OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS A Part of Genealogy Express

Welcome to HENRY COUNTY, OHIO History & Genealogy

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

OPQ

R

S

T

UV

W

XYZ

< CLICK HERE to RETURN to 1917 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
< CLICK HERE to RETURN to LIST of BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES >
 

JAMES A. ANDERSON.  A career of useful and honorable effort, resulting in material success for himself and broad benefits to the community, was that of the late James A. Anderson, who died at the home in Liberty Center of Henry County June 6, 1913.  He is survived by Mrs. Anderson and a daughter, and their home in Liberty Center is a place of culture and social attractiveness, and Mrs. Anderson has not only exemplified the best qualities of the home maker, but has also proved a capable business manager.      Born in Camden Township of Lorain County Sept. 7, 1859, James A. Anderson was in his fifty-fourth year when taken by death.  His parents were William and Harriet (Hardy) Anderson.  His father was born at Binghamton, New York, about 1820, and when a young man moved to Lorain County, Ohio.  There he met Miss Hardy, who was ten years his junior, and she was a native of Lorain County.  After their marriage they started out as farmers and accumulated a large amount of property in Lorain County, but about twenty-five years ago retired to Neapolis in Lucas County and six years later moved to Liberty Center, where the father died Oct. 17, 1904, and the mother on the 8th of April in the same year.  They were closely identified for many years with the Christian Church and he was a leader in public affairs and especially prominent in the democratic party.  He held several offices in Lorain County.  The late James A. Anderson who was an only son and child spent his early life in Lorain County on his father's farm.  While these years were not passed without sturdy and practical discipline in the duties of the farm he managed to gain a liberal education, partly in the public schools and partly in Oberlin College.  For some years after his marriage he followed farming and stock buying in Lorain County, but in 1890 moved to Liberty Center, and established an undertaking and furniture business.  It was in that line that he prospered and became best known to the people of that section of Henry County.  Since his death the business has been continued by Mrs. Anderson.      The late Mr. Anderson took a very prominent part in democratic politics.  He served as a member of the Board of Education at Liberty Center and it was largely through his efforts that the local school building was erected and the curriculum of the schools was improved, so that about a year before his death the high school was accredited as one of first class.  Mr. Anderson was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Liberty Center, having filled all the local offices in those lodges, and belonged to the Benevolent and Protective order of Elks at Napoleon.      In 1880, while a student in Oberlin College he married a classmate, Miss Loretta A. Austin, who also had the fine advantages of that old institution of learning.  Mrs. Anderson was born at Henrietta in Lorain County June 2, 1860, and was twenty years old when she married.  She was well equipped for the responsibilities of home making and other duties to which her position in society has called her.  She was born and reared in Lorain County, a daughter of Lyman and Julia (Higgins) Austin.  Her mother's family were among the pioneers of Northern Ohio.  Her father, Lyman Austin was born in Massachusetts.  Her mother was born in Birmingham, Erie County, Ohio, and was about five years younger than Lyman Austin, who was born about 1830.  Julia Higgins was the daughter of Moses and Betsey (Mitchell) Higgins.  Moses Higgins with two brothers Aaron and Calvin established homes at Birmingham in Erie County when all that section was very new.  Moses Higgins built the first sawmill at Birmingham and was a very prosperous business man in that locality, where he died in 1864.  His wife Betsey married a second time and lived to be ninety years of age, her death occurring at Springfield, Vermont.  While she had no children by her second marriage, she was the mother of fourteen by her union to Mr. Higgins.  Of these the mother of Mrs. Anderson was the oldest.  Of the Higgins children still living there are:  Harriet, wife of Fred Lockwood of Boston, Massachusetts; William Higgins, who lives in Springfield, Vermont, a widower with quite a large family; George, who lives at Rocky Ford, Colorado, and is a widower with two daughters.      Mrs. Anderson, as was her husband, has been one of the leaders in the Christian Church at Neapolis, Ohio.  She became the mother of two children.  William died in early infancy.  Pearl Loretta graduated from the high school and pursued higher studies at Monroe, Michigan, and at Defiance College.  She was born Aug. 16, 1891, and prior to her marriage was one of the successful and popular teachers in the public schools of Liberty Center, for six years, and is a leader in local society.  She is also active in the Christian Church.  On May 25, 1916, she married Frank P. Seitz, a native of Wood County, Ohio, and they are the parents of one child, Loretta Pearl born Feb. 15, 1917. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II _ Publ. 1917 - Page 894

