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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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DEFIANCE COUNTY
OHIO
History & Genealogy |
BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899.
*
McCAULEY, William H., Hon.
* MANGUS, Peter
*
MARSHALL, John
* MAXWELL, Frank
* MEEK, David C.
* METZ, John H.. |
* MILLER, David
* MILLER, Emanuel
* MILLER,
Horace P.
* MILLER, John J..
* MILLER, Vincent V.
* MILLER, Zeno H.
* MOATS, Virgil H., Major |
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William H. McCauley |
HON. WILLIAM
H. McCAULEY. Few men
are more prominent or more widely known in Defiance county
than Mr. McCauley, whose name is inseparably
connected with its political history. He is
distinctively a man of affairs, and one who wields a wide
influence. He was born in Tiffin township, Sept. 28, 1852,
and is a worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer
families of Defiance county. His grandfather,
Patrick McCauley, came to Ohio from Pennsylvania
and first located in Montgomery county, but in 1837 became a
resident of Tiffin township, Defiance county.
Philip McCauley (the father of our
subject) was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1822, and
accompanied his parents on their emigration to Ohio,
becoming a resident of Defiance county at the age of fifteen
years. He bore an important part in the upbuilding and
development of Tiffin township, and there made his home
until called to his final rest. May 22, 1892. In early
manhood he married Miss Mary Wissler, a
native of Pickaway county, Ohio, and a daughter of John
Wissler, also one of the prominent early settlers of
Defiance county; having located in Tiffin township in 1833.
To Mr. and Mrs. McCauley were born six children,
namely: John C.; Orlando; Sarah, wife
of Peter Kuhn; William H., the subject of this
sketch; Hattie; and Freeman, who died at the
age of four years. The mother of these children is
still living.
Upon his father’s farm William H. McCauley spent
his boyhood and youth, and acquired his early education in
the common schools of the neighborhood, later attending the
Normal School at Bryan, Ohio, for one year. He
continued to live with his parents until his marriage, and
for thirteen winters successfully engaged in teaching. On
Dec. 25, 1878, in Tiffin township, he married Miss
Ida Spangler, who was born in that township Dec.
10, 1855, a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Davis) Spangler,
the former a native of Pennsylvania, the latter of Defiance
county. The mother died in Defiance in 1865, leaving
three children: Ida, Laura B. and Clara. Mr.
and Mrs. McCauley began their domestic life upon their
present farm of eighty acres, and since abandoning the
teacher’s profession he has devoted his energies wholly to
agricultural pursuits. Two children have come to bless their
home, namely: John H and Mabel R.
Since attaining his majority, Mr. McCauley
has been unswerving in his support of the men and measures
of the Democracy. He has often been called upon to
serve in local official positions, being clerk of Tiffin
township for six consecutive terms, trustee for six years,
and a member of the board of education in that township.
On the Democratic ticket, in the fall of 1895, he was
elected to the Seventy-second General Assembly, and in that
body served on several important committees, including those
on Temperance, Public Ways, and Soldiers and Sailors
Orphans’ Home. In the fall of 1897 he was reelected to
the Legislature as a member of the Seventy-third General
Assembly, and served on the County Officers, Common Schools
and Temperance Committees. He takes a deep interest in
everything pertaining to the public welfare of his township
and county, and withholds his support from no enterprise
calculated to prove of public benefit. Mr.
and Mrs. McCauley both hold membership
with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and take an active and
prominent part in all church work. They enjoy the
hospitality of many of the best homes of the county, and
wherever known are held in high regard.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 132 |
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JOHN
MARSHALL. This the senior
member of the well-known firm of John Marshall & Son,
of Defiance, is one of the representative business men of
that thriving town. As manufacturers of patent coil
elm hoops the firm conducts a large business, their product
finding a market in all parts of the United States, the bulk
of it going to Buffalo, New York, to New England, and to
Minneapolis, and other points in the Northwest.
Before entering upon the details of Mr.
Marshall’s successful career, it will be interesting to
note the ancestry on both sides. In the paternal line
his great-grandfather was John Marshall, who
came from Germany with a colony early in the eighteenth
century. The band of emigrants set sail from a port in
Holland, and after a voyage much more tedious than a modern
tourist need experience, John Marshall, with
his parents, located, between 1736 and 1740, in Berks
county, Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Tulpehocken.
He had made an agreement in, Germany to pay for his passage
after his arrival in America. During the Revolutionary
war he served as a soldier under Washington, and his son
Conrad, our subject’s grandfather, who was born in 1767,
was a soldier in the war of 1812. Conrad Marshall
(2), the father of our subject, was born in Berks county,
Pennsylvania, in 1798, and followed farming in Berks county,
Pennsylvania, and Logan county, Ohio. He married
Anna Sophia Debinder, a native of Canada,
and in 1848 removed with his family to Jefferson township,
Logan county, Ohio, where he spent his later years in
agricultural pursuits, his death occurring in 1866.
