DR. JOSEPH WATSON, one of the leading physicians of Cardington, Ohio, has resided here since 1861.
     He was born near Mansfield, in Richland county, Ohio, October 24, 1824, son of Dr. Noah and Elizabeth (Dodson) Watson.  Dr. Noah Watson was a native of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, born December 10, 1790, son of Amariah Watson, a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and a soldier of the Revolution.  The Watson family are of Welsh and English origin, and were for many years residents of Connecticut.  Noah Watson was a Sergeant in the war of 1812.  About the time that war opened he came to Ohio and located at Lexington, where he was subsequently married to Bathsheba Eastman, who died only a short time after their marriage.  He remained in Richland county six years, after which he returned to Pennsylvania and studied medicine, and while there he married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Dodson, who was born in Luzerne county, that State, April 29, 1796.  In 1823 he came to Ohio and settled on a farm near Lexington.  Here he spent the residue of his life and died.  In politics he was a Whig, and in religion a Universalist.  His death occurred in 1862, and his good wife passed away in 1882.  Three of their seven children are now living, viz.: William Watson, of Lyons, Kansas, who has been twice married and has five children; Lucy, widow of Rev. Clark Johnson, Fostoria, Ohio; and Dr. Joseph Watson, the subject of this article.
     Dr. Watson spent the first twenty-four years of his life on his father’s farm, receiving his education in the public schools.  He began the study of medicine at Iberia, under the instructions of Dr. L. L. Barnum, and attended the Western College of Homoeopathy, where he graduated in 1853.  After his graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession at Westfield, Ohio, where he remained six years.  Since 1861, as stated at the beginning of this sketch, he has been identified with the medical profession of Cardington, being one of the pioneers of his school in this county.
     Dr. Watson was first married in 1848, to Lucy Amelia Barnum, their happy married life being of short duration, as her untimely death occurred the year following her marriage.  In 1855 he married Ella J. Mills, who was born in Marion county, Ohio, in May, 1836, and who was a lady of education and culture.  She died of la grippe in 1890.  They had four children, of whom three are living, viz: Orville E., a graduate of the Cardington high school, Kenyon College, and the Ohio Wesleyan University, spent one year of study in Europe, and upon his return to America was appointed minor canon of the cathedral at Cleveland, which position he still holds; Clarence V., deceased; Minette, an artist of some note, has been a student at both Cincinnati and New York city; and Jessie, who was a student in the Cincinnati College of Music, is a fine performer upon the piano and organ.
     Mrs. Watson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, while the Doctor is an Episcopalian.  Politically he is an active Republican.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 452-453
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

NOBLE WEAR, a farmer of Bennington township, is a son of Noble Wear, Sr., who was born in county Fermanagh, Ireland, and was a farmer and weaver by occupation.  He participated in the battle of Waterloo.  The mother of our subject, formerly Annie Irving, was a native of the same county.  They were married in Ireland, and came to America in 1833, locating for a few years in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and then settled on an improved farm.  The father lived to the age of 102 years, and the mother to the age of 104 years.  They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters.  Mr. Wear was an active worker in the Democratic party, his first Presidential vote in America having been cast for Andrew Jackson.  Both were members of the Presbyterian Church.
     Noble Wear, the subject of this sketch, was born about 1829, and received his education at Vernon and Gambier, Ohio.  He remained at home until twenty-one years of age, and then located on a partially improved farm in Liberty township, Knox county, which he put under a fine state of cultivation, and lived there until coming to Morrow county in 1861.  In his home farm he has 170 acres, and also owns fifty acres west of Marengo and 104 acres in Chester township.  In addition to his farm property, Mr. Wear owns two good city lots in Columbus.  He has just given the old home farm in Liberty township to his son.
     In 1850 he was united in marriage with Sarah Ann Bird, a native of Liberty township, Knox county, and a daughter of Elisha Bird, an early pioneer of that county.  Mrs. Wear departed this life in 1878.  Our subject and wife had seven children, viz.: Cordelia, at home; Frank, who married Rosie Bishop, and resides in Bennington township; George W., at home; Annie, wife of David Green, of Chester township; John, of Los Angeles, California, married Dora Grubb, and has three children; Jennie R. is the wife of E. J. Harris, of Bennington township, and has three children; Isaac, married, resides in Los Angeles, and has one child.  Mr. Wear is a member and active worker in the Democratic party, and for several years has served as School Director.  He is a member of the Methodist Church.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, p. 426
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

