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MRS. ELISABETH TEEL,
a representative of one of the old and firmly established
families of Crawford county, was born in Liberty township, in
this county, on July 20, 1829. She was a daughter of
Horatio and Nancy (Link) Markley. Horatio Markley,
distinguished as one of the most powerful men, physically, in
Crawford county, came here from his home in Somerset county,
Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1804, and entered a
fractional quarter section of land (one hundred and forty-four
acres0 in Liberty township, this now being the home and property
of the subject of this sketch. He erected a log cabin on
his land and spent his life here, being very prosperous and able
to assist his children very materially. His death was in
1880, at the age of seventy-six. He was one of the leaders
in the English Lutheran church and for many years prior to his
death no needy person ever applied in vain to him for
assistance. Far and wide his charities extended and he was
beloved by all who knew him.
The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Teel was also a
remarkable man, living to the age of one hundred and two years,
nine months and twenty-seven days, and his death occurring in
the house where our subject now lives, in 1864. His
father, a veteran of the Revolutionary war, owned six hundred
acres of land on the present site of Wheeling, and was killed by
the Indians.
Mrs. Teel was one of four children in her
parents' family, the three survivors being: John,
of Morrow county; Elisabeth, of this sketch, and
Mathias, of Wyandot county, this state. She grew up at
her parental home, acquiring an education in the pioneer
schools, and on Sept. 17, 1844, was united in marriage with
Mr. George W. Teel, who during his life was one of the
energetic and successful business men of Crawford county.
George W. Teel was born in Ashland, Ohio, on May
16, 1821, and he was a son of poor but honest and industrious
parents. At teh age of ten years, having received but a
limited education, he went to work in the brick-yard of John
Moffit, where he remained for two summers, and during the
two following seasons drove a team on the Ohio canal.
Later he engaged in farm work at various places in Stark county,
for several years. In the meantime his father, John C.
Teel, had removed to Guernsey county and purchased a small
farm. George managed this property for some two
years, while his father worked at his trade of blacksmith.
In his seventeenth year he taught school in Wayne county during
one winter, and also followed the same occupation in his
nineteenth year. After this he attended the Ashland
Academy for one term of five months and then engaged in clerking
for one year in a general store, in Benton, Holmes county.
In 1842 he removed to Navarre, in Stark county, and from April
to July engaged in the business of buying horses, which he took
to Canada and sold to the British officers.
Mr. Teel removed to Crawford county in August,
1843, and purchased the George W. Galloway farm, on which
he resided to the time of his death. For fifteen years he
taught school in Sulphur Springs, and vicinity and conducted the
first English school ever taught in the Broken Sword district.
After this the residents never wished to support a German school
in that locality. In 1844, for a period of six months, he
was engaged in the mercantile business in Sulphur Springs, with
a Mr. Allen, the establishment being known as The Great
Western Shore. In 1862 he was appointed revenue assessor
of Crawford county and served in this capacity for nine years,
and during the fall of 1872 he was employed by the A. & L. E. R.
R. as collecting agent for the corporation, continuing with the
company in this capacity for three years.
In the spring of 1877 Mr. Teel removed his
family to Bucyrus and was engaged one year as assignee in
settling up the business of Osman & Woodside. The
family removed to Crestline in the spring of 1878 and remained
there some twelve months and then returned to the farm in
Liberty township. During this time, however, Mr. Teel
still continued in Bucyrus as a partner in a carriage
establishment. He served some years as secretary of the
Crawford County Farmers' Fire Insurance company, and was also
purchasing agent for the Ohio Central Railroad Company, being
agent for this corporation, and also for the old A. & L. E. R.
R. He secured nearly all the right of way for the roadbed
from the coal fields of Toledo, including the depot grounds,
which were purchased in the '70s, in that city. Mr.
Teel was also instrumental to a great extent in securing the
guarantee fund for over one hundred thousand dollars subscribed,
in 1880, by the company, along the route as a local aid to its
completion. With Messrs. D. W. Swigart, C. Fenton, S.
R. Harris and James B. Gormly, he succeeded in the
enterprise of getting the machine-shops bill passed by the
legislature and was a member of many organizations requiring a
man of integrity.
Mr. Teel died on July 19, 1889. In 1882 he
had had a premonition, being stricken then with paralysis and
then gave up his position with the railroads and retired to live
on his farm. He enjoyed seven years of quiet life before
the end came. He was an active member of the Republican
party, and had been connected with the English Lutheran church
for many years. His death was widely lamented, as he had
been one of the most public-spirited men that Crawford county
ever possessed. Seven of his eight children still survive,
viz: Leander; Jared, of Mansfield; Laura L.,
the wife of Milton Ebert, of Elyria, Ohio; Ellen,
the wife of Ernest Michaelis, of Spokane, Washington;
George, of North Robinson, Ohio; Horatio M., in the
electric light business in Seattle, Washington; and
Frances, the wife of Grant Zerbe, of Sandusky.