His widow died at New Rutland, La Salle county, Illinois, in
1868.
The DeBinder family was of French origin,
and our subject’s grandfather, Doctor George
DeBinder, and his wife, Theresa, came to
America with General La Fayette. Doctor
George DeBinder served with distinction in the
war of the Revolution as a surgeon in the Colonial forces,
and at the close of the struggle settled in Canada, where he
practiced medicine during the remainder of his life.
The subject of this sketch was born in Port Clinton,
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1830, and was
educated there in the subscription schools of that time.
Coming to Ohio with his parents as a young man, he saw the
opportunities open to a mechanic, and in 1849 began to learn
the carpenter's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three
years. At twenty-five he was united in marriage with
Miss Hulda Sharp, and the same year
established a sawmill in Bokes Creek township, Logan county,
remaining there from 1855 to 1865. He then went to
Milton, Indiana, and built a distillery, which he sold after
conducting it one year. Returning to Ohio in 1866, he
bought a sawmill in Hale township, Hardin county, but in
1869 he was obliged to go back to Milton, as the party
taking the distillery had failed to make the payments agreed
upon, and it came again into Mr. Marshall’s
hands. After operating it a year it was destroyed by
fire, with a loss of twenty thousand dollars. Mr.
Marshall’s next venture was the purchase, in 1870, of
a sawmill and grocery at Bellefontaine, Ohio, and these he
conducted successfully until April, 1874, when he sold the
grocery and moved his mill to Paulding Center, Paulding
county, Ohio. In August, 1874, he again moved the
plant, locating this time in Defiance, where he has ever
since remained. He engaged in the sawing of lumber, in
the manufacture of felloes and gearing, and other materials
for wagon-making.
In 1882 the firm of Marshall & Greenler
was formed, consisting of John Marshall,
Louis A. Marshall, his son, and John S. Greenler.
On the death of Louis A. Marshall in 1892, his
interest was purchased by his father, and the firm continued
as John Marshall & Greenler until 1894,
when Mr. Marshall sold his share to Mr.
Greenler and entered into the present
partnership with his son, Charles E. Marshall, in the
hoop business. They operate a plant requiring about
thirty-seven hands, and use a steam engine of eighty-horse
power, turning out, approximately forty-nine thousand
dollars’ worth of goods annually. The firm is also
interested in cider making, conducting a large mill with a
capacity of seventy-five barrels a day.
Mr. Marshall has had three children: (i)
Louis (deceased), married Miss Johanna
Rule, by whom he had one son, John Chauncey
Marshall. (2) Charles E., the junior
member of the firm, was born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1863,
married Miss Kate Hall, and they have four children -
Walter, Garwood, Jennie and Ralph.
(3) Miss Carrie D. Marshall, the youngest, is
bookkeeper for the firm.
Mrs. Marshall’s father, John
Sharp, was a native of Virginia, and came to Ohio with
his parents at a very early day in one of the first
colonies. They located at Chillicothe in 1797.
The Sharp family settled in Logan county, on the head
waters of the Big Darby creek, in 1802, where Mrs.
Marshall was born.
Source: Commemorative Biographical
Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of
Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago:
J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 52 |
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PETER
MANGAS. Among the worthy men whose
histories are recorded in this volume none stand higher in
the esteem of their fellow citizens than does this
well-known resident of Defiance, who after many years of
successful business life has retired to that village to pass
his declining years.
Born September 25, 1825, in Prussia, he is a son of
Caspar and Elizabeth (Battar) Mangas, who came to
America with their family in 1837, settling in Pleasant
township, Henry county, Ohio, where their remaining days
were passed. Our subject, who was the eldest of four
children, remained at home until his marriage, at the age of
twenty-five. During boyhood he gave evidence of decided
business ability, and after working for nine years as a
driver on the Wabash and Erie canal he was promoted to the
position of captain. Through his industry and enterprise he
became the owner of two boats which previous to his marriage
he traded for a tract of land in Henry county. This place, a
fine estate of three hundred and twenty acres, he occupied
as a homestead until the fall of 1895 when he removed to
Defiance, and while he still retains the ownership he has
given the management into other hands. As a citizen he has
always taken much interest in the political issues of the
time, and he is a firm believer in the principles and policy
of the Republican party. While residing in Henry county he
held numerous local offices, including that of justice of
the peace. which he resigned after three years of able
service. He and his wife are leading members of the Catholic
Church of Defiance, and sympathize with all efforts toward
local improvement.