FRANCIS A. WELCH. ––Among the representative farmers of Peru township, Morrow county, Ohio, he whose name initiates this paragraph must assuredly be accorded place, for his position has been one of prominence in many ways.
     He was born in Bennington county, Vermont, May 17, 1825, the son of Ebenezer Welch, who likewise was a native of the Green Mountain State, where he was reared to man’s estate.  He was a son of John Welch, who was a representative of one of the early New England families and who was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, in one of the battles of which conflict he was severely wounded, receiving a pension from the Government by reason of his injuries.
     Ebenezer Welch took unto himself a wife in the person of Susan Bennett, who was born in Bennington county, Vermont, and there reared.  Her father, Francis Bennett, was a descendant of a prominent family long resident of the New England States, he himself having been a native of Vermont.  He was a minister of the old-fashioned Baptist Church, and he lived to attain the age of more than eighty years, the family having been one notable for longevity.
     The parents of our subject were married in their native county and there passed the span of their lives, the father dying at the age of sixty years and the mother at eighty-eight.  The former was an active participant in the war of 1812.  They became the parents of eight sons and two daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but of whom all, save two, are now deceased.  Of them we record that Samuel, John, Daniel and Thomas are deceased; Josiah is a resident of the State of New York; Lyman is deceased; Perry is deceased; Francis A. is the subject of this review; Sarah is deceased, as is also Betsey.
     Our subject was the youngest son, and he remained in his native county until he had attained the age of nineteen years, his mental discipline having been one of practical experience in the affairs of life, rather than that gained from books.  At the age of nineteen years he left the parental roof and started out empty-handed to carve out his own fortune.  He proceeded to Rensselaer county, New York, where he worked by the month or year for a period of twelve years, receiving wages ranging from eight to twelve dollars per month.
     In 1848 he was united in marriage to Ann Eliza Lain, who was born and reared in Rensselaer county, New York, being the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Lain.  She died, leaving two children: Theodore M., of Richland county, Ohio, who has two sons, Frank and John; and one child who died young.|
     Four years subsequent to the death of his wife Mr. Welch came to Morrow county and purchased a farm of sixty-three acres, in Peru township, taking up his residence on the same.  July 22, 1855, he consummated a second marriage, being then united to Samantha (Oliver) Dillingham, widow of Alfred Dillingham.  She was born in Peru township and was the daughter of William and Annis Oliver, who were among the early settlers in the county.  Our subject and his wife are the parents of two sons and one daughter, of whom we make record as follows: Nettie is the wife of Alfred Finley, of Kansas, and has six children; Emerson E. married Jessie Doty and has two children, Clare and Tacy; Lyman married Delia Rosevelt and has two children, Mabel and Esley.
     At the time of the late war Mr. Welch enlisted as a private in Company G, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was under detail as a general utility man to Colonel Neff.  He served eleven months, after which he returned to his home in this township.  He now owns in this township a well improved farm of 110 acres.|
     In politics Mr. Welch is an ardent Republican, and he has taken a prominent part in the local councils and affairs of the organization.  He served for a full decade as Township Trustee, and in 1887 he was elected County Commissioner, serving in that capacity for three years.  He has also served as a delegate to the State convention several times.  He is one of the board of School Directors in the township; is clerk of the district and chairman of the School Board.  Fraternally he is identified with Ashley Lodge, I. O. O. F., and religiously, he is a member of the Society of Friends.  A man of stanchest integrity, and of marked ability, he has long held a high position in the respect and confidence of the community.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 144-145
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

LEWIS WHIPPLE, a prominent farmer of Peru township, Morrow county, was born on the farm where he now lives, August 25, 1839.  His father, Barton Whipple, a native of Rhode Island, came with his parents to Delaware, now Morrow county, when eighteen years of age, his father, Reuben Whipple, also a native of Rhode Island, having been one of the early settlers of that county, and died here in his seventy-second year.  The Whipple family are descended from four brothers who came from England and located at Providence, Rhode Island.  Our subject’s mother, née Eliza Van Duzer, was a native of Pennsylvania, and her father, Abram Van Duzer, was also born in that State, of Dutch descent.  He became one of the early settlers of Morrow county, and lived to the age of seventy-two years.  The parents of our subject were married in Delaware county, but shortly afterward located in the woods of Peru township, now Morrow county, where they improved a farm.  They afterward sold that place and bought the farm where our subject now resides.  The mother died here at the age of seventy-eight years, and the father at the age of eighty-nine years.  They were members respectively of the Christian and Universalist Churches.  Mr. Whipple was one of the leading men in his county, having served as County Commissioner twenty years in both Delaware and Morrow counties; was also Justice of the Peace the same length of time, and at one time conducted a tavern.  They were the parents of nine children, five daughters and four sons, all of whom grew to years of maturity but one, viz.: Jefferson, of Fulton county, Ohio; Caroline, widow of Levi Wood; Phoebe, wife of Israel Potter, of Edon, Ohio; Amanda, wife of Henry Christ, of Peru township; Mary Ann, widow of John Rue, and a resident of Westerville, Ohio; Mrs. Eliza Jane Earl, deceased; Steuben, of Peru township; Lewis, our subject; and Jefferson, deceased.
     Lewis Whipple was reared in this township, and received his education in a Quaker school.  In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served eighteen months, took part in the battle of Perryville, followed Morgan through Kentucky, and was discharged at Columbus, Ohio, in 1864.  Returning home, he located on the old homestead, where he is engaged in general farming and stock raising.  In political matters Mr. Whipple affiliates with the Republican party, and socially is a member of Ashley Post, G. A. R.
     He was married after the close of the war to Marietta Coomer, a native of Morrow county, and a daughter of Ira and Mary Coomer, early settlers of Delaware county, this State.  Four children have been born to this union, namely: Harry, who married Alinda Aldrich, and lives in Delaware county; Charles, deceased at the age of seventeen years; Burton; and Rose, wife of Edward Waters, of Delaware county: she has two children, ––Florence and Bertha M.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 232-233
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

