Florence Township
DAVID SINGER was the first white child
born in Florence Township. His parents were among the first white
settlers here, coming in 1837. His father was a farmer, and himself
and wife, Margaret (Kragore) Singer, were parents of eight children.
They entered one-half section of government land here and still own
220 acres. David was born in 1839, April 11, and his educational
advantages were necessarily limited, as at that early day the time
of the pioneers was employed in a struggle with the forces of nature
for dominion, and the present state of cultivation and progress
speaks more plainly than words of the result. Mr. Singer has
witnessed the gradual transformation of the wilderness into one of
the finest farming sections in Williams County,
is a successful farmer himself, and a large stock dealer. He
was united in marriage to Harriet Kentner, of Carroll County,
Ohio, March 19, 1859, and to this union have been born seven
children—Calvin, Willis, Margaret, Clara. Howard, Ambrose and
George. Mr. Singer saw active service in the late war. He enlisted
in 1861 in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, and was a soldier for over three years. Mrs. S. is a
member of the Disciples' Church of Edon, and Mr. Singer belongs to
the mystic brotherhood of Masons.
JOHN F. DONZE is a native of France and
was born in the year 1853. In 1868, he emigrated to this country and
chose Williams County as
the place of his future residence, and here entered into the
occupation of farming, at which he continued till he had passed his
majority. In the year 1878, he married Miss Louisa Boillot, a native
of Williams County, and some years
later moved to this township and began farming on shares. He was
industrious and thrifty, and is now the owner of some of the finest
horses in the county, in which he
takes great pride. He is surrounded with all the comforts of a
pleasant home, which he has acquired by his own efforts and the
exercise of sound judgment, and is generally looked upon as a young
man with a prosperous future before him.
JOHN B. GRIM was born in Stark County,
Ohio, in 1826, and moved to Pulaski Township, this county,
in 1850, thence to Jefferson in May. 1852, where he is now
extensively engaged in the poultry business, and is doing a
lucrative trade. In 1850, our subject married Miss Janet Cairns in
Stark County, Ohio, and to this union
have been born five children, viz.: Ellen, Janet, William, Andrew
and Charles, all of whom reside with their parents. In November,
1864, Mr. Grim enlisted in the Fifty-fifth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and participated in the campaigns against
Atlanta, Ga., and Columbia, S. C, and was with Sherman in his famous
march to the sea. He was honorably mustered out of the service in
1865, when he returned to his home in Williams County.
The same year he was elected Treasurer of the county,
which position he filled for two successive terms. He also
served as County Commissioner from
1870 to 1872, and ably and satisfactorily performed the duties
appertaining to each office. He is an ardent Republican, and
socially has the respect of all who know him.
DANIEL LONG was born in Bedford County,
Penn., June 13, 1812, and was brought by his parents, John and
Susan (Leedy) Long, of Knox County, Ohio, in
1815. In that county his mother died July
14, 184l, and his father, June 25, 1855. In 1849, Daniel Long came to
Williams County and located in Jefferson
Township, where he now owns a highly cultivated farm of 165 acres, and a
fine dwelling and barn, together with other substantial improvements.
October 9, 1844, he married Miss Mary Tuter in Knox County,
and by her became the father of twelve children, viz., Solomon,
Melissa, Leah (who died August 29, 1S49), Jesse, Catherine, Sally,
Simeon, David, Jacob T., Mary, Noah and Elma (who died September 17,
1865). Mr. Long has been quite an active member of the Democratic party,
and has served several years in the offices of School Director and
Supervisor of Roads. He is a member of the German Baptist Church, and is
one of the county's most worthy and influential citizens.
JOHN C. McKARNS was born in Columbiana County,
Ohio, in 1844, and in 1850 his parents brought him with them to
this county, settling in Mill Creek
Township. A few years later our subject came to this township, where he
learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked till the spring of
1865, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Ninetyfifth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and went with his regiment to Harper's Ferry,
Va., and thence to Alexandria, in the same State. At the latter point
the regiment was mustered out of service, when our subject returned to
this township and was subsequently elected to the office of Deputy
Sheriff, which position he filled for four years. In 1876, he married
Miss Jennie Graves, a native of this county, and
to their union have been born two children—Olive H. and Sarah E. Mr.
McKarns is now an industrious and enterprising farmer and is the owner
of a fine piece of land, which he keeps thoroughly cultivated; he is
surrounded with all the comforts of a pleasant home and has every
prospect of a prosperous future.
JAMES P. McKARNS was born in Columbiana County,
Ohio, in 1845, and his parents, Jonathan and Eliza B. (Copeland)
McKarns, brought him with them on their removal to this township in
1850. Here he grew up to manhood, and in 1872 married Miss Nancy
Brannon, and by this union became the father of three children, named as
follows: Margaret B., John M. and James B. Mr. McKarns, since his
majority, has been an active politician in the Democratic ranks, and in
1875 was elected by that party to the office of School Inspector, and
wa3 again elected to the same office in 1877, his tenure running till
1880. He is looked upon by his neighbors with respect, and enjoys the
confidence of all his fellow-citizens.
JAMES NEIL comes from York County,
Penn., where he was born in 1819. He was brought by his
parents to this State when he was but eight years of age, and he
remained with them on their farm in Wayne County
until his twenty-first year. He married Miss Mary Noggle, and
then moved to Richland County,
Ohio, where he resided a number of years, pursuing his
vocation of farmer. In 1858, he removed to this township, where he
purchased 100 acres of land, which he has diligently cultivated and
converted into a model farm, improving it with an excellent house
and barn and other buildings necessary for economical and profitable
use. Mr. Neil lost his wife in 1876. She had borne him seven
children, of whom there are four still living. He is a member of the
Church of God, and is esteemed as a worthy citizen and as an
experienced and sagacious agriculturist.
ORLANDO OBERLIN was born in Holmes County,
Ohio, in 1846, and was brought to this township by his
parents in 1854. His youthful days were spent on a farm, and in
1863, at the early age of seventeen, he enlisted, at his country's
call, in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. He joined his regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., in the fall
of the same year, and with it took part in the battles of Resaca,
Dalton and the Atlanta campaign. He was wounded in the fight at
Jonesboro, Ga. and was with Gen. Sherman on his march to Savannah,
through South and North Carolina and Virginia to Washington, D. C,
and participated in the grand review. His regiment was then ordered
to Louisville, Ky., and thence to Cleveland, Ohio,
where it was mustered out of the service in 1865. Mr. Oberlin
then returned to his home in this township and resumed his vocation
of farmer. In 1872, he married Miss Althea Reed, a native of
Williams County, and to their union
have been born two children—Roy E. and Theodore F. He is the owner
of a wellimproved farm of eighty acres, and everything about him
bears the sign of intelligent management.
MILTON OBERLIN, born in Holmes County,
Ohio, in 1849, was brought at the age of five years to this
township, by his parents, Jacob and Anna Oberlin. They were farmers
by occupation, and Milton passed his youth and early manhood in
going to the district school, and in assisting his father in his
farm work. At the age of twenty-three, he was joined in matrimony
with Miss Charity M. AltafFer, purchased a farm of fifty acres, and
settled down to the joys and cares of married life. His farm proved
to be productive, and, by good management and industry, he has
acquired all that is necessary to make his home comfortable and
pleasant. His children, two in number, are named respectively
Rosanna and Jacob E., and are being reared in a manner to make them
a credit to their parents and to the township. Mr. Oberlin, in
politics, is a Republican ; is a wide-awake and enterprising
citizen, and a young man of undoubted integrity.
JOHN OPDYCKE, the son of Albert and
Elizabeth Opdycke, was born in Trumbull County,
Ohio, in 1819, and came to this township with
his parents in 1836. At that time the county
was a dense wilderness ; Defiance was the county
seat and the only post office in the county.
On the farm located by his father in this forest, our subject
labored at clearing up and improving until the year 1847, when he
married Miss Harriet C. Baird, of this county,
and began farming on his own account. To this marriage were
born four children, viz., Emerson B., Anna B., Charles D. and Wilber
G., the last named dying in 1872. Mr. Opdycke's mother died in 1853,
and in 1873 his father followed, when he took charge of and
conducted the homestead farm. He is now the owner of one hundred and
sixty acres of land in a fine state of cultivation, improved with an
excellent dwelling and a good barn and other outbuildings. Mr.
Opdycke is an ardent Republican, and is looked upon as one of
Jefferson's most enterprising and trustworthy citizens.
DAVID RANSOM is a native of New
Hampshire, and was born in 1811. In 1828, his parents immigrated
into this State, bringing our subject with them, and settled in
Medina County. There the father died
in the year 1877, having been preceded by the mother in the year
1875. In 1839, Mr. Ransom married Miss Susan Thayer, of Medina County,
but had the misfortune to lose his young wife the following
year. In 1854, he came to this township, and purchased ninety-five
acres of wild land, which, by perseverance and industry, he has
converted into one of the best and most profitable farms in the county.
In 1862, Mr. Ransom remarried, choosing for his second
partner a sister of his first wife, Miss Catherine Thayer. To this
union there have been born five children—Frank, Jay, Iza, Erva and
Ely. Mr. Ransom has served his county as
School Inspector, and has always enjoyed the respect of his
neighbors and the citizens of the township generally.
JOHN SHANKSTER was born in Lincolnshire,
England, in 1806, and there married Nancy Streets in 1827. In 1832,
this couple emigrated to America; first located at Chillicothe, and,
in 1835, moved to this township. At that time, Defiance, Fulton and
Williams, constituted one county, the
county seat being at Defiance; here
he entered eighty acres of land in the midst of the woods, where
wild beasts abounded, and the Indians far exceeded the whites in
number. Through perseverance and industry, however, he succeeded in
subduing the forest and securing a well-cultivated farm of 160
acres, on which he is now in comfort passing his declining years.
Here his wife died in March, 1874, the mother of nine children,
seven of whom are still living, viz.: Isaac, Thomas, Israel S.,
George, Martin S., Mary Ann and Elizabeth. Isaac married Miss Susan
Bourn in 1848, and is the father of four children, three living, who
live with their parents on a fine farm in the township. Thomas
married Miss Phoebe Hester, in 1866, is the father of three
children, and owns 130 acres of land and a
fine residence in the township. Israel S. married Miss Mary Haupt in
1S78, is the father of two children, and owner of a good farm and
residence. George married Miss Clarissa Wyatt, who died two years
later, and he then married Miss Elizabeth Johnson ; is the father of
two children, and owns 160 acres in Superior Township. Martin S.
married Sally Long, and is the owner of a good farm in Northwest
Township. Mary Ann married Hiram fiushong, who owns ninety acres of
good land in this township. Elizabeth married William Stewart
February 21,1878, and this pair live with the father on the old
homestead, and are the parents of two children.
A. C. SNYDER was
born in Lawrence County, Penn., in
1844, and moved to Columbiana County, Ohio, in
1858. In 1861, he enlisted in the Thirty-second Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and went with his regiment to West
Virginia; was in the battles of Beverly, McDowell and Cross Keys,
and was present at the surrender of Gen. Miles at Harper's Ferry.
His regiment was then transferred to the Western Department,
Seventeenth Army Corps, and our subject took part in the siege of
Vicksburg and in the Meridian campaign. After his discharge, in
1864, he re-enlisted as a veteran, and was in the Atlanta campaign
under Gen. Sherman ; he was also at Washington at the grand review
in 1865; and thence went with his regiment to Louisville, Ky., where
he was mustered out in 1865, when he returned to his home in
Columbiana County. The same year he
moved to this township, and, in 1869, married Miss Lucinda Beerbower.