On September 23, 1850, Mr. Mangas was married in
Seneca county, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Jackman,
who was born in France, May 20, 1835, They have had nine
children, of whom all are living except Thomas, who
died in Henry county April 5, 1894. The others are Henry,
Frank, Peter, Jr., Albert, George, Joseph,
Andrew, and Frederick. The family is popular
socially and they occupy a pleasant home in Francis street,
Defiance.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 557 |
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FRANK MAXWELL. This
energetic and progressive agriculturist, residing in Section
10, Hicksville township, Defiance county, was born Sept. 25,
1855, on the farm where he still continues to reside, and is
a representative of one of the highly respected pioneer
families, whose identification with the history of the
county dates from an early period in its development.
William R. Maxwell, our subject's father, was
born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 12, 1822, and in
that State he grew to manhood and was married Oct. 27, 1842,
to Miss Elizabeth Ames, also a native of
Pennsylvania, born Oct. 28, 1822. In 1845 they
migrated to Defiance county, Ohio, and took up their
residence in Section 10, Hicksville township, where the
father still continues to reside. He has transformed
the wild land into highly-cultivated fields, and has made
many useful and valuable improvements upon his place, which
stand as monuments to his thrift and industry. He is
justly regarded as one of the representative pioneers and
honored citizens of his community. His wife departed
this life Oct. 13, 1864.
In the family of this worthy couple were eight
children, as follows: Mary Ann, who died when
young; Jane, who died when about twenty years of age;
Frances, now the wife of J. H. Greer; William,
who died at the age of sixteen years; Isabella, wife
of Frank Warner; Frank, the subject of this sketch;
James H.; and Eliza, wife of William
Elliott.
On the home farm Frank Maxwell passed his
boyhood and youth, and in the common schools of the
neighborhood he acquired a good, practical education.
Early in life he began to assist his father in the labors of
the farm, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres of
good land, and he is now successfully operating the same.
On Mar. 11, 1879, in Hicksville, Defiance county,
Mr. Maxwell was united in marriage with Miss Mary
Tracht, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, May 6,
1860, and was about fourteen years old when brought by her
parents, Peter and Elizabeth Tracht, to Defiance
county. In the village of Hicksville she grew to
womanhood. To Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell have been
born four children, namely: John O., William O., Loa E.
and Bertha L. For one term Mr. Maxwell
served as assessor of Hicksville township, and as a
public-spirited, enterprising citizen he has always been
prominently identified with its interest. His genial,
pleasant manner has made him quite popular in both business
and social circles.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. Published at
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 468 |
| |
DAVID C. MEEK. This
worthy representative of the agricultural interests of
Hicksville township, Defiance county, owns a good farm of
one hundred and sixty acres in Section 12, which has been
transformed by him into a highly-cultivated tract. He is one
of Ohio's native sons, having been born in Columbiana
county, January 1, 1824. His parents were James
and Ann (Cooper) Meek, the former probably a
native of Ohio, born in 1801, the latter of Pennsylvania,
born in 1798. Both died in Columbiana county, this State,
the father in 1845, the mother in 1873 or 1874.
David C. Meek and his twin brother, Samuel
Meek, of Hicksville township, were the eldest in a
family of fourteen children, and were three years of age
when the family removed from Columbiana county to Beaver
county, Pennsylvania. After seven years spent in that State,
however, they returned to Columbiana county, where our
subject grew to manhood, remaining upon the home farm until
he had attained his twenty-second year. Two years later he
went to California, where he successfully engaged in mining
for four years, and soon after his return to Ohio he
purchased his present farm in Section 12, Hicksville
township, Defiance county. He did not remain long in the
East, however, returning to California at the end of a year.
This time he spent twelve years on the Pacific slope, and
met with fair success in his mining operations. Since then
he has made his home uninterruptedly upon his present farm,
and to its development and improvement he has devoted his
energies, erecting thereon good and substantial buildings.
In Hicksville township, on June 22, 1871, Mr. Meek
was married to Miss Nancy Jane Beltz, who was born in
Crawford county, Ohio, December 15, 1852, and is the second
in order of birth in a family of five children. Her parents,
William W. and Mary A. (Good) Beltz, were
natives of Pennsylvania, whence in the early "sixties" they
came to Defiance county, Ohio, locating in Hicksville
township, where they both died, the father in 1874 at the
age of forty-seven years, the mother in 1894, when
sixty-five years old. To Mr. and Mrs.
Meek have been born three children: Eva A.,
who died at the age of six months; Clement O., born
July 23, 1873; and David C., born December 22, 1884.
Of these Clement was married August 31, 1897, to
Lillie Barrows, and they have one child, Laura
Beatrice Meek, born June 8, 1898. Clement and his
father are both Republicans in politics.