THEODORIC S. WHITE, who is one of the representative attorneys of Morrow county, and whose ancestral history is one of long identification with this section of the Buckeye State, has practically passed his entire life in Morrow county, aid has grown from boyhood to attain a position of prominence and usefulness in the line of his profession and as a man among men.
     His father, Howland R. White, was born in the vicinity of the village of Peru, Clinton county, New York, the date of his nativity having been July 1, 1816.  His parents were William and Margaret (Banker) White, both of whom were natives of the old Empire State.
     The original American ancestor of the White family was “William, the Englishman,” who left his native land at that time when Lord Jeffreys was urging his infamous persecutions, proceeding from the west of England, along the Welsh border, and eventually making his way to the New World.  He had intended to make settlement at New Amsterdam, which was the nucleus of the present metropolis of the nation, New York city, but he crossed the river and settled at Salisbury, Connecticut, later on removing to Dutchess county, New York, whence representatives of the family in time became scattered throughout the Union.
     William White, the grandfather of our subject, was an active participant in the war of 1812, going forth with the troops from his native State.  In 1830 he came with his family to Ohio, and settled in what is now Lincoln township, Morrow county, where he remained for a term of years and then sold out and removed to Cardington township, settling on a tract of land lying one mile east of the present village of Cardington, on the Chesterville road, where he remained until the hour of his death.
     Our subject’s mother, whose maiden name was Valeria A. Schenck, was a native of Fauquier county, Virginia, where she was born in October, 1822, the daughter of John D. and Gillian Lloyd) Schenck, both of whom were natives of the Old Dominion State, the former being of German extraction, and the latter of Welsh-English.  They came from Virginia to Ohio about 1838, and settled in Ætna township, Licking county, where they remained for a time, after which they removed to Harrison township, where the father died.  At the time of the attack on Washington within the progress of the war of 1812, he assisted in defending the city.
     The parents of our subject were married, in Licking county, in 1851, and thereupon took up their abode on the farm one mile east of Cardington, where they resided until about 1858, when they came to Cardington, where they have ever since maintained their home.  Two of their children are now living, namely: Theodoric S., subject of this review: and Gillian Lloyd, who is at present in the public schools of Cardington.  Both parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the father’s ancestors having been Friends, or Quakers.  In politics he was originally a Whig, but since the organization of the Republican party he has rendered to it an unwavering allegiance.
     Theodoric S. White, the subject of this sketch, was born on the paternal homestead one mile east of Cardington, on the 3d of October, 1854, receiving his education in the public schools of Cardington, and graduating at the high school.  He had early manifested a desire to take up the study of law, and even before leaving his school-room he had made many incursions into the pages of Kent and Blackstone, being afforded this privilege in the office of Judge Thomas E. Duncan, of Cardington, who acted as our subject’s preceptor when the latter took up the reading of law in good earnest, ––soon after his graduation from the high school.
     Mr. White was admitted to the bar, at Mt. Gilead, in 1876, being at the time somewhat past his twenty-first birthday anniversary.  He then entered upon a professional partnership with his former preceptor, Judge Duncan, and this association maintained for a number of years.  Since its dissolution our subject has practiced alone.  Politically, Mr. White has been a stanch and uncompromising Republican, and has been a most active worker in the party ranks, having served as delegate to divers conventions of the organization.  He was Prosecuting Attorney of Morrow county from 1880 until 1885, and has also been the incumbent as City Solicitor.
     Fraternally our subject is prominently identified with the Masonic Order, retaining a membership in Cardington Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M., of which he has served as Secretary; in Mt. Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M.; and in the Royal Arcanum, in which he has held the office of Regent.
     May 1, 1892, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Florence R. Smith, M. D., a native of Marion county, Ohio, and a daughter of Senaca A. and Dorothy (West) Smith, who are now residents of Lincoln township, Morrow county.  Mrs. White received her literary education in the public schools of Cardington, and in 1884 graduated at the Homeopathic Medical College, of Cleveland.  She is a most able physician, and retains a representative patronage in Cardington and vicinity.  She is a member of the Homeopathic State Medical Society.
     Reverting, in conclusion, to the ancestral history of our subject, we learn that his great-grandfather, on the maternal side, was George E. Lloyd, Sr., who was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, and who was an active participant in the war of the Revolution, having been a member of Captain Barry’s company, Eighth Virginia Line, commanded by Colonel Peter Muhlenburg.  Colonel Muhlenburg was pastor of a church at Woodstock, Shenandoah county, Virginia, and after hiving delivered an impassioned sermon before his flock he threw aside his clerical vestments, revealing his regimentals, and thereupon ordered the drums to call for recruits at the church door.  George E. Lloyd was one of those who responded to this call.  An uncle of our subject, Theodoric L. Schenck, was a soldier in Company B, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served through the late war of the Rebellion, having been made steward of a hospital.  Another uncle, Sardis H. White, was a soldier in Company C, Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served from June 13, 1861, until October 21, 1865, having participated in many of the principal battles of the war.  Still another uncle, Horace B. White, was fifty years of age when he enlisted as a member of Company M, Third Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and was promoted to the office of battalion hospital steward, dying while in the service.  His son, Adelbert B., was a member of the same company, and served from September 8, 1861, until he was mustered out, November 23, 1864.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 174-176
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

