BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899.

* AINSWORTH, John Marion * AMES, John C. * ANSBERRY, Timothy Thomas * ARMSTRONG, George C. J. M. Ainsworth   JOHN MARION AINSWORTH - The Ainsworth family is remotely of Irish origin, and the subject of this sketch, a prominent resident of Hicksville, ahs inherited many of the best characteristics of that ancient and high-spirited people.  During his half-century of active business life he has won a leading rank in financial and commercial circles, not only for business acumen and sagacity, but for honorable, upright dealing, his name being a synonym wherever he is known for honesty and integrity.  While his time has been chiefly occupied with his extensive business operations he has not failed in his duties as a citizen, as he has been identified with nearly every movement calculated to benefit the community in which he resides, and his purse has always been open to further the cause of education or religion.      The first of the family to settle in this country was James Ainsworth, our subject's grandfather, who came from Ireland in early manhood and located in Ohio, first in the vicinity of Dayton and later in Miamisburg.  William S. Ainsworth, the father of our subject, was born in the latter place in 1811, and as a young man learned the hatter's trade there.  In 1834 he was married at South Charleston, Ohio, to Miss Susan Mitton, daughter of John Mitton, a well-known wheelwright and manufacturer of spinning wheels and similar articles.  After his marriage our subject's father made his home for a time in West Jefferson, Madison county, Ohio, and in 1848 he removed to VanWert county, this State, where he engaged in farming.  He was a man of influence in the county, taking an active part in all important movements, and at one time served ably as sheriff.  His wife died in 1855, and in 1862 he met a soldier's death in Corinth, Mississippi, while with the Union army.      Our subject, who was the eldest in a family of eight children, was born September 10, 1835, at West Jefferson, Ohio.  He attended the schools of that place until he was thirteen years old, and the next five years he spent in farm work.  At the age of eighteen he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he spent four years as a clerk in a dry-goods store; and so well did he perform his duties that in 1857 he was sent to Hicksville to manage a branch establishment for his employers, N. B. Freeman & Co.  After spending about two years and a half in this work he decided to engage in mercantile business on his own account, and in the spring of 1859 he opened a large general store in partnership with Hon. A. P. Edgerton, under the firm name of J. M. Ainsworth & Co.  From 1872 to 1894 the firm name was Ainsworth, Boone & Bevington.  This firm became widely known through its extensive trade in all kinds of farm products.      Mr. Ainsworth's upright methods and his genial manners won for him a wide popularity, and his store became at an early day a gathering place for the best element in the community, a sort of headquarters where travelers and citizens could meet to talk over the general news or discuss the questions of the time.  Pipes and tobacco were furnished to the patrons, and many an evening has been spent there by interested groups in listening to the best story tellers of the neighborhood, and many a debate was conducted there upon politics, religion, or kindred topics.  News of all kinds generally reached that store first, and its importance as a place for quickly distributing information on current happenings can scarcely be understood in these days when newspapers are in the hands of all.      In the spring of 1894 the partnership that then existed was dissolved, and in the following autumn Mr. Ainsworth organized a stock company under the name of The Ainsworth-Shepard Company, which now occupies a large two-story double store for general mercantile business, while the business in connection with the buying and shipping of grain and stock is the most extensive in this section, amounting to about two hundred thousand dollars per year.  In all these years Mr. Ainsworth has been the controlling and directing mind in guiding the destinies of the firm, and he has fairly earned his place among the principal merchants of his county.      Mr. Ainsworth has always affiliated with the Democratic party, politically, being one of its most influential and enthusiastic supporters in his locality.  His public spirit has been shown in many ways, and during the early days, when the country around Hicksville was greatly disturbed by horse thieves, he took an active part in organizing and managing the Hicksville Detective Society, which was formed in 1867 for the promotion of law and order.  This association was composed of the best citizens of the locality, with James Casebeer as president; Mr. Ainsworth, treasurer; and Doctor Kinmont, secretary.  One man, Daniel Hilbert, had a large number of horses stolen, and the people were so excited over the depredations as to be ready to treat the thieves with severity.  The active and energetic measures of the Society resulted in clearing the locality of the objectionable element, five thieves being apprehended and sent to the penitentiary through their efforts.  Among these were two noted characters who were surrounded in the woods north of town, and captured after a well-directed search lasting two days.  In the effort to induce these men to confess they were hung by the members of the Association out of Mr. Ainsworth's store windows until they were nearly dead, but they were finally let down and tried by due process of law, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary.      On December 29, 1869, Mr. Ainsworth was married to Miss Sarah A. Parker, a daughter of Allen and Esther (Osborne) Parker, who were the first couple married in Hicksville.  