HENRY H.
WACHTEL, is a native of Ohio, born July 11, 1839, the only
son of Henry and Sarah (Fortney) Wachtel, former of whom died
in 1839 and latter in 1885. He has been prosperous and is a
very popular man in his township, especially in political circles,
being the unanimous choice of his fellow-townsmen for various
official positions; has served as justice of the peace nine years.
During the war he was a brave soldier, enlisted Sept. 2, 1862, in
Company G, One Hundred and Second Ohio Infantry, under Capt.
Harpster. He served with his company until captured, Sept.
24, 1864, at Athens, Ala., and was held a prisoner until the close
of the war, suffering untold horrors in the southern prisons,
chiefly at Cahaba and at Selma, Ala. Space here is too limited
to give anything like an adequate account of his prison experiences,
and his trials and privations during the long, weary months of his
incarceration.
Mr. Wachtel was married in 1860 to Mary
Oberholzer, and they have had ten children (eight of whom are
living): William S., born Aug. 31, 1861; Albert F.,
Apr. 5, 1863; Delavan E., Feb. 25, 1866; Sarah E.,
Aug. 18, 1867; Emma J. (deceased), June 27, 1869;
John M., Jan. 23, 1871; Luella M., Sept. 27, 1872;
Charles H. June 24, 1874; Minnie A., Feb. 8, 1876 and
Harvey I. (deceased) Mar. 19, 1878.
~ Page 816 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
JOHN WATTS
was born Mar. 24, 1820. Little or nothing is actually known of
his ancestors, further than that his grandfather (Thomas Watts)
was born in England about 1766. Thomas immigrated into
this country when but a boy, and found his first employment in a
blacksmith shop, where he stayed until 1788, when he married Miss
Snyder and settled on a farm of 160 acres in Lancaster County,
Penn. John's father was born in 1791. He was a
weaver by trade, but finding this not as profitable as he had
supposed, he abandoned the loom and commenced farming upon a farm of
which he was then the owner. He lived in Lancaster County,
Penn., until the year 1835, when he and family moved to Holmes
County, Ohio, where he lived until his death in 1867. He was
the father of ten children - five boys and five girls, as follows:
John, Samuel, Catherine, Sarah, Zimmerman, Thomas, Isaac,
Ellen, Mary and Fannie. Ellen and Mary died
when young, and were buried in Holland cemetery, Penn.
Zimmerman volunteered in the War of 1861, and was an active
soldier until the surrender of Vicksburg, where he received mortal
wounds.
In 1843 John Watts was married to Miss
Elizabeth Gardiner, and moved on his father's property, of which
he became the possessor, not by inheritance, but by the toil of his
own hands.
He is the father of fourteen children, eight girls and
six boys - Rachel, born May 25, 1844; Levi, in 1845;
George, in 1847; Sarah, in 1848; Barbara, i
1850; Mary, in 1851; John, in 1854; Elizabeth,
in 1856; Catherine, in 1857; Joseph, in 1859; Lucy
and Laura, in 1862; Samuel, in 1864, and Lewis,
in 1866. George, Samuel and Elizabeth are
deceased. The others are all married and have families,
excepting Laura and Lewis, who are yet unmarried.
~ Page 632 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
JACOB
WEIMER was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1815, a son of
Philip Weimer, a farmer and wagon maker of that country.
He was the youngest of nine children, and the only one now living.
His father died when he was thirteen years old, and his mother when
he was fifteen; thus he was at this early age left to care for
himself. He remained in his native country until twenty-two
years old, and then came to the United States. In 1838 he
returned to Germany, to dispose of some property there, coming again
to America in 1844, and has since lived in Holmes County, Ohio.
He owns 36- acres of good land in Washington Township, which he has
acquired by hard work and perseverance, and he is now one of the
leading citizens of the township.
He was married in 1844 to Miss Margaret, a
daughter of Martin Matthews, of Canaan township, Wayne
County, and they have had a family of eleven children, seven of whom
are living: Sarah, Ellen, Barbara, Martin, George, Charles
and Edward. Mr. Weimer is a supporter of the
Democratic party, and he and his family are members of the
Evangelical Church.
