Steubenville, Ohio. On June 1, 1844, he came to Sandusky
county on horseback, and immediately began to
improve the forest land which he had bought of his father.
For about three weeks he made his home in a hewedlog house
which he had rented of his uncle Thomas, and which was
said to be the first hewed-log house erected in Ballville
township, having been put up in 1823. He then returned to
Jefferson county, and, on the 4th of September following,
set out from there with his wife and seven-weeks-old
child, in a covered two-horse wagon, arriving at Lower Sandusky
September 12. He finished clearing up nine acres, fenced
it, plowed it and sowed it to wheat, and then commenced
the struggle of clearing up a home in the Black Swamp. His
timber was chopped into cordwood, and sold in Lower Sandusky.
In October, 1851, Mr. Sherrard took the job of clearing
off the timber on Sections 24, 25, 26 and half of 27, for
the T., N. & C. railroad (now the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern), and graded half a mile of the road-bed
east and west of Little Mud creek. In May and June, 1852,
he furnished and delivered timber for bridges over the
Muskalounge and over Little Mud creek, and hauled and
delivered timber for Big Mud creek and NineMile creek
bridges. On September 20, 1852, he left home with men,
teams and tools for Hardin county, Ohio, where he had a
contract on the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne railroad,
spending thirteen months at grading Sections 43 and 45 of
that road. In August, 1853, he contracted to clear and
grade Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the
Fremont & Indiana railroad (now the Lake Erie &
Western); he also sent part of his men and teams to work
upon the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne railroad, grading the
road-bed. In the summer of 1854 the finances of the Lake
Erie & Western Company failed, and the work stopped.
In March and April, 1854, he bought wild land in various
places, at second hand, giving as part pay some horses and
oxen which he had been using on public works; he bought
forty acres in Barry county, Mich., 320 acres in Ottawa
county, Ohio, and eighty acres in Sandusky
county, Ohio. These lands he kept from ten to
twenty years, and sold them at a profit. In January, 1858,
he bought of his father, R. A. Sherrard, the east half of
the northwest quarter of Section 5, Ballville township,
which is now half of his home farm. He dealt in real
estate in Kansas, and in Putnam and Fulton counties, Ohio,
and he and his son, J. F. Sherrard, bought a farm in the
oil and gas region west of Fremont, which they have leased
to the Carbon Company of Fremont for a term of years. Mr.
Sherrard was the first man to ship lime in barrels from
Fremont, Ohio, to the glass works at Wheeling, W. Va., in
1864, and he continued this for eighteen years, also
shipping largely to other points for the manufacture of
glass and paper, and for plastering purposes. During the
Civil war Mr. Sherrard bought horses for the Ohio cavalry.
Since 1875 he has rented his farms and bought up live
stock, cows and sheep for Eastern men, who sold them
principally in New Jersey. He has now 125 acres under
cultivation on each of his two farms. In 1891 he bought a
farm of 190 acres in Alabama, ten miles north of
Huntsville, on which his two daughters, with their
husbands and families, reside. This land is very
productive, yielding large crops of clover, corn, wheat,
oats and garden vegetables. In politics Mr. Sherrard has
acted with the Whig and Republican parties. On July 4,
1843, our subject married
Catharine M. Welday, by whom he had
three children—Laura A., Keziah W. and Elizabeth C. The
mother of these died September 29, 1847, and on February
24, 1848, he wedded Narcissa T. Grant, by whom he had
children, as follows: Harriet B., Robert W., John F., Emma
V., Mary J., Rose T., and Ida M. Of this large family,
Laura A. married Benjamin Mooney, and their children are
Lottie S., Emma, Mary A. and Nettie. Keziah W. married
Homer Overmyer, and their daughter, Dora, is the wife of
Clifton Hunn. Elizabeth C. married J. S. Brust, and they
have a daughter—Ida. Harriet B. married Charles E.
Tindall, and died September 16, 1873; they had a daughter,
Hattie, who married William, son of A. J. Wolfe, a farmer
west of Fremont, Ohio. Robert W. is fully mentioned
farther on. John F. married Jennie E. Bowlus, by whom he
had five children—Harry, Ida, Robert, Zelpha and Don.
