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HENRY COUNTY,
OHIO
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BIOGRAPHIES
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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HENRY BADEN.
This well-known grain buyer and manager of the elevator in
Hamler, Henry county, is a native of Germany, born April 9,
1859, a son Conrad and Mary (Mahnke) Baden. The
mother died in that country, but the father is still living.
The public schools of his native land afforded our subject
his educational privileges, and in that country he continued
to reside until fifteen years of age. He then crossed the
Atlantic with the hope of bettering his financial condition
in the New World, where he believed better opportunities
were afforded young men for advancement.
Since coming to America Mr. Baden has made his home
in Henry county, for the first two years being employed on a
farm in Freedom township. During the following year he
worked as a laborer on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and
then served as foreman on a section for about twelve years.
On leaving the employ of the railroad in January, 1890, he
located in Hamler, where he embarked in merchandising, and
in connection with that business also had charge of the
elevator. Since August, 1893, he has given his entire
attention to the grain business, and in this undertaking is
meeting with a well-deserved success financially.
In Holgate, Henry county, February 10, 1883, Mr.
Baden
was united in marriage with Miss Eliza
Wildung, also a native of Germany, and to them have been
born eight children, two of whom are now deceased, dying at
the ages of two years, and eleven months, respectively.
Those living are
Mary, Henry, George, Amelia, Adolph and Hilda.
The family have a pleasant home in Hamler, which was
erected by Mr.
Baden. He is a prominent member of the German
Lutheran Church, and takes quite an active part in all
Church work. Since casting his first vote measures of the
Democratic party, and has served his fellow citizens as a
member of the village council with credit to himself and to
their entire satisfaction.
Source: Commemorative
Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including
the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 536 |
WILLIAM S. BARHITE.
This prominent merchant of Hamler, and one of the
leading business men of Henry county, has shown in his
successful career that he has the ability to plan wisely and
execute with energy, a combination which, when possessed by
men in any walk of life, never fails to effect notable
results.
Mr. Barhite was born Nov. 11, 1866, in Norwalk, Ohio,
and there made his home until seven years of age, when he
accompanied his parents on their removal to Wood county,
this State. A year later, however, he returned to
Huron county, and until twenty years of age lived with his
uncle on a farm, acquiring his education in the public
schools of the neighborhood. He then came to Hamler,
Henry county, where he was employed for three years in an
implement house, and at the end of that time embarked in
business on his own account as a merchant. He is an
enterprising, wide-awake business man of known reliability,
and from the public receives a liberal patronage.
On April 5, 1887, Mr. Barhite was married in
Hamler to Miss Ella McGranahan, a native of
Greenville, Pennsylvania, and to them have been born two
children: Lulu and Marjorie.
Mr. Barhite is one of
the leading Republicans of Henry county, and as one of its
influential citizens has become quite prominently identified
with the political affairs of the community. During
the fore part of President Harrision's administration
he was appointed postmaster of Hamler, a position he
creditably filled for four years, and in 1893 was the
candidate of his party for clerk of courts of Henry county.
He is an earnest Christian gentleman, and an active worker
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he belongs.
Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Tokopa
Lodge, No. 715, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 341 |
LEWIS A.
BEILHARZ. Mr. Beilharz, who is a notary
public at Liberty Center, has for many years been
prominently identified with the agricultural interests of
Henry county. His is an honorable record of a
conscientious man, who by his upright life has won the
confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He
has rounded the Psalmist's span of three-score years and
ten, and, although the snows of several winters have
whitened his hair, he has the vigor of a much younger man,
and in spirit and interests seems yet in his prime.
Mr. Beilharz was born in Schuylkill county,
Pennsylvania, Apr. 27, 1825, whence when quite young he was
taken by his father, Rev John J. Beilharz, to Seneca
county, New York, where he lived until fourteen years of
age, when the family came to Seneca county, this State.
There the father died. In 1842 our subject began
learning the printer's trade, at which he continued to work
until the spring of 1846, when he entered the United States
army for service in the Mexican war, and was at the front
from June of that year until the winter of 1847-48.