To this union have been born three children, viz.: Ella, Willard
(deceased) and Jennie. Mr. Snyder is the owner of 240 acres of land
in a good state of cultivation, and has a pleasant home. He is an
ardent Democrat, and is regarded as a valuable citizen.
SAMUEL B. SPROTT was born in Beaver County,
Penn., December 15, 1840, and in 1859 went to Richland County,
Ohio, where he made his home with his sister, Mrs. Knox);
worked out by the month till 1864, then came to this county
and lived with a brother till 1868, when he married Miss
Leannah Weaver, who was born in Pickaway County,
Ohio, December 5, 1847. Her parents came to this township in
1848, and settled on Section 3, on which section, also, Mr. Sprott
has his farm of seventy acres. Mr. Weaver died here in 1852, aged
about forty-three years; her mother is still living on the old
homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Sprott are the parents of five children,
viz.: Nelson W., born July 16, 1869; Clara Belle, January 15, 1871;
Mary E., July 29, 1873; John Willard, April 26, 1875 ; and James A.,
June 2,1882. Mr. Sprott has always been engaged in farming and
stock-raising. He is a Democrat in politics, and has served as
Justice of the Peace one term, and as Constable
three terms. In religion, he holds to the Golden Rule, and has
always been recognized as honorable and upright.
ELI STONER is a
native of Stark County, Ohio, and was
born in 1824. His parents, Charles and Elizabeth (Oberlin) Stoner,
moved from Stark to Wood County when
Eli was five years of age, and there resided for twenty-three years,
when they returned to Stark, where the father died in 1875. The
mother is still living, at the age of seventy-two years. In 1844,
Eli married Miss Catherine Heister, a native of Stark County,
and they became the parents of eight children, all of whom
survive with the exception of one. Mr. Stoner resides on a farm of
eighty acres which he purchased on first coming to Jefferson
Township, and which he has developed to the full extent of its
producing properties. He is a citizen of worth and progress, and
enjoys the esteem of all his neighbors.
SIMON STULLER was born in Carroll County,
Ohio, May 23, 1840, one of a family of nine children born to Henry
and Nancy (Ashbrook) Stuller. His parents were among the
early settlers of this country, and came to Williams County
in 1853, purchasing a farm where Edon is now situated. Mr.
Stuller remembers well the clearing " bee " for the
purposing of making a start in causing the wilderness to blossom as
the rose. Mr. S. is the owner of a fine farm of 110 acre3, all under
cultivation. He was married July 6, 1861, to Isabella Day, who died
August 24, 1875, leaving a family of seven children—Alsynus,
Silliman F., Jason B., Franklin, Ralph, Rosa B. and Bertha. Mr.
Stuller was married to his present wife, Miss Elizabeth Brady, March
2,1876, and they are the parents of four children—Mary E., Simeon,
Firm and Blaine.
J. W. STULLER
is a native of the " Buckeye " State, having been born in
Carroll County July 18, 1846. His
parents, Henry and Nancy (Ashbrook)
Stuller, were natives of Pennsylvania, and reared a family of nine
children. Mr. Henry Stuller came to
Williams County in 1853 and purchased
a farm, part of which is the site of the present village of Edon.
His early years were spent as a day laborer. His death occurred in
1868. J. W. Stuller received the advantages of a good education, and
learned the mason's trade, at which he worked for nearly nine years.
He was a patriotic citizen at an early age, and enlisted in Company
D, One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Regiment of Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, when but seventeen years old, and
remained in the service until the close of the war. He was married
December 19, 1873, to Miss Ann J. Lash, a resident of Williams County.
Mrs. Stuller is a member of the M. E. Church of Edon, and Mr.
Stuller holds a membership in the brotherhood of the I. 0. 0. F. in
the same place. Mr. S. is at present engaged in the ministering to
the comfort of his fellow-men, and improving their general
appearance at his fine barbering establishment in Edon, which is a
popular and general resort for all in need of his services.
JOSEPH C. TRESSLER was born in Perry County,
Penn., in 1883, and moved to Ogle County,
111., in 1855. There he resided till 1858, when he came to
this township, and followed his trade as carpenter until 1861. In
the same year, when the call to arms was made, he enlisted in
Company A, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry. His regiment was attached to the First Division of the
Fourteenth Army Corps, in the Department of Tennessee; with his
regiment, our subject took part in the battles of Mill Springs, Ky.,
Stone River, Chiokamauga, Resaca, and also through all the Atlanta
campaign. He was honorably mustered out of the service at Atlanta,
in 1864, when he returned to his home in Jefferson Township. The
same year, he married Miss Elizabeth Lattanner, and to their union
were born four children, who were named in order of birth, as
follows: Charles (deceased), Albert, Minnie B. and Nellie C. Mr.
Tressler is the owner of a well cultivated farm of eighty acres, has
a pleasant home, and is surrounded by all the comforts appertaining
thereto.
CYRUS T. WYATT is a native of this county,
and was born in 1848. He is the son of William and Martha E.
Wyatt, who were among the very early settlers of Williams. His
earlier years were passed upon the home farm, on which he assisted
his father till about nineteen years of age. In 1867, he began to
learn the carpenter's trade, at which he continued to work till
1870. In 1871, he married Miss Minerva Burgoyne, also a native of
Williams County, and the fruit of
this union is two children—Lulu 0. and Oscar W. Although Mr. Wyatt
has never exhibited any desire for public office, or sought
political distinction, the Democratic party, of which he is a stanoh
member, called upon him to fill the office of Town Assessor, the
duties of which he most ably discharged during his incumbency. His
forty-acre farm is highly cultivated, and he is surrounded with
every improvement and convenience appertaining to a comfortable
home.
Centre Township
CHRISTIAN ARNOLD is the son of G. P. and
Elizabeth Arnold, who were born in France in the years 1800 and 1801
respectively, and married there in 1819. In 1839, they emigrated to
this country, and settled in Stark County,
Ohio ; remained there six years, then removed to Seneca County,
and after a short stay came to Williams County,
and located in Centre Township ; remained there two years,
then moved to Bryan, where Mrs. Arnold died ; about two years later,
Mr. Arnold again married, moved to Illinois, thence to Iowa, and
then started West with a friend, since when no tidings have been had
of him. He had a family of five boys, of whom one died in Frauce.
Christian Arnold, next to the eldest, was born June 17,1821, and
came with his parents to Ohio. He was
married, August 17, 1847, to Margaret Frank, also a native of
France, and born March 1, 1827, the daughter of George and Eva
Frank. He worked at his trade of coopering till 1849, when he joined
his father in the provision trade at Bryan. At the end of a year, he
sold out to his father and bought 200 acres of timbered land near
Bryan, sold it shortly after at a profit of $400, and bought the
farm of 160 acres on Section 14, this township, which he has ever
since occupied. He has had a family of five children—Louisa
(deceased), Malvina, John F., Emma J. and Christian H. Mr. A. and
wife are members of the Lutheran Church, and the family is one in
very high standing in the community.
WILLIAM AYRES is the son of Daniel and
Parmelia Ayres. His father was born in Pennsylvania, January 18,
1771, and was a son ot Samuel Ayres, a native of New Jersey, and his
mother was born in New York State, August 23, 1776, and was the
daughter of A. Buck; they were married in Pennsylvania, August 7,
1791, and in 1807 moved to Knox County, Ohio;
six years later, they removed to Richland County,
where the father died in 1839; in 1847, his mother came to
this county, where she died in 1849 ;
they were the parents of eight children. William Ayres was next to
the youngest of this family, and was born in Luzerne County,
Penn., January 5, 1807. He was brought by his parents to
Knox.County, and thence to Richland,
where he married, February 28, 1830, Miss Nancy Rice, who was born
in Pennsylvania December 25,1811. In 1840, he moved to Fulton County.
Here Mrs. Ayres died, May 24,1855, and November 13,1856, he
married Sarah C. Jones, who was born in Ross County,
Ohio, February 1, 1828. In 1864, he came to this township,
and located on the farm of 136 acres he still lives upon. He has had
seven children born to him—Hector, Marion and
Oscar, all by his first wife and all now dead; and George W.,
William J., Samuel D. and Francis S. by his second wife. Mr. Ayres
is recognized as one of the substantial men of the township, and is
regarded with respect wherever known.
J. E. BAILEY is
a son of Alexander and Ann Bailey, who were natives of Pennsylvania;
the former was born in 1810, the latter in 1807; they were married
in Pennsylvania in 1833, where they resided until 1835, when they
moved to Ashland County, Ohio, and
after one year's residence moved to Williams County,
Ohio; here they remained until 1865, when they removed to
Missouri, where he died in 1872; she is still living there; their
family comprised eight children. J. E. Bailey was born in Williams County,
Ohio, March 15, 1843, where he has ever since resided. On
August 27, 1863, he was married to Adaline Marriman, of Portage County,
Ohio, where she was born, March 19, 1846. In 1865, he moved
to Missouri and purchased property, remaining until 1875, when he
returned to Williams County, Ohio, where
he bought a farm, moved thereon, and remained until 1879; he then
sold this property, removed to Melbern and engaged in mercantile
business, continuing one year, when he purchased and occupied the
farm he now has in Section 29. He has a family of three
children—Erne R., Eva and Merritt H. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Bailey was a soldier
in the late war, in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and served one year.
DANIEL BENDER. Previous to the
Revolutionary war, George Bender, the grandfather of Daniel Bender,
emigrated from Germany to America, settled in Lancaster County,
Penn., afterward moving to Franklin County,
Penn., where he purchased a large tract of land and spent his
days. His eldest son, John, was born and married in Lancaster County,
Penn., and shortly after his marriage settled in Franklin County,
Penn., near Chambersburg, which was their life-long home.
Mrs. John Bender was Miss Mary Harmand, and was the mother of eight
children, seven growing to maturity. Daniel Bender, the youngest
(son of John and Mary), was born in Franklin County,
Penn., March 8, 1813. Here he remained until of age, having
acquired the trade of carpenter and builder, where he was employed
as foreman in the construction of the hotel of Mr. John Yantz, at
Navarre, Stark County, Ohio. Here he
purchased a home, to which he removed after his marriage with Miss
Nancy Fisher in Wilmot May 30, 1837. She is the daughter of Adam and
Sarah Fisher, and a native of Stark County. Mr.
Bender bought a farm in the vicinity of Navarre in 1842, where the
family resided until 1847, when he sold out and transferred his
interests to Williams County, which
has since been his home. Here he has a fine farm of forty acres,
which he cultivates, devoting some time to the practice of his
former profession. Mr. Bender is an energetic, industrious man,
highly esteemed by all. The family consists of ten children.
AMOS BETTS, the son of Luther and Hannah
Betts, was born in Seneca County, N.
Y., November 24, 1818. His father was a native of Connecticut, and
settled in New York at an early day. and the mother was a native of
Vermont. The father died in his native State, and the mother soon
after moved with her family of fourteen children to Marion County,
Ohio, and then came to Williams County,
Ohio, where she ended her days. Amos accompanied his mother
to Marion County, and there remained
until 1888, when he went to Huron County, where,
September 12, 1841, he married Mary M. Darling, a native of
Cattaraugus County, N. Y., and born
April 17,1824. In 1847, he removed from Huron to Williams County,
and purchased some land whioh he afterward sold. Here his
wife died, March 27, 1874. April 19, 1877, he married Louisa
Lockhart, who was born in Ashland County,
Ohio, January 14, 1889. He now bought back his old farm, and
still resides upon it. He has a family of ten children—Margaret
M., Charles R., Luther, Rosina A., Benjamin P., Henry
A., Cornelia L., Theodore D., David D., and J. A.