Samuel Meek, the
great-grandfather of our subject, was of Irish descent; his
wife reached the patriarchal age of ninety-nine years.
Samuel Meek, son of the above, and grandfather of
our subject, was born in Pennsylvania in 1765, and married
Elizabeth Nichols. Mrs. Meek's
grandfather, Christopher Beltz, and his wife,
Catherine (Beck), were both born in
Pennsylvania; he died in about i860, but she survived him
several years.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 269 |
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JOHN H.
METZ. The present township clerk
of Adams township, Defiance county, J. H. Metz, is one of
the leading and influential citizens who have taken active
part in promoting the substantial improvement and material
development of this section of the county. He is one
of the county's native sons, and is a representative of one
of her highly respected families.
David and Sarah Ann (Schwartzel) Metz, parents of our
subject, and natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively,
were married in Defiance county and located in Adams
township, where they still continue to reside. In
their family are eight children- four sons and four
daughters - our subject being fourth in order of birth.
In Adams township, John H. Metz was born May 11, 1858,
and was there reared acquiring his education in the common
schools of the locality. He remained under the
parental roof until after he attained his majority, aiding
his father in the labors of the farm. In Henry county,
Ohio, August 19, 1880, Mr. Metz was united in marriage with
Miss Louisa Tittle, a native of Adams township, Defiance
county, and a daughter of the late James and Sarah Tittle.
After his marriage Mr. Metz lived in Napoleon, Ohio, for
several months, being engaged in running an engine, and
while there his wife died July 7, 1881. Soon after
this sad event he returned to Adams township, and later
removed to Stryker, Ohio, where he operated an engine in a
sawmill for one year. He was next employed on a stock
farm in Lake county, Indiana, for seven months, and then
returned to his old home in Adams township, since which time
he has devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits, with
most gratifying results.
In Henry county, October 18, 1885, Mr. Metz
was
again married, his second union being with Miss Charlotte Hurford, who was born in Ohio, August 21, 1867, a daughter
of the late William and Mehitable Hurford. Four
children have been born to them, namely: Vera L., Carl B.,
Sarah A. M., and Nora L. Mr. Metz has always taken a
leading and prominent part in local political affairs, and
has most creditably and satisfactorily filled the offices of
township clerk of Adams township, and school director.
He believes in the doctrines of Christianity and cheerfully
gives his support to all measures which he believes
calculated to advance the moral, educational or material
welfare of his community. His genial, pleasant manner
had made him quite popular, and as a public-spirited,
enterprising man he is recognized as a valued citizen of
Adams township.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 191 |
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DAVID
MILLER. One of the most prominent and
reliable citizens of Tiffin township, Defiance county, is
David Miller, who is a native of Ohio, born April 18, 1825,
a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Weaver) Miller. The
father died in Nov. 1847, in Richland Township, soon after
coming to Defiance county, and the mother passed away in
Tiffin township.
Our subject was the eldest in their family of nine
children - six sons and three daughters. In his native
county he was reared and educated, coming to Defiance county
with the family in the fall of 1847. Soon after his
father's death he settled in Tiffin township, entering a
tract of land in Section 35. By industry and
perseverance he soon converted the wild, uncultivated tract
into rich and productive fields, and now has one of the best
and most desirable farms in the community. It
comprises two hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which
he has erected a comfortable residence and good barns and
outbuildings. At one time he owned four hundred acres,
but has since disposed of a portion of this.
In Tiffin township, Feb. 13, 1851, Mr. Miller was
united in marriage with Miss Polly Partee, who was born in
that township, Aug. 22, 1828, and they became the parents of
eight children, as follows: Lewis, Franklin;
Orlando,
who died in childhood; John; Allen; Sophia, now the wife of
Clinton Whitney; Malinda, wife of Edward
Wisler; and
Charlotte, wife of A. L. Parker. The family receive
the merit the high regard of the entire community.
Politically Mr. Miller has always cast his ballot with
the Democratic party, and has ever taken an active interest
in political affairs. For two terms he most creditably
served as county commissioner, and has also capably filled
the offices of township trustee and school director for many
years. His public and private life are above reproach,
for his career has ever been one characterized by the utmost
fidelity to duty. The part which he has taken in the
development of the county has impressed his name indelibly
upon its records, and he well deserves mention among the
honored pioneers.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 555 |
| |
ELIAS MILLER.
This representative and public-spirited citizen of Sherwood.
Defiance county, is a native of Harrison county, this State,
born Dec. 4, 1843.
Elias Miller married Rebecca Foos, and
they had a family of five children, the second of these
being Emanuel, the subject of this sketch. Z. H.
and Vincent V. are also members of this family.