A. A. WHITNEY, County Auditor, Mount Gilead, Ohio, is ranked with the self-made men of Morrow county, and it is with pleasure that we present the following sketch of his life in this work:
     Mr. Whitney’s father, Lyman Banks Whitney, was born in Connecticut, one of the eight children of Samuel Whitney, also a native of that State, and Lyman B. was a small boy when he came with his parents to Ohio.  Here he grew up and was married to Elizabeth Vail, the eldest of a family of ten children.  She was born in Morrow county, Ohio, daughter of B. T. Vail, a native of New York and an early settler of this county.  After their marriage they settled in Bloomfield, and he engaged in business, being one of the first merchants of the village.  About 1840 he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he continued in business until his death, which occurred in October, 1842, at the early age of twenty-three years.
     A. A. Whitney was born in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, January 18, 1842, and was only a few months old when his father died.  After that sad event, the mother took her only child and returned to Bloomfield, where he remained with her until he was ten years of age.  His first schooling was in the district school at Vail’s Crossroads, in Bennington township, this crossroads being named in honor of his grandfather, who at one time kept a hotel there.  He afterward attended the Sparta, Chesterville and Mount Gilead schools, and from the time he was thirteen he made his own way in the world.  His first work was in the woolen mills of Mount Gilead.  At sixteen he began clerking for Burr Russell, and spent one year in his store at Sparta, and after that accepted a clerkship in a store at Mount Vernon, where he remained in the employ of one man for sixteen years and seventeen days.  Next we find him at Sparta.  There he opened a general store on his own account and carried on business at that point for ten years.
     In 1889 he was elected County Auditor, and that same year moved to Mount Gilead, where he has since resided, now being the incumbent of the Auditor’s office, and the only Democrat in office in the county.  As an official he has rendered a high degree of satisfaction, his duty here, as elsewhere, being performed with the strictest fidelity.  At this writing Mr. Whitney is a director of the Morrow County Bank.
     He was married in 1876 to Miss Jennie Henderson, of Mount Vernon, who died some years later, leaving three children, viz: Allen Banks, Clarence Chester, and Horace Warren.  For his second wife he married her sister, Miss Ella Henderson.
     Mr. Whitney is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Commandery at Mount Vernon, and of the Consistory at Cincinnati, Ohio.  He is also identified with the Odd Fellows at Mount Gilead and the Knights of Honor at Mount Vernon.  In church and Sabbath-school work he is prominent and active, being a Steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church and Superintendent of the Sunday-school at Mount Gilead.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, p. 405
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

CLAYTON N. WILLITS, a farmer of Cardington township, was born on his father’s farm in this township, May 6, 1845, a son of Joel and Cynthia Willits.  July 25, 1864, he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Seventh-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was first made Corporal and afterward promoted to Sergeant.  The regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, and was sent to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, doing drill and guard duty.  Mr. Willits took part in the skirmishes at Decatur and Athens, Alabama, returning to Murfreesboro, took part in the battle of the Cedars, went thence to Clifton, Tennessee, by boat to Cincinnati, by railroad to Columbus and on to Washington, next to North Carolina and took part in the battle of Wise’s Fork, next went to Raleigh, joined General Sherman’s army at Greensboro, took part in the battle of Johnston’s surrender, went to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then returned home by way of Baltimore.  Mr. Willits was mustered out of service at Charlotte, North Carolina, and was discharged at Columbus, July 8, 1865.  His father having died while he was in the service, he immediately joined his mother in Le Grand, Iowa, but returned to Cardington the spring of 1866, and he now owns eighty-three acres of good land, eighteen acres of which is covered with timber.  In addition to his general farming, he raises a fine grade of horses.  In his political relations, he affiliates with the Republican party, and has frequently served as a delegate to conventions.  He is now serving his third year as Township Trustee of Cardington township, and for the past twenty years has held the position of Director of district school.  Mr. Willits has passed through the chairs in the I. O. O. F. lodge, and is also a member of James St. John Post of Cardington.
     In December, 1866, our subject was united in marriage with Mary Vickers, who was born in England, November 14, 1847, a daughter of John and Mary A. (Chantry) Vickers, also natives of that country.  They came to America July 3, 1852, locating in Cleveland, Ohio, where the father died in August, 1852.  He was a blacksmith by occupation.  The mother also died in that city in 1878.  The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Willits were Thomas and Mary Vickers, and the maternal grandparents were Robert and Elizabeth Chantry.  Mrs. Willits came to Cardington township in 1857.  She was one of six children, but only one brother, Thomas Vickers, still survives, and he resides in Cleveland.  He was a soldier in the civil war.  The parents were members of the Church of England.  Our subject and wife have had five children, three now living: Bertha E., born May 22, 1873; Ralph, June 18, 1875, and Kathleen E., October 9, 1885.  Of the deceased children, Bernard, born February 12, 1870, died October 1, 1876; and Milton, born April 1, 1871, died August 28, 1872.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 255-256
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