Emma V. married Josiah Smith, and to them were born the
following named children: Milan, Robert, Jesse, Howard,
Orie, Lulu and Granville. Mary J. married David W.
Cookson, and they have a son—Clarence. Rose T. married
John R. Tindall, and they have had three children—Mabel,
Louis and Etta. Ida M. is the wife of J. U. Bodenman, a
druggist, of St. Louis.
ROBERT W. SHERRARD, of the
firm of Plagman & Sherrard, dealers in groceries,
provisions and queensware, East State street, Fremont, Sandusky
county, was born December 21, 1849, m
Ballville township, Sandusky county,
Ohio, a son of D. A. C. Sherrard.
Our
subject grew to manhood on a farm in the vicinity of
Fremont, and attended the country and city schools. He
remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of
age, and while yet in his "teens" began to
alternate each year between
teaching country school in the winter season and farming
the rest of the time. In the spring of 1872 he attended
the State Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and in the fall
of the same year and the spring of the next he attended
the Seneca County Academy at Republic, Ohio, then in
charge of Prof. J. Fraise Richards. He then taught four
more terms of winter school, alternating with farming. In
1885 he bought out the interest of John Ulsh, in the firm
of Plagman & Ulsh, grocers, and has since continued in
the same place with his brother-in-law, C. H. Plagman. By
enterprise, fair dealing and good management this firm
have built up a prosperous trade. Our subject is a
Republican in politics, and has held various local
offices. He and Mrs. Sherrard are members of the
Presbyterian Church, and socially he belongs to McPherson
Lodge, I. O. O. F., to the Order of the Red Cross and the
Equitable Aid Union.
Robert W. Sherrard married, on May
18, 1875, Miss Clara A. Karshner, who was born November
23, 1855, daughter of Daniel and Lydia (Robinson) Karshner,
of Riley township, Sandusky Co., Ohio.
Daniel Karshner, born September 9, 1822, was a son of John
and Christena (Drum) Karshner, both of whom died at an
advanced age in Riley township. The children of Daniel
Karshner were: Frank, who married Louisa Niester; Charles,
who died in childhood; Alfred L., unmarried; Clara A.,
wife of Robert W. Sherrard; Ella L., who died when aged
seven; Sarah L., wife of H. C. Plagman; Anna N., wife of
John N. Smith; Edwin U., who married Mary Bardus; and
Willis C., who died at the age of fifteen.
Mrs. Clara
A. (Karshner) Sherrard grew to womanhood in Riley
township, attended the country schools and the Fremont
High School, and taught three terms of school in the
vicinity of her home in Riley and Sandusky
townships. She now presides over a
neat family residence on East State
street, honored by its historic connection with Gen. Bell,
one of the earliest pioneers of Lower Sandusky.
The children of Robert W. and Clara A. Sherrard are
Blanche Mae, born March 10, 1876, and Zella Gertrude, born
January 18, 1884; the former is a graduate of the Fremont
High School, and the latter is a student of the same.
SALES A. JUNE was born in
Tompkins county, N. Y., August 2, 1829, son of Peter June.
In 1833 he came with his father's family to Ohio, locating
in Sandusky city, where he
remained until 1849, when, at the age of twenty years, he
went to Cleveland to learn the trade of machinist.
During the period from 1849 to 1856
Mr. June alternated between sailing on the lakes as an
engineer in the summer time, and working in the Cuyahoga
shops in the winter time. About the year 1857 he went to
Brantford, Canada, where he became connected with
sawmilling, and took a contract for furnishing lumber for
a branch of the Grand Trunk railroad. He had a partner in
the business, and the enterprise was successful, they
furnishing lumber for the western end of the Buffalo &
Lake Erie, then known as the Buffalo & Lake Huron
Branch, Grand Trunk railroad. Mr. June next took a
contract to build a plank road into the oil regions of
Canada, at Ennisskillen, which he completed just before
the Civil war broke out in the United States. He then
returned to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1862 he went to Buffalo
and assisted in building and finishing out the United
States steamer "Commodore Perry," and became
engaged as an engineer on the vessel, in the employ of the
United States Government, continuing thus until the latter
part of 1865. After this he superintended the building of
a propellor for the Fremont Steam Navigation Company, and
ran her on the lakes until about 1867, at which time he
started a boiler works in Fremont, Ohio. After operating
these works about eight years he sold out to D. June &
Co., remaining in the
employ of said company, and being a partner in the same
until 1890. In the year 1891 he received an appointment
from the United States Lighthouse Board at Washington, D.