Mr. and Mrs. Elias Miller resided in Harrison county
for a number of years prior to the fall of 1855, when
they removed to Defiance county, making it their permanent
home. The father is still living, but the mother is
deceased.
Emanuel Miller, accompanying his parents
to Defiance county when a lad of nearly twelve years,
remained with them in their new home until he was about
twenty years of age, when he went into the forests of
Michigan and worked at lumbering about eight months.
With the exception of this time and several months spent in
Illinois and Iowa, he has been a resident of Sherwood ever
since his removal here with his parents. Although
agriculture has been the chief business of his life, he has
devoted some time to other pursuits, was associated with his
brother Vincent for about five years in the operation
of a sawmill, and has engaged in the work of a carpenter to
some extent.
Mr. Miller married Miss Martha E. Taylor, of
Sherwood, a daughter of the late William Taylor,
a Pennsylvanian by birth. Mrs. Miller is
a native of Crawford county, Ohio. Her father lived
but a few years after locating in Sherwood. Mr. and
Mrs. Miller have had six children, as follows: Nellie
G., Emerson, Maggie J., Cora B.,
Elba M. and Clara. All of them are living
except the eldest, with whom they were called to part when
she was twelve years old.
Mr. Miller owns more than one hundred
acres of land in the corporation of Sherwood, and he is an
active and interested participant in all local affairs.
He was honored with the office of trustee of Delaware
township, and his fellow townsmen in Sherwood evinced their
appreciation of his worth by making him one of their first
councilmen. Socially, he is a member of the Patriotic
Order Sons of America.
Source: Commemorative
Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the
counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published
at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 262 |
| |
EMANUEL
MILLER -
This representative and public spirited citizen of
Sherwood. Defiance county, is a native of Harrison
county, this State, born Dec. 4, 1843.
Elias Miller married Rebecca Foos, and they had a
family of five children, the second of these being Emanuel,
the subject of this sketch. Z. H. and Vincent V. are
also members of this family. Mr. and Mrs. Elias Miller
resided in Harrison county for a number of years prior to
the fall of 1855, when they removed to Defiance county,
making it their permanent home. The father is still
living, but the mother is deceased.
Emanuel Miller, accompanying his parents to Defiance
county when a lad of nearly twelve years, remained with them
in their new home until he was about twenty years of age,
when he went into the forests of Michigan and worked at
lumbering about eight months. With the exception of
this time and several months spent in Illinois and Iowa, he
has been a resident of Sherwood ever since his removal here
with his parents. Although agriculture has been the
chief business of his life, he has devoted some time to
other pursuits, was associated with his brother Vincent for
about five years in the operation of a sawmill, and has
engaged in the work of a carpenter to some extent.
Mr. Miller married Miss Martha E. Taylor, of Sherwood,
a daughter of the late William Taylor, a Pennsylvanian by
birth. Mrs. Miller is a native of Crawford county,
Ohio. Her father lived but a few years after locating
in Sherwood. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had six
children, as follows: Nellie G., Emerson, Maggie J.,
Cora B., Elba M. and Clara. All of them are living
except the eldest, with whom they were called to part when
she was twelve year old.
Mr. Miller owns more than one hundred acres of land in
the corporation of Sherwood, and he is an active and
interested participant in all local affairs. He was
honored with the office of trustee of Delaware township, and
his fellow townsmen in Sherwood evinced their appreciation
of his worth by making him one of their first councilmen.
Socially, he is a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of
America.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 581 |
|
H. P. Miller |
HORACE P.
MILLER. The blood that courses through the
veins of the subject of this review derives its source from
three of the great peoples of the world, the most powerful
and progressive in all its history. To the
argumentative, brae and brainy Scotch is attributed the
family name of Miller; while by intermarriages the
blood of the Anglo-Saxon and of the studious German is
freely intermingled. From these sources Mr. Miller
inherited qualities that, combined, reflect credit upon the
countries from which sprang his remote ancestry.
On the Miller side, the first of the family to
come to America was Jonathan Miller, the grandfather
of our subject, who lived in Tompkins county, New York,
dying there in 1816, where our subject's father, William
Miller, was born in 1808, and therefore was a lad of
eight yeas when his father died. He learned the trade
of a blacksmith, and in 1830, being then an unmarried man,
migrated west to Ohio, locating in Akron, Summit county.
At that place, in 1832, he married Miss Phoebe Parker,
daughter of Richard Parker, a Revolutionary soldier,
and the owner of three thousand acres of land in that
vicinity. The Parkers were from an old New
England family of English extraction, and prominent in that
section of Ohio. After his marriage William Miller
kept a hotel at Scipio, same county, for some years, but
subsequently removed to Lockport, Ohio. He was an old
school Democrat, and his first Presidential vote was cast,
while living in New York, for Andrew Jackson; so war
was his political ardor on that occasion, that he walked six
miles barefooted over rough and stony roads to deposit his
ballot, arriving home after the twelve-mile walk, with feet
bruised, cut and bleeding. In his religious views he
was sincere, charitable toward the opinions of others, and a
Universalist in belief; his wife was a devout member of the
Methodist Church. He was a substantial and well-to-do
citizen, as well as prominent and influential.