WILLIAM WILLITS, a farmer of Cardington township, Morrow county, was born in this township, January 19, 1831.  His grandfather, Samuel Willits, was a native of Wales, and his son, Joel Willits, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia in 1804.  He removed from that State when a mere boy, and was raised on a farm in Knox county, Ohio.  His wife, née Cynthia Lewis, was born in Pennsylvania in 1807, a daughter of John Lewis, an early settler of Knox county, Ohio, and of Pennsylvania Dutch descent.  She was raised and married in the latter county.  Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Joel Willits moved to Cardington township, Marion, now Morrow, county.  He located on timber land, which he cleared and improved, and afterward sold to William Curl, Sr.  He next moved to Le Grand, Marshall county, Iowa, where he died November 8, 1864.  Mrs. Willits died in Cardington township, January 2, 1887.  They were the parents of nine children, namely: John, who resides in California; William, the subject of this sketch; Samuel, who is supposed to have died in California; Elvira, wife of Stephen A. Wood, of Cardington; Deborah, deceased, was the wife of Benjamin Sharpless; Wendal P., who was killed in the battle of Stone River or Murfreesboro; Esther Ann, deceased; Clayton, a resident of this township; and Sarah Ellen, wife of Grafton Benedict, of Delaware, Ohio.  Three of the sons were soldiers in the civil war, ––­­William, Clayton and Wendel P.  The parents were members of the Society of Friends.  In political matters Mr. Willits was an active worker in the Republican party.
       April 20, 1861, William Willits enlisted as a private in Company I, Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was stationed at Camp Dennison for three months, after which the regiment was reorganized and our subject returned home.  He now owns eighty acres of well-improved land, where he is engaged in general farming.  For several years he also 'worked on the Big Four Railroad.
     Mr. Willits was united in marriage, in the fall of 1861, to Lucinda Grandy, who was born in New York, July 12, 1834, a daughter of William and Celinda (Brockway) Grandy, early settlers of Cardington, Ohio, but both now deceased.  Of the children of our subject and wife, we offer the following record: Estella, deceased, was the wife of W. P. Vaughan, of Cardington, and they had one child, James G.; William Arthur died at the age of seventeen years; Edward Martin is assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Cardington: and a fourth child, who died in infancy.  Edward M. married Daisy Wolfe, and they have two children. ––William Henry and an infant.  Religiously Mr. Willits is a member of the Universalist Church at Cardington; socially is a member of the James St. John Post, G. A. R.; and politically affiliates with the Republican party.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 309-310
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.\

ANSON S. WOOD, a farmer of Peru twp., and familiarly known as “Uncle Anson,” was born in Onondaga county, New York, July 20, 1825.  His father, Ebenezer Wood, a native of Vermont, came to Delaware (now Morrow) county in 1831, locating on the farm where our subject now resides, then in the dense woods.  He was one of the earliest settlers of the county.  Our subject’s mother, nee Jerusha Agnes Halsted, was a native of Rhode Island, and of Irish descent.  Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Wood were married in New York, and died in Morrow county, Ohio, the former at the age of eighty years, and the latter at the age of ninety-one years.  They were the parents of four sons and three daughters, all but one of whom reached maturity, namely: Reuben, Almira and Nancy,  deceased; Almon, of Worthington, Ohio; Enos, deceased; and Anson S., the subject of this sketch. 
     The last was six years of age when he came to Morrow county, and was reared on the farm where he now resides, receiving his education in the log school-house.  He has eighty-one acres of fine farming land.  When his father lived on the place it contained a log cabin, 10x12 feet, with no doors or windows.
     July 4, 1847, Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Isabel Morehouse, who was born in New Jersey in 1829, and came to Delaware county with her parents at the age of six years.  Her parents were Daniel and Polly (Force) Morehouse, natives respectively of New Jersey and New York.  Our subject and wife have had the following children:  Melville,of Hardin county; Almira, wife of W. M. Waters, of Ashley, Ohio; Ocean, wife of Michael Fox, of Eden Station; Ebenezer; Albert, deceased; Sarah, wife of Charles Shoemaker, of Ashley, this state; Eunice, deceased; Cora, wife of Alexander Coomer, of Delaware county; Minnie, deceased; W. F. married Vine Denis, and lives at Marengo, Morrow county; and Vestia, who married Roscoe Welch, is also living in Marengo.
Source: Memorial Records of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1895 ~ Page 204

