P. R. CADY, a respected farmer of Lincoln township, Morrow county, Ohio, forms the subject of this article.  The Cady family were for many years residents of the New England States.  Noah Cady, the father of this gentleman, was born in Windsor county, Vermont, in the year 1784, son of Parley Cady, also a native of the Green Mountain State.  Noah Cady married Miss Hannah Davis, daughter of Ezekiel Davis, both of Vermont, and in that State he and his wife reared their family, passed their lives and died.  They had eight children, only one of whom, P. R., is now living.
     P. R. Cady was born on his father’s farm, August 4, 1815, and spent the first seventeen years of his life there.  Then he left Vermont and went to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he made his home several years, and where, in 1837, he married Sophronia Granby, a native of the Empire State.  The year following their marriage they came west to Ohio and settled in Cardington township, then Marion, now Morrow county.  For several years he worked in an ashery, and he also helped to build the first bridge across Whetstone creek.  About 1840 he settled on a farm in what is now Lincoln township, this county, the farm having a log house and a small clearing.  Subsequently he traded this place for another farm a little further east, and moved to it and began the work of clearing and improving.  Here, August 18, 1857, his wife died.  Of their children, five in number, we make record as follows: Norman, born November 2, 1837, married Annie Mott and has six children, their home being in Miami county, Ohio; Lucius, born May 13, 1839, is a resident of Kansas City, he and his wife, née Annie Lee, having two children; Myron A., born November 12, 1843, a resident of Cardington, Ohio, married Mattie Wiseman and has four children, Mary L., born May 5, 1848, is the wife of Francis Conklin, Sauk county, Wisconsin, and has six children; and Harriet M., born March 24, 1850, is the wife of Van Kirkpatrick, Wisconsin, and has six children.
     In 1858 Mr. Cady married Mrs. Harriet (Warner) Benson, a native of Dutchess county, New York, and a daughter of John H. and Julia (Robinson) Warner.  Her father was born in Connecticut, October 12, 1785, and her mother in New York, January 31, 1787, and they were married in Dutchess county, New York, October 1, 1808, and settled in that county.  Soon afterward they removed to Poughkeepsie, New York, still later to Onondaga county, that State, and from the latter place came to Ohio in 1833, and settled in the woods of Lincoln township.  Here her father died, January 25, 1852, and her mother September 25, 1862.  They had nine children, as follows: Emeline Wheeler, of Wisconsin, is eighty-three years of age; Mrs. Cady, aged eighty; Eliza Benedict, of Cardington township, this county, aged seventy-eight; Daniel, aged seventy-six; Maria, deceased; Julia Ann Alter, deceased; Almira Cushman, of Wisconsin; Mary Jane Aldrich, of Kansas; and Amanda Aldrich, also of Kansas.  Mrs. Cady was born December 20, 1813, and until she was fifteen years of age lived near Poughkeepsie.  In January, 1831, she became the wife of Leander Benson, a native of New York, and they came to Ohio in 1831 and settled on the farm where she still lives.  Here she has resided for sixty-three years.  Mr. Benson died February 14, 1856.  They had eight children, only three of whom are now living, viz: Henry G., who is married, has two children, and lives in Colorado; Nelson, of Ashley, Ohio, has a wife and two children; and Adeline Ashley, who also has two children.  Mrs. Cady’s son Nelson served in the late war, as also did two of Mr. Cady’s sons, Norman and Myron.
     Both Mr. and Mrs. Cady have for years been members of the Christian Church, and he is a Deacon in the same.  Politically he is a Prohibitionist.  He has served as School Director and Township Trustee.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 385-386
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

M. W. CARIS is one of the well-known farmers and venerable citizens of Lincoln township, Morrow county, Ohio.  His parents, Frederick and Rachel (Hoke) Caris, both natives of Pennsylvania, were married in that State, and before the war of 1812 they came West and settled on a tract of wild land in Portage county, Ohio.  There, in the midst of the forest and surrounded on all sides by the Indians, they improved a farm, spent the rest of their lives and there died.  Frederick Caris was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, and rendered valiant service in that conflict.  In their religious views he and his wife were Universalists.  They were the parents of fourteen children, nine of whom reached maturity.  Four of that number are now living, viz.: Mary Price, of New Albany, Indiana, aged eight-six years; M. W., the subject of this sketch, aged eighty-three years; Hiram, of Fulton, Ohio, aged seventy, and Rachel Miller, of Coldwater, Michigan, aged sixty-eight.
     M. W. Caris was born on his father’s frontier farm in Portage county, Ohio, April 25, 1812, and remained at home until he was twenty-three years of age, his educational advantages being limited to the district schools.  When he was twenty-three he went to Crawford county, this State, and rented a farm which he cultivated five years.  Then, in 1845, he came to Delaware county, (now Morrow), and settled on the farm he has since occupied.  This part of the country was then almost an unbroken wilderness, ––thick woods and no roads.  Here he built a cabin and settled down to the work of clearing and improving his land.  He also cleared other land in order to secure the money with which to pay for his own farm, as at the time he came here he had only $1.18.  The first corn he raised was planted in holes which he grubbed out between the roots of the beech trees, and when the stalks began to grow he encouraged their progress by clearing away the weeds with the grub-hoe.  By this means he raised enough corn to fatten two hogs for winter meat.
     He passed through many hardships in his early life, but by honest and earnest toil and by the cheerful assistance of his good wife he secured a competency and now in his old age is surrounded with all the comforts of life.  He has given some of his land to his sons and still has seventy acres left.  Of his ten children all are living except one, Albert G., who died in the army.  The others are Joel F., John, Squire, Lonzo, Myron C., Isaiah J., Edson B., Harland and Mary A.  Mary A. is the wife of Elias Ogg and lives in Knox county, Ohio.  Each has had a high-school education.  Mrs. Caris is a member of the Christian Church, and all her children belong to the church and live Christian lives.
     In his political views Mr. Caris has all his life been in harmony with the Democratic party.  His first presidential vote was cast for Andrew Jackson.  While he has never been an office-seeker, he has served as Trustee of Lincoln township and for fifteen years was School Director, being one of Morrow county’s worthy citizens.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 311-312
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

