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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
Vol. II
by Wm. Rusler - Publ.
1921
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BENJAMIN F. JENNINGS.
Public-spirited co-operation in civic affairs and an industrious
application of intelligent and practical farming abilities have
characterized the career of Benjamin F. Jennings, whose
well-cultivated and valuable country estate is located in Monroe
Township, three miles east and three-quarters of a mile north of
West Cairo. Mr. Jennings is a native of Allen
County, having been born on the farm of his father one-half mile
east and one mile south of Beaver Dam, Aug. 26, 1864, a son of
Lewis and Mary (Everett) Jennings.
Lewis Jennings was born in Jackson Township, Allen
County, in 1828, a son of James and Elizabeth Jennings,
who came in 1826 to Allen County from Tuscarawas County, and,
settling on an undeveloped farm in Jackson Township, passed the
remainder of long, honorable and useful lives in the work of
development and cultivation. They became the parents of
Lewis, Thomas, John, Abel, Lucinda and Sarah.
Of these, Lewis Jennings to manhood on the home farm
first married Anna McKee, who died leaving three
children: James, John and Anna. Mr. Jennings
afterward married Mary Everett, who was born in Allen
County in 1838, and they became the parents of these children:
Francis, Benjamin F., Alfred, George, Jasper, Clara and
Kitty M., of whom B. F., George and Jasper
are living, the last two being residents of Oklahoma.
B. F. Jennings was reared on a farm in Richland
Township, and received good education advantages in his youth,
attending the schools of Beaver Dam and the normal school at
Angola, Indiana. He entered upon his career as a teacher,
and for twenty years instructed classes in Allen and Putnam
counties, Ohio, and Steuben County, Indiana, becoming one of the
most efficient and popular educators in this region and making
and retaining countless friendships among his pupils and their
parents, as well as among his associates in the profession.
In the meantime, when not engaged in his duties in the
schoolroom, he applied himself to farming.
Mr. Jennings was married Dec. 24, 1890, to
Miss Clara Norman, who was born on the farm on which she now
makes her home Sept. 3, 1866, and was educated in the public
schools. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jennings
started housekeeping on the present home property, and here were
born their four children: L. D., born Oct. 22,
1892, who is married and resides at Celina, Ohio; Zoe, a
graduate of high school who also attended Ohio Northern College
at Ada, and is now the wife of R. H. Jacobs, of Sugar
Creek Township; J. E., a student at Wesleyan University,
Delaware, Ohio; and Freelin L. born Dec. 24, 1902, a
graduate of Lima High School.
Since giving up his educational work in the
school-room. Mr. Jennings has applied himself
uninterruptedly to farming, with the exception of five years
when he was in the employ of the Extension Department of the
State University, lecturing on agricultural subjects. At
present he has a well-improved and highly productive property,
on which h is buildings and equipment suggest the progressive
spirit and good management of the proprietor. Mr.
Jennings is a republican in his political allegiance, and
while not a politician, is well informed as to the issues of the
day, and is a public-spirited supporter of all movements tending
to make for the betterment of his community. With Mrs.
Jennings he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 284 |
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GAIL JENNINGS,
an ex-service man who served in the Medical Corps in France, is
a member of one of the older families of Allen County, and since
the war has engaged his energies vigorously and with a
commendable degree of success in the agricultural life of Bath
Township.
He was born in Monroe Township, Aug. 28, 1895, son of
Orlando and Ida (Crawford) Jennings. His
grandfather, Daniel Jennings, came from Pennsylvania and
was one of the early settlers in Monroe Township, where he
reared his family. Of his nine children Orlando is
the eighth in age. Orlando Jennings has spent all
his life at the old homestead in Monroe Township, and is still
living on and operating the forty-four-acre farm where his
father lived before him. Orlando Jennings had four
children, all of whom are living, Gail being the second
in age.