C., to go to Cleveland, Ohio, and superintend the building
of engines and boilers of two lighthouse boats, the
"Columbia" and the "Lilac;" the latter
boat is now on the coast of Maine, and the former on the
coast of Oregon. In the fall of 1892 Mr. June returned to
Fremont and engaged in the manufacture of the boiler-scale
solvent, which has been introduced into all the leading
boiler shops of Ohio, and is presumed to be a great
success. Sales A. June was married to Miss Jane J.
Campbell, who was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, December
29, 1827, daughter of John N. and Jane (Quiggin) Campbell,
and three children were born to them, of whom (1) Adelaide
J., born May io, 1857, was married in 1880 to William
Waugh, a Scotchman, who is a wholesale fur dealer at
Montreal, P. Q.; their children are Florence,
Oliver S., Marion and William.
(2) Peter
J. June, born September 6, 1858, grew to manhood and
received his education in Fremont, where he learned the
trade of mechanical engineer in the shops of D. June &
Co., subsequently going to
Cleveland, where he worked in the Cuyahoga shops and for
the Globe Shipbuilding Co. several
years. After this he followed steamboating, as engineer,
on the lakes from 1878 until 1892,during the summer
seasons, for several lines, running the
"Conestoga," "Gordon Campbell," and
"Lehigh," of the Anchor Line; the '' Wocoken,"
'' Egyptian " and '' Cormorant, "of the Winslow
Fleet; the "Northern Light," of the Northern
Steamship Co., and the
"City of Toledo," of the
Toledo & Island Steam
Navigation Co. In the
season of 1890 he had charge of the McKinnon Iron Works at
Ashtabula, Ohio. He is now a partner in the Fremont
Boiler-Scale Solvent Co., Fremont,
Ohio. Mr. June was married at Tyler, Texas, to Miss
Jennie, daughter of J. C. and Agnes (Boyd) Jones, who were
from Beaver county, Penn., and of Welsh descent. They have
one child, Robert F., born October 24, 1887.
(3) Elmer
Ellsworth, youngest in the family of Sales A. June, was
born in 1861, and died when nine months old.
In
politics Sales A. June and his son are Republicans. They
are members of the Masonic Fraternity, the former having
attained the seventh and the latter the third degree.
GEORGE JUNE, retired farmer
and horse dealer, Fremont, Sandusky
county, was born in the town of Dryden, Tompkins Co.,
N. Y., December 26, 1822, son of Peter June. He
came with his father's family, in 1833, to Sandusky
city, where he attended school a few terms, as he
could be spared from work. At the age of fifteen George
June left home to work on his own account, going with his
brother Daniel to serve as teamster, in the construction
of mason work in Maumee (Lucas county) and vicinity, and
helped build the first poor house in Lucas county. In 1838
he went south to Springfield, Cincinnati and other cities
in quest of work. He drove a stage for the Ohio Stage
Company, on the National road, about eleven years, and
also drove stage for some time at Bellefontaine, his wages
being usually about $14 per month and board. After this he
went to Cincinnati, and engaged first as a common hand to
assist a stock company in shipping live stock down the
Mississippi river; but his natural tact and his long
experience in handling horses soon caused him to be put
in charge of large consignments of horses on vessels, as
foreman. For about ten years he went south in the fall,
and returned in the spring. Having accumulated some money,
he invested it in a large farm in Sandusky
county, whereon he afterward settled. During the
Civil war Mr. June furnished cavalry horses for the Ohio
troops, at the rate of nearly 2,000 per year. He shipped
the first carload of horses that ever was shipped from
Fremont to Boston, and has shipped many a carload since.
