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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Defiance County, Ohio
containing a History of the County; Its Townships,
Towns, Etc.;
Military Record; Portraits of Early Settlers and
Prominent Men; Farm Views; Personal
Reminiscences, Etc.
Published at Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co.
1883
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Farmer Twp. -
JAMES A. GARDNER was born in Columbiana
County, Ohio, Nov. 29, 1818, and came to Farmer Township in
1842. He married Miss Elizabeth Hartman, of
Farmer, Nov. 11, 1845. She died Jan. 14, 1847, aged
twenty-one years. He married Miss Susan C. Miller,
of Stark County, Ohio, Nov. 30, 1848. His family is
Cynthia S., by his first wife; Ira F., Celestia E., Mary
E., Henry G., James B., Ada J., George B., William P., Clement
L., and Charles; all living, the oldest married.
Mr. Gardner purchased the old "Nathan Farmer"
place in Section 1 . The first cabin in the township was erected
on this farm in 1833. Mr. Gardner purchased
it of Nathan Farmer. It then had about
twenty acres cleared. Mr. Gardner went, at
that time, to Brunersburg, to the Hilton mill and to Clarksville
to get his milling done. It then took one or two days to make
the trip to Defiance, when the roads were deep and new.
Then game—such as deer, bear, turkey, wolves and the like—was
quite plenty. The wolves soon disappeared, the bear
followed, and deer about 1860. The forests were quite
heavy, and it took much toil to clear up a farm. Since the
land has been cleared and drained, farms have greatly increased
in value and are quite productive, raising fine crops of wheat,
corn, oats and hay. Mr. G. has a homestead of 160
acres, with good barn and new frame residence.
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at Chicago:
Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 273 |
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Defiance Twp. -
CHRISTIAN L. GEIGER,
born Feb. 15, 1830, in Geislingen, Wurtemberg, Germany, was one
of a family of ten children of Coonrad and Catharine (Feigel)
Geiger. The former died in his native land, the latter
came to America, and died in Defiance. There are but three
of the children living, viz., Coonrad Jr., Christian L.
and Gotlieb, all residents of Ohio. At the age of
fourteen, the subject of this sketch was bound out as an
apprentice for three years to learn turning, and took his place
at the lathe, where he soon found he had to learn to live on
porridge made from the chips, or, in other words, his food
consisted mainly of water, a pinch of salt and crumbs of bread,
which formed a very thin dish of soup, with a cup of coffee
occasionally added for breakfast. This, says Mr. Geiger,
was the fate of many a poor apprentice of the old country.
Young Geiger was serving his time, distant about twelve
miles from the parental roof, which he was permitted to visit
occasionally, on the Sabbath, but had to be at his post promptly
on Monday morning, performing his journey on foot. His
parents used to slip an odd shilling into his pocket, with which
to get an extra lunch. Thus young Geiger struggled
on, in a half- starving condition, for about two years and a
half, when his father bought his time and set him free. At
the age of eighteen, he sailed for America, arriving in New York
Feb. 15, 1854; from there came to Defiance, where he landed
February 25, and worked on the Wabash Railroad, which was being
built at that time. In November he went to Adrian, Mich.,
and worked at his trade for William Campbell for
|6 per month and board for two .months, after which he worked by
the piece, remaining there about three years, until the panic of
1857, when he was thrown out of business and came back to
Defiance, and went into the woods in Henry County, where his
brother Coonrad had settled. Here he put up a foot
lathe, turning out bedstead and chair stuff, until the fall of
1858, when he returned to Michigan and secured a job in the town
of Hudson, where he remained until the spring of 1859, when in
company with William Hoffman (whose acquaintance
he made at Hudson), he returned once more to Defiance, secured
water-power from the canal of William Groeher,
erected a small shop, and commenced the furniture business on a
small scale, Geiger turning out and manufacturing the
material, Hoffman, being a cabinet-maker, put the
material together and finished it up ready for market.
About two years thereafter, they purchased from Dr. I. N.
Thacker, at a cost of $275, the lot upon which their large
furniture factory now stands, Mr. Geiger trading
his gold watch for 9,000 feet of oak lumber with which to build,
putting in an eight-horse-power at $400, purchased from Capt.
William H. Thornton on credit for four years.
War times coming on, business became brisk and money plenty, and
they soon got out of debt. In 1865, they added largely to their
factory, and put in an engine of twelve horse-power. In
1871, purchased fifty feet front on the corner of Clinton and
Front streets, and in 1873 built thereon their fine three-story
brick block for warerooms Mr. Geiger was married,
at Defiance, May 2, 1851), to Miss Caroline
Kerner, an orphan girl, who was born in Germany May 21,
1842. Nine children have been born to them - Catharine,
born Sept. 10, 1860; William, born January 'j!9, 1863;
Emma, born Sept. 10, 1865; Reinhold, born Nov. 9, 1867,
died July 9, 18—; Caroline, born Sept. 29, 1870, died
June 29, 1872; Mamie and Bertha, twins, born Dec.