For many years he served as a colonel in the State
militia, and during the Civil war raised a regiment of men
to serve in the Union army, of which he was elected colonel.
He proceeded with his regiment as far as Cleveland, Ohio,
where he was stricken with a sickness that deprived him of
the power of speech, and was obliged to resign and return
home. His biographers speak of him as a very humane
man, exceptionally kind and generous to the poor and those
in trouble. He died at Lockport, Ohio, Dec. 16, 1877,
and his funeral sermon was preached from the following
appropriate text: "The memory of the just is blessed."
His wife passed away in 1894, also at Lockport, Ohio.
They had a family of seven children: Malissa and
Richard (both deceased); Charity M., who married
C. D. Caulkins, and lives at Stryker, Ohio; Horace
P., our subject; Alice J., who married John L.
Holton, also of Stryker, Ohio; Martha
(deceased); and William P., a resident of Los
Angeles, California.
Horace P. Miller, the subject proper of this
sketch, was born at Lockport, Ohio, Sept. 24, 1848, and was
reared under the watchful care of his parents, and amid the
best social surroundings and influences. He studied at
the Lockport schools until eighteen years old, his education
being supplemented with a course of one year's study at
Leona (Michigan) College. At the age of twenty years
he went to Illinois, and was there given charge of a
construction train employed in the building of the railroad
from Galva, Illinois, to New Boston, on the Mississippi
river. This position he filled nearly a year, when he
returned to Lockport and farmed for two seasons. On
Sept. 22, 1870, he was married to Miss Jennie S. Beaty,
who was born in West Unity, Ohio, Oct. 7, 1850, a daughter
of George Beaty, a farmer of that place. In
1873 Mr. Miller accepted a position with O. T.
Letcher & Co., wholesale produce dealers of Bryan, Ohio,
as their buyer, of wool, seeds, live stock and produce, an
occupation that necessitated his traveling extensively over
the surrounding country. So satisfactory was this
connection that he remained with Letcher & Co. until
1878, when Mr. Miller decided to establish a produce
business on his own account, and accordingly associated
himself with G. Morgan, under the firm name of
Morgan & Miller, produce merchants at Defiance.
The business was continued until 1884, when he bought out
his partner's interests, and successfully and profitably
conducted the business until it assumed immense proportions,
ten-fold greater than in 1884, and H. P. Miller
became an honored and familiar name in almost every
household in four surrounding counties, wherein he purchased
the bulk of the butter, eggs and poultry produced in their
borders. Often, during the busy season, he ships from
one to two car-loads a day, when the business is largely
augmented by the buying and shipping of hides, tallow, wool,
seeds, etc., the aggregate shipments in vlue being from
three hundred thousand dollars to three hundred and fifty
thousand dollars annually. In 1895 he organized his
business into a stock company known as the H. P. Miller
Co., capital stock thirty thousand dollars, with H.
P. Miller president, and his son, Frank G. Miller,
secretary and treasurer. It is the most extensive
concern of the kind in northwestern Ohio, and has business
connections with all parts of the country.
In the city of Defiance no man holds the respect and
esteem of its citizens in a greater degree than does H.
P. Miller, while as a business man he occupies the front
rank. Conservative yet enterprising and progressive,
of excellent executive power, he possesses a mind that
grasps, directs and operates successfully the intricate
machinery necessary to conduct a great enterprise, one that
with all its ramifications and countless details, requires a
man possessed of tireless industry, unflagging energy, sound
judgment, and ability to give prompt and correct decision in
scores of cases arising every day. All of these
qualities are possessed by Mr. Miller in an eminent
degree, as is well attested by the immense and successful
business he has established, and of which he is still the
ruling and directing spirit. In addition to the
enterprise mentioned he has yet found time to interest
himself in other affairs in his city. He is one of the
founders of
The Defiance Grocery Company," a very prosperous concern in
which he is a stockholder and director; is a stockholder in
the "Defiance Bicycle Works," and is the owner of a valuable
business block on Clinton street, Defiance, and of the old
homestead farm at Lockport, Ohio.
In religion Mr. Miller followed the footsteps of
his father, charitable to every one's opinion and liberal to
all, and has by contributions assisted in building nearly
every church edifice that has been erected in Defiance and
surrounding country since his residence in the city, while
in support of same he cheerfully responds to the calls of
all denominations. He also inherits to a large degree
the humane and generous characteristics of his father, and
many are his unostentatious offerings to less fortunate
fellow citizens. In politics he is a stanch Democrat,
advocating the principles of that party on all occasions.