By his long and active out-door life, and his temperate
habits, he has retained robust health in a green old age.
JOHN GEIGER,
farmer, of Fremont, Sandusky county,
was born in Baden, Germany, March 12, 1819, a son of John
and Josephine (Cramer) Geiger. His father was born in the
same place, and was by occupation a glass-cutter and
window-grainer. He died at the age of forty-eight years.
His widow came to America, and died at the advanced age of
ninety years, in Reed township, Huron Co.,
Ohio. Their children were: Lawrence, who died at
the age of forty-eight years in Shannon township (he was a
farmer and wagon-maker by trade); Rosa, who married a' Mr.
Nesser, and died in Huron county; Mary Ann, a widow,
living in Huron county; Frances, who died young in
Germany; John, the subject of this sketch, and Rudolph,
who lives in Sherman township, Huron county.
Our
subject worked by the month and by the year until he came
to America, and continued thus for some time after coming
here. On March 14, 1840, he landed in New York City after
a voyage of forty-eight days, and shortly after came to
Huron county, Ohio, where he settled. He borrowed $8.00 in
Buffalo from an old schoolmate with which to come to Ohio,
where he worked for $8 per month at harvesting. After
working
for a while on a farm he commenced
wagon-making, but in about two weeks he was taken sick
with a fever which did not leave him until cold
weather—in fact, it was the ague. He left Huron county
to get rid of it, coming to Fremont in the fall of 1840,
and remaining in the region of the Black Swamp about three
months, after which he went to where Toledo now is, but
failing to get any business he returned to Bellevue. When
he left Huron county he owed a doctor bill, to pay which
he had to sell his clothes. He had had the ague every
other day, and the rest of the time was employed driving a
team, but he only received two dollars of his wages in
money, the rest in trade to the amount of six dollars. In
the latter part of February he had a falling out with his
employer, and would hot stay with him over night. He
concluded to go away ten or twelve miles, to Greenfield
township, and on the way he went through a wilderness and
found himself on a prairie. Here he fell into a ditch
where the water was up to his waist, but he managed to get
out, and proceeding on his way fell into another ditch in
trying to jump it, this time losing his bundle of goods.
He now was soaking wet, but he had saved his money. He
went on until he saw a light, which he followed. The light
went out, but he found a house, and when the door opened
he dodged in without invitation among a Yankee family,
with whom he could not talk a word of English. He was not
slow, however, in making his wants known by gestures, at
which the Germans are so apt, and was at once provided
for; but he shool with the ague, which was worse than than
wet. He got to Greenfield township and then started for
Huron. On the way he took a chill, and lay down till it
was over. On reaching Huron he got on a boat, but he was
too sick to sit up, so he lay down in a bunk and waited
till the boat should get ready to go, saying to himself,
"Let the boat go where it will," of Stevens
township, Rensselaer Co., New
York.
Elisha Babcock was born in
1783, of remote Holland ancestry, but he himself always
used to insist that he was a Yankee. He was a Whig in
politics. In 1823 he migrated by team with his family
from New York to Green Creek township. Sandusky
Co., Ohio, where he purchased government land,
and was among the earliest settlers, the family living
for a few weeks in an old sugar shanty while a cabin was
being erected. The parents went to their long rest many
years later, after they had converted the wilderness
into a fruitful farm. To Elisha and Prudence Babcock
were born five children, as follows: Laura, who first
married P. C. Chapel, and for her second husband wedded
J. C. Coleman, a grocer of Fremont, where she died;
Esther, who married George Waldorf, of Allegany county,
N. Y., and died there; Clark, who married Ann Lee, and
was a farmer of Porter county, Ind.; Hiram, who married
Mary Ann Lay, and after her decease wedded Josephine
Woodruff, and who died in Green Creek township, in 1886,
leaving seven children; Merlin, the youngest child, is
the only survivor of the family.
Merlin Babcock was but four years
of age when he migrated with his parents to Sandusky
county, He remained on the old homestead in Green
Creek township until he was twenty-seven years old, in
his youth attending school in winter about three months,
and in summer two months. For his first wife he married
Almira Dirlam, a native of Massachusetts. She died in
1846, leaving three children: Sarah, wife of John J.