On returning to civil pursuits, Mr. Beilharz
followed his trade in Seneca county most of the time for
about fifteen years, and in 1862 became one of the
publishers of the "Tiffin Advertiser," but in the following
spring he sold his interest in that paper. The then
removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he lived until
October, 1864, when once more he decided to strike a blow in
defense of his country, enlisting in Company D, One Hundred
and Eighty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and serving until
October, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. After
a year spent in farming in Fulton county, he returned to
Tiffin in the fall of 1866, but did not long remain in that
city. Subsequently he was employed at his trade in
Cleveland for several months, and afterward worked in the
"Tribune" office at Tiffin until the fall of 1867, when he
came to Henry county and purchased a farm in Liberty
township, which he still owns and operates. It
comprises ninety-five acres of rich and arable land, which
he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improved
with good and substantial buildings.
At Republic, Seneca county, Ohio, in December, 1848,
Mr. Beilharz was married to Miss Martha Rundell,
who was born in Cayuga county, New York, May 5, 1832, a
daughter of William Rundell, who died in Republic.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Beilharz,
namely: Louisa, who married Robert M. Shaw,
and died in Liberty Center, Henry county; one daughter who
died in infancy, and Frank E., still living.
Mr. Beilharz has always taken a deep and
commendable interest in public affairs, and has acceptably
served his fellow citizens as township assessor three years;
as constable four years; as justice of the peace six years;
as councilman six years, and at the present time he is mayor
of Liberty Center, having been elected to that office in
April, 1898. Since 1894 he has also been notary
public. Both his public and private career are above
reproach and he is justly ranked among the most patriotic
and loyal citizens of the county. For many years he
has held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and is also a member of the camp.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 256 |
JERRY P. BELKNAP,
who is the present mayor of Holgate, and the editor and
proprietor of the "Henry County Review," is a native of
Henry county, born near Napoleon, March 10, 1859, a son of
John D. and Mary (Weaver) Belknap, the former
probably a native of New Jersey, the latter of Butler
county, Ohio.
In 1850 the parents removed from Butler county, Ohio, to
Henry county, locating on a farm near Napoleon, where they
were living at the outbreak of the Civil war. Feeling that
his country needed his services, the father enlisted April
22, 1861, in Company F, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
for three months' service, and was commissioned first
lieutenant of his company. A short time after going to the
front he was in camp at Laurel Hill, West Virginia, after
having participated in a skirmish, and he was here
accidentally shot and killed by one of his own men July 15,
1861, when thirty-four years of age. He left a widow and
three children, the others beside our subject being: Charles
H., now a farmer of Napoleon township, Henry county; and
Emma E., wife of Harry Lemon, of Fulton county, Ohio. The
mother died in 1874 when about fifty years of age.
From the age of two years Jerry P. Belknap spent his
childhood and youth in Napoleon, and in its schools obtained
a good practical education, being a member of its first
graduating class. In March, 1876, soon after leaving school,
he entered the "Signal" office in Napoleon to learn the
printer's trade, working there until 1880. Going to Stuart,
Guthrie county, Iowa, he published the "Stuart Ledger" for a
year and a half, and on selling that paper he purchased the
"Portland Observer," at Portland, Michigan, which he
published some four years. Returning then to Napoleon he
bought the "Napoleon Signal," which he conducted for five
years, from the fall of 1885 until the spring of 1891, when
he sold out and removed to Chicago, There, in company with
W. F. Baum, he established the "Chicago Stockman," which
they published for nearly three years, and on disposing of
his interest in that paper he came to Holgate, Ohio. He has
since been editor and proprietor of the "Henry County
Review," the circulation of which has been increased to nine
hundred under his able management. It is independent in
politics, and is one of the best papers published in this
section of the State. On April 15, 1881, in Napoleon, Mr.
