ADAM SHOEMAKER, deceased, was the first of the Shoemaker family to locate in central Ohio.  He came West as early as 1820 and settled half a mile north of Ashley in what is now Morrow county, then Delaware county, on a tract of wild land 160 acres in extent.  His oldest son, John Shoemaker, had come out here the year before to prepare the way for the rest of the family and had built a log house containing one room.  Into this cabin Mr. Shoemaker moved with his wife and eleven children, nine sons and two daughters.
     Adam Shoemaker was born December 25, 1778, either near Bedford, Pennsylvania, or in Loudoun county, Virginia.  His wife, née Jane Baker, was a native of Pennsylvania.  Six of their children were born in Pennsylvania, four in Zanesville, Ohio, and one in Delaware county, this State.  Mr. Shoemaker was a man of sterling qualities.  In his make-up were found the elements which constitute the true pioneer.  In his political views he was first an old Jacksonian Democrat and afterward a Whig.  He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and by his life exemplified the teachings of his church.  He and his sons cleared the frontier farm on which they settled, and during his life the boys cleared up several other tracts of land.  A brief record of the eleven children is as follows: John, who married Miss Jane Jenkins, a native of Virginia, was killed by a falling tree, in 1845, and left a family of six daughters and one son; Jacob, who married Elizabeth Walters, died about 1884, leaving a family of seven daughters and one son; Daniel, who married Harriet Smith, died at the age of thirty-six years, leaving two sons and two daughters; Jonathan and his wife, née Betsey Jenkins, had a family of six children, and the date of his death was 1883; Betsey, wife of Levi Barton, died, leaving a family of seven children; Joseph, who married Juliett Coomer and reared a family of seven children, is now eighty-four years of age and is a resident of Ashley, Ohio; George, who married Margaret Flemming and had a family of eight children, died in April, 1894, at the age of eighty-one years; Samuel, now seventy-nine years of age and a resident of Cardington, Ohio, has been twice married, ––first to Miss Ann Jones, by whom he had five children, and second to Miss Eliza Lotterige, by whom he had two children; Solomon, a resident of Whitley county, Indiana, and now seventy-five years of age, is married to Mixinda Salmon and has four children; Sally, wife of Ellis Powers, has four or five children and resides in Iowa; and William, who died in Iowa, was twice married and had several children, his firs wife being Mary McGonigle and his second wife Eliza Witham.  The boys in this large family all followed farming, except Samuel who was a carpenter.  Probably no other family has done more toward bringing about the present development of Delaware count] than has the Shoemaker.  They not only cleared away the forest and tilled the soil but they were also ready when duty called in another directions.  Six of them were valiant soldiers in the civil war, one being in Company C, Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and the others in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Most of the descendants of Adam Shoemaker, now numbered by the hundreds, are residents of Delaware and Morrow counties, and are among the most worthy citizens of their communities.
     Milton B. Shoemaker, the third child of Daniel and Harriet (Smith) Shoemaker, was born on a farm in Oxford township, Delaware county, Ohio, March 21, 1839.  His early life was not unlike that of other farmer boys of his time, his education being received in the old log school house near his home.  When he was seventeen he began to do for himself, and for one year he was engaged in butchering.  Then he and his sister kept house together at the old homestead.  In January, 1862, he married Matilda Morehouse, and two years later he removed to Ashley and engaged in the grocery and grain business, in company with T. M. Seeds.  In 1866 they sold the grocery and in its stead opened up a stock of hardware.  They continued the hardware and grain business until 1873, when Mr. Shoemaker sold out and turned his attention to milling.  The firm of Shoemaker, Cole & Company erected a flouring mill at Ashley, and under that name the mill was run until 1880, when J. B Miller bought the interest of Mr. Cole and the name was changed to J. B. Miller & Company.  In 1884 Mr. Shoemaker sold out, but February 2, 1889, he again became connected with the mill, having bought half interest in it.  The firm name is now Linn, Shoemaker & Company.  In 1880 the mill was changed from a burr to a roller mill, it being the second roller mill in Ohio.  Mr. Shoemaker is now traveling in the interest of the company, selling flour.  The firm also deals in coal and grain.