Craig, of Coffey county, Kans.; Callie B., who married
G. M. Kinney, by whom she had one child, Merlin, and who
now keeps house for her father; and Frank, a resident of
Gibsonburg, who has five children—Burton, Edith, Amy,
Chauncey and Jesse. After the death of his first wife
Mr. Babcock
left his father's homestead and
moved to his present farm in York township. Here he
married Agnes E. Donaldson, by whom he had one child,
John C., now a resident of Nevada. He engaged in general
farming for a time, then removed to Wadsworth, Nevada,
and there engaged in the hotel business. After his wife
died in the western home he returned to Sandusky
county, and has since resided on his farm in York
township. In politics Mr. Babcock has been a Henry Clay
Whig. He cast his first vote for W. H. H. Harrison, and
also voted for his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, for
President. Mr. Babcock remembers hearing Gen. Harrison
make a speech at Old Fort Meigs in 1840. He remembers,
too, with vividness, the remarkable change that has come
upon the face of the country during the past fifty
years, and among other things the three old mills on
Coon creek, near Clyde, that ran several months each
year, that stream then being filled from bank to bank,
in striking contrast to the present attenuated flow of
water. He served York township for nineteen years as
assessor, and has filled various other local offices.
Mr. Babcock is an upright citizen, and is without an
enemy. At his old home in York township he enjoys the
serenity and comfort which should crown a life so well
spent as his has been, and he commands the highest
respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and
acquaintances.
A. J. HALE, station
agent of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern
railroad, Fremont, was born in Steuben county, N. Y.,
May 25, 1828, son of Samuel and Sarah Hale.
Samuel Hale was born in
Massachusetts, and his wife in Connecticut, whence she
early removed to western New York, and there grew to
womanhood. They were married at Albany. He was first a
lumber dealer in various sections of the State of New
York, and later a general merchant,
doing business at Tyrone, Steuben county. He died in
1842, at the age of fifty-seven years, and she died at
Lake Geneva, in 1857, at the age of sixty-three, a
member of the Baptist Church. Ten children were born
to them, nine of whom grew to maturity.
A. J.
Hale was reared in Steuben county, N. Y., and attended
the public schools until thirteen years of age. He
then served as clerk in a store, in New York State,
for two years when, in 1842,he came to Bellevue, Ohio,
and was there actively engaged in business until 1852,
when he removed to Fremont, becoming agent for the
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad, in 1857,
which position he filled until 1861. At the outbreak
of the Civil war, in 1861, he helped to raise the
first company of three-year men in Fremont, and
entered the service as second lieutenant of Company E,
Twentyfifth O. V. I. After serving with the company a
short time at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, he was
appointed and commissioned quartermaster of the
Twenty-fifth O. V. I., under Gov. Tod, at the
suggestion of Gen. R. B. Hayes. Mr. Hale had not
sought the position, but was chosen on account of his
fitness for the place. His regiment was assigned to
duty with the army of Western Virginia and he became
senior regimental and post quartermaster, in October,
1863, resigning his post and returning to Fremont,
where he resumed his old place as ticket and freight
agent for the combined offices of the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern and the Lake Erie & Western
railroads. He continued thus until 1880, when the
increasing business of the roads demanded that the
business departments be separated, and he became
freight and station agent for the Lake Shore alone,
and is now acting in that capacity. His long period of
service before the public and his excellent qualities
as a citizen have made him one of the best known and
most highly respected citizens in the community. In
fraternal affiliation he is a member of the Knights of
Honor and of the Royal Arcanum. Mr. Hale was married,
in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1850, to Miss Elisabeth A.
Simkins.
ALBERT VOGT BAUMANN is a
native "Buckeye," having been born in
Fremont, in 1859, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Vogt)
Baumann, natives of Switzerland, who came from their
native country to Fremont in 1854.