THOMAS BLAIR was born in Lycoming County,
Penn, April 22, 1815, the second eldest ohild of Aaron and
Margaret Blair. The former was born in Pennsylvania in 1788, and the
latter in New Jersey in 1787, and were married in Lycoming County
in 1808. They had a family of seven children, viz., Ann,
Thomas, Elizabeth, Ruth, Peter, John and Aaron K. August 11, 1842,
Thomas Blair married Sarah J. Hahaffey, also a native of Lycoming County,
Penn , and born October 15, 1824. Just after marriage he came
to this township and settled on eighty acres of fine land, on which
he has sinoe made his home. At his house his father, who was on a
visit to him from his home in Pennsylvania, was taken ill, and died
in October, 1846. His mother expired at the old homestead in
Lycoming, in Ootober, 1658. Mr. Blair is an old and respected
citizen of Centre Township, and has had born to him a family of ten
children, viz., Susan E., Margaret A., Sarah J., Esther M., Zelma L.
(deceased), Emma A., William A., Rhoda I., Delia R. S. T. and a son
who died in infancy.
ALVA BOISE, son of Nathan and Deborah
Boise, was born in Portage County, Ohio, May
1, 1820. His father, Nathan, was born in Massachusetts about the
year 1779, and was a son of John and Sarah Boise. This family is of
French origin, and their ancestors belonged to the noted Du Bois
family, who were very prominent in France during the reign of Louis
XIV, and were driven from that country to the northern part of
Ireland during the Huguenot persecutions. Here the name was changed
to Boies, and in about 1825 to the present mode. In the early part
of the last century David, a descendent of the family, emigrated
from Ireland to America and located in the town of Hopkinton, Mass.,
but subsequently removed to Blandford, Mass., about 1735 or 1737.
But a few people, at that early period, had turned their attention
toward the settlement of the backwoods of the State, as the country
was mountainous and heavily timbered, and permanent settling was
attended with much more danger and labor there than in the valleys.
David was a man of deep religious thought and principles. He had a
large family of children, of whom three were sons, viz., John,
William and Samuel. John, arriving at manhood, turned his attention
to agricultural pursuits. He reared a family of children, and his
two sons were named John and Samuel, the former being the
grandfather of the subject of our sketch. He was born in Blandford
November 22, 1744, and was one of the first white male children to
see the light in that town; he was celebrated as a schoolmaster, and
was a prominent member of the Baptist Church ; he was married to
Sarah Frecland, by whom he had a family of six children, who all
lived to a mature age; three of them were sous—James, Enos and
Nathan. He died September 9, 1830 ; his son Nathen was born in
Blandford, Mass., in 1779, and there he lived until 1802, when he
came to Portage County, this State,
where he shortly after married Deborah, the daughter of Thompson and
Mary Pegg. Nathan and wife died in Portage County
in the years 1826 and 1863, leaving a family of eight
children, viz., Enos, Sarah, Joel, Elijah, Alva, Mary, Lydia and
Philo. Alva Boise was married, in Portage, October 18, 1847, to
Catherine, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Calvin, and until
October, 1850, he remained there following his trade of
wagon-making; he then came to this township and purchased and moved
upon the farm he still occupies. This contains 120 acres of very
fine land, and is well improved in all respects. Mr. Boise is the
father of one son, Watson, who was born May 29, 1857, and was
married, September 15, 1877, to Miss Rebecca Brannan; he resides on
the old homestead, and superintends the cultivation of the farm. The
family are all people of superior intelligence, and are among the
most respectable in the township.
F. P. BRAKEMAN,
saw-mill proprietor and lumber dealer, is a son of Peter and
Clarissa Brakeman; was born in Oakland County,
Mich., February 22, 1844, and came with his parents to
Williams County in 1854. At the
beginning of the late war, he enlisted in Company C, Fourteenth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry and served three months, and at the
expiration of his term re-enlisted in Company K, Sixty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of the war, in
all serving four years, four months and twenty-seven days, mostly
under Gen. Sherman. On his return, he
married, December 20, 1865, Anna E. Cummins, who was born in Seneca County,
Ohio, December 6, 1844. He then made his residence on his
father-in-law's farm in St. Joseph's Township, until the fall of
1870, when he came to this township and purchased a sawmill, which
he has been running ever since, in connection with a trade in
lumber. He has had born to him a family of five children—Ida,
James G., Zadie B., an infant son who died unnamed and Herbert, He
is an enterprising young business man and an upright, public
spirited citizen.
HENRY BROWN
is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth Brown, who were natives of Bedford County,
Penn. The former was born January 1, 1785, the latter January
12, 1789. They were married in Bedford County,
Penn., in the year 1806, remaining there until 1810, when
they removed to Stark County, Ohio, where
Mr. Brown died November 16,1882. His widow came to Williams County
about the year 1842, where she died in 1862. They had a
family of twenty children, fourteen of whom they reared to maturity.
The subject of our sketch was the third of this family, and was born
in Stark County December 7, 1810. He
was married in the same county, March
8, 1882, to Catherine Keller, and in the following October moved to
Hanoock County, Ohio, and purchased
land. There Mrs. Brown died January 27, 1858. To this marriage
twelve children were born—Susan, John, Eli, Sarah, Lucinda,
Rebecca, Aaron, Samuel, Henry, Jaoob,
Mary and Isaac. He was married a second time June 22, 1856, to Leah
Myers, by whom he had four children—Anna (deceased), Jennie,
Amelia and Viola (deceased). In the spring of 1866, Mr. Brown
removed to Williams County, Ohio, purchasing
and occupying his present farm and residence. He is a member of the
German Reformed Church.
JOHN BROWN is a son of Daniel and
Elizabeth Brown, natives of Pennsylvania, and was born in Stark County,
Ohio, February 12, 1812, and was there married, March 80,
1884, to Lucinda Briggs, who was born in Columbiana County,
Ohio, August 22, 1815. About the year 1885, Mr. Brown moved
to Hancock County, Ohio, where he
remained till 1848, when he moved to Williams County,
on the farm where he now resides, on Section 18. There has
been born to him a family of nine children, as follows: Samuel,
Joseph, Mahlon, John (all deceased), Lydia, Sanford, Leander and
Harriet (deceased) and Manuel. His wife died February 7, 1881, and
he again married December 29, 1881. He is a minister of the German
Baptist Church, and is highly respected in his community as a man of
piety and strict integrity. He has been a successful farmer, and has
devoted his life more to the quiet of social pursuits than to the
excitement of politics.
EMMANUEL BROWN, the son of Abraham and
Hannah Brown, natives of Pennsylvania, was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, June 8,1827,
and was there married, November 9,
1848, to Juliann Stauffer, who was born in Lancaster County,
Penn., September 19, 1829. In the fall of 1861, he
oame from Wayne to Williams County
and settled on Section No. 9, this township, on the
same farm where he now resides, which comprises eighty
acres of excellent land. In 1871, he moved to Bryan and
did business there till 1881, when he returned to his
farm. He has had born to him two children—Abraham
(deceased) and Clarissa. Mr. Brown is a member of the I.
0. 0. P., and has taken the fifth degree. He is a useful
and enterprising citizen and is highly respected as a man.
JACOB BROWN is a native of-
Stark County, Ohio, where
he was born October 9, 1815. His parents, David and
Barbara Brown, were natives of Lancaster County,
Penn., where Mr. Brown was born in 1788, and the
mother in 1786. They were married and remained in this
State until 1814, when they moved to Stark County,
Ohio, whero Mr. Brown was called home in March,
1885. Mrs. Brown lived on the old homestead until 1854,
when she decided to come to Williams County,
Ohio, and spend the remainder of her days in the
home of her son, Jacob Brown. Here her death occurred the
January following. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were parents of nine
children. Mr. Jacob Brown remained in his native place
until 1888, when he bought a farm in Hancock County,
Ohio, upon which himself and family lived until
July, 1848, when he disposed of this property and
purchased land in Williams County,
whioh has since been his home. Here he has a fine
farm of 805 acres, acquired and brought to its present
state of cultivation by habits of industry and
perseverance. Mr. Brown commands the respect and esteem of
his neighbors for uprightness and integrity; besides
tilling \he soil, he administers in spiritual things,
being a preaoher of the German Baptist faith. Mr. Brown
was married, September 10, 1887, to Miss Catherine
Brenner, a native of Germany, who came to Stark County
with her parents in 1880: Mr. and Mrs. Brown are
parents of nine children, eight still living—Abner K.,
Barbara, Lydia, Jacob, Catherine, Nancy, Isabella and
Charles F. One son, Reuben, was offered as a sacrifice on
the altar of his country.
W. M.
BROWN, of the firm of Brown & Brenner, merchants
at Melbern, in this township, was born in Crawford County,
Ohio, October 14, 1846, and is the eldest of the
four children of Nicholas and Sarah Brown, who were
respectively born in Fayette County,
Penn., August 11, 1821, and Crawford County,
Ohio, December 29, 1825, and married in Crawford
January 28, 1844, and who moved to this county
in 1846, where they still reside. October 21, 1866,
W. M. Brown married, at Williams Centre, this oounty,
Caroline Jaques, who was born in Holmes County,
Ohio, April 80, 1848, and was the daughter of David
L. and Mary Jaques, natives of France. After his marriage,
Mr. Brown moved upon one of his
father's farms in this township, remained there two years,
then bought the estate of his wife's parents in the same
township, moved upon it and there remained till 1877, sold
it, moved to Melbern, and in October of the same year
entered into the business at which he is now engaged, and
at which he is finely prospering. He has a family of four
children—Laura B., Sadie, Charlie N. and William G. Mr.
and Mrs. Brown are members of the M. E. Church, and he is
one of the enterprising business men of Melbern.
MYRON CALTRIDER is the only
son of John W. and Emeline Caltrider, and was born in this
township. The parents settled here at an early day, and
here, in June, 1872, the father died, and the widow went
to Bryan, where she remained two years, then returned to
the farm, where she sojourned till May, 1882, when she
again went to Bryan, and there expects to remain until the
end of life. Myron Caltrider, in 1876, made a trip to
Philadelphia, and October 22, of that year, there married
Miss Alice Wyatt, whom he brought to the old homestead,
the place of his birth, and there settled down for life;
His farm comprises 114 acres of choice land, and is well
improved and tilled, and its owner is recognized as a
skillful and promising young farmer. He and Mrs. C. are
members of the Baptist Church, and are quiet, orderly and
conservative young people.
SMITH CALVIN was born in
Portage County, Ohio, December
21, 1829, the son of Horatio and Hannah Calvin, natives of
Virginia, born respectively November 1, 1803, and February
12, 1807, and married in Portage County,
Ohio, in March, 1827. They became the parents of
two children—David and Smith, and in 1850 changed their
residence to this county, where
the father died in April, 1854. Smith Calvin learned
shoemaking in Portage, and in 1848, visited this county.
He remained a short time working at his trade, then
he returned to Portage, and two years later came back to
Williams and worked at shoemaking for ten years. August
26, 1852, he married Mary M. Miller. In 1863, he bought
and moved upon the eighty-acre farm where he still
resides. His wife died October 12, 1868, the mother of two
children. September 19, 1869, he married Elizabeth Bush,
who died August 29, 1880, having borne three children ;
and June 2, 1882, he married Jane Bush. Mr. Calvin has
always been a kind and affectionate husband and father,
and has proved himself to be a thrifty farmer and
excellent neighbor.