Gail Jennings attended school in Sugar Creek
Township until he was nineteen, spending the summers in work on
the home farm. He was a young man about twenty-two when
the war came on, and in March, 1918 he enlisted at Lima as a
private in the Hospital Corps and was on duty six months in
Evacuation Hospital No. 14 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
July 13, 1918, he sailed for France from New York, spent three
days at Liverpool, from there went to Brest and for nine and a
half months was stationed in the Base Hospital at Rennecourt,
and while there was made a first class private in the Hospital
corps. He remained several months after the signing of the
armistice, and left Bret in February, 1919, on the freighter
Karmalla, landing in New York in March and was mustered out at
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio, Mar. 9, 1919.
Mr. Jennings soon resumed the vocation in line
with his early experience. In April, 1920, he married
Miss Vinnie Johnson, a daughter of William and Ollie
Johnson, of Beaver Dam. Since then they have operated
their farm of eighty acres in Bath Township, on rural route No 8
out of Lima. Mr. Jennings is a democrat in
politics.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 196 |
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LAVINA JENNINGS,
of 775 West Main street, Lima, is an old resident of Allen
county and related to several of the oldest families in the
annals of early settlement.
Mrs. Jennings was born in Monroe township of
Allen county, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Morris)
Hartman. Her mother was born in Monroe township, Sept.
28, 1835, and has lived at one place in the county since Mar. 4,
1855, being one of the oldest inhabitants of that section.
Her brother, George Morris, was born in October, 1833,
and is also still living in Monroe township. They were the
children of Henry and Margaret (Weaver) Morris.
Henry Morris was a Baptist minister and preached in a number
of pioneer communities in Allen county. John Hartman,
father of Mrs. Jennings, was born in Pickaway county,
Ohio, the son of John and Rebecca (Thomas) Hartman, who
pioneered to Monroe township of Allen county when all the
country was new.
Lavina Hartman was first married to Adam
Miller. He was born in Germany, a son of Michael
and Mary (Kunkleman) Miller, who came from their native
country and settled in Monroe township of Allen county as early
as 1835. Michael Miller entered land, cleared it up
and developed a good farm. After their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Miller settled at the old Miller homestead in
Monroe township, which Adam Miller acquired to the extent
of a hundred twenty acres. He lived there an honest and
sturdy farmer and upright citizen until his death on Sept. 1,
1890.
Mrs. Miller continued to live at the home farm
until 1904, when she removed to Columbus Grove, and in May 1907,
became the wife of Mr. Gregory Jennings. Mr. Jennings
was born in Allen county Sept. 13, 1836, grew up on a farm and
gave the best years of his life to the agricultural vocation.
His first wife was Celinda Hall, and by that marriage he
had a family of nine children. For many years he lived on
a farm in Monroe township, but was living on a farm in Cuyahoga
county, Ohio, when his wife, Celinda, died. Mr.
and Mrs. Jennings in October following their marriage moved
to Lima, where Mr. Jennings lived retired until his death
on Dec. 26, 1913.
Mrs. Jennings by her marriage to Adam Miller
had three children: Mary Elizabeth, wife of
James Snyder, of Warsaw, Indiana; John M., who died
at the age of twenty-six; and Joseph W., who lives in
American township.
Mrs. Jennings received her early education in
School District No. 3 of Monroe township. She is an active
member of the Methodist Church, while Mr. Miller was a
Lutheran. Adam Miller served as a trustee of Monroe
township and was a member of the National Union of Columbus
Grove. The late Gregory Jennings was a veteran of
the Civil War, having served a period of ninety days in the
Fifty-First Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 116 |
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CHARLES ELLIOTT JOHN.
Until he retired about a year ago Charles Elliott John
was widely known over northwestern Ohio as a grain merchant and
elevator proprietor, and for years the firm of John Brothers
handled much of the grain raised locally and shipped to market.
Mr. John represents one of the very old families
of Allen county. He was born in Elida Oct. 17, 1866.
His present comfortable home occupies the site of his
birthplace. He is of Welsh stock and of people who for
several generations were affiliated with the Quaker Church.