Jacob Baumann, his father, has
been identified with the business interests of Fremont
since 1856, and by his perseverance and strict
attention to business has acquired a competency which
places him in the front rank as one of the solid,
substantial business men of Fremont. He is and always
has been an active Democrat in politics, but never
seeking office. His wife died January 7, 1892, aged
fifty-six years. Their children were: Jacob Baumann,
Jr., of Fremont; Emma Baumann, who died recently;
Elizabeth Baumann, at home; and Albert Vogt, our
subject; they also had an adopted daughter, named
Hattie. Our subject grew to manhood in Fremont,
attended the city schools, and then took a thorough
business course at Eastman College, Poughkeepsie, N.
Y. He has been identified with the progress and
development of his native city since his boyhood days,
and has taken an active interest in everything
designed for the good of the county. He has recently
become prominent among the oil and gas men of Sandusky
and adjoining counties. In 1884 and 1885 he was
principal owner and manager of the Democratic
Messenger, the organ of the Sandusky
County Democracy at Fremont. He was elected
city clerk in 1882, and served in that capacity for
six years, having been twice unanimously re-elected.
In 1884 he received the nomination of the Democratic
party for auditor of Sandusky
county, and was defeated by William L. Baker.
In 1887 he was again nominated by the Democratic party
for county auditor, and was elected over Mr. Baker,
who defeated him three years previous. In 1891 he was
renominated and re-elected county auditor, receiving
the largest majority of any on the county ticket. His
whole time and attention is now devoted to his
business interests, which have become extensive,
mainly through his persevering nature and untiring
efforts. He is largely interested in The Fremont Gas
Company and The Fremont Electric Light Company, being
a director in each and secretary and treasurer of both
companies. In January, 1889, Mr. Baumann was married
at Fremont to Miss Anna Rose Greene, daughter of Judge
John L. Greene, of Fremont. To their union were born
two children: Albert Vogt, Jr., and Elsie Elizabeth.
To his wife and children he is devotedly attached.
CAPTAIN
O. L. SHANNON was born in Sandusky
township, Sandusky
Co., Ohio, March 30,
1848, grew up there and attended the district schools.
Being a weakly child, the physicians ordered that he
should take a voyage, hence he started on one on the
lakes when he was a boy ten years old. He succeeded in
sustaining himself from the outset, and sailed on the
lakes every summer. He finally went before the mast,
remaining in that capacity until his marriage, in
1873, to Miss Della Morrow, who was born in Sandusky
City, Ohio, in 1854, and died in 1876, leaving
one child, Le Roy, who is now a drug clerk in Fremont,
Ohio. Our subject's second wife, Martha F. (Flinck),
was born in Erie county, in 1867, married in 1882, in
Lorain, Ohio, and has two children: Wilson O., and
Westford F.
After his first marriage Mr.
Shannon located in Fremont, where he served in
various occupations until 1874,
when he passed the examinations in Cleveland, Ohio,
and received his certificate as master seaman and
first-class pilot on the Great Lakes. He has sailed a
boat nearly every summer since after his location in
Fremont, also operated his farm in Sandusky
township in connection with sailing; but five
years since he located permanently in Fremont. He is
still commanding a steamer. He is a member of
thel.O.O.F. and of the Disciples Church of Lorain,
Ohio. His wife is also a member of that Church. Capt.
Shannon is well known on the lakes and around Fremont.
John Shannon, father of our
subject, was born March 2, 1813, in the "Block
House" at Scioto, which was erected as a fortress
during the war of 1812. The name Shannon is of
Low-Dutch origin, descending from our subject's
great-grandfather, George Shannon. He came to America
in the seventeenth century, located at Schenectady, N.
Y., and was well-to-do financially. He died about the
year 1828, at an advanced age. He had two children:
John and George, the latter of whom, our subject's
grandfather, came west to Ohio in 1809. Soon afterward
he was married, in Sandusky county,
to Mary Whittaker, who was born in that county in
1799, and died in 1827. She was the daughter of James
and Elizabeth (Fulks) Whittaker, who were both stolen
by a party of Indians from the Mohawk Valley, New York
State. The great-grandfather of our subject was about
two years old and his greatgrandmother about four
years old when they were taken to Lower Sandusky
(now Fremont), which was then the headquarters
of the Indians in this section. They were reared by
Indians, and by some means were made head of the
Indian tribes. They were married by Indian ceremonies.