~ Page 724 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
WILLIAM
WEISS was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Aug. 31, 1860.
His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Hattry) Weiss, are now
residing in Walnut Creek, Township, Holmes County. Mr.
Weiss received the benefit of a common-school education, and in
his youth learned the carpenter's trade., which occupation he
followed until 1884, when he moved to Carlisle and engaged in the
butcher business. He also conducted a drug store at Walnut Creek
until 1888, when he purchased his present business at Charm, and now
enjoys an extensive patronage. In 1883 Mr. Weiss was
united in marriage with Miss Elmira, daughter of Dr. Jacob
Mast, of Walnut Creek Township, and they have three children:
Stella, Walter and Edna. Mr. Weiss is a strong
supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and has filled
the offices of assessor and constable of Walnut Creek Township; he
is also postmaster at Charm. He is a member of Killbuck Lodge,
No. 18, I. O. O. F.; he and his wife are members of the German
Reformed Church.
~ Page 728 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
| ROSWELL WELLS - See
ANDREW JACKSON McDOWELL
~ Page 647 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
CHARLES
M. WHEATON (deceased) was born in Hardy Township, Holmes
County, Ohio, in 1824, a son of Anson and Rebecca E. (Cook)
Wheaton, who were among the first settlers of Holmes County.
He was reared on his father's farm, and in his youth learned the
carpenter's trade, which he followed the rest of his life. He
was married in 1848 to Rosanna, daughter of William and
Mary Uhl, and their family numbered four children: Mary
Ellen, Avery, William A. and Alice. On these,
Mary Ellen is deceased; Avery lives in Knox County, Ohio,
where he owns a farm; Alice also resides in Knox County,
where she owns a farm; William A., lives with his mother on
the farm in Hardy Township, Holmes county. The father of these
children died in March, 1859. He was one of the energetic
young men of the township, and taken from his family in the prime of
early manhood. Mrs. Wheaton is a member of the
Disciples Church, an earnest Christian woman, who has lived for her
children, and has been rewarded by seeing her sons grown to be young
men of integrity, and numbered among the leading citizens.
~ Page 773 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of
Wayne and
Holmes, Ohio,
Illustrated – Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889 |
GEORGE
L. WILLYARD* was born in Knox County, Ohio, in 1818, son of
Frederick Willyard, who was born in this country, of a German
family - a poor but an honest and industrious man. He was for
many years what would not be called a master of transportation -
that is, he owned and drove a four-horse wagon from Danville (Ohio)
to Pittsburgh. He would load up with rags, beeswax, butter,
feathers, eggs, flaxseed and like products of the farm, bought in by
the merchants of the village, and take them to Pittsburgh; then,
with a return load, would bring cotton yarns, coffee, tea, salt and
a general assortment of dry goods. In those early days this
mode was the only commercial connection between that part of Ohio
and Pittsburgh. He had a cover to the big wagon, carried his
feed box and feed with him for the trip, and always rode the near
wheel-horse, to drive the team. Being hard pressed to make a
scanty living he had no means whereby to give his son, George L.,
any educational advantages other than those obtained at the
subscription school, then the only one for the winter season.
George made the best of these meager advantages, and soon
developed great capacity to learn. With hard study and great
energy and industry, with private lessons, he became a good scholar
for the time, and engaged in teaching until 1887, when he
entered the law office of the late Hon. W. R. Sapp, as a
student, and continued therein until he was admitted to the bar, in
1839, having then arrived at the age of twenty-one years. His
father had removed to Holmes County some years before, and here he
afterward died. Soon after his admission he located at
Wooster, in partnership with William McMahon, Esq., a noted
attorney of that place, and commenced an active practice of law,
with apparently a brilliant career at the bar before him.
Possessed of very fine ability, ambition, untiring industry and
perseverance, he would have made a very successful lawyer, and won
for himself a leading place at the Ohio bar, but, in the early
summer of 1840, he was taken sick of a severe fever, of which he
died on the 22d of July, 1840.
The following extract from an obituary notice of his
death, published in the Harrison Democrat, a campaign paper,
published at Millersburgh, of date July 28, 1840, edited by
Samuel G. Armor and Martin Walker whose biographies
appear in the volume, will evidence his standing among his
acquaintances:
The deceased was about twenty-two years of age.