     Ever since he located in Ashley Mr. Shoemaker has been an important factor in its upbuilding.  Indeed, few have done more to advance its interests than has he.  He has made three additions to the town, these additions covering a tract of twenty-five acres.  In 1887 he laid out a fine park of thirty acres, which was known as Shoemaker’s park until 1893, when he sold it to the Spiritualists for camp meeting and other gatherings.  The first brick walk in the town was laid by him, and in 1865 he put up the first good dwelling in the town, this having a stone foundation under it.  Since then he has erected three other good dwellings.  He has all these years dealt considerably in real estate, both town and farm property.  At this writing he is the owner of a fine farm of 106 acres adjoining the corporation.  He was one of the organizers of the Ashley Creamery and is a stockholder in the same.
     Mr. Shoemaker was married in Delaware county, as above stated, and has a family of six children, namely: Herrod, who is a member of the firm of Linn, Shoemaker & company, Bian L., a farmer of this county; James Guy, a blacksmith and a resident of Prospect, Ohio; and Ruth, Walter and Vaughn, at home.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 277-279
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

GEORGE S. SINGER, Cardington, Ohio, proprietor of the Olentangy poultry yard, fruit farm and garden, and inventor, patentee and manufacturer of the Olentangy incubator and Olentangy brooder and non-freezing fountain for poultry, is a man who has in a comparatively few years established an immense business.  In 1880 he began raising fancy poultry merely for a pastime, and to such an extent has this business increased on his hands that last year, 1893, he sold no less than $3,000 worth of eggs.  Early in his experience in the business he felt the need of better incubator and brooder facilities than were at that time on the market, and set his inventive genius to work, the result being his Olentangy incubator and brooder, which he first placed before the public in 1890.  That year, however, he sold only forty machines.  In 1891 his sales reached $4,000, and then for the first time did he contemplate the manufacture of incubators as a regular business project and took out a patent on his machines.  In 1892 the business reached $12,000, and in 1893 a little in excess of $30,000.  In 1890 one man did all the work, while this year, 1894, one hundred workmen are busily engaged in supplying the demand.  Recently he has established a branch factory in Omaha, and from these two points in Ohio and Nebraska he ships his incubators to all parts of the United States; and he also makes shipments to Australia and other foreign countries.  Mr. Singer has received no less than fifty premiums on his invention, these premiums coming from fairs held in several different States.
     Having thus briefly glanced at the rapidly increasing business in which Mr. Singer is engaged, we now turn for a sketch of his life.
     George S. Singer is of German and English descent, but spoke the German language.  His grandfather Singer was born in England, was one of the early settlers of Maryland, and in that State reared his family.  His son John, the father of George S., was born in Maryland, in Frederick county, in the year 1792; was a participant in the war of 1812, was a Democrat in politics, and long before the outbreak of the civil war he predicted that such a war was sure to come.  He ran a huckster wagon, kept a country dry-goods store, and also carried on farming, and was fairly successful in his operations.  He was married in Frederick county, Maryland, to Sarah Hawkensmith, a native of that place, born in 1800, she, too, being of German origin.  They became the parents of five children.  The first born died in infancy, and of the others we record that Charlotte A., widow of Jesse Hoover, lives on the old home place in Maryland; Mary S., wife of Thomas Rosensteel, lives in Cambria county, Pennsylvania; George S. was the fourth born; and Sarah Wilhelmina, widow of Hiram Ovelman, resides at the old home place in Maryland.  The father died in 1859, and the mother survived him until 1892.  Both were members of the German Reformed Church.