In due course of time they established a trading post
on the Whittaker Reserve, which was given them by
the Indians. They also had a trading post at Upper Sandusky.
Mr. Whittaker kept that post, and Mrs.
Whittaker the one on the Whittaker Reserve. The
Indians traded, from many miles around, at Lower Sandusky,
and recognized the Whittakers as their rulers
and chiefs. Mr. Whittaker had a partner at Lower Sandusky,
and was poisoned by him so that he died; he was
hurried on the Whittaker Reserve. Our subject's
grandmother died in the spring of 1832. They had
children as follows: Isaac, Nancy, Mary (subject's
grandmother), James, Rachel, Charlotte and George. Our
subject's father saw and knew all of them except
Nancy, who was married early in life to a Mr. Wilson,
and moved to Canada. In 1832-33 two of her daughters
visited here, and afterward a young man came and staid
a short time; he was here at the time of grandmother's
death, but was never seen afterward. The rest of that
branch of the family died in Canada, or, at all
events, all trace of them has been lost. Isaac died in
Indiana; James died in White Pigeon, Mich., where he
had been a merchant (our subject's father was there at
that time); Rachel married James A. Scranton, of Lower
Sandusky, and was a
prominent figure here for years; Charlotte died
single; George, the youngest, died in Indiana.
Our
subject's paternal grandfather never knew what became
of his uncle John. Grandfather married asecond time,
but nothing positive is known of their history. He was
a farmer and a great hunter. He made hunting his chief
occupation, and employed others to operate his farm.
He died at the age of fortytwo, and his wife at
thirty-six. They had eight children, six of which grew
to maturity: Elizabeth, married to Samuel Hubble, a
ship carpenter at Fort Miami; James, who died near
Oregon; John, subject's father; William, a farmer, who
died at Genoa, Ohio; Rachel, who died young; Samuel,
who died at Plaster Bed, Ottawa Co.,
Ohio, and Jacob, who died in Fulton, Ohio. Our
subject's father, John Shannon, is the only one of
these now living.
Capt.
Shannon's paternal grandparents went away for safety
from the war in the fall of 1812, and subject's father
was born in the block house built at Scioto, to
protect the whites against the Indians. While a party
of whites were digging potatoes and tending other
crops they were attacked by Indians, and the paternal
grandfather of our subject was so badly wounded that
he had to crawl two days and nights to reach a
friendly Indian's cabin, and was assisted back to
Scioto. He was severely wounded in the back, from
which he suffered two years, during which time the
doctor took thirtyone pieces of bone from his back. He
was a strong man and a great hunter. Our subject's
father grew up among the Indians, was a great hunter
in the early days, and is still a noted duck shooter.
On October 1, 1840, he was married to Miss Eveline
Patterson, who was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., in
1824. She died October 9, 1893. They had ten children:
Sarah, Emma Jane, Julia (who married Andrew Franks,
and lives in Michigan), Capt. O. L. (oursubject), John
W. (who lives in Sandusky township),
and Fannie (wife of Frank Scheffler, of Fremont,
Ohio); the rest of the children died young. After the
death of our subject's mother, his father, John
Shannon, married Mrs. Sophia Peter, who was a widow at
that time.
BYRON R. DUDROW, a
resident of Fremont, Sandusky
county, is a native Of Ohio, born March
r, 1855, in Adams township, near Green Spring,
Seneca county, and is a son of David W. and Mary
J. (Rule) Dudrow, the former of whom was born
October 25, 1825, in Frederick county, Md., a
son of David and Elizabeth
(Hines) Dudrow, also natives of Maryland, born
of German ancestry.
David W. Dudrow settled
in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1845, becoming the
owner of a large farm there, which he conducted
up to the time of his decease, prospering
himself and assisting others to prosper, his
life presenting a striking example of industry,
integrity and unselfishness. On January 8, 1853,
he was married to Miss Mary J. Rule, who was
born in Seneca county, Ohio, daughter of Daniel
and Jane (Grosscost) Rule, to which union were
born eight children, four of whom died in
infancy, and three sons and one daughter are yet
living, to wit: Byron R., in Fremont, Ohio;
William and Fred, in Adams township, Seneca
county, engaged in farming and stockraising; and
Jennie, with her mother on the old homestead. On
May 16, 1888, the father, David \V. Dudrow, met
with a fatal accident, being instantly killed by
the kick of a horse.