O. E.
ENSIGN comes from good old Puritan stock. His father,
Owen Ensign, was born in Massachusetts in 1784, and Nancy
Ensign, his mother, was a native of Connecticut, born in
1794. They were married in Lake County,
Ohio, in 1814, which was their home until 1836,
when they moved to Farmer Township, Defiance County,
where they purchased
property and remained until the death of Mr. Ensign, which
took plaoe in 1857. Mrs. Ensign soon afterward went to
Wisconsin, where her death oocurred in 1869. Their family
oonsisted of six children, hut four now living, one son
and one daughter deceased. The son, W. 0., filled at one
time the office of Judge of Defiance County.
Of those remain* ing, H. A. Ensign, M. D., resides
in Kansas; D. T. Ensign follows farming in Defiance County;
F. E., is attorney at law in Boise City, Idaho, and 0. E.
is engaged in farming and stock raising in Centre
Township, Williams Co., Ohio, where
he has a fine farm of 160 acres under cultivation. 0. E.
Ensign was horn at Painesville, Lake Co., Ohio,
November 29, 1881, coming with his parents to
Defiance County, and
remaining with them until twenty years of age, attending
school during the winter and assisting on the farm in the
summer months ; he also was a student at Painesville
Academy, and availed himself of collegiate instruction. He
was afterward engaged in teaching during the winter months
until his marriage, which ocourred April 8, 1857. Mrs.
Ensign was Miss Clarissa L. Dunkle, a native of New York
State, where she was horn June 18, 1889. She is the mother
of four ohildren, but two of whom are now living. Mr. and
Mrs. Ensign are members of the United Brethren Church.
DANIEL FETTERS, Bon of Jacob
and Eve Fetters, was born in Montgomery County,
Ohio, October 18, 1818, and came to this oounty
with his parents. He was married in April, 1841, to
Elizabeth Miser, a native of Ohio,
and born in 1817. Mr. Fetters, shortly after his
marriage, purchased the farm of eighty acres on Seotion
28, in this township, on which he still resides. At the
time of his first location here, the country was one dense
forest, but by industry Mr. Fetters has succeeded in
clearing off sixty-five acres, which are now under a fine
state of cultivation. His children were seven in number,
and named as follows— Eliza, Sarah A., Frederick, Mary
A., Catherine M. (deoeased) and two infant daughters
deceased. Mr. F. is a Granger, is an exoellent farmer and
an upright citizen.
GEORGE FETTERS was born in
Montgomery County, Ohio, May
10, 1829, and was the son of Jacob and Eve Fetters, who
were born in Pennsylvania June 22, 1792, and August, 1791,
and in that State married in about 1812. Jaoob Fetters was
a soldier in the war of 1812 for some time, and, shortly
after his return, moved with his young wife to Montgomery County,
Ohio, and thenoe, in 1886, to this oounty; settled
with his family on Section 87, this township, on the farm
where George Fetters now resides, and there departed this
life respectively December 19, 1886, and March 18, 1874,
the parents of twelve ohildren, viz., Catherine, Mary,
Lydia, Moses, Daniel, Esther, Jacob, Eve,
John, George, Eliza and Solomon (the last deceased).
George Fetters was married, August 12, 1852, to Hester
Fetters, who was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, June 8, 1884. Her parents, Daniel and Sarah
Fetters, natives of Pennsylvania, were born respectively
in 1806 and 1809. Soon after his marriage, George bought
the old homestead, and now owns 160 acres of good land. He
is the father of eleven children, viz., Eve J., Polly A.,
William H., Charles L., Thomas A., Johnnie C, Frank F.,
Delia D., Oliver V., Nolia B. and L. J. Mr. Fetters is one
of the leading citizens of Centre, and has held the office
of Assessor for nine years.
DAVID FLIGHTNER was born in
Defiance County, Ohio, January
20, 1854. Son of Adam and Catharine Flightner, and came
with his parents to Williams County,
which has since been his home. He remained with his
father until nearly twenty-one years of age, when he
assumed the duties and cares of life for himself. His
marriage with Miss Clara H. Lane took place at Bryan, Ohio,
March 16, 1878. She is a daughter of Jacob and
Kerten Lane, and was born in Williams County,
Ohio, September 27, 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Flightner
removed to Defiance County, Ohio, shortly
after their marriage, where they remained one year, when
he purchased the farm of eighty acres in Centre Township,
Williams County, which has
since been their home. Mr. Flightner is a worthy citizen
of the township, and highly respected and esteemed by all
who enjoy the pleasure of his acquaintance. A son and
daughter cheer their home, viz., Arthur H. and Alma
Flightner.
SAMUEL FLIGHTNER is an
American-born citizen of German descent. His parents and
grandparents emigrated from Germany to " the land of
the free and the home of the brave " at an early day.
The marriage of his parents took place in Crawford County,
Ohio, in 1841, where Samuel, the eldest of a family
of eight children, was born in March, 1842. The family
removed to Williams County, Ohio, in
1860, having been located some time previously in Defiance
County. Mrs. Flightner died
at her home in Williams County in
May, 1874. Mr. Flightner was remarried the year following,
removed to Bryan in 1876. where the second Mrs. Flightner
died shortly afterward. Mr. Flightner entered the married
state again in 1880, and one child is the result of this
union. Mr. Samuel Flightner was married, October 15, 1864,
in Edgerton, to Miss Lucinda H. Stevens, a native of
Crawford County, Ohio, where
she was born December 18, 1844. Their family numbers eight
children—Mary L., Charlie W., Edward J., Elnora A.,
Franklin E., Jennie B., Myrta M. and an unnamed infant
daughter. Mr. Flightner's vocation has always been that of
a farmer. Their home, until 1875, was in Defiance County,
on a farm purchased of Mr. Flightner
Sr., when they disposed of this and purchased the old
family homestead in Williams County,
which is their present home. This consists of 160
acres of land, and is a valuable piece of property.
ALEXANDER GAVIN is a son of
Robert and Isabel Gavin, natives of Scotland. He was born
in Scotland September 10, 1848, and came with his parents
from the old country to Fort Wayne, Ind., and thence to
Williams County, where he
was married, December 29, 1870, to Christine Burgist, who
was born in Wayne County, Ohio, July
28,1850. Shortly after his marriage, he came to this
township, and settled on the farm where he now resides,
purchasing it from his brother in 1874, and since greatly
improving it. It comprises eighty acres of fine land, and
is kept in a state of thorough cultivation. He has a
family of four children—Byron D., William R., Jennie 0.
and Orpha B. He is a steadygoing, prudent young man, is a
thorough farmer, and is looked upon as a valuable
accession to the community.
BENTLEY HANNON was born in
Lancaster County, Penn.,
February 7, 1810, and was one of the eight children born
to Robert C. and Sarah Hannon, natives of Pennsylvania,
and born respectively July 22, 1778, and November 25,
1774, and married April 11, 1797. They moved to Columbiana
County, Ohio, in the fall
of 1817, and there the father died June 2, 1856, and the
mother December 12, 1858. At the age of nineteen, Bentley
Hannon began learning to be a stone-mason ; served two
years, and then went to Pittsburgh, Penn., where he worked
as a journeyman ; he then returned to Ohio,
and was married in Columbiana County,
December 18, 1832, to Nancy A. Neer, who was born
in Trumbull County, Ohio, February
11, 1816, and was the daughter of John and Sarah Neer, who
were born in Virginia and who settled in Trumbull County
in the fall of 1815. For three years after
marriage, farmed in Columbiana County,
and in 1837 moved to this township, settled on the
eighty-acre farm he had entered the previous year, and has
lived thereon ever since. He is the father of seven
children, viz., Robert N. (deceased), Isavelia, Sarah A.
(deceased), Elizabeth, Phebe J., John H. and Frances E.
FREDERICK HERRMANN is the son
of George F. and Eve Herrmann, who were natives of Alsace,
Germany, and born respectively in 1796 and 1800, and
married in 1824. In the spring of 1889, they came to
America, located in Stark County,
Ohio, remained there till 1850, when they came to
this township and settled on a farm, where they ended
their days July 28, 1862, and June, 1867, respectively.
They had a family of five children, of whom Frederick was
the eldest. He was born in Alsace in August, 1825, and
came with his parents to this township and now lives on
the farm which they here located upon, and which he
purchased from the other heirs at their death. He was
married, March 17, 1853, to Dorothea Wagner, also a native
of Alsace, and born June 14, 1834. Mr. Herrmann owns a
fine farm of eighty acres, and has a family of seven
children, viz., Emeline, Caroline, Frederick, Henry,
Matilda, Eleanor and Laura. He and wife are members
of the Lutheran Church, and are upright and industrious
citizens.
II.
L. JAQUES, son of A. C. and Anna Jaques, natives
of Switzerland, was born in Defiance County,
Ohio, May 9, 1842. The parents were
respectively born in 1779 and 1782, were married in
Switzerland, and in 1832 came to America, lived in
various parts of Ohio, and
are now passing their declining days with their
children, of whom they have had a family of twelve. H.
L. Jaques came to this township with his parents, and
in the fall of 1861, enlisted in Company A,
Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, served two years in the field, was wounded
in the right thigh, September 25, 1863, and lay in
hospital until May> 1864, when he was discharged.
July 4, 1867, he married Lucinda Shafer. a native of
this county and born
March 19, 1842. In 1868, he moved on his father's
farm, remained a year, then took another and farmed
till 1881, went to Melbern and engaged in
merchandising a year, and then, in the spring of 1882,
settled on his present farm. He and wife are members
of the M. E. Church, are the parents of two children
—Lyle E. and Lulu E.—and are useful and respected
citizens.
J. L.
JORDIN is the son of L. D. and Lucinda Jordin, who
were natives of Vermont. The father was born October
9, 1804, and was a son of James Jordin, who was born
in Massachusetts and of Irish origin, and at an early
day settled in Vermont, where he married Sarah Hunter,
by whom he had one child—L. D. Jordin. This
gentleman married, October 9, 1826, Lucinda Mirick,
who was born June 12, 1808; they left Vermont in 1833
and came to Licking County,
Ohio, where they remained about twenty years,
then moved to Mercer County,
Ohio, and in 1857 came to Williams County,
where Mrs. Jordin died February 23, 1879, and
Mr. Jordin April 23, 1879. They had a family of five
children, of whom J. L. Jordin was the eldest. He was
born in Orleans County, Vt.,
January 14, 1828, and was married in Licking County,
Ohio, October 1, 1848, to Lydia E. Varnum, who
was born in Middlesex County, Mass.,
February 22, 1829, the daughter of Prescott and Lydia
Varnum. In 1852, J. L. and wife moved from Licking
"to Mercer County, and
thence, in the spring of 1858, to Williams County,
where he settled in Pulaski Township; in 1865,
he purchased 120 acres on Section 16 in this township,
where he has ever since resided. He has a family of
four children, viz.: Ellis L., born August 3, 1849; Henry
V., May 2, 1853; Julia L., April 4, 1862, and
Oakley A., April 11, 1872. The
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and stand very high in the estimation of the
community.
SETH KEMBLE, son of Samuel
and Jane Kemble, was born in Columbiana County,
Ohio, December 31, 1830, and with his parents
removed to Hancock County in
the fall of 1*51. He remained with them until he was
over twenty-three years of age, when he returned to
Columbiana County and
was married, June 8, 1854, to Tamar G. Crawford, who
was born in Columbiana County April
24, 1831. He then came back to Hancock County,
where he purchased property and remained until
the spring of 1865, when he came to Williams County
and settled on his present farm, on Section 14,
this township. He has 141 acres of very fine land,
with a fine brick residence and other first-class
improvements. His wife has borne him eight children,
viz.: Duston, Er. H., Edward C, Victor S., John C,
Seth W. (deceased), Nancy J. and Alice L. He is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he and
family are regarded as useful members of the community
in which they live.