            George S. Singer was born in Frederick county, Maryland, September 15, 1837, and was reared and educated there.  In March, 1857, he came to Ohio, stopping first at Tiffin.  In 1858 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he spent one year, and during the winters of 1859, ’60 and ’61 was engaged in teaching school in Morrow county.  Next, he began buying butter and eggs, and kept a grocery at Cardington, being thus occupied when the civil war came on.  July 25, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as private, was made Corporal at muster-in and later promoted to Sergeant.  This regiment was mustered in at Delaware, Ohio, and from there immediately went South, via Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Memphis and Vicksburg, and was first in battle at Yazoo Swamps.  Mr. Singer was with his regiment in all the battles in which it participated until the war was over, among them being the siege of Vicksburg and the battles around that city.  At Jackson, Mississippi, he was taken sick, and was sent to the hospital at Memphis.  Later he spent three months as clerk in the office of the head Surgeon at that place, rejoining his regiment at New Orleans.  May 29, 1865, at Mobile, Alabama, he was discharged on account of sickness, and from there returned home, arriving on the fifth of June.
     After his return from the army, Mr. Singer accepted a position as clerk in the freight depot at Cardington, which he filled for five years.  In 1877 he established himself in the livery business, also dealing in coal and ice.  Since 1880 he has developed his present business, as above stated.
     Mr. Singer was married in 1859 to Anna Maria Roach, a native of Morrow county, Ohio, born June 13, 1843, daughter of John A. and Rachel A. (Noyer) Roach.  They are the parents of four children, namely: Harley S., of Cardington, married Jennie Ackerman and has two children; Van Doren C., Huntington, Indiana, married Rosie Firstenberger, and has five children; Emery M. is married and lives in Omaha, Nebraska; and Mary Ellen, wife of Joseph Kahnheimer, Cardington, has two children.
     Politically Mr. Singer is a Republican, and has served as a member of the City Council of Cardington.  Fraternally he is identified with the I. O. O. F. , in which he has passed all the chairs, and has twice been through the chairs of the Encampment.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 375-376
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

W. H. SINGER. ––The subject of this sketch is one of the well-known and honored farmers of Cardington township, Morrow county, Ohio, and has gained a certain and peculiar distinction by maintaining his residence on the same farm which figured as his birthplace, the date of his nativity having been November 13, 1840.
     His father was Samuel Singer, who was born in Frederick county, Maryland, and who was a stone-mason by trade.  His father, George Singer, was a native of England, and came to America when a young man.
     The maiden name of our subject’s mother was Catharine Valentine, and she was a daughter of John Valentine, a native of Maryland, where his daughter was also born.  John Valentine’s father was born in England.
     The parents of our subject were married in Maryland, and in 1827 they came to that part of Marion county, Ohio, which is incorporated in the present county of Morrow.  They located in Canaan township, and the father opened the first general store in the little town of Denmark, Canaan township.  He continued this enterprise for a period of five years, after which he effected the purchase of the farm where our subject lives at the present time, the land being heavily timbered and entirely unreclaimed.  He built a log house and cleared and otherwise improved the farm, remaining there until 1862, when he purchased a farm in Perry township, Morrow county, and made that his abiding place for two years, after which he resumed his residence on the old farm in Cardington township.  He served as a private during the war of 1812, was a Democrat in politics, and religiously was identified with the Presbyterian Church.  He was a man of prominence in the community and was well known throughout the county.  He died in his seventy-fourth year, and his widow passed away at the age of eighty-six years.
     They were the parents of nine children, of whom we offer the following brief record: George M. is a resident of Indiana; Valentine V. is of Cardington. Ohio; Mary Ann is the wife of George W. Bolenger, of Cardington township; Margaret H. is the wife of Jonathan Kester, also of this township; Samuel is deceased, as is also Lovina; John J. is a resident of Van Wert county. Ohio; Thomas J. resides at Logansport, Indiana, and William H. is the immediate subject of this review.