ANDREW CATON, a prominent farmer of Morrow county, is a son of Thomas Caton, who was born in Orange county, New York, about 1791.  His father, Robert Caton, was a native of Maryland, and was a Quaker minister.  Robert, John and Betsey Caton lived in Maryland at the commencement of the Revolutionary war.  Robert and John were obliged either to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown or enlist in the Federal army, and both chose the latter.  John was appointed carrier of dispatches from one post to another.  After the close of the war he united with the regular Baptist Church, and became a minister in the same.  Robert served as a soldier during the entire struggle, and after the war embraced the Quaker faith.  He settled in Orange county, New York, where he reared his family and departed this life.  He was married three or four times, Judge John D. Caton, of Ottawa, Illinois, being a son of his last wife.  The mother of our subject, formerly Amy Gillis, was a native of Ulster county, New York.  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Caton were married in that county, but made a permanent home in Seneca county, where the father died, in 1838.  The mother came with her children to Ohio in 1843, locating near Galion, and her death occurred at Blooming Grove, this State.  The family were Quakers.  Mr. Caton was a prominent Democrat in political matters, having served as deputy under Sheriff Call, and also held many other offices They were the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters, and two sons and two daughters are now living, namely: Dollie, aged eighty years, is the widow of Jesse Everett, and has one child; Arthur S., aged seventy-five years, is a resident of Blooming Grove, and has one child; Andrew, the subject of this sketch; Caroline, wife of Sigmond Baker, also of Blooming Grove, and has one child.  The two deceased daughters are Mary Baughman and Martha Cummings.
     Andrew Caton, the subject of this sketch, was born August 15, 1822, and received his education in the common schools of Seneca county, New York.  In 1847 he settled in the heavy timber in Berrien county, Michigan, built a log cabin, and cleared part of that and another farm.  In 1853 he left that State and located on the farm now owned by Robert A. Beatty in Cardington township, Morrow county, Ohio, which was then in its primitive state, but was put under a good condition for cultivation.  Mr. Caton removed to Waldo township, Marion county, in 1865, spent the following year in the village of Cardington, in 1867 located in Wayne township, Knox county, and in 1885 came to Chesterville, where he has a fine residence.  In political matters Mr. Caton has been a life-long Democrat, and has served as a Councilman six years and also as Trustee of Chester township.
     In April, 1847, he was united in marriage with Artemisia Baker, a native of Richland county, Ohio, her father having been one of the earliest settlers in that locality.  She died May 19, 1848.  October 12, 1848, our subject married Jane Montgomery, born in Troy township, Morrow county, May 22, 1825, a daughter of John and Margaret (Taylor) Montgomery, natives of Jefferson county, Ohio.  They located in the woods of Troy township sixty-five years ago, where they were among the pioneer settlers, and where the father subsequently died.  One of his brothers was a soldier in the war of 1812.  The mother died in Stark county, Ohio, while on a visit to her son.  Six of their children grew to years of maturity, and four are now living, namely: Samuel N., of Stark county; Mrs. Caton; Hamilton, a resident of Iowa; and Eliza McKeown, of Cardington township.  The parents were members of the Methodist Church, and the father was a stanch Democrat.  Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Caton have had nine children, as follows: J. S., of Cardington, married Elizabeth Woolf, and has one child; Artemisia, deceased; Arthur S., a graduate of Delaware College, and a very fine scholar, married Dottie Moore, and resides in Coshocton, Ohio; A. L., of Chester township, Morrow county, married Mary Launing; Benjamin F., a resident of Cardington township, married Belle McKeown; Emma J., deceased, was the wife of Thomas Cole; Thomas married Cora Carson, and resides in Chesterville; George S., married Nora Peck, and lives in Coshocton; and Charles W., a resident of this city, married Minnie Hales.  Mr. and Mrs. Caton are members of the Baptist Church at Wayne, Ohio, in which the former has served as Trustee and Treasurer for many years.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 420-421
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

