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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Allen County, Ohio
And Representative Citizens
Edited and Compiled by
Charles C. Miller, Ph. D.
Assisted by
Dr. Samuel A. Baxter
Lima, Ohio
Published by Richmond & Arnold
George Richmond; G. R. Arnold
Chicago, Ill
1906
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WILLIAM BICE, father of Mrs.
Kay, was born at Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, Mar. 18,
1824, and died on his homestead, in Allen County, just out of
Spencerville, on Feb. 8, 1900. He was first married on
Jan. 20, 1847, to Anna Sunderland, and there were two
children born to them, vi.: Francis and Orlando.
The latter married Lucretia Courtshire, who reared by
Leonidas Post, another of the old settlers of the western
section of Allen County. On Dec. 11, 1856, William
Bice was married to his second wife, Tabitha
Sunderland, who was born Sept. 1, 1836, and is a daughter of
Dye and Mary (Berryman) Sunderland. The
Sunderlands were the fourth white family to settle in Allen
County. They had 12 children, of whom one died in infancy,
and another at the age of three years; the remaining 10 all
reached maturity and reared families of their own. Mrs.
Bice and her sister, Mrs. Mary Jane Mars,
now past 88 years of age, a resident of Decatur, Illinois, are
the only survivors.
The children of William Bice born to his
second union were nine in number, the survivors being as
follows: Amarilla, who is the wife of R. T. Sutton;
Anna M., who is the wife of S. W. Kemp, of
Spencerville; William Adolph, who married Effa
Gallant; Mercy Naomi, who is the wife of B. G.
Hover, of Lima; Andrew W., M. D., who was coroner of
Allen County from 1902 to 1905; and Bessie, who is the
wife of Howard L. Kay.
The late William Bice was reared among
the Quakers at Salem, Columbiana County, and all his life lived
according to their upright teachings. After his second
marriage, he settled on the homestead now occupied by his widow,
which is situated just south of Spencerville. At present
Mrs. Bice’s son-in-law, Mr. Kay, has
the historic old farm under lease. An old Indian burying
ground once occupied a part of it, and Dr. Andrew W. Bice
has taken a great interest in making a collection of relics of
the days of the aborigines found here. Mr. Kay
has recently stocked the old farm with a fine assortment of
sheep and hogs, and the management has been entrusted to an
experienced farmer and stock-raiser.
Mrs. Bice belongs to one of the oldest
families in the county, as mentioned above, and her
recollections of the days of her girlhood and early married
years are most entertaining and instructive. It scarcely
seems possible, in conversing with this animated, intelligent
and well-perserved lady, to believe that she lived in the days
when the Indians still wandered in numbers over all this country
and sat at her father’s hearthstone, receiving his bounty.
She recalls only their friendliness and their willingness to
barter fur for. food. In the days of which Mrs. Bice
tells, it was not considered a very great hardship to live in a
log cabin with earthen floor and with home-made quilts hung at
the open door for protection.
Mr. Bice kept on accumulating land until he
owned 530 acres. Subsequently he gave his children all but
225 acres, retaining this in the home stead farm, which is now a
property of large value. Mrs. Bice recalls
well the old walnut canoe which was used in early days to cross
the Auglaize River. She was care fully reared by an
excellent mother who taught her all the housewifely arts of
those days. Her mother was a famous weaver and she taught
her daughter to spin and weave and also to dye the coverlets,
such as are now occasionally found in the possession of old
families and are preserved as treasures. The old Bice
homestead has many of these wonderful examples of
industry and taste.
At school Mrs. Bice stood as one of the best
spellers, that being quite a distinction in her day. She
was also an expert horsewoman and relates that upon one
occassion, being invited to attend the wedding of Lenora
Pupinore with Thomas Leach, she started on horse
back, with a party consisting of six couples. Upon
reaching the home of the bride there being no gates, she jumped
the bars and as she was the first on the scene had the honor of
receiving the first taste of the “wedding bottle," a feature of
these occasions. General Black burn was present at
this wedding.
Looking at the life lived in the early days of Mrs.
Bice, it seems to modern views to have been one filled with
toil, hardship and privation; but it was not so regarded by many
of those who still survive; for they undoubtedly possessed a
will and courage equal to the emergencies they met and
successfully over came, and a practical habit of thought that
converted their necessary industry and frugality into pleasure.
The old orchard standing on the homestead was partly set out by
Indians who thus assisted Mr. Bice, with whom they were
always on friendly terms. Under on old locust tree still
standing in the orchard is the old horse mill where Mr. Bice
converted bushels of apples into sweet, wholesome cider.
It gave the family refreshments during the long winter evenings;
Mrs. Bice also boiled it down for cooking purposes,
making in one year 60 gallons of the real old-fashioned apple
butter, which she disposed of in Delphos, realizing the sum of
$300 for her work.
Source: History of Allen County, Ohio, Publ. by Richmond &
Arnold, Chicago, IL - 1906 - Page 746-747 |
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