Mr. Ainsworth has a pleasant home at the corner of Maple and Smith streets, Hicksville, the house having been built by himself in 1873.  Of his four children - Carrie married Charles Bassett, of Anderson, Indiana; Miss Nettie is at home; Alda is the wife of W. E. Dittenhover, cashier of the First National Bank of Hicksville; and Miss Susie resides at home.  Socially, the family is prominent, and Mr. Ainsworth is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Methodist Church. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton - Publ. 1899 - Page 54   JOHN C. AMES.   Mr. Ames is a leading representative of the agricultural interests of Defiance county, his farm of one hundred and sixty-acres being pleasantly situated in Section 4, Hicksville township.  He is a thorough and systematic farmer, and through that occupation he has secured a comfortable competence.      Born May 29, 1828, in Washington township, Washington county, Pennsylvania, Mr. Ames is a son of Nehemiah and Frances (Craven) Ames, also natives of Pennsylvania.  At an early day they emigrated from Washington county, that State, to Wayne county, Ohio, and after living there for six years, took up their residence in what is now Farmer township, Defiance county, where the mother died at the age of fifty-five years, and the father at the advanced age of ninety-three.  Nehemiah Ames, grandfather of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania in 1760, and died in 1835.      In their family were twelve children, of whom ten reached years of maturity.  James, the eldest, died in Williams county, Ohio, in May, 1897; Mary wedded Henry Harman, and died in Michigan; William died in Williams county, Ohio, at the age of forty-four years; Eliza married William R. Maxwell, and died in Hicksville township, Defiance county, in the early '70s; Hannah is the widow of A. Ocker; John C. is next in the order of birth; Theophilus died in Farmer township, Defiance county; Nehemiah died at Nashville, Tennessee, while the Union army during the Civil war; Julia Ann married O. Hulbert, and died in Farmer township, and Henry died near Bryan, Ohio.      John C. Ames was eighteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Defiance county, in 1846, but two years later he returned to Wayne county, Ohio, where he remained for two years. On again coming to Defiance county, he took up his residence in Hicksville township, where he has since made his home.  He was served as trustee of the township, and has taken an active interest in all enterprises which he believed calculated to advance its welfare.      In Hicksville, Mr. Ames was married November 23, 1854, to Miss Sarah Dutterer, who was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, April 29, 1837, a daughter of George and Catherine (Wolford) Dutterer, both natives of Pennsylvania, Ohio, later to Crawford county, and about 1853 came to Defiance county, locating in Hicksville township, where they spent their remaining days.  The father died at about the age of sixty-five years, and the mother passed away in April, 1893, aged eighty years.  Only four of their eleven children reached manhood and womanhood, viz: Levi, who died in the army; Sarah, wife of our subject; Eliza, widow of N. Ames, who also died when in the service of his country during the Civil war; and Ephraim, a farmer of Mark township, Defiance county.      To Mr. and Mrs. Ames have been born thirteen children:  Andrew; Emanuel, who died in infancy; William; Henry Franklin, in Michigan; Ephraim; Mary, wife of Hiram Nye; Noah; Nettie, wife of Fred Limpert, of Hicksville township; Grant; Winfield, a railroad man; Sarah F., wife of George Warfield, of Hicksville; Carrie; and Hasy, who died when a year and a half old.  Mr. and Mrs. Ames are consistent members of the Christian Church, and by all who know them they are held in high regard, having the confidence and esteem of the entire community.  In politics he is a Republican. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton - Publ. 1899 - Page 494   TIMOTHY THOMAS ANSBERRY      This talented and able young prosecuting attorney of Defiance county, has won a notable success since entering upon his professional career in 1893.  Having been elected to this position in 1895, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James B. Woods, during which time his abilities were ably demonstrated, he was re-elected in 1896 without opposition, an expression of confidence which speaks volumes for the man who inspired it.      Mr. Ansberry's ancestry in both paternal and maternal lines was of Irish origin, the Ansberry family having had their home in Ireland for generations.  The grandfather of our subject was the first of this branch of the family to come to America.  After locating for a time in Cincinnati, he made his home upon a farm four miles south of Defiance, and there his last days were passed.  His son, Edward Ansberry, our subject's father, was born on the Emerald Isle in 1840k, was a lad of six or seven years when he crossed the ocean with his father, and was about eighteen when he came to Defiance.  A thorough American in spirit, he quickly made up his mind upon the vexed political problems of that day, so soon to the decided by the "dread arbitrament of arms," and in 1861 he was among the first to offer himself in the defense of the Union.  Enlisting in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he served throughout the war, receiving his discharge in 1865.  He is now a prominent resident of Defiance.  His wife, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, an American by birth, but of Irish descent, is a daughter of Timothy Fitzpatrick, one of the early settlers of Defiance, who located there in the thirties, and took a leading part in the development of this section.  He was an active, resolute man, liberal and kind-hearted, and his varied enterprises were of a useful nature, tending to benefit the community at large while bringing profit to himself.  