His parents were Jesse Jones and Mary (Roush) John.
His great-great grandfather, John Griffith, came from
Wales and Shamokin Pennsylvania. His descendants
subsequently became widely scattered. Mr. John's
grandfather was also named Griffith John, and from the
vicinity of Philadelphia came west to Ross county, Ohio, and
subsequently to Allen county. He was a Government
surveyor, and did some work as a surveyor in northwestern Ohio
as early as 1820. He became a farmer in German township of
Allen county, and lived there until his death in 1855, at the
age of fifty-nine. His wife was Rachel Miller, and
she died in 1860. Their daughter Martha, who
afterward married a Mr. Crites was the first white child
born in German township, now known as American township.
Altogether they had four sons and eight daughters, the sons
becoming farmers. The youngest of them, Jehu, was a
Union soldier and lost his life in the battle of Kenesaw
Mountain. Jessie Jones John, the second son in his
father's family, spent his entire life as a farmer and owned two
hundred acres here and in Elida. He was the father of
fourteen children, and thirteen of them are still living, the
youngest past forty years of age.
Charles Elliott John attended the public schools
of Elida to the age of nineteen, and in the meantime had much
training in the work of the home farm. He continued to
busy himself with farming occupations at home until 1895, when
at the time of the great oil boom in this section he became a
stockholder in the Elida Oil Company, and did much of the
practical work of the oil fields, being a pumper and employed in
other capacities. Mr. John continued active in the
various phases of the oil industry until 1910, in which year he
bought the local grain elevator at Lafayette, Ohio. He
joined his brother Jehu E., and they continued the
business under the name of John Brothers until 1919.
He also owned and operated the elevator at Beaverdam until July,
1920, since which date he has been practically retired, looking
after his private affairs.
In 1888 he married Miss Anna Kiracofe, daughter
of Robert and Margaret (Thomas) Kiracofe, of German
township. Three children were born to their marriage.
The first two, twins, are Otis Ray and Odessa Fae.
The son lives at Lima and by his marriage to Frances Swisher
has four sons. Odessa is the wife of Frank
Sherrick, of Beaver Dam, and has a son, Charles John
Sherrick. Mr. John's third child is Mary Margaret,
still attending school. In Politics he has always given
his vigorous support to the Republican candidates and
principles. After different times he has given service as
a member of the School Board, is affiliated with the Masonic
Lodge at Lafayette, charter member of the Elida Lodge of Odd
Fellows, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 148 |
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ISAAC WILEY JOHN.
Elida is one of the smaller cities of Ohio which is a
distributing center for a wide outside territory, so that the
business of meeting the demands of his trade is an important one
and the merchants of the place are achieving gratifying results
as a result of their hard work and good management. One of
these men is Isaac Wiley John, sole proprietor of the
general store which bears his name. He was born at Elida,
Ohio, in 1874, a son of Jesse J. and Mary (Rousch) John.
The family is of Welsh origin and was founded in the American
colonies by three brothers who came here from Wales.
Griffith John, the great-grandfather of Isaac W. John,
came to Ohio from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, named in honor of the
family, and after a time spent in Ross county moved into Allen
county and settled in what is now Elida. He named the
place Elida in honor of his brother, Elida John.
Griffith John secured land from the Federal Government to
the extent of 1,600 acres, and was engaged in conducting his
farm all of his life.
Jesse J. John was the eldest of fourteen
children born of his parents and his sister, Martha John,
was the first white child born at Elida. She married D.
L. Crites. As was but natural, Jesse J. John
was a farmer, and became very successful. He and his wife
had fourteen children, of whom Isaac W. John was the
twelfth.
Until he was fourteen years old Isaac W. John attended
the public schools of his district, but then left school and
began working on the homestead of 200 acres located near Elida,
and remained on it until he was twenty-three years old.