JACOB LANE was born in
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, February
13, 1832. His parents, James and Nancy Lane, were
natives of Westmoreland County,
Penn., where they married, moving in 1829, to
Tuscarawas County, where
they remained until 1859, when they came to Centre
Township, Williams County, where
the death of James Lane occurred March 4, 1875. Mrs.
Lane's death occurred the year following in February,
while with her daughter in Defiance County.
Their family consisted of nine children, six
surviving. Jacob Lane came with his parents to
Williams County, where
he married, February 17, 1856, Miss Keren Horton. Here
he purchased a saw-mill, conducting the business at
Williams Centre until August 6, 1861, when he
responded to his country's call and enlisted in
Company A, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, serving through the entire war. He returned
home July 12, 1865, and purchased the farm which is
his present home. The second Mrs. Lane, to whom he was
married September 22, 1868, was Miss Rebecca Ridenour,
a native of Wayne County, where
she was born December 7, 1842, and daughter of John
and Susanna Ridenour. The family consists of six
children, three by each marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Lane
are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Lane has a
fine farm of 205 acres in a high state of cultivation
; has met with success in his undertakings, and is
universally esteemed. He is a member of the G. A. R.
SIMEON S. LOVEJOY is a
native of the "Empire" State, and was born
in Yates County January
27, 1841. His parents, David D. and Charity Lovejoy,
were also natives of New York, emigrating from there
to Defiance County, Ohio, in
1845, coming to Williams County
in 1849, removing to
Melbern in 1867, where he was employed by the L. S.
& M. S. R. R. Co. in the construction of a station
house, and afterward as freight agent at the same
place. Mr. Lovejoy was also engaged in mercantile
business in partnership with his son Simeon, the
latter taking entire charge until the death of his
father, which took place August 22, 1875. Previous to
this, Simeon Lovejoy was in the service of his
country, making an honorable war record for himself.
He enlisted in the Ohio Volunteer
Infantry October 7, 1862; at the battle of Stone
River, was wounded in the hip by a musket ball, which
was not extracted until November 11, 1869, from the
effects of which he suffered amputation of the foot
August 14,1871, Drs. Long and Biggs performing the
operation. Mr. Lovejoy has been a resident of Williams
Centre for many years. He is Postmaster here,
receiving his appointment October 27, 1873. He also
held the office of Justice of the Peace for three
years, and that of Town Clerk for one year. He is the
owner of town and farm property. Mr. Lovejoy and Miss
Angeline Sellers were married September 13, 1868, and
are parents of six children, but five living—Charles
A., Ada A., George M., Lola M. and Nora: Cornelius D.,
deceased. Mrs. Lovejoy is a native of Stark County,
Ohio.
JOHN MANON is one of the
early pioneers of Williams County,
coming to Williams Centre in 1841, when its
entire outfit consisted of three log cabins. His
energy and public spirit have assisted very materially
in making the place what it is. He was Postmaster here
for thirteen years, Justice of the Peace for nine, and
held the office of Township Treasurer nearly twenty
years. He has been employed in various vocations—for
ten years at the tailor's trade, then clerking for G.
H. Tomlinson nearly eight years, afterward farming two
years, when a partnership business was established
between himself and George Garver, which was
discontinued after two years, Mr. Manon continuing
alone until the present time, when his intention is to
close out his business and retire from active life to
the repose and quiet he has so well earned. Mr. Manon
was born in Franklin County, Penn.,
August 17, 1814, the eldest of the six children of his
parents, Hugh and Rebecca Manon, both natives of
Franklin County, Penn.
He remained in his childhood's home until twenty years
of age, when he went to Wayne County,
Ohio, remaining two years; then to Stark County,
where he was united in marriage April, 1841, to
Miss Mary M. Frager, after which he came to Williams County,
where his life has been subsequently traced.
Mrs. Manon passed away February 12, 1858, leaving
seven children, three of whom have "gone
before"—Emma M., Lydia K. and Erastus M. Four
survive to cheer the declining years of their
father—William A., Jacob G., John E. and Charles W.
HUGH MANON, son of Hugh
and Rebecca Manon, was born in Franklin County,
Penn., December 27, 1828. In 1848, he married
Miss Lydia A. Bender, also a native of Franklin County,
and born in September, 1828. Some two years
later, they came to Williams Centre, this county,
where he worked in an ashery about eight years,
meanwhile saving his earnings and buying forty acres
of land in the township, upon which he moved and
resided for some time, and then sold it and bought his
present farm on Section 33. During the first week of
his residence hereon, he had the misfortune of losing
his wife, who left him a family of seven
children—Katie, John, George, Wesley, Sarah, Lillie
and Jeremiah. When he moved upon his eighty-acre farm
it was quite in the wilderness, but by hard labor he
has put it all under fence, and the greater portion of
it under cultivation.
S. B.
McKELVEY was born in Portage County,
Ohio, August 13, 1814, and was the youngest and
now the only living child of a family of ten born to
James and Sarah McKelvey. James McKelvey was born in
Ireland in 1765, and came to America with his parents
in 1770. They arrived at Philadelphia, remained there
a short time, and then moved to Chester County,
Penn., where the parents died. James, the
youngest of the family, remained in Chester till
twenty-five, learned the tailor's trade, went to
Westmoreland County, and
there married Sarah Stephens, a native of the county,
and daughter of Amos Stephens, who was born on
shipboard while his parents were on their passage from
Wales to Philadelphia. James and wife, shortly after
marriage, came to Portage County,
this State, and there died in 1843 and 1850,
respectively. S. B. McKelvey was married in his native
county, May 28, 1835,
to Janet Byers, one of the eleven children of James
and Mary Byers. In 1851, he sold his property in
Portage and came to Williams County
and settled on Section 9, this township, where
he owns 180 acres of fine land, of which 120 are well
improved. He has had a family of ten children, viz.,
Lucetta (deceased), Artlissa (deceased), Antoinette,
Lydia, Lois (deceased), Lewell, Franklin, Hiram,
Wilson and Robert R. (deceased). Mr. McKelvey is a
very popular gentleman, and at present holds office as
Justice of the Peace, and has so held for nineteen
years. He was also County Commissioner
one term, and has served as Township Treasurer and
Township Trustee. He has taught several terms of
school in the township, and is also a Granger.
C. G.
NEIDHARDT was born in Germany, October 22,1819,
and was the son of Jacob M. and Catharine M. Neidhardt,
who were born about the years 1790 and 1785,
respectively. In 1837, the family came to this
country, and located in this township, where the
father died in 1863. The mother died in 1874, at the
hom^ of her son, C. G. She had
been twice married, and was the mother of fourteen
children, born about equally to her husbands. C. G.
Neidhardt was married in this township, April 6, 1847,
to Sophia Yackee, born in Germany April 18, 1820, and
the daughter of Christian and Christina Yackee. Two
years after marriage, they moved upon their farm of
110 acres on Section 15, this township, on which they
have ever since resided. They are highly respected by
their neighbors, are members of the German Lutheran
Church, and the parents of seven children—Jacob L.,
Catherine M., Sophia S., Phebe, Christian G.,
Charlotte and Frederick M. They are also rearing an
adopted son, Edward E.
DANIEL P. NEIHART is the
son of Jacob and Anna M. Neihart. The father was born
in Centre County, Penn.,
in 1795, and the mother in Maryland in 1807, and they
were married in Holmes County,
Ohio, in 1827. In 1837, they came to this
township and settled on Section 21, where he died in
March, 1871. The widow is still living on the old
homestead. They had a family of eight children, viz.,
John, George, Christina, Daniel P., Noah, Lydia, Moses
and Lucinda. D. P. Neihart was born in Williams County
January 8, 1840. In the spring of 1863. he went
to El Dorado County, Cal.,
and engaged in mining until September, 1868, when he
returned to this township and bought the farm on which
he now lives. He was married, August 28, 1870, to
Alice Gabriel, who was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, March 9, 1850. The following spring he
moved on his farm, where he has remained ever since.
He is the father of two children—Orrin H. and
Charles A. He has a good farm, and is an industrious
man and respected citizen.
ALEXANDER H. OGLE was born
in Columbiana County, Ohio, April
13, 1812, the youngest of seven children born to
William and Rachel Ogle, the former born in the State
of Maryland, and the latter in Pennsylvania in 1771,
and married in Washington County,
Penn. Here William Ogle owned a flouring-mill,
which he operated till 1803, when he moved to
Columbiana County, Ohio, entered
land, engaged in farming till 1845; removed to
Cincinnati and shortly after to Burlington, Iowa,
where he had intended living in retirement, but was
removed by death August 5, 1845, and was followed by
his wife December 8 the same year. They had a family
of seven children—Benjamin, Nancy, James, William,
Hannah, Thomas and Alexander. Alexander learned the
carpenter's trade, and pursued that business in his
native county until
1834, when he went to Stark County
and bought some land. In the spring of 1835, he
went to Pittsburgh, Penn., bought a flat-boat, and
engaged for three years in boating to New Orleans;
then returned to Stark County,
and engaged in the real estate business. In
1843, he visited Beaver County,
Penn., and March 10, of that year, there
married Miss Jane Marton, returning to Stark County
at once. In the spring of 1844, he went to Des
Moines County, Iowa,
conducted a hotel and real estate business till the
spring of 1852; then moved to Columbiana County,
Ohio; thence changed to Wood County,
and again bought some property. Here his wife
died July 16, 1856. April 26,1860, he married Mrs.
Emily Gibbs, a daughter of Robert and Susan Hunter, of
Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1866, he moved to
Sherwood, Defiance Co., Ohio;
engaged in general mercantile business; sold out in
October, and came to Williams Centre, where he is now
doing a fine general trade. He is a Master Mason, and
is the father of ten children—Alexander J., Andrew
J., James H., Nancy J.| Sarah E. (deceased), Lorinda
R., Lavinia, Loren L., Ida A. (deceased), and Charles
W.
JONATHAN OXENRIDER is a
son of William and Mary Oxenrider, who were natives of
Pennsylvania, but came to Wayne County,
Ohio, at an early day, and remained until 1840,
when they moved to this county
and township, where, in due course of time,
both died. They had eleven children, viz., Anna,
James, Joseph, William, Sarah, Jonathan, Catharine,
Nancy, Elizabeth, David and Mary. Jonathan Oxenrider
was born in Wayne County November
26, 1829, and came with his parents to Centre
Township. He was married, September 25, 1851, to
Elizabeth Archibald, and shortly after bought a small
place near his father's farm, and attended to both
farms until about two years after his father's death,
when he sold his land and bought his present home.
Shortly after moving hereon, Mrs. Oxenrider died,
leaving him three children—Amos, William and Sarah.
January 17, 1865, he married Harriet Priest, who has
borne him a daughter and son—Rebecca and Myron. His
farm comprises eighty-three acres of good land, which
is well improved and cared for.