Few young men ever enjoyed more the confidence and respect of their
acquaintances. Affable, agreeable and unassuming in his
manner; noble, disinterested and magnanimous in his conduct, he
attached to himself the esteem and friendship of all, and excited
the enmity of none. He has left a large circle of attached
friends to deplore his early loss.
~ Page 688 – Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne
and
Holmes,
Ohio, Illustrated –
Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1889
* Contributed by Judge Martin Welker |
BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN WILSON is a native of Holmes County, Ohio, born
March 26, 1839, the second of six children of Allen and Elizabeth
(Jones) Wilson, natives of Pennsylvania, his father of
Washington County, of English descent, and his mother of
Westmoreland County, of Irish descent. They were among the
pioneers of Holmes County. The mother died in 1863, and the
father is 1883, the latter being nearly eight-four years of age.
B. F. Wilson remained with his parents until
after the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, and the 1861
enlisted in the defense of his country, being assigned to Company B,
Sixteenth Ohio Infantry, and served three years and one month.
He participated in the battles at Cumberland Gap, Tazewell (Tenn.),
siege of Vicksburg and New Orleans. He then went to Texas and
helped to build a dam across the Red River; then went to
Mississippi, where he participated in numerous skirmishes and
battles. He was a brave and gallant soldier, and served his
country faithfully. After his discharge he returned to his old
home, and has since followed the more peaceful pursuit of farming.
He is one of the prosperous farmers of Prairie Township, and has
about 176 acres of valuable land, ninety-nine acres being in the
homestead farm. His homestead is well improved, and his
buildings are among the best in the township, his residence being a
model of taste and convenience, erected at a cost of $2,000.
Mr. Wilson makes a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs, of
which he has several fine specimens, although he is also engaged in
general farming. His farm is mostly devoted to the raising of
the Burbank potato, large quantities of which he ships to other
markets. Mr. Wilson was married in 1867 to Amy Jones,
a native of Holmes County, born in 1840. She died in 1873,
leaving two children: Charles A. B. and Mary A.,
and in 1875 Mr. Wilson married Catherine Arnold, who
was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1840, daughter of Thomas and
Catherine Arnold. In politics Mr. Wilson adheres
to the principles of the Democratic party. |
JOHN D. WISE,
a prosperous merchant of Walnut Creek, was born in Germany, May 12,
1822, son of Frederick and Betriah (Bloukenhorn) Wise, latter
of whom died in Germany. The father and six children
immigrated to America in 1829, first locating in Lancaster County,
Penn., and afterward moving to Lebanon County, Penn., where the
father died in 1871. He was a baker by trade, which he
followed after coming to America.
Our subject was educated in this country in both
English and German; also learned the baker's trade, at which he
worked several years. In 1844 he was united in marriage with
Miss Harriet Schroeder, a native of Berks County, Penn., and
in 1856 they came to Holmes County, where they purchased a farm in
German Township. There the wife and mother died in 1870.
In April, 1874, Mr. Wise and his son, A. M. WISE,
purchased their present business in Walnut Creek, where they have
since been engaged in a general mercantile business; also handling
agricultural implements, sewing machines, etc. Mr. Wise is a
supporter of the Democratic party, and has filled various township
offices. He was appointed poster in 1874, serving until 1885.
He has always been a prominent member of the Lutheran Church, and
for many years has been a deacon in the same. He has three
children: John F., a farmer in Nebraska; Simon P., a
physician in Millersburgh, and Almon Martin, in partnership
with his father in business.
A. W. Wise was born in Lebanon County, Penn.,
Dec. 25, 1852, and came to Holmes County when about four years of
age. He received, his education at the public schools of this
county, and since 1874 has been engaged in mercantile business with
his father. In 1881 he was united in marriage with Miss
Emma Blanch, a native of Lebanon County, Penn., but a resident
of Wooster Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, at the time of her marriage.
By this union they have three children: Nathan Henry, John
Clarence and Edward Raymond. Mr. Wise is a Democrat
in politics, and has served as township treasurer seven years.
HE is a trustee of the Lutheran Church. |
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