For the subsequent two years he was engaged in a butchering
business at Elida with his brother, and in 1900 began conducting
a meat market of his own, but sold it in 1902. For the
subsequent five years he was custodian of the Court House of
Allen county, and then for two years served on the police force
of Lima under Mayor Dyer. In 1910 he re-embarked in
the meat business at Elida, and after a year added groceries,
and now has a general store, handling a large and varied stock
of first-class goods, which he sells at prices as are as low as
is consistent with the market and the quality. His trade
comes from the city and the country for a radius of ten miles.
In addition to his store Mr. John has other interests and
is a stockholder of the Delphose Rubber Company.
Mr. John was first married to Pearl Miller,
who died in 1898, leaving one child. In 1900 Mr. John
was married to Myrtle Lease, of Elida, and they have
two children. In politics, Mr. John is a
Republican, and takes an intelligent interest in public matters.
From 1899 to 1905 he was town marshal of Elida, and the various
positions he has held and the interest he has always shown in
his duties have not only gained him the acquaintance of the
majority of the people of this region, but their friendship and
confidence, and by them and all who come into contact with him
he is recognized as a solid citizen of real merit.
Although he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the
John family were originally Quakers, and very active in
the Society of Friends. Fraternally he belongs to the Odd
Fellows and Local Order of Moose, and is a popular in these
organizations as he is elsewhere, for he is one who knows how to
inspire esteem.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 38 |
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JEHU EDGAR JOHN.
During the past century some of the most sterling citizens and
active business men of the Elida community have been members of
the John family. One of them is Jehu Edgar John,
whose interest have included a wide range - farming, retail and
wholesale meat business, grain dealing and other enterprises.
Mr. John is now practically retired from business and
still lives at Elida.
He was born at Elida in 1864, son of Jesse J. and
Mary (Roush) John. He is of Quaker Welsh ancestry, and
is descended from a Welshman who came to this country and
settled in Pennsylvania and inverted his name, making it
Griffith John instead of John Griffith. The
grandfather of Mr. John was a surveyor and one of the
pioneer farmers of Northwestern Ohio.
Jehu Edgar John attended the public schools of
his native town to the age of seventeen, and while in school and
until his marriage his energies were employed on the old
homestead farm, a portion of which was within the city limits of
Elida. In 1883 Mr. John married Emma Myers,
daughter of Daniel and Rebecca (Spangler) Myers, of
Elida. Three children were born to their marriage, one of
whom, Harold, died in 1892, at the age of eight years,
and the only one now living is Lena, Mrs. Irvin Sherrick,
of Elida.
Following his marriage Mr. John was employed for
four years and eight months as a Pennsylvania Railroad section
hand. For another two years he was foreman in the saw mill
of Brenneman & Steman. Hard work brought about ill
health and for three years he was practically an invalid.
On resuming business he bought the only meat market at Elida,
conducted it five years, did a wholesale butcher business, and
after selling his shop continued as a leading livestock buyer
for about twenty years. Mr. John made most of his
money in the livestock business. For a number of years he
was associated with his brother, C. E. John, under the
firm name of John Brothers, owners and operators of the
grain elevator at Lafayette, Ohio. Mr. John was
also in the wholesale hay and grain business for several years.
Since September, 1919, he has considered himself
practically retired from business responsibilities.
However he is a stockholder in the Farmers Bank of Elida and the
Elida Equity Exchange Elevator. In politics he votes as a
republican, and at one time was defeated by a small margin as
candidate for director of the Allen County Infirmary. He
is affiliated with Elida Lodge No. 818 of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 243 |
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JEHU MOUNT JOHN. A
partner in ownership and management with his brother Jesse
Roberts John in the one hundred eighteen acre farm, part of
the old John estate at Elida, Jehu Mounts John has
had all his interests and activities identified with that farm
and the community, has prospered, and has been a citizen ever
responsive to the needs and demands of his community.
His parents were Abia and Phoebe Ann (Myers) John,
and at the time of his birth, in 1865, they were living in a
home of simple comforts, a log cabin in Marion township.
Much is said in these pages concerning the pioneer John
family in Allen county. The old homestead of a hundred
eighteen acres is partly within the limits of Elida and in
American township.