WILLIAM POOLE, farmer,
brick-maker and tile manufacturer, is a son of
Bannister and Mary Poole. His father was born in
Virginia in 1784, and his mother in Pennsylvania in
1803. They were married in Adams County,
Penn., where they remained some time, and then
moved to Stark County, Ohio, and
a few years later to Summit County,
and then, in 1836, came to Williams County,
where the father died, the parents of fourteen
children. William Poole was born in Summit County,
September 9, 1831, and came with his parents to
this county, where he
has since remained. June 10, 1852, he married Maria
Gardner, who died June 23, 1857. His second marriage,
February 26, 1858, was to Mary E. Cornell, and shortly
after this he bought a part of the old homestead,
built a house, moved in, and there still lives. He
owns 118 acres of well improved land, and has had born
to him twelve children, as follows : Ruby J. and Emery
C, by his first wife ; and Ira \ and Irving A.
(twins), Bertha, Franklin W.,
Roland L., Mary E., Mattie E., Altie M., an infant son
deceased, Mintie B. (deceased), and Charles W., by his
second wife. Mr. and Mrs. Poole are members of the
Granger Lodge, and are among the highly respectable
people of the township.
W.
SCOTT, the eldest son of Robert and Charlotto
Scott, was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, January 28, 1825. Robert Scott was born
in Columbiana County, Ohio, November
15, 1802, and was a son of Matthew Scott, who was a
native of Ireland, and who came to Columbiana County
in January, 1801, where he married Nancy Eaton
on his arrival. He remained there till about 1809,
when he moved to Wayne County,
where his wife died shortly after. Matthew then
married Lucinda Bevington. By these two marriages, he
became the father of sixteen children—five by his
first wife and eleven by the second. Robert Scott was
the third born of the first wife. He was married, in
Wayne County, April 6,
1824, to Charlotte Cunningham, who was born in New
Jersey February 16, 1805, and who died in Wayne County
January 8, 1871; in September, 1877, he married
Mrs. Mary Austin, and shortly after moved to Stark County,
Ohio, where he purchased some property, and
where he is spending his remaining days in retirement.
His children numbered eight, as follows: W. C, James,
Noah, John, Cunningham R., Elizabeth, Mary and Oliver,
the last named deceased. W. C. Scott remained with his
father till he reached the age of twenty-three, when
he went to Fulton County,
Ohio, and passed a year; thence to Allen County,
Ind., where he married, November IS, 1851,
Elizabeth Millhouse, who was born in Somerset County,
Fenn., September 14, 1822. She was the daughter
of Abraham and Margaret Millhouse, who were also
natives of Somerset, born in 1799 and 1802*
respectively, and there married in 1821; in 1851, they
moved to Jackson County, 111.,
where she died November 5, 1878, and he August 10,
1874, having had a family of nine children. After his
marriage, Mr. Scott returned to Fulton County,
remaining there about four years; then came to
Bryan, and engaged in saw-milling about two years ;
then bought a farm in this township, Section 18 ; sold
out after seven years' residence on it, and bought 100
acres of fine land on Section 12, where he now lives.
His children are six in number, viz., Margaret S., R.
A., C. E., H. W., J. E. and R. M. One of the sons is
practicing law at Defiance and another at Bryan.
WILLIAM SHERIDAN, now a
retired farmer of this township, was born in
Westmoreland County, Penn.,
August 9, 1801. He there went to school, and also
served an apprenticeship at blacksmithing. April 15,
1828, he married Miss Hannah McKim, who was born in
Butler County, Penn.,
April 18, 1808. In 1826, he moved to Pittsburgh,
Penn., where he followed his trade til] 1883, when he
moved to Stark County, Ohio here
also, he engaged in blacksrnithing, and continued
thereat until 1840, when he came to Williams County
and settled on the farm of 151 acres he at
present occupies. Here Mrs. Sheridan took her leave of
this world October 18, 1876, leaving behind her
husband and eleven children, viz., John, William,
Mary, Margaret, Emeline, James, Lavinia, Samuel W.,
Amanda, Eliza and Alraira.
PHILIP H. SMELTZ, son of
Jacob and Maria B. Smeltz, was born in Seneca County,
Ohio, June 20, 1852, and came with his parents
to Williams County in
1868. Here he was married, December 25, 1876, to Mary
C. Ginther, who was born in Defiance County,
Ohio, March 10, 18#7. Shortly after his
marriage, he moved upon his present farm, which he had
previously purchased, and which he has assiduously
cultivated ever since. It comprises eighty acres, and
he has made it all that could be expected from thrift
and good management. He has had born to him two
children—Elmer 0., December 4, 1878, and Sylvia M.,
March 9, 1882. He and wife are members of the Lutheran
Church, and give promise of rising to prominence in
the community in which they live.
WILLIAM SMITH is a son of
William and Sarah Smith, and was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, November 13, 1831. When young, he came
with his parents to this county,
where he has continued to live since that time.
On the 18th of September in the year 1852, he was
married, in this township, to Rosetta Calvin, who was
born in Portage County, Ohio, May
1, 1835. Shortly afterward, he purchased a small farm
in this township, and, in April, 1853, moved on the
same, where he remained until the year 1860; he then
sold this property, and, in the spring of 1861, he
occupied the farm on which he now lives, in Section
30, Centre Township, of which he had previously
possessed himself; he now owns eighty-five acres of
really excellent land. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have no
children, but are people of integrity and character.
SAMUEL SMITH is a son of
William and Sarah Smith, who were natives of Ireland
(the former born in 1789, the latter in 1803). They
were married in Canada about the year 1823, where they
resided before coming to Wayne County,
Ohio, from which place they removed to Centre
Township, Williams County, in
May, 1846, where they lived until their deaths—his
occurring in 1865, and hers in 1879; their family
comprised ten children—Robert, Mary (deceased),
James, George, William, Samuel, Matthew, Martha, John
(deceased) and Sarah. The subject of our sketch was
born in Wayne County, Ohio. August
30,1833, and came with his parents to this county,
where he has since resided. He was married in
this county, March
15,1863, to Saloma Stahl, who was born October
28,1845. After his marriage he moved to the old
homestead, where he remained until the spring of 1877,
when he purchased and removed to the farm he now
occupies in Section 20. Mr. and Mrs. Smith hare six
children—Frank 0., Chauncey E., Norah A., William
H., Vernon C. and Albertine. Mr. Smith is a most
excellent man, and fills the offices of Township
Trustee, Township Clerk and Township Treasurer.
DAVID SPANGLER is the son
of Jacob and Eliza Spangler. He is the third of a
family of eight children, and was born in Centre
Township, in this county, on
the 6th of March, 1840, and has always lived here. He
was married, March 12, 1862, to Sarah E. Smith, who
was born in Wayne County,
Ohio, January 26, 1842, a daughter of William
and Sarah Smith. About one year after his marriage, he
purchased the farm on which he now lives, on which he
moved, and on which he nas' remained ever since. His
farm comprises eighty acres of fine land, with
improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Spangler have a family of
four children— Clara D., Ulysses G., Dora E. and
Charlie. Both are hospitable and worthy, and Mrs.
Spangler is a member of the church.
J. K.
STORER is a native of Maine, and was born May 25,
1838. September 27, 1860, he married Miss Anna R.
McLaughlin, also a native of Maine. He conducted a
saw-mill at the place of his nativity from the time of
his marriage until 1865, when he moved to
Fayetteville, Lincoln Co., Tenn., where he remained
about one year, then removed to Warrensville, Cuyahoga
Co., Ohio; remained a
short time, and then came to Williams Centre, this
township, and engaged with Mr. C. W. Kittredge in
saw-milling, which business they conducted together
till the fall of 1868, when Mr. Storer bought out his
partner's interest, and alone ran the mill until
January, 1873, when Mr. W. S. Wilsey came in as
partner and remained four years, when he withdrew. Mr.
Storer has since continued the business himself,
dealing in and manufacturing native lumber, lath,
fork, hoe and broom handles. Mrs. Storer died April 4,
1875, and December 6, the same year, Mr. Storer
married her sister, Laura D. McLaughlin, born in Maine
May 22, 1845. His children are two in number—Frank
R., born August 7, 1877, and Anna M., born January, 4,
1880. Mr. Storer is a member of the Masonic
fraternity, and is regarded by his townsmen as an
upright and enterprising citizen.
JOHN P. WERTZ, the son of Henry
and Julia Wertz, was born in Germany November
22,1822. His father was born about 1781, and his
mother about 1786. They were married in Germany, and
died there, she in May, 1881, and he about three weeks
after. Henry Wertz was
twice married, his first wife being Caroline Suber,
who bore him three children; his second was Julia
Ogle, the mother of John P., who was the only child
born of the second marriage. In 1840, John P. Wertz,
in company with a half-sister, came to America, landed
at Baltimore, and thence came to Morgan County,
Ohio. One year later, John P. moved to Wood County,
bought some property,
remained a short time, and then went to Hancock, County,
where he resided about six years, and then came
to this township and purchased the farm on which he
now lives on Section 14. He returned to Hancock County,
and there married, in October, 1849, Margaret,
daughter of Jacob and Catharine Grindle, who was born
March 12, 1827. He shortly after returned to his farm
in this township, where he has ever since resided. He
has been a very successful manager, and has
accumulated a great deal of land, which, however, he
has liberally divided among his children. He still
retains for his own purposes 137 acres, which are in a
thorough state of cultivation, and improved with
substantial buildings. All the country was a dense
forest when Mr. Wertz settled in it, and all the
improvements here have been made through the industry
and frugality and enterprise of Mr. Wertz, who is now
passing his declining days in retirement. He has a
family of eight children—Henry
P., Jacob, William M., Oscar, John F.,
Elizabeth A., Charles I. and David H. Mr. Wertz is a
man of deep religious feeling, and is universally
respected.
HARMON WIEMAN, is the son
of L. and Mary Wieman, and was born in Germany January
15, 1811. He came to America with his parents in the
year 1834. On June 23, 1847, he was married, in
Montgomery County, Ohio, to
Legina M. Kluse, born in Germany December 18,1820.
Soon after his marriage, he commenced to work in a
woolen factory at Miamisburg, in Montgomery County,
where he remained until 1841, when h^e removed
to Williams County and
purchased a farm in St. Joseph Township; here he
remained until 1851, when he sold and moved on the
place on which he now resides, in Centre Township,
Section 30, having 125 acres, which he himself
improved. Mr. and Mrs. Wieman have nine
children—Sarah, Emily, Hannah, John, Mattie, Harmon,
George, Edward and Samuel. Both himself and wife are
members of the Lutheran Church. He is a cordial and
very excellent man.
CONRAD WINEGARDNER was
born in Bedford County, Penn.,
October 24, 1816, and was the eldest of seven children
born to William and Elizabeth Winegardner, natives
respectively of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and
married in the former State. Some years after their
marriage they moved to Wayne County,
Ohio, and there ended their days. Conrad
Winegardner was married, in Wayne County,
May 23, 1839, to Jane Slater, who was a native
of the county, and born
August 28, 1816. For twelve years after his marriage,
he remained in Wayne, engaged in blacksmithing ; he
then went to Wilmot, Stark County,
where he lost his wife April 8, 1851. He
returned to Wayne a short time after, and August, 19,
1852, married Margaret Porter, a native of the county,
and born April 14, 1824. Two years later he
relinquished blacksmithing, and moved upon his
father-in-law's farm in Wayne, and engaged in
agriculture for seven years; then moved to Putnam County,
Ohio, bought a farm, worked it eight years,
sold out, and moved to this township, where he now
owns and operates a fine farm of 240 acres. Mr.
Winegardner had born to him by his first wife the
following-named children: Jane (deceased), Rachel A.,
Mary J. (deceased), William, Zachary T. and Edward
(deceased); and, by his second wife, Porter, Angeline,
Elmira, Emerson, and Charles (deceased).
ELI
WISMAN is a son of George and Susan Wisman, of
Superior Township, this county.