GEORGE ARPS.  A man who has accomplished as much as George Arps as a good citizen, home provider and straightforward honest gentleman has a just cause for pride.  His home is one of the fine farms in section nineteen of Napoleon Township, in Henry County, and he is now living with everything to make life comfortable and enjoyable.      In business he has been a general farmer and stock raiser, and owns 177 acres of the farm where he was born Dec. 25, 1868.  He grew up, receiving his education in the local schools, and has lived on one farm since early youth to the present time.  For the past eighteen years he has been owner of the old place and his own contributions to its improvement include a large barn 40 by 90 feet, besides a grain and tool house.  His residence is a substantial house of eight rooms and was built thirty-four years ago by his father, Henry Arps. Henry Arps also put the first habitation on the land, a log cabin covered with clapboards and 16 by 28 feet in dimensions.  This old building, which is still standing and in a good state of repair, was erected in 1852 and is an interesting landmark.      Henry Arps. who established this branch of the Arps family in Henry County, was born not far from the City of Hanover, Germany, in 1826, and was reared and educated there.  He was quite young when his mother died, and about 1850 he and his father set out for the United States, coming by a sailing vessel that required eight weeks to make the ocean voyage from Bremen to New York.  From there they came by the Hudson River, Erie Canal and the lakes to Toledo, and then struck out through the woods on foot until they arrived at the home of a cousin, Herman Arps, who about two years before had come to this country and located in section nineteen of Napoleon Township.  Henry Arps' father died the same year of his arrival.  Henry then spent a year or so working on the Wabash Railroad and the canal, and then invested his meager capital at the rate of 75 cents an acre in forty acres of wild land in section 19 near the home of his cousin Herman.  Not long afterward he put up the log cabin already mentioned, and to that humble abode brought his bride when he married.  The maiden name of his wife was Melissa Gerken.  She too was a native of Hanover, Germany, and had come to this country as a young woman with her parents and by the same route and manner as the Arps had made their emigration, though she arrived about two years later.  The Gerken family located in Adams Township of Defiance County, but not far from where the Arps had their home.  After Henry Arps married he and his young wife faced the serious responsibilities of life and undertook the heaviest kind of labor in providing a home for themselves and their children.  Henry Arps was a very industrious man and by his long continued labors cleared the dense timber from his fields and developed a farm of ninety-six acres including some of the best and richest soil in Henry County.  His career of usefulness came to a close with his death n 1898.  The mother of George Arps died when the latter was nine days old, and she was then only thirty-two years of age.  Henry Arps married for his second wife Mary Badenhope of Freedom Township, but a native of Hanover, Germany.  She had come to this country and to Henry County with her mother and two brothers, Henry and Herman, the little family locating in Freedom Township, where her brothers are still living and have families.  The second Mrs. Henry Arps died on the old homestead in 1905.  She left no children.  Henry and all his family were members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adams Township of Defiance County.  George Arps is one of five children by his mother.  Mary is the wife of Fred Scheele, a farmer of Bartlow Township in Henry County, and she has four sons and two daughters.  John lives on a farm in Monroe Township of Henry County and has three sons and four daughters.  Elizabeth died after her marriage to the late Henry Panning, and they left a family of three sons and two daughters.  Henry, Jr., is a farmer in Bartlow Township and has five sons and two daughters.      George Arps was married in his native township to Miss Katie Heldberg, who was born in Hanover, Germany, in February, 1868.  In 1875, when she was seven years old, she came to the United States with her parents, Fred and Margaret (Norden) Heldberg, this family locating on a farm in Adams Township of Defiance County, where her parents spent the rest of their days, her father dying at the age of sixty-five and her mother at seventy-nine.  Both the Heldberg and Arps families have been loyal members of the Lutheran Church and in politics the prevailing affiliation has been with the democratic party.  Mr. George Arps is one of the trustees of Bethlehem Church.      To the marriage were born three children: Ernest, who was born on the old homestead August 9, 1896, received his education in the local public schools and is still at home.  Mary, born April 7, 1901, is now in the seventh grade of the public school, while Amelia, born September 6, 1905, is in the sixth grade.  Mrs. Arps, the devoted mother of these children, passed away at her home May 1, 1907, when her youngest child was two and one-half years old. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. III _ Publ. 1917 - Page 1524

 

CLICK HERE to Return to HENRY COUNTY, OHIO	CLICK HERE to Return to OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH is My MISSION GENEALOGY EXPRESS This Webpage has been created by Sharon Wick exclusively for Genealogy Express  ©2008 Submitters retain all copyrights

.