24, 1872; Amanda, born Feb. 2, 1876; Clara, born
Jan. 8, 1880.
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 249 |
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Delaware Twp. -
F. R. GILLESPIE was born Aug. 9, 1852, at
Sulphur Springs, Crawford County, Ohio, and remained there until
1860, when his parents removed to Paulding County, where he
remained until 1874, and marrying Miss Mary Richner,
Sept. 2, 1873. He removed to Sherwood in 1874, and engaged
in business, keeping a boarding house and grocery. His
family consists of Bertha, Walter and Charles B.
Mrs. Gillespie died June 2, 1881.
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at Chicago:
Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 260 |
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Milford Twp. -
AVA GINGERY states that the Universalist
Church at Logan Corners was built about 1872. It is of
brick, and cost about $1,400. A schoolhouse at the Corners
was built in 1878, in District No. 9. Mr.
Gingery was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1842, and
came to the Corners in 1801. His family consists of three
children. Mr. G, married Miss Eliza
Hopkins January 8, 1872.
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 327 |
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Defiance Twp. -
JOHN W. GORMAN
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 252 |
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Defiance Twp. -
MICHAEL GORMAN
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 212 |
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Defiance Twp. -
JOHN D. GRAPER
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 247 |
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Milford Twp. -
JACOB GREEN, JR., was born Aug. 21, 1825,
in Licking County, Ohio, and resided near Johnstown, and removed
with his father, Thomas Green, a Virginian, and
family to what is now Milford Township in 1835, where his father
died in 1845, June 7, aged forty six years. His mother,
Mary (Willison) Green, died June 8, 1853, aged
about fifty-two. She was born at Hagerstown, Md.
Mr. Green married Lovina Green Jan. 17, 1847.
She died October 31, 1870, aged forty- two years. She was
daughter of George Green, of Milford Township. The father
of Mr. Green settled on Section 5, near the St.
Joseph River, the present homestead of Mr. Green,
which contains 160 acres. When his parents landed in
Milford Township, the forests were quite dense, and very heavily
timbered. His father was the second settler in the
township, Mr. Slater being the first.
Thomas Green, Sr., helped raise Mr.
Slater's cabin, in August, 1834, when there to select his
land. The cabin of Mr. Green was nest put
up, in October, 1834. Thomas Green's children were
Diadema, Hester, Jacob, Mary,
Mahulda, Rosalinda, Ira, David,
Jeremiah and Thomas. Mr. Green
and his father killed great numbers of deer, and Mr.
Green, Sr., killed as high as sixty deer, for five or
six years, each autumn, and became somewhat noted for his skill
and success in taking bruin. The Pottawatomies, and some
Miamis, often camped along the St. Joseph River and hunted.
Mr. Green frequently joined them in shooting deer
by candle-light from their canoes. They killed large
numbers by such means. The deer, except an occasional one,
all disappeared about 1850. The bears ceased to appear
earlier. Wild cats, of which there were great numbers
about the swamps, left about 1870. The remarkable number
of wild cats in this region seems to give strength to the old
tradition that the tribe that gave name to " Lake Erie," the
"Cats," actually existed in this region. Mr.
Green and Mr. Pierce say that wild cats
existed here in vast numbers and size, and of almost all colors
— brown, brindle, spotted and black—and of immense proportion,
generally weighing from forty to seventy pounds apiece, and when
cornered and incapable of retreat, quite ferocious and sometimes
dangerous in self-defense. Mr. Green states
that he killed a "cat" that weighed eighty pounds, the largest
one ever caught in the township, which was stuffed by Green, and
went to Barnum's museum. Milling, in 1835, was done at
Edgerton, on Fish Creek, in Ohio, and at a little mill at
Clarksville, and occasionally at Brunersburg. The
first school remembered was in Williams County, and the teacher
was John Sawyer. The first blacksmith was
Robert Carr, and a man by the name of Zedicar.
The first carpenter was James Weight. The
first cabinetmaker was Jeremiah A. Ball. The first
shoe-maker was Thomas Olds; the next was John
Poper. The first Methodist meeting was at Col.
Samuel Lewis', in St. Joseph Township, Williams
County, in 1836. The Revs. Brock and
Willson were the preachers on the circuit. The
Lutherans, came in subsequently. Their first preacher was
James Carther, about 1843. He had a little
church at Clarksville. The road to Hicksville was cut
about 1835, and subsequently improved as the township became
more compactly settled. The first Justice of the Peace in
the township was Elisha Clark. The present
Justice of the Peace is C. W. Barney. Farmer Center
and St. Joseph, in Williams County, were joined for the election
of a Justice of the Peace prior to the erection of Defiance
County. The family of Mr. Green consists of
nine children, six boys and three girls, all living. Their
names are Thomas Jefferson, George W., Eli, Charles, Levi,
Leroy, Caroline, Lucy and Arabelle. Three sons are
married, also one daughter.
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 326 |
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Defiance Twp. -
JACOB J. GREENE
Source: History of Defiance County, Ohio - Published at
Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co. - 1883 - Page 233 |
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