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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Fulton County, Ohio
History & Genealogy
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* Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899.
Transcribed by
Sharon Wick
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HON.
CHARLES L. ALLEN. This gentleman, who
for several years has been filling an enviable career of
official life, is a well-known useful member of the
Republican party in northwestern Ohio, and is a resident
of Fayette, Fulton county.
A native of New York State, he was born November 16,
1838, in Monroe county, and received his education in
part at the public schools of Monroe, in part of the
State Normal of that county, later, in 1858, graduating
from the Eastman Business College at Rochester, New
York. At the village of Fayette was known as
Gorham, a mere hamlet consisting of one store (Thompson
& Caldwell's) and a blacksmith shop. Here our
subject entered this store as a clerk, remaining in that
capacity until the fall of 1861, at which time he
enlisted in Company K. Thirty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, for three years, and resigned in
January, 1864, on account of disability, his resignation
being accepted. On the organization of the company
he was made second lieutenant, from which he was
subsequently promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant,
which rank he held up to his resignation. He then
returned to Fayette, and soon afterward embarked in
mercantile business there, in which he continued from
1865, to 1877, and for four years thereafter he
conducted a produce business in the same locality.
In 1885, he aided in the organization of the Bank of
Fayette, of which institution he has been cashier and
manager ever since.
In 1867 Mr. Allen was elected a justice of the
peace of Gorham township, the first to hold the office
in that township as a Republican, Gorham being at that
time Democratic by a majority of fully eighty; and he
was reelected three times. In 1878 he was elected
to the Ohio Legislature, on the Republican ticket, to
represent Fulton county, and after serving one term (two
years) was, in 1880, re-elected. During his
career in the Legislature he served on the following
committees: Military Affairs; Roads and Highways;
and Ditches, Drains and Watercourses. The bill for
the location of the Insane Asylum in Toledo received
much of Mr. Allen's attention, and his
constituents are loud in their praise of his work in
that line.
Mr. Allen also served for six years on the
county board of school examiners of Fulton county, and
was postmaster at Fayette for twelve years - 1865 to
1877. He is usually a delegate to State Republican
conventions, and altogether takes an active part in
political matters, generally, in the county; in which
connection it may be mentioned that he is the only
Republican among six brothers in the Allen family.
In 1865 Charles L. Allen was married to Miss
Susan Gamber, a daughter of Henry Gamber, one
of the first settlers in this section, who platted the
first "lay-out" for the village of Fayette. She
was born in 1847, in New York State, coming to Ohio when
a child and was educated in the public schools in Gorham
township. Two children were born to this union;
Carrie B., at home; and Elsie E., wife of
Doctor Clare Campbell, of Tedrow, Fulton county,
Ohio.
As already intimated, Mr. Allen is a pronounced
Republican and cast his first Presidential vote for
Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Socially, he is a charter
member of Gorham Lodge, No. 387, F. and A. M., and has
filled most of the chairs therein; also is connected
with the K. of P. and with Stout Post, No. 108 G. A. R.,
both of Fayette. He and his wife are identified
with the M. E. Church, and, although non-communicants,
give liberally of their means towards its support.
Isaac Allen, father of our subject, was born, in
1794, in Enfield, Connecticut, and died in New York
State in 1884. He was married in Connecticut to
Miss Mary Terry, a native of the same locality, who
died in the year 1876. The father traveled from
Connecticut to western New York State on foot, prior to
the building of the Erie canal. He served in the
war of 1812. To this honored pioneer couple were
born ten children:
Chauncey, Isaac, Harriet, Mary, Julia, Joseph, Emily,
Henry, Charles and Arthur; of whom
Harriet
died in 1898 and Emily in 1880. Henry
served during the war of the Rebellion in the One
Hundred and Fortieth New York Volunteer Infantry,
entering his company as sergeant, and after
participating in all the hard-fought battles his
regiment was engaged in, returned home with the rank of
captain.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of
Northwestern Ohio, Published at Chicago, by J. H. Beers
& Co. 1899 - Page 337 |
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DAVID AYERS, ESQ.