Belknap married Miss Carrie L. Hartman, a daughter of
N. H.
Hartman, of that place, and they have become the parents of
three children: Laura, Marion and Nathaniel. Socially,
Mr.
Belknap is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
of Napoleon, and of the F. and A. M. at Holgate.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 535 |
CHARLES F.
BOESLING
This prominent resident of Flat
Rock township, Henry county, has been extensively engaged in
agricultural work in that locality for a number of years,
and has lately become interested in the milling business at
Florida, Henry county, his venture proving highly
successful. His enterprise and energy are worthy of
emulation, and his history finds an appropriate place among
those of the leading business men of the section.
Mr. Boesling is a native of Henry county, having been
born in Napoleon township, October 8, 1855. When he
was about fourteen years old his parents, Henry and
Sophia (Hase) Boesling, removed to Flat Rock township, where
our subject has ever since resided. In early manhood
he engaged in agriculture, and he now owns a fine farm of
three hundred and forty-seven acres, which he manages in a
scientific manner, being regarded as one of the successful
farmers of the county. Until 1897 his agricultural
interests occupied his attention exclusively; but in the
spring of that year he purchased the roller gristmill at
Florida, which he is now conducting, the daily capacity
being seventy-five barrels.
He has a pleasant home in Flat Rock township, and is
identified with various progressive movements in his
community, being especially active in religious work as a
member of the Lutheran Church. On October 28, 1880, he
was married in that township to Miss Sophia Bahrens,
daughter of Henry Bahrens, a well-known resident of Adams
township, Defiance county. Five children have blessed
this union: Minnie, Karl, Frederick,
Emma, and Arna.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 595 |
JOHN M. BRAYER.
The financial and commercial history of Henry county
would be very incomplete and unsatisfactory without a
personal mention of those whose lives are interwoven so
closely with the industrial and financial development of
this section of the State. Prominent among this class
of citizens is Mr. Brayer, who was for several years
engaged in the manufacture of staves in Holgate, and is now
officially connected with the Holgate Commercial Bank.
Mr. Brayer was born in Rochester, New York,
March 21, 1855, and in that city was reared and educated.
His father, Michael Brayer, was a native of Alsace,
Germany, crossed the Atlantic when a young man, and in
Rochester, New York married Miss Elizabeth Wackerman,
also a native of the Fatherland. They became the
parents of ten children - six sons and four daughters - of
whom John M. is fifth in order of birth. Both
parents died in Rochester.
In his native city John M. Brayer, remained
until 1874, which year witnessed his arrival in Henry
county, Ohio. Some time previous, his father, in
company with two other gentlemen, had come to the county and
erected a stavemill in Holgate, where our subject was
employed until 1882, when he and his two brothers, Jacob
W. and Nicholas W. Brayer, purchased the mill
which they successfully operated until 1891, selling out at
that time to G. W. Walker, the present owner.
Mr. Brayer has sine been connected with the bank, now
known as the Holgate Commercial Bank, which was organized by
our subject, his brother, Nicholas W., and F. H.
Voigt, the firm name at that time being Brayer
Brothers & Voigt. As the founder of what was
become one of the most reliable financial institutions of
the county he deserves special credit. His success has
been the result of honest, persistent effort in the line of
honorable and manly dealing, and he is justly numbered among
the leading and influential business men of his adopted
county. Socially he affiliates with the Masonic
fraternity.
In Flat Rock township, Henry county, March 21, 1886,
Mr. Brayer married Miss Caroline Eberly, daughter
of Henry and Eve Eberly, who were among the early
settlers of Henry county. Her father is now deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Brayer have four children, namely:
Carrie E., Thomas H., Nellie E. and Jean A.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 339 |
DAVID T.
BURR.
The county commissioner of Henry county, David T. Burr,
is one of the leading and influential citizens of Monroe
township, and has taken an active part in promoting its
substantial improvement and material development. An
adopted son of America, his loyalty is above question, and
his labors in the interests of the county have been most
effective and beneficial.