He was born in Williams County
August 25, 1845, and was next to the youngest
of a family of eleven children. November 7, 1867, he
married Miss Elizabeth J. Courtney, who was born in
Mahoning County, Ohio, June
27, 1852, and the daughter of Isaac and Sarah
Courtney, now of Superior Township, this county.
In 1872, Mr. Wisman bought and moved upon the
farm where he still resides, and which consists of 240
acres of well improved land. His only child is a
daughter, named Cora M., who was born November 27,
1870. In May, 1864, he enlisted in Company K,
Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Both
he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Wisman is regarded by his neighbors as an
enterprising citizen and progressive young man, and
they have called upon him to serve them as County
Commissioner.
SAMUEL YANNEY was born in
Switzerland, April 13, 1826, and was the son of
Benedict and Barbara A. Yanney, who were respectively
born about the years 1792 and 1799. In 1832, the
family came to the United States and settled in
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where
they respectively died in 1874 and 1876, the parents
of ten children. Samuel Yanney was married in
Tuscarawas County, October,
6, 1850, to Huldah Bowlby, who was born in Butler County,
Ohio, May 9, 1835, and was the daughter of
Joseph and Mary Bowlby, of Virginia, who were
residents of Butler County at
the time of their death, and the parents of ten
children, of whom Huldah was next to the eldest.
Samuel Yanney sold out his property in Butler County
in 1862, and came to Williams County,
locating in Springfield Township and remaining
about four years, when he came to this township and
bought the eighty-acre farm on which he now lives, on
Section 27. To Mr. and Mrs. Yanney have been born nine
children, viz., John F. (deceased), Jacob, Mary, Jane,
Ellen, Lovetta M., Elizabeth (deceased), a son who
died in infancy, and Andrew J.
C. H.
YOUNG is the son and only child of Asa and Mary A.
Young, and was born in Portage County,
Ohio, March 17, 1832. His parents were both
natives of New Jersey, where the father was born May
28,1801, and the mother July 8,1802. They were married
in Portage County, Ohio, January
3, 1831, and there resided until 1838, when they moved
to Fulton County, where
they made their home until 1865, when they came to
Williams County and
settled on the farm they still occupy. C. H. Young was
married August 22, 1852, to Miss Ann Lozier, who was
born in Holmes County, October
3, 1834, and by her has become the father of fifteen
children, viz., Mary, Asa (deceased), John (deceased)
Olive (deceased), Elizabeth, Eliza, William, Lucy,
George, Franklin, James, Joseph, Delia, David and
Samuel. Mr. Young has charge of the old homestead,
which comprises 139 acres. He and wife are members of
the Disciples' Church, and occupy a very high position
in the esteem of their neighbors.
JAMES L. YOUNG was born
November 11, 1846, in Crawford County,
Ohio. His father, John Young, and mother,
Hannah Young, were both natives of Columbiana County,
Ohio, and were born in 1815 and 1814
respectively, and were married in the county
of their birth. About 1842. they moved to
Crawford County, and,
in 1865, removed to Williams County,
where the mother died in 1869, and the father
in 1873. They had a family of eleven children, viz.,
Thomas, William, Jacob, Mary A., Elizabeth, Susan,
James, John, Benjamin, Martha and Clara. James L.
Young came to this township with his parents, and was
here married, June 10, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Calvin,
who was born in this county April
4, 1852, the daughter of Joshua and Nancy Calvin. In
the spring of 1873, he bought the farm on which he now
lives. It comprises 100 acres of good land, and is
well improved. There have been born to him five
children, as follows: Osmond (deceased), Lena, John
N., William and Loren. He is in quite comfortable
circumstances, and is one of the rising young men of
the township.
BRIDGEWATER
TOWNSHIP.
JOSEPH W. BACK was born in
Chaplin, Conn., December 7, 1824, and was the youngest
of seven children of Erastus and Anna (Flint) Back,
also natives of Connecticut. The father brought his
family to this township in 1838, purchased 160 acres
of land, and thereon ended his days in the fall of
1847. Joseph, who had received a good education, began
teaching a week before his twenty-first birthday, and
taught eleven terms consecutively. He is fully posted
as to the condition of the early schools of the
township, and tells of one in which there were seven
different text-books in arithmetic; and he still takes
great interest in educational affairs. He has been
twice married. Both his wives were teachers, and four
of his children have acted in the same capacity. In
1849, he married his first wife, Mary A. Shorthill, a
native of Pennsylvania, and then teaching in this
township. She died August 22, 1850, aged about
nineteen, the mother of one child, which died young.
Four years later, he married Rebecca J. Thomas, also a
teacher from Pennsylvania, who has borne him six
children—Edward E., Flora A., Mary E., Albert J.,
Sarah E. and Cornelia J. Mr. Back still owns and
resides on the eighty-acre farm presented to him by
his father, and has besides bought and deeded to his
sons over one hundred acres additional. He is one of
the earliest pioneers, having come to the township
only one year later than the first settler. He held
the office of Township Clerk for ten years, and for
six years was Justice of the Peace, and also
Postmaster for the same length of time. He has been
Class Leader in the M. E. Church for thirty-two years,
and Sunday School Superintendent over half the time
since 1849; was President of the Township Sunday
School Convention, and Vice President of the County
Sunday School Convention, and in politics is a
Republican and Protectionist.
J. C.
BLACKFORD was born February 28, 1842, in Portage
Coun ty, Ohio, and is
one of eight children born to Jacob and Mary (Copp)
Blackford, the former a native of Virginia, and the
latter a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Blackford was
educated at the common schools in his youth, and was
also taught the carpenter's trade. He remained with
his parents till twenty-three years of age, and
November 5, 1865, married Miss Nettie McCarty, a
native of this township. He then moved to Pioneer,
this county, where he
worked at his trade about thirteen years, and then
moved to Bridgewater and located on his present farm,
which comprises forty acres of good land, which, as a
rule, he hires farmed. He is a first-class carpenter,
as the frequent demands for his services clearly
indicate. He has been a member of Pioneer Lodge, No.
461, I. 0. 0. F., and of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was always a Republican in politics, at
the present holding, through the suffrage of that
party, the office of Justice of the Peace. He is the
father of one child —Alta; he is esteemed as a
conscientious man and public-spirited citizen.
ABNER K. BROWN is the
eldest of a family of eight children, and. was born in
Hancock County, Ohio, August
10, 1838. His father, Jacob Brown, was born in
Pennsylvania, and his mother, Catharine (Brenner)
Brown, was a native of Germany. When Abner was ten
years of age, his father came to Williams County
and bought 300 acres of land in Centre
Township, on which he still lives. January 1, 1861,
Abner married Amanda Bollinger, who was born in Seneca
County, Ohio. Her
parents, Jacob and Mary A. (Stoner) Bollinger, are
natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio
respectively, and came to Williams County,
January 9, 1851, and settled on 160 acres in
Centre Township. Abner Brown and
his wife lived with hia father for three years after
marriage, and then came to this township and settled
on a 120-acre farm, which he has increased to 140
acres, improved with excellent buildings, and made it
one of the finest in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Brown
were educated at Williams Centre High School, then the
best in the county, are
members of the United Brethren Church, and the parents
of eight living children—Ora L., Reuben G., Lydia
B., Jacob A., Orton K., Melvin, Harry 0. and Ira E.,
whom they are taking great pains to educate. Mr. Brown
has been Township Trustee for a number of years, and
he is looked upon as one of the most intelligent and
enterprising citizens of the township.
CURTIS COGSWELL, one of
our early settlers, was born in Litchfield, Conn., May
20, 1805, and was one of the eleven children of Joel
and Tamar (Wright) Cogswell, natives of the same
State. Curtis, when a small boy, was removed to
Pennsylvania by his parents, and in that State they
died. Here Curtis educated himself by the blaze of
pine knots, and at the age of twenty had become one of
the best teachers in the country, and for ten years
following taught in grammar and town schools in New
York State. There he married Rebecca Truesdell, a
native of Steuben County, and
removed to eighty acres of not very good land near
Toledo, Ohio, where he
remained five years. Thence he came to this township,
where he entered 400 acres, built a log cabin and
became a pioneer, with the only five families who had
settled in the township before him. He now possesses
but eighty acres, having presented a considerable part
of the original entry to his boys and having sold the
remainder. His children numbered ten, as follows:
Joel, Charlotte, Albert, Daniel, John, Hiram, Erie,
Mary, Eliza and Jane. Charlotte and John are now dead.
He became a Master Mason while in New York, but during
the famous Morgan excitement he withdrew, and has ever
since been bitterly opposed to the order. He joined
the M. E. Church, but, on account of the prevalence of
the Masonic element in that denomination, left it and
affiliated with the United Brethren Church. He was the
first man in his township to volunteer at the call to
arms during the late war, but was rejected on account
of his age. He is strongly Republican in his political
views, and has served as Justice of the Peace, School
Examiner and in more other town offices than he
desired. He formed a resolution when young never to go
in debt, and he has kept the pledge to the letter,
although, strange to state, discouraged in it by his
father.
WILLIAM FOLLETT was born
September 20, 1835, in Lenawee County,
Mich., and is one of the eight children of
Robert and Julia (Turner) Follett, who are both
natives of Massachusetts. He remained at home until
about twenty-one years of age, attending the common
schools and learning to be a carpenter. He then
traveled in the West a few years, and on his return
married, March 14, 1857, Loretta Osborn, a native of
Stark Countj, Ohio. He
now bought seventy acres of land in this township, on
which and ninety-three added acres he has since made
his home, and is equally successful in farming and in
carpentering. Mr. F. has been a resident of the
township longer than any man at present living in it,
and has always had the full confidence and respect of
his townsmen, whom he has served in several offices of
trust and also as Second Lieutenant in the militia. He
has always voted the Republican ticket and been
foremost in all measures of public interest. He has
two children living—Florence J. and Charlotte B.
JOHN C. HAGAMAN was born
March 9,1831, in Fayette County,
Penn., and was one of nine children born to
Michael and Sarah (Cope) Hagaman, both natives of
Pennsylvania, the former having been born near the
site of the battle of Gettysburg, and both members of
the Society of Friends. The elder Hagaman was a
shoemaker and farmer, and in 1845 he emigrated with
his family to Stark County,
Ohio, and thence, six years later, to Hillsdale
County, Mich., where he
and wife died in 1868. John C, in his young days,
received a high school education at Marlboro, this
State. April 13, 1851, he married Anna Britton, a
native of Stark County, Ohio, and
daughter of William and Elizabeth Britton. The same
year, the young couple moved to Michigan, where John
C. taught school and farmed. In 1854, they removed to
Elkhart County, Ind.,
near Elkhart City, where he worked at carpentering.
Here he lost his wife, and in 1861 enlisted in the
Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was in the
battles of Shiloh, Iuka, Corinth and Vicksburg to
Mission Ridge. In the spring of 1864, he was assigned
to duty in the general hospital at Evansville, Ind.,
where he remained till his enlistment expired,
December 6, 1864, when he returned to Elkhart. June 1,
1865, he took for a second partner Mrs. Esther Hover,
of Elkhart, widow of Garret Hover, of Geauga County,
Ohio. In 1865, he moved on a farm in Hillsdale County,
Mich., and thence, in the fall of 1869, to this
township, where he farmed till January, 1882, when he
rented his farm and engaged in the grocery business at
Bridgewater Centre. Mr. Hagaman served as Justice of
the Peace while in Indiana, Michigan and Bridgewater
Township, and is now a Notary Public. He is a
Greenbacker in politics, and he and wife have been
Good Templars for twenty-five years. In religion, they
are Disciples. They have three children—Earl J.,
Eliza A. and George E.