     Our subject, who was the youngest of the family, was reared on the farm which now constitutes his home, receiving his education in the district schools and in Iberia College, which building is now utilized as the working home for the blind, in this county.  At the age of fourteen he began to work for himself, engaging as a clerical assistant in a produce establishment at Galion, Ohio, where he remained for three months, after which he engaged in the same line of enterprise for himself at Cardington, thus continuing until 1862.  In the following year he went to Buffalo, New York, and was there engaged in the same business for six months; then in New York city for another six months, after which he returned to Ohio and opened a similar establishment at Bellville, Richland county, where he continued operations until 1867.
     May 19, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Austin, who was born in the State of New York, but who was reared in Richland county, Ohio, being the daughter of Dr. T. T. Austin, a prominent physician of Bellville.  Within the year of his marriage Mr. Singer purchased the interests of the other heirs to his father’s estate and located on the old homestead, where he has ever since continued to reside.  The place, which is one of the finest in the county, comprises 200 acres, and is under a high state of cultivation.  The owner has devoted himself to general farming, but has awarded special attention to the raising of potatoes and popcorn.
     Mr. and Mrs. Singer have had three children, namely: Anna, who is deceased; Mary C., wife of Frank Skinner, of Cardington, and Willie A., at home.  In his religious views our subject is charitable and liberal.  Politically he is an ardent Democrat and is an active worker and a power in the local ranks of his party, though he has strenuously objected to becoming a candidate for any political office, having declined the nomination in 1893 for Representative in the joint convention of Marion and Morrow counties, not wanting to be incumbered with any office.  But finally in 1894 he consented to accept the nomination for Sheriff of Morrow county, because the ticket must be full, and for the good of the party, at the same time feeling quite confident that he would not be elected because the majority was too large against him.  He has manifested much interest in the work and efforts made by the farmers of the country with a view to securing a better representation in the affairs of State, and he was president of the Morrow County Farmers’ Alliance during the time the organization was retained.  He is a member of the Western Farmers’ Club and has held all the offices in the same.  Fraternally he is a member of Cardington Lodge, No. 194, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 142-143
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

FRANCIS CLYMER STANLEY. ––The subject of this review is one whose ancestral history touches not only the pioneer epoch in the annals of the Buckeye State, but also traces back to the colonial history of the nation, and to that period which marked the inception of the strongest republic the world has ever known.  Himself a representative business man of Edison, Morrow county, it is then particularly consistent that a review of his life be incorporated in this volume.
     The father of our subject was Milton Stanley, who was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, where he was born November 5, 1812, the son of James and Rhoda Cobbs Stanley.  The original American ancestor of the Stanley line came from England about 1660 and made settlement at Hanover, Loudoun county, Virginia, he and his family being members of the Society of Friends, or, as they are ordinarily designated, Quakers.  The mother of the subject of this sketch was Elizabeth Martin Stanley, a native of Tuscarawas county, this State, where she was born on the 22d day of January, 1815; the daughter of John and Sarah (Michner) Martin, the former of whom came from Holland.  He served for eighteen months in the American army during the war of 1812.
     The Michner family came to America with William Penn and settled with his colony in Philadelphia.  The great-grandfather Stanley came to Ohio in 1805 and settled in Columbiana county, being one of the early pioneers of that locality.  The Stanley family was represented by six or seven young men, and the Cobb family, which settled there at the same time, comprised in its number six or seven young women.  The result of this association in that early day can readily be anticipated, for we find that three of the Stanley boys found their respective wives from the eligible members of the Cobb family.  One of the former, James Stanley, was the grandfather of our subject.  He died about 1818, leaving a widow and four children, the father of our subject being the eldest child.  The mother subsequently consummated a second marriage.