As a contractor he built the roadbed for the Wabash railroad from Fort Wayne of Toledo, and he was also engaged in business for many years as a blacksmith and general merchant.  At his death in 1871 he left a large estate.  He married a Mrs. Crowe, a woman of rare piety, widely known and loved for her charities.  She passed away in 1888, and the remains of both now rest in Riverside cemetery at Defiance.  Two children of this marriage survive: Timothy J. and Elizabeth (Mrs. Ansberrry), while a son by Mrs. Fitzpatrick's first marriage, John Crowe, is also living.      Mr. Ansberry, the subject proper of these lines, is one of three children of his parents, the others being Helen, now Mrs. Theodore Louys, and James F., who married Miss Mary Coyle.      On December 24, 1871, in the Second ward of the city of Defiance, Mr. Ansberry was born, and until the age of seventeen he attended the public schools of that city.  He then spent three years in the law office of Hill & Hubbard, studying for his chosen profession, to which practical preparation he added a two-years' course in the law department of the University of Notre Dame, at South Bend, Indiana, from which he graduated in June, 1803, with the degree of LL. B.  On leaving college he returned to Defiance; at twenty-one was admitted to the Bar and began his professional work.  In the same year he was elected justice of the peace; in 1895 he was chosen to the office of prosecuting attorney of Defiance county, and, as has been said, he secured the unanimous vote of the people in 1896 for a second term.      Affable in manner, pleasing in speech and of fine personal appearance, Mr. Ansberry has hosts of friends among all sorts and conditions of men.  In political faith he is a Democrat, and he has already risen to prominence among the local leaders.  His gifts as a public speaker were utilized effectively on the "stump" during the campaign of 1896, twenty-five or thirty speeches being made by him at different point in Defiance county. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton - Publ. 1899 - Page 602   GEORGE C. ARMSTRONG.      Prominent among the early settlers of Defiance county, as well as ranking high with the prosperous and substantial farmers of later years, is the subject of this sketch. There have been some very energetic and active men of large capacity and enterprise who came to this locality in an early day, and made this the most prominent field of their life work. Scarcely any of them, however, rank higher than Mr. Armstrong, who has been identified with the agricultural interests of Delaware township since 1834, his present home being in Section 31.      Mr. Armstrong was born February 18, 1826, in Connecticut, a son of Lee and Mary (Spafford) Armstrong, and in that State the mother died in 1832. In the following year, the father, who was born January 24, 1795, migrated to Ohio, and after spending about six years in Henry county removed to De Kalb county, Indiana, where he died June 26, 1855.      The subject of this sketch was fifth in the order of birth in the family of seven children, and in 1833 came with his father to Ohio, in which State he has since made his home. At the early age of eight years he was bound out to Peter Blair, of Delaware township, Defiance county, with whom he lived until he attained the age of seventeen, when he started out to make his own way in the world. After his first marriage in 1850, he located on the farm which has since been his place of residence. All of the buildings upon the place have been erected by him. In his chosen calling he has met with excellent success, being now the owner of nearly six hundred acres of valuable land, all of which has been acquired through his own industry, perseverance and good management, as he began life for himself empty-handed.      On October 13, 1850, Mr. Armstrong wedded Miss Mary Platter, who was born in Pennsylvania, April 3, 1815, and died October 5, 1853. In Delaware township he was again married, November 20, 1854, his second union being with Miss Caroline Platter, who was born in that township, February 13, 1834. To them were born six children, namely: Hattie, now the wife of Stewart Miller; William, who died January 17, 1888, aged twenty-nine years; Edwin, who died in childhood; Eda, who died at the age of twenty-five years; John, who died in childhood; and Libbie, wife of Rev. Richard Dempsey. The wife and mother departed this life August 4, 1871.      In Defiance county, November 23, 1876, Mr. Armstrong married Mrs. Permelia (Travis) Simpson, who is now the oldest woman living in Delaware township, that was born there, her birth occurring January 10, 1830. She is the fourth in the family of eleven children whose parents were William and Mary C. (Swartz) Travis, natives of Pennsylvania. On coming to this State they first located in Delaware county, but came to Defiance county at a very early day in its history. Both died in Noble township, the father on March 2, 1882, aged eighty years, the mother in February, 1872, aged sixty-nine. Mrs. Armstrong first married Evan W. Simpson, a native of Ohio, who died in Paulding county, this State, March 17, 1867. To them were born seven children, the eldest of whom died in infancy, the others being: Mary, Foreman, Ada, Nina, William and Belle.      For years Mr. Armstrong has been identified with the Republican party, but he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, preferring to give his entire time and attention strictly to his farming and stock-raising interests. He is one of the honored pioneers and highly respected citizens of Defiance county, and is held in high esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances who appreciate his sterling worth. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton - Publ. 1899 - Page 554

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