Though not a politician in the sense of seeking office, he
has been an efficient worker and organizer in the interests
of the party, and has been chairman and treasurer of the
County Democratic Executive Committee in every Presidential
campaign from 1880 to 1892, inclusive, and served as a
delegate on various occasions to the Democratic State and
Congressional Conventions. Owing, however, to the
pressure of his large and ever-growing business cares, he
has always declined nomination for office when tendered to
him by his party associates. Socially Mr. Miller
is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. -
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 82 |
| |
JOHN
J. MILLER. Prominent among the progressive and
influential agriculturists of Delaware township, Defiance
county, is found John J. Miller, who is of Swiss
descent.
Jacob and Fanny (Walter) Miller were born and
reared in Switzerland. There, too, they married and
passed a brief period of their wedded life. But Mr.
Miller's aspirations reaching far beyond their little
mountain republic, he, in 1854, with his family, joined the
tide of emigration westward to America. Mr. and
Mrs. Miller were then about twenty-nine and twenty-six
years of age, respectively. On their arrival in the
New World, they located in Defiance county, Ohio, where they
have resided continuously since that time; where in the city
of Defiance a number of years and are now living in Delaware
township. They have six children, as follows:
Anna, wife of Daniel Sprow; Mary, deceased
wife of William F. Derge; John J.; Jacob
C.; Louisa, wife of James Bloom; and
Charles F.
John J. Miller is the first of the family of
American birth. His native place is the city of
Defiance, having been born there Sept. 23, 1854. Here
his home was with his parents until he was fourteen yeas of
age, when with them he removed to Delaware township.
His education was obtained in the common schools, and with
the exception of two years spent in the State of Washington
and British Columbia, he was with his parents until his
marriage, which took place in Delaware township, Aug. 17,
1877. His wife, formerly Miss Rebecca Miller, a
daughter of David and Rucy (Core) Miller, was born in
Crawford county, this State, Mar. 11, 1854.
About one year after his marriage, our subject and his
wife moved to the State of Washington, where Mr. Miller
engaged in farming and stock raising five years.
Returning then to their native State, they have since made
Defiance county their home, residing most of the time in
Delaware township. They are the parents of seven
children, named, respectively: Curtis W., Elmer A.,
Melbourn A., Ada L., Etta F., Walter Wayne, and Mabel
Beatrice.
Mr. Miller has made farming his life occupation.
In politics he acts with the Democratic party, and takes a
lively interest in public affairs. He has held the
office of township trustee, and being in sympathy with
educational interests, he has been chosen a member of the
school board, in which office he is serving at present.
In religious matters, also, he takes a prominent party,
being an active and interested worker in the Reformed
Church, of which he and his wife are members. Socially
he is a member of Knights of Pythias.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 459 |
| |
VINCENT V.
MILLER.
In the front ranks of prosperous agriculturists
and enterprising citizens of Delaware township, Defiance
county, we find the name of this gentleman. He is a
son of Elias and Rebecca (Foos) Miller, and is a native of
this State, born in Harrison county, December 18, 1845.
After a resident for a number of years in Harrison county,
the family, in the fall if 1855, removed to Defiance county,
making it thenceforth their home. The mother is
deceased. [ A fuller history of the parents is given
in the sketch of their son, Z. H. Miller.]
Vincent V. Miller, the third of their family of five
children, came with his parents to Defiance county when
nearly ten years of age, and here, in Delaware township, his
early education was completed. At the age of seventeen
years he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed
regularly for twenty years. He then continued it in
connection with farming four or five years, and with his
brother Emanuel was interested in the sawmill business about
five years.
In early manhood he married Miss Caroline E. Gordon,
who was born in Paulding county, Ohio, April 1, 1848, a
daughter of the late George Gordon, of the same place; and
there they were married, Oct. 29, 1871. Of the two
children born to them, one, Arthur E., is living, their
little daughter Grace having died in infancy.
In politics Mr. Miller votes with the Prohibition
party. He takes an active interest in the public
affairs of the township, and is a warm advocate of measures
tending to the advancement of educational interests.
He has served as a member of the school board three years.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller located in their present home in the
fall of 1871; and Mr. Miller's valuable farm of two hundred
acres, together with its good farm buildings, stands a
witness to the thrift and prosperity of the owner.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 409 |
Zeno H. Miller |
ZENO H.