     Milton Stanley came to Marion county, Ohio, in 1835, settling three miles west of the point where the village of Cardington is now located.  Here he entered claim to 160 acres of Government timber land, and began operations by causing the forest trees to yield dominion under the sturdy blows of the swinging ax.  In 1852 he disposed of the farm, which had been well reclaimed, and removed to Indiana, settling on a farm in Marshall county, where he died on the first day of September, 1865.  His widow survived until 1888, her demise occurring in Kansas.  They were the parents of six children, of whom four are living at the present time, the complete record being given briefly as follows: Robert C. married Maria Cornelius, and they had ten children, their residence being in Ottawa county, Kansas; Mary Jane, wife of Newton Alldaffer, died in 1872, having been the mother of two children; James M., a resident of Tescott, Kansas, married Helen M Tucker, and they have four children; Francis C. is the immediate subject of this review; Samuel O. is a resident of Ottawa county, Kansas; Lydia died at the age of thirteen years.  The sons all served as volunteers during the late war of the Rebellion.  The father and mother were devoted and consistent members of the Presbyterian Church.  Milton Stanley was an ardent Abolitionist, and was one of the prime movers in effecting the organization of the Republican party in his locality, being a man of highest honor and of much influence, although he had never accepted political preferment in an official way.
     Francis C. Stanley was born October 22, 1844, in Marion county, Ohio, and was raised on the farm, receiving his preliminary educational discipline in the district schools and supplementing the same by attending for one year the Friends’ Academy, at Woodbury, Ohio.
     July 28, 1862, he gave the distinctive evidence of his patriotism and loyalty by enlisting for service in the late war, as a member of company D, Seventy-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, entering as a private.  The regiment was recruited at South Bend and after its organization was sent to Richmond, Kentucky, and there faced the forces of the rebel General, Kirby Smith, within six weeks after leaving home, ––engaging the Confederate troops in a lively skirmish, and thereafter proceeding to Louisville, same state, covering a distance of forty-eight miles in twenty-three hours.—from Lexington to Frankfort.  Here the regiment was assigned to Harker’s Brigade of Wood’s Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps.  This brigade was General Sherman’s famous old brigade.  In this command they started in pursuit of General Bragg, through Kentucky, traversing all sections of the State and having numerous skirmishes with the enemy.  They drove Bragg from Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee, and then proceeded to Murfreesboro and participated in the battle at that point, being there assigned to General Strait’s brigade, having been engaged in building fortifications about Murfreesboro for three months prior to such assignment, which was made April 1, 1863.  In this connection Mr. Stanley proceeded with his regiment down the Cumberland river to Fort Henry, thence to Pittsburg Landing, and they figured as mounted infantry on the ensuing raid to Rome, Georgia, being with the command of General Grierson from Pittsburg Landing to Corinth, Mississippi.  They proceeded across Alabama, burning much property on the way; they had exhausted their amunition, were surrounded by the enemy and being 300 miles below the Union lines, were surrendered by General Strait.  Mr. Stanley participated in the following named battles: Stone River, Tennessee; Sand Mountain, Alabama; Black Warrior Creek, Alabama; Blount’s Farm, Alabama: and many skirmishes with bushwhackers.  May 3, 1863, he was captured and was sent to Atlanta, where he was held for a few days and then transferred, to Knoxville, and finally to Richmond, where he was held in captivity at Belle Isle prison for a fortnight.  The last of May he was paroled and was sent to Annapolis, Maryland, and then to Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio.  The terms of surrender were that officers and privates were to be paroled and that the officers were to be allowed the retention of side arms.  The officers were held for twenty-two months, with the exception of those who escaped through the tunnel at Richmond.