Daniel Rule, grandfather
of Byron R. Dudrow, was born October 28, 1801,
on the banks of the Susquehanna river, in Perry
county, Penn., was of Teutonic descent, and
spoke the German language fluently, while his
wife, Jane (Grosscost), was of Scotch-Irish
lineage. In the fall of 1824 he moved to Seneca
county, Ohio, at which time the Seneca Indians
lived on the Seneca Reservation, and he became
well acquainted with many of them, some of whom
were Redmen of note in their day, including the
famous warrior chief Small Cloud Spicer, who at
that time was a resident of the Sandusky
Valley. Samuel Rule, brother of Daniel,
owned and improved a large farm in Menard
county, Ill., dying there November 7, 1884,
while George, a half-brother of Daniel, was one
of the pioneers of Sandusky
county, Ohio. Daniel Rule's grandfather was a
soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under
Gen. Washington, and participated in the siege
of Yorktown; after the surrender of Cornwallis
he returned to his home in southern
Pennsylvania, and there succumbed to an abscess
which had formed in his side.
Byron R. Dudrow, the
subject proper of these lines, received his
elementary education at the district schools of
the neighborhood of his place of birth, which
was supplemented with a course of study at the
Union schools of Tiffin and Clyde, Ohio. This
for a few years occupied his winter days, his
summers being passed for the most part in
assisting on his father's farm in Adams
township. In the autumn of 1872 he entered the
Preparatory Department of Baldwin University,
Berea, Ohio, remaining there continuously until
June, 1877, returning home only for his
vacations. By close application and hard study
he gained one year upon his class, and did not
require to attend college during the session of
1*7778; but in the latter year he returned to
Berea, and on June 6th graduated from Baldwin in
the classical course, receiving the degree of B.
A. On June 9, 1881, the degree of M. A. was
conferred upon him. On June 18, 1877, Mr. Dudrow
commenced the study of law in the office of
Basil Meek, at Clyde, Ohio, and was admitted to
the bar by the District Court, April 26, 1879.
He did not, however, at once enter into active
practice, but served as deputy clerk of courts
of Sandusky
county from the time of his admission to the bar
until April 26, 1880, at which time he commenced
the practice of the law. He has been engaged in
the trial of some prominent cases, and with
success. One of the most important trials in
which he has engaged was the defense of Mrs.
Lizzie Aldridge, who was charged with the murder
of her husband, John Aldridge, the trial taking
place at Hastings, Neb., in June, 1889. Mrs.
Aldridge was acquitted, and of Mr. Dudrow's
efforts in this case the Hastings (Neb.) Republican
said: "Mr. Dudrow,
of Fremont, Ohio, was
an earnest and pleasing talker; every word and
action had power and weight that exerted an
influence upon the jurors." The Adams
county (Neb.) Democrat, also speaking
of his able argument at the same trial, said:
"Of Mr. Dudrow, of Fremont, Ohio, it may
be said that during the trial he won the good
opinion and admiration of our people by his
manly, eloquent and logical argument to the
jury, and by the able manner in which he
conducted the part of the case assigned to
him." From 1883 till 1888 Mr. Dudrow
practiced law in partnership with H. R.
Finefrock, and since 1891 he has been
associated with his father-in-law, Basil Meek,
and John W. Worst. On November 21, 1878, Mr.
Dudrow was united in marriage at Clyde, Ohio,
with Miss Mary E. Meek, daughter of Basil
Meek, and who for several years had been a
teacher in the Clyde public schools. In his
political predilections our subject is a
Democrat, and has three times been elected to
the office of city solicitor of Fremont, his
services in that capacity covering a period of
six years. Besides his residence on Birchard
avenue, Fremont, he owns a 300-acre farm in
Townsend township, and he is considered one of
Sandusky county's
most useful, progressive citizens.
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