REV. GEORGE J. WOOD, of Morrow county, is a son of Daniel Wood, a native of Vermont. He came from New York to Ohio about 1815, locating on what is known as the Munson farm, and taught the first school ever opened in Peru township. He was a minister in the Friends' Church, and had visited every State in the Union, excepting one, in evangelistic work. His first marriage was to Phoebe Benedict, a native of New York. She died after coming to Ohio. Of their children, only one is now living, Richard, of South Woodbury. Daniel Wood was afterward married to Elizabeth Lancaster Benedict, a cousin of his former wife, and a native also of New York. She came with her parents to Ohio in 1812, when about fourteen years of age. She started from her Uncle Sylvester Benedict's on an errand through the woods in the edge of the evening, and, missing her path, took an Indian trail which led her off her route onto what was known as the “Musk Rat Prairie,” not far from Cardington. The few settlers collected, built fires through the woods and searched for her all night without success. She found her way the next day, and a messenger was sent to meet the troops on their way up to Sunbury on the supposition that she had been stolen by Indians, but they refused to be turned back until they had seen her. She had lost one shoe off and passed some of the night in a tree-top near by where the wolves had killed a colt a few nights before. It was a frosty night, and the exposure caused a white swelling in one of her limbs and made her an invalid for many years. She was married in Peru township, Morrow county.
     Mr. and Mrs. Wood lived on several different places in this county, and their property was finally destroyed by fire, after which they moved to South Woodbury, where he died in 1868. The town of Woodbury was named in his honor. He was prominently connected with the Underground Railroad, and was an industrious worker in every enterprise for the improvement of his locality. In the fall of 1844 Mr. Wood visited the great commoner Henry Clay at his home in Kentucky, for the purpose of influencing him, if possible, to use his great influence for the emancipation of the slaves (Mr. Clay was a colonizationist). Mr. Wood was present when he received the news of his defeat in that memorable campaign by James K. Polk, and he answered that appeal sadly, evidently under the sting of that unexpected defeat: “My dear sir, I have much less influence than some people think.” Mr. Wood on his way. to Kentucky called upon Governor Thomas Corwin at Columbus, who, learning of his contemplated visit to Mr. Clay, kindly offered him a letter of introduction in which he said: “His character is unimpeached and unimpeachable.” During this interview Mr. Wood related to Mr. Clay the following remarkable incident, which had occurred in North Carolina not long before. Mr. Wood having visited the neighborhood was able to vouch for its correctness. The Friends' Church in the slaveholding States was vigorously endeavoring to rid itself of the crime of slave-holding and was rapidly succeeding, most of that denomination liberating their slaves, sending them north to free States and making provisions for them there as best they could; but there was one large Quarterly Meeting that had quietly resolved that their slaves were their property, and, let the church say what it would, they would hold on to their slaves.
     On the occasion of a meeting at that place the Rev. Aaron Lancaster, paternal grandfather of Elizabeth L. Wood, who had the reputation of being a prophet, came into the meeting unannounced and told them openly what they had secretly resolved, and that “they would become a stench in the nostrils of the Almighty; and as proof of it there should never be another such meeting held in that house.”  Without taking his seat after delivering this he left the house, and, mounting his horse, left the neighborhood. Inside of three months the house was destroyed by a whirlwind, one solitary sill being all that was left of it on the ground, and one door being found lodged in a pine tree five miles off!  Mr. Clay listened to this recital patiently and then quietly remarked that “he expected hurricanes were not unusual down in the vicinity of old Albemarle sound.”  Mr. Wood was a remarkable man physically and intellectually. He was six feet in height and in the pioneer lifts of log-rollings and house-raisings he was recognized as the stoutest man in the settlement. He had his best hats made to order, his measure around his head being just two feet. The person known as George in Uncle Tom's Cabin was a refugee in the house of Aaron L. Benedict, an uncle of our subject. Daniel Wood and wife had seven children: Sarah (deceased), George J., Thomas E., Samuel (deceased), an infant (deceased), Daniel H. and Esther Tuttle. The latter is now the wife of Calvin H. Pritchard, both Ministers in the Friends' Church, stationed at Kokomo, Indiana. She was the founder and editor of the Friends' Missionary Advocate, and was also the leading spirit in the Friends' foreign missionary work of the entire Society of Friends. Daniel Wood was a minister in that church for sixty years.
     Rev. George J. Wood, the subject of this sketch, assisted in the work of the home farm until twenty-two years of age, and then located on his present place. He arranged with a family to keep house for him until his marriage, which occurred in 1862, to Mary W. Brown, a native of Huron county, Ohio. He taught two successful schools in Cardington township, and, the winter following, one in his own township of Peru. He spent parts of several years from home, mostly in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, introducing the Kuso and Morehouse patent churns. He was a successful salesman and made several thousand dollars for himself and his partner. He takes great interest in the work of the Friends' branch of the Christian Church and is an active and trusted member of it. For the two last years past he has been under appointment by Ohio Yearly Meeting as Superintendent of “evangelistic and pastoral work.”  Two years ago he successfully executed a commission by the same body as chairman of a committee to secure the passage of an enabling act by the Ohio Legislature legalizing the change of name of the Society of Friends to Friends' Church. He has for a number of years been chairman of the committee of said yearly meeting on education and Scripture schools, and has just recently been elected chairman of an association of the farmers of his township known as the “Farmers' Mutual Association,” which association of farmers, in an intelligent discussion of their interests and concerted action, he expects much benefit to all concerned. He is enthusiastic in his claim that this organizing is the initial step for the liberating of the farmer or producing community from oppressive monopolies, and the having of the voice and influence they are entitled to in the disposition of their products and the purchase of necessary supplies. He has been breeding Shropshire lambs for market for the last few years, but now claims to have the finest flock of De Lain sheep and the most valuable Jersey herd of heifers in his township.
     Mrs. Wood's father, Judge Daniel W. Brown, was born in the State of Connecticut in 1805, but became a resident of Ashland county when it was yet known as Huron county. He was active in procuring the creation of Ashland county and was soon after elected Circuit Judge. The next winter after this he was employed by Richard House, Samuel Geliar and Stephen Collard, of Mount Gilead, in the creation of Morrow county. He was a zealous Whig in politics, and accompanied William H. Harrison, his personal friend, in some of his political tours before he was elected President. He was warden of the penitentiary under Governor Wood, and at one time had charge of the Cambria Iron Works at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He finally moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to educate his children. The mother of Mrs. Wood, formerly E. Jane Brady, was born in Westchester county, New York, September 18, 1810. She was a daughter of Charles Brady, born in the same county January 29, 1791, of Irish descent. Judge Brown and wife had five sons and one daughter, namely: Samuel, deceased, who was a farmer by occupation; Charles Brady, deceased, was a prominent attorney, having begun practice at Cincinnati and continued it afterward; Joseph W., a civil engineer in Memphis, Tennessee, assisted in the first survey of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and died of a congestive chill, at Marshall, Texas; Ethan Allen, named for Ethan Allen Brown, a relative and one of the first Governors of Ohio, was also an attorney, was wounded at Fayetteville, West Virginia, and died from the wound at Gallipolis, Ohio, during the civil war, having served as Captain in the Thirty-fourth Ohio Zouave Regiment, A. Saunders Piatt, Colonel; Merrit, deceased in Florida, was clerk in the First Comptroller's office in the Treasury Department at Washington, District of Columbia; Mrs. Mary B. Wood and her mother, Mrs. Brown, are the only survivors of the family, and the latter is eighty-four years of age, still bright and intelligent.
     Rev. George J. Wood has been an active minister in the Friends' Church for a number of years. He makes no pretensions to oratory, but the thrift and spirituality of the Alum Creek Church, which has been under his pastorate care so long, is the best of evidence of his clear, practical preaching, backed as it is by an exemplary life. His 