Among the pioneers of the territory that is now embraced
within the boundaries of Fulton county, was the family of
Moses Ayers, a former resident of Wayne county, but who
came to this locality in the year 1838. To the older
residents of this county the name of Mr. Ayers is
well known. He was a thorough, honest, intelligent and
respected farmer and one that contributed his full share in
the development of Dover township. His wife was
Elizabeth (Chrisman) Ayres. They had a family of
seven children, five boys and two girls.
Moses Ayres built a small tannery and conducted
it in connection with his farm work for some time.
This event is probably forgotten by many of the old
settlers, as it was done some fifty years ago. AT that
time Dover was a wild and uncultivated country, and Indians
were more numerous than whites, but they were quite friendly
and peaceable. The old tannery has long since gone to
decay, and the farm is now occupied by David Ayres,
who was the second child of this pioneer family.
David Ayers was born near Shreve, in Wayne
county, this State, on the 2d day of April 1828, and, at the
time of his father's settlement in this locality, was but
ten years of age. There was no school in Dover at that
time, so David, when old enough, was put at work in the
tannery, but the damp and unpleasant atmosphere told
severely against him, in fact, it was then thought that he
had not long to live. At the age of twenty years he
went to Adrian, Mich., and attended school for about six
months, after which he entered the Bethany College, in West
Virginia. Here he remained two and one-half years,
when his health failed and compelled him to return home.
It should be mentioned that the father of this young man was
very generous toward his children, and encouraged them in
every industrious effort; he gave them land to cultivate,
and a share in the profits of the tannery, and it was from
the sale of his share that David acquired means with
which to pay for his education.
In 1853 he went to California, induced to make the
journey in the hope of restoring health and strength, and,
in part, to acquire a fortune. The first, and perhaps
the most important, of these desires was realized, for his
physical strength was recovered, but in the acquisition of a
fortune his efforts were not so fully rewarded. He
worked a claim on the Yuba River for one fall season, and at
its close was just $500 out of pocket. He then engaged
in shingle making at $9 per thousand, but this price soon
declined. Still later he worked on a farm until the
year 1856, when he returned to Fulton county to reside.
Two years later, on the 18th of March, 1858, our subject was
married to Elizabeth Anna Bayes,
daughter of William W. Bayes, of Clinton
township. Of this marriage three children have been
born, all of whom are still living.
From the time of his return home from the far west to
the present day, David Ayers, has been a respected
resident of Dover township; but from this time must be
excepted the four years of his incumbency of the office of
county treasurer, during which he lived at Wauseon.
His farm is one of the best in Dover, and it was here that
his parents settled fifty years ago.
Mr. Ayers is a man of modest, quiet disposition
and temperament, yet possessed of firm convictions in
political and civil affairs. He has been, in no sense,
a seeker after office, still there are but few, if any, of
the offices of the township that he has not filled at the
request of his fellow-townsmen; and, in each and every
capacity in which he has been elected to serve, the people
have had the assurance of the selection of a faithful
official, one in whom they had confidence, and one by whom
no trust was ever violated. Such a reputation does
David Ayers bear among his townspeople, and throughout
the county. In the year 1871 he was a nominee of the
Republican party for the office of county treasurer, and at
the polls was elected by a good majority. His
administration of the affairs of this office showed that the
honor was worthily bestowed, and upon its incumbent there
was no breath of suspicion. He proved a faithful
public servant, and discharged his duty to the entire
satisfaction, not only of his party, but of the people of
the whole county. Upon the expiration of his second
term, for he was re-elected in 1873, Mr. Ayres
returned to his comfortable farm home where he now resides.
In matters pertaining to religion Mr. Ayres is
connected with the Christian Church, of which he and his
family are members. He has been frequently chosen for
various church offices, and of his means has contributed
liberally toward defraying the expenses of building the
church edifice, and maintaining the good work of the
society.
Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. Published at Chicago:
J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - pgs. 599 & 600 |
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