Jennie, the second child, passed away.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Teel, so
badly bereaved, removed to the old Markley homestead, the
home of her youth. At the time of her father's death she
purchased the property and resides upon it, very efficiently
managing the extensive farming operations carried on there.
She is a very intelligent lady, of superior judgment, and is one
very highly esteemed in Crawford county.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 333 |
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JAMES C. TOBIAS |
JAMES C. TOBIAS
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 32 |
CHARLES TOBIN. Upon the farm where
he now resides Charles Tobin first opened his eyes to the
light of day on the 20th of January, 1855. He is now the
only survivor of the three children born until William J. and
Marjory (Stewart) Tobin. The family is of Irish
lineage, and the father of our subject was born in the town of
Letter Kenny, in County Donegal, Ireland, about 1820. His
parents died within one week of typhoid fever, and he was thus
left an orphan at the age of eight years. He then became
an inmate of the home of an uncle, Mr. John Gibson, with
whom he remained until twenty years of age. Attracted by
the opportunities afforded in the land of the free, he has his
way to the new world in 1840, landing in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, after a voyage of four weeks upon the sailing
vessel "The Lazy Hulk," so named because of her slowness in
travel. When he reached the shores of the new world Mr.
Tobin had but one English guinea, and this he changed into
United States money, receiving four dollars and eighty-four
cents. For ten days he remained in Philadelphia and then
went up the Delaware river about thirty-miles, where he secured
employment as a farm hand, working in that capacity until the
spring of 1841 and during the winter attended school. He
then came to Ohio by way of the Ohio river to Pittsburg and by
stage to Richland county, locating in Rome, where his uncle,
Dr. Gustavus Allen, then resided. Our subject worked
upon his uncle's farm during the summer months and in the winter
again took up his educational work in the district schools of
the neighborhood. In the spring of 1853 he entered
upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade under a Mr.
Haymaker, of Franklin township, with whom he remained for
two years. He afterward went to Mansfield, where he was
employed at his trade for a similar period during the fall and
winter months, while in the summer he worked at farm labor.
About 1845 he entered the employ of a Mr. Barnett, a
wagon-maker of Franklin township, in whose service he continued
for two winters. He then obtained work with Charles
Stewart as a farm hand, and in 1847 he was united in
marriage to his employer's daughter, Miss Margorie Stewart,
who was born in Franklin township, Richland county. Her
mother was Mrs. Catherine (Sweeney) Stewart, and both of
her parents were natives of County Donegal, Ireland.
Immediately after their marriage they came to the United States
and for a short period were residents of Pennsylvania, coming
thence to Ohio. The father entered land on Black Fork, in
Franklin township, Richland county, being one of the first
settlers in this portion of the state. The Indians were
yet numerous and the country was wild and unimproved.
After his marriage William J.
Tobin remained upon his father-in-law's farm as a farm hand
for three years, in connection with his brother-in-law. In
the spring of 1850 he came with his young wife and one child to
his present home, having purchased eighty acres of land during
the previous winter. This was practically virgin forest,
for only a small patch of four acres had been cleared, and up it
a log cabin had been erected. This little pioneer home
furnished shelter for the Tobin family until the spring
of 1861, when the residence which our subject is now located was
erected. In the following autumn he built a substantial
bank barn, and in the course of time made his farm one of
the best improved country seats in this portion of the
state, reclaiming the land from the forest and the swamps and
transforming it into richly cultivated fields, whose golden
harvests returned to him a gratifying income each year.
During the '50s Mr. Tobin also purchased an additional
tract of forty-one acres a quarter of a mile west and a quarter
of a mile south of his home. He is a stanch Democrat, but
the honor and emoluments of office have not had attraction for
him, as he has preferred to devote his energies to his farming
interest. Of the Presbyterian church he is a
consistent member, and during the past quarter of a century has
faithfully served as one of its elders. Although he has
traveled life's journey for more than eighty years he is yet in
possession of all his faculties and enjoyed remarkably good
health until the past winter, when his constitution was
somewhat undermined by la grippe. Throughout the
community in which he has resided he is venerated and respected
and enjoys the warm friendship of young and old, rich and poor.
His wife passed away in July, 1883, when fifty-five years of
age.
Charles Tobin spent the days of his boyhood in
the usual manner of farmer lads of that period. In the
winter months he carried his text-books to the nearest school
and there mastered the common branches of English learning.