“Boast is not that he deduced his birth
From loins enthroned or rulers of the earth,”

 (Though he might claim it in the royal house of England through the Lancaster stock), 

“But higher far his proud pretensions rise,
The son of parents passed into the skies.”

      He owns and operates a fine farm of 116 acres. In his political relations he affiliates with the Prohibition party, and has served as Township Treasurer, Trustee and Justice of the Peace. His commission as Justice of the Peace was signed by Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor of Ohio, afterward President of the United States.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 339-341
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

RICHARD WOOD, a farmer of Peru township, Morrow county, is a son of Rev. Daniel Wood, born in Peru, New York, Jan. 19, 1789.  He was a son of Jonathan and Rachie (White) Wood, natives also of New York, the father born December, 1760, and the mother, Jan. 18, 1764.  They were among the early pioneers of this county.  Their children were:  Phoebe Nichols, Esther Irish, Danie, Amy Peasley, David, Susannah Kingman, Israel, Lydia Osborn, Jonathan, Rachel Hathaway, and Matilda Benker,  Daniel Wood, father of our subject, was married Apr. 30, 1812, to Phoebe Benedict, born in Peru, New York, Mar. 1, 1791, a daughter of Reuben and Anna (Stevens) Benedict, natives respectively of New York and Pennsylvania.  Reuben Benedict came to Ohio in 1812, locating on the farm now owned by John Osborn.  His children were:  Phoebe Wood, Polly Gardner, Aden, John, Ezra, Lucy Mosher, Annis Oliver, George and Martin.
     Rev. Daniel Wood and wife came to Ohio about 1816, and he taught the first school in this township.  They located on land now owned by our subject, near Alum creek, Peru township, but afterward settled on a farm now owned and occupied by Rev. George J. Wood.  In 1830, Daniel Wood laid out the village of Woodbury having purchased the land at 75 cents per acre, and named the place.  He was one of the pioneer ministers in this locality, working in the Friends’ Church.  His death occurred Sept. 24, 1868, and his wife departed this life July 28, 1822.  They were the parents of the following children:  Annie, deceased, was the wife of Griffith Lewis, and they had five children; Levi married Caroline Whipple; Rachel, deceased, was the wife of James Vernon; Jemima, deceased, was the wife of Jacob Heely, and they had four children; Richard, the subject of this sketch; and William, deceased in infancy.  For his second wife Daniel Wood married Elizabeth Benedict, a cousin of his former wife.
     Richard Wood, the only survivor of his father’s family by his first marriage, was born on the banks of Alum creek, Morrow county, Oct. 2, 1820.  He early learned the wagon-maker’s trade, and followed that occupation continuously in Woodbury for fifty-four years, having made the first spring wagon and covered carriage in Peru township.  He now owns 140 acres of fine farming land.
     April 3, 1844, Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Elmina James, who was born Apr. 19, 1824, a daughter of David and Charlotte James, natives of Loudoun county, Virginia.  Mrs. Wood died Mar. 9, 1871.  Our subject’s second marriage occurred Sept. 20, 1871, to Cynthia (Webber) Philbrook, born in Vermont, July 28, 1840, a daughter of Lyman J. and Mary A. (Goodnow) Webber.  The father was born in Vermont, Apr. 20, 1810, a son of Richard and Lydia Webber.  Richard was a son of Hiram Webber, who was a son of Able and Susan Webber.  Abel was a son of John and Hannah Webber; John was a son of William and Mary Webber; William was a son of Arnot and Sarah Webber; Arnot was the son of Walfort and Graticia Webber.  Lyman Webber, father of Mrs. Wood, and a carpenter by occupation, remained in Vermont until 1851, went thence to Massachusetts, and next located at East Liberty, Ohio.  His death occurred Feb. 26, 1889.  Mrs. Wood was first married to David C. Philbrook, now deceased, and they have one child living, William C., of Cardington twp., Morrow County.  Mr. and Mrs. Wood have also one child, Lyman Daniel, born Aug. 8, 1872.  Our subject and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the former having united with that church over fifty years ago.  In political matters Mr. Wood affiliates with the Prohibition party, and has served as Township Trustee and in many other minor offices.
Source: Memorial Records of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1895 ~ Page 261