CHRISTOPHER H. CHAMBERLIN, a venerable and honored citizen of Mount Gilead, Morrow county, and one who was for many years one of the leading business men of the place, must call forth in this connection such consideration as is manifestly due him as, in the repose and retirement of his beautiful home, he views the hurrying throng with kindly and indulgent gaze, reflecting on what has been wrought within the long span of his days and resting from the ceaseless toil and endeavor which brought to him success and the regard of men.
     The father of our subject was Gideon Chamberlin, who is supposed to have been a native of New Jersey, and to have been born about the year 1779, the son of John Chamberlin.  Gideon Chamberlin was a farmer during his entire life.  Circumstances prevented him from bearing arms in the War of 1812, but he provided a substitute.  He married Catherine Hulsizer, who was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, the daughter of Christopher Hulsizer.
     Gideon and Catherine Chamberlin removed from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, about 1817, and there the latter died, in 1837.  They were the parents of nine children, of whom all but one lived to attain mature years.  At the present time there are but three surviving and all of these are men of venerable years.  Their names, with age (in 1894), are here given: William, aged eighty-five; Christopher H., our subject, aged eighty-three; and John aged seventy-nine.  The father came to Ohio in 182$ and settled in Franklin township, Knox county (now Morrow county), where he was one of the pioneer residents and where he made his permanent home.  Somewhat later our subject went to Wooster, Wayne county, and entered a tract of land for his father, and here they took up their abode in the virgin forest, ultimately reclaiming the place and bringing it into effective cultivation.  On this farm, which was located on Owl creek, the father died, about 1837.  He had been a member of the Baptist Church in Pennsylvania.
     Christopher H. Chamberlin, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, April 19, 1811, receiving limited education advantages in Pennsylvania, whither his parents removed when he was but a child.  He was seventeen years of age when his father removed to Ohio.  His educational advantages were extremely meagre in character, but he was ambitious to learn and had a receptive mind, being thus enabled to secure a good practical education as the result of personal application and study.  This line of reading and study has led him along to a position of much intellectual strength and wide information.  As a boy he was compelled to work in the employ of others, but he continued to make his home at the paternal domicile until the time of his marriage.
     In 1833, he wedded Miss Sarah D. Lyon, who was born in Ohio, her place of nativity having been a block-house, near Fredricktown [sic], which building was being used for the protection of the women and children during the war of 1812, her birth having occurred in that year.  After his marriage our subject constructed a log cabin on the farm of his father-in-law, and there continued to abide for three years, assisting in the work of the farm, which was located in Franklin township, this county (then Knox county).  After three years had thus elapsed, his little log house was destroyed by fire and he then went to Bloomfield township and settled on a place which is the location of the present town of Sparta.  Here he remained five years, after which, in 1840, he returned to his father’s old place.  The father had died and our subject purchased the interests of most of the other heirs to the estate.  He built a house on the old homestead and occupied the same for a time, after which he disposed of his interest in the farm, taking in exchange a tract of sixty acres, in Delaware county.  This place was located in the dense woods of Harmony township, Delaware county (now Morrow), and he remained upon the same for a period of thirteen years, clearing up the land and improving it.
     In 1853 he resigned his connection with agriculturism and came to Mount Gilead, where he engaged in the mercantile business and continued the enterprise for three years, after which he removed to Butler Center, Iowa, where he was engaged in merchandising somewhat over two years, after which he removed to a point ten miles distant in the same county (Butler), and there conducted a store for two and one-half years.  In 1859 he returned to Mount Gilead and resumed merchandising in the same building which he had previously utilized for the same purpose.  After a short time he removed to the town of Williamsport, six miles east of Mount Gilead, and there continued in the mercantile trade for several years, after which he once more returned to Mount Gilead and took up his residence, where he has lived for the past thirteen years.
     The devoted and cherished wife of our subject entered into eternal rest in 1861.  They were the parents of six children, of whom only two are living, namely: Phoebe Ann, wife of Asa A. Gardner, of Mount Gilead, and the mother of two children by a previous marriage to Enoc Gerge: and Lucretia J., wife of Robert P. Halliday, of this city: they are the parents of two children.
     Mr. Chamberlin consummated a second marriage April 19, 1863, when he espoused Miss Mary Truex, née Linn, who is a native of Monroe county, this State, where she was born April 20, 1811.  Our subject and his estimable wife are zealous members of the Baptist Church of Mount Gilead, and Mr. Chamberlin has been particularly active in temperance work, having identified himself with the Murphy movement many years ago.  Politically, he is an ardent Democrat of the Andrew Jackson type, his first vote having been cast for that sturdy President, in 1832.  He has been consistent in the upholding of his political faith, both in defending and supporting the same.  He held preferment as Justice of the Peace in this county for a term of nine years, and in Bloomfield and Congress townships served as Constable, and in Congress township as Township Treasurer and Justice of the Peace.  During the war our subject contributed liberally of his means to the support of the Union cause, with which he was thoroughly and uncompromisingly in sympathy.
     Mr. Chamberlin’s life has not been one of supine ease and of futile dreams.  He has worked diligently and consecutively, and the high measure of success which is his has come as the direct result of his own efforts.  When he started out in married life his earthly possessions were summed up in an axe and a good splint broom, which latter he had made with his own hands.  Who would deny to such a man the reward which is so justly due, ––the respect of his fellowmen?  One of the patriarchs of the county, and one known far and wide for the integrity of his character, our subject abides, in his declining days, safe in the honor and esteem of the community.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 183-185
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