Jehu Mounts John attended the public schools of
Elida, and has always had a share in the management of the
homestead. He is also a stockholder in the Elida Farmers
Equity Exchange Elevator and the Lima Telephone and Telegraph
Company. He was elected in 1915 and served one term as a
member of the Elida Town Council. Mr. John is a
Republican, is affiliated with the Masonic Order at Lima, elida
Lodge of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
In 1886 he married Carrie Conrad, daughter of Simon
and Malinda Conrad, of Elida. Mr. John died
Apr. 2, 1905.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 142 |
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JESSE CLINTON JOHN
is a member of a family that was established in Allen county
nearly a century ago, and his own active career has been
identified almost entirely with farming. He has made
farming a real business, has operated a very extensive acreage
in his time, and from that industry achieved a prosperity that
enables him to live practically retired in a comfortable home in
Elida.
His great-grandfather, named John Griffith, came
from Wales, locating at Shamokin, Pennsylvania, and in this
country changed his name to Griffith John. The
grandfather of Jesse C. John, named Griffith John,
was a surveyor by profession, and during the early twenties came
to Allen county and helped run some of the lines of survey in
this section of northwest Ohio. For the greater part he
lived on a farm, and died in 1855, at the age of fifty-nine.
Jesse Jones John, father of Jessie C., spent his
active life as a farmer near Elida. He married Mary
Roush, who was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock.
Their son Jesse Clinton John was born in Elida
Mar. 23, 1862, was educated in the public schools of his native
town, and while in school and afterward found employment for his
energies on the homestead.
In 1882 he established a home of his own by his
marriage to Dora Strawbridge, daughter of Christian
Strawbridge. He then farmed independently on his
father's place, subsequently operated a hundred eight acres near
Elida, and still later the old homestead of a hundred ninety
acres. Finally he bought a smaller place of thirty acres
north of Elida, and after making that his home for some years
sold out and is now living at his town home of Elida.
Mr. John is a Republican normally, but in local
politics at least votes for the man. He is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. John had
six sons and three daughters, seven of whom are still living.
Earl Strawbridge, the oldest, was born in 1883, and lived in
Hancock county, Ohio. Ernest Emerson is
married and lives at Lima. Gladys is the wife of
Charles Jones, of Harvard, Illinois. Donald
Dwight is a resident of Lima, and has three children.
Howard LaVerne lives in Toledo. Adrian
Armond went into the Government service at the age of
eighteen, served with the American Expeditionary Forces and the
Army of Occupation, and is now living in Toledo and is married.
The younger children are Ralph DeWitt, aged seventeen;
Mary, mrs. John Edward; and Blanche Marie.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 60 |
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JESSE ROBERTS JOHN has not
made many moves in his lifetime, and is one of those enviable
citizens who find their interests early in life and keep
steadily and contentedly in one environment. His home is
the old pioneer John farm, part of which is in the limits
of the village of Elida.
Mr. John was born, Sept. 8, 1869, in a log cabin
in Marion township, near the Auglaize River, a son of Abia
and Phoebe Ann (Myers) John. He is of Welsh ancestry,
and various members of the John family has been prominent
in Allen county for practically a century. Jesse R.
John attended a country school to the age of nineteen, and
left school because of ill health. Since then all his days
have been spent on the old homestead, and he and his brother
Jehu M. John still own the old place of a hundred eighteen
acres. He has been prospered in his life as a farmer, and
is a successful and public spirited citizens.
Mr. John was elected treasurer of Elida
Corporation of the Elida Methodist Church. He is
affiliated with the local lodge of Odd Fellows and votes with
the Republican party. In 1907 he married Edith Albers,
daughter of Peter and Emma (Tilbury) Albers of Chicago,
Illinois. They have one son, Clark Roberts, born in
1909.
Source: A Standard History of Allen County, Ohio
- Vol. II - Publ. Chicago: Warner i.e. Warner, Beers & Co., 1921
- Page 142 |
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