MILLER. The subject of this sketch has done
more to promote the commercial activity, advance the general
welfare and secure the material development o Sherwood and
the surround section of Defiance county, than probably any
other individual. As a business man he has been
enterprising, energetic and always abreast with the times,
and has been rewarded by a comfortable competence.
Mr. Miller was born in Harrison county, Ohio,
Oct. 7, 1848, and in 1853 was taken by his parents, Elias
and Rebecca (Foose) Miller to Crawford county, this
State, where the family lived for the following two years.
In 1855 they came to Defiance county and located in Delaware
township, where the mother died Nov. 21, 1895. The
children of the family are Johnson, Emanuel, Vincent,
Zeno H. and Stewart.
On his father's farm
Zeno H. Miller passed his boyhood and youth until
eighteen years of age, when he began learning the
carpenter's trade, which he followed only nominally,
however. During early life he taught school for two
terms. In the spring of 1873 he erected the first
house built in Sherwood, and with the development and
prosperity of that village he has since been prominently
identified. He was married in Delaware township,
Defiance county, Mar. 31, 1876, to Miss Alice Roush,
daughter of George and Christine Roush, of that
township, where her father died Dec. 1, 1881. To our
subject and wife has been born a son, Hollis R.
After his marriage Mr.
Miller located in Sherwood, where he erected a store
building, and engaged in the grocery business for two years,
his store being destroyed by fire at the end of that time.
A year later he built another business block, and this time
embarked in general merchandising. Erecting an
elevator of Sherwood in 1879, he has since given his
attention principally to the grain trade, and handles all
the grain brought to the village. He is also
interested in the hardware business, and has given his
influence to all enterprises which he believes calculated to
advance the welfare of the place. Besides his property
in Sherwood, Mr. Miller owns about two hundred acres
of land, and he is justly regarded as one of the most
substantial citizens of the community.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. -
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 262 |
| |
MAJOR VIRGIL H.
MOATS.
Among our country's heroes, who for gallant
services in the Federal cause in the Civil war were justly
honored by promotion to a higher rank and title, we find the
name of the patriot (now deceased) who is the subject of
this memoir.
Virgil H. Moats was a native of Licking county,
Ohio, born May 5, 1827, in Utica township, where he was
reared. He received an education that fitted him for
teaching, which vocation he followed to some extent in early
manhood. In 1849 he gave up the duties of the
schoolroom and turned his attention to farming, locating on
a farm in Delaware township, Defiance county, where he
resided until his enlistment in the Union army, thus adding
another name to the list of intelligent and educated
agriculturists.
In early life he was married at Newark, Ohio, to Miss
Sarah McKinney, and they had two children, only one of whom
is living - Frank, a farmer in Michigan. Mrs.
Moats
died June 4, 1854, at Brunersburg, Defiance county, Ohio,
and May 13, 1855, Mr. Moats was married in Farmer township,
Defiance county, to Miss Eliza Richardson, born in St.
Lawrence county, New York. February 26, 1833. To
this union were born the following children: William
F., Hattie I., Douglas and Charles V. Their only
daughter died at the age of three years. The parents
of Mrs. Moats, John L. Richardson and
Delia (nee McCulloch),
his wife, were originally from Vermont.
About the time of the breaking out of the Mexican war,
our subject in 1847, enlisted as a cavalryman in the company
recruited in Newark, Ohio, Served as corporal and was
mustered out in 1848. In the spring of 1862 Mr.
Moats,
with undiminished patriotic zeal, enlisted in the
Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and receiving a
commission as captain of Company F, served in this command
until the 21st of the following February. when he was
promoted to the rank of major. His regiment had been
assigned to the army of the West, and after participating in
the battles of Pittsburg Landing and Memphis, it moved
forward to join the Union forces advancing upon the enemy in
their stronghold of Vicksburg. During an assault on
that city May 22, 1863, Major Moats received a wound, from
the effects of which he died in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 13,
1863, and thus the family were called to mourn an
irreparable loss and the community an honored and
influential citizen, Major Moats having been identified with
its interests and prominent in matters pertaining to local
progress for a number of years. During his residence
in Delaware township he served several years as justice of
the peace, and four years as sheriff of Defiance county.
Mrs. Ella Moats resides in Delaware township. Her
religious connection is with the Baptist Church, of which
she is a member.
William F. Moats, the eldest son, and who is a farmer
in Delaware township, married Annie Welche of New York City,
and they have three sons: LeRoy, Guy, and
Forest H.
Douglas, the second son, married Adella Garver, of
Washington township, Defiance county, and they have two sons
living; Wright and Burton H. (they lost one son named
Glen). Charles V., the third son of
Major and Mrs. Moats, married Cora McCarty of Pioneer, Williams county, Ohio (who died
August 19, 1891) and one child, Flora Floy, was born into
them.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry,
Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899 - Page 78 |
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