EDWIN M. CONKLIN, a farmer of Westfield township, was born on the farm where he now resides, September 6, 1835. His father, Jacob Conklin, was born in Grand Isle county, Vermont, June 10, 1787, a son of Abram Conklin The latter married Anna Hilliker when she was only sixteen years of age, and immediately afterward he went into the Revolutionary war. She had three brothers in the war, and on the return home the friends and neighbors gathered to have a joyful celebration, and Mr. Conklin was introduced to his wife, but she had changed so greatly during his absence that for some time he did not recognize her, much to the enjoyment of all their friends present. The celebration was held at the hotel in Grand Isle, and Abram Conklin afterward purchased the place, the father of our subject having been born there. He was the second son of ten children, five sons and five daughters. Three brothers, John, Abram and Jacob, came to Ohio. Abram came from Vermont to Delaware county on foot in 1817. He reared a large family of children, some of whom are still living in that county. John engaged in merchandising at Cleveland, and while on his way to New York for goods was waylaid and robbed.  James located in Morrow county. Another brother, Jerry, moved to Illinois, where he reared a large family, and died there.
     Jacob Conklin, father of our subject, came on foot from Vermont to Delaware county, Ohio, in 1813. He joined the Light Horse Cavalry, under Captain Murray, and served under General McArthur in the war of 1812. While a soldier he frequently went without food for three days, and suffered many other severe privations. Mustered out of service at Chillicothe, Ohio, he located in Liberty township, Delaware county, near where the paper mill now stands, south of the city of Delaware. April 3, 1821, he removed to the farm where our subject now resides. Mr. Conklin cut logs and built a cabin, blankets having been used for doors and windows, and remained here until his death, March 12, 1875. He was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. For seventy-two years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his home having been the first place where religious meetings were held in the neighborhood. He frequently attended quarterly meetings in a log house at Columbus. Having no money, he worked one week with his ox team to assist in building the first Methodist Episcopal Church in Delaware.
     September 17, 1818, Mr. Conklin was united in marriage with Orra Payne, who was born in New Hartford, Litchfield county, Connecticut, July 6, 1798, a daughter of Ezra Payne, born in that State September 17, 1765. He came to Liberty township, Delaware county, Ohio, in 1817. His wife, formerly Amy Mattison, was born November 26, 1769, and they had thirteen children, namely: Amy, Ezra, Austin, Anson, Betsey, Orra, Alvah, Phebe, Hiram, Edmond, Elvira, Miles and William. Two of the sons were soldiers in the war of 1812. Mrs. Conklin died October 20, 1880, having been a hard working woman all her life, having spun and wove and made the clothes worn by her family. Mr. and Mrs. Conklin had seven children: Clarissa, the only daughter, was born in Liberty township; she first married E. White, and their three children are all now deceased: after his death she became the wife of Forester Armstrong and they had three sons, two yet living, Philemon and Mathew; Lyman B., deceased at the age of twenty-one years; Ezra M., of Waldo township, Marion county, Ohio; William A., deceased; Philemon J. died April 13, 1879; Dr. Abram V., residing in Delaware county, Ohio; and Edwin N.
     Edwin N. Conklin, the youngest in the above family, and the subject of this sketch, has remained on the home farm since his birth. He owns 100 acres of fine farming land. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and in 1892 was elected Justice of the Peace, his commission having been signed by Governor McKinley. He has also served as Township Trustee two years, as member and president of the School Board the same length of time, and has held other minor offices. Mr. Conklin was the first to take hold of the Grange movement in this locality, and was the first delegate to the State Grange at Xenia, Ohio, in 1874. He organized the lodges in Cardington, Lincoln, Harmony, Canaan, Johnsville, Peru and Marengo townships. He also served as Master of the Farmers' Alliance, and attended the State Alliance at Galion, Ohio, in 1891. Mr. Conklin is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having served as Deputy Grand Master of this district for six years, was a Representative in the Grand Lodge for two years, 1874-5, passed all the chairs in both branches, joined the encampment at Delaware, and was a charter member both at Cardington and Ashley. He was also a charter member of Myrtle Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, at Westfield. He was made a Free and Accepted Mason at old Hiram Lodge, Delaware, Ohio, in 1868 and was a charter member of Ashley Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Ashley, Ohio.
     October 15, 1872, our subject was united in marriage with Charlotte Shoemaker, who was born September 19. 1844, a daughter of Jacob Shoemaker, of Westfield township. Their son, Edwin Jacob, born July 1, 1874, is now living in Galion, Ohio. The wife and mother departed this life January 12, 1876. February 11, 1880, Mr. Conklin married Martha Van Brimmer, born in Napoleon, Indiana, May 15, 1846, a daughter of Jacob and Almira (Birch) Van Brimmer. She was the youngest of five children. Mr. and Mrs. Conklin have had three children: Ason, born October 19, 1880, died November 5, 1880; a daughter, born March 9, 1883, died March 18, 1883; Virgil Lavan, born October 9, 1885. Mr. Conklin has kept a diary of where he has been and what he has done, every day for over twenty-five years, and has kept a thermometrical record of the weather for the same length of time, making three observations a day, -- at 6 A. M., 12 M. and 8 P. M.
     He has also kept a cash account for over twenty-five years, noting every cent he has received and every cent paid out and what for.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 357-359
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