     Mr. Stanley passed ten days at home and then reported at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Indiana, and was exchanged just in tune to take part in the capture of General Morgan, capturing twenty of his men on a little island below Cincinnati, following along the river to keep Morgan from re-crossing, and thus continuing until the noted raider was captured.  Our subject then returned to Camp Morton and was assigned duty in guarding these prisoners until they were transferred to Chicago.  Our subject was taken sick and was confined in the hospital at Indianapolis for six months, and during the major portion of the time that he was thus incapacitated for active service at the front, he had charge of one of the hospital wards.  Finally he went to Nashville, Tennessee, and was assigned garrison duty at Fort Negley, subsequently being sent to assist in guarding railroad lines in northern Alabama, his regiment as yet having few commissioned officers.  October 1, 1864, he was again detailed as nurse or attendant, entering the hospital at Decatur, Alabama, being there placed, with only 300 men, at the time General Hood surrounded the city, their escape being effected by a strategic ruse.  Mr. Stanley then went to Stevenson, Alabama, and there remained for a time, late in 1864.  He rejoined his regiment at Paint Rock, that State, where an almost constant guerilla warfare with bushwhackers was kept up for three months, several being killed on both sides during these minor engagements.  He remained there until his discharge, July 8, 1865.
     After his discharge our subject returned to the North and took up his residence on a farm in Morrow county, this State, remaining there until the spring of 1867, when he purchased a farm in Lincoln township, two miles east of Cardington, remaining there until 1886, when he removed to Cardington, where he was engaged in the hardware business for four years.  He then came to Edison and effected the purchase of his present general merchandising business, which is one of the representative enterprises of the thriving village, the business having been greatly widened in scope and in amount of stock carried and the annual sales having reached the notable aggregate of $12,000.  In addition to his general mercantile line, Mr. Stanley also handles farming machinery and implements.
     The marriage of our subject was consummated October 23, 1867, when he wedded Miss Sarah Ann Hicklen, a half sister of Dr. J. H. Jackson, of Edison, concerning whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this volume.  Mrs. Stanley was born in Columbiana county, this State, October 20, 1847, and completed her education in the Friends’ Academy at Damascus, Ohio.  They are the parents of three children, namely: Mary Elizabeth, wife of Rev. E. H. Curtis, of Gravity, Iowa; John Milton, and Sarah Frances.  After the war Mr. Stanley made his home among his uncles for some time.  He became a member of the Quaker Church in 1867, and in 1872 he was acknowledged as a minister in the orthodox Friends’ Church, having ever since continued to exercise his clerical functions and having traveled much in the work of his church, visiting Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa, and also laboring zealously in this State.  He has filled all the official positions in his church, having been a pioneer in the revival work of this simple and noble religious organization, with which he has been so conspicuously identified.  He has been president of the Ohio Mission Board, and clerk of the quarterly and monthly meetings.
     While on the farm Mr. Stanley was greatly interested in the breeding of tine stock, and at the present time he is secretary of the Ohio Spanish Sheep Breeders’ Association, having been one of its incorporators and having served as secretary since 1886.  Since 1882 he has been connected with the Ohio State Wool Growers’ Association, having formerly been one of its directors.
     He has been an active politician, and in 1871 he identified himself with the Prohibition party, lending his aid and influence to the cause for a full decade, after which he decided that the sought-for reforms could better be secured through the medium of one of the old parties, and he accordingly espoused the Republican cause, and has been a valued and active worker in its local ranks.  He was a candidate for Probate Judge, in 1890, but met defeat in the Democratic land-slide of that year.  He was Morrow county’s candidate for Congress before the fourteenth district convention, held at Mt. Vernon, June 21, 1894.  In a local way he has been a member of the Board of Education, acting as its treasurer, and has served as a member of the Common Council.  Fraternally he retains a membership in James St. John Post, No. 82, G. A. R., of Cardington, having been Past Commander, and holding the rank of Colonel in the district organization.  He is also identified with the Mt. Gilead organization of the Union Veterans’ Legion, being Chaplain of the same.  He is also a prominent member of the order of Knights of Pythias, being Past Chancellor Commander, and being the local representative of the Grand Chancellor.  He has also held preferment in the order as Master of the Exchequer and as Treasurer.  He has been prominently identified with temperance work and has been a member of lodges of the Good Templars and the Sons of Temperence, ––an active organizer in both.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 40-43
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.