Mr. Burr was born March 18, 1835, in Alsace, Germany
(then a part of France), where his parents spent their
entire lives, dying in that country. Our subject was
reared and educated in his native land, but in 1852, at the
age of seventeen years, he bade adieu to his old home and
friends, and sailed for the New World. On reaching the
shores of the United States he proceeded to Seneca county,
Ohio, where he worked by the year at farm labor until
February 22, 1862, when, with his wife and three children,
he removed to Henry county. After four years spent in
Harrison township, he came to Monroe township, where he has
since made his home with the exception of fourteen years,
two of which were spent in the lumber business in Huron
county and twelve in the same business in Union county,
Ohio. In 1882 he erected a sawmill at Malinta, Henry
county, which he successfully operated until 1892, but since
that time he has devoted his energies principally to the
cultivation of his home farm, comprising one hundred and
thirteen and one-half acres of valuable and well-improved
land. His elegant residence is surrounded by good
barns and outbuildings, and the whole place indicates the
thrift and progressive spirit of the owner.
In Tiffin, Ohio, December 10, 1857, Mr. Burr was united
in marriage with Miss Betsy A. Switzer, a native of
Pennsylvania, by whom he has nine children living and three
now deceased.
Mr. Burr is a member of the General Synod of the
Lutheran Church and is affiliated with the Masonic
fraternity. Sine attaining his majority he has adhered
to the Democratic party, and is to-day one of its most
prominent representatives living in Henry county. For
two years he served as township trustee in Monroe township,
for the same length of time held that office in Union
county, and has been school director fifteen years - nine in
Union county and six in Henry county. In 1892 he was
first elected county commissioner in the latter county, and
has since served in that responsible position, being
chairman of the board for three years. He is one of
the most valued citizens that Germany has furnished to the
New World, is a man of sterling worth in all the relations
of life, and his name is honorably and inseparably connected
with the history of Henry county.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 268 |
HENRY C.
BURSON.
This successful physician and
surgeon of Grelton, Henry county, is one of the younger
members of the profession, but his prominence is by no means
measured by his years; on the contrary, he has won a
reputation which many an older practitioner might well envy,
especially in the line of surgery.
Doctor Burson was born in Wood county, Ohio, June 12,
1869, a son of Thomas and Mary A. (Knouff) Burson. The
mother died in that county, February 21, 1896, but the
father is still living. Our subject is sixth in the
order of birth in their family of seven children - five sons
and 2 daughters. Doctor Burson began his education in
the common schools of his native county, and later attended
the Collegiate Institute at Fayette, Ohio. After
completing his literary course, he commenced the study of
medicine, in 1888, under the direction of Doctor E. W.
Schooley, of Weston, Ohio, and took his first course of
lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati,
Ohio. Subsequently he took the Regular course at the
Toledo Medical College, where he graduated in March, 1896.
In 1892 he had located in Grelton, Henry county, and is now
at the head of a large and well-paying practice.
At Grelton, August 10, 1893, Doctor
Burson married Miss Carrie M. Hoy, who was born September 9,
1873, in Harrison township, Henry county, where her father,
Jacob Hoy, still lives. In addition to his practice
the Doctor was formerly a correspondent of several of the
leading newspapers of the State, including the "Cincinnati
Enquirer," and others of equal prominence, and during the
campaign of 1896 he wrote many able articles on the free
coinage of silver. In August, 1890, he took charge of
the "Wood County Herald," published at Weston, Ohio, and for
one year ably edited that journal. At present,
however, he gives his undivided attention to his
professional duties, and in the practice of his chosen
calling is meeting with excellent success. Socially he
is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, and of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while politically he is
identified with the Democratic party, taking an active
interest in public affairs. In the campaign of 1896-08
the Doctor took an active part, his voice in behalf of the
Democratic cause being heard in various parts of Henry
county. On September 25, 1897, he received the
nomination for the office of county treasurer, was duly
elected thereto November 10 following, and entered upon the
duties of the incumbency September 5, 1898.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. - Page 249 |
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