DAVID G. COOMER, a farmer of Lincoln township, Morrow county, is a son of Jonathan Coomer, born in Massachusetts in 1787.  He was a farmer by occupation, a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  His father, Benjamin Coomer, was born in North Providence, Rhode Island, March 8, 1748, a son of Benjamin Coomer, Sr., born in Massachusetts in 1710, and the ancestor of the Coomer family in America.  The mother of our subject, formerly Amanda Guernsey, was born in Connecticut, September 18, 1791, a daughter of Southmayd Guernsey.  Jonathan Coomer was married July 4, 1813, while serving as a soldier in the war of 1812.  They settled on his father’s farm in Gorham, Ontario county, New York, but about 1818 located on a wild tract in Niagara county.  He improved two farms in that county, and resided there until 1834; from that time until 1855 was a resident of Marlborough township, Delaware county, and in the latter year located on the farm where our subject now resides.  He died January 18, 1856, and his widow survived until September 3, 1876.  Jonathan Coomer and wife were the parents of seven children, six now living, viz.: David, the subject of this sketch; Dr. H. N., of Ashley, Ohio; Albert B., of Payne, Paulding county, this State; Erasmus D., deceased; Jonathan M.; Sabra D. Warner, of Van Buren county, Michigan; and Alma R., wife of Henry Welch, who resides near Van Wert, Ohio.
     David G. Coomer was born in Gorham, New York, August 7, 1814, and received his education principally in the district schools of Niagara county, also attending the high school in Lockport one term.  At the age of twenty years he began teaching, and followed that occupation forty terms.  Mr. Coomer remained with his father during the latter’s lifetime.  After his marriage he located and remained on his father’s farm in Marlborough township, Delaware county, until 1855, and since that time has resided where he now lives.  He owns twenty-two and a half acres of land.  Previous to the civil war, Mr. Coomer was Lieutenant of a State militia company in Delaware county.  In political matters he is a stanch Republican, and served as Trustee of Lincoln township during the civil war.  His father served as Justice of the Peace a number of terms in Marlborough township, Delaware county.
     September 15, 1839, D. G. Coomer was united in marriage with Phoebe Clark, a native of Delaware county, Ohio, and a daughter of Elihu and Mary (Keene) Clark, natives of New York.  They came to Ohio as early as 1805 or 1806, locating near Worthington, Delaware county.  The father died in Oxford township, same county, March 24, 1845, and the mother died February 11, 1865.  Mr. and Mrs. Clark had thirteen children, all but one of whom grew to years of maturity, and four are now living, viz.: Mahiel L., James P., Phoebe and Sarah.  The last is the wife of Morris M. Coomer.  David G. Coomer and wife have had seven children, five now living, as follows: James H. and Albert S., both deceased in the army; Chauncey D.; Mary Malvina, wife of Joel F. Caris; Henry C.; Henrietta Eliza, wife of Frank Hoffmire; Ida A., wife of Lonzo G. Caris.  D. G. Coomer is a Universalist in faith, and his father, although for many years a Methodist, entertained the same doctrine for several years previous to his death.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 275-276
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