MICHAEL HAINES was born in
Maryland, February 10, 1810, and was one of the seven
children of Abraham and Elizabeth (Flickinger) Haines,
natives of said State. Michael lived with his parents
in Mary
land and in Columbiana County,
Ohio, until twenty-six years of age, when
he married Rebecca Lowe, a native of Maryland.
There are now nine living children born to this
marriage, five sons and four daughters— Jonathan
M., Eli, Abraham, Jr., Charles and Hiram T.,
Melissa J., Lucretia, Elmira and Anna. About
eighteen years after his marriage, Mr. Haines
(having in the meantime tried other localities)
came to this township and bought 160 acres of land
which now, like those of the other old settlers,
is a model farm. For some time he has retired from
active work, and the farm is now superintended by
his youngest son, Hiram T. Four of the sons,
Jonathan M., Eli, Abraham and Charles, were
soldiers in the late war, and Mr. Haines himself
is a patriotic and reliable citizen. Hiram T.
Haines, now in charge of the homestead, was born
June 17, 1850, in Stark County,
Ohio, and when about four years old, was
brought by his father to his present home, where
he has passed his life and acquired a fair
common-school education. He is a promising and
enterprising young man, and in politics is
Independent, while his father, who had been a
Democrat, is now inclined to Greenbackism.
JONATHAN M. HAINES,
the eldest of a family of twelve children, was
born in Columbiana County,
Ohio, June 15, 1838. His parents, Michael
and Rebecca (Lowe) Haines, were natives of
Maryland, and removed from Columbiana to Williams County
when our subject was about fifteen years
old. At the age of twenty-one, he started in life
on his own account; went to Indiana; worked there
till the war broke out, and then enlisted in the
One Hundredth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He
served over three years, and was engaged in the
Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga campaigns, and
was with Sherman in his march to the sea. On his
return home, he assisted on his father's farm for
awhile, and then bought eighty acres, to which he
soon added forty more, and this farm is now one of
the best improved in the township, with
first-class outbuildings, wind pump, etc. His
residence is a large, tasteful and expensive
brick, and was finished in the summer of 1881.
After his purchase of this land, he returned to
Indiana, where he remained about two years. He
then came back, and in a short time after married
Mary Waterson, a native of Richland County,
who was educated in Bryan, where she taught
school several terms. To this marriage have been
born four children—Alexander C, Walter L.,
Harriet and Emerson E. Mr. Haines is an
influential and useful citizen, and in politics is
a Republican.
ALONZO HART was born
in Connecticut November 14, 1806, and was one of
the eight sons of Abner and Alma (Thompson) Hart,
natives of the same State. Alonzo received a high
school education : and, at the age of sixteen,
began clerking in a wholesale and retail store in
Hartford. He was also for
a time engaged in teaching, and when twenty years
of age left his father's home and went to clerking
in Pennsylvania. He was also employed as a canal
and railroad contractor, and in the latter
capacity helped build some of the first railroads
in the State of New York. November 14, 1837, Mr.
Hart married Rachel Willyard, a native of Ravenna,
Ohio, and, in 1843,
brought his wife to this township, where he bought
forty acres of land, which he has since increased
to eighty acres, on which he has ever since
resided. He has also owned other land in the county,
as well as some town lots. He is the father
of eleven living children—Thompson W., Homer C,
Alonzo F., LefFert S., Aaron P., Alma A., John S.,
Oron 0., Dayton F., Bion L. and Oliver W. Five of
these sons served in the late war. All the male
members of his family are Republican in politics,
and he has served as Township Clerk for sixteen or
seventeen years; as Justice of the Peace for three
years, and as Postmaster for about fifteen years.
Mr. and Mrs. Hart are both Grangers and members of
the Good Templars' Order, and among the leading
families of the township.
ROSWELL HICKOK,
is a native of Monroe County,
N. Y.; was born October 20, 1819, and is
the youngest of the three children of David C. and
Lucy (Tillotson) Hickok, natives of New York and
Connecticut respectively. About the year 1820, the
elder Hickok moved to Lorain County,
Ohio, where he bought a farm of fifty-three
acres, on which he lived till his death February
17, 1849, Roswell being then with him. April 22,
1845, Roswell Hickok married Polly Shephard, who
was born in Nunda Township, Allegany County
(now Livingston), N. Y., April 14, 1824,
and was the daughter of Clark and Polly (Johnson)
Shephard, natives respectively of Massachusetts
and Connecticut. The Hickoks were among the early
settlers of Ohio, being
the seventh family to locate in Huntington
Township, Lorain County, when
the Indians were far more numerous than the
whites. Roswell Hickok, who had taken charge of
his father's farm in 1841, remained upon it till
1853, when he came to this township and purchased
160 acres of land, his present homestead, with the
exception of forty acres presented to his son
Thomas M. Mr. and Mrs. Hickok are members of
Grange 441, at Pioneer, and in politics he is a
Republican. He has served as Justice of the Peace
for three terms, and has filled nearly every
office in the township. Until within the past
three years, he was an extensive cattle-dealer and
stockraiser ; but being, like his wife, in the
decline of life, has relinquished his more active
pursuits for needed rest.
SIDNEY S. HILL was
born in Royalton, Niagara Co., N. Y., February 7,
1826, and is one of the nine children of Henry
and Mary (Avery) Hill, the former a native
of Connecticut and the latter of Vermont,
who were married in Royalton, a few miles from the
grand cataract. Sidney lived with his father until
twenty-one years of age, when he married Mary L.
Graves, a native of New York, and brought her to
this township, where he settled on a farm of fifty
acres, which he has since increased to 160, and on
which he still resides. His first log cabin is
still standing, and is at present used for
sheltering stock, but in its day was considered to
be an extra fine dwelling for the backwoods. Mrs.
Hill, who was a highly educated lady, and is said
to have been one of the most beautiful and
intelligent of whom any pioneer could boast as a
wife, died January 26, 1873, leaving behind three
of the seven children she had borne her husband—Henry
M., Charles S. and Rachel M., the last a
promising music teacher. Four years after Sidney
had settled here, his father and eldest brother
also came, but soon went to Noble County,
Ind., where the father died in 1869, and
where the brother still lives. The mother also
survives, and, at the age of ninety-two, retains
the use of her faculties to a remarkable degree.
In October, 1873, Sidney S. Hill married his
second wife, Mary 0. Mack, a native of Ohio,
who has borne her husband two
children—Mary A. and Grace. Mr. Hill is a
public-spirited and enterprising citizen, and
since Lincoln's time has been a Republican. He has
held the office of Township Treasurer for tha
unusual period of seventeen years, and in 1880 was
Real Estate Assessor of the township. He is a
Royal Arch Mason, and was initiated in 1861.
GEORGE HODSON was born
in Richland County, Ohio, May
7, 1842, and is the eldest of the seven children
of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stephenson) Hodson,
natives respectively of Lincolnshire, England, and
Pennsylvania. (Further information relating to the
parents will be found in the biographical history
of Madison Township.) Besides the ordinary
common-school education, George Hodson had the
advantage of instruction at the Normal School of
Pioneer. He then began teaching in the district,
and was thus engaged for seven terms. In 1863, he
entered the Union army as a private and served
under Hancock, Burnside and others; rose to a
Lieutenancy and was brevetted Captain for his
gallantry. In 1866, he bought his present farm,
which now consists of 200 acres, well improved
with good buildings, wind pump, etc. At the age of
twentyseven, he married Emeline Back, a native of
this township, who has borne him five
children—Albert C, Dora Bell, Loretta, Alice and
Libbie. In politics, he is independent, voting
rather for the proper man and principle than for a
party. He has been a Granger, and is altogether an
intelligent and enterprising citizen.
JOBE HODSON was born
July 17, 1845, in Richland County,
near Mansfield, Ohio,
and is one of the six living children of
Thomas and Elizabeth
(Stephenson) Hodson, natives respectively of
Lincolnshire, England, and the Keystone State. He
came to this township, with his parents, in 1854,
and in 1855 they located on the present homestead.
His father is now a prominent citizen of Pioneer,
whither he went in 1870, and further information
regarding him will be found in the biographical
history of Madison Township, this volume. Jobe
Hodson received his education partly in
Bridgewater and partly in Bryan. He has taught
school about ten terms, and his well-selected
library and tasteful surroundings generally
indicate him as a man of refinement and studious
habits. He was married, December 11, 1873, to
Sarah E. Hill, who was bom in Pennsylvania
February 28, 1855. Her parents, Edwin R. and
Henrietta (Thorp) Hill, are natives of New York,
and at present are residents of Bridgewater
Township. The year of his marriage, Jobe and his
wife were installed in the old homestead, where
there has been born to them three
children—Thomas E., John and Martha. Mr. and
Mrs. Hodson, for a time, belonged to the Pioneer
Grange, and he has acted as agent for several
agricultural implement manufacturing companies. He
has dealt considerably in live stock, and has
always taken great interest in educational
matters.
ROBERT V. HODSON was
born in Richland County,
Ohio. June 8, 1845, the elder of two sons
born to John and Susan (Jump) Hodson, the former a
native of England and the latter of Maryland. This
couple died when Robert V. was quite young, and
the latter was reared by his grandmother and
step-grandfather, both of English birth. His early
opportunities for an education were quite limited,
and at the age of twenty-one he withdrew from his
home at his grandmother's and went to work for a
short time in Huron County
and then came to Superior Township, this county,
and settled on the land left him by his
father. In 1870, he married Miss Mary Neal, of
this county, but a
separation was had, and, in 1874, he married Susan
R. Burns, a native of Maryland. In October, 1876,
he came to this township and purchased eighty
acres of excellent land, on which he has ever
since resided. In politics, he is a Republican,
and he and wife are members of the United Brethren
Church. He is the father of three
children—Theodore S., John G. and Thomas
B., and has ever been regarded as an upright man
and worthy citizen.
RICHARD F. LAMSON, M. D.,
was born in Utica, Licking Co., Ohio,
February 20, 1838, and was the eldest of
three children of Andrew and Clarinda (Hughes)
Lamson. The father was born near Burlington, Vt.,
and came to Licking County
when about six years of age. At the age of
seventeen he began his trade of saddle and harness
maker, and lived at Utica and Etna until about
1855, when he went to Norristown, er County,
and bought a farm. The mother was a native
of Licking County,
and her grandfather, Elias Hughes, was a
noted scout during the Revolutionary war. Richard
F. lived with his parents till his fifteenth year,
when he entered the Ohio Wesleyan
University at Delaware, Ohio,
but was compelled by ill-health to retire
without graduating within six months of
commencement. About 1851, his health having been
partially restored, he went to Butler, Ind., where
he alternately taught school and studied medicine
under Dr. Madden. In 1859, he attended one course
of lectures at Cleveland Medical College, and, in
1861, went to Bryan and commenced practice in
partnership with Dr. Jump, and three years later
entered Cincinnati Medical College. In 1866, he
began practice in Bridgewater, and, in 1867,
returned to Cincinnati and there graduated ; he
now ranks as one of the best physicians in the county.
May 7, 1861, he married Elizabeth W. Wonzor,
a native of Erie County,
Ohio, and daughter of Ramsforde and
Elizabeth Wonzor, the former a native of New York
and the latter of South Carolina. Mrs. Lamson is a
graduate of Ann Arbor (Mich.) University, and is a
lady of unusual attainments. She has borne her
husband one daughter—Maud.
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