THOMAS A. WOOD, a prominent farmer of Gilead township, Morrow county, is a son of Jonathan Wood, born in New York, September 1, 1801.  He was a son of Jonathan and Rachel (White) Wood.  Jonathan, Sr., was a son of Daniel and Susannah (Chase) Wood.
      John Wood, the first American ancestor and a Quaker, emigrated to America about 1635 or 1636, crossing the Atlantic probably in the ship Hopewell, from London, which arrived September 11, of the latter year.  At this time he was twenty-six years of age, and was married.  After the death of his first wife he married again, and altogether he had seven children.  His son William married Miss Martha Earl, daughter of Ralph and Joan Earl, and had ten children.  Their son Jonathan was born May 22, 1697, married Peace Davis, August 12, 1724, and they were both Quaker preachers.  They had five children, of whom Daniel was born November 14, 1729.  He married Susannah Chase, a daughter of Stephen and Esther Chase, July 30, 1752, and had five children.  Of these, Jonathan (grandfather of the subject of this sketch), was born at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, February 9, 1760, married Rachel White at Nine Partners, New York, in 1784, came to Ohio in 1817, first settling in Delaware county, near South Woodbury, and a year afterward in Marion county, same State, two miles south of Mount Gilead, where he died May 7, 1838.  His wife, born January 18, 1764, died September 26, 1824.  They had twelve children.  Of these, Jonathan (father of our subject), was born in Peru, Clinton county, New York, September 1, 1801; and February 23, 1824, married Mary Ashton, in Columbiana county, Ohio, and died November 25, 1863, and his wife February 8, 1873.
     The Wood family, of course, have been exemplary members of society.  Ex-Senator Chase, of Rhode Island, and ex-Senator Eaton both married members of this noble family.  Mary Dyer, one of the ancestors and a Quaker minister, was put to death in the time of Governor John Endicott, of Massachusetts, for asserting her rights as a Quaker in that colony.  The perpetrators of this deed were Puritans, who had first fled from England to Leyden, Holland, to escape the persecution of Queen Mary, and in 1620 came to Plymouth to carry on a persecution just as unreasonable as that from which they had fled.
     After marriage, Jonathan Wood and wife located on the farm now owned by our subject.  Although poor financially, he was an energetic and hard-working man, and took an active part in the development of his county.  With the exception of a few years in Columbiana county, they spent their lives here.  They were the parents of six children, namely: Thomas A., the subject of this sketch; Stephen A., of Cardington; Rachel Ann, wife of James W. Vaugher, of Lincoln township; Griffith L., a resident of Mount Gilead; Lindley H., also of that city; and Lamira W., wife of Harry W. Collins, who resides in Franklin county, Kansas.
     Thomas A. Wood was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, December 3. 1826, and was brought to this county when an infant.  He was reared to manhood on the place he now owns, and received his education in the district schools, and at the Hesper Seminary, near South Woodbury, Morrow county.  From 1851 to 1864 he resided in Harmony township, and since 1864 has been a permanent resident of Gilead township.  He owns seventy-three acres of land, fifty acres of which is under a fine state of cultivation.
     Mr. Wood was married September 1, 1847, to Rhoda Vaughan, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, February 19, 1828, a daughter of James and Rhoda (Cobb) Vaughan, natives of Virginia, the father born January 17, 1780, and the mother September 30, 1790.  They came to Ohio, and were married in Columbiana county, August 29, 1822.  In 1839 they made a permanent settlement in Gilead township; the father dying here December 12, 1859, and the mother July 20, 1877.  They were the parents of seven children, five now living: Rebecca T., widow of William B. Kirk, and a resident of New Sharon, Iowa; Johanna, wife of Stephen Gardner, of Cottage Grove, Union county, Indiana; Rhoda, wife of our subject; Joseph, of this township; and Lindley J., a resident of Gilead township.  The parents were members and active workers in the Friends’ Church.  Thomas Wood and wife have had five children, namely: Reuben E., born June 23, 1849, married Elvira Milligan, resides in Union county, Iowa, and has three children; Marietta, born August 15, 1853, died at the age of nine years; Louisa T., born December 11, 1857, is the wife of Alfred H. Brease, of Mount Gilead, and they have six children; Harriet M., born October 22, 1862, is the wife of Fred R. Hathaway, of Lenawee county, Michigan, and has one child; and Caroline T., born July 3. 1867, is the wife of LeRoy W. Furby, of Gilead township.  They also have one child.  The family are members of the Friends’ Church.  Mr. Wood is a member of the Republican party.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 387-388
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.