CAPT. LUDWELL M. CUNARD. ––It is with distinctive satisfaction that the biographist directs attention to the life history of him whose name initiates this review, for not only is the record of personal worth and accomplishment such as bears its lesson, but in the tracing of his ancestral history there issue many points of interest, ––a narrative that tells of honest and industrious sons of the American republic, that gives intimation of the deeds of loyal men who gave themselves to the defending of their country in time of warfare, and that speaks of the incidental conquests which have been gained in the “piping times of peace.”
     The father of our subject, Judge Stephen T. Cunard, was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, February 3, 1803.  He grew to manhood in his native county, receiving a somewhat limited education; he worked at the carpenter’s trade in his early life.  He was a son of Edward and Edith (Thacher) Cunard, both of whom were natives of the Old Dominion State, the former of whom was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, in which service he offered up his life.  He witnessed the entrance of the British troops into the national capital, and was an observer of their impious depredations.  He had been a civil engineer.  Edward Cunard was the son of Edward, Sr., who was a soldier in the war of the Revolution.  The family traces its origin back to the Hirsts, of Yorkshire, England, the first representatives of that line having settled in the American colonies as early as 1680, and the original of the branch to which our subject traces his lineage having located near Baltimore, Maryland.
     The mother of Ludwell M. Cunard was Vashti B. (James) Cunard, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1805, the daughter of David and Charlotte (Bradfield) James, who left the Old Dominion and became pioneers of the State of Ohio, whither they came at a very early period.  Stephen T. Cunard and Vashti B. James were married, in their native State, November 26, 1826, and in 1835 they came to Ohio and settled in the woods of Lincoln township, in that part of Delaware county which was later made a part of the present county of Morrow.  At that time the section was an almost unbroken forest, with here and there the rude cabin of a hardy and courageous settler.  In 1836 there were twenty-eight votes cast at the general election in Lincoln township, and Judge Cunard was one of that number.  At the time of his death, in 1881, there were just three of this original number of voters still living, and the last survivor was gathered to his fathers in 1891, namely Christian Stovenour.
     When Stephen T. Cunard started out from his native State on the eventful journey to the frontier forests of Ohio, he brought with him his wife and two children, and all their earthly possessions.  The means of transportation employed was an old-fashioned carryall, in which the devoted wife rode in state, with her infant son (the subject of this sketch) on her lap, and his sister, who was somewhat his senior, by her side.  This sister is still living, the widow of the late Orman Kingman, of Lincoln township, and to her specific reference is made elsewhere in this volume.  In this primitive equipage the little family was transported from Loudoun county, Virginia, to their destination in this county, their route being along the line of the old national turnpike road as far as Wheeling, West Virginia.  The entire financial resources of the family were summed up in $50., which the devoted wife and mother carried in her pocket, the father having walked the entire distance and cared for his dear ones with utmost solicitude.
     Reaching their destination the father prepared a habitation for the family, erecting a little log cabin, 16 x 20 feet in dimensions, at a point five miles south of the present flourishing town of Mt. Gilead, which place was named by Daniel James, an uncle of the mother of the subject of this sketch.  The father secured 100 acres of wild land and at once essayed the task of clearing and improving the same.  This he did in time, and as he was careful, methodical and a good manager, success attended his efforts, and he became one of the prominent and substantial farmers of the section.  He was originally a Whig in politics, but upon the organization of the Republican party he gave to it his support, taking an active interest in the work of the local organization and keeping in close touch with the issues of the day.
     At the time Morrow county was organized, in 1848, he was appointed Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, under the old constitution, and later on he was a member of the State Board of Equalization for the senatorial district comprising the counties of Knox and Morrow.  During the progress of the late civil war he maintained an earnest interest in the Union cause, any lent effective aid in many ways.  The death of our subject’s mother occurred May 6, 1871, and that of the revered father March 3, 1881.
     Stephen T. Cunard and wife became the parents of four sons and two daughters of whom we offer the following brief record: Mary C. is the relict of the late Orman Kingman, of Lincoln township, whose memoir appears on another page; Ludwell M., subject of this review; Henry E., deceased; Thomas C. married Hannah Wiseman, and resides near Fulton, this county Alexander H. is deceased; Amanda E. is: the deceased wife of Dr. A. E. Westbrook of Ashley, Delaware county, and was the mother of three children.  The mother of our subject was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  The father stood high in the fraternal order of Masonry, and his influence was always on the side of morality and true Christianity.  He was man of noble impulses, a true patriot, an indulgent father and a kind husband.  All of his sons were soldiers in the late civil war.  Our subject and Alexander were members of the Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and the latter suffered an extreme exposure at the battle of Stone River.  From the effects of this exposure the dread disease of pulmonary consumption was superinduced, and as a result of this malady he died, in 1886, leaving a wife and two children.  Henry E. was Captain of Company I, Third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed in the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862.  Thomas C., was a member of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
     Ludwell M. Cunard, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, December 31, 1834, and was an infant when his parents came to Ohio.  His educational discipline was gained in the primitive log school house, which nestled in the beech forests of Lincoln township, this county.  He remained on the paternal homestead until he attained his majority, lending a willing hand to the clearing and improving of the farm.
     December 6, 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary M. Rose, daughter of James and Nancy (Gordon) Rose, both of whom were natives of Perry county, Ohio, in which county they were married in 1832.  They settled near Fremont, Sandusky county (then Lower Sandusky), in the “Black Swamps,” now the finest part of the State.  Here they developed a good farm.  In 1853 they removed to Lincoln township, this county, and settled on a farm, which Mr. Rose subsequently sold and then retired from active business, taking up his abode in Cardington, this county, where he died January 17, 1890, his widow passing away on the 13th of the following February.  They were the parents of eleven children, of whom we make mention as follows: David Calvin Rose, was Captain of Company E, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died December 26, 1861, while on duty with his company, leaving a widow and two children, all of whom are now deceased; James M., was a member of the same company, and is now Probate Judge of Chase county, Kansas; Henry N., was also a member of Company E., and is now a resident of Nebraska; John M. was a member of the Tenth Ohio Cavalry, and is now a resident of Miami county, Kansas; Edward L., also a member of the Tenth Cavalry, is deceased; Charles J., a soldier in the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, lives in Florida; Alonzo J., who served in the Third Cavalry, is a resident of Delaware county; Mary M., is the wife of our subject; Martha A., is the wife of Geshem H. Mosher, of Delaware county; Eliza S., is the wife of Elizy S. Curl, of Cardington township.  The parents were members of the Methodist Church, and the father served as Justice of the Peace for a full quarter of a century and as Commissioner of Sandusky county four terms, being an ardent Republican and a public-spirited man.
     Mrs. Cunard was born in Sandusky county, December 1, 1835, and received her education in the district schools of that locality.  After his marriage our subject rented of his father a farm of 600 acres and worked early and late in its cultivation, his efforts being attended with success.
     In August, 1861, he enlisted as a member of Company E, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which command he served for two years, being mustered out as Second Lieutenant.  After the war he returned to his home and formed a partnership with his father in the operation of their extensive farm, ––this association maintaining until. 1878.  In the meanwhile our subject had secured in his own right a farm of 225 acres, and on this place he continued to reside until 1881, when he purchased his present attractive residence in Mt. Gilead, and retired from active business life.
     Mr. and Mrs. Cunard are the parents of three children, namely: Millard Fillmore, married Eva Ensign, has two children and resides at Granville, this State; Nancy Crittenden is the wife of J. F. Gardner, of Lincoln township, and has eight children; Rosecrans M., is the wife of Dr. A. E. Westbrook, of Ashley, Delaware county.  Mr. and Mrs. Cunard are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He was made a Master Mason in 1861, in Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 206; and in 1882 he took the Chapter degrees and is a member of Gilead Chapter, No. 59, being Past High Priest of the same.  He holds a certificate of honorable membership in American Union Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., the same stating that the preferment was granted him “for distinguished Masonic services in behalf of American Union Lodge, No. 1.”  He is a charter member of James St. John Post, No. 282, G. A. R., of Cardington, and also a charter member of Hurd Post, No. 114, of Mt. Gilead, being a Past Commander of the order.  In politics Mr. Cunard is a stanch, uncompromising Republican, supporting his party in every instance, even those of minor sort.  During the later years of his life he has devoted some of his leisure time to literature.  He has written several poems for publication, two of which we take pleasure in inserting in this sketch of one who has not only a delicate sense of the sublime, but also a taste for genuine irony, as the two following poems are evidence:

A DAY DREAM.

BY L. M. CUNARD.

To-day, in pleasing reveries, I lived o’er
  My childhood’s happy hours;
Methought I played ’round father’s cabin door,
  And gathered sweet wild flowers.
I thought I saw again my mother’s face,
  That same sweet smile was there,
And, as of yore, I saw so plain the trace
  Of toil and anxious care.

I saw again our play-house, down the lane.
  Just as in olden time,
And then I fancied that I heard again
  The cow-bell’s evening chime.
I heard the plaintive song the whip-poor-will
  At sunset used to sing,
And saw the oak tree, as of old, there still,
  (The one we called “the King.”)

The same old well, the windlass, rope and chain,
  I saw in my day dream;
I heard the old clock calling off again
  The miles from life’s swift stream.
The wide old cabin fire-place––sight so grand––
  The children all were there,
I felt the gentle touch of mother’s hand;
  (Why starts this blinding tear?)

I looked above the old log cabin door,
  And saw the robins’ nest,
Then heard a song I’d often heard before;
  Life’s cares my soul oppressed.
I will not, can not, now that song repeat,
  A charm is in each word;
It soothes my heart with melody more sweet
  Than ancient shepherds heard.

O, pleasing day dreams, happy reveries,
  Sweet solace of my life,
Brood o’er my soul; such holy memories
  Obscure these scenes of strife.
In these day dreams 1 am a child again,
  And mother smiles on me;
New life seems pulsing through each sluggish vein,
  A joyous ecstacy.

A REPROBATED INFANT ON REVISION.

Listen, O ye Synods, hear me on revision,
  I have somewhat on that subject to declare,
And I pray you, ere you hand down your decision,
  Hear a voice which comes from regions of despair.
I was once a blue-eyed infant, and my charms
  Were a doting mother’s pride, so oft she pressed
Fondest kisses on my cheeks, while loving arms
  Folded her own darling’s image to her breast.

I was fated by those blest “decrees eternal,”
  With the “reprobated angels” to be damned;
“For the glory of the Father,” the infernal
  Regions are with infants not a span long crammed.
And from year to year “the smoke of our torment”-ing
  Is ascending, incense sweet before the Lord.
We’re a seething mass of “non-elect” fermenting
  In this lava-bed, a hopeless, howling horde.

And our “number is so certain;” (hear the story),
  In God’s councils long before your world was made,
Our Creator thought he’d “manifest his glory,”
  And the prank “predestination” somehow played.
I know it seems unrighteous and unfeeling
  To be “foreordained to everlasting death,”
But remember, don’t forget it, there’s no healin
  For the soul when God uncorks his bottled wrath.

When two summers o’er my head had sweetly vanished
  I was destined, or decreed, I know not which,
From the joys of earth and heaven to be banished
  Where no hope, nor love, nor mercy cannot reach.
Here I mingle with the reprobated luggage,
  Dumped together in accord with the “decrees;”
The last arrival was one Davis and his baggage,
  From his quarters in a southern diocese.

My dear mother, to eternal bliss elected,
  Up in glory, over yonder, looks on me;
Heaven’s beauty, heaven’s grandeur is reflected
  To augment, a thousand fold, my misery.
Wisdom, mercy, love so boundless, in ordaining
  Those for bliss, and these for endless pain and woe,
Was to teach the creature God intends maintaining
  His “sovereignty” while ages come and go.