He worked upon his father's farm as health and strength would
permit and in the winter of 1889-90 he went to southern
California for the purpose of recuperating his health. In
the same hear he was united in marriage to Miss Chloris
Beattie Turrittin, a native of Le Seuer county, Minnesota,
and a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Kendall) Turrittin.
Her father was born in County Donegal, Ireland, and her mother
was a native of Maine. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Tobin has been blessed with two children, but the son died
in infancy. The daughter, Margie Elizabeth, was
born May 6, 1894.
In the spring following his marriage Mr. Tobin
assumed the management of the home farm, which he has since
operated on the shares. He has placed the land under a
high state of cultivation, and the neat and thrifty appearance
of the place indicates his careful supervision. In
politics he is quite prominent in Democratic circles, and in
n1892 was appointed township trustee to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of John Bland. In the spring of
1893 he was regularly elected to the office, and in 1896 was
re-elected, so that he has served for more than two terms.
He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, and also
belong to Cranberry Grange, No. 1435, Patrons of Husbandry.
Mr. Tobin is accounted one of the progressive
agriculturists of his community. His entire life has been
passed within the borders of Crawford county, and the fact that
many of his warmest friends are numbered among those who have
known him from childhood is an indication of his upright and
straightforward career.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 700 |
THOMAS TOBIN.
The name of Tobin is a familiar one in Crawford county,
for through many years its representatives have been actively
connected with its agricultural interests and have been
promoters of the progress and development of this portion of the
state. Thomas Tobin, of this review, was born in
Letter Kenny county, Donegal, Ireland, about 1822. Little
is known concerning the ancestral history of the family, for
during his early boyhood his parents died within one week of
typhoid fever.
After the death of his parents Thomas Tobin
found a home with his uncle, John Gibson, where he
remained until his twentieth year. Then, in connection
with his brother William, he rented a field and raised a
crop of flax. With the sale of his crop and through other
means the brothers acquired enough money to enable one of them
to come to America, and as William was the elder our
subject turned over his money to him, with the agreement that
William was to send for Thomas when he had earned the
sum sufficient to pay the latter's passage to the new world.
In 1844 our subject started for the United States, landing in
Philadelphia on the 3d of July, after seven weeks spent on the
bosom of the Atlantic. Two weeks later he came to Ohio,
making the trip by rail to Johnstown, thence by canal to
Pittsburg and on to Wooster, Ohio, by stage. From that
place to Rome he continued the journey on foot. During the
succeeding autumn he went to work for a Mr. Haymaker, in
Franklin township, Richland county, by whom his brother
William was employed, and for a year continued in that
service, receiving the meager compensation of three dollars per
month for his services. He next went to Mansfield, where
he engaged in carpentering for two years, and in the spring of
1847 he returned to Franklin township, entering into partnership
with his former employer, Mr. Haymaker, the connection
being maintained until late in the succeeding autumn.
Their relation being then severed, Mr. Tobin
continued carpentering and building on his own account until
after his marriage, when he turned his attention to agricultural
pursuits.
On the 6th of April, 1849, was celebrated the marriage
of our subject and Miss Elizabeth Shilling, a native of
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of David and
Anna (Hollister) Shilling, both of whom were natives of
Germany and came from Pennsylvania to Crawford county, Ohio,
about 1847. During the years of a happy married life eight
children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tobin,
and the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death.
The children are: Anna Mary, widow of Samuel
Springer, of Cranberry township; William James, who
conducts a blacksmith shop in New Washington; David Elmer,
a resident farmer of Cranberry township; John Franklin,
who is a proprietor of a grocery store in New Washington;
Marjorie E., wife of Allison Bittikoffer, of Bucyrus;
Thomas G., of Canyon City, Colorado; Eva E., at
home; and Clement L., who is living in Denver, Colorado.
For a year after his marriage Mr. Tobin resided
upon the farm which adjoins his present home place, and then
purchased the eighty acres which he has since improved and
cultivated. He first erected a log cabin in the midst of
the forest and removed to his home, the family experiencing many
of the trials and hardships of pioneer life during the early
days in which he was gaining a start. After some years he
erected his present substantial residence and other farm
buildings and has since carried on the work of development and
improvement, until the property is now very valuable. In
politics he is a Democrat and in religious faith is an English
Lutheran. Strong purpose and indefatigable energy have
been the means of bringing to him success in life, and he is now
numbered among the men of affluence and among the leading and
influential citizens of Cranberry township.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 547 |
Auburn Twp. -
JOHN H. TRAGO, farmer and stock-raiser; P.
O. Tiro; was born in Auburn Township, Crawford Co., Ohio, May
31, 1840. His parents, Daniel and Sarah (Walters) Trago
came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1838, locating in Auburn
Township, Crawford Co. They were the parents of ten
children - Samuel W., Ann E., Elmira, Agnes, Francis M.,
Vincent T., John H., Alice A., Mary and Morris W.
The father was born May 8, 1796, and died in Richland Co., Ohio,
Jan. 3, 1876. The mother was born Jan. 1, 1806, and
departed this life May 22, 1871. Mr. Trago was one
of the prominent and influential men of his neighborhood, and a
Quaker of sterling honesty and upright dealings. John
H. was reared upon a farm. Oct. 21, 1866, he was
united in marriage with Nancy A., daughter of James
and Jane Mount, of Richland Co., and by her has four
children - Fannie, born Sept. 1, 1867; Justice,
born May 23, 1873; Andrew E., born Aug. 18, 1876, and
John H., born July 9, 1879. Mr. Trago is
a successful and enterprising farmer, owns 120 acres of
well-improved land, and is a Republican in politics, and is
highly respected by his friends and neighbors.
Source: History of Crawford County, Ohio, Publ. Chicago:
Baskin & Battey, Historical Publishers, 186 Dearborn Street. -
1881 - Page 875 |
Auburn Twp. -
MARY E. TRAGO, Tiro; was born in Holmes
Co., Ohio, in 1843. Her first husband was Wesley Dull,
and by him she had two children - Malin M., born in 1867,
and one, E. W., who died in infancy. Mr. Dull
departed this life Jan. 23, 1867. Mrs. Dull
remarried May 5, 1870, her second husband being Vincent T.
Trago. She bore Mr. Trago two sons -
Marion W., born Apr. 9, 1872, and Harry D., born Aug.
9, 1876. Mr. Trago was First Lieutenant in the late
war, and was in some of the most hotly contested battles.
A few of the principal engagements he was in are Shiloh,
Corinth, Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek,
Atlanta, Nashville, Columbia and others. It is said of him
that he was a brave and kind officer, and a splendid soldier.
During the spring of 1880, he was stricken down with disease,
and he died the death of a Christian, April 14 of the same year.
His death was greatly deplored by his friends and neighbors, and
especially by his devoted wife. Mrs. Trago lives on
the place, 160 acres, left by him. For a more detailed
account of Mr. Trago's family connection, see the
biography of his brother, John H. Trago, which will be
found in another part of this work.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Ohio, Publ. Chicago: Baskin & Battey, Historical Publishers, 186
Dearborn Street. - 1881 - Page 876 |
WILLIAM S. TUTTLE.
Wherever they have found residence in the United States,
Canadians have been model citizens, and their descendants have
followed in their footsteps. Prominent among Canadians who
have settled in Crawford county, Ohio, was the late Alvin F.
Tuttle, whose son, William S. Tuttle, is a well-known
farmer of Texas township.
Alvin F. Tuttle was born near Elizabethtown,
Canada, May 26, 1818, and was reared to manhood there. In
1839 he settled in Lykens township, Crawford county, Ohio. In
1841 he was joined by his parents, and they bought eighty acres
of land where John Tuttle now lives. Later Alvin
F. Tuttle removed to Texas township and bought eighty acres
of land where his son, William S. Tuttle, now resides.
He added to his original purchase until he owned one hundred and
ninety acres, which he cleared and improved until it was a
valuable agricultural property. He was a Republican in
politics from the organization of that party until his death,
and took much interest in township affairs, serving his fellow
citizens as township clerk and filling the office of assessor of
taxes for more than fifteen years. He was for more than
sixty years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, devout
in his worship, regular in attendance at stated services and
generous in his contributions toward the support of its material
interests. When he came to the county he began his career
in a log cabin which he erected in the wilderness. The
woods were alive with game of all kinds and the Indians were
frequent visitors at his humble abode. He was married Oct.
1, 1844, to Eliza Thompson, who died May 26, 1893.
He died May 26, 1901, and they are buried in Poplar cemetery
near their old home. They had five children, the following
information concerning four of whom will be found interesting:
Norsicy A. died in infancy; George T. lives in
Bucyrus, Ohio; V. O., who was a butcher, died in Nevada;
and Dow J. is a merchant at Sycamore, Ohio.
William S. Tuttle, youngest child of Alvin F.
and Eliza (Thompson) Tuttle, was born on the farm in Texas
township, Crawford county, Ohio, on which he now lies, Sept. 17,
1856. He was reared to farm labor and educated in the
district school. He farmed in association with his father
until the latter's death, and is one of the most successful
general farmers in the township. He is now the owner of
his father's old homestead. In politics he is a
Republican, and he has held the office of trustee of Texas
township for five years. He is a Knight of Pythias and is
widely known as a popular, enterprising and public-spirited man.
Jan. 1, 1880, he married Miss Jennie Dunlap.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 614 |
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