For the glory of “the Father of all mercies”
  Here we languish while eternity shall roll,
Not a reprobated creature ever here sees
  Nor feels a moment’s pleasure in his soul.
Profound pleasure hath Jehovah in our wailing,
  And complacently He smiles when He looks down,
To behold another reprobate come sailing
  To abide eternally ’neath Satan’s frown.

So “unchangeably designed” from the beginning,
  And “particularly” fixed by the “decrees,”
Is our portion, that to think thus late of winning
  An amendment is a species of disease
Akin to that of Saul, when he went killing
  The Amalikitish infants.  Simple Saul,
With his appetite for mutton, was unwilling
  To slaughter Agog’s sheep, so saved them all.

God and Samuel both were wroth with such behavior,
  Saul’s mistake was in amending God’s decree;
When the cranky king assumed to be a Saviour,
  He transcended all the bounds of decency.
And when Samuel heard the lowing of the cattle,
  And the bleating sheep and lambs beyond the gate,
He gave Saul a good sound cursing, for the battle
  Was of God; the orders, “kill, annihilate.”

So I charge you, yes, I warn you, use discretion;
  Do not tinker with “God’s fixed eternal laws;”
Pray don’t meddle with the sacred old “Confession,”
  Hands off, Elders, don’t attempt to patch a clause.
Think of Saul, ––hist, here comes Satan, I expect he
  Heard me talking non-revision; if so be,
He’ll order Pluto, with his imps, to inject me
  Full of brimstone; good-bye, Elders, pity me.

—[L. M. C.

Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 168-172
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

PRESLEY CURTIS, who has long been concerned with the agricultural industries of Cardington township, Morrow county, Ohio, has passed his entire life in the Buckeye State, and his memory traverses the long years intervening between the pioneer days and this end of the century period.
     His father, Samuel Curtis, was born near Leesburg, Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1794, a son of Barnabas Curtis, who is thought to have been a native of Massachusetts.  The latter was one of seven brothers who settled along the Ohio river, and their history from that time is obscure, no records concerning them being extant.  The father of our subject was a soldier in the war of 1812.  He married Melinda Sinclair, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1789.  Their marriage was consummated in Belmont county, Ohio, where they settled and made their permanent home.  Prior to his marriage, the father had learned the cooper’s trade at Elliott’s Mills, Virginia, and he followed this line of occupation for some time, after which he purchased a six-horse team and engaged in transporting goods to the West, as Ohio was then known, before the national turnpike road had been built.  After his marriage he settled in Kirkwood township, Belmont county, Ohio, the date of such location having been 1824.  Here he had purchased land of the Government, the farm being heavily wooded, stony and entirely unreclaimed.  Our subject has in his possession the original deed of this land, the same having been signed by President Andrew Jackson.  The father cleared and improved the farm, and was a quite extensive land owner at the time of his death, which occurred in 1868.  His widow, who had been a cripple for seventeen years, died in 1872.
     They were the parents of seven children, five of whom are now living, namely: Mary Jones, of Hendrysburgh, Belmont county, Ohio; Isaac, of Harrison county, this State; Margaret Ann Forman, of Belmont county; Presley, subject of this review; and Samuel, a resident of Belmont county.
     Presley Curtis was born in Kirkwood township, Belmont county, Ohio, May 24, 1830, and there remained until he had attained man’s estate.  In January, 1856, he was united in marriage to Harriet H. Romans, who was born in Flushing township, Belmont county, January 25, 1834, the only daughter of Harrison D. and Louisa (Haynes) Romans, pioneer settlers in that county.  They also became the parents of one son, Harvey A. Romans.
     After his marriage our subject settled on his father’s farm, where he remained for seven years, after which he purchased a farm in Flushing township, the same county, devoting himself to its cultivation for three years.  February 14, 1864, he enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundred and Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and accompanied his regiment to Kentucky, where they were assigned duty in guarding railroad lines.  He served in this way until October of the same year, and then returned home, sick.  As a result of his service his health was quite seriously impaired for a year after his discharge.
      Mr. Curtis came to Morrow county in April, 1866, and settled on his present farm, which comprises 125 acres, all under effective cultivation and devoted to mixed farming.  Our subject has given special attention to the raising of stock, and has been very successful in this line of enterprise.  He has dealt largely in live-stock, and drove cattle into the leading markets before railroad transportation was to be had.
     Mr. and Mrs. Curtis became the parents of three children, two of whom are living, namely: Alva E., who married Ada Frye, lives in Cardington, this county, and has two children; and Rev. Emmet H., who married Lizzie, the daughter of F. C. Stanley, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume, is a resident of Gravity, Iowa, and has one child.  Mrs. Curtis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Fraternally our subject is identified with James St. John Post, G. A. R., of Cardington.
     Mr. Curtis was a school teacher in early manhood, and he has ever maintained a lively interest in educational work, giving his children exceptional advantages.  He has been School Director for many years, having held this preferment in Belmont county.  In politics he supports the principles advocated by the Republican party, and has been quite an active worker, though in no sense